"well, i haven't had to, since up until quite recently, i wasn't one of the poors." he's always lived on the streets, in the night, away from that mansion he'd begrudgingly thought of as home. his aesthetics were cheap, his need for grandeur nonexistent. no, the only expensive thing about him had been his habits. 

it usually is, with people like them.

ah, but the parties. he'll certainly miss throwing those. and those were the times where he and summer could really get down together, where their wavelengths were ever on the same page. their little secret - the infamous prescott parties their father was never privy to when he went away on business with whatever wife he had at the time. 

he wrinkles his nose. two months? well, he's made false promises before. 

"room and board, a bit of food here and there, and a few materials for a big smuggling job up in lavaridge." lies, lies, lies. but you're getting good at that now, aren't you, knox? 

his arms itch. he sighs. as long as she doesn't press too hard, he's confident he can reel her in. 

Summer Atreides

☉

how often has she told him not to make those 'dumb faces?' and could she trust him? absolutely not. would she trust him anyway? one hundred percent. he thinks it will be because she wants to watch him fail, wants to be there to laugh and crow at him while he gets the shit beat out of a debt collector. she'd pick a mean one too. 

and so she says yes, and she seals his fate, and he knows two months down the road he'll be in deep shit, but that's a problem for future knox. 

"i won't have to, sister dear. with this job, i'll be back in dad's good graces." he relaxes. now that the job is done, he has to find some way to get the yacht back to shore. 

or he could...enjoy this time with his sister. after all, they're not currently at each other's throats. 

"oh," he says, suddenly bursting with energy. he splashes her a bit in the process, but that doesn't stop the light in his eyes. "we could celebrate. we should celebrate. let's throw one of our parties. i'm sure dad's busy over in sootopolis, right?"

Summer Atreides

☉

her words aren't slurring quite yet, but knox can see the flush in her cheeks, and the changes in the way she holds herself. he's good at reading her. even though she can outdrink him any day, he's gotten quite good at pretending to take sips, and discarding leftover drink before she can find it. 

so that's what he does now, for the sake of their comradery. because the two of them wasted? well, they can save that for the party. 

and yes, yes, she's into it. he'll deny that he feels homesick, should she ask, but the lights, the booze, the drugs, the colors, the people - it's everything he wants and everything he needs and he fucking misses it. 

he stands now that they've drifted to the shallow end. caspian floats by and he takes the opportunity to hand the greninja his drink so that he can spread his arms wide, display wiggling fingers as he says, "space."

he laughs. "fuckin' stars and shit? like the monsters that've been coming from space? and also 'cause we're rockets?" he sidles closer to her, hand on her shoulder, sweeping his hand out before her like he's displaying a mirage. 

"picture it. neon body paint? required. cool as fuck space outfits? necessary. i'm thinking synthwave and electronica for the music. how much glitter do you think we could dump in the pool?"

Summer Atreides

☉