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“ riiiight . . whatever ya' say , x ” she paused , before coming to look down at their ( still very ) intertwined hands .
“ we should .. probably stop holding hands now . someone could get the rig — WRONG * impression ♨️ * . ”
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the slightest of smirks went to curl her lips , and teknique poked at one side of his helmet . brows lifted for a moment - she ' d noticed they were still holding hands .
it was almost as if .. him getting nervous suddenly looked cute .
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ㅤhe just looked away , frustrated expression beginning to creep onto his face . he was losing it . this wasn't him .
‘ it's nothing don't worry about it . i shouldn't be having to explain myself this much . ’
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her eyes narrow now .. and she ' s already trying to guess whatever he had in mind .. not that she could — but he was really * taking his time .
“ aaaand ? ? cat got your tongue now , x ? ? ”
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ㅤin that moment , he went completely silent . it wasn't due to him having to think or defend himself , he just—— couldn't look away from her .
he shook his head , his eyes beginning to look off in different directions to cover his staring .
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her eyes too widened a bit , and her brows .. they — furrow ? ? six years ago , she ' d probably pinched him and ran away before he could even catch her . now ? she was very * still .
“ i .. no — no ! i know you wouldn ' t .. that you could — ”
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ㅤah , and reality finally settles within him . he did not let go , but his eyes widened as she caught him red handed .
what could he even say to defend himself now .ᐣ what she's described is something too much even for his standards .
‘ do you seriously think –
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and teknique , once again , is trailing off . she takes a minute before her free hand comes to pull down her scarf - taking a deep breath .
“ i too deserved being scared off . ya' got nothing to say sorry to . besides .. i — never said i was mad at
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she returns the thumbs up before starting to spray . some lines heeereeee . . some theeeeereeee . . . and the sketch is already done ! the artist turns around to point at it .
“ does it look good ? ? what'cha think , haylee ? ? ”
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Mmmkay! That's fine.
[ She looks around, finding a nearby rock and sitting on it. She sends off a text to someone and then holds her phone up to record. She gives a thumbs up. ]
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she scoffed , clearly offended that — what others had admired for SO * long —- was being seen as something disappointing .
being one of the first ones to introduce graffiti doesn ' t help .
“ please , like you * could do any better . ”
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⠀
⠀⠀” your 𝖋ree will * is at stake. “
leisurely advancing into the direction of the now vandalized structure ; his clothed arms extended out, the gloved palm of each hand facing towards the sky, 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 gesturing at her so-called ‘ 𝐚𝐫𝐭. ‘
⠀⠀” and —
➡︎
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the sound of spray keeps going for about three more seconds before she just stops —- wow . that is .. a concerning amount of island .. realities and things that happened — 💧 *
🌀 * teknique ' s even turning her head around .
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Right . .
I’ll just list it off then . .
[ she took a deep breath ,
before she spoke again . ]
Apollo , the Island I came from , had spies , flood , heroes , hunters , wildlife , aliens ,The Last Reality , and jr was flipped .
Artemis had IO’s return , doomsday device +
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is she letting go ? not really .
“ and don ' t even try to say / that it was because of the imminent fatale end we were gonna face .. because that was even before he * came around . ”
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“ ¿ y qué es lo que quieres escuchar ? ” teknique asks , head tilted to a side .. gods , she ' s practically even leaning forward - as if defying him like she ' d done multiple times before .
“ is there something specifically you ' d want me to
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ㅤㅤ ‘ well , i was more afraid for my own life than what we've got going on now . still dangerous , but at least we're not directly involved . ’
with his other hand he wanted to reach for her mask as she did his helmet , but he did not want to upset her .
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( cont . ) confess now ? ? or perhaps you ' ve got something hidden yourself .. because - last time i checked , you would ' ve already tried to hit me with a rusty steel pipe — not .. holding my hand .. ♨️ * ”
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“ besides .. 'm not nervous i am just—— taken aback by your sudden change of mind ! yeah . ”
gods , teknique .. 💭 💧 *
“ besides , you * are also acting different from back then . ”
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she thinks about snatching away her hand .. but ends up squeezing the hold .
“ you are — looking so much into it , x - lord ♨️ * ” teknique mumbled , good thing her scarf has been up this entire time , if not he ' d notice ..
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ㅤhe reached out and grabbed her hand with such gentleness . he lifted his helmet just enough for his eyes to be visible .
‘ ¿ estás ocultando algo , verdad ? estás actuando bien nerviosa . . you weren't exactly the type to act like this .
you were always so carefree –
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her grip falters , and her hands are already letting go off his helmet — not that she wanted to .. but gods - she ' d never done this before .
“ we could .. i could show ya' around . instead of just going alone ? ”
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she ' d continue her grip on his helmet , brown eyes continue to stare at him like she ' d been personally offended .. when in reality , it might all be an excuse .
“ uhuh . yeah . i never said i wasn ' t —- ugh , forget it . ”
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ㅤㅤ ‘ i just wanted to talk about something else—— yeah . i mean , what else could we talk about .ᐣ ’
woah x . . keep your composure . he didn't move much , his mind trying to think of what to say to cover himself .
‘ the place is big and I'd like –
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( cont . ) tag . but eh .. nothin' will ever compare to tilted ” a sigh , before she ' s grabbing him by the very chin of his helmet - making him slouch in the process .
“ why are you * changing the topic now ? ? ”
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ah .. ♨️❓ * she ' s staring at him for a while more , did he just ——
“ wait wha —- ” she asked , before that wasn ' t even the theme at hand .. teknique could only wonder now .
“ i .. have explored the island a bit . a bunch of new places to
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ㅤㅤ he sighed , his hand coming to gently push her away but never really leaving her head .
‘ good , at least now you won't annoy me as much about it than I wanted you to . ’
ahem—— ‘ so , have you gotten the chance to go out and –
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