#then pointed to literally the worst man in the city and said dibs

[penguuthegentoo]

In which Bahari falls hard and fast for literally the most hated man in the entire city

She was a gerbil, he was a war criminal— can I make it any more obvious?

Ok but actually

They met at a parade in the city spearheaded by—freshly dubbed Magic Mouse—Bahari. It was meant to be a stunt to distract him, Praxys, from his high security government prison thing while the other half of their squad enacted their break in of said prison. One thing led to another and she’s dancing with him and bonding of music and dance of far gone ages. There was even a plan and a promise to meet up again (once the queen was safe from a sudden assassination attempt during the parade but that’s neither here nor there)

She hadn’t learned all his dark secrets yet by then but she always was one to live her life how she wants to

Whatever happens, happens, right?

A snippet from the date.

"C'mere a moment," she said suddenly during a lull in their conversation. She flicked a paw, beckoning the half elf closer. He gave her a curious, quizical look before reluctanly leaning closer.

She gave the man a look of assessment for a moment before unraveling the ribbon from her throat. "You've got such lovely hair, but you let it run rampant." She scootched her chair closer-- not caring in the least that she was in a fine dining establishment--and asked, "may I?"

Praxys began to open his mouth to respond but Bahari paid him no heed and continued on anyway. "Ah, so that was more of a formality than a question." He chuckled with a single brow raised and relinquished control to the bard.

"I'm the fashion forward one here, so hush." She chided him playfully. She put the edge of the ribbon in her teeth before running her paws through Praxys' silky blond locks. A soft silence encased them as she worked on his hair. She pulled the sky blue ribbon from her teeth and thread it delicately into his hair with practiced ease.

What must have only been a mere minute, felt like hours as Bahari finally tied the ribbon into a sweet bow. Its simple--half up, half down--but Bahari can already see a difference. She sat back on her haunches and assessed her work--a mere excuse to stare without question. Once she's had her fill she nods.

"There." She says, pleased. "Much better. I feel I can actually make eye contact with you--now that all that hair isn't in the way."

Praxys reached a hand to touch the ribbon and looked back to Bahari curiously. She uncharacteristically feels herself heat under his perceptive gaze. She rests her chin on her paws in an effort to distract from warmth in her chest and tells him, "now you better take care of that ribbon. Its quite important to me." She suddenly feels exposed--she hopes a careful smile and cheeky eyes can mask it.

"Well," he starts slowly, "I can't in good conscience deny a lady such a request." He leant back in his chair as a server came by and refilled their wine. Bahari refuses to acknowledge who's wine they were drinking. "I'll be sure to return it to you b--"

"No, hold onto it."

He tilted his head.

Bahari grasps her glass and brought it to her lips with a coy smile. "You can return it to me after our next date."

His blue eyes widen ever so slightly. A small smirk graces his face before he too reached for his own glass.

"Very well."

The clink of their glasses echo through The Jewel sealing the night with a promise.

[waveridden]

FIC: cast my name to the wind

A tale from America’s golden age in which an heiress renounces her riches and becomes a vagrant in a quest to deserve her one true love, the Hobo Princess, in her home the fabled vagrant’s paradise Moonshine Holler. What woman cannot relate to that? Only a woman who has never loved. Sami Jo/Autumn, Sami Jo & Steve, 1.8k.

AUcember || title lyric

#

“So let me get this straight,” Steven says. “You threw a party last night.”

“Mhm,” Sami Jo says. “You were there.”

“I was there,” Steven agrees. “And at some point, when I lost track of you at this party, you met a woman who told you she was the hobo princess.”

“Yes.”

“As in, the princess of all hobos.”

“That’s right.”

“And the hobo princess gave you… a glove.”

Sami Jo holds up the glove. “She said it’s like the hobo equivalent of proposing.”

“That’s great,” Steve says, but that vein in his forehead is doing that pop-out thing that it does when he’s actually about to go apoplectic on her. “You’re engaged to the hobo princess.”

“She’s great,” Sami Jo sighs dreamily. The woman was beautiful, a little indelicate, unlike anyone Sami Jo has ever met. She’s smitten and she doesn’t even care.

“You’re already engaged!”

“Uh, I don’t want to be engaged to Parker, and I’m also pretty sure he doesn’t want to be engaged to me.”

Steve claps his hands together in front of his chest. “You can’t run away.”

“Why not? I’m an adult, I can do what I feel like.”

“Because people are going to notice if you go missing!”

Sami Jo is an heiress to a canned good empire. It’s the shittiest, worst sentence that defines her life, next to: Sami Jo is engaged to the heir of a different canned good empire. Like somehow, marrying off two canned good moguls is going to make some huge canned good conglomerate. She hates it. Steven knows she hates it. She’s pretty sure Parker knows she hates it, too, which she’d feel bad about if he didn’t also hate it.

“Barely anybody will really care, though,” she argues. “And I want to find her again.”

“Can’t you write her a letter?”

“Oh, sure, I’ll just leave it at a street corner. Dear hobo princess Autumn, please marry me, I’ll see you next Tuesday.” She glares at him. “Steve, come on, that’s crazy.”

“And the rest of this isn’t crazy?”

“I’m going to find her,” Sami Jo says stoutly.

“You’re not even in love with her!” Steven practically shouts. “You met her last night! You can’t run away from your responsibilities and go searching for a hobo by yourself because you think you might want to marry her!”

“Good point.” Sami Jo taps her chin thoughtfully. She doesn’t know enough - or anything - about the hobo lifestyle, certainly not enough to do this. “Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come with me. So I’m not alone.”

“I don’t-”

“You don’t want to be rich either,” Sami Jo says, as cajolingly as she can. Steve is her best rich friend, which means that they both agree that having money sucks. Financial security is one thing, but the isolation, the separation, the expectation is all too much. They’ve joked about running away before. Hopefully he can tell she’s not joking anymore.

Steven sighs. “But I don’t know how to be a hobo either.”

“We can figure it out together.”

“I can’t run away,” Steven says, but Sami Jo can feel him coming around. “I can’t - can I call it a business trip?”

“Call it what you want,” Sami Jo says. “But I’m going to call it what it is.”

“And what is it?”

“A jailbreak,” Sami Jo says, and just like she knew he would, Steve cracks a smile at that.

#

They’ve been on the run for a sum total of seven minutes when a guy quite literally pops out of a dumpster and says “Whuzzit?”

Steven shrieks and wheels back a few steps, dropping his bindle in the process. Sami Jo just tips her cap to the guy. “Uh, whuzzit to you too.”

“Whuzzit’s a dumb way to say hello,” the guy says reproachfully, adjusting his headband. “It’s an American hobo thing, but I am a Canadian hobo, and I am a hobo of distinguished taste.”

“You are literally in a dumpster,” Steven says. “You, right now, are in a dumpster.”

“Distinguished,” he repeats. And then he spits a glob of saliva and… well, hopefully just saliva into his hand and holds it out. “Name’s Cib.”

“No,” Steven whispers. “No, no, no-”

Sami Jo spits in her hand and smacks it against Cib’s. “They call me Sami Jo.”

Cib nods approvingly and wipes their joined spit off on his shirt. Steven, still standing decidedly behind Sami Jo, gags. Cib ignores him. “Haven’t seen you around these parts before.”

“We’re a bit new at this whole hobo thing.”

“Also, you’re Canadian,” Steven says, kind of unhelpfully. “So, you know, that might be why you don’t know us.”

Cib peers around Sami Jo to glare at him. “Or maybe I emigrated a few years ago and you came poking around my dumpster. Ever think about that, you bean-can string-bean string-along fuck?”

“What did you just say to me?”

“Bean-can string-bean string-along fuck, aren’t you listening?”

“I don’t think he’s being literal,” Sami Jo says. “He probably actually didn’t understand you.”

“His loss,” Cib says. “You said you’re new?”

Sami Jo wipes her own hand on the side of her jeans. “Yeah, maybe you can help me, actually. I got a glove from a hobo a while ago, I’m trying to track her down.”

Cib whistles. “Got gloved, huh? Next thing you know the wedding pies’ll be baking. Who’s it from?”

“Her name’s Autumn.”

Cib’s eyes nearly pop out of his head, and in one smooth motion he vaults the side of the dumpster and lands next to Sami Jo. “You got gloved by the hobo princess?”

“Is there only one hobo named Autumn?” Steven demands.

“Yeah, she got first name dibs on Autumn.” Cib shakes his head and leans over to Sami Jo. “Do we have to take him with us?”

“Take him with us?” Sami Jo repeats. “Where are we going?”

“To find the hobo princess, of course.”

“And how do we do that?”

“You ever been on a train before, Sami Jo?”

“I have.”

Cib grins. “Not like this, you haven’t.”

#

“When you want to get on a train, you need a running start.” He cranes his neck, looking down the eastbound tracks. “Makes it easier when you jump.”

“I’m going home,” Steven says. “I’m not going to jump on a moving train, what the fuck is-”

“How do you pick a car?” Sami Jo asks, curious though her heart’s pounding.

“You normally shoot for one of the last ones. And you can tell a cargo car from the outside.”

“And when do you start running?”

The engine of the train pases them “Now,” Cib says, and takes off.

Sami Jo sprints after him without hesitation. She can hear Steven shriek “Samantha!”, the way he only does when he’s actually pissed at her, but she knows that he’s running after her. Or at least, he hopes that she is. It’s hard to hear anything over the train.

“Okay,” Cib shouts. “The last car is coming up, so you’re going to need to jump and grab on. If you have strong arms, this will not be as hard for you as it will be for me!”

“We’re going to die,” Steve screams back, which is about what she expected from him.

“Ready?”

“Ready,” Sami Jo yells back.

Cib changes angles so he’s running towards the train. Sami Jo follows him, and he jumps on the back of the last train car, clinging to the back. “Go,” he shouts.

Sami Jo takes a second to cast a prayer up to whatever’s listening, and then jumps, grabbing onto a handle on the far back. She barely manages to shimmy over before Steven flings himself upward next to her, gasping for air.

“Oh my god,” Sami Jo says, exhilarated. “Oh, my god, we got on the train.”

“Please tell me we can also get in the train,” Steven says, although it’s still hard to hear him. “Why are we doing this?”

“Because you love me?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Sami Jo grins at him. “Glove!”

“I’m going home!”

“Got it,” Cib shouts, and the door to the train compartment goes flying open. “Everyone in, quick quick quick, gotta go!” And with that he swings himself into the train compartment.

Steven stares. “Uh, do you want-”

“After you,” Sami Jo says. Steven glares at her, but he shimmies to the side and, with a loud yelp, more or less throws himself into the train compartment. She doesn’t allow herself to think twice before following suit, stumbling but landing on her feet. Which seems to be more than Steven can say, from where he’s sprawled out on the floor.

“Nice,” Cib says approvingly. “You have mastered the second most important lesson of hoboism. I’m proud of you already.”

“What’s the first?” Steven groans, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

“Getting off the train,” Cib says cheerfully, and goes to shut the compartment door. The last thing Sami Jo sees before the compartment goes dark is Steven’s face going pale.

#

Cib snores. They find this out about two hours into the train ride, by Sami Jo’s estimate.

“Hey,” she says quietly, looking at where she’s pretty sure Steven is. It’s hard to see. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Steven answers. “Hold on.” She can hear shuffling, like he’s getting to his feet, and then he plops down next to her in the dark. “You good?”

“I’m good.” Sami Jo tips her head back to look at the ceiling. “I think.”

“I think I lied.”

“I might be lying too.”

“We’re both rich and we’re in a cargo car of a train, heading somewhere unspecified east of here, with a homeless man we met in a dumpster.”

“Looking for a hobo princess in a mythical city.”

“Mythical city?”

“Oh, I forgot that part.” She grins despite herself. “There’s apparently a hobo paradise called Moonshine Holler. It’s like their version of… I dunno, New York or Los Angeles.”

“Where is it?”

“She wouldn’t say.”

“Oh, she wouldn’t say,” Steven mumbles. “Fantastic. What are we doing here?”

“Looking for the hobo princess.”

“The hobo princess,” he repeats, a little higher pitched than before. “The hobo princess who you met, last night, at a party. Was she worth throwing everything away for?”

Sami Jo shrugs and lets her head fall onto Steven’s shoulder. “I think I was ready to throw everything away,” she admits. “This is just an excuse. But she’s a pretty excuse.”

Steven claps a hand on her knee. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Thanks for coming on an impossible quest with me.”

“Thanks for getting me out of that shitty, stuffy life.”

Sami Jo smiles in the dark. Somewhere out there, her parents are searching for their daughter, and her fiance is probably worried about her. And somewhere out there, there’s a woman with a bright smile and one glove, waiting for her. She knows which one she’d rather run towards.

#

bonus info about this au

[ktrsss1fics]

I’ll Be Your Safety: Thirteen.

She let out a frustrated groan as her coffee mug fell out of her hand and onto the ground. Veronica Michael was having a rough week. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong for the young girl. She was late to school more than once, didn’t have time to eat more than one meal in a day, dealt with the rude people around campus, her car almost broke down twice, and another set of projects were added to her already jam-packed schedule. Her stress levels were through the roof. At this point all she really wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. She mumbled a few curse words before picking up her cup.

“Ronnie?” A deep voice echoed from the balcony of her floor.

“What?” She snapped frustrated keeping her eyes on her stuff.

“Go get your workout clothes on.” The voice said calmly. “We’re going running.”

Ronnie looked up to find Liam leaning against the railing. “I can’t Liam.”

“Why?” He asked confused.

“I don’t have the time.” She sighed heading up the stairs. “Too much to do.”

“Just give me an hour. You look like you need it.” Liam pleaded.

“Fine.” She grumbled before heading inside.

After a quick change and some stretching, the young couple left.

“What route are we taking?” She asked getting her watch set up.

“Um wherever our feet take us.” He said with a smile.

“Ready when you are.”She said with a sigh tightening the pony in her hair.

Without a word the young man took off. Ronnie took a deep breath and chased after him.

The next hour was filled with a game of cat and mouse. At times, Liam led pushing Ronnie way past her limits. Roles would reverse causing the young boy to push himself even harder just to catch up with her. It was the perfect running relationship. The reason Liam and Ronnie enjoyed running together is that they got a chance to clear their heads and escape from everything.

A small park came into view as a little race began. No one declared it a race but the competitive nature of the two made it so. Just when he thought he had gained some ground on her, she pulled in front of him. A park bench in front of the playground quickly became the finish line. If he wanted to win, he knew he had to give it his all. A smile formed on her face when she realized he was trying a little bit harder to beat her. She tried her best to keep up. In the end, he beat her by two seconds.

Ronnie placed her hands on top of her head attempting to slow her breathing down but it wasn’t working. Her lungs burned as sweat dripped down her back. This was one of the absolute best feelings in the world. Liam stood with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He hadn’t run that hard in a really long time. It felt good.

“Shit, I’d hate to see you on a good day.” He said with a smile.

Ronnie should help but laugh, “I swear to God you were trying to kill me.”

“Are we running back?” Liam said standing up slowly taking deep breaths.

“Not if you want to watch me pass out.” She said softly. “Do you want to?”

“No, I might throw up if we do.” He said with a light laugh.

She just smiled softly as they started to walk back home. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of their erratic breathing. As they drew closer to the heart of the city, the young man walked a little closer. She let out a loud sigh taking in her surroundings.

“Wanna talk about it?” Liam asked quietly pulling her out of her head.

“Today’s been the worst day ever.” Ronnie said with a sigh.

“What happened?” He asked looking her in the eye. Frustrated tears formed.

“I just can’t do it.” She choked out. “I can’t do it anymore.”

Liam’s brow furrowed as concerned washed over his face.

“Have you ever been so stressed out that you just want to curl up in a ball and not do anything but the thought of doing that makes you a complete wreck?” Ronnie asked.

“You feel like nothing will get done because you’ve got so much to do and the thought of doing it all seems overwhelming.” He nodded.

“Yeah, exactly.” She squeezed her eyes shut trying to keep the tears in.

“It’s frustrating I’m sorry you’re going through this.” Liam sympathized. “I spent all last night trying to get two projects done that were due today. I didn’t hear my alarm go off so I woke up late which means I missed breakfast and was late for school. I went to school and dealt with complete assholes all day. Then, I found out that I’m forced to be in a study group with a guy who literally won’t leave me alone.” She explained.

“Please don’t tell me its Christopher.” He said sounding serious.

“I really wish I could.” She said with a sigh. “Our professors picked the groups.”

“Can’t you switch or something?” Liam asked running a hand through his hair.

“I’ve already tried twice.” Ronnie groaned.

“How many people are in the group?” He asked.

“Six counting me.” She said scratching the top of her head.

“Okay if you are strictly professional with him, I think that will help him get the hint. Don’t talk to him unless it’s necessary. Don’t go anywhere alone with him. Don’t give him your number or tell him where you live. Make sure that the rest of the group is there when you meet up.” Liam said trying to help her out. “Limit contact and he’ll stop, hopefully.”

“You really think it’ll work?” She asked glancing over at him.

“Guys like him feed off reactions so if you don’t give him one, what can he do?” Liam said. “And if he still gives you crap, then you come to me—.”

“I think Niall called dibs on him first.” Ronnie said with a laugh.

“I’ll be his back up.” He said pretending to punch the air.

Before she knew it, the front gate of their complex was in front of them. Once they stepped inside, Frank gave them a wave from the security booth. It wasn’t long before they were standing in front of their apartments.

“About the other stuff, it’s understandable to be stressed out. Do you realize what you’re doing? You’re getting your master’s degree. Not only that but you are doing it in a foreign country while living on your own. That is a lot to take in all at once.” He said sweetly.

Ronnie could feel her eyes welling up. She did have a lot to be proud of. She was accomplishing a lot. The stress of it all was blinding her.

“I know you can get through these stressful projects because I’m sure you’ve had to do it before. You’ve got this grit about you Ronnie.” He said with a smile. “I know we haven’t known each other long but I can that you don’t quit.”

She focused on the floor as a few tears spilled over the edge of her eyelids.

“Hey Liam?” Ronnie said as she pulled out their keys.

“Yeah?” He asked sounding exhausted.

Ronnie stepped forward and pulled him in a tight hug, “Thank you.”

Liam’s grip got a little tighter as he held her close. A soft sigh escaped her mouth. She stepped away from him and went to unlock her door. She felt him step towards her placing a hand on her lower back.

“Never stop, never surrender.” Liam whispered. “Remember that Ron.”