Shae almost yelps from the surprise of a stranger appearing out of nowhere, but thankfully saves herself the embarrassment. Instead, a light laugh escapes her as she follows the young woman's words, trying to get a read on her wide doe eyes. The bombard of questions catches her off guard, but she sees the icebreaker for what it is and has to admire the stranger's forwardness. So, Shae puts her delicate hand in the other's and shakes it politely. "I'm Shae," she smiles, and then tilts her head in thought, trying to come up with an answer that doesn't make the old panic in her chest return. "Uhhh... My hope is that I make it out of this bonfire without embarrassment, and you're already saving me from looking like a loner, so thank you. My biggest flaw at the current moment is that I didn't bring a blanket big enough for the both of us but I'm happy to share," she chuckles. "And you?"
niya’s smile immediately widens the second the other introduces herself, almost like she successfully completed a mission. she shook the girl’s hand, maybe a little more eager than needed before she finally let go. “ niya, ” shae’s comment about the blanket made her laugh and within a second, she scooted over and with the amount of confidence radiating from her, you’d think she was invited from the beginning. “ and look at that, crisis averted, ” she spread her hands, glossied lips forming a grin. “ teamwork, ” the brunette set comfortably into her new claimed spot and for a second, she looks over at the crackling firelight that’s reflecting across the beach and the people walking around them — it was one of those nights that she truly loved. “ hey, i don’t think you looked like a loner … more like someone who was enjoying their five minutes of peace before somebody bothered you and unfortunately, it ended up being me, so … apologies, ” except there wasn’t an ounce of apology in her voice. “ my dream is probably surviving tourist season without losing my mind, but honestly, finding a cute tourist to mingle with would be fun too, ” she lets out a soft giggle. “ my biggest flaw ? probably the way i’m incapable of minding my own business, which is how i ended up sitting on your blanket in the first place, ” niya takes one more look around, her one leg getting tucked beneath herself before brown hues focus on shae, finally able to fully give her a proper look, eventually stopping at the her soft features. “ so what’s your story ? ”
"Ace, not you and your bullshit again." He loves the guy wholeheartedly. There were a few people in this life he could honestly call a good friend. Someone who cared simply for him and nothing extra he brought to the table. "If you fuck me over, I will kill you." Last time he indulged in such shenanigans, he had to streak through the streets of Capri naked at 3 AM. "Heads."
he lets out a laugh and in a way, it confirms every possible concern alex could have about whatever ace is about to put him through. he scans the coin before his gaze goes back to his friend. “ look, at some point, it’s less about my bad influence and more about your inability to learn from the experience, ” he shrugs before tossing the coin in the air, his eyes locking on the way it spins three times before landing cleanly against the back of his hand. “ well, the good news is that it landed on heads … so i guess neither of us is getting arrested tonight, ” a pause. “ probably, ” he lets the word hang in the air intentionally for less than a minute, but long enough to create a dramatic effect. “ you know, for someone who spent years in formula one cars, you’re weirdly nervous around a twenty cent coin, ”
and she all but made him choke on his beer mid swing, wasting unglamorous drops on his chin before he swallowed and coughed out what'd got into his lungs. ❛❛ fuck me. ❜❜ he settles the bottle, giving her an all knowing look that she'll drag him into yet another something. this is wildly tame, the more he hears her out. ❛❛ don't recall anything about sneaking up on them, but you might've specifically ignored that. ❜❜ he will resent the jumpscare she inflicted on him all of three seconds, sighing in faux annoyance at the game proposed. gabe wipes at his shirt, finally greeting her with a look to her pouting face ; of course he'll give in. ❛❛ and third base questions ? you'd have to wine and dine me first for those, stranger. ❜❜ bottle back in his hand, it's as soon offered to her extended one instead of a shake. ❛❛ no, no names, c'mon now, we've got to keep the mystery. you have to hit me with the fundamentals, like . . . did you ever eat sand as a kid ? ❜❜ turning silly questions into a sillier one right back at her, see how she likes to handle an ambush too.
“ please … ” she rolls her eyes almost immediately, very dramatically too while she’s at it, before reaching forward to steal the offered bottle to take a quick sip before handing it back because she would never give up on free beer. “ if i actually wanted to sneak up on you, you wouldn’t even notice until i was already sitting here, ” she settled further into the blanket, frowning as she listens to the words coming out of his mouth before she gasps. like actually, theatrically gasps. almost like she was personally attacked. “ did i ever eat sand as a kid ? ” niya repeats, starting at him for a moment before lifting a hand up in the air, almost like she’d try to push him away. “ be serious, ” a beat. “ of course i did … i was a connoisseur, actually, ” her expression remains completely straight and you know she’s dead serious. “ dry sand ? terrible texture, one star rating. but when it got slightly damp, the one that you could get right by the water ? now we’re talking … ” she lets the silence linger after she finished talking, brown hues scanning his face before she finally let the smile crack through. “ i really hope this is not how you approach women because babes .. we have to work on some stuff, ” she bumps her shoulder lightly against his. “ what’s next, are you gonna ask me if i’ve ever licked a battery ? ” a pause. “ yes … ” another pause, a fraction longer. “ but only once, ”
already rolling their eyes at the sudden sight of them, soledad casts a glance to the coin in question with an inscrutable expression on their face. "and if i refuse?" the question is purely rhetorical, as she immediately follows up with her answer. "tails. and it better not be a trick coin, ace, or i'll pull on your ears again."
“ you know, most people say hello before threatening bodily harm, ” his head tilts a bit, completely unfazed, almost like he’s used to it and truthfully, he is. the coin rolls lazily across his knuckles before he flicks it in the air, watching how it lands neatly back in his palm as he slaps the metal onto the back of his other hand. he looks down, back up and then down once again, purely for dramatic effect. “ congratulations, ” a grin spreads across his face. “ you get to buy me a drink, ” the coin disappears back into his pocket and he looks at them with a full seriousness on his face. “ and by the way .. can you like .. not pull on my ears ? last time you did it, half the beach watched me get publicly humiliated, ”
Since his injury, Alex has been keeping a low profile. Beyond work and checking on the family, his public appearance has been less than desirable compared to years prior. It was his nonna who encouraged him to come on out. Mingle, eat, and allow himself to heal in more ways than one. So, yes, he was confused at Niya's dramatics, but he should know by now that this is nothing more than her MO. "Commit to the bit, huh?" he chuckles as she unashamedly settles herself in. "My name is Cooper. I am from Vancouver. I hope to be an epic dog trainer winning the Westminster Dog Show one day. My biggest flaw is that I'm a liar. Your turn."
for a fraction of a second, she just stares at him before letting out a laugh, an expression that clearly tells she’s disappointed in a quality of his lie as she shakes her head. “ cooper from vancouver ? ” she repeated, almost like she’s trying to process the information. “ sasha from stockholm, ” niya starts, settling back against the blanket. “ retired olympic fencer, actually. i gave it all up after a tragic incident involving a prince and a yacht, ” the corners of her mouth twitch, she’s watching his reaction like a kid waiting for approval. “ it was very emotional, lots of press, ” her hand waves in the air, trying to brush off her fake persona details. “ my hopes and dreams … mm, i want a ridiculous amount of money, a ridiculous amount of free time and to never answer an email after noon again. i also want to become one of those women who mysteriously inherits a vineyard and falls i love with a local man who probably owns too many sweaters … my biggest flaw is that i’m incredibly humble, ” the smile tugs at her lips more and more, indicating that she’s clearly enjoying this maybe a little too much. “ but, cooper, the dog trainer thing is throwing me a little — i’m just trying to picture you running around an obstacle course yelling at a poodle named princess … ”
status: open // @capritownstarters
when: june 6, 10:30pm
where: sabbia de spiaggia
Luca's grateful that the bar is busy tonight, really, he is. He'd just be a little more grateful if he'd expected the rush and hadn't let his bartender take the night off to go to the bonfire.
Normally, when bigger venues host an event, he'll be lucky to have a wait at the bar. But it's the start of the tourist season, and the one thing that Sabbia does have going for it is its location right by the beach- so his floor is filled with spillovers from the bonfire, the normal groups of tourists who'd end up here, with or without the event, and all the unfortunate people sent into the nearest cheap bar (his) by their friends for another case of beer or a round of shots. All that to say, he's slammed and working the bar alone.
Still. He's grateful for the rush.
After pouring a round of lemon drops for a group at one end of the bar and pushing a glass of water towards a girl who's been sitting at the bar for a few hours too long, he moves toward the person who'd just walked in and flashes them a quick smile. "Buonasera, ah- what can I get for you? Cocktail, shots, another case for the bonfire?"
it takes him one look around the bar to understand why luca was two seconds away from losing it — stools were occupied, orders were being shouted from every direction and he could see at least ten empty glasses appear in front of his eyes before the full ones even disappeared. his eyebrows frowning as he leans against the bar, lazily watching the older man finishing with another customer because despite the rush he was in, ace looked like he had all the time in the world. “ see, i came in planning to order a drink, now i’m starting to think if i should apply for a shirt, ” his lips crack into a grin, he’s clearly enjoying it. “ you look like you’re about to declare a war on tourist season, did you know that ? ” ace rests his elbows against the counter, his eyes scanning the menu behind luca and taking his sweetest, sweetest time. “ normally i would go for the usual, but i guess tonight i will go for the bestseller .. what is it ? ”
“ call it, ” he stops in front of them, no greeting or any form of build up from him, nothing except the faint click of metal between his fingers when he pulls out a coin. ace only shrugs as he watches the reaction on their face, acting like he’d lost his mind. “ you can ask for what it’s for after, that’s the fun part … ” he flips the coin once between his fingers as the small grin tugs at his mouth.
she appeared out of nowhere, dropping onto the empty space beside them without much hesitation. “ wait, ” niya adjusted the blanket beneath her, the look on her face clearly indicating that she’s too pleased with herself. “ the invitation specifically encouraged sharing blankets with strangers, ” finally, she explains after watching the confusion forming on their face. her arms moved up and down in a careless shrug. “ i think if we both commit to the bit, we can make it work, ” her lower lip moved, forming a pout and within a fraction of a second, she held out her hand very dramatically. “ so .. what’s your name ? what are your hopes and dreams ? your biggest flaw ? ”
( tyriq withers, cis male, he/him, pretty ugly subplot + muse b ) 🐬 ⋆｡˚ what’s the word around ace valemont in capri these days ? don’t look at me like that, you know them — they go by ace, you know, the twenty nine year old tourist. you can probably find them at lido bellanotte as nightlife manager where people describe them as self destructive and manipulative, but others swear they’re protective and loyal if you catch them at the right moment. they fit somewhere between leather bracelets soaked in saltwater, bruised knuckles wrapped in gauze, drunk voicemails that he never acknowledges the next morning and yacht speakers blasting music too loud at midnight, though most people associate them with randomly disappearing for days without answering anyone.
001. 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿.
full name: ace adrián valemont nicknames: n/a age: twenty nine birth date: august 8th. zodiac: leo sun, strong scorpio placements energy. gender: cis male. pronouns: he/him orientation: bisexual relationship status: welp height: 6’5" hair color: dark brown tattoos and piercings: multiple tattoos, left ear pierced, had an eyebrow piercing briefly at twenty three but removed it, occasionally wears rings. employment: nightlife manager @ lido bellanotte education: institut le rosey, studied international business in london before quietly dropping out. family: adrien valemont, father (57) - businessman with connections through luxury hospitality and european finance. sofia valemont, mother (52) - art patron. camille valemont, sister (33) - runs family's hotel division. lucien valemont, brother (24) - studies in paris.
inspired by: logan huntzberger ( gilmore girls ), dean winchester ( supernatural ), nathan scott ( one tree hill ), chris schistad ( skam ), jj maybank ( outer banks ), roberta pardo ( rebelde ), tyler durden ( fight club )
002. 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏.
the valemonts — an influential name across europe from luxury hotels along the amalfi coast to old money investments with charity galas, where the photographs are carefully staged and the reputation gets built on generations of pretending everything is ideal. this is where ace grew up : a type of wealth that people romanticize until they see what it actually does to a family. at first, his childhood looks cinematic — summers in capri, winters in gstaad and private schools in switzerland. expensive wine was always on the table, sipped by people who always laughed too loudly at his fathers jokes. his parents loved appearances more than intimacy and ace learned young that there is always an audience watching him, sometimes it takes a form of investors and strangers who only recognized his last name, but sometimes it would be family friends and this is when he learned that trust can’t be given easily. his mother was obsessed with perfection in every way possible, from correcting posture at dinner tables to reminding him not to ‘embarrass the family’. yet, his father was worse — charming publicly, emotionally absent privately, who treated love like it was a reward instead of something that was supposed to be unconditional.
ace learned how to make people adore him before they had the chance to leave. he became magnetic and eventually, it came to him naturally because he spent his entire life studying what people wanted to see. he would laugh his way out of consequences at school, becoming the student that teachers would excuse too easily, even when he was sneaking out of boarding school dorms and sneaking in expensive liquor from family parties only to disappear with girls whose names he would barely remember. ‘wild’ is what adults would call him with amusement in their voice, because after all, rich boys are never punished the same way everyone else is. the thing is though, ace was never cruel intentionally. selfish ? definitely. impulsive ? all the time. regardless, people stayed around him and they did it because he knew how to make you feel like you are the only thing in the room that matters. he remembered small details, looked at people with intensity in this eyes, touched shoulders casually in ways that made you think about him for rest of the day and even now, most people who hate him speak about him like they miss him a little. capri became a place where he learned how to unravel himself. it started with summers on the island, now every time he comes back, his stays are longer because being nowhere else makes sense anymore. ace thrived in places where nothing felt stable and capri felt just like that. he built his reputation easily — club owners let him in through back entrances, bartenders knew his drink of choice and girls posted blurry photos of him on balconies.
when it comes to relationships, they never lasted. ace would treat intimacy like something he could play with, not sustain, unaware that this is exactly what he learned from his father. he loved the beginning of it — the tension, the obsession, unpredictability, uncertainty of starting a relationship. he likes to feel wanted and needed, but the second someone expects consistency from him, he panics. maybe it’s because he’s scared of how nobody would love him once they saw him without performance or maybe it’s the fear of becoming emotionally dependent after growing up and watching love be transactional.
their relationship became all-consuming fast. too much chemistry, too much emotional intensity, too many nights where they felt like the only two people on the island who actually understood each other. people envied them constantly. they looked perfect together — beautiful, glamorous, impossible not to watch. but privately, ace struggled with the fact that muse a made him feel exposed. they became the one person whose opinion could genuinely hurt him. and rather than admit that vulnerability, ace did what he always does when emotions become too real: he sabotaged it before it could destroy him first. so when he eventually got in a relationship and ended it the second he felt too seen, for the first time he wasn’t just a charming disaster that can be excused, but he watched someone else fall apart and he was the reason why. and despite acting like he doesn’t care, he’s watching everything, telling himself he stays out of concern and guilt, but the truth is uglier than that. right now, he’s moving through capri like he’s a storm, hiding someone who’s on the verge of exploding beneath his effortless charm.
( mika abdalla, cis female, she/her, girl’s girl subplot + muse b ) 🐬 ⋆｡˚ what’s the word around aniyah kassir in capri these days ? don’t look at me like that, you know them — they go by niya, you know, the twenty eight year old local. you can probably find them at corsa blu garage as a mechanic where people describe them as impulsive and avoidant, but others swear they’re magnetic and adaptable if you catch them at the right moment. they fit somewhere between espresso cups stacked beside engine parts as bikini strings are peeking out under oversized jerseys, being the friend everyone leans on even though she’s barely holding herself together, manicured fingers holding a cigarette on a yacht decks and emotional avoidance disguised as humor, though most people associate them with capri summer not starting until niya makes her first terrible decision of the season.
001. 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿.
full name: aniyah odette kassir nicknames: niya age: twenty eight birth date: june 21st. zodiac: cancer. gender: cis female. pronouns: she/her orientation: bisexual relationship status: single height: 5’5" hair color: brown tattoos and piercings: multiple tattoos, double lobe piercings, cartilage hoop she changes depending on her mood, belly button piercing, tongue piercing that she took out after eight months after her mother threatened to disown her dramatically. employment: mechanic @ corsa blu garage education: private bilingual schooling in capri, graduated international lycée in naples. studied fashion communication & creative direction @ university of naples. family: karim kassir, father (61) - owner of corsa blu garage. celeste de luca kassir, mother (57) - socialite connected to old italian wealth. zakhar kassir, brother (31) - studies medicine in university of oxford, calmer and more responsible than niya. very protective, yet often frustrated with how reckless she gets. leila kassir, sister (21) - studies fashion, idolizes niya completely. youssef kassir, cousin (29) - co runs the garage with niya. taught her most of what she knows mechanically.
inspired by: rachel green ( friends ), maddy perez ( euphoria ), buffy summers ( buffy the vampire slayer ), sarah cameron ( outer banks ), brooke davis ( one tree hill ), summer roberts ( the oc )
002. 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏.
niya knew life was happening somewhere else and she couldn’t miss it — at least that’s what her mother would always say, joking that she arrived impatiently, born in capri in the middle of tourist season, when the entire island was loud and full of life. there were plenty of things that the kassirs were known for on the island, but being loud and loyal would always come first. family arguments happened passionately, dinners lasted for hours and none of them knew how to mind their own business. when you take all of that into consideration, you realize that niya grew up surrounded by noise, chaos, a lot of attention but most importantly, affection. her father was the kind of man everyone respected without a question — this is where she learned hard work and discipline. his love was fierce, but not always gentle. he expected excellence from niya as he believed the world would punish softness, so naturally, since she was little, her father taught her how to ride motorcycles, fix engines and defend herself before he ever taught her how to trust people. girls at her age were learning dance routines, niya was handing her father tools while sitting on garage floors. her mother was just as present in her life, but a complete opposite of the man she married — celeste came from old italian money and the island would always associate her with effortless glamour and how elegant and socially adored she was. this is from who niya inherited her beauty, charm and ability to act confident, no matter how lost she felt. she was raised to move comfortably through wealthy social circles and not only how to speak to strangers, but also how to become unforgettable without looking desperate. however, even though celeste truly loved her daughter and never meant any harm, she unintentionally taught her that affection often tied to being desirable and easy to admire. aniyah grew up with her father’s intensity and her mother’s social perfection and in the middle of it, she became magnetic and difficult to fully understand, hiding her struggles in a facade of jokes and flirting with strangers that never leads anywhere.
growing up, she became famous for her ability to turn almost every situation into either a story or disaster. motorcycle rides down coastal roads with older boys were more important than classes in high school, she would get into screaming matches at beach clubs defending her friends and streets are saying she once crashed a bike into a hedge because she was trying to impress someone she liked. but even when she did all of that, people forgave her too easily and that, unfortunately, became one of the defining patterns of her life because no matter how reckless she was, niya had a way of making people understand her instead of abandon her.
but there’s always the other side of it too and niya, despite all of her confidence, feels things intensely, almost painfully. you might not see it at first or if you only listen to the stories about her, but she falls in love with moments, attention, the feeling of being chosen. niya has never actually been emotionally detached. she cares too much and hides it too quickly, romanticizes people before they even earn it. part of her genuinely believes in once in a lifetime love, soulmates, the idea that some connections are worth ruining your life, but she hates admitting it out loud because something about being vulnerable terrifies her even more than chaos.
niya is one of those people that you tie to the image of capri. she spends her days helping at the family garage near the port with her older cousin, probably wearing something that resembles tiny tops and gold jewelry so you’d think she doesn’t belong, yet she’s fixing motorcycles like she was born doing it. strangers often underestimate her because of her looks, assuming she’s shallow, spoiled or unserious until she proves them wrong … and she secretly enjoys proving people wrong. yet, no matter how much she loves her home, part of her feels trapped in certain ways : how everyone remembers every version of her, every mistake, every heartbreak. the lines within her closest friend group shifted in ways no one was prepared for, a harmless closeness between two people quickly turned dangerous and she kept convincing herself it would stop before it became real, because there was nothing worse than betraying people she loved her entire life, except niya always struggled when emotions became stronger than consequences. she exists in a strange in between, where she’s still adored and magnetic, still someone people can’t stop talking about while she’s carrying more guilt than anyone realizes because why would they ? she laughs loudly, drives fast, stays out too late and acts like everything rolls off her shoulders effortlessly and no one has to know thar she’s terrified that one terrible decision might finally destroy a version of her.
