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Darkseeker
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Avery disliked his emotions being clear for everyone to see. He was used to having a neutral face, and people would just have to wonder. Here at the Island, he felt like that façade was slowly crumbling, and he was powerless to stop it. When Aspen gave him a gentle hug, he relaxed into it, taking a moment to pull himself together, and shove all the memories away. He didn't want to do too much remembering, because, for Emily, there was going to be an end to the memories, and he couldn't bear to see it again, even in his mind's eye. Once he felt like he could talk properly, Avery cleared his throat, and brushed the heel of his hand over his eyes.
"I'm ready," he murmured, turning, and starting up the path. "We...can go separate this time." |
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Neutral
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Aspen was starting to notice thing about the prince. When he was hurting, his posture changed too. He tends to turn away when he's upset and say that he's fine. Aspen just knew he wasn't just by that. He didn't have to be either. He listened to the prince tell him that he was ready and that they would be jumping separately this time. He gave a nod and waited for the prince to make his way back up the path. He followed behind him, wanting to give him space. |
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Darkseeker
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Avery took his time walking back up, steadying his emotions. His mind kept flashing back to the first time he'd jumped, what felt like forever ago. He and Emily had been outside, just having finished some kind of contest, and they had both been hot and sweaty. Emily had coaxed him to go to the edge of the cliff, and he'd agreed. They'd stood there for a while, peering down, and Emily had given him a devious look. "I dare you to jump," she'd said. Avery had been skeptical, and Emily had quickly changed her mind on wanting him to jump first. She'd always been very competitive, and missing out on being the first to jump, and possibly start something big, irked her.They decided to jump together, and it had been the start of a tradition.
Now, Avery looked down over the edge, imagining Emily swan diving down into the cool waves, and he shuddered. |
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Neutral
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Aspen was keeping an eye on the prince. He wasn't too sure what was going through the man's head and he wanted to make sure that jumping alone didn't have any ill intentions behind it. He saw the prince shudder and fought back an urge to touch his shoulder or ask him anything. He needed to trust that the prince was fine and if he wasn't, he would share with him. So instead he let the prince do his thing, not rushing him to jump or talking. He just watched and waited to see what he would do. |
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Darkseeker
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Avery took a deep breath, gauging what he could do before he hit the water. It was a pretty long way, but he didn't want to misjudge, and end up breaking his neck or something. He bit his lip and squinted, trying to imagine the dive.
Finally, he had it down, and he ran a hand through his hair, turning back to Aspen. "I'm gonna jump. Once I hit the water, wait like, 30 seconds, and then you can go." Avery waited for a response, and turned back, tilting his head slightly, making a few last minute calculations. A moment later he jumped, the wind rushing across his skin, and through his hair. He remembered Emily's favorite jump, and he sommersaulted twice, opening his arms to end in a neat swan dive. Once he hit the water, he headed for the beach using strong strokes, not wanting to get hit. He sat down on the warm sand, waiting for his companion. |
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Neutral
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Aspen was relieved when Prince Avery finally spoke. He seemed to be judging how he was going to jump or make the perfect jump. Of course he was only telling him the plan for jumping alone. "Of course, see you down at the beach," Aspen gave a smile and a thumbs up to show he understood. He stepped back just a little to give him room to jump if he needed it. The prince decided to be fancy. He jumped with two summersaults in the air Emily probably taught him that He waited for the prince to hit the water and then counted out 30 seconds. He peered over the edge to make sure that Avery was gone before jumping himself. He didn't do anything fancy with his own dive. He didn't know any tricks. Once he hit the water, he resurfaced and began to swim strongly toward his friend. "Hi," He breathed as he reached the shore and pulled himself to his feet. He was trembling ever so slightly from excitement and still trying to catch his breath. |
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Darkseeker
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Avery looked up from the sand, brushing a bit off his pants. "Hey. How was the jump?" Avery was still slightly unsure how to feel. He didn't know what he'd been expecting when he jumped alone, but a part of him just felt...empty now. He waited for Aspen's answer, and nodded. "I should probably check my phone. My mum said that she'd tell my how Robbie's doing, and what we're going to do for dinner. Do you want anything specific for dinner?" Waiting until Aspen was walking with him, Avery headed back to his pile of clothes, moving his things to pick up the little device. A second later, he swore. "Damn. My phone is dead. Do you still want to jump? We could go inside just for a second and then come back out." |
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Neutral
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"Good," Aspen breathed out, his hands resting on his hips as he took deep breaths. He was focusing on calming down, noticing how much jumping alone had caused his heart to pound and his breathing become irregular. He listened to the prince and gave a nod, watching as he grabbed his phone. "I'm not picky," He answered, remembering all the frozen pizzas he had consumed in his life time. Well those and peanut butter sandwiches. The prince probably had never consumed a frozen pizza in his life. It was crazy how different the backgrounds of the two could be. He heard a swear word come from the prince and got closer, peering over his shoulder to see the problem. Right when he did, the prince told him and then asked if he still wanted to jump. "Er, let's go ahead and go back so you can charge your phone," He said softly, realizing how close he was to the prince. He stepped back a little, a small blush forming on his cheeks. |
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Darkseeker
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Avery's cheeks flushed slightly, and he looked down. "Alright." Too embarrassed to say anything more, he ran a hand through his already messy hair, and picked up his pile of clothes, heading back up the steep path. A million thoughts were racing through his head. Earlier, all he could think about was how empty his life was without his best friend and brother. Now his mind was full with thoughts of Aspen. Internally, he scolded himself. There were a million better things to be thinking about, but no matter what he tried to focus on, his mind always wandered back. Avery shook his head slightly, trying to dislodge the busyness of his brain. He hurried into the manor, quickly plugging his phone in, heading back out to the porch. The sun was warm on his bare chest, and he took a deep breath, turning towards Aspen. "I think I owe you a thank you," he said softly. "I was a mess with Robbie and everything. You kept me from doing anything rash." Avery didn't care that he was well within Aspen's personal space, he felt like this was everything he wanted. "Can...can I kiss you?" |
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Neutral
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Aspen decided go chill on the porch for a bit while the prince plugged in his phone. He didn't see any reason to follow hin inside. Besides, he had been inside all day and wanted to be outside to just collect himself and his thoughts. His thoughts had been clouded with the prince. He had been worried about him but he seemed to be doing better now. That was always a good sign. He knew he was thinking of the prince in different ways. The ways he shouldn't be. He couldn't help but think how perfectly his hand fit into the other man's when they jumped. His touch was great. His mind went back to the prince's muscular back, he couldn't help but imagine himself touching every curve of it. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he moved to drape his tanktop on the railing of the porch to dry. His button down shirt was silky and dry enough to slip back on so he did. He left it unbuttoned though, feeling better with just a small ounce of skin showing. Prince Avery's voice behind him caused him to jump a little. He spun around toward the man, leaning against the rail and giving a small shy smile. He tried to keep his gaze upwards but it couldn't help but drop down a few times. "Oh it was no big deal," He insisted at Avery's thank you, his breath leaving his body as the prince somehow had gotten closer to him. His heart started to pound a little, being trapped between the prince's body and the railing. "Can...can I kiss you?" His eyes widened, his gaze dropping to the other man's lips immediately. It was like everything in his mind was coming true. He had to be imagining this. It had to be a dream. "I-" Aspen stuttered, unsure if he was hearing this right. "Y-You mean a hand kiss?" He asked, trying to reason himself through his thoughts. The man before him couldn't be talking about what he wanted him so desperately to do. |
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Summer 
Night Weather: 
Earthquake Moon: 
