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acescreations · 5 years ago

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Lovestruck/Smooth Criminal Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Warnings: Fighting, swearing, arguing

Ship(s): Eventual Illiyance

Word Count: 3937

Summary: Illinois never expected to end up in prison. Nor did he ever expect to one of the prisoners to get attached to him, especially one that seemed to hate him at first. And he definitely did not expect to break every rule he had for himself and get attached to that same prisoner. Really attached.

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Looking back, Illinois wasn’t even sure how it all happened. Everything was sort of a blur, and what he thought was going to be an average adventure had ended with him in a prison uniform, listening as his possessions were listed off.

“One whip, one pistol and holster, one flip phone… several bags of trail mix, a dozen water bottles, a tinderbox, one compass, one hunting knife-” Illinois was starting to wish he was less prepared now, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand still “-one flashlight, one matchbox, one pack of batteries, one sleeping bag, one tent, five bottles of dry shampoo, one Gameboy-” How long had that been in there? “-mountain-climbing equipment, and… a shit ton of hats."

“Yeah, about those hats, you think I could hold on to one of them?” Illinois leaned up against the counter by the window, but was almost immediately pulled back by a guard. “Prisoners don’t get to keep their possessions,” the guard growled at him as he was dragged off to the main room where all the other prisoners were. Illinois sighed as he looked around the room, occasionally meeting the eyes of prisoners who were staring at him.

Illinois ran his fingers through his hair, pacing restlessly around the room. “It’s just a hat Illinois,” he muttered to himself. “You can go without it, you’ve survived worse than this.” But I’ve always had my hat with me before. Illinois shook the thought away, sternly telling himself he’d be fine, although he kept running his fingers through his hair.

“Hey, youse is the new guy, right?” Illinois dropped his hand to his side as he turned to face the person who was addressing him. “Yeah,” he responded as he examined the man in front of him. “Name’s Illinois. Pleasure to meet me." Illinois shifted his weight onto one leg in an imitation of calmness.

The prisoner gave him an unamused look as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, I’s heard already. And I just wanna explain somethin’ to yas. That youse better not try ta break out, ya hear me?”

Illinois raised an eyebrow at him. “I never said I was going to try.” He hadn’t even really considered that possibility until then. Honestly, this guy probably would’ve been better off not saying anything to him.

“Well youse ain’t goin’ to. Nobody breaks outta here, so it’s best ya don’t even try, or else youse gonna deal with me, or worse, the Warden. ’M I clear?”

Illinois nodded, although he wasn’t at all concerned about what he was saying. His mind was still on all the kidnapped hats. “My sentence is fairly short, so you don’t have anything to worry about. I’m sure I’ll last until then.”

~ ~ ~

Illinois wasn’t going to last until then.

The first day or two weren’t too bad. Illinois hated having to follow a schedule, but he told himself he could deal with it. The yard wasn’t nearly big enough to get any real exercise in, but he thought he could deal. He even got over not having his hat. Kind of. But even with the surprising amount of hidden passageways in the prison, Illinois did not have enough to do to keep himself busy. The days were getting way too long, and Illinois swore his sentence was supposed to end days ago. If he didn’t get out of there soon, he was going to lose it.

Fortunately, Illinois knew he wouldn’t have to wait to get out. He had found every tunnel, every passageway, even trapdoors that Illinois didn’t think should be in a prison. He’d be able to get his possessions and get out like it was nothing. Nobody would even notice.

Or at least that was the plan , which would have gone off without a hitch if Illinois hadn’t walked out into the courtyard that night to see the tattooed prisoner that approached him on day one - Yancy, Illinois had since learned his name was - standing out in the courtyard, eyes coming down from the sky to land on Illinois.

“The hell’s youse doin’ out here?” Yancy demanded in a quiet yell.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Illinois countered, trying to remain indifferent. It was then that Yancy’s eyes finally landed on Illinois’s bag, and Illinois decided to consider himself lucky that it didn’t burst into flames from the fury in them. “Youse tryna break out!”

“Yeah, and I’d still like to do so, if you wouldn’t mind.” Illinois reached into his bag and pulled out one of his hats, putting it on as he attempted to walk past Yancy, who, unsurprisingly, did in fact mind. Illinois stumbled back as Yancy grabbed him by his shoulders and threw him back. “Oh no, you ain’t goin’ anywhere. Nobody breaks outta here, and youse sure as hell ain’t no exception.”

Illinois began surveying the area for a way out as Yancy began advancing towards him, cracking his knuckles. He ended up not needing to worry about that, however, because it was then that they were illuminated by flashlight beams of guards who had evidently heard the commotion.

“Hey!” Yancy’s head jerked over to the source of the lights when he heard a guard shout, and it was then that Illinois saw his chance to get past the prisoner. He immediately made a dash for the gate, but then suddenly the ground rose up to him and the air was knocked out of his lungs as Yancy tackled them both to the ground. “Youse ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Yancy growled as he struggled to hold on to a persistent Illinois until they were both grabbed by guards and dragged back inside, the two glaring daggers at each other the entire time.

“Wait here,” a guard commanded as the two were shoved down into chairs sitting in front of the Warden’s desk, their mutual glare still generating enough static to power a small town. “The Warden will deal with you soon enough.”

As soon as the guards had left the room, Yancy spoke up. “This was exactly what I was sayin’ was gonna happen to yas.”

“Well I would’ve been fine if you didn’t stop me.”

“Why the hell youse even tryin’ ta break out? You promised you’d stay!”

“Well I changed my mind.” Illinois chose not to argue the fact that he never “promised” to do anything. “And I still intend on leaving,” he said as he stood up, “and I’m not gonna wait around for someone else to stop me, sweetheart.”

“You’re staying here,” Yancy said with a surprising note of seriousness in his voice as he reached up and grabbed Illinois’s arm. “You’re the reason we both in this mess in the first place.”

“It’s not my fault you were outside. And what were you doing out there anyway?” Before Yancy could respond, the door opened, and the Warden walked in. Yancy’s hand immediately dropped from Illinois’s arm as he watched him enter.

“I have to say,” he said, looking between the two of them, “I am very surprised that it was you two that interrupted my sleep. And please, sit down.” Warden put a hand on Illinois’s shoulder and pushed him into his seat, and Illinois’s face twisted as he attempted to hide the amount of pain it caused. “You know,” the Warden continued as he sat down, “I had very high hopes for you, Indiana. You were showing so much improvement.”

“It’s Illinois. And why haven’t I been released yet, then?” Rather than answer Illinois’s question, the Warden turned his attention to Yancy.

“And I am very disappointed in you, Yancy. I thought I could expect better behavior from you.”

“But Warden, I’s was just tryna keep him from breakin’ out!” Yancy protested.

“I did not ask for an explanation. You were still outside your cell after lights out, and I can’t just allow my prisoners to wander freely, now can I?”

“Well no, but I-”

“Enough!” the Warden interrupted. “Yancy, I’m sorry to do this,” he said, placing a hand on Yancy’s shoulders, and Illinois winced sympathetically at the audible crunch it caused, “but I can’t make exceptions to the rules, even for you, you understand?”

Yancy nodded. “O-of course, Warden, I-”

“Wonderful.” There was another crunch as the Warden patted Yancy’s shoulder. “Now, I’ll have to have the two of you spend the rest of the night in solitary.” It looked like Yancy was about to protest again, but before he could, the Warden left, and two guards came and took them to solitary confinement.

Yancy glared at Illinois the entire way to the solitary cells, and once he was roughly pushed into the small room, he turned to glare at his back as the doors closed on them before turning around to the opposite wall. With a shout, Yancy slammed his fist into the wall, and after a short breath, he drew back his arm and slammed it into the wall again, and then didn’t stop. He wasn’t trying to get out of the cell; at the moment, his focus was on how Illinois had lied when he said he wouldn’t try breaking out, and how that ended up getting him to spend the night in solitary.

Once Yancy had released enough of his anger on the cell wall to think clearly, he took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. He stared down at his knuckles, which were already starting to swell, and gave himself a moment to think through things. For one, he had no idea how Illinois had managed to get outside in the first place - with his stuff even - and without Yancy’s help. As far as he knew, he was the only one in Happy Trails who knew how to break out, which would mean that Illinois found the way out himself, which, Yancy had to admit, was pretty impressive. He was guessing the guy figured his way out at night and somehow managed to not get lost, since he apparently never really slept, or at least that’s what Sparkles guessed from sharing a cell with him. If that was the case, he definitely wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. Yancy knew he was never able to fall asleep in solitary. But who knows? Maybe Illinois figured out how to get out of solitary already.

~ ~ ~

Illinois stared dully at the door when it opened the next morning, idly swinging his leg back and forth as it dangled from off the bed. When the guard who opened the door yelled at him to get out, Illinois did not need to be told twice, despite him knowing that it would be just as aggravatingly dull outside the cell as it was inside. He’d at least be able to move more than three steps in any direction.

Illinois was almost thankful, then, when he had to go back to following the prison’s schedule; at least he was moving. However, it wasn’t even a week before Illinois started to feel like he was losing his mind again, and even though he didn’t exactly keep track of time anymore, he assumed his sentence had been extended. Not that it seemed to matter anymore, he nearly went insane even before that night in the courtyard.

Illinois really should’ve been expecting it when he finally snapped. And yet, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he still barely processed when he instinctively whipped around and connected his fist with the face of the hand’s owner.

Illinois blinked for a moment as he stared at his outstretched arm before moving his eyes to the person it had knocked back, only to land on the face of a very surprised Yancy.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Illinois slowly lowered his arm as he watched every face in the yard turn to the two of them, absolutely certain that Yancy was about to retaliate. He could already tell this wasn’t going to end well for him; he had nowhere he could run, and he already knew there was no way he could beat Yancy in a fight.

All these thoughts immediately left Illinois’s mind, however, when he heard laughter coming from the man standing across from him. Illinois blinked in surprise he could tell all the other prisoners shared as everyone turned to look at Yancy, who just stood there, laughing.

“Well whaddya know, I’s didn’t think lover boy had it in him,” Yancy said once he had finished laughing. “I’ll let youse off this time ‘round, buddy,” he said as he walked up to Illinois before patting his shoulder and leaning close to Illinois’s ear. “Meet me here. T'night,” Yancy whispered as he let go of Illinois’s shoulder, walking away and leaving Illinois to stare after him in confusion. Was Yancy lying when he said he’d forgive Illinois punching him? Did he just not want to deal with getting punished for getting into a fight? Didn’t he remember what happened last time Illinois saw him in the yard at night?

Illinois didn’t stop asking these constant questions to himself for the rest of the day, and so his curiosity made him risk the possibility that Yancy was planning on beating him up so he could meet him. Illinois wasn’t entirely sure what he was expecting when he arrived there, but it definitely wasn’t seeing Yancy with Illinois’s bag on his shoulder, turning one of his hats around in his hands.

Yancy looked up when he saw Illinois walking over, holding up the hat. “So why’s the hell youse got so many of dese?”

Illinois shrugged as he stopped in front of Yancy. “What can I say, I look good in a hat.” It was obvious to Yancy that Illinois was trying to look calm and collected, like every day, but he was still doing a really bad job at it. The dude didn’t seem to realize, but how pale he had been getting for the past week or so made his bit really unconvincing.

Yancy sighed. “Well, here ya go,” he said, holding Illinois’s hat and bag out to him. Illinois looked at him in surprise for a moment before cautiously taking them from him. “Alright, I’m gonna get youse outta here before I end up with a shiv to the back,” he chuckled as he began walking off, gesturing with a casual shrug of a shoulder for Illinois to follow.

“Wait, you’re… helping me escape now?” Yancy looked back at an Illinois who looked like he thought he just completely went nuts.

“Well I’s didn’t grab all that stuff for fun,” Yancy said, gesturing to Illinois’s bag.

Illinois stared skeptically at him, and Yancy had no idea what he could still be questioning. “Well why the change of heart?” Illinois asked after a moment.

Yancy raised his eyebrows at him. “Youse seen yourself lately? Buddy, you wasn’t gonna last anyway, and I don’t want youse to hurt yourself by hittin’ the wrong dude.” Yancy laughed, slapping a hand against Illinois’s back. “How comes you so attached to the outside world anyways? What’s in it for youse?”

“What isn’t out there, that’s the real question. There’s so much to do out there, so many things to see. There’s adventure, glory, life to live!"

Yancy jerked his head to the side as he heard guards approaching, apparently having heard Illinois, and pushed him into a concealed corner, hiding them both there until he could hear the guards leave. "You might wanna keep youse’s voice down,” Yancy reminded him as he continued leading Illinois away.

“So why are you staying here?” Illinois suddenly asked him.

Yancy glanced back for a moment before shrugging, his hand subconsciously going up to the back of his neck. “Well, I mean, this is home, y'know? I got my gang back there.” Yancy sighed, and from then on, it was silent.

Then, once Illinois was outside the gate, he turned back around to look at Yancy on the other side. “So how come you were out here that night?” he asked as he put his hat back on.

Yancy shrugged before pointing up to the sky. “Just takin’ in the view, y'know?”

Illinois looked up at the sky where Yancy was pointing and nodded. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Illinois stayed there for a moment, and just as he started to turn to leave, Yancy reached out a hand to stop him. “Hey um,” Yancy glanced down at the ground, “youse should come visit some time. Visitation’s every third Sunday, but considering how far youse got yourself, youse could probably come in whenever you like,” he chuckled.

Illinois stared at him for a moment, and Yancy had no idea what he was thinking in that moment. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a nod before turning and walking off.

And that was the last Yancy saw of Illinois.

At first he thought that maybe Illinois would stop by for a visit, even though the chances were slim, but then a month passed, and then two, with no news of him, and eventually, Yancy accepted that he wasn’t coming back.

And so, he was reasonably surprised when he was standing in his cell one night, and he turned around to see somebody climbing out of his cell wall.

Out of instinct, Yancy immediately took a step forward and drove his fist into the stranger’s face, only to find out that the shocked face of the stranger was actually Illinois, who had fallen back against Yancy’s bedside table. Yancy stared at him in disbelief as Illinois stared down at the floor in shock, both of them completely motionless.

After what felt like an eternity of both of them being completely still, Illinois reached up and put a hand to his face where Yancy’s fist had collided with it. Yancy watched as Illinois clicked his tongue before saying, “Yeah, I had that coming.”

As if his voice had broken Yancy out of some kind of trance, Yancy took a step toward Illinois, a barrage of questions on his tongue. “What took ya so long? Why youse only visiting now? How the hell did youse get in here?”

Illinois stared at him for a moment as he straightened himself, looking like he was still processing everything, as if he was the one who just watched somebody he thought he’d never hear from again suddenly appear from inside his wall. Illinois slowly lifted his hand to point to the wall he just came out of. “There’s a tunnel hidden behind that wall panel,” he explained. “I just figured that since I was in the area, I’d drop by for a visit.”

“What?” Yancy turned to the wall panel, which he only just realized was still loose. He pulled it back, looking down the dark tunnel behind it. “Huh,” was all Yancy could think to say, as he was more focused on wondering how he never found out about a secret tunnel connected to his own damn cell.

“Yeah,” Illinois said, going to stand beside Yancy. “I’m really not surprised you didn’t see it until now. I don’t know if you’d be able to push this panel out of place from this side, at least not the first time.”

Yancy raised an eyebrow at him. “So youse found a passage I didn’t, huh? I gotta say, buddy, that ain’t bad at all.”

Illinois shrugged elaborately, walking backward into the tunnel. “Hey, I’m an adventurer. Finding secret tunnels is second nature for me. Anyway, how about we go on a quick walk, for old time’s sake.” Illinois grinned, and a whip crack echoed through the tunnel as he winked.

Yancy sighed before pulling the panel into place as he followed Illinois down the tunnel, wondering why he was so willingly going along with what Illinois said.

“You should see if you can move that panel from the inside.” Illinois’s voice echoed off the walls. “This path is probably shorter than the one you’ve been taking.” True to his word, it wasn’t long before a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, and the pair arrived on the other end, just outside the prison walls.

“I gotta admit,” Illinois said, leaning against the wall, “the view actually is a bit better in the yard. This way was just shorter.”

Yancy looked around briefly before looking at the wall behind them. “Youse ain’t tryna get me ta break out, are ya?” he asked Illinois.

Illinois laughed loudly at the question. “No, if knowing me isn’t incentive enough for that, then nothing is.” Illinois winked at him, and there was another whip crack. Yancy sighed at him before looking back up at the sky, letting silence settle around them for a while.

“So how comes youse got landed in here in da first place?” Yancy asked after a few moments.

Illinois shrugged, glancing over at him. “I got arrested for trespassing, plus I think I ran from the police.” Just a moment passed, and then Yancy burst into laughter, completely disregarding Illinois’s confused expression.

“Youse fuckin’ got arrested for trespassing!” Yancy said through his laughter. “Please tell me youse at least had some fun while runnin’ from the heat.”

Illinois opened his mouth as if to defend himself, but then closed it with a sigh, crossing his arms and looking up at the sky again. “So what did you do, then?”

Yancy’s laugh quieted, and he looked down for a moment. “Killed my parents,” he sighed, shrugging as he glanced over to judge Illinois’s reaction.

Illinois stared at him with raised eyebrows before briefly nodding. “Huh,” was all he said, and Yancy had no idea what that response meant.

“Anyway,” Yancy said, standing himself upright, “I should probably be heading back now. Don’t want the guards to see my cell empty.” He chuckled before holding up a hand to wave Illinois goodbye. As he turned back to the tunnel entrance, he heard Illinois say, “Wait!” and felt him grab Yancy’s arm. Yancy turned around to see Illinois reaching through his bag, pulling out a pen. Yancy stood still as Illinois clicked the pen and wrote a series of numbers on Yancy’s hand, followed by a set of small hearts.

“Just in case I don’t came by again, so we can keep in touch,” Illinois explained as Yancy stared down at the writing. “And who knows? Maybe if you get out someday, you can get in contact with me.” Yancy heard a whip crack as Illinois turned away. “Anyway, see you later, Ohio Boy.”

How did he know I’m from Ohio? Yancy stared after Illinois for a long moment as he walked away before looking down at the number on his hand. He released a deep breath as he reentered the tunnel, thankful for the cooler temperature of it, continuing to think back to the person he had just talked to, comparing him to the person he had helped break out just a few months before. Yancy couldn’t help but feel grateful that he had helped Illinois break out when he thought about it. He actually started to wish he had never stopped him the first time when he thought about how terrible Illinois had been looking, and how much better he looked tonight.

Once Yancy got back to his room, he put the wall panel back into place before staring at it for a few seconds. A smile came to his face as he sighed, laying down in his bed. After a moment, Yancy lifted his hand, staring at the series of numbers, getting lost in thought.

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