#// plsss i love u midas im so sorry abt price

[valeria-fortnite]

His uneasy agreement to try and get ahold of Montague is enough to sate her as she drops the topic entirely, more entranced by the idea of him that she keeps building up in her head.

An older male model with a pension for silvers and diamonds, a smooth juxtaposition to Valeria's fiery reds and golds, maybe they're business partners! Regularly hired and scheduled together for that opposites look. Though she doubts she still models in her 30s, unless she really did cave and get those surgeries her agent suggested one time...

Involuntarily Price shudders at the idea of anyone touching her with a scalpel and she shakes off the thought entirely just in time for Midas to answer in the positive about her gift-giving question.

His answer and further clarification almost causes her to drop a sleek black phone in surprise, a laugh bubbling out as she struggles to contain her disbelief.

"A condo?! Why, whatever made you buy such a thing!" She giggles out the question, clearly enjoying this entire experience and less than disoriented externally about the time jump.

She glances up from her phone picking to Midas with a look, something a bit smug and a bit of something else entirely as she catches his expression when she mentioned the stalker. "I've had plenty of freaks bother me, I'm used to it by now. I wouldn't be surprised if I still had any all the way here too but like, who knows."

Price does give a soft frown as she learns he's less than thrilled to speak about himself and she can't help the way her eyebrows furrow in an upset understanding. Normally she'd try and yank that information from people, tearing and prodding at their weak points until they told them everything she wanted to know. But Midas was clearly different, clearly he saw something in her worth the patience it took to deal with her and she decided she didn't want to press that specific subject.

She steps up close to him when he stands. "I hadn't meant to ask about the past I know from legend but I won't ask anything more even if I'm terribly curious about what led you to get such nice tattoos," Price practically coos out the compliment as she smooths out a hand by his collarbone, fingers toying with the collar of his shirt to get a better look at the large tattoo on his neck.

"I've always wanted one you know, did I ever end up getting it?" Her hand drags down just a bit before she removes it entirely to take a proper hold of his arm, smiling like the cat who caught the canary while looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Oh, yes! Ugh like, I hope I have really cute shorts or something. Is this island chilly? I'm still not great at regulating my body temperature thanks to this little trinket, you know?" She flicks the relic with her free hand.

At the door to where the cursed Valeria had been brought, Midas gave one last nod to Brutus before taking a quick breath. He knocked twice before opening the door and stepping inside.

The sight of them was...stressful. Valeria was indeed around 20. The differences in her appearance almost as jarring as he'd imagined the Prince had been to everyone, with a smaller frame, her hair black, red underneath not quite her natural color, and much darker makeup than Midas saw Valeria wear these days. Skye's skinny jeans on them would be humorous under different circumstances.

He put a polite smile of his face despite the worry nagging at his core, not knowing exactly what to expect from the younger version of the person he'd come to adore.

"Hello, Miss Price. I apologize for the confusion you must be feeling." He said with a short bow, hands behind his back, "I am Midas, it's a pleasure to meet you."

He left out his royal title on purpose, thinking it might bring about a line of questions. Though, it might be a moot point with the crown sitting in his hair. And his armor. And the gold gauntlet. And the gold on his damn hand that he regretted not keeping behind his back now.

"This is my yacht, we call her The Marigold. The man who showed you to this room, Brutus? He brought me to speak with you. Said you were...expecting a photoshoot?"

@king-midas-fortnite

Between the time of being left in the room and Midas arriving Valeria had found herself entertained enough trying to guess the passcode of the phone she'd found in her pocket. It was nice, with a heavy black case and some odd symbol on the back that she almost recognized.

The man on the lockscreen, however, was a complete stranger to her. He looked nice despite the scars over one of his eyes which she decided he pulled off well.

Idly she wondered if he was some model she didn't know yet.

Leaning back into the couch and kicking her feet to stave off her boredom she continued to make up an entire life for a man she only had a singular image of. Valeria decided he was a model, an older one of course but that's not uncommon for male models, and he probably did a lot with high class attire. Anything but shades unless it was a summer shoot and they were sitting on his hairline rather than his actual face.

She shifts again to sit back up, nail tapping on the screen to keep it from going dark, just in time for Midas to knock and enter.

"Oh thank gods, like, where the HELL am I?" Yet, she doesn't even bother to actually look at him while he talks.

At least until he says his name and she perks up instantly. Valeria's head whips to look at him, flaming embers flying off of her hair and fortunately cooling before scattering across the couch.

He continues to talk and all she can do is stare owlishly at him as she takes in every feature from his face to the crown and his hand.

His hand.

"No way," Her words came out more like a gasp of awe as she slowly stood up, eyes sparkling with curiosity and literal sparks as the relic around her neck clinks against the gold bands. "Brutus? Is that really-" A laugh bubbles out of her mouth and she sheepishly tries to cover her mouth. "No, no I'm sorry, um, oh wow."

Valeria takes a moment to try and compose herself but it's clear she has a very specific question in mind.

"Like, I had assumed it was a shoot but now I have no clue what's going on but like, you're," She clenches and unclenches her fists as if trying to contain herself. More flames flutter from her hair as she talks.

"I can tell, oh my gods, you're The Midas aren't you? Not, not a model dressed up for some tattoo shoot right?"