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[indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080]Sloane was on her way back to her seat, head downcast as her thumb traced the sore tears in her other palm. She didn’t pay attention to others coming or going, just the new scar that was going to be added to her growing collection and the fact that she was almost certain she didn’t finish in under fifteen minutes. Her mind, lost in other thoughts, didn’t have the time to register a person approaching until she was wrapped in an embrace that pulled a startled gasp from her. That was twice now within the past twenty-four hours that someone had hugged Sloane. The last day had given her more social and physical contact than what she had in months. It was jarring. She had grown complacent in her invisible solitude that being seen left her stunned and confused. 

[color=a4ded2]"You did your best,"[/color] a newly familiar voice whispered to her. Sloane looked up, catching Kacper’s gaze and then shifting to the empty space beside him. Then it clicked… [i]Katryna.[/i]

There was a long second where she was just… [i]frozen[/i], like a deer in headlights, wide eyed and absent thought. Her fists were balled at her sides, not entirely sure what to do with her hands or arms. Then she felt Kat’s warmth envelope her in the way the girl shamelessly embraced her and how her cheek brushed against her own in silent comfort or support. Sloane didn’t know how to respond, but slowly her body eased, and eventually her arms returned the hug. It wasn’t as certain or strong, but it was there. Although her hands remained closed out of fear of getting blood or whatever else on Kat… And perhaps some small subconscious reluctance that kept her from being too vulnerable too fast. 

After the somewhat awkward hug and Sloane returned to her seat with a weary sigh, she felt Kacper’s gaze. She looked over at him from the corner of her eyes while her fingers toyed with her torn blisters, the discomfort almost grounding her. [color=54998e]"Bet you’re going to be sore later,"[/color] he commented with his sarcastic teasing that she was quickly learning to be his natural state of existence.

There was a moment where she nearly replied with her own quip, but something more solemn slipped out instead as she looked down at her red and irritated skin. [color=c7b29b]"I’ve had worse."[/color] Her confession mirrored a statement she made earlier that morning, but like before, it wasn’t full of pity or sadness, but a quiet and resolute strength. Once again, Sloane didn’t elaborate on her meaning. She didn’t want a pity party as she recounted the woes of her life. She just didn’t want to be seen as weak. Of course she’d likely be sore and miserable for the rest of the day, but if she could survive Pandora’s box and her brother… Then she could survive anything.

When the siblings’ names were called, Sloane gave them both a small smile while attempting to be as encouraging as possible. [color=c7b29b]"Do better than me,"[/color] she teased, making light of her own failure as they both headed toward the course. 

She watched, silent and observant as they both started their run. It quickly became apparent that Kacper was hindering himself and slowing his pace to keep an eye on Kat. It reminded her of something Liam would do, which made something repressed in her chest constrict into a tight ball of sadness, longing, loneliness and annoyance that twisted and knotted into an indiscernible lump. If Kat was anything like her, having someone looming overhead like an over protective guardian would only—

[color=a4ded2]"Ruszać się, Kacper! Nie potrzebuję, żebyś mnie niańczył!"[/color] 

She didn’t have to speak the language to know what was said. Something probably along the lines of [i]‘fuck off and worry about yourself’[/i] if she had to guess. She watched as Kacper sped onward leaving Kat behind to struggle in her own determined stubbornness. Sloane’s gaze flitted back and forth between the siblings, wincing and grimacing whenever Kat struggled or fell, then watching Kacper in slight awe at his speed and agility. There was once or twice that her gaze slipped to the flexing muscles of his biceps as he lifted himself up or the way his shirt was pulled taut across his broad shoulders, but whenever she caught herself she quickly looked back at Kat like it never happened.

Kacper had already finished and Kat was near the end when she slipped and fell at the tail end of the giant ladder. Sloane flinched and grimaced, recalling the pain of her own tumble. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the girl started heaving like her body was in full revolt, trying to purge the air from her lungs when there was nothing in her stomach to be rid of. Luckily, she didn’t get sick.

Sloane chuckled as Kat stomped on her brother’s feet, not once but twice, before finding her way back to the stands. In an attempt to be equally as comforting, she raised a hand and gently started stroking Kat’s back. Still worried that her hands might be bleeding she used her knuckles rather than her fingers… But she was trying. That had to count for something. [color=c7b29b]"You win,"[/color] she said with a quiet, playful tone hoping to bring some lightness to the situation without rehashing what happened. They both lived it, they didn’t need to talk about it. 

When Kacper returned to his seat on the opposite side of her, Sloane eyed him with a sidelong glance and the faint hint of a smirk that tugged at the corner of her mouth. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of saying his run was impressive, but met his snark word for word. She tilted her head toward him slightly like she was going to share a secret and pointed at his feet with her free hand. [color=c7b29b]"Bet you’re going to be sore later."[/color] Her eyebrows rose a fraction as a soft, guilty laugh slipped out like a whisper on the wind. 

Katryna didn’t pull away from the touch at her back. Instead, she folded inward around it, shoulders caving just a fraction as if the last thread of tension finally had permission to slacken. The heat of exertion still clung to her skin, her muscles buzzing with exhaustion and pain, but the steady, gentle motion of Sloane’s knuckles grounded her there, present, not spectacularly failing, helping keep the world from tilting quite so violently. She let out a long, measured sigh, one that carried more than breath with it.

[color=a4ded2]“I was really hoping,”[/color] Kat began, voice low and wry, threaded with that dry humor she used like armor, [color=a4ded2]“For a better first impression than… falling on my face. Repeatedly. In front of everyone.”[/color] Her mouth curved, not quite a smile, but something adjacent, acceptance, perhaps. [color=a4ded2]“But I suppose it’s an efficient way to humble people.”[/color] She paused then, eyes drifting sideways to her brother, the look sharpening just a touch. [color=a4ded2]“Some people,”[/color] she added solemnly, pointedly, [color=a4ded2]“Still need to be humbled. Unfortunately.”[/color]

Kacper caught the look, of course. He always did. But before he could retort, Sloane’s pointed comment found him square in the ribs. He gasped softly and pressed a hand to his chest in mock agony, brows knitting together as if mortally wounded. [color=54998e]“You wound me,”[/color] he said, tone dramatic but subdued, the sarcasm laid on with practiced restraint rather than bite. The performance only lasted a second before it dissolved, his expression shifting as his gaze dropped to Sloane’s hands. The teasing slipped away, replaced by something more earnest, more watchful.

[color=54998e]“Joking aside,”[/color] he said quietly, nodding toward her palms, [color=54998e]“Those look worse than anything I’ll feel tomorrow.”[/color] His jaw tightened faintly, concern threading through the usual edge. [color=54998e]“Is there a nurse here? I mean… every camp has a nurse, right?”[/color]

Katryna snorted softly at that, rolling her eyes even as she leaned a little more heavily into Sloane’s side. [color=a4ded2]“You are adorably optimistic,”[/color] she said, dry as dust. [color=a4ded2]“But I highly doubt a camp run by—”[/color] she gestured vaguely upward, [color=a4ded2]“—godly parents follows the same strict safety guidelines the rest of society pretends to care about.”[/color] Her mouth twitched despite herself, amusement flickering through the lingering pallor and fatigue.

[color=c7b29b]"There used to be… Kind of… [i]I think?[/i] I don’t know. We’ve kind of just been patching each other up best we can. Or at least we did after the whole Pandora’s box thing."[/color] Sloane sucked in a sharp breath, not used to people fussing over her. Considering what she went through during Pandora’s box, her hands felt trivial. She survived that without a healer, even managed to accept the ugly scars that marred her back… [i]sort of.[/i] Her gaze fell to her palms once again. [i]What were two more?[/i]

Kacper let out a quiet huff through his nose, the sound clipped and edged, like a breath forced through clenched teeth. He leaned back slightly, one forearm braced on his thigh, the other hand lifting to scrub at his jaw as his pale eyes tracked Sloane, not her hands, but her face, the way her gaze kept dropping as if gravity lived in her palms. There was something in the way she said it. Not dramatic. Not self-pitying. Just… resigned. And that, more than anything, set his teeth on edge.

[color=54998e]“Everyone keeps talking about that damn box,”[/color] he muttered, irritation threading through his voice like grit in a blade. [color=54998e]“Pandora this, Pandora that.”[/color] His brow furrowed, annoyance sharpening, though it was aimed less at her and more at the invisible weight that kept being dropped into the space between them. [color=54998e]“And I have no idea what it even means.”[/color]

He glanced away for a beat, jaw working, then looked back at her with an expression that had softened despite himself, still gruff, still guarded, but no longer sharp. There was a strange care in the way he chose his next words, as if he were handling something breakable without wanting to admit he noticed the cracks. [color=54998e]“But,”[/color] the word landed heavy. Deliberate. [color=54998e]“It sounds like… sensitive territory.”[/color]

Kacper shifted forward again, elbows resting on his knees now, posture open in the way he rarely allowed. [color=54998e]“So,”[/color] he continued, tone rough but not unkind, [color=54998e]“here’s the deal.”[/color] One corner of his mouth twitched, not quite a smile. [color=54998e]“If I provide coffee, real coffee, not whatever sludge the camp pretends is acceptable—then you tell me.”[/color] His gaze held hers steadily, no pressure in it, only patience edged with stubborn resolve. [color=54998e]“As much as you’re comfortable with. No more. No less.”[/color]

He shrugged, as if trying to downplay the offer, but the sincerity lingered anyway. [color=54998e]“I’m not prying,”[/color] he added gruffly. [color=54998e]“I just don’t like not knowing the shape of the thing that hurt people bad enough that the camp is turning into a bootcamp, and it seems like this camp has enough history to fill a whole damn book.”[/color] His eyes flicked, briefly, to her hands again before returning to her face. 


Sloane chuckled a little at his initial huffiness at the mention of Pandora’s box, but she didn’t interrupt him as he complained then shifted into curiosity. Her gaze remained on him, brows raising slightly when he lost his sardonic air for something more serious, grounded and sympathetic in his interest. She took in his change of stance, pensive and more open in his ease. It was a stark contrast to her own poise, sitting bolt upright with her hands in her lap and her ankles crossed, just like she learned in finishing school, a subtle testament to her upbringing that still lingered. 

Her dark gaze remained on Kacper’s bright blue eyes when he finished. There was no sarcasm or harshness behind them or his words, just a desire to understand and not be on the outside. Sloane felt like she was seeing a glimpse at a softer side of him that he rarely let come to light around anyone other than his sister. There was a part of her that wanted to slip into her default state of curl in on herself and close out the rest of the world, but rather than shutting and locking the door, she pushed it open a tiny bit more. [color=c7b29b]"I would have told you if you asked,"[/color] she confessed quietly. One of her hands reached up to brush loose strands of hair behind her ear as her gaze drifted toward the course for a moment before finding its way back to him. [color=c7b29b]"I’ll still accept the bribe though."[/color] A faint smile curved at the corner of her mouth. [color=c7b29b]"It can be my farewell present before you hear all of Camp’s history and decide to get out of here while you can."[/color]

Kacper let out a short, incredulous scoff, the sound rough-edged but not unkind, and rolled his eyes skyward as if the very notion offended him. He shifted in his seat, forearms braced on his thighs, posture loosening in a way that spoke of comfort rather than retreat. 

[color=54998e]“Please,”[/color] he said, voice dry, dismissive in that familiar way that masked sincerity rather than erased it. [color=54998e]“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”[/color] The words landed with a quiet finality, not boastful or dramatic, just true, as though once he decided to stay put, it would take more than camp legends and cursed artifacts to move him. He glanced at her again, blue eyes sharp but warmed now by something steadier, something amused. [color=54998e]“If I survived being born with her,”[/color] he added, jerking his chin vaguely toward Kat without looking, [color=54998e]“I can survive this camp’s ghost stories.”[/color]

[color=c7b29b]"I’m not sure it counts as a ghost story when I have proof,"[/color] she mused softly with a curious tilt to her head and a pensive pursing of her lips. [color=c7b29b]"But I suppose I can let you be the judge of that."[/color]

There was something oddly grounding in the exchange, Kacper realized, a rhythm to it he hadn’t expected, banter threaded through with honesty, curiosity stripped of its usual barbs. He felt the corner of his mouth tug upward despite himself, a half-smile he didn’t bother to hide. Coffee for confessions, history for stubborn company. It sounded fair. It sounded… easy, which was rarer than he liked to admit.

Kat watched them from the corner of her eye, saying nothing, her silence intentional. A small smile curved at her lips, soft and knowing, as she observed the way Sloane didn’t shrink under Kacper’s gaze, and the way her brother didn’t loom, didn’t posture, didn’t sharpen himself into armor. Instead, he met her where she stood, rough edges and all. Kat’s fingers curled loosely in her lap as a thought began to form, slow and deliberate. Not a plan, not yet, but a possibility. And she let it sit there, quietly blooming, as the two of them continued to circle one another with words instead of walls.[/color][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]
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[color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] katryna & kacper [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] sylas [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] [@Sleepy Tani][/color]
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[indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080]The taste of iron, liquid and warm, ran down the back of Wes’s throat as he laid on his back staring up at the sky, bright, blue and not a single cloud in sight. He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping to forget about everything for a minute… If possible. The next round was called, filled with a bunch of names he didn’t care about, so he didn’t bother looking up.

With the movement of other campers returning to their seats or making their way out to the course, he didn’t hear anyone approach. [color=66356a]"You did amazing."[/color] Trinity’s voice cut through the noise of the arena, forcing him to open his eyes, although squinted, and turn his head slightly to look up at her. The worry was plain across her face, no different than when he took the boar tusk to the thigh. 

Wes was going to argue, but before he could form any words she removed the shirt from his face and pressed her lips to his, regardless of the blood that lingered there. He didn’t care about the iron that tinged the kiss or the ache of pain that radiated across his face from her nose pressing against his. He was never… [i]ever[/i] going to turn down a kiss from her, no matter the circumstances or if they were fighting. It didn’t matter. 

After a second, Trinity pulled away, but remained looming over him with her hands pressed against his shoulders to keep him in place. [color=66356a]"I mean it."[/color] Then, once again before he spoke, she pulled away and slipped into the empty space on the bench by his head. 

Wes pushed off the bench with his elbow, forcing himself upright. He swung his leg over the seat and slid over to fill the gap between them. There was a long second where he didn’t say anything, just rested his elbow on his bent knee and pressed the blood stained t-shirt back against his nose. [color=667c0c]"Pretty sure I still failed,"[/color] he grumbled into the bunch of fabric as his gaze followed the group currently running the course. 

In the silence he noticed Trinity’s gaze frequently darting over to him out of the corner of her eyes. The last time she looked she was caught red handed and smiled slightly in guilty defeat. [color=66356a]"Just 2 percent concerned,"[/color] she confessed, measuring the distance with her fingers. 

A sound mixed somewhere between a scoff and laugh rumbled behind the shirt before he wiped any wet blood that remained on his face and dropped his hand to his lap. Dried streaks of crimson still stained his lips and chin, but it was no longer wet or running. [color=667c0c]"I think this might [i]actually[/i] be the most normal injury you’ve seen me with,"[/color] Wes commented with a levity that didn’t quite match the severity of the situation. He finally looked over at her with a weak, but warm smile. [color=667c0c]"I’m fine, blondie. It’s just a broken nose. You’ll just have to accept that I’m going to be a little less pretty,"[/color] he teased, while lightly bumping her arm with his elbow. 

The couple then slowly started slipping back into their normal rhythm. It didn’t fix everything or erase the need for a conversation later, but it showed, even in their rough patches, that they still loved and cared about each other… And that’s all that mattered in the end.[/color][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]

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[color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] trinity [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color]
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