Tip Top Testing

[ToppyTippers]

Donovan tossed his bag across his broad shoulders and eagerly padded after Finn. If there was one thing he really loved about the guy, it was that he could brighten up Donovan's day with that infectious smile and delightful sense of humour. He returned the bump against his shoulder, feeling relief in the simple gestures of friendship that he needed to perk up and begin to forget about the stress of his recovered memories.

In the parking lot he was greeted by Finn's beloved, beat up truck, affectionately named Maximus. Such a regal name for such a piece of crap. But, Donovan was equally as infatuated with his own junky fishing boat that he spent more time fixing than sailing. As Donovan slid onto the worn out seat next to his friend, Finn announced they had something of importance to discuss. He couldn’t imagine exactly what Finn considered a matter of great importance, because at no point could he imagine Finn had concerns that bordered on serious. The dead stern look in his eye suggested to Donovan otherwise.

Maybe he could imagine one or two things that would be important to Finn. Money was his top priority, of course, but Donovan knew for a fact the man had a handle on that after securing him those angelfish. Women, then, was the next thing that came to mind. Maybe Finn finally got a girl pregnant. He did live with the pretty, young Kizzy, who’s abilities always gave Donovan the creepy-crawlies like he’d been wrapped in seaweed. But Finn seemed to like her. Alternatively there was any number of ladies who came and went from that bar he worked at, many who paid the charming Finn attention with fluttering lashes and sexy hair tosses.

As it turned out, it was nothing quite so serious. Donovan slumped back against his seat at the question, and proceeded to laugh off Finn's critique of his previous choices in costume. There was that sense of humour Donovan was looking forward to, even if it was a little insulting.”Hey! I put a lot of work into that costume!” he defended. He had made it himself, and it was pretty damn anatomically accurate. And colourful.

Finn’s alternative suggestion didn’t help much. Donovan got another laugh out of it, one that was fainter and really just covered his discomfort. Yeah, he would make a good prince charming, mostly because he was one. A prince, that is, not charming. Although he did have his rare moments. ”I don’t know about that,” he replied with a casual shrug. Pretending to be a prince would make the past only seem more real, and he wasn’t quite ready to accept it just yet. Hell, he was still operating under the hope that he’d hit his head and become delusional, because that’s what everyone would say happened to him if he told.

On the other hand, it might be a valid idea to help him cope. If he dressed in the fancy clothing and played the part of the prince he had apparently once been, it could help him accept that he wasn’t just this. Wasn’t just…Donovan the fish guy.

”Can’t I just go as a sailor? I have that costume already,” he sighed. ”You could be prince charming instead. You got the charming part down. You charm me out of my pants every time you take me into that bar of yours.” He gave the man a doe-eyed, flirtatious look, as if he were one of the star-eyed girls who fell for the suave bartender. "Unless you already have a better plan for your costume."

[ToppyTippers]

As Kato laid on his heavy praise Genevieve grinned with obvious pleasure, her ego thoroughly stroked by his kind and mysterious compliment. Good, he did so like her when she was a in a good mood, and he would gladly dish out all the flattery it took to get her there. Although, had she been sour before he arrived he would have seen hints of it, so he could only assume that something else had brightened her day. And for Genevieve, what brightened her day was the darkest of matters.

That worked out well for Kato, because she would pass on the delightfully twisted things to him and he could use them for much more lucrative purposes than she. It was not, then, unexpected when she stated she had something for him, though a gleam of excitement shone on his face as his wide grin split his face. He just loved it so much when she brought him things.

This thing in particular turned out to be a photo. His fingers darted out to snag it quickly from the bar and unfold it in front of his face. If it was possible, he lit up more at what he saw before him, a scandal caught on camera between a rich, powerful, married lawyer and someone who was not his wife, but a suspect in an ongoing investigation. Genevieve continued, explaining to him the danger of elevators as he stared at his new prize to take in every inch of the image. ”Yes, very unfortunate,” he agreed, folding it back into it’s perfect square and tucking it into his pocket. It truly was unfortunate for the man in the photo, because Kato knew exactly where to take it to have the most fun. The man's colleague, Guan Yin Li, was a rigid, humourless woman, but she thought herself to be of upstanding moral character, which meant she would make sure justice would crush this man quickly and thoroughly. Normally Kato liked to watch them wriggle a little, knowing that he had evidence, but when dealing with such powerful players he would have to be much more careful.

In cases like this, watching the man be utterly destroyed was probably far more interesting anyways.

All of this, he imagined, was exactly what Genevieve wanted. He could tell from her cavalier attitude and sarcastic words that she intended for him to do as much harm as he could with this photo, and he planned on doing just that. Well, it could be considered harm, or it could be seen as simply unearthing the truth. It was their own fault, really. If these people were more honest in the first place, there would be nothing for Kato to discover and bury them with.

Kato dropped his face onto his hand as he leaned against the bar, his grin not fading in the slightest as he looked up at her with half lidded eyes.”I think I love you,” he sighed dramatically, fingers itching to reach for that dark lock of hair hanging over her shoulder, and play with it like a cat with it's favourite piece of string. Flattering Genevieve was easier than anyone else because he didn’t even have to lie to her. He did indeed feel a deep affection for her. Love? Perhaps. But what kind? He didn’t know. At first the strange warmth had been due to his deep respect for her and the services she did for him, but that had evolved. Next, he’d thought it had branched into some sort of platonic liking, but then…there was lust there, wasn’t there? She was beautiful in both her striking features and keen mind, if not a little…old. Maybe he liked old. Maybe.

Who knew. He didn’t, and it didn’t matter what it was he felt because impractical things like ‘love’ and ‘lust’ were hardly a priority. Relationships and sex were mere tools in a very complicated game.

She would never take his statement as a serious confession of love anyways, because the past had proven that he was never serious about such things. It was all just flattery to her, meant to bolster her pride and her own affection for him so that they could continue to serve each other’s needs. ”Rest assured, the right hands have a tendency to find what they need. I wish I could say that the wrong hands have the same tendency, but those particular paws are peculiarly prosaic." he sang, his index finger batting back and forth as he punctuated his words. By the wrong hands, he of course meant those baddies from Wonderland or otherwise, whom he reported on to Genevieve when they were being naughty. This time he really had lied, because he knew for a fact that Mr. Walsh had been up to his tricks recently, or would be in the very near future. But as much as he loved, lusted, or liked Genevieve, the game of cat and mouse she played with his favourite baddie was too good to give up. Ever.

So she would never know anything about his recent and most beloved obsession, nor how he released tidbits of information to fuel the flames.

"As of late. I'm hopelessly bored," he continued, flourishing a hand, "You could help me with that, though. Would you like to play a game?"

[ToppyTippers]

• Elijah didn't even notice how long he'd lingered outside that window, but it was definitely longer than intended. What started as a quick peek turned into a prolonged observation of the merriment inside, and soon the song had ended and they all stopped. He looked back towards the street, noticing now that he'd been there at least long enough to fully catch his breath and let his heart rate go down to its regular steady thump.
  
  Just as he thought of leaving, the door to the workshop opened just a sliver and a pudgy, little thing was pushing his way out. Instead of dashing into the street, however, the boy was stopped by the pretty, young woman who Elijah had thought must be the leader of the group. At least, that's what he gathered by the way she danced, and led the small kids in their activity. Startled, Elijah stepped away as her eyes turned up to him and he looked away to avoid the eye contact.
  
  When she spoke to him, a wave of nerves rippled through him and settled in his stomach. He'd never intended to be noticed, and he knew he should have left just as soon as he'd taken a quick look inside. In fact, normally he would just dash away now to avoid the awkwardness of conversation and the inevitable ******** up that would come when he tried to associate with someone new. But he didn't, because there was something just a bit off about her.
  
  Oh, she’d asked him something. His eyes darted to his feet as he continued to avoid her eyes as much as he wanted to avoid the question. The music was probably fine, but his hearing was a bit better than most. He wasn’t interested because of the volume, just the odd tune that he didn’t really hear often around this town. "Fine. It’s fine, he muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "I was just…passing by.”
  
  He chanced a look back at her when she let out a little cry, and he noticed the kid was now in her arms, yanking at her hair. He lingered there for a moment as his shoulders hunched up near his ears, protecting him a bit from the breeze that blew past him. But there, on the wind he caught a scent that was both familiar and not. A low, startled ”ah!” fell from his lips as he realized the reason she’d felt just a bit different. Well, different and familiar, like the others of his kind. But he didn't know her, had never seen her at the cabin, nor heard of her from the alpha, so his curiosity bloomed even more with this strange meeting.
  
  Even after the woman had disentangled the child’s hands from her hair, Elijah continued to consider her with a natural frown. ”It was...the music was strange. I was just curious," he continued, pretending that his previous moment of recognition was unimportant. If he was to get any answers about her, he would unfortunately have to attempt some kind of conversation. From experience, he'd gathered that people didn't generally like being asked deeply personal or strange questions like "have you been bitten by a strange animal lately" by complete strangers. "And the dancing was...weird. But nice weird. I guess.
  
  
  Where // Outside Deepika's workshopxxxxWho // Deepika xxxxFeeling // Curious, awkward xxxx

  
  

[ToppyTippers]

Lately Tink had to hide too many things from Percy. He didn't like hiding things, and he especially didn't like doing all the lying he had been, because Percy deserved better. So of course, every time he kept secrets or lied when Percy asked if he was okay, guilt ripped through him more painfully than a knife. But some secrets needed to be kept. Some things Percy couldn't know.

The aforementioned best friend was snuggled up warmly against Tink's side on a raggedy as they watched a movie on the old tv in Neverland's den. A few of the other lost boys spotted the room with their presence too - Curly on the bean bag chair in the corner, Nibs lying on his stomach way too close to the tv screen - but they faded far in the background when Percy was lying so close Tink could hear the other boys heart beating and feel the warm hand resting on his side.

It was suffocating, actually.

Now normally, Tink would welcome all the closeness he could get. The frequent, innocent physical contact that Percy was pleased to provide was way more satisfying than it should be for a normal friendship. But with the secrets, Tink didn't feel like he deserved it.

And when he glanced away from the movie for only a second, and caught a glimpse of a shadowed figure in the corner, he couldn't bear to let it go on.

He pulled himself away from Percy and sat up on the couch, running a hand through messy blonde hair as he looked for the figure he'd seen. It was gone, of course, because it wasn't real at all.

I just need some air, he signed dismissively at Percy, who was looking at him in bewildered surprise. Percy shrugged, scrunching his lips like he did when he was disappointed but not in the mood to fight about it.

Tink bolted from the room, before Percy could make him feel anymore guilty. It's for your own good, he thought when he was a safe distance away from his friend. No, Percy didn't need to know that Tink had been seeing things that weren't there, hearing things that weren't real. Or, more specifically, hearing and seeing one of Percy's most hated people ever.

Alone in the tunnels, Tink caught just a wisp of his image again. He could tell it was Kato's skinny frame even under the dim lights and the bright blue eyes that shone through everything verified it was true. Kato's half lidded eyes stared at Tink, even while the rest of him dissipated in a smoky haze. The eyes or the smile always went last. Tink wiped a hand over his eyes, a soundless groan rumbling in him as he turned around and went the other way. Why was it Kato? Of everything his brain could conjure up to haunt him day after day, why was it Kato? And why was it always so...creepily inviting?

Obviously because something was wrong with him. Why else would he hear Kato whispering things that he secretly wanted only Percy to say to him? Or feel hands lightly teasing his hips, neck, arms, or anywhere to make him shiver. Sometimes it was so good that it became really difficult to hide how much his body loved a little attention.

Even though it wasn't really getting any. It wasn't real. It was all in his messed up head.

Tink shook his head as he made his way towards his own little safe haven in Neverland, a little train car with a wooden workbench Percy had bought for him for their 'birthday' (really bought for him with), and some stuff he'd been tinkering with lately. He felt safe there, and even if his mind was the cause of all of this embarrassing and horrible Kato business, then he could at least get it working on something else and hopefully get rid of these visions.

When he got there, he leaned against the table, head down as he closed his eyes and tried only to think of the task ahead of him.

The little purr in his ear and lick of hot air on his neck really made that difficult. He tried, and tried, squinting his eyes closed in concentration. But it got worse. Phantom hands across his stomach, up his chest, over his shoulders. Like he was being touched all over, and his body wanted more no matter how much his mind told him no, it wasn't right.

[ToppyTippers]

"And how did you manage to escape my spell?"

The brassy, female voice made Elijah's stomach flip. In his surprise he jumped, but turned around to lock eyes with the stranger with bold swiftness. She was dressed n a dark gown, a hood draped loosely over long, chestnut curls of hair. She had a severe face, with angled cheek bones and a pale complexion that made her look sickly, and yet oddly beautiful. There was something about her, some aura that had Elijah staring at her wide eyes, unable to look away or run, as any intelligent person would do.

"Who...why have you done this?" He asked in a breath, fear evident in the slight quiver of his voice.

she ignored his question completely. "You are the young princeling, are you not? How odd that you were not effected, I've heard you are utterly insignificant."

"What?" Elijah rumbled, the nerve of this woman replacing his paralyzingly fear with anger and disbelief. She thought so highly of herself that she could insult the prince? While true she had done a number on the inhabitants of the castle, she had no right to talk down to royalty as though she were more than some villain.

She scoffed at him, a haughty sound that broke any spell of fear over him completely.

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