shot in the dark.

i had a vision for the life i had ahead of me. ♕ danica marquez & corina tulsi - dewhq.

[chrrylpstcks]

@chardonnavs || There was no denying the giddiness when Emery saw she'd been paired with Danica. While they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, their connection felt stronger lately, and Emery was eager to spend more time with her. "So have you spent a lot of time in the mines before?" she made conversation as they hunted for the clue on the first floor.

[chardonnavs]

danica grimaced as she narrowly dodged a particularly muddy area of the floor that they were on. "absolutely not," she responded, her face seemingly in a permanent sourpuss expression. "why on earth would anybody willingly be in these mines? it's disgusting."

[chardonnavs]

corina sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. "i don't know, i thought we could work on your multi-tasking." regardless of her reply, she started to look around for a stool, clicking her teeth when she saw none. "we'll have to improvise. maybe we can build a little chair or something out of sticks."

[lcvergrl-deactivated20260511]

Seline's jaw drops, a strangled sound coming out of her mouth. She narrows her eyes. "What? I multi-task just fine." Resisting the urge to immediately shoot down Corina's idea — nobody was going to win anything with an attitude like that — Seline bites the inside of her cheek. "I think we'd eat up some valuable time doing that," she says and then quickly adds: "though it is a great suggestion, really." Seline walks around the pole. "What if we just did the area we can reach but we did both sides? And did contrasting images? Like day and night." She tilts her head. "Maybe you could add in some etching for texture?"

[chardonnavs]

corina had to hold back a huge sigh. alright, so she wanted to be up high, sue her! like a dejected toddler, corina picked up the paint brush and nodded. "that's a good idea, i guess," she muttered as she mixed the paint colors to get what she wanted. "at what point do we consider sabotage?"

[chardonnavs]

danica fell to the ground with a great 'OOMPH!' she shot a glare up at jai, feeling a bit validated in his uselessness. she scrambled up in her sack, brushing dirt off of her arms from where she fell. "don't tell me what to do, you gremlin!" regardless, she did bend down to pick up the rocks that were thrown their way and chucked them at their competitors. she may have hated jai, but she hated losing far more.

[lcvergrl-deactivated20260511]

"I am not a gremlin, you insolent half-wit." Getting pelted in the eye with a rock was not an unfamiliar feeling to Jai, but it was still unpleasant. He closes the affected eye with barely a word and a wince, leaning over to pick up some other rocks and helping Danica defend their honour. "This is incredibly messed up," he says, faux British accent turning slightly Australian in his ire. "Maybe we should turn back and tell the Mayor. This is unsportsman-like and they should be disqualified!"

[chardonnavs]

by now, danica's blood was pumping through her ears and her competitive spirit was set on fire. jai's accent change was not perceived (but let it happen again ina different setting, and danica will be so annoying about it). "no, we're going to take them down," she said, picking up even more rocks and chucking them with all of her strength. she nudged jai in the direction of the finish line. if this moment were to have a soundtrack, it would be some sort of triumphant instrumental that superheroes had when they got back up after getting beat up by the villain at first. "get the finish line, i'll stop them from getting in your way!!!"

[withinabstracts]

❝ it's... ❞ they trailed off, squinting at the label in a way that indicated they probably needed to admit that it was time for glasses, ❝ oh my god, they really named a beer phantom of the hopera ?? ❞ marley shook their head with a chuckle, ❝ it's from one of them pretentious little micro breweries in the city, 'm not even sure how they suckered me in. ❞ parking the needle into the material for a moment, marley pulled their keys out of their back pocket and reached over to use them to pop the cap off of the bottle in corina's hand. ❝ you mean you didn't come out just for the stellar company ?! oh, just an old jacket. probably been patched up more times than it's been worn at this point, but i hate throwin' things away when there's still life in 'em. ❞

[chardonnavs]

"sadly for you, my ego is so ginormous that i love my own company just fine. but since i'm also such a generous person at the same time, i'll be kind enough to grace you with my company," corina joked, nodding in thanks to the now-opened beer. she took a little sip of the beer before wincing at the flavor. "oh good yoba, phantom of the hopera is gonna haunt my tastebuds for the rest of my life. i'm just gonna set this down." corina took a quick peek over aj's shoulders. "i couldn't tell you the amount of times i've tried to breathe life into a raggedy old thing while i'm out sailing."

[chrrylpstcks]

If the noise that Taeng released throwing her ball had surprised everyone, the menacing growl when she missed must have been down right terrifying. "I'm not a blight! You're a blight!" Taeng screeched before hastily bending down to grab a ball to throw at Danica, then another, and another. She propelled them as fast as she can, figuring Danica couldn't dodge them all, but in her flurry she forgot to protect herself, and one of Danica's balls flew right into her head. Crumpling to her knees, the banshee wailed:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

[chardonnavs]

danica laughed out loud, throwing her arms up in victory. her teammates ran up to her to cheer along with her, but she kept her eyes on her fallen prey. she also twisted and turned to avoid being hugged by anybody. "that's what you get," she said with a huff, smiling victoriously with her teammates.

[chrrylpstcks]

Emery's gaze snapped around, and she realized most of the competitors were already lined up. "Oh, yeah, let's get ready!" As she rushed to the line, she ached a bit as if the rug had been pulled from under her, but luckily the egg toss posed an easy distraction. "Here we go!" She did a baby throw across the line to Corina.

[chardonnavs]

corina caught the egg with ease and took the mandatory step back. "emery, how coordinated are you?" corina asked as she prepared to throw the egg back. the egg toss was easily corina's easiest activity -- eggs were easy to handle compared to slimy fish -- so it was usually down to her partner if she did well. she tossed the egg back.

[withinabstracts]

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : open. 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 : the ranch, early evening. 𝐜𝐚𝐩 : ? /?.

marley loved summer evenings like this, when the heat of the day gave way to a slightly cooler dusk before the calm quiet of night settled over the valley. it was the perfect weather to sit on their porch with the door open, dogs snoozing at their feet and music drifting out from the record player in their living room like something from a distant dream. their neck was bent, deep in concentration as they were, over the well-worn denim that lay across their lap; the needle and thread looped through the fabric as it had clearly done many times before, patching up yet another hole in the jacket marley wasn't quite ready to let go of yet. their cowboy hat shielded their eyes from anything other than the project in their lap, so they startled when a noise alerted them to the fact that someone was standing in front of them,

❝ sorry, have you been standin' there long ?? come sit, grab a beer !! or there's iced tea in the fridge if you want somethin' that tastes less like battery acid. ❞

[chardonnavs]

"what kind of beer do you have?" corina questioned, sliding in and grabbing this so-called battery acid beer. "you know, i don't think i was standing there for too long, but i have, in fact, completely forgotten why i trekked all the way out here from the beach. what are you working on anyway?"

[lcvergrl-deactivated20260511]

"No they don't," Seline mutters under her breath, suddenly too distracted by their actual task to come up with a better argument. This task was quickly turning out to be nearly impossible. If they only painted the pole at eye level, it would come out as boring and uncreative as everyone else's — and Seline simply couldn't have that. She furrows her brows and rolls her shoulders. "How, exactly, am I supposed to paint while there is someone on my shoulders? What about a step stool. I'm sure there is one around here somewhere."

[chardonnavs]

corina sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. "i don't know, i thought we could work on your multi-tasking." regardless of her reply, she started to look around for a stool, clicking her teeth when she saw none. "we'll have to improvise. maybe we can build a little chair or something out of sticks."

[chardonnavs]

corina's jaw could not drop fast enough when maude's arrow hit the target with amazing accuracy. "holy shit, katniss, where have you been hiding this talent? you could hit the road with this stuff," corina exclaimed, setting up her own bow and arrow. unfortunately for her, she released way too early and the arrow flew about a foot away from them. "i love propping up the younger generation."

[chrrylpstcks]

Maude couldn't keep a small smile from creeping across her face. Wishing she could be good at something, anything was kind of her thing. "Hey, watch it!" she snapped out of her pleasure as she jumped back. "You call almost shooting me propping me up? Plus, you're not even that old. But whatever. Thanks for giving our team the point. Better luck next time."

[chardonnavs]

"i gave your team the point to prop you up, don't twist my very clear actions up now," corina lied, huffing to really push the narrative that she didn't actually suck and she whiffed the archery competition on purpose. "so you're welcome!"

[chardonnavs]

"what-- hold on, you think birds look better than fish? that's just illogical," corina bristled while picking up a paintbrush. "do we start at the bottom and work our way up then? also... there's no ladder so how should we do this...? one of us is gonna have to go upsies."

[lcvergrl-deactivated20260511]

"Of course they do," Seline answers, alarmed. "They're not slimy, they don't smell, and they don't contain obscene amounts of mercury." At the thought of going up higher, she blanches. Seline had always been afraid of heights, and even though it wasn't too far of a climb, all she could do was think about her body going splat on the ground below them. Silly Seline Soup, they'd call her. Maude would laugh for days.

"A reverse nature scene, then? birds on the bottom, then forest, and you can do a bunch of fish on the top." She shrugs. "It seems poetic?"

[chardonnavs]

"and birds poop on you and everything that you care about!" corina replied with a touch of defensiveness. it really wasn't that serious, but it was to her today. "whatever -- that still leaves the question of how the hell we're gonna paint up there. i could definitely paint some awesome fish up there, but i'm not that much taller than you. are you gonna let me up on your shoulders if you don't wanna go up there?"

[chardonnavs]

"oh good yoba--" danica cried out, her body frozen in fear from the sudden pick up. she did NOT like being touched, and now she was wholly being carried?! her brain finally registered her precarious situation, and her arm swung forward to push jai's face away from her own. "you can put me--" she started to say before something behind them caught her eye. "jai! they're throwing rocks behind us to trip us up!!!!"

[lcvergrl-deactivated20260511]

Jai feels a thwop on his face and he shreaks, both hands coming up to check for damages. Whether or not Danica fell in the mud, he suddenly did not care. She tried to maim him. She was no team mate of his any longer. "Bloody hell," he says in a thick faux British accent, his tone laced with panic. It increases when he whips around and looks behind them. Jai's widened eyes turn to Danica. "Go on then, throw some back!"

[chardonnavs]

danica fell to the ground with a great 'OOMPH!' she shot a glare up at jai, feeling a bit validated in his uselessness. she scrambled up in her sack, brushing dirt off of her arms from where she fell. "don't tell me what to do, you gremlin!" regardless, she did bend down to pick up the rocks that were thrown their way and chucked them at their competitors. she may have hated jai, but she hated losing far more.

[chardonnavs]

"my mere existence was created to perform," corina lamented, fiddling around with her shirt. "everyone in the valley is already impressed with me, so i just have to keep up my image. what about you? are you playing these games to win anybody's heart?"

[chrrylpstcks]

"Oh," Emery paused, not sure how to respond to that. "Well, I guess that's your answer. Go with the cropped look." Corina's question yanked an airy laugh from her, and she shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Sometimes it still feels too soon for that, but even when it's not, it's honestly been so long since I did that, it's like...I wouldn't even know where to start."

[chardonnavs]

corina's senses tingled, and she realized that this could possibly turn into a downer if she didn't say the right thing. "don't think about it too hard. whatever comes will come. for now, maybe you'll get some heart eyes thrown your way if you crush the egg toss event with me." corina posed with her cropped team shirt with the abstract sweet pea before taking her place at the line for the egg toss. "you got this, emery!!"

[chardonnavs]

danica watched taeng the entire time, stalking her prey. when she saw taeng save her throw, danica knew that taeng was doing the same. she forcibly grabbed a ball from her last teammate and and gently rolled it over to taeng. it was going to be a showdown. she ignored the teammate's protests. this wasn't their business.

[chrrylpstcks]

Slowly but surely, the rest of their teammates stepped off to the sidelines, until there were two. There was nowhere for Taeng to hide now, but she did not cower under Danica's steely gaze. In fact, it only emboldened her, and she proudly stuck her nose out as she stepped up to the boundary between their teams. With a mighty roar, revved up her arm and heaved a great throw...

[chardonnavs]

danica stood in the middle of the court on her side while clutching one of the dodgeballs for dear life. this was it -- live or die. her eyes stayed focused on taeng. at least the roar gave her away, and danica was prepared to dodge out of the way. she jumped to the side, skidding her knee against the ground. but danica leapt up with quickness and took her own shot. she beamed it at taeng, shouting, "this is for being a blight at the flower dance!"

[chrrylpstcks]

"Hmmmm," Emery deeply considered the two options because, like everything else, it was serious to her. "Well, they both look really good, but what are you going for? Do you want to look cool or a little more risque? Are you trying to impress anyone?" Of course she wanted to gossip.

[chardonnavs]

"my mere existence was created to perform," corina lamented, fiddling around with her shirt. "everyone in the valley is already impressed with me, so i just have to keep up my image. what about you? are you playing these games to win anybody's heart?"

[chrrylpstcks]

Taeng was truly delusional, but her delusions somehow did a 360 today and let her lock in. She was dead set on her vision of smashing Danica in the face to score the winning goal, so she had to be realistic about one thing: she was not very athletic. Instead of going on the offense, she did whatever it took to stay in the game, darting left and right, even ducking behind her teammates. When it looked like one of her teammates might catch Danica's ball and get her out, Taeng somehow managed to strike it out the air with her own, so Danica could stay in the game...and stay her prey.

[chardonnavs]

danica watched taeng the entire time, stalking her prey. when she saw taeng save her throw, danica knew that taeng was doing the same. she forcibly grabbed a ball from her last teammate and and gently rolled it over to taeng. it was going to be a showdown. she ignored the teammate's protests. this wasn't their business.

[chrrylpstcks]

Of course Maude didn't want to be at field day, much less participating in the events, and of course Corina was there to see her at her worst. Apparently that was just what happened these days. "I'm sure you are," she replied haughtily, not bothering boast about herself. Corina knew where she was from; of course she hadn't shot a fucking arrow in the valley. Instead, she did her best to line the arrow up at her eye-level and aim at the target, then...whoosh. It whizzed through the air and landed just a hair from the bullseye. Beginner's luck, she supposed...

[chardonnavs]

corina's jaw could not drop fast enough when maude's arrow hit the target with amazing accuracy. "holy shit, katniss, where have you been hiding this talent? you could hit the road with this stuff," corina exclaimed, setting up her own bow and arrow. unfortunately for her, she released way too early and the arrow flew about a foot away from them. "i love propping up the younger generation."

[chrrylpstcks]

Taeng had never been one for anything athletic, which made since considering she shared the stature of an inflatable floppy man outside a used car dealership. However, she was one for 1) winning and 2) humiliating Danica. Smashing her in the face with the winning dodgeball point would be the perfect step in her plan to drive her slowly and calculatedly insane, and obsessed with the image in her head, Taeng couldn't take her eyes off Danica. She darted through the crowd, managing to dodge the balls somehow, trying to be the last one standing so she could win the final point by hitting Danica.

[chardonnavs]

danica chucked a ball with all of her might as soon as she spotted an opening at taeng, but one of her team mates accidentally stepped in front of the ball and took it in the chest. danica groaned despite her other team mates cheering for another person out. she only had one target, and it was taeng. "it's you and me, you jester," she said under her breath but with enough conviction to make you think that she believed taeng could hear her.