[right][color=darkgray][sup]Timestamp: Just after the game
Location: Ceramics Classroom
[color=#8dcdc1]Monarch[/color] and [color=#a44866]Jonah[/color]
[@Aces Away] and [@LovelyComplex][/sup][/color][/right]
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[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/9032e28c-7b8c-45d4-aee3-08088f842f69.png[/img]

[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/420b36d5-f79e-4b18-a3ec-4f5f83781e95.png[/img]

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[color=lightgray][indent][indent]Monarch rode her skateboard down the school corridor on her way to her meeting point with Jonah, having been picked up and dropped back off by her brother Pharaoh, who brought her to his IT firm where she also worked for him so that she could retrieve the files kept safe and secure there. Luckily, as Dash is a friend of Rye’s, Monarch already had her eye on him and by extension, Toury and her Tantalizers. The files in her book bag right now were less files on Dash and more on his antagonist, but she wouldn’t have had as thick of files on them if not for the involvement of the boy with a fighter’s heart and a professional billiards player’s skill set. Takeout food in one hand for Jonah and Toury’s later meeting, she kicked her board into her other hand and took her keys out as she came up to the ceramic’s classroom, the club member abusing her privileges and entering the darkened room to wait for Jonah. The kilns were humming with all the pieces that had been set into it after club had ended earlier, and Monarch would be back in the morning to unload the pieces once they’d completed their cooling period. For now, the noises and secluded area were the prime choice for clandestine meetings between people that are only supposed to know each other through Jonah’s cousin Decky.

When the door opened near silently, Monarch didn’t bother to turn around from where she was checking on one of her vases drying on the rack, knowing Jonah’s entrance and gait by heart.

[color=#8dcdc1]“Five minutes late ain’t like you,”[/color] She spoke up more as an observation than a judgment. [color=#8dcdc1]“Did the game run long?”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“Let’s go with that,” [/color]Jonah answered, not wanting to give her the details of the conflict that transpired as a result of the game. Monarch would find out soon enough. She always did. Out of his cheer uniform and wearing black jeans and a gray shirt, he approached her; his steps as faint as ever. For those like Monarch, who have been near Jonah enough to be able to pierce the veil and hear beyond the cloak, they could catch his presence. It wasn’t hard if you were paying attention. Jonah wasn’t trying to hide himself. While his movements were nimble and graceful, there was still noise. It was quieter than other noises in the room but it was still there. 

Another noteworthy thing about Jonah, for those that pay attention, was he wore a chain pocket watch. The chain hung from his pant’s pocket while the antique watch itself was hidden inside. There weren’t many students who wore pocket watches. He was one of the few people that did. For one reason or another, Jonah was attached to it. There was likely a story behind it. He hadn’t told anyone the story though, not even his brothers. One day he came home with a watch, he was in fifth grade at the time, and for months he annoyed Eiran to get it repaired. It took Eiran a year to finally get the watch to someone that specializes in older makes and since then, Jonah continues to carry it on his person, like a token of luck. [color=#a44866]“Thanks for meeting me,” [/color]Jonah hummed, bringing his gaze to the vase that had her attention. The vase that had her craftsmanship written all over it. [color=#a44866]“I know how busy you are.” [/color]

[color=#8dcdc1]“[/color][i][color=#8dcdc1]‘One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.’[/color][/i][color=#8dcdc1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,”[/color] Monarch responded blankly with her head tilted as she took note of and filed away him sidestepping her question about the game. The chameleon girl had been busy her whole life, so having the flexibility to carve thirty minutes to an hour of freetime into her schedule was something she learned long before she became one of the most effective information brokers at BH. Finally turning away from her art piece and towards the other person in the room, Monarch hopped up onto the nearest table after resting her board against it and sat atop the surface with her legs crossed beneath her, swinging her bag around to rest in her lap. [color=#8dcdc1]“You are lucky my brother was willin’a play chauffeur and even take me to a drive through, though, especially since I still gotta get that program finished for him by midnight. That’s for y’all later, by the way,”[/color] She nodded her head at the bag of food she had set down earlier. [color=#8dcdc1]“You say [/color][i][color=#8dcdc1]I’m[/color][/i][color=#8dcdc1] busy, but at least you're my last stop for the night.”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“You shouldn’t have,”[/color] Jonah teased, acknowledging the greasy food she got for him and Toury. If there was one thing that he knew: Tourmaline Phoenix could eat. Many times where they’d idly chatter, she found in her possession his snacks he packed for the day. Coming with food as an offering was never a bad start to a deal when it came to the blonde bombshell Tantalizer. Poised and refined, Jonah casually leaned up against the table across from her and started their conversation with a question, as per their usual protocol when they met up. He was a charming boy even if he humbly never focused on his looks. Monarch knew though that Jonah trained himself to be a gentleman to counter the stereotypes and assumptions against his family. Being mysterious and cool was part of who he was at this point. As the saying goes, fake it till you make it. He wasn’t faking it anymore. [color=#a44866]“Were my theories right?”[/color] 

While Jonah didn’t know who Dash's bully was, he had an idea of a handful of people who would use the frail boy for their amusement, pleasure and gain. Using the process of elimination, there were three people in particular that Dash had a weird fascination with and those three had a reputation of being the most outdated kids of their year. Typical bullies because they weren’t taught healthier ways to manage and cope, blaming others instead of their parents and themselves for their shortcomings. [color=#a44866]“I have no doubt Toury will make use of this with murder on her mind.”[/color] Kidding. A smile creeped up on his face. He couldn’t wait to see what Toury would do with this information. He was sure with anger and time she would break something. If not the bully’s bones then his spirit and heart. The Tantalizing Trio were not girls you wanted to get on the wrong side with. Even worse so than the Hive and the Triple Crowns. They didn’t have as many limitations as the other cliques and weren’t afraid of the consequences, which means if they wanted to raise hell, they would, getting everyone in the crossfire with little to no fucks to give.[color=#a44866] “She’s protective over her brother.”[/color]

Monarch’s head tilted once more, falling in the other direction as she nodded to the clever boy’s words and took in the smile that he hadn’t tried to restrain. [color=#8dcdc1]“Your theories usually are correct, so I doubt you’re surprised,”[/color] She finally offered while unzipping her backpack and pulling out a hardcopy of her files to hand over to him. [color=#8dcdc1]“Toury’s rage on this may even be helpful to us in the long run, given Dash’s antagonist.”[/color] She stared silently at the mastermind as he scanned quickly over the first of many pages of information. There was everything from the boy’s class schedule to his relationship insecurities in that file, it wasn’t really something you could go over thoroughly in such a short time. When she figured he’d absorbed enough in his glance that she could give him the rundown, she spoke up again.

[color=#8dcdc1]“Malcolm Richardson the Third,”[/color] She rolled her eyes, amazed that the boy didn’t even have a name unique to himself within his family and was still so arrogant. [color=#8dcdc1]“Rich boy, son of a prestigious litigator, member'a the football and baseball teams, hobby boxer. Not very good, but quite violent,”[/color] She looked over her frames up at Jonah from where she was still sitting on the desk. [color=#8dcdc1]“It’s the boxin’ that’s doin’ it, he’s got Dash convinced it’s [/color][i][color=#8dcdc1]trainin’[/color][/i][color=#8dcdc1],”[/color] Monarch’s words were colored just so with distaste, the martial artist upset that any fighting form was being abused to harm the innocent or unknowing. She watched Jonah as she always did, eyes keenly aware of every movement he made and reading just as much from his body language and facial features as she did from his words. [color=#8dcdc1]“Friends with Theo Van Cise and Ronnell Ashby.”[/color]

She didn’t bother covering the irate look that flashed across her face for the briefest moment at the mention of Ronnell before it returned to her stoic expression as she gave more information. She’d been there at the bash when Decky had received a text and shot off towards the bedrooms like a bat out of hell, had been there alongside Sin ushering Rye from the room and into AJ’s arms while the two of them stood guard at the door. Had been there to hear Ronnell reveal his mother’s maiden name, and she knew the danger that followed it. She supposed that she should be grateful that like minded people find each other and stick together. Like fish in a barrel, and she was already an amazing shot as it was. Still…

[color=#8dcdc1]“Girlfriend is Anna-Marie Stokes, cheerleader, former friends with Toury’s bestie Helen before a mostly-unknown fallin’ out,”[/color] Monarch had a few ideas based on the crumbs of information she managed to find, but she wasn’t one to speak fiction as fact. All she knew was that the girl could go right into the barrel with the other three. [color=#8dcdc1]“This is likely Toury’s angle. They’ve been fightin’ a lot lately. I heard her tellin’ one'a the other cheerleaders in the hall yesterday that she thinks he might be cheatin’ on her since [/color][i][color=#8dcdc1]‘He’s just been so distant! What, like [/color][/i][color=#8dcdc1][b][i]I’m[/i][/b][/color][i][color=#8dcdc1] not enough?! It’s [b]me![/b]’”[/color][/i] Monarch was no master at voice modulation and mimicry like Jonah was, but she could easily adapt the spoiled rotten tone and pitch of a privileged brat that wasn’t happy the world wasn’t licking her boots for once. She dealt with enough of them on a daily basis. Her facial expressions and body movements changed as well, the chameleon girl embodying the role in its entirety all the way to the pouting lip and angry scrunching around her eyes. Just as quickly as she’d become another person, Monarch was back in the spot, hands resting lightly on her backpack and expression once more smooth as treated stone. 

[color=#8dcdc1]“It’s likely that if it’s made out to be her idea, Stokes can be pushed towards Toury and encouraged to request her services. Hell, she’s desperate and angry enough right now that Toury could probably be bold and just offer to test him and she’d take it. I’d say eighty six percent success rate on that, though. He’s equally as likely to fail that test, give or take a few percent.”[/color]

Pensively, Jonah listened to his friend go off. To have a human computer on his side heightened his own percentage of success, seeing how she was destined to become an information broker. For as long as Jonah knew Monarch, and that was since his nephews moved from Gravette to LA, he could see how smart and gifted she was. A little Einstein, a conniving weasel, and an arsenal of power because of her skill set. If she truly wanted to, she could nuke this whole school and change the entire hierarchy with a snap of her fingers, and perhaps with Joey’s hacking skills. This was the digital age so while blackmail could get you far, spreading it like wildfire through social media or holding your computer hostage could guarantee you past the finish line. Jonah was lucky to have both Monarch and Joey on his side.  

With all these talented individuals that could be easily weaponized to cause mass destruction at BHHS, Jonah wasn’t trying to rule anything. He could care less about the politics, the gossip and the drama. What he cared most about was his network and making sure once he moved his tassel from the right to the left, he knew exactly where he was going and how he would provide for his family. He also cared about spending time with his friends, while he was still young, like watching wrestling with Joey, who marked out over the immersive story, or teasing Athena and her blooming crush on a certain football player that cost the game. [color=#a44866]“You’re scary, you know that?” [/color]Jonah half-joked. There was a lot of truth behind his words. Monarch shouldn’t be this good at knowing things, having a vast web of intelligence sources, like a spider, but here she was with documents that told him the whole life story of Dash’s bully and those associated with him. [color=#a44866]“People are lucky you’re not here for your own personal gain or they’d be, plainly put, fucked.”[/color]  All Monarch wanted to do was protect those that couldn’t protect themselves and if that meant going out of her way to dig deep, stalk, catch the details and use discretion with a strong code of ethics, then Monarch would do just that. 

The responding grin, sharp as the one she'd given Sin earlier and twice as dark, could certainly have you thinking otherwise. You didn't grow up as a Trip-S Legacy and join the gang before your double digits without learning how to hide your predatory aura. But acting like a little rabbit never once meant she actually became the prey. It did mean she had a soft spot for those unfortunate enough to actually [i]be[/i] prey, and that most often she preferred to keep her meddling behind the scenes. It was why she stayed out of student council outside of taking photos for them. Monarch had no thirst for power outside of information, had been content in her position in the Trip-S and found her specialties transferred rather easily when she got to LA, if only with less violence. It was fine, she had several outlets for when her darker impulses decided to crash against her ironclad restraint and stalwart will.

[color=#8dcdc1]"Why do you think I like to keep busy?"[/color]

Jonah returned the smile. That was response enough to her question. Well trained and tight-lipped, Monarch was remarkably tenacious, efficient and organized. A proper businesswoman. Jonah respected that. Respected her. His respect wasn’t easily earned. The girl that stood beside him as an equal found her place as one his close confidants and he’d make sure their friendship wasn’t one sided. It was a give and take transactional relationship and if the girl ever needed advice or assistance, she knew who to call. [color=#a44866]“How are you?” [/color]Jonah asked, breaking the brief silence between them by reminding her that she was human underneath all that sound knowledge, logical reasoning and result-based motivation. 

[color=#8dcdc1]“I’m fine,”[/color] Monarch responded instantly with a blink, not surprised by Jonah’s change in topic but unsure how to answer it even with it not being the first time he’s asked her such a thing. Monarch was always fine, especially in comparison to the people she most closely surrounded herself with. She had her fun when she wanted to, stellar grades, plenty of options and avenues ahead of her for her life, a loving and supportive family unit that all still lived in the same area, and great friends. Sure, she didn’t know which of the multiple paths available to her she wanted to take and she occasionally spirals over the thought of taking a gap year to keep working at Pharaoh’s company, or if she wants to go to any college at all despite all her Early Action. Sure, she’s occasionally contemplated getting a GED and just ditching highschool entirely and starting something like a P.I. business that could put Jessica Jones to shame, but when those silly thoughts pop up she manages. She skates, she hangs out with Sin and Katie, she finds Addie and they have some fun, or occasionally she finds Levi to watch him squirm and struggle to maintain a power balance that he never had a chance with in the first place. She decompresses the ways she knows.

So yeah, she appreciated Jonah reaching out, but there weren't any pressing matters of hers that she felt needed to be brought to attention. In fact, aside from the fact that it was mostly to help Trixie through whatever happened to her, Monarch even got to be tactile with someone outside her flings and close friends. As someone who loved touch but often restrained herself once her inner circle wasn’t involved, it was nice. She wasn’t about to mention that she was gathering information on whatever had made the other petite girl open to that casual comfort in the first place. There was no reason to, this catch would be hers if she had anything to say about it. He was her friend, though, regardless of if others were aware of that fact, so she could give him [i]something[/i]. [color=#8dcdc1]“I even got to have a little harmless fun this mornin’.”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“Oh?” [/color]Jonah looked at his friend intrigued. [color=#a44866]“Monarch getting up to no good? Now that I need to hear more [/color][color=#a44866]about[/color][color=#a44866].” [/color]There was a quick second where he glanced at the clock on the wall, above the door, making sure he wasn’t getting lost in this interaction and that he had time to spare to go from one meeting to the next. Like his friend said, he was a busy boy but that didn’t mean she didn’t deserve his attention and he would give it to her fully. Worst case, he’d text Toury he was running late. He was sure the girl would understand, even if question him that it wasn’t like him to be late. Just how Monarch did moments ago. [color=#a44866]“Let me guess, you had more than a cup of coffee to wake you up. Someone catch your eye, dear?” [/color]

[color=#8dcdc1]“I wouldn’t go that far,”[/color] The skater waved her hand with a small smile. [color=#8dcdc1]“But I may’ve introduced a newbie to shotgunnin’ to help her accept the smoke better and get her nerves to relax a bit. She’s a friend, but I don’t think she’d be able to handle my busy schedule any more than anyone else, y’know?”[/color] That was always the crux of it too, even if she [i]did[/i] have any interest in someone and it was reciprocated back, being able to squeeze up to an hour of free time out of her schedule would never be enough. Sin’s relationships failed because she never changed who she was, and Monarch’s failed in different ways for the same reason. It didn’t mean Monarch didn’t have her fun, just that it never lasted unless it was people like Addie or Levi who understood and didn’t want to change the dynamics of their agreements. And at least with Levi, well, romance had [i]nothing[/i] to do with it. She really liked Trixie, but she had a feeling it was more protective than picturesque.[color=#8dcdc1] “She got high as fuck though, Sin and I got her to her car and I left her snacks an’ drinks between periods. Sin said I was gonna break someone someday, so you ain’t alone in your earlier [i]scary[/i] sentiment.”[/color] 

She looked at the clock on the wall by the door and decided she would stay in the classroom to finish the program for Pharaoh so she didn’t risk missing her deadline. She didn’t mind, the hum of the kilns was soothing in a way. They reminded her of the simpler times learning ceramics with her other brother King, who she admired deeply and owed much to. All her siblings were great, but they didn’t all go to prison because they got caught after having made sure she got away safe and unseen. She was glad he finally came home last month, the vase drying on the shelf that she’d been checking on earlier was to be a present for him, one of her best works yet.

[color=#a44866]“You know, just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you can’t have committed partners,”[/color] Jonah leaned off the table and joined Monarch’s side, lifting himself up to sit next to her. [color=#a44866]“You’d be surprised what you’d do when you find those you’re really into. Eiran and Zo are prime examples of men that have and will still move mountains, if it meant they’d get more time with their ladies. Hershey, well, he’s a special kind of special. I don’t know anything about his love life and you know what? I’m okay with that.”[/color] Jonah humored, giving a soft smile, if you can even call it that. He looked happy but his insomnia encircled his eyes like the rays of the sun and his lips could only curve high enough to make him look less dead, with some kind of buried emotion radiating from his soul. An emotion that showed this was a topic he thought about a lot, and perhaps wanted for himself.  

He gave the girl his undivided attention. He behaved well older than his age, just like her, but for someone as perceptive as Monarch, there definitely was melancholy behind his fatigue. Being an uncle did wonders to the boy. [color=#a44866]“You’re too young to assume that there’s no one out there that would either match your energy or understand your priorities. You're a busy girl, I get it,”[/color] Jonah stated, understanding where she was coming from but also seeing where she needed to improve on. [color=#a44866]“But like I tell my nephews, you are a kid. You’re not in Kansas anymore,”[/color] he joked rather flatly, comparing Oregon to The Wizard of Oz. [color=#a44866]“Leave some space in your [i]busy[/i] schedule to enjoy your senior year and make memories, just like you did this morning by getting your friend stoned out of her goddamn mind.”[/color]

When Jonah sat next to Monarch, her whole body tilted on a little sibling’s reflex and she dropped her head onto her friend’s shoulder as he spoke, letting herself close her eyes for a second as well while she listened to him. It also gave the tired boy a chance to tilt his own head onto hers if he wished to close his own eyes for a moment. His speech wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before from her own siblings, aside of course from the personal references to Jonah’s two brothers and brother-in-law, but it was nice to know he cared enough to not only tell her to be a child, but to even know she would have [i]partners[/i] instead of the singular. While she can’t recall with her impressive memory ever talking to Jonah himself about her being polyamorous, it seemed- by no surprise at all- that he was already well aware. It wasn’t often that you got any real information about Monarch if it wasn’t out of her own mouth, so she was proud of him for knowing regardless of how he came across the information. Probably little Danny running his little mouth, honestly, and she could never be upset with that kid, especially for something that likely came about from a normal talk with his favorite uncle.

[color=#8dcdc1]“I don’t think anyone would be prepared for Hirsch’s partner, whoever they are and however they’d identify. I have a feelin’ he’d get with someone real similar to him,”[/color] Were she anyone else, the thought would have had a shiver of fear running down her spine. Hirsch was an information gatherer and broker very similar to the way Monarch was, with no need or care to have the same rapidly fluctuating system of personas that she employed. He was extremely straightforward and, much like his little brother, constantly overtired as well. He stalked through the garage like a contemplating poltergeist looking for his next target, and only when he’d zeroed in did you even realize he was standing right next to you with his hands in his pockets and that blank look on his face. Kudos to Eiran, Zo, and their wives for raising the two young geniuses as well as they did while raising Zion as well with equal love and attention. She actually saw many parallels in the Boaz-Goldstein unit to her own two Boaz boys, including the prodigal younger raised by the disenfranchised and heavily determined older. 

If she believed in fate, she would say that Decky, Danny, and Sin finding the boys’ uncles living just a few streets away from her in her new home would have definitely been it. It brought to her people from her past that knew who she was underneath the final mask, and brought the boys to safety. It introduced her to Jonah, who she now had both a strong business relationship with and a more surprising shadow friendship with, which later made her a trusted member of The House. Before the other Gravettites came to Cali, Monarch had been floating through the school system and clubs with zero real connections outside of [i]informant[/i] and [i]target[/i] for a whole year already, and was quickly becoming just a cocoon with no gracefully painted wings to show for it. They hadn’t even been very close back in Gravette aside from Decky and Monarch being siblings by bond in the Trip-S, but all three new arrivals had latched onto her and reminded her of who she was and that that part of her didn’t need to disappear just because she was somewhere where most people wouldn’t understand it. She’d thought she had found a dear friend group in them alone, but then she’d started working with Jonah, and she found friends that weren’t just accepting of her but [i]like[/i] her in their minds. Maybe Jonah and she would have crossed paths and figured it all out themselves, but Monarch liked to think there was something special about the way Danny had first pulled her into the office space of the Garage and sat her down in front of his uncle, a game of chess already set up to begin between them. Jonah hadn’t even said anything, eyes already on the board, so Monarch simply blinked silently and made the first move with her white piece while Danny bounced excitedly at her back and watched.

[color=#8dcdc1]“You’re right,”[/color] Monarch finally admitted in a quiet breath, letting her eyelids flutter back open after the moment of comfort. She glanced at the clock. They had a little more time. [color=#8dcdc1]“But that begs the question, Jonah, what about you?”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“Depends if I come across someone that intrigues me enough to invest,” [/color]Jonah, closed eyes, answered in a way that only he would, as if he saw relationships like a business transaction. It was unintentional but due to his inability to have romantic and sexual feelings in a predictable manner, it was how he best understood the connection between people. The bonds he shared. He did have crushes from time to time but they were few and far in between. His crushes when they did suddenly appear out of the blue weren’t enough to inspire him to go feral like some of his peers. That didn’t mean he couldn’t go feral, it just took him a long time to get there. At present he had a casual relationship with Cael and the more he got to know the bouncy boy, the more in tune Jonah found himself with what they had. They didn’t have sex often, it was strongly dependent if Jonah was in the mood or not, but when they did, it was when Jonah’s desires were heightened and when he was willing to show a repressed side of his. What made Cael a nice choice as a lover was he was a chatterbox which allowed Jonah a glimpse into his soul. Learning the body was easy, learning the heart was an entirely different beast. 

Early on Jonah knew he was gay. A kiss with a girl in fifth grade was more than enough for him to understand that he just wasn’t that into girls. As he approached highschool, he realized he wasn’t as horny as everyone else. To most middle schoolers they’d see that as being defected. For him, it was something for him to research and understand. Sophomore year he got with a boy his senior and he understood that it wasn’t that he couldn’t feel, because when he did, it came rather sporadically and intensely, he just needed to be interested in the person, what they had to offer, and more importantly, their soul. As well as he did know himself, there was a small chance he hadn’t found the one to keep his attention. If that person existed he couldn’t wait to find them.

Opening his eyes, looking ahead, he explained, [color=#a44866]“While I don’t need someone to commit to, I have thought about it and do entertain the possibility of having someone obligated to love me not because they have to but because they choose to. There’s nights I have a lot on my mind but no one I’m willing to reach out to. That part of me I’m saving for whoever has the key to my boredom.” [/color]Jonah smiled to himself, thinking about the probability of him finding someone sooner rather than later. The odds weren’t in his favor. [color=#a44866]“So I don’t need a relationship. I’m not actively looking. But if it comes along, wanting to play games with me? How can I refuse?” [/color]Jonah smirked, showing his not so wholesome desire to have someone he could toy with. Someone that deserved to be played with and brought to their knees. Someone he’d best and get them to never look away. Someone that belonged to him. 

[color=#8dcdc1]“Actually, talk’a games reminds me,”[/color] Monarch spoke up, a similar smirk on her face as she thought of one such person. She sat up from Jonah and turned on the desk to face him with a calculating glint in her eyes. [color=#8dcdc1]“I have a bit’a free information for you, since I have quite a bit on my plate right now and you might be more invested.”[/color]

Monarch knew Sully fairly well, and she was as fond of him as the rest of those that hung around Dom’s were, but Jonah had more stake in the upcoming game being played. The poor streamer was in for a very chaotic senior year at the rate he was going at, having caught the eye and interest of two Greens for two very different reasons in such a short span of time. Sully wasn’t like Monarch or Jonah, he wasn’t going to understand or care enough to learn the games Levi was playing with him, and thus didn’t understand that the rich boy was toying with his obsession and idea of Sully and not actually seeing the boy himself. He’d let himself be played like a fiddle for lack of deeper interest or focus alone. That’s where friends like Monarch, and more importantly Jonah, came in.

[color=#8dcdc1]“I got this from one’a my little Flutters this mornin’,”[/color] She pulled a picture up from the message on her phone, the contact simply a butterfly emoji. She had several contacts like that. Flutters were what she called her little flies on the wall, her information network of wallflowers and forgettable faces. Those that have fallen through the cracks of the social hierarchy were always overlooked and ignored, and the people that walked these halls like ghosts until someone actually locked eyes with them were her greatest strength for the rapid information gathering required for this highschool. The picture was a little zoomed and obviously taken from around a corner, but anyone that knew the figures in the screen would have no problem seeing what was happening. Sully’s back was facing the camera, but the dingey hat he wore was unmistakable. Simultaneously leaned against the locker and looming over the shorter boy was Levi Green-Locke, a cheshire grin on his face as he spoke to Sully. 

Levi was such a dumbass. She’d already warned him during their past few hookups that fucking with Sully was a bad idea, but she supposed she had been right in calling the privileged blonde a masochist. And Jonah didn’t need to know about her dalliances with the boy she saw as little more than a brat in the bedroom, it wasn’t just Levi that didn’t want to hear it from anyone if news of their little power play got out. Regardless, she’d done her part and he’d ignored her very generous warning and guidance, not that she personally cared in the end. So she could step back and let Jonah play. She had no doubt Sully would come out of it fine, especially if Jonah chose to insert himself into the game Levi was playing with him.

[color=#8dcdc1]“It seems Levi’s made a move and decided to start a game with your little puzzle buddy. Apparently Sully was unintentionally givin’ Levi a run for his money for a minute,”[/color] She smirked, wishing her little informant had given her more on the actual conversation, wishing more to have been a fly on the wall herself for it. Sully’s dense reception and straightforward attitude could be both incredibly refreshing and amusing.[color=#8dcdc1] “But Green-Locke finally reeled it in. They couldn’t follow the boys once they started movin’ ‘cause’a Levi’s Butler, but it looks like Sully thinks he’s makin’ a friend.”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“Instead he’s getting involved with someone that gets off to… poors, for lack of a better term,” [/color]Jonah speculated based on his observations and the little things he already knew about Naomi’s right hand bitch. [color=#a44866]“Thanks for that information. The last thing we need is for Sully to cause his mother emotional stress, to the point she’d want to pull him out.”[/color] Jonah sighed, hoping Darcie didn’t go from zero to one hundred solely because a rich boy wanted to toy with her son. 

[color=#a44866]“Between you and me,” [/color]Jonah stated, gazing to the side toward his friend. Disclosing one of his more wholesome deals, he explained, [color=#a44866] “Miss Harper had a heart to heart with me awhile back. She trusts my character and enjoys how her son is with me, I guess.” [/color]While wholesome, this still weighed on the boy daily because Jonah, even if he was wiser than most of his peers, was still a kid and now had a charge. Out of the kindness of his heart, he made a promise to the mother. He couldn’t say no, not to someone that was actually good at her job. Darcie was a good mother and even gave some of her warmth to him when he needed a motherly touch that wasn’t from his sister-in-laws.[color=#a44866] “Something she told me in private was that our school puts her on edge. It isn’t built for people that Levi takes interest in. The poors. One thing led to another and now I watch my puzzle buddy, moving strings when necessary. Our school is fantastic for education purposes, social-wise though? That’s what she worries about. How can you blame her? Her son struggles on reading into obvious situations you and I would pick up as red flags immediately.”   [/color]

[color=#a44866]“Oh, and speaking of red flags. Aren’t you friends with Trixie?” [/color]Jonah asked, decidedly redirecting the conversation, seeing how time was running out and he had a feeling Monarch would want to hear this. He could be basing this on a hunch but if he wasn’t mistaken Monarch and Trixie were friends, or they had a business relation going, and Monarch liked to protect her assets, especially the ones she cared about. 

Monarch barely had a moment to process the little secret Jonah had divulged before suddenly Trixie’s name was falling from his lips. Her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the side, teetering somewhere between inquisitive and friendly warning. She doubted he’d brought her up because of Monarch’s earlier name-redacted anecdote.

[color=#8dcdc1]“I am, what do you have for me?”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“We lost the game,” [/color]Jonah started, pulling out his phone to show Monarch a recording. [color=#a44866]“A fight broke loose between Theo and Benji.” [/color]The video began with Theo head butting Benji and cursing, like a boy giving a tantrum. [color=#a44866]“It didn’t take long before Andre and Jem jumped in and [/color][color=#a44866]thennnnn[/color][color=#a44866] security came out.” [/color]Videos of this fight were trending on X. Andre rushed to break it up and instead of Benji backing down, he shoved Theo off him who had been beating the crap out of him from top and threw a nasty right hook to Van Cise’s jaw. [color=#a44866]“I was late to our meeting because I wanted to get the full story and boy is it a doozy. Baby Theo couldn’t handle an L and I mean this was a big L because it was the homecoming game.” [/color]The prying boy shrugged, indifferent of sports and if their school was leading the charts or not. [color=#a44866]“Classic, childish boy puts the blame entirely on someone else instead of holding accountability to how he fucked things up. Benji may have literally dropped the ball but Theo has shifted the team’s mindset, in the worst possible way, since he took over after Tyler left the team last year.”[/color]

Finally, he was at the part that would interest Monarch the most. Bringing up the volume, he played a small segment of the chaotic fight where Benji mentions Trixie. The person recording did get closer but their voices, even at their loud volume, were extremely faint. Monarch would have to listen closely to hear it apart from the crowd. He replayed that part once more before speaking again,[color=#a44866] “We already talked about Mayhew’s decline since his family’s scandal at our last meeting but in my opinion, he played well tonight up until the last play. Now I bring up Trixie because words were said that really got under her ex’s skin. I quote. I think I finally get why Trixie broke up with you. You’re a fucking psychopath. Unquote.” [/color]Jonah couldn’t help but be amused at the low blow. Truth be told, he was happy to see Benji sticking up for himself even if that jab was saucy.[color=#a44866] “You know what Theo said? Don’t you fucking dare bring [/color][b][color=#a44866]my[/color][/b][color=#a44866] Bea into this. Kind of gross unless they’re dating again.” [/color]

[color=#8dcdc1]“They’re [/color][color=#8dcdc1][i]not[/i][/color][color=#8dcdc1],”[/color] Monarch said coldly, face completely blank as she tracked the movement on the screen. Any sign of the relaxed friend was gone, in its place was the human computer that set people on edge with her gaze as she calculated several scenarios at once. There were very few people that knew enough about Trixie to put her in the state she was in this morning. [i]And[/i] Jonah wasn’t one to make assumptions, so… [color=#8dcdc1]“Why would you think that over some possessive wording?”[/color]

[color=#a44866]“They left the bathroom together this morning,”[/color] Jonah said flatly. Her reaction and shift in demeanor alone was enough for Jonah to tell that he hit a chord. It wasn’t an easy thing to do with Monarch nor did he do it intentionally. But similar to her, he understood knowledge was power. This may not have been gossip he expected to get a reaction but now that he did, Jonah knew it would only benefit him in the long run. He directed one of the more dangerous students at this school toward his competitor. Theodore Van Cise. A boy that was monetizing on the local underground fighting market. If Monarch allowed her emotion to take the wheel, that was one less thing for her friend to worry about. [color=#a44866]“I talked to one of the younger kids in the Morning Show. Jenna, the strawberry blonde. She accidentally spilled her coffee on Trixie. I was checking on Sully before I went to my locker. My locker so happens to be right by the bathroom she went to. I didn’t know she was there until both she and Theo came out of it. So yeah. That’s why I think that.”[/color]

[color=#8dcdc1]“Hm,”[/color] Monarch intoned as she finally looked away from the ended video, idly putting to mind that she needed to have a conversation with her little Flutter about informing her about the [i]whole[/i] day’s events and not just Sully. She spilled coffee on Trixie [i]and[/i] witnessed what triggered the state Monarch had found the girl in? Jenna was supposed to be her Media mole, not just Sully support, so she absolutely should have told Monarch everything about Trixie and Theo. [color=#8dcdc1]“They ain’t datin’,”[/color] She reiterated but did not expand upon, well used to withholding information as she saw fit.

Fucking Theo, the racist every-phobic peacock with a puppetmaster complex. Monarch did her best to avoid any shit from the Stratton twins and here life goes putting their cousin directly in her sights instead. But now, with this final piece in place, Monarch saw a much clearer picture of what happened with Trixie this morning. Not that everything other than Theo’s involvement wasn’t already formed, but Monarch was a creature of information and more was always better. She had her own file on the boy, but much like his friends Malcom and Ronnell it got bigger the moment her friends were involved. Like how Decky was one of the fighters on Theo’s roster. Not the champion of it like he had been as a pre-teen in their own back home since he was more of a street fighter type than MMA, and he used this one mostly to vent the last of his misplaced aggression that he couldn’t get out with his equally as poor daily coping mechanisms. She’d have to do something special for him to make up for his future loss of income once Theo was done for. Humming thoughtfully, Monarch’s head tilted to the left as she looked fixedly at the boy who had given her information that would likely lead to some of her best work yet. It might take a while, but certainly not all the way until graduation. Yeah. She could take the lead on this one for him.

[color=#8dcdc1]“I smell blood in the water, Jonah.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/color]