"THE GLADIATOR" — CHAMPION OF WAR

Very unlike Vayne, Danny was not the best at handling himself around company, making friends, or being social in any capacity. One might even say he was socially inept, in dire need of a confidence boost in the worst way. A coward. The notion stung of course, and the wolf wasn’t an idiot, he knew that it was a common opinion. How he had managed to not only make, but manage a friendship with Vayne was beyond him, perhaps beyond the understanding of many. Not that he would change that fact, although of course nothing could be easy for him, not for five minutes. Developing a raging crush on the local socialite, the captain’s daughter, how fitting for his stroke of luck. If he was a more confident man he would have perhaps admitted to it openly, but he was once again, a coward. A massive loser. Actually, doing such a thing came with an unbearable, unshakable fear that he would be nothing but a disappointment on her good name, as if he knew eventually someone more worthy of a title would cross her path and they wouldn’t be the vessel of anxiety itself. So he kept his mouth shut. And besides, he had done such a shit job at his one concrete insistence that he would come to her defense, not once, but twice. And the second time had heavier consequences. A capture and scars to bear. Great job, king.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. His head gently bonking against the wall of an almost empty room, with not much of sentimental value. Even from several feet away he could hear the sound of the paper sliding under his door, something curious enough to prevent his future concussion if he kept at his current activity.

He read the note, which should have been inquisitive if nothing else, but he felt his heart twist around in his chest as it beat wildly. And not in the fun way. Dread was more like it, a million and one reasons bashing together in his skull like frantic rabbits in a burrow that was currently on fire. Or something. He moved it, carefully, where it would be safe and not seen. And then he left, a little sick all of a sudden, but able to move his legs luckily. That wasn’t always the case, being frozen in place often a result of his anxiety, see.

Was he in trouble? Did she know about what he did? A chill assaulted his spine.

”I g-got your, um....your note.” The Privateer stuttered, voice cracking about halfway, nervousness evident in both his tone and expression. Despite not really being one for talking to other people, brown eyes darted around at the realization that this must have been important enough to be separated from the general bustle of the rest of camp. After all, she planned this out.

— if i find some way out then i will stay, with heart split two ways down

"THE GLADIATOR" — CHAMPION OF WAR

He held his breath when she said she wanted to ask him something, a light headache tapping at the inside of his skull from the lack of air. He was mentally preparing for the worst, but the worst never came and he found that she wasn’t going to interrogate him after all. Actually, she looked more nervous than upset like he’d been imagining, which was rather new. And while new, uncharacteristic behaviors would normally trigger his fight or flight, he was just curious at this point about what could have possibly finally wrangled Vayne. Normally she was way more confident than this.

His head tilted at the bracelet, not unlike a inquisitive puppy trying to figure something out, admiring the craftsmanship in the brief time he had to do so before the point of calling him to the beach via note was gotten to. Once more, not what he was expecting in the slightest, but this time caught him completely off guard and he had no preparation at all for it, good or bad. Even fearing the absolute worst with no reason to left him with more planned steps in his head on how to respond and handle the hypothetical ends of the world. But this....yeah, he had nothing. Which was terrible in his own right because that meant he was acting instinctually and he had absolutely no hold on his emotions. In fact, it was probably glaringly obvious that his face was hot enough to spontaneously combust, a little tomato man beneath the mass of dark fur. There wasn’t any response from the wolf just yet, slipping the bracelet over his paw and shaking his wrist to make sure it stayed, the sound of the rustling seashells against his skin echoing in his ear beneath the sound of rushing blood. ”L-Like....like, dating, but, but us? Us.” Danny squeaked, the immediately booed himself internally, disappointed in the lack of suave responses. In retrospect, he probably should have asked Michael before this, just in case. He used a paw to nervously push back the scruffy mass of fur over his forehead, pressing it down and against his skull. Eye contact was hard. ”Of course! Of course, yeah....just...just don’t be all surprised if people look at you all weird. I think, I think their standards are, uh...higher.” He cleared his throat with a sheepish smile, a joke to attempt to ease any tension, and to ignore the fact his heart banging against his ribcage was starting to hurt. Maybe he had actually died and this was like, Heaven or something. It made sense to him as to why Vayne would ask him out.

— if i find some way out then i will stay, with heart split two ways down