the prescott mansion was, indeed, vast. he took aether with him to the mansion and she teleported back, bringing his other teleporting pokémon there. his abra, kadabra, alakazam, his other gardevoir eos, elgyem and beheeyem. they float behind him like ducklings as he carries a box he’s not supposed to be carrying up the stairs towards knox’ room.

because knox insisted that he put personal things in knox’ room but there was another room sam could use, essentially, as storage.

”oh,” as he stops, so too does his psychic entourage. ”i’ve only brought this box thus far. but, it seems it’ll be easy enough. i’m going to show these ones to my storage room and hvae them bring the boxes i marked…”

summer likely doesn’t care how it happens. so he clears his throat and gives her a smile that also doesn’t really meet his eyes.

”i’m finding my way well enough with knox’ instructions.”

Summer Atreides

It's true. She didn't really care when or how Sam got his things to the mansion. So long as things were safe and secure...

Summer peered behind him to the herd of Pokemon that he brought alongside him, raising her eyebrow.

"So, why aren't they carrying the box for you now?" she asked out of curiosity.

Perhaps it was the difference in how they had lived. She was used to everyone catering to her, never having to lift a finger.

"How is he?"

samuel carter

☉

because he cared about the items in the box, mostly. and his abra had a habit of stealing things he had emotional attachments to.

the question of how knox is doing hits sam in a way he still isn’t able to fully articulate his feelings around. truth was…

”he’s alive, if that’s what you mean.” sam looked to summer before furrowing his brows and looking at her curiously.

”he speaks very fondly of ollie… but you told him that burying ollie was a waste, pointless. why is that?”

he wants the truth. from somebody. because even as knox had sung ollie’s praises, he was pretty sure there had been something else there. he’d tried to pry but… they were so tired, and the subject never felt right to bring up again. not really.

Summer Atreides

Summer couldn't help a small laugh, dry as it left her lips. She leaned against the rail, looking down at him from the few steps above she stood upon.

"You heard me? I didn't think anyone would..."

She wondered if that meant her brother had heard her too.

"So he hasn't told you about his past with him, has he? That's what I've assumed, from your face. I'm not surprised. He's always had a hard time letting go... particularly of Ollie."

Thinking for a moment, Summer beckoned him with her hand, ascending the stairs again.

"Place your things in your room. Let me explain in the office. It's... a long story."

samuel carter

☉

”oh, yes ma’am.”

sam quickly makes his way to the room that his storage items will belong in, leading his pokémon into the room and instructing them. he makes his way then to the room he saw her go into, her office.

just as lavish and beautiful as the mansion. he can tell things have been moved, but only because when he did a scope of the house through the eyes of his pokémon when he was plotting merrick’s demise the first time around, the room had looked different.

he pointedly does not comment and instead, takes a seat, brows furrowed.

”i should mention before we start… i feel guilty asking you, but enraged that he likely didn’t tell me the whole truth… again.” so he looks up at her with determined eyes. ”i will not tell him you’ve told me, because you’ve done too much for him for him to see you as the bad guy. is there any way i could have… stumbled upon the information you want to tell me?”

if he’s anything, it’s unfortunately brilliant in the game of espionage and information.

Summer Atreides

For once, Summer let out a truly joyful laugh. She couldn't help it. Not with Sam being so damn cute.

"Sam, I appreciate the pleasantries, but you're dating my brother, and I'm almost positive we're the same age. Just Summer is fine," she said, though the smirk still remained on her lips.

She sat in her father's- no, her chair, plush and comfortable, as she placed her elbows against the desk. Her fingers brushed her chin as she thought over his words, shrugging.

"It sounds like him. Unwilling to share the whole truth. Perhaps it's his way of trying to protect you. He has been fucked over so many times in his life... I'm not sure how his brain can function properly anymore."

It wasn't an insult. It was more pity.

"Honestly, Sam, I think that he would know if you found this information out where it came from. Not many people know about it. I think I may be one of the only living people left who do... but, I do have data on my computer from shared messages between them. When they were together. If you want to say you hacked into my computer and found it... you'd have to come up with a good reason."

Rolling the chair back, Summer pulled her computer out from where it was stored and opened it, going to her private files.

"Ollie and my brother were toxic lovers. They dated for a long time, yes, but it was never a truly happy relationship. Knox was Knox. He was much the same. Drugged, partying, throwing away his life for fun and one night of euphoria."

She paused.

"Listen. Their relationship... it was disturbing. Are you sure you want me to tell you more?"

samuel carter

☉

sam had determined not to judge knox for abusing his body. why? because there were times when sam would push himself as well and it would annoy knox. it was a push and pull relationship in that sense.

but … disturbing? what did that mean? and if they dated for a long time and ‘knox was knox’ then, if he was much the same and throwing his life away… then sam was determined to try and enjoy whatever life he could get from knox while he could.

because there was no convincing knox otherwise.

”i’m sure… and i know it’s selfish but, i want to know because i need to know if i’ve ever done anything … disturbing, before.”

because to sam, knox is a delicate creature who could drop him in a second just because he felt like it. so he’d like to be as blameless as possible if it ever happened.

Summer Atreides

tw; drug use

elsewhere - 

he wants to be alone. and knox never wants to be alone. so he fishes one of summer's cards from her purse and buys a damn boat for himself and takes it out on the water. because walking on the beach meant being around people. watching them splash around in the waves as though their entire world hasn't fallen apart. 

captain is a companion, though. she stands at the bow on all fours, chin up, letting the wind ruffle her fur. knox shoves his hands up through his hair, trying to get it to stick back with nothing but salt spray.

it's pink now. he'd stopped at a salon on his way out. hypatia can't teleport as far as he'd come, so she'd had to stop halfway from mt pyre to lilycove.

he turns the engine off when he's far enough out that he can barely see the shore on the horizon. checks his cell. no bars. if sam tries to...but he snaps the thought in half and discards it like he does his phone on the dash. abandons it to wander up to the bow.

he stretches across cushioned seats and looks up. 

"what can i do to make you stay?"

and ollie turns and says, over his shoulder, "seven years, knox. that's all it takes."

he lets his arm fall lax, fingers curling against the bottom of the boat. captain hops onto his chest and plays patty-cake with his cheeks. he blows a raspberry at her and she zings his lip. he rolls his eyes, cracking a smile for the first time in a while. 

"well," he says and scratches captain's head. "no time like the present, eh, cap? how about we stop wallowing?" captain swishes her tail excitedly and hops off of him, skids across the bow, and leaps into the driver's seat. she knocks around in the glove compartment and comes back out with one of the baggies knox had scored from moro. 

that had been interesting, to say the least. 

"thought you got clean."

"you thought wrong."

"thought your dad killed you or something."

"almost, but not quite."

"you're not gonna bleed all over my couch again, are you?"

"that's not the plan, no."

"fine. here."

"cool, thanks. see ya, moro."

"bye, knox."

he thinks of doing something ceremonious with it, like taking a selfie with the rolled up hundo he'd pulled out of an atm just for the occasion. send it to sam just to make him hurt. (and then he'd feel bad about it immediately after sending, but then that would disappear with the throng of all the other confusing feelings he's had concerning the boy recently.)

but nah, he flips over a life jacket and dumps the crystal onto it, crushes it with his credit card. lines it up in two neat rows. and then he bobs down like a seabird - once, twice, and comes back up with stars in his eyes, 

a world so sharp it hurts.

samuel carter Summer Atreides

☉

Summer had to stare at Sam for a moment, with pure shock before reeling back with a fit of laughter. She could hardly contain herself, almost brought to tears by his words.

Catching her breath and wiping her eyes carefully not to smudge her makeup, she sighed with a smile.

"That was the best thing I've heard in a long time. Sam. You're no where near Ollie. Trust me. Just... don't break anything, okay?"

Regaining her composure, she delved into her files, pulling up the folder she had encrypted to hold Knox's text messages. Inside there was another folder full of messages, videos, and pictures that were shared between him and Ollie from the time they had met to the last time they had contact.

Of course she pulled every file she could over.

With several clicks, she opened them before turning the computer and leaning back in the chair. Waiting for Sam to see what she had warned about.

**tw: abuse, mention of self harm, sexual assault below. please read with caution. this is only for the purpose of plot development and not condoned by me or anyone in this thread**

SPOILER: Click to show

There were texts full of insults to Knox. Calling him a whore, a slut, useless, pathetic, a waste of space. And worse. The verbal abuse continued throughout the messages, the further that Sam would continue.

Then came pictures and videos. Unsolicited pictures taken by Ollie, with Knox begging him to delete them, only for him to threaten to post them to the internet should he not do what he pleased. Recordings of their brutal "love making," as Ollie would put it.

It was quite the opposite, when you noticed Knox in tears. And not the pleased kind.

The last that he'd see were following Knox's hospitalization, after his attempted suicide. Ollie egged him on, telling him he should have done it. Gotten it over with, so he didn't have to deal with him anymore. How Knox was useless and fucking annoying.

Summer waited to see his reaction with an interest, though she knew that it would not be good. She spoke before he could.

"You see, Sam... I didn't feel quite that bad for throwing him under my father's knife. Sure, he was innocent. I won't live that guilt down. But the things he did to my brother, the amount of suffering he caused him in the past... I think it was justified in the end to some extent."

She tilted her head.

"Do you think I'm twisted for thinking that?"

samuel carter & knox prescott

☉

sam is silent as he reads. as he reads and looks. as the pictures and messages are burned into his eidetic memory forever.

he had no fucking clue what he was getting into, now that he’s in it. he’s not even neck deep, he’s drowning. drowning in rage, and disappointment. he knows now why knox hadn’t, and likely still won’t, ever tell/told him. how could he?

nobody should have to relive that. nobody should have to be made to feel so unimportant that all they’re good for is being used. using, and being used. no wonder he blotted out everything hard with drugs or alcohol… no wonder he’d felt so bad that time in the bathroom, when sam had a claustrophobic induced panic attack.

summer’s words seep into his skin and cling at his soul. he pulls himself back, body tense with rage and confusion.

but he knows. he knows that knox can love a beast, a monster. while ollie is a different kind, sam is a beast and monster as well in his own right. but she asks him a question and he finally looks away from the screen to meet her gaze with one that likely reflects her own disdain for this, ollie.

”i think it was pointless to have buried him.”

no, he should have been eaten by tartarus— but that’s just his rage talking. he rationalizes that at some point, knox had falling for ollie. no matter the monster. and love makes you stupid, and blind. this love specifically had conditioned knox and forced a falsified love. no wonder he felt like he wasn’t enough.

”thank you, miss prescott, for helping me to understand him a little better.”

Summer Atreides

Summer couldn't help but feel a bit of an ego burst when he spoke. Because that was exactly what she had said.

"Pointless. Like I said."

She would have rather the body be destroyed, eaten, whatever. Would have been easier for the crew to clean up everything. Summer pulled back her computer, closing the files and shutting the laptop lid.

"So, what are you going to do?"

samuel carter

☉

”i’m going to bring the light back to his stars.”

maybe she doesn’t know what that means. perhaps she doesn’t care. but sam knows what it means and the weight of it has him frowning. because they hadn’t left on good terms and it makes sam frown.

sitting up, he stood and looked to her with a small smile. ”is there anything else you need from me today?”

knox prescott

Summer looked at him with a gaze of confusion, though she didn't question it. Not when it was their relationship to handle.

She'd be fine with whatever friends with benefits thing she had with Cade Atreides...

"No, unless you wish to bring more things to the mansion. Though if you leave, I do hope you take care..."

samuel carter

☉