She was back. Back in school, back in her aunt’s house, back to…reality, she guessed. After her night (and morning) with Koi, she’d gone back
to home to find her aunt trying to hide the fact that she was pissed about Devyn’s little disappearing act and her cousin pretty much on par, but
doing nothing to hide it. She couldn’t bring herself to care much, though and it stayed like that over the course of a week. Athena left to arrange
her mother’s funeral so that Hilton didn’t get suspicious about too much and she are Carter spent the week in The Nines watching pay-per-view and
playing Call of Duty. Devyn didn’t speak unless spoken to. She could admit she wasn’t much company, but would anyone be? Every so often Carter
would ask her where she went when she disappeared, but she never said anything about Koi. Not because she knew he wouldn’t like it, but because it
just didn’t seem…she didn’t know. And it wasn’t his business anyway.
She hadn’t mentioned it to Miyu either. Apparently Carter had called every single person Devyn knew on the island to find her (except Koi,
obviously) and when Dev got back to her phone that morning there were almost 30 missed calls and just as many texts. She put the story out that she
was leaving for her mother’s funeral to keep up appearances, then “left”. She hadn’t responded to any messages or any calls since
“leaving” and now she was “back”.
And the first person she was seeing now that she was back? Dhonny. He’d texted her early this morning asking if she was okay and she’d figured
what better way to get back to life than with friends. Pulling the door open to Two Urban Licks she immediately spotted him, already seated at a table
near the window.
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
The noise of chattering couples, laughter and silverware scraping plates clean meshed together in the restaurant as Dhonny sat and waited for Devyn,
his eyes going over the lunch menu for the second time. It was a good think that Urban Licks switched up the entrees on their menus every month or his
mind would've been racing off into the unknown...like it always did. Hey, he was a thinker, it couldn't be helped. The next medium for his mother's
next piece. That new movements he couldn't wait to throw into a routine he'd been working on, on the side. The REAL routine he needed to throw
together for a grade in his Modern Solo class, which he thought was blasphemic bullshit. You can't grade art and to even try to was pure ignorance.
And then... there was Devyn.
It'd been a couple of weeks since he'd heard the news. Her mother. Wow. Dhonny couldn't even imagine the pain that Devyn had gone through.
That she was GOING through. It wasn't even nearly over for her yet. Dhonny could tell by the static silence she'd been holding before she'd answered
his text today. It almost shocked him to get a reply. But between Carter Nixon ringing his phone the night...it happened, Miyu's frantic texts after
Devyn went missing and Koi's purposeful silence...no details, just a simple text that read "Dev's mom passed", getting a message from her that day
made Dhonny exhale a bit. No one knew up from down when it came too her and he was just ready to talk to the source. Talk to Devyn. See where her head
was at...or just make sure that she was keeping it together, at least. It was the least he could do...in lieu of the death of her mother.
Looking up, he saw her saunter in, her walk as confident as it had always been. She looked the same. Stylish, sure of her self...a little late. She
was...Dev. But she wasn't. Something was..."off". Different. And if he knew Devyn the way he KNEW he knew her, she wouldn't want to talk about it. But
if she knew Dhonny...she knew he wasn't taking "no" for an answer.
"Hey, Lovey". He said quietly, standing up as she approached the table. Moving from behind the table, he reached out for her, a warm hug greeting his
friend.
"MIA and fashionably late...I love it." He joked, offering her a seat before he took his own again.
your body's like art i ain't even thought up yet...
She smiled weakly, but it was the most her facial muscles had flexed in almost three weeks. Devyn was happy to see Dhonny and the closer she got to
the table the more she was glad she rethought not getting out of bed that morning. She had been far too busy missing her mother to realize that she
had started missing her friends too...Miyu, Dhonny, her teammates, and to a different extent, Koi. She really hadn’t talked to him either in the
past weeks and that was a little unfair to him, what with that being how things went with the two of them the Christmas before this. She wasn’t
upset with him though, not this time. Koi had been everything right to her when she needed him to be and it wasn’t that she didn’t want to see
him, she just...didn’t want to be seen. By anyone. She didn’t want the pity. She didn’t want the “heartfelt condolences” of people
that would never really know her. She didn’t want the look that Dhonny was giving her right at this moment.
He stood, reaching out as the two of them embraced. “Hi, Dhonny-,” her voice came softly, softer than she’d expected after remaining mostly
silent for as long as she had. She tried harder to smile, allowing her feelings for Dhonny to take precedent over the rest of the shit in her life so
that it could be genuine. He teased her as they both took seats and she allowed herself to chuckle just a bit. “And you, always the charmer.” She
winked just a little, propping her elbows onto the table as her hand came to fiddle nervously with her bracelets. Unable to keep eye contact for too long, Devyn took to the window, watching as hipster types passed with their headphones and vintage
messenger bags; surely off to create their next masterpiece or getting off from a job that made the “struggling” part of ‘struggling artist’ a
little less harsh.
She couldn’t allow the silence between them to linger so she spoke, the question she was sure he was going to ask her at some point leaving her lips
first, “I missed you, D-,” she smiled then, her eyes finding the lingering pity in his once more. “How’s life?”
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
And just like that, Dhonny knew he was right as soon as Devyn spoke, her greeting was almost a whisper. Something was off. Not like it wasn't
obvious what the "something" was. Ray and Stevie could've seen what was up with her. She was in mourning and she was trying her damnedest to function
through it. He understood that. He hadn't lost a parent and he was thankful for that. But he had lost his grandfather, his mother's father, when he
was nine...and even though that didn't make her pain immediately recognizable, it made it familiar. That kind of pain stuck around for awhile and it
didn't stop. Even after you hid it away... Maybe that was why Dhonny could help but hug her a little tighter. He smiled a little more warmly at her as
she quipped back at his teasing, her eyes roaming to the window next to their table, watching the passersby. He watched her without really meaning to,
the silence overwhelming the table. Dhonny didn't mind it. The silence let her get her head together until...
I missed you, D. He smiled again, his head slightly cocking to the side, his eyes still searching her face.
"I missed you too..." And before he could counter with the "how are you feeling" question, she came with her own. A small piece of chit chat too keep
away the heaviness that Dhonny was so quick to bring to any conversation. She was avoiding. He understood it. And she would do it as long as he let
her. But the heavy was going to strike sooner or later, right? They couldn't bask in pleasantries forever.
"Life is life. A little bad, a little good..." A short answer for her small talk. "When you're ready..." He said quickly, letting silence fall again.
Devyn knew there was no avoiding when it came to talking about the hard shit. When she and Koi were going at it like cats and dogs, she didn't
hesitate to weigh in with Dhonny...and he listened. Because that's what he did. He listened. And just like before, he would listen now.
When she was ready.
your body's like art i ain't even thought up yet...
He didn’t run a bakery and he didn’t sugar coat much. Sure, they were allowed to come to it in their own time, but anyone that knew him knew they
couldn’t avoid the unavoidable with him. But she wasn’t avoiding it...There wasn’t much to tell. She couldn’t say how beautiful the funeral
was without lying (although she was sure it had been), because she ahdn’t gone. She also couldn’t tell him she hadn’t gone to her mother’s
funeral. That would lead to her telling him why and that sure as hell wasn’t happening. So what could she say? What could she say without lying
even more to the people she cared about?
She gave yet another weak smile, her eyes falling to her lap as she opened her mouth to respond. Luckily, their waitress arrived for their drink
orders. A few more minutes to stall and find something to say. She asked for a simple coke, the waitress’s attention turning to Dhonny allowing
Devyn to settle on yet another simple answer. As she walked away Devyn spoke, answering the question that still lingered between them.
“I’m living-,” her voice was as quiet as it had been when she said hello. That was true enough. She was alive...and soon she’d be back to
eating because she knew Dhonny wasn’t having her not eating in front of him. She was fine. Okay, she guessed. In all honesty, she was more curious
about someone else’s well-being...or maybe she was trying to find a way to avoid talking about her own.
“Have you talked to Koi, lately?” She hadn’t. And she knew it wasn’t right. She was sure he’d told Dhonny about her coming to him that
night...He knew they were okay now right? She had been so out of the loop she had no idea what was what in the group anymore. More than she wanted to
talk about her feelings, she wanted to feel like everything was normal...
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
Kind of brash? Quick and to the point? Yeah okay, Dhonny could admit that about himself. But Devyn knew it was all in love. Although he was silently
urging her to come out and put her issue on the table, she knew he'd wait until she was ready. But Dhonny wasn't and had never been about avoiding.
All of those unspoken words and buried feelings and emotions didn't do a single fucking thing but dirty up your aura. And who wanted to walk around
with that shit weighing you down? He didn't want that for himself and he definitely didn't want that for his friends, even though his concern seemed
to drive their nerves more than anything else. Small price to pay for a clean aura, though. Any day.
Dhonny didn't push the silence. He didn't mind collecting thoughts and he didn't mind waiting until Devyn was ready to talk about it all. By "it all"
he meant everything. Not just her moms, but the other things that she'd been holding on to, too. Like the crazy fact that Koi was back in the picture.
Yeah, Dhonny knew. He figured it out when Koi was the one that dropped the news about Devyn's mom instead of Devyn' herself. Or even Miyu. No, not the
expected...especially since the last interaction that the two had was an almost altercation in the middle of Chemistry. They'd had a talk behind the
closed door of a classroom and that was that. Pleasantries and two and three sentence conversations were the only thing you were getting between Devyn
and Koi. So, the surprise was crazy real when he heard from Koi first, spitting Devyn's business like none of the shit that had happened in the past
had even occurred. No, it didn't take much to know that things were different...or the same again.
The silence was still there as the waitress came to the table, ready for drink orders. Devyn spoke as softly as she had since she walked through the
door as she ordered, Dhonny's order coming soon after...and then the silence again. Thoughts processing. Dhonny waiting...
I'm living... As he expected. She was surviving all of the mess in her life. Dhonny nodded, his gaze finally dropping away from her, a silent
message that if that was all she could give him, that would be all he would take.
"Koi? Nah..." That shift in conversation as things went from Devyn's status to how their boy was doing and if he'd been communicating. Dhonny just
wished he had more to tell her as Koi had been unseen and unheard from since the day the news came about her mother. Dhonny hadn't pushed the lines of
communication, knowing the clear signal for "give me space" when it came from Koi, knowing he'd talk when he was ready.
"Haven't heard from him since he dropped the news on us..." Devyn knew what news he meant...he didn't need to finish the statement.
"Better question...have you spoken to him? You know...since you two are obviously speaking now and shit."
your body's like art i ain't even thought up yet...
He wasn’t pushing it. She was really glad he wasn’t because she didn’t really want to talk about it much. Her mom was dead. Talking about her
feelings wasn’t going to bring her back and she certainly didn’t want to cause a scene in public with him. She just wanted to have a good lunch
with a friend and fall back into a little bit of normalcy. The stuff she was used to. School and volleyball and parties and...Koi. She could admit
that one of the people she’d missed most was him. Sure, it hadn’t been that long but it’d been too long. She asked about him. Just
whether or not Dhonny had heard from him. She was sure he had as those two were basically the same person...but she was wrong.
Koi? Nah... Really? Devyn could feel her eyebrows knit together as she wondered about why. Why wouldn’t he have talked to Dhonny
about...well life, but mostly about them. She was sure Dhonny knew about their night together and she was sure Dhonny would be happy they were
talking, but not so happy about them...but he didn’t know. That was different for Koi. She wondered now if he was okay. Yet another birthday had
gone by that the two of them had spent apart. It sucked. She missed him. More now than she had when she was “away”.
Dhonny finished, explaining that they hadn’t heard from him since he told them about her mom. Since they’d spent the night together...of course,
he obviously didn’t know part of the situation. Part of her wondered why the secrecy.The other part of her wondered if maybe he wasn’t keeping
secrets, just keeping quiet. Private. That was new for him. It was different...and that made her nervous too because that meant she was
different for him. She didn’t have to be. Not that she didn’t love the idea of her meaning more to him, it was just...she didn’t want change.
Not now. Not with them. It was too risky...They needed to talk.
“Nope. I haven’t talked to him either.I haven’t talked to too much of anyone.” She said it slowly. Hoping it fit in with the rest of her
demeanor and Dhonny didn’t ask too many more questions. They were talking now was all that he knew and that was how it could stay. No one had to
know she had Koi had been together...hell, it was probably a one (well two), time thing anyway....Right?
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
Watching the confusion settle on her face and her eyebrows furrow at his words let him know one thing, Devyn was as confused by Koi's silence as
Dhonny was. It wasn't that Koi hadn't gone "silent" before, because he had. But Dhonny knew, firsthand, the reasons were never good. Like the last
time his asshole of a father had gone ballistic on his mom. Koi was off the radar for a couple of days and he wouldn't answer texts. He wouldn't
return calls. Not until everything died down did he even acknowledge the fact that his best friend was trying to reach out to him. He stayed
quiet...until he was himself again. This time was different though. Dhonny was almost too sure that this silence had nothing to do with his ridiculous
father. Things were lining up too...suspiciously. The text message about Devyn's mom. The subsequent silence. And now Devyn asking about him when the
last thing that Devyn and Koi had had together was almost a school suspension? It was...weird, to say the least.
"Hmmm." A simple reply that didn't suffice for the cogs and gears that were busy turning, working away at mystery at hand. Missing hipster and his
evasive, in mourning, ex-best...something. Yeah, there was something funny going on... and not the exactly the "ha ha" type, either.
Another short silence fell over the table as the waitress brought their drinks, Dhonny giving her a short "thank you" before she even asked them if
they'd made a decision about what they would be eating on. They hadn't. And as far as he was concerned, what they were having for dinner didn't even
touch the clues that were starting to solidify into facts. Whatever was up was about to come to light and by the silence between the two, Devyn knew
it too.
"Well..." Dhonny said, tiptoeing on the words to say as he picked up his menu and faked interest in food that wouldn't even begin to satisfy him until
he knew what was up between Devyn and Koi. "...do you even intend on hitting him up or...are things not THAT cool between you two yet?" More prying.
More on the surface questions that teetered around the question that Dhonny was really asking. What's up between the two of you and why aren't you
talking NOW? That was the REAL question he wanted answered. How the hell had two of the most stubborn people on the Earth resolved a fight that
neither of them wanted to lose?
"And if you don't mind me asking, 'cause you know I don't care if you do...how'd he get back in the picture anyway? I thought I was the only man in
your life now, wifey?"
your body's like art i ain't even thought up yet...
Hmmm. Uh oh. Dhonny was thinking. And if Dhonny was thinking he was looking for answers. And when Dhonny went looking for answers he didn’t
stop until he found them...She really didn’t want to lie to him. For one thing, it was damn near impossible and he always ended up finding out the
truth. On the other hand though, the thing that most wanted to tell him what he wanted to know, she was full up on lies she had to tell her friends.
Her mother’s funeral, her reason for being her...now sex with Koi. Which wasn’t even a big deal! She wasn’t sure why Koi hadn’t told Dhonny
about her visit before “leaving”, but she was sure he had his reasons. Reason that she wouldn’t betray by admitting to anything.
Devyn slipped a straw into the drink that had been delivered, a small thanks leaving her lips as Dhonny dismissed their waitress before she had the
chance to speak. Devyn said nothing as she sipped her soda, waiting...she knew it was coming. The questions. His attack. She could survive it if she
kept it short and simple. She wasn’t going to speak until spoken to and she wasn’t going to offer up anything that he didn’t ask for.
He pried. Devyn took her time answering, her eyes following the path of her straw as she stirred the soda in front of her. She was thinking. The
answer to her question was an obvious yes, but she was taking the time to think of something to tell Dhonny that wasn’t that but still something
like the truth. “I don’t know.” That was true enough. She wasn’t sure about much of anything that was going on with Koi, especially not now
that she knew he wasn’t talking to anyone. “I’m gonna call him, but I don’t know how cool we are...”
There. Crisis averted. Once she and Koi talked she could tell him more. That was the route she’d aimed for and it was the path she was on. She
couldn’t talk about she and Koi without knowing what he was thinking. Right now, she didn’t. That was enough of this conversation, right? Wrong.
How’d he get back in the picture? Damn it!
Devyn gave a polite chuckle at his joke, the seriousness of the question before it overpowering his humor. “Ha. You don’t have to worry, Dhonny.
You’re the only one that’ll be calling me wifey as far as I know.” Her smile didn’t falter as her words ended. There was nothing else to tell.
Not until she talked to Koi about where they stood...She would admit though, “We’re friends again, but it’s nothing serious.”
True enough.
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
Not believing the the lies was pretty easy considering that none of what Devyn was saying sounded like complete truth. Only halves of truths. And that
alone let Dhonny know that his assumptions were correct. They were hiding something and like they ALWAYS did when they knew Dhonny would eventually
figure it out, they were denying it. Devyn, avoiding answers. Koi, with his failure to appear or exist for the past few days. It was their business,
so obviously they could do that. Avoid. Deny. Ignore. Whatever. But all that pretending wasn't going to do anything but fuck around and cause more
issues for them in the end. And like he knew his friends a little too well, they knew him well enough too. Dhonny didn't give up easily and universal
truth was this: the truth favored the light.
Staring at Devyn as she stirred her drink in attempts to avoid looking him straight in the eye, Dhonny gave a tiny nod and tried to wait for the next
stage of their conversation as they were already good and in denial. He sighed, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out another angle to come at
her. He'd tried waiting it out, talking around it...and she'd thwarted every advance. Devyn had always been the hardest to break, which was why Koi
just took a leave of absence when he didn't want to be pried into and analyzed. But Devyn fought the good fight...apparently the one she thought she
was going to win.
"Nothing serious, though?" Dhonny paused, finally breaking his gaze on Devyn as he picked up his drink. "Seemed pretty serious considering he was the
first one to get the news, Dev." Without another word he sipped his drink and looked at his menu again. What? That was totally true. Of course Dhonny
wasn't saying that he should've been the first to know about her mother, but why wasn't Miyu? And why the hell was her cousin calling up after him for
her location? Seemed she wasn't with her family either. So, not Miyu, not her fam...but Koi? If Dhonny didn't know better, it almost seemed like Devyn
was insulting his intelligence. They both knew he was too smart for this. But then again, it was her secret to have and her business to tell.
your body's like art i ain't even thought up yet...
She was already tired of getting the third degree from him. She knew Dhonny was only trying to help, but was it too much to ask for a short break?
She’d been through enough drama in the past weeks. Talking about where she and Koi stood with anyone that wasn’t Koi was just...unnecessary.
Especially if Koi himself wasn’t telling anyone about it. She told Dhonny what she could, hoping he would just leave it at that and tell her what
kind of shit their friends had been getting into while she was M.I.A. She’d asked about Koi because she had been curious. Now that she knew she
would have to talk to him to find out what was up with him, she was more interested in Dhonny’s life. Miyu’s. Hell, even Derrick’s. She just
wanted a small sliver of normalcy back in her life. The normal that had nothing to do with the Kidd.
Yes, there was nothing serious between she and Koi. He would say the same thing if asked, she was sure. Of course she couldn’t know because she
hadn’t spoken to him yet! The two of them were friends and there was nothing else to it. She was fine with that. Really fine. Not the fine she had
been when they spent however long making polite small talk in Chemistry.
“I don’t know what you want me to say Dhruv-,” her annoyance began to peek through, his whole name leaving her lips as it usually did when she
tired of his prying. “That’s just how it happened. Next time one of my parents dies you’ll be the first to know.” Ouch. She hadn’t meant to
take it there. She knew that wasn’t what he was saying, but she was really done with the whole conversation. Devyn sighed, her eye contact breaking
as she felt the shame caused by her words and the urge to take them back.
“I’m sorry, D. I know that’s not what you meant, I just...Let’s talk about something else. Anything else...”
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
Dhruv. Well damn. His whole government name, huh? No nicknames left Devyn's mouth as she answered his line of questioning that probably made
her feel like she was sitting in an interrogation room and not a busy restaurant with one of her good friends. She was tired of the questions Dhonny
was asking and he could understand that. They were uncomfortable. They were prying. They probably were on the verge of making her feel a lot of things
that she'd locked away since the funeral. And he could admit, he felt a little guilty about it. She didn't deserve the slew of questions he'd thrown
her way. And when he thought about it, Dhonny knew he pressed too hard sometimes. His mother, who knew he was his father's child when it came to
"fixing things" TOLD him he pressed too hard. It couldn't be helped. Just like his father, he felt like every situation that was a problem needed
fixing...could be fixed. Even if those in the situation didn't want fixing...
"Whoa. Dev..." Holding his hands up in surrender as she completed her comment. He hadn't meant it that way. He hadn't meant it that way AT ALL. He was
just prying. Harmless prying that had gotten too serious when he pushed her beyond her limit. "I wasn't sayin'..." Falling silent, he grimaced, giving
her the moment she needed. Dhonny got it. She wanted to be done with anything that had to do with her mother's death...her status with Koi,
included.
"Don't apologize. That was all me." He said quietly as she spoke, asking for another topic. ANY topic. He'd give her what she wanted, without
hesitation.
"So, you wanna talk about my life? Oooo, I don't think you're ready. Dance. Miyu's been practicing, nonstop. You know she does that shit when you're
not around. That chick, Siobhan? She's been a bitch as usual. Mom finished a painting. Be still, your heart." He chuckled a bit before he held his
hand out, reaching for hers.
"I'm sorry, wifey. You forgive me?" Raising her hand to his lips, he held it there until she laughed along with him.
your body's like art i ain't even thought up yet...
“No, I should apologize because that was too far.” She had gone way beyond the line. Devyn knew good and well Dhonny meant well with his
questions. She knew he was probably trying to cleanse her aura or some other nonsense like that that was important to him. He wasn’t trying to be a
dick, it just kind of happened sometimes and Devyn had reacted by being a dick on purpose. That was wrong. She was wrong and she had to nip
shit like this in the bud now. Playing the dead parent card wasn’t cute and she wouldn’t ever do it again. She hadn’t meant to do it this time.
She tried to smile as Dhonny moved on, his tone lightening as he mentioned Miyu and that other girl he’d been force to spend time with as they had a
duo or something for class. She laughed a little as he called her out of her name, a rarity for Dhonny. His mother had finished something new and
probably dope. Good…It was good to know people kept living while a part of her died. It gave her a kind of hope she hadn’t felt in…it seemed
like forever.
Dev snapped out of her thoughts as Dhonny reached for her hand. He was apologizing. Her hand left his, coming to cup his face. “You know I can’t
stay mad at this face,” she said sweetly, a wink and a smile following her words. Not that she had been angry in the first place, just a little
flustered. “Tell me more about Siobhan. Sounds like I might have to make room for your mistress,” she teased.
Back to reality.
I'm taking my time.
I'm doing it right.
Self-Love. Self-Care. Selfish.
![[*]](images/davis/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
