Welcome to Gaia! ::

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Rutilio happily lounged about on his bed as he finally got some much needed rest after a series of very stressful and emotionally exhausting days. He was glad to be able to have some down time to himself now that Georgia had gone back to his room. Not that he minded his boyfriend's company, but the Floridian wasn't quite ready to permanently move in together. It would be nice to at least go on one official date before they started making plans to settle down together. Not that they hadn't skipped a few steps towards intimacy but this was different! There were many things Florida was content to share with Georgia (such as his body) and yet there were still certain pieces of himself he still wanted to keep private.

Florida frowned lightly as he internally mused over those parts of himself which even he was starting to forget. When he thought back to his first childhood memories as La Florida he recalled someone very different. Centuries ago he had been someone who embodied the bloody title of a Conquistador's Son. No, he had never been bold enough to consider himself Spain's child by any means, but he had always been different from Mexico and Cuba. Their purpose within the Empire was to render wealth and fortune to the great conquistador while Florida's purpose had been to maintain Spanish dominance over the region. He had been born for the sake of subjugating and eliminating anyone who opposed the Empire whether it was peaceful French colonists, English explorers, pirates or innocent natives who had been foolish enough to resist. When Rutilio was honest with himself, claiming he was a former pirate hunter was sugar coating it considering back then "pirate" essentially meant any non-Spaniard who was unfortunate enough to wonder into the Spanish flag's shadow. He certainly never considered himself to be Spain's son, but he was undoubtedly an offspring of the Conquistador's reign.

Florida always wondered if anyone else ever noticed that there were two of them. There was the Conquistador, his creator, and then there was the person known as Spain, his beloved boss. They were two different people and Rutilio was secretly glad for it because the person who made La Florida was someone he always remembered as being most pleased with him when the baby colony was covered in blood.

...

Florida sighed lightly and rolled over on his stomach as he reached out to turn on his clock-radio. Any music would be fine and he didn't care what station it was on as he smiled a disturbingly happy little smile. Rutilio folded his arms beneath his chin and opened his eyes. There was no light in his normally vibrant, coral reef blue eyes as he blushed faintly at the fond memories of a time when the bloody Conquistador used to pat him on the head and call him a good boy. He had been a very, very good boy back then.

And he wasn't quite ready to share with Georgia just what a good boy he used to be.

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Florida blinked in surprise when he heard the door knock. His eyes flickered back to their normal vibrant blue as if someone had flipped a switch as he sat up curiously. He leaned so he could stare down their short hallway towards the door and wondered if maybe Cuba or their other roommate had returned. He wasn't sure why either of them would need to knock unless they lost their key so that seemed unlikely. Either way, he couldn't leave the poor visitor waiting. Rutilio stretched out his back lethargically before finally gathering himself to his feet and trotting to the door with a bright smile.

Without hesitation he threw it open to greet whoever it was with all the bright and sun-shiny Floridian warmth he had to offer!

"Hola~! Welcome to my do...rm..." Rutilio's smile froze when he saw his assailant from the gym was there. Normally his first reaction when his little brother came to visit with him was to shower him with affection and adoration, but somehow that didn't seem appropriate after their less than loving encounter in the locker room. Had he been smarter he might have shut the door then and there, but he'd grown accustomed to bullying most of his life and, therefore, had learned to accept it as simply his lot in life. California certainly wasn't the first friend or family member to kick him down, after all. His friendly smile waned into an apprehensive and guardedly polite grin.

"A-Alta..." he greeted. "Is there something you need?"

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Rutilio was quiet as he listened to the apology and watched his little brother anxiously waiting for his response. Something about it seemed more earnest than the last time, but it was still so strange and foreign to the Floridian he wasn't sure what to make of it. More importantly, he wasn't sure if he could depend on the apology.

Though Rutilio felt as though he could believe that Landon was indeed regretful of his actions, the elder state didn't quite trust him to make more of an effort to do better in the future. This was starting to become a cycle of abuse with Landon hurting him, apologizing, hurting him again then apologizing more... and Florida knew he'd forgive his little brother every time simply because he'd never been able to say no to California. However, forgiveness didn't mean forgotten.

"Oh... It is fine, Alta," he said with that same overly polite grin which held little more warmth than what was customary to a polite acquaintance. "Do not worry about it. Was that all?"

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Florida blinked at California's very long rant that started off with reminiscing about the past, jumped to legal matters of his Prop 8--whatever that was--something about defending him from an enemy, R-rated activities, back to him being a mentor, Prop 8 and other things again, legislatures and then Rutilio totally tuned out everything the Golden State was saying. He was pretty sure that all of that was somehow an apology, but the Floridian was having a hard time not clapping a hand over his baby brother's mouth and telling him that'll do. The only part he really caught towards the end was about someone wanting a lion's share of the Gulf.

..... Wait a second. All that stuff about struggling with 'bros', over reacting like a maniac in the shower, thinking no one was good enough for his mentor and wanting a lion's share, eh? It all made sense! Of course! How could Florida have been so blind all this time? Sometimes he was just too attractive for his own good.

"Alta... I am sorry, but I only see you as a friend," Rutilio finally responded with a pitying smile as he gave his baby brother a consolatory pat on the shoulder then started to slip back into his dorm. He never liked to watch the fall out of when he had to break someone's heart.

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Florida squeaked in mild terror when the door was smacked open. He quickly retreated so he was backed up against the wall in case California went insane again and decided it would be a good idea to beat him up for rejecting his "advances." Rutilio internally cursed his bad luck and good looks for getting him into these sorts of messes. He just hoped Landon wasn't the sort of guy who'd try to forcefully claim any territory. The Floridian seriously had no idea just what his brother was capable of any more.

"M-My boyfriend may be girly, but he has a gun!" he blurted out nervously while cringing and pressing himself as flat against the wall as possible. "If you do something to me..."

... Georgia might laugh, actually. Rutilio internally simmered as he recalled the blond laughing at him over the years for when he somehow was injured in the younger state's presence. Now that they were dating he wondered if that would change or if Christian would still laugh at him...?

"T-The point is you had better not try anything funny! ... Or at least be gentle! If you're going to do something to me at least try not to leave bruises. I make my living on my looks, you know?!" he babbled.

He obviously was not listening.

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