itinere | [OTA + Gansey]

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the raven cycle: adam parrish

[OTA + Gansey]

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Most of Blue's days since the power's returned has been lived in routine. She wakes up every morning in her room in Monmouth both happy and sad. Though the paper trees and flowers that have slowly started to creep up her wall like kudzu make it feel a little more like home, she knows these aren't the same four walls that she's spent the past sixteen years of her life iwthin. They're different walls in an entirely different world that takes everything a step further from the ley lines and Cabeswater. She's by far the furthest that she's ever been from home and she doesn't know if she'll ever make it back.

But she's in Monmouth and she's not alone and if she's ever had a question that magic exists in the world, living in Itinere confirms it. So rather than feel sorry for herself, she pushes on and leaves the bed to get on with the day. With a regular afternoon shift at the bistro, she always makes certain to get there by ten in the morning to beat the brunch crowd. It's a little strange only to work one job but at the same time, she likes the freedom it brings her to explore Itinere. She can be found poking her head into various stores or spending time along the shore, still amazed by the vastness of the ocean. It reminds her a lot of the stars she loves so very much.

Gansey;

She had been both surprised and extremely flattered when Gansey had asked her out. Despite everything she's ever known most of her life saying it's a bad idea, she had agreed. He's a boy and boys are supposed to be nothing in trouble, raven boys at the top of that list. For all they know, he might be her true love and if Blue were to ever kiss him, he'd die. He'll die anyway; that promise made on the corpse road speaks to that. But Adam's moved on to Ronan and she can't peossibly spend her whole life avoiding dates with boys she might be attracted to. Her curse hadn't stopped her from going on a date with Adam.

But Adam Parish wasn't Gansey.

Blue waits outside the doors of Monmouth at the agreed upon time, having come home long enough to shower and change into a clean outfit, complete with just enough makeup to accent her features. Gansey hadn't said where they'd be going and she hopes it's not someplace too fancy. She's not certain even her nicest dress would fit in at the sort of restaurants Richard Gansey the Third must find appropriate for dates.

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Persephone has tried to give Blue her space: she isn't a mother and has never wanted to be. She does feel, however, that she should be somewhat motherly since Maura's not here - or any other parent for that matter.

So, on a day that it doesn't slip her mind to reach out, she calls Blue, using the strange cell phone they all seem to have, and holds it, waiting for there to be an answer on the other end.

It had taken Gansey weeks to work up the courage to ask Blue out. He'd done it in a rush of breath while she was at the bistro one day without thinking of where he was going to take Blue on the date. He'd spent the next few days trying to figure out exactly where their date was going to take place. The town was full of places they could go, but none of them held any appeal to him, mostly because when he was with Blue, he wanted it to be just he and Blue. At the same time, just he and Blue terrified him.

In the end, he picks a place that actually takes a good deal of finagling to get into after hours. He dressed a bit earlier and went to finish up some last minute preperations for the date. Moments after Blue steps outside Monmouth, Gansey pulls up in the Pig (it had shown up in the back lot of Monmouth a few days after Gansey had arrived; it hadn't run and they'd had to push it to Adam's shop). He parks the car and gets out.

"I know you don't need the door open for you," he says as he gets out and slams the driver's door shut. He's clutching a handful of dandelions (he'd had to go pick them) and wearing a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a mint green polo "but the passenger side door stopped opening this morning and I didn't have time to take it by Adam's. You'll have to scramble across the driver's seat." He takes a deep breath and looks her over. "Am I allowed to tell you that you look lovely, Jane, or will that ruin the da--outing?"

Adam Parrish is not Gansey. He won't ever be Gansey. But he's in Gansey's house (Monmouth) gathering up his notes on Itinere that he'd left here for Gansey to copy into his own notebook. It's after his work at the garage, and he'd stopped by here on his ways home so his clothes are rumpled and greasy. His skin is dirty and greasy. His hair is, as always, askew, all signs that he is not Gansey. He's barely even a Raven Boy.

When he hears someone exit a room, he's startled because he had thought Monmouth was empty, which was why he had stopped by now. At Gansey's desk, he turns so sharply that Gansey's mint plant falls over to the floor. And there's Blue to witness it all.

How embarrassing.

"Sorry I didn't know anyone was here." He murmurs quickly, turning to kneel on the floor and right the pot. The plant is thankfully unharmed for the most part. But some of the dirt spilled out onto the floor and Adam opens his notebook to the front flap and lines it up to the floor, then he uses his other hand to scrape sod onto the cover and dump it into the pot.

Space is something of a luxury at 300 Fox Way and Blue had grown up fighting for as much of it as she can get. She had the luxury of having her own bedroom but any other space in the house had been fair game for the entire household. Monmouth isn't as chaotic as 300 Fox Way and she misses it quite painfully at times. But it's not enough to get her to leave the room she's staked as her own and ask to move in with Persephone instead. She loves this life too much.

Besides, Blue only needs one mother in her life and it's a mother currently lost beneath the ley lines. But she does appreciate the efforts that Persephone has made.

When her cell rings, she quickly glances at the caller idea and picks it up. There's a smile on her face that stems mostly from the image of her mother's friend using a cell to reach Blue. It's far from daily life, as far as any strange activity in Itinere is. "Hi, Persephone."

"Blue, is that you? This thing is so strange. I don't very much like the phone on Fox Way, but this one is so small. It can't possibly be healthy .... "

It may be that Persephone has forgotten why she called ....

It wasn't as if Blue had been particularly waiting for Gansey to ask her out. No, Blue Sargent doesn't believe that it is a man's responsibility to initiate a date. But she had waited instead of making the first move and she's not entirely sure why. Protecting Adam isn't much of an excuse anymore. Protecting her own heart? Probably. It's already far too late for that, though. Gansey has become far too entwined with her heart to separate.

Everything he does only seems to endear him more to her. Though he doesn't have his glasses on right now, there's something in his manner that reminds her of that Gansey. The academic that bustles with nerves and excitement. The dandelions are surprisingly simple and not at all the sort of flowers she'd expect Richard Gansey the Third giving a girl. But the handpicked bouquet are exactly the kind of flowers that a girl like Blue would love.

"You don't have to ask that, Gansey," Blue answers, secretly pleased that he did indeed ask. She takes the flowers from him and presses her noise lightly to the flowers. They don't have much of a scent but what's there reminds her of springtime and Cabeswater and everything she loves about Virginia when the flowers first start to bloom. "I like the flowers. I also like the way you look tonight."

Even if he's wearing that ridiculous mint green polo.

It might have been easier for all of them if Adam Parrish had been more like Gansey. Or, more to Blue's way of thinking, if she had felt towards Adam the way she feels towards Gansey. If she had wanted to kiss him rather and not break up with him. Then she never would have hurt him the way she had. She still wouldn't have kissed him but she never would have hurt him.

Time heals a lot of wounds and Blue would like to think that it'll heal this one, too. She doesn't regret telling him off, she can't help the way that she feels (or doesn't feel). But Blue does love Adam much in the same way she loves Noah and Ronan. Hurting any of them isn't something she'd do purposely. Thankfully, already it seems a little easier to be around Adam. To not need one of the other boys around to act as buffer. At least, this is what Blue'd like to think.

She finds nothing embarrassing about the way Adam had knocked over the plant. It had been her fault for stepping out of her room silently to see who was home and startling him like that. Immediately, she rushes over and joins him on her knees to help scoop up any remaining dirt into the plant. She smiles at him, an easy and reassuring smile. "I was in my room putting up some more trees. Besides, I don't think Gansey ever minds if you come and go as you want."

There's always that initial awkwardness when he sees Blue now. Not the normal awkwardness that happens with Adam Parrish when he tries to be social with anyone, but something with rougher edges than that. Something that happened after that rejection that now feels like a lifetime ago but also just yesterday. It isn't that he still harbors those feelings for Blue. It's that it hurt him in so deeply.

Adam can handle physical wounds. Internal wounds are so much more complicated and Adam has plenty of those too. One from Blue is enough. Someday it'll scab over and heal. But there's that initial moment where Adam wants to be anywhere but here no matter how close he is to Blue.

She doesn't have to help him. But she's there getting her hands dirty with him and he isn't sure how to feel about that. Her smile helps to ease things a bit as it always does. He was trying to be here and gone while no one was here, but this is okay, he guesses. The awkwardness starts to ease, something that eventually always happens.

"Maybe." Maybe Gansey wouldn't mind him here. But still, old habits die hard. He picks up the plant and sets it back on the desk. "Your room is probably the best one here." Clean and decorated. Blue.

They're both so hesitant and careful with each other, perhaps because of the same reasons and perhaps it's for different ones all together. Gansey likes to think that it's because she cares for him. Emotions make everything far too difficult.

Well that's fortunate. It would be even more fortunate if he were trying to endear himself to her (not that he's not trying); it would mean he could replicate what he's doing. As it is, he's simply trying not to screw this up before it starts. He's very real right now, very Gansey. That academic is probably the closest thing to him that he has, even though he's capable of playing so many more roles than that one. As for the dandelions, well...they were flowers that he thought Blue would like as opposed to the flowers he thought he ought to get.

"I'll file that away for future reference then," he tells her with a crooked sort of smile. He nods at her comment about the flowers, a silent 'you're welcome' then looks up at her comment about his appearance. There's a bit of a surprised look to him. "Thank you," he tells her. He opens the driver's side door of the Pig and gestures for her to get in.

"I hope you'll like where we're going." He thinks that she will. He actually did some work to make this happen.

Her curse hadn't been that bad before emotions had made it difficult. Back then it had seemed so unlikely that she would ever fall in love. So not being able to kiss anyone wouldn't be that big a deal. But now it's like she has to walk on eggshells sometimes because emotions do come into play. Really strong emotions.

It would probably be the best for all of them if things didn't work out between them tonight. A horrible date would be a blessing in disguise. It shouldn't be too hard for Gansey to screw this up but so far, he's doing everything right. He's very real, very earnest, very much her favorite Gansey right now. The Gansey that she thinks that she might be falling in love with.

She clambers into the driver's seat and then across to the passenger's seat. There's no way to do this without being awkward so she doesn't even try. Once seated, she fastens her seat belt and watches him get into the car. Really, Blue hadn't expected anything fancy. Or even planned. "Where are we going?"

She had never meant to hurt him so badly. Maybe Blue should have been honest with Adam from the very start. About curses and true love and how she can never take the chance kissing any boy. But it had seemed so weighty a discussion to have with the first boy she had ever decided to date (and a raven boy at that) and she didn't know how to bring it up. So she had hurt him instead. Hopefully one day he'll forgive her. Until then, she'll do her best to be his friend.

The dirt on her hands doesn't bother her. She's spent many summers planting flowers for the elderly in Henrietta. It'll wash off. It always does.

"I offered to clean their rooms, too..." Blue trails off though it's easy to figure out the response she must have received. "I've been working on the bathroom and kitchen instead."

It may be that exactly. There's a reason that Blue usually talked to her mother or Calla when she called. Not that she's ever had many reasons to call 300 Fox Way in the past.

"It's me, Persephone. Did you want something?"

"I'm sure I do."

But what that is, well, Persephone isn't sure.

"How are you, Blue? How is school?"

"There's probably such a thing as too clean here." It wouldn't be Monmouth if it was all organized and clean. Not that it's any of his concern. He doesn't live here by choice for his own reasons. But he knows the feel of the place, and maybe that's enough for him to have an opinion, no matter how small that opinion might be.

His nose wrinkles and he shrugs and nods, glancing over toward the combo kitchen and bathroom. "But filthy... that's another story. Gansey's probably glad you're here."

He looks back to Blue, curious. "Persephone isn't living here with you?"

She really shouldn't be surprised by this question. It's Persephone and Persephone really doesn't have the best grasp of time and setting sometimes. She suppresses her amusement and answers as matter-of-factly as she can.

"I'm well. But it's still summer. And I don't know if there's school here in Itinere."

"You have to go to school." Of this at least, Persephone is sure. "How will you go to college if you don't graduate high school?"

That he can understand as well. Gansey hadn't expected to fall in love with anyone or anything that wasn't a Welsh King or a town. Yes, he'd kissed a girl or two before, but it'd never been serious. They'd been girls that his mother wanted him to meet, girls that had kissed him because he was Richard Campbell Gansey III, girls that wanted him to be that man rather than just Gansey. He'd never experienced emotions such as these; he'd never wanted to kiss a girl like this.

Probably, but Gansey is still hoping that things will go well. He wants to try dating Blue, even if he can't kiss her. He wants more almost kisses like those by the Pig that night. He wants whatever he can have with her. He is, without any doubts, falling in love with Blue.

She needn't worry about awkward. Gansey looks at everything she does with a sort of awe. She is the most incredible creature he's ever had the pleasure of knowing. He slips into the car once she's settled, puts his seatbelt on and starts the Pig. It sputters a couple of time before turning over with a roar then he pulls away from the curb. He glances over at her, trying to decide how much to tell her. "How do you feel about surprises?"

That will determine how much he tells her.

There probably is. And she doesn't want to step on the toes of the other boys. But there's only so much of a mess that she can take. If she's going to stay here, they're just going to have to put up with her. At the very least, she'll be insisting that they maintain this separation between bathroom and kitchen. It's a work in progress but she's getting there.

"Can you imagine Persephone living here?" Blue asks in return, humor clear in her words and smile. Despite the way their lives all seem to be intertwined, Blue still maintains a separation in her head between 300 Fox Way and Monmouth. "Especially when Ronan comes by?"

"Do they even have a college here to attend?" Even a community college, even if Blue still really doesn't like that idea. "Itinere may just be a permanent resort town year round."

Adam smirks a bit and shrugs. Yeah, maybe Persephone shouldn't be here. Partly for the same reasons that they've kept his and Ronan's apartment just him and Ronan. But it also seems strange and off for her to be nowhere with any of them. Alone. Adam isn't sure what to do about that. But maybe he'll come up with something. Maybe he can convince Ronan to open the doors of their apartment to Persephone so she isn't alone.

"Yeah I guess not." He says, dipping his head, brow furrowed with thought as he tries to go through all of Ronan's possible arguments on the matter and come up with counterpoints. These people had accepted Adam in, even when he isn't very easy to accept. He can do that for Persephone who has helped him so much in understanding Cabeswater and how it's a part of him now.

After a moment though, he looks back up to Blue. "I guess I should get going. Let you get back to whatever." He gestures to the mint plant. "Don't tell Gansey about..." About Adam messing up his stuff.

"And that gives you a reason to not go to school?"

Persephone might have sounded a little like Maura there. Oh dear.

It had never been like that for Blue. There had never been boys that any of the women at 300 Fox Way wanted to introduce her to. There had never been boys in her life period. That would have been breaking one of two of her life rules. She thinks that maybe she can consider the outings with Adam (and the rest of the group) as dates. He hadn't asked her to join them because he wanted to be her friend. But she's never been on a date like this before, just her and the boy who might be her true love.

The prospect is a little intimidating until she reminds herself that it's just Gansey. She had almost hated him until a few months before. Then there had been friendship. In a way, this is natural. The next step in what it is that exists between them. She thinks that she's falling in love with him, too. He's going to die before the year is through but she doesn't care. Her heart is already lost.

"Is that what this is?" Blue questions, talking loudly over the sputtering of the Pig. "Or is this your way of saying we're actually going on a search for Itinere's legendary king rather than an actual date?"

Not that she'd mind exactly. Does Itinere even have any dead kings?

How she feels about those outings is what counts. If she considers them dates, then they were dates. Gansey likes being her first date like this.

Just Gansey, and he's not sure if he's pleased to be referred to that way or not. He wants to be special to her. If all he can ever be to Blue is her friend then he will be her friend, but he wants her to fall in love with him the way that he's fallen in love with her. If he's only got a year to live then he wants to live it in love with her. He wants to be more than her friend.

He laughs at that and shakes his head. "As far as I can tell, Itinere has no legendary kings and this is a date. It's a surprise and I hope you'll like it."

A little bit like Maura? Try far too much. It's probably a very good thing they're talking via telephone right now. The look that Blue wears isn't the kind that smart girls give their elders.

"If there's a school here to attend."

They were dates of a sort. She had certainly spent that time around Adam because she had been interested in him as more than a friend back then. Or at least interested in the idea of him as her date anyway. This is different. She's still working on pinpointing all the hows and whys but she knows it's different. It's something she feels in her bones.

It's because he is just Gansey that this is special to her. He's special to her. The sighting on St. Mark's eve confirms as much. Because of Gansey, she broke the two rules in her life. Blue suspects that she's already fallen in love with him. If not, then she's certainly falling. It's the stupidest thing she's ever done, to fall for a boy with less than a year of life left.

But she's gone and done that already. She couldn't help it.

She smiles at him, feeling her heart flip-flop in her chest when he laughs. "How far away is this surprise?"

"But look at least, please?" Persephone asks, her voice soft again, distracted. "So you can make an informed decision."

Then see, she's got a great deal of experience with dates. This is different, they are different from everyone and everything. Gansey feels it in his bones as well and he's a great believer in going with one's instinct. His instinct tells him that falling in love with Blue is right in every way.

Gansey has been living on borrowed time since that day in the forest, the day that Noah died and he lived. He would like to have more time to live; he would like to have years and decades, but if he's got less than a year then he would like to spend it in love with Blue Sargent; he would like to spend it with his friends.

He had little choice in the matter either, though he did try to stop himself; she'd been Adam's girl and he didn't want (still doesn't want) to hurt Adam.

"Just down the block," he tells her and by the time he says it, they're practically down the block and he's pulling into the alley behind an art gallery. "We're here," he tells her, cutting the ignition and getting out, leaving the door open for her to climb out as he goes around to unlock the trunk.

Blue sighs. She's not going to win this argument, is she?

But like it or not, Blue's still Blue. Which means come fall, she will do her best to find out about the likeliness of attending school in Itinere. Her education does mean something to her.

"You know me. I'm always sensible."

She's got a great deal of experience dating someone that she didn't really have romantic feelings for. It really is different with Gansey. She cared what Adam thought about her but she thinks that she might care a lot more about what Gansey thinks. Falling in love is tricky. No one had ever warned her about that, only to never kiss her true love. It might have helped to know all the pitfalls ahead of time.

But it's too late now. She has no doubt she's falling in love with Gansey and that this date, no matter how it turns out, will be something that she'll remember for the rest of her life. Blue wants it to be the first of many. She just doesn't count on it.

"Fast," Blue comments before he gets out of the car. She gives one unsuccessful attempt at opening the passenger side door before rolling her eyes and climbing out after him. She closes the door behind her and walks towards the trunk. "Is the surprise in the trunk?"

Falling in love is terribly tricky. He's learning that for the first time as well. Gansey hadn't ever had time for girls before and they'd had little time for his quests and research. He suspects that even knowing the pitfalls wouldn't make it any less tricky, but maybe he's wrong. Regardless, they're both figuring this out on their own.

Gansey is unaware that his days are numbered and he hopes that this is the first of many dates as well. That, he thinks, will be up to Blue and because of that, he wants desperately for this date to go well. His anxiety is full blown right now, but he's an old hand at hiding anxiety. He takes a mint leaf from his pocket and puts it on his tongue.

He shrugs a bit at her comment. "I didn't want you to get bored," he tells her as he pulls a silk tie out of his pocket. "In part, which is why I'd like to blindfold you," he tells her, holding up the tie. It's red with tiny fleur de lis on it in navy blue. "Shall I tie it on for you?"

Boys had always been trouble in Blue's book. Especially raven boys. They're still trouble but now she can't seem to get away. Despite that better judgement she once had, she's even falling in love with one of them. Blue has yet to decide if it's a good thing that he's as new to this as she is. Not that Gansey shows it all that much. He is Richard Gansey the Third after all.

The mint leaf causes her to grin, a smile meant mostly for herself rather than him. He is so very Gansey in all respects. Even asking permission where other guys probably wouldn't even bother.

"I'm not bored," she assures him. Truth is, she finds it hard to be bored around Gansey. Or any of them. "And I trust you." Blue turns her back to him. Though she does her best to act calm, her heart's beating a thousand miles a minute within her chest. She does trust Gansey but with a blindfold, she really is putting control in his hands. "You can tie it."

He's a professional at landing on his feet. It may not show that he's new to this, but he feels it all the same. The butterflies and the nerves are present under the charming exterior. He wants so very much for this night to go well.

He asks permission because it's important that she want this and him as much as he does. It's important that she's as deep in this as he is.

He watches her a moment, the line of her neck and the curve of her shoulders. After that moment, he steps forward to put the tie around her eyes, tying it securely but gently around her head. He then slides his hands down her arms before stepping to her side and lacing their fingers together. He picks up the picnic basket out of the trunk of the Pig. "Alright. We're going to walk a few feet to a curb. I'll let you know when to step." He might overdirect, but he won't let her fall.

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[OTA + Gansey]

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