Ill Advised Activities

Content with a belly full of fresh roasted s’mores, Saffron laid back on the blanket and stared up at the night sky. It was mostly clear save for the smoke from the bonfire, so it was fairly easy to see most of the stars. Between their time out on the water, the walk they’d taken around the boulevard, the sand sculpting contest, and the bonfire, it had been quite the day. Despite her more spicy mannerisms, Saffron did always genuinely enjoy her time with Trevor, though this was the first time they’d really spent much one on one time with each other since the celebration at Confidence International for her being brought into Delinquent Ward. She simply never told him as much to his face… not that he wouldn’t know it, anyway. She stuck around and continued to pick on him and flirt with him in her own way, so it was clear to anyone that she liked his company.

Her phone went off to indicate she’d received a message, and the blonde pulled the device out to check the screen, finding a humorous message from Scourge related to the current mission he was on. Saffron snorted and sent back a reply before tucking the device away. “Well, you seem like you enjoyed your beach day. I didn’t run you too ragged, did I?” The blonde turned over toward her companion, shooting him a grin. “We’re gonna have to go get you a swimsuit after this and get you into an actual pool so you can get used to swimming without the life vest so the next time we go to the beach you can really enjoy the water. We’ll have you surfing and shit in no time.”

Reaching into the cooler, she took out a couple beers, flicking off the caps with her mechanical thumb and passing one of the bottles over to him. “So, how is everything going for your guild? I haven’t really taken the time to ask about it since we met. It ain’t easy starting one up from scratch. I’ve seen a lot of ‘em come and go quick, even during my short year or two here in Fiore. You don’t seem to have too much trouble with membership, at the very least.”

She asked him about his guild, genuinely curious as to how it was holding up. While she was fully attached and committed to Fairy Tail by this point in her life, ever since she’d learned of Confidence International’s creation there were days that she day dreamed about making a switch. It was right up her alley, or so she believed from its outward appearance. Saffron was obviously unaware of some of the shiftier facets of the guild, though if she ever learned of those things it wouldn’t really have surprised her. Every guild had its darker secrets, and hers was no exception. One could even argue that hers was worse than most other independent guilds in that regard.

Trevor informed her that they were doing pretty good all things considered. The members were skilled enough at putting themselves out there and building their own brands. What most of them really needed help with, he explained, was making sure they made their fair cuts and didn’t get swindled by anyone. He’d set up a bit of a big brother system to make sure that never happened, pairing newer members with more veteran ones that could help teach them how to negotiate and collect fair wages for jobs. But, as Saffron had pointed out, they certainly hadn’t been lacking for members. Many artists were used to bad or downright corrupt representation, and once the word got out that there was a reputable organization aimed at assisting them, many hadn’t hesitated to join up.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” Saffron gave him a small nod of approval, taking a drink of her beer. “Making a living as an artist of any kind isn’t easy. Most people just don’t appreciate the kind of work and dedication and training that goes into building those kinds of skills. It’s sad. And infuriating.”

He asked her about Fairy Tail, admitting he didn’t know a whole lot about her guild except that they had mercenary dealings with a questionable past. She chuckled. “Yeah, that was well before my time but from what I understand the whole thing was some political bullshit. Fairy Tail used to be a fully legal guild, and while our member base can be a bit chaotic, they’re generally well-meaning and law-abiding people. For the most part, the vast majority of us take on general jobs posted by the public or the Magic Council. But one thing that we take more seriously than anything else is treating our guildmates as family and protecting them at all costs, even when they screw up – which is exactly what happened.”

“Some years back it was discovered that one of Fairy Tail’s members had been deemed a Warlord. The Council demanded that they be turned in to the authorities to face justice, and the guild refused to comply. So the Council changed the guild’s status from a legal guild to a dark guild, branding them as a threat to society. That made it hard for the guild members to find legitimate work, so they wound up steering into the curve and taking on some less-than-reputable jobs to make ends meet. But aside from that, they didn’t really change much about how they operated; they didn’t act like a full dark guild going around murdering for kicks and shit. Eventually the guild was elevated to being independent and no longer viewed as an active threat, but we’ll never be fully legal again if only because, as you said, we do accept work as mercenaries from time to time.”

She shrugged. “I haven’t taken part in any of that, personally. I might some day, but only for a job that suits me. My first exposure to that side of the guild, I was forced to watch from a distance without intervening as one of my guildmates murdered a senior citizen. The client that hired us wanted her out of the way because she was their competition in a gardening contest.” Saffron rolled her eyes, a flash of annoyance briefly twisting her face. “I’m no stranger to having to kill a person for work, but I ain’t gonna sign up to do it for something that stupid. I joined the military to protect people like that, y’know? So I was pretty pissed about it.”

With a sigh, she shifted her sitting position to get more comfortable. “But I can accept that my guild does that kind of work, if only because no one is forced to participate in those kinds of jobs. Just because I’m trained to be a killer doesn’t mean I have to make a lifestyle out of it. But the guild itself is pretty solid, and has been for a long, long time. Hell, Fairy Tail is one of the oldest guilds in Fiore, and its members are fiercely loyal to it – as are the nearby communities that we protect. So, we ain’t going anywhere. And I doubt the Council is going to try demoting us back to a dark guild any time soon, since the guy that’s second in command of the Rune Knights used to be a member of Fairy Tail and is still close to a lot of people in the guild, including my mentor, who’s his brother. So, he knows that we’re not a menace like a lot of other guilds out there.”

The blonde rolled over onto her side a bit, propping herself up with an elbow to look at him more directly. “Hey, can I ask you a personal question? You can tell me to stuff it if you don’t want to answer. I’ve just been wondering for a while what’s up with all the scars on your body. Is that some kind of cultural thing?”

The Boscan wove the tail of her guild as best she knew it, explaining how Fairy Tail had been forced into a different alignment simply from choosing to stand by a member of their guild family. But despite the labels that the Council liked to categorize guilds in, it really hadn’t changed much about the way Fairy Tail operated. Even though they had once been a legal guild, Saffron’s understanding was that they had always been a bit of a pain in the ass to the Council – and many societies – simply because of how rambunctious the members could be when going about their jobs. But even though they eventually took on mercenary work, they never stopped also doing good in the world and certainly had never descended into a realm of all out murder and mayhem. Truthfully, being an independent guild truly suited them best, and everyone seemed pretty happy with it.

Her story ended, Saffron adjusted to give him her full focus, asking him outright about the mutilations on his body and earning a chuckle from the man. Trevor admitted that he’d been a little surprised that she hadn’t mentioned it earlier, stating that most people were afraid to ask. She merely shrugged as he sat himself up into a more comfortable position, stating, “I may not have if it seemed like it came from like… an accident or something traumatic, but given how clean and precise it is, it’s obviously intentional.” He’d chosen the scars, that much she was certain of, and as such she had a feeling that while it would be a personal topic it wouldn’t necessarily be an insensitive one, and she was genuinely curious as to the story behind it.

Trevor obliged, explaining that he’d done it as an homage to his late mother. A desiertan woman by birth, he said that there was a tribe that did similar such markings to honor their ancestors. It was a practice he’d learned about from his father before the man had passed, who was the only one who could tell Trevor anything about the mother he’d never gotten a chance to know. It seemed when he was a teen on the verge of manhood he’d managed to run into someone from his mother’s tribe, discovering that there was a woman in their village that was skilled in the art. That was all he’d needed to know before electing to have the work done on himself, a way to keep his mother close to himself, to have even a small piece of her with him at all times.

Her gaze flicked briefly with the movement of his hand as he reached down to touch the markings, Saffron’s purple gaze observing the motion with a contemplative expression before returning to meet his own eyes… only for her to frown slightly when he admitted that the markings had received some criticism from others in the past. “Well, those people are wrong. And also fucking shitheels.” It was clear she wasn’t impressed by the knowledge that anyone had looked their noses down at his personal body choice, and even said as much to his face about it. “I hope you decked them. I would’a.”

Saffron didn’t want to focus too much on those kinds of people though, so once her opinion was out of the way she shoved that part of the topic aside, her face softening a touch as she nodded to him. “I like it. It suits you. And I think it’s a meaningful and beautiful way to respect the memory of your mom.” It was perhaps the most sincere thing she’d said to him to date, and she was obviously touched by the sentiment in his tale. They held one another’s gazes for a touch longer than she’d meant, the blonde interrupting the moment to turn her attention toward her bottle and consuming a bit more of the golden brown liquid within.

“It’s neat, though. I learned a lot about Desierto when I was in the Defense Force. Desierto ain’t exactly friends with a lot of other nations. They aren’t considered as much of a threat in Bosco as Pergrande, but they were still on the list. I know there’s a lot of tribes with like… ritualistic tattooing and shit, but I hadn’t heard of one that did anything like branding. You tend to see that kind of stuff more in places like Dongxia and Embrant.” Having collected herself a bit, shoving back the slight butterflies she’d developed in her stomach a moment prior, she returned her gaze to him. “Do you still keep in contact with anyone in your mother’s tribe? Or have any family left there?”

Saffron would be the first to admit she was a bit of a hot head, and a bit on the dramatic side. Not that she was truly dramatic so to speak, but she was simply a bit animated when it came to her thoughts and opinions. She scoffed at the knowledge that people had been so rude, making assumptions and judgment without knowing the story behind his scars, insisting that she would have had a few things to say to them about it that would involve her fists. Truthfully, Saffron doubted that she would have resorted to outright violence over something so petty, but she definitely would have considered it. Trevor, on the other hand, had let a cooler head prevail, stating that he usually let it go, not finding it worth an all out altercation. No one else had to like it; it was his body, not theirs.

Still, the blonde found herself doing her part to assure him that the markings weren’t detrimental to his look. She thought they looked really good on him, and were even sexy in a way. Not that she’d let such a remark fly beyond her thoughts to greet the breathing world through her lips. Still he smiled at her in a way that stupidly caused her stomach to do a small somersault, thanking her and admitting it was nice to have someone he respected appreciate them. With her face turned away and focused rather intently on her beer, Saffron missed his amusement at the little moment that had just happened between them, choosing instead to push forward and bring up what she knew of Desierto’s customs.

Specifically what she was interested in knowing was if he had any family left in his mother’s tribe that he kept in contact with. Saffron could only assume that he didn’t otherwise she imagined he would have found his way to them after his father passed away, rather than living on the streets as a vagrant. He confirmed that the tribe didn’t have anything to offer him outside of the chance to participate in the scar making tradition, both parties interested only in making the exchange before going their own ways. His mother was an only child and her own parents had long since passed away. It was possible he had some form of extended family, but no one that he was really aware of, claiming everything was a bit complicated.

“Families often are.” She chuckled lightly. Saffron had been so focused on chatting with him that she hadn’t even really noticed how many people had already picked up their things and headed home, with many others currently in the process of doing the same. He pointed it out, mentioning that it looked like it was time to start doing the same… only to then turn back to her and ask if she wanted to take one last walk along the coastline to just chill and enjoy the atmosphere a bit longer. “Sounds like a plan to me.” She certainly wasn’t going to complain about some extra time at the beach, or so she told herself was the reason she wanted to stay.

Polishing off her beer and tossing the empty bottle in a nearby receptacle, she pulled out one more – as well as one for him, if he needed a refill – and once he was ready, they made their way closer to the water line and started walking at an easy, casual pace. It wouldn’t take long before she asked him to hold her bottle, bending over to roll up her pant legs to just below her knees. That done, she took her drink back and continued their stroll, letting the water lap up against her ankles back and forth with the tide. “I wonder how Emma and Nik’s date is going,” she wondered aloud with a slight smirk. “Bit of a shame they missed this. I get the feeling Emma would have been all over that sand sculpting contest.”

With a self satisfied little grin, she took a swig from her beer, giving some thought as to what they should talk about. Saffron wasn’t necessarily the type of woman that needed constant chatter, nor was she uncomfortable with silence, but she was genuinely interested in conversing with him and getting to know him a little better. As such, her mind churned to come up with another topic or some kind of question to ask him about himself. “So what do you do when you’re not working on your music? I assume you have other hobbies and interests that don’t revolve around writing songs and trying to charm your female fanbase out of their pants.” She shot him a little grin.

Trevor did think that Emma would have enjoyed the sand sculpting, but he felt that the water activities would have interested the bassist more than anything else. Meanwhile, Nik likely would have just lounged on the blanket, more the beach bum type. However, seeing as how he was certain that both the other members of the band had spent the night apart from one another, it just meant that they would just have to make them both jealous when they brought the event up later. Saffron’s grin widened, the blonde thoroughly enjoying the playful argument they were having over that topic. “Of course,” she teased, her tone dripping with all the attitude of someone that was humoring him and letting him think he was right.

The subject moved along, Saffron asking him about what other kinds of stuff he liked to do in his free time that didn’t involve music or women. Trevor gave her a playful smirk and insisted that it was usually the women that were “throwing themselves” at him, earning an amused eye roll from her. It was the kind of comment that, had it come from a complete stranger, would have come across as incredibly douchey – though from the tug of a smirk on her lips, she hadn’t taken it that way with him, more amused than anything else. He even admitted a beat later that he simply wasn’t always good at being able to turn down such opportunities when they were offered up to him.

She took another swig from her beer as he continued, explaining that he liked to stay active at the gym on a daily basis, figuring that he’d have to put some extra work in tomorrow due to the number of s’mores they’d eaten. “Yeah, I’m gonna have a small food baby to work off, too,” Saffron admitted, patting her own stomach with more pride than anything else. Outside of that, Trevor told her that he liked to read, with an emphasis on world history and magic, both of which fascinated him. The blonde gave a small chortle. “Nerd.”

Saffron wasn’t attempting to mock him or belittle his interests, of course. She was just playful and spicy pretty much all the time, though admittedly she had very little interest in either subject. At least, not recreationally. Growing up in Bosco where there weren’t a lot of magic users, and having been a part of the military, magic and history were practically required reading for almost her entire life. It wasn’t that she had no interest in either topic, they were simply things she associated more with work than with relaxation. Outside of those things, though, he often filled his spare time with helping other musicians. Sure it was technically his job, but even when he didn’t need to be working he earnestly enjoyed putting a few extra hours in with other artists that needed or wanted his assistance, claiming he was a bit of an addict.

“Hey, nothin’ wrong with that.” She honestly admired that he was so dedicated, not just to music itself but to his members as well. Saffron wasn’t exactly experienced in teaching or guiding other musicians, but she had always been invested in music more than most other things in her life, and that was evidenced in the fact that her talent was almost entirely self-taught. She’d had the odd lesson here and there to get her started, but after that it had just been lots and lots of practice. Very few people were ever passionate or persistent enough to accomplish the same feat, so it was refreshing to have met someone that was on the same wavelength.

He turned things around on her, wanting to first make a few guesses as to her preferred pastimes. Saffron grinned, eager to see what he would come up with, particularly as he theorized that she was addicted to a good adrenaline rush – which was completely, one hundred percent correct. Setting aside her love of music, hitting the gym, and keeping him on his toes, he guessed that she was into rock climbing. The blonde chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve done some rock climbing before. It’s a lot of fun, and a great workout, though I haven’t done it in a while.” She enjoyed a bit more of her drink and then continued.

“Honestly, outside of training and music, there really isn’t a whole lot that has ever kept my interest for a long time. I guess you could say my favorite hobbies are things that I’ve never tried before. I just like adventure and new experiences. And being that I am absolutely an adrenaline junkie, I get more excited with things that have a little bit of danger involved in them.” Saffron shook her head in amusement at herself, knowing that sounded a little crazy but that was simply the type of person she was. “I get bored really easily, and as far as I’m concerned there is no worse style of suffering than boredom. I like to get out and do new things, and if I can’t find anyone to do them with me then I’ll go by myself and typically wind up meeting other people along the way. Hell, half the friends I spend most of my time with these days are all people that I met at events just like this one.”

If anything could be said about Saffron, it was that she wasn’t the least bit shy, unafraid to strike up conversation with complete strangers and take the time to do whatever interested her, even at the risk of others seeing her by herself and assuming she was some kind of loner. “I like to watch stuff, too. I’m big into horror flicks, the campier the better. Got a buddy of mine hooked on Camp Chainsaw recently, and now he and I binge it a couple days a week to get him caught up. I also follow entertainment wrestling pretty closely; dozens of hot, muscular men and women, throwing each other around the ring and overacting the crap out of everything? Perfection.”

Saffron practically cackled when he gave her a shove for calling him a nerd, extremely tickled with herself. He defended himself by reminding her that he hadn’t had much of a formal education and as such had needed to educate himself, once he was in a position to. That, and according to him he looked great in a pair of glasses, despite the fact that he didn’t need them. The blonde had zero doubt that he did, too, and his confidence on the matter only made her more sure of that fact. There was something about men and a pair of reading glasses, especially when they knew what kind of power they held. Vandrad wore them from time to time, and while she wasn’t attracted to her mentor in any way, objectively even she could still appreciate that he rocked them pretty damn well.

When it came to the subject of her own interests, she owned up to being a bit of a wanderlust in terms of hobbies, seeking out new experiences and doing anything she could to stave off boredom at all costs. Trevor teased her about being able to make friends pretty much everywhere she went, which was appropriate considering that was practically what had happened with the two of them as well. She merely grinned over at him. When the moment passed, he admitted that her approach to free time sounded like fun, stating he had quite a number of things on his bucket list that he’d like to try some time. He even suggested that they cross a few things off their lists together. “Hell yeah, let’s do it.” There was no hesitation in her response, the spontaneous spitfire always down to do just about anything.

And she didn’t totally mind the idea of having more one on one time with him in the future.

Everything came to a screeching halt when he admitted that he’d never heard of wrestling, or at least not the style that she was mentioning, asking if it was staged fighting. “Brooo, you’ve never even heard of entertainment wrestling? It’s not the most popular sport and a lot of people make fun of it, but they at least know what it is.” He would be able to visibly see the change in her demeanor, the typically cool and collected woman suddenly almost giddy as she talked. “Alright so, like it’s definitely staged, though there’s often a lot of improv involved. The fighting and the stories are all scripted, which is part of why a lot of people make fun of it and call it ‘fake’, but it’s no more or less fake than any other television show or movie you might watch. But the stunts and maneuvers they pull are still very real, and injuries are almost always expected. Most matches are one on one, but sometimes they’ll do tag team matches or free for alls. You win by either pinning your opponent’s shoulders to the ground for three seconds, or by forcing your opponent to tap out a submission.”

Pulling up her mechanical arm, she hit a couple of keys that brought up the holographic screen installed in the limb, which was much bigger than the screen on her phone. Saffron pulled up a browser page and did a quick search for one of the fights from the most recent event. “Here, watch this one. This was a grudge match from a couple days ago. A grudge match is a little more charged than your average fight – basically means the wrestlers have personal beef with each other.” Stopping where they were walking, she held the limb up a bit higher so it was comfortable for both of them to view, though with the screen still being a bit on the small side he’d find that he’d likely need to move a fair bit closer to her to see everything clearly. Saffron would start the clip from some of the story build up so he could get an idea of how much acting and playing to the crowds was involved as one of the wrestlers gave a brief summary of the history between him and another wrestler, calling his opponent out and challenging him to come into the ring and fight him right then and there.

The opponent soon answered the challenge, his music filling the arena and causing the crowd to start cheering before he even stepped out. The two exchanged a few more words before the fight was on and soon they were in the thick of it, the fight going back and forth with one man taking the advantage for a brief time before the tides shifted and it was the other fighter’s turn to shine. And while many of the hit were fake as none of them were actually attempting to injure the other, there were still plenty of things that surely hurt like hell, from chops and clotheslines to flipping over each other off the top ropes and landing on the ring floor, or even the concrete around it, and sometimes even using items such as folded up chairs to smack each other with.

Truthfully, Saffron hadn’t realized what she’d done until it was already happening, the blonde keenly aware of how close they were. She felt his hand on the small of her back, not positioned to be fresh with her as much as it was to just let her know he was there so she wouldn’t be caught off guard, but that didn’t stop the flutter in her stomach from returning. She could feel the warmth from his palm through the back of her top, and the slightest bit of heat from his breath over her shoulder. It was all very distracting and while she did her best to focus the brunt of her attention on the screen, a portion of her mind kept jumping back to their proximity to one another.

Trevor did seem to be enjoying the clip though, offering up genuine reactions to some of the stunts and hits that the men in the ring were performing. He questioned the fact that people did that kind of thing willingly, without any use of magic that he could see, and remarked that it all looked incredibly painful. “For the kind of money they make doing this kind of shit, I’d sign up willingly too. Granted my pain tolerance is a bit insane thanks to my magic, but that’s all part of the game, y’know?”

Without really stopping to think about it, she turned her head up and over her shoulder to look at him, as people were wont to do during the natural course of conversation, only to find his face much, much closer to hers than she’d been expecting. Almost in tandem did their expressions go from amusement to uncertain consideration of one another. His dark eyes practically had her in a trance, and as a rush of emotion caused her skin to prickle, something else happened that she’d talked of in passing before but he hadn’t witnessed yet: her eyes changed color, the bright purple orbs shifting and fading into a soft pink shade. She gulped gently, knowing she should probably put some distance between themselves but finding herself either unable, or unwilling, to do so.

It was Trevor that broke first, pulling away from her with some hesitation and fumbling up an excuse that it was probably time for them to head back. Finally released from whatever sensation had practically paralyzed her, she turned her face away to busy herself with closing down the screen on her arm. “Yeah. Yep. Mhm,” was her only response, her tone perhaps a little too determined to accept his segue away from the moment. By the time she turned back to him her eyes had returned to their normal color, though she could still feel the warmth in her cheeks. Hopefully it was too dark for him to see her blush very well.

They made their way back to their things. There were still a couple of other groups packing up and some staff dealing with dousing the bonfire, but otherwise the beach was practically deserted by that point. They collected all their things, Saffron shoving her belongings inside the beach bag she’d brought with some assistance from him, and then turning the favor around and helping him collect some of his items together until there was nothing but bare sand where their little camp out spot had once been. “My bike’s over this way.” Nodding toward one of the nearby parking lots,she led the way to where her motorcycle was set up with a very small trailer attached to the back of it, more of a trunk with wheels than anything else. Opening the lock, she flipped up the latch and the lid, arranging her stuff inside.

“You staying in town tonight?” she asked as she worked. Reinford was quite literally on the other side of Fiore, further even than her guild in Magnolia was, and as far as she was aware he didn’t own any kind of vehicle or mode of transportation, meaning he’d either be walking to his hotel or trying to find some kind of public transportation, which wouldn’t be easy at this hour. Presuming he confirmed that he had booked himself a room someplace for the night and wasn’t planning on making the trek back to Confidence, she’d nod. “I’ll give you a lift.” Gesturing for him to put his things in with hers, she’d shut the lid and secure it before walking around and swinging her leg over the bike to take her seat. He’d find there was plenty of room for another person to sit as she turned the engine over and got it running.

Once he was situated and gave her an idea of where she was going, she’d raise the kickstand and pull out of the parking lot, taking them down the streets as directed until she pulled them up to his hotel. Leaving the engine on, she dismounted the bike after he got off so she could once more unlock the trunk so he could access his stuff. “You need help bringing anything up?” He didn’t seem to have a lot so she figured he could manage, but she still had some manners, and it was the polite thing to offer.

She was going to need a cold shower after this. Saffron practically forced herself to focus on the road and not on how close he was behind her on the bike, something that seemed to be distracting her much more now than it had on the lacski earlier. After a short ride they arrived at the hotel and both of them hopped off, with Saffron offering to help him carry anything as needed. He declined the offer with a smile before admitting that their bandmates, wherever they were, had missed quite an evening. He was interested in doing similar stuff with her again in the future. “Sure, sounds like fun. Count me in.” She returned his smile with one of her own, showing her genuine interest in the idea and that she wasn’t simply trying to humor him.

That seemed to be the end of things. Trevor bid her farewell, Saffron giving him a small wave back. “See ya.” With that, she locked up the trunk once more and moved to take her seat back on the bike. The blonde was so focused on not looking at Trevor that she didn’t even realize he had stopped and was having an internal conflict. Just as she was lifting the kickstand and getting ready to take off, she caught his movement in her peripheral vision as he turned back around to face her. Saffron gave him a surprised look but otherwise listened without interruption as he opened up and explained that he didn’t really want the night to end just yet. It was late, he knew but he sensed that she wasn’t quite ready to leave things as they were and invited her in for a drink.

She didn’t say anything at first, continuing to sit on the bike as she had her own internalized struggle. There was no mistaking what he was offering. It wasn’t necessarily a guarantee of any specific type of activities, but it certainly was leaving the door wide open, and if she accepted there would no longer be any dancing around the fact that they were attracted to each other. And she was attracted to him, not just physically either. He was funny, confident, kept up with her sense of humor most days, and had a big heart when it came to being a part of his community and fostering it. He certainly fit the bill of the type of men she was into.

Her mind drifted a bit to Scourge, the one thing that was really giving her pause outside of their agreement as bandmates not to hook up with each other. The truth was that Saffron knew how much she also liked the former Dread Master. They’d become very good friends in a very short period of time, talking almost every day and making time a couple days a week to spend with each other. Saffron wasn’t so naive as to think that they weren’t essentially dating at this point, but without any commitments. Not that the subject had ever come up for direct discussion, but she knew better than to get too attached to him. His lifestyle didn’t really allow room for exclusivity in his love life, and it had been clear from the start that the tryst would only last as long as he was able to hold himself off from sleeping with Mercury, which Saffron knew he fully planned to do at some point. Truthfully she figured he would have done it by now, so a part of her wondered if he was harboring some hesitation toward losing the thing he had going on with Saffron. She didn't want to hurt him by potentially sleeping with someone else…

But then again, Scourge was hardly the jealous type. In fact, he would likely be the first to celebrate her getting some action, even if it wasn’t with him. And as much as she liked Scourge, she had to wonder if she really wanted to hold out for someone that had never made any indication that he was a prospect for anything long term. Not that Saffron was ready for anything serious at this point in her life, but she could be eventually, for the right person. Whether or not Trevor was that person remained to be seen, but she wouldn’t know unless she put herself out there, much like he was doing now.

“I really shouldn’t,” she informed him gently, her words and tone conveying that the interest and desire was there, but she wasn’t lost to the idea also being unwise. It was her last dredge of hesitation, however, as only a beat or two more passed before she nodded. “I’m just gonna go park.”

Doing her best to ignore the pounding in her chest, she pulled forward to seek a convenient place to camp her bike for the night, cutting the engine and making sure it and her trunk were both secured against theft. Luckily she always brought a spare change of clothes to the beach, just in case something got ruined or drenched, so at least she’d have something clean to wear tomorrow. She hadn’t packed any toiletries, but most hotels had that kind of stuff available so that wasn’t an issue. With her bag slung over her shoulder, she walked back to where Trevor was waiting for her, giving him a small, if somewhat bashful, smile.

The blond let him lead the way inside, figuring she’d eventually find herself in a standard hotel room, or maybe one that was just slightly nicer than average. Instead, a single brow flicked briefly toward her forehead as they got in the elevator and he selected one of the top floors. She followed him into the room once he opened it, giving a soft whistle as she glanced around. “You certainly don’t spare any expense,”[/color] she teased.

It was a pretty big hotel room. Saffron couldn’t help but take a moment to really look at the place, which was more than just a single room with a bed and a bathroom. It had a full living room that was practically a study, with several shelves full of books, a reading nook, a couple couches, a bar, and even a fireplace. From where she stood she could see into the bedroom, which was adorned in rich reds and golds with a very large bed. The bathroom was also visible through a separate door for the most part, complete with a standing shower, a tub big enough for two, and what appeared to be a sauna.

She teased him about the extravagance and he teased right back saying he’d promised the hotel owner an opportunity to meet Saffron in exchange for access to the suite. Saffron rolled her eyes, but was smirking with amusement none-the-less. He owned up after that to say that the owner had insisted Trevor take the room in exchange for a good review on the bands’ social media pages. “Yeah, that’s pretty chill of them, I suppose. I’ve certainly never stayed in a room this nice before. I’m more used to a stiff cot… or a sleeping bag out in the woods.” The life of a soldier wasn’t a glamorous one, that was for sure, nor did it pay well enough to cover a room like this one.

He went over to a fridge and grabbed another beer for each of them, opening the bottles and handing her one. “Cheers,” Saffron repeated with a small smirk, clinking her glass against his and taking a swig – after sharing another moment of lingering eye contact, at least. She made her way over to the couch as he invited her to sit, plopping down and making herself comfortable. The singer joined her, mentioning with a laugh that he probably wouldn’t even use half the amenities. “Well that’s just a waste. You better believe I’m gonna use the hell out of that sauna before I leave.” She grinned up at him, swirling the contents of her beer around gently.

There was a slight tension in the air, both of them unsure of how to proceed now that they had established a certain unspoken understanding between one another. After a little bit of idle chatter they elected to throw on a movie, picking an action comedy flick that neither of them had seen before. It didn’t take long before they found themselves a lot closer on the couch, with Saffron nestled up against him, tucked underneath his arm and doing her best to pay more attention to the movie than the excitement of cuddling him. He was warm and still smelled of the beach, which was one of her favorite scents. And as entertaining as the movie was, her mind kept drifting to the possibility that something more might very well be coming out of this night, even though this was the last place they should be. Shit like this almost certainly would risk the integrity of the band, should things ever go sour between them… but then again, as far as she was convinced, Emma and Nik had already crossed that bridge long before now.

And frankly, her attraction to Trevor far outweighed her concern about how anything they did might disrupt the band.