[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180505/8227ce296eef08f32920d03212791f15.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/eKRLILs.png?1[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/3TcHsId.gif[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/F6SOR14.gif[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/iiDCV5o.png?1[/img]
[color=slategray][sub]A [@Lovely Complex] and [@Universorum] collaborative project
[b]Starring:[/b] [color=309b75][b]Damian "Alpha Dog" O'Connor[/b][/color], [color=6175ff][b]Joy "It's Not that Simple" Darling[/b][/color], & [color=eda946][b]Ophelia "Oh, But It Is" Brycen[/b][/color].
[b]Location:[/b] Somewhere on the boat with rowdy boys → Somewhere else on the boat → Not the boat[/sub][/color][/center]

[indent]Damian was the life of the party. There was no getting around it, there was no other explanation for it. He was fun, he was hot, he was loud, he was rambunctious. He was rowdy, and! And he was a good drinker. Damian was not, however, a very good listener. Brian had said ‘don’t drink, and don’t party too hard.’ What was Damian doing?

Currently, he was upside down, supported by two football team members, with his mouth around the tap of a keg. Damian probably could have supported himself, but he didn’t mind the camaraderie that came with accepting the help of his team members. Joy, his girlfriend, who had been introduced as such to all of his friends, and basically everyone at the party — she was now a superstar, like it or not — was standing nearby with some kind of mixed drink in her hand.

Other couples were dancing, or kissing, or spending time together with some kind of dessert food. Damian, however, had brought Joy along to do what he did best: have a good time. As far as he could tell (he didn’t have a very good view of her from his current position), she was enjoying herself. And, hey, that was what mattered.

The alcoholic beverage Joy drank the most was wine, with her mother occasionally, during dinner, but ever since she started attending these massive parties, she’s been exploring unknown territory. In her glass was a full glass of Midori Pina punch. Strikingly green and kind of sweet. She bobbed her head to the music, taking sips every so often, and smiling at her boyfriend’s foolhardy spirit, as she quietly observed the revelry she was caught up in. As he went hard with the keg, a stranger approached her and gave her a smug grin, [b]“You guys did it yet?”[/b]

What? 

Dully, Joy looked up at the guy, who she knew nothing about, and replied, [color=6175ff][b]“Excuse me?”[/b][/color]

[b]“FUCKED! Did you guys bang yet? Y’know what I meant!”[/b] Wow, forward. After No Name replied, he cheered the Alpha on, [b]“DAMIAN! DAMIAN! GO, GO, GO, GO.”[/b]

[color=6175ff][b]“I don’t think that’s any of your—”[/b][/color]

Joy was unable to finish her retort because the drunkard rudely interrupted her. He seemed to only be half listening to her; completely in his own world. [b]“I’d be surprised if Dam’s hadn’t. He’s got a way with girls.”[/b] The jock continued to watch the star football player in amazement and gave a nod of admiration and approval. [b]“Consider yourself lucky, babe. I don’t remember the last time this guy has made one of his [i]conquests[/i] into a commitment thing. The dude [i]never[/i] commits!” [/b]

[i]Babe[/i].

His words lingered on in Joy’s mind and her eyes no longer were zoned in on her boyfriend. No, she started to notice the stares. Some girls smiled and waved at her like they’ve known her all their lives. Other girls ignored her and kept their focus on the boys, especially Damian and his unreal body. Tightening her grip on her cup, she looked past Damian, who was hanging upside down, and noticed a group of boys checking her out, like they actually found her attractive.

Before the random was able to talk more to Joy, someone came through the crowd to save her. Save of course, is a relative word — from Joy’s point of view, this was probably the second worst person who could possibly tap her on the shoulder. [color=eda946][b]“Hey, Joy. What’s going on?”[/b][/color] The voice, of course, belonged to Ophelia Brycen, Joy’s cousin (by adoption). As Ophelia spoke, Damian dropped his legs down and stood up on his own two feet, turning to look at the pair.

Damian smiled and high fived his friends, before he moved over to Joy and Ophelia. [color=309b75][b]“Hey, Lia! Are you here to crash the party again? This one might be a bit tougher…”[/b][/color] Damian laughed and winked at her, before wrapping an arm around Joy’s waist.

[color=eda946][b]“Actually, I came to borrow Joy. We need to talk. Girl stuff.”[/b][/color]

Unintentionally, and more of an action of her subconscious, Joy’s body turned rigid within Damian’s hold. She didn’t know what Lia wanted to talk about with her specifically. When did Ophelia ever want to talk to her? Never letting her smile leave her face, Joy calmly shrugged, [color=6175ff][b]“Sure, if that’s alright with you, Damian.”[/b][/color] Something about Joy was off, as she glanced up and locked eyes with her boyfriend. 

Damian looked at Joy and frowned, his boyfriend senses tingling. He [i]knew[/i] that something was up with her, from the way she tensed up when he touched her — the rest of it was just sort of icing on the cake. [color=309b75][b]“What do you mean if it’s okay with me? If you wanna talk with Lia, go for it.”[/b][/color] He smiled at her, and Ophelia was quick to tug at Joy’s arm and pull her away, off into the crowd. Damian watched the pair of them go (for multiple reasons), and folded his arms over his chest. This night may end up poorly, for him at least.

[color=eda946][b]“Dude, you’re like a robot.”[/b][/color] Ophelia said, once she was sure they were out of earshot of everyone else.

[color=6175ff][b]“Good. I like robots.”[/b][/color] Joy teased the blonde, not really caring how she appeared to her. As far as she was concerned, they were acquaintances, even if down the grape vine they were related, [color=6175ff][b]“Why does it matter?”[/b][/color]  Joy looked at the Candy Queen amused.

[color=eda946][b]“Hey, I don’t judge. I like robots too. It’s just [i]pretty[/i] clear that this totally isn’t your scene. I can smell the awkwardness on you. Or it’s just the fruity alcohol, it could go either way,”[/b][/color] Ophelia responded with an eye roll. [color=eda946][b]“If you don’t want to be here, why are you even here? And don’t give me that ‘Damian wanted to come’ crap, I know you don’t care about what any guy thinks except for maybe your Uncle and your father.”[/b][/color]

This would be the first time Joy was exposed to this side of Ophelia, which honestly surprised her. If Joy was being honest, she saw Lia as one of Hailey’s pawns, therefore making her an evil bitch that was out to get her brother and everyone else that went against the Demon Queen. With a contemplative stare and a moment of silence, Joy took a sip of the drink she didn’t even like and examined Lia’s expression. Visibly concerned and a tad bit sassy, but far from fake. [color=6175ff][b]“Because.”[/b][/color] She carefully thought of her words before continuing, [color=6175ff][b]“This is your guys’ world. I’m allowed to want to see how it feels. Turns out, I hate it. I came because it made sense at the time. The type of girl Damian needs is someone who fits in this scene. Not some future accountant or something like me.”[/b][/color] Joy was human. Lia may have been right with saying that she doesn’t give a shit about what most people think, but Damian was different. She always cared about what he thought, even when they were little. 

Ophelia scoffed and rolled her eyes. [color=eda946][b]“Look, if you’re gonna date — and this is in general, not [i]just[/i] if you’re going to date [i]the man[/i] — then you have to learn this right now. Men are easy, dude. They’re chill. They’re usually relaxed, they rarely stress stuff like this. You don’t have to think you’re not the type of girl Damian needs because you don’t like partying.”[/b][/color] Ophelia paused for a moment to shake her head, and brush some of her blonde hair out of her eyes, [color=eda946][b]“besides, Damian could have had anyone he wanted, and he wanted you. Why don’t you compromise?”[/b][/color]

[color=6175ff][b]“Compromise what? My virginity? Ophelia, I’m sorry, but you’re not Damian, and you can tell me all this  — whatever this is  —  but it still doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense. You’re right, he could have anyone, he probably has had everyone else, and yet now he wants the female version of Dexter, from Dexter’s Laboratory. All because I dyed my hair to look like my surrogate mother.”[/b][/color] Kylie, who possessed everything she did [i]not[/i] have. Charisma. Beauty. Exoticism. A welcoming presence. A body to die for. Don’t get her wrong, her actual mom, Jude, was absolutely gorgeous (and Asian), but there was something about Kylie that people couldn’t help but love. Joy didn’t know how to explain it, but it seemed like she would never possess that mystery factor that made her Mitty unbelievably attractive.  

[color=eda946][b]“No, idiot, that’s not what I meant… I like the Dexter comment, though, because I really liked that show when I was younger. Life was simple… But I’m straying from my point. I meant, you guys went to a party like a week ago. You don’t like parties. Why don’t you just say ‘hey, I don’t like parties. Let’s do something else this time, and we’ll go to the next party.’ Life is easy, dude. And no, you don’t have to give your virginity… I haven’t even done that yet.”[/b][/color] Ophelia took Joy’s hand and gave it a squeeze, to try and reassure her that ‘Hey, you’re not wrong.’ [color=eda946][b]“Also, I’d like to say that Damian knew you when you were younger, and you guys were like really tight, right? I bet he had a wicked crush on you back then — did you ever think that seeing you suddenly become immensely physically attractive to him reignited old flames? Because that makes sense to me… And it would explain why he’s still trying, even though you don’t want to put out.”[/b][/color]

The last point, Joy couldn’t believe and she awkwardly laughed, [color=6175ff][b]“What? Damian DID NOT like me back then.”[/b][/color] Complete denial, even if there may be some fond memories of him being affectionate and cuddly. That’s just what they did. As friends. Old memories slowly crept into Joy’s mind of the time before they went their separate ways. Before either of them had reps to live by, before he had a long list of ‘conquests’, before she closed herself off to others and built a secluded lifestyle… before everything.  [color=6175ff][b]“We were basically brother and sister.”[/b][/color] 

[color=eda946][b]“That’s what everyone says about people they crushed on when they were too young to know what a crush is. He was totally into you, and now he’s into you again, when he can act on it, and he is and all you’re doing is fighting it and trying to be the girl he wants you to be, instead of being the girl you [i]know[/i] he wants, which is… you, Joy Darling. You have a chance to date the guy that girls drool over, like, even the younger teachers. And you’re scared of it because you think you’ll have to change, when you won’t, because he [i]obviously,[/i] wants you. Ugh, let me try and put it into terms you’d understand: Damian is the legendary drop from the end game boss that dropped [i]just for you[/i] and you’re not picking it up, you monkey!”[/b][/color]

Huh. Lia was making perfect sense now. If her Uncle saw how she was acting, he’d shake his head because she was totally being a pussy, when she wasn’t one. When was Joy afraid of something, other than her mother, to the point that she felt inclined to change who she was? To the point that she felt the need to ask permission to talk to a girl obsessed with the concept of love? If what Ophelia was saying held any value, then the girl Damian liked was the girl he knew ten years ago and not the girl that he can easily get in bed with, only to grow tired of the next day. He was committed to her because she was a challenge, but also because she wasn’t just any other girl that drooled over him. She was [b]the[/b] girl that he wanted to drool over him. [color=6175ff][b]“I got it.”[/b][/color] Joy pushed her drink at Ophelia to take, before dismissing herself, [color=6175ff][b]“Thanks for the advice. You’re smarter than I thought you were. Now, I’d love to stay and chat but the boat’s about to leave and I need to get off.”[/b][/color]  

[color=eda946][b]“Just stop being a whiny baby, geeze…”[/b][/color] Ophelia shook her head, and took the drink before turning and walking off without another word.

Rolling her eyes, Joy turned her body and retraced her steps to find [b]her[/b] boyfriend. She pulled out her phone, just in case she couldn’t find him. When she got to the spot where she left him, she noticed he wasn’t there. Finding the rando from earlier, she tapped his shoulder, [color=6175ff][b]“HEY!”[/b][/color] He turned around, mildly shocked at the change in her voice. More abrasive than earlier. [color=6175ff][b]“Where’s Damian, dude?”[/b][/color] 

[b]“Uh, he went somewhere with Justin, I think.”[/b] He leaned in, obviously drunk and having a hard time keeping his balance, [b]“Oh! You never did answer my question.”[/b]

[color=6175ff][b]“He’s waiting until I’m ready!”[/b][/color] And with that, she left the dumbass and took her phone out.
   
[quote]To: [color=309b75][b]El Jefe[/b][/color] 
[color=6175ff][b]Meet me by the coat room.[/b][/color]
[/quote]
Leaning against the coat closet door, Joy checked her phone for the time. It was three minutes before 8:45 PM. The boat would be leaving soon. Anxiety started building inside of her as she patiently, not so patiently, waited for her manly man.  

Luckily for her, it was less than a minute, before Damian showed up, coming up to her at a slow jog, though he wasn’t smiling quite as much as he normally would be. [color=309b75][b]“Hey, Joy. Are you alright?”[/b][/color]

[color=6175ff][b]“No, actually. I just want to spend time with you. Can we leave?”[/b][/color] She pocketed her phone and broke the distance between him and her, offering her hand. 

Damian took her hand, but had to consider her words for a second. He’d told Brian he’d be around all night, and he’d look like a right fucker if he wasn’t. But, the thing about these kinds of get togethers was Damian always ended up looking like a right fucker. [color=309b75][b]“Uhhh, yeah, that’s cool. I’ll just call Brian in the car.”[/b][/color]

[color=6175ff][b]“Good.”[/b][/color] She held his hand firmly and more assure of herself, then led the way out and off the boat.[/indent]