Emily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2020-12-12 01:57 pm
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2020-12-12 01:57 pm
Entry tags:
- canon: from dusk til dawn,
- canon: leverage,
- canon: original,
- canon: teen wolf,
- canon: vampire diaries universe,
- fdtd: kisa,
- fdtd: richie gecko,
- fdtd: seth gecko,
- leverage: jim sterling,
- leverage: sophie devereaux,
- prompts: get your words out,
- ship: caroline/tyler,
- ship: cora/stiles,
- teen wolf: cora hale,
- teen wolf: stiles stilinski,
- tvdverse: caroline forbes,
- tvdverse: freya mikaelson,
- tvdverse: hope mikaelson,
- tvdverse: josh rosza,
- tvdverse: josie saltzman,
- tvdverse: lizzie saltzman,
- tvdverse: tyler lockwood
get your words out { 2021 } challenge tracking
Directory:
PERSONAL GOALS:2021 Year Goals TEQ Edit List TV Watchlist GYWO Yahtzee COMPLETE
OFFICIAL CHALLENGES:1/14/21: Stop, Drop, Write Challenge COMPLETE 1/23/21: January Challenge: Tarot Prompt COMPLETE 2/16-17/21: Roll the Dice Challenge COMPLETE 3/1/21: February Challenge: Masked/Unmasked COMPLETE 3/15/21: Five Minutes Challenge COMPLETE 3/27/21: March Challenge: It's a Date COMPLETE 4/28/21: Challenge: Roll a Prompt COMPLETE 5/10-12/21: Time Management Challenge COMPLETE 5/23-29/21: 7 Days, 7 Stories COMPLETE 6/21/21: Five Minute Challenge COMPLETE 6/28/21: Challenge: Senses COMPLETE July 2021: Mid-Year Marathon COMPLETE 7/13-16/21: Roll the Dice Challenge COMPLETE 7/15/21: Challenge: Playlist COMPLETE August 2021: Mid-Year Marathon INCOMPLETE 8/1/21: Christmas in July Challenge COMPLETE 8/11-12/21: Time Challenge COMPLETE 8/21/21: Random Challenge COMPLETE 10/12/21: September Challenge: Dressing Up COMPLETE 10/15-19/21: Nano Prep Challenge IN PROGRESS 10/18-31/21: 2021 Spoopy Word Crawl IN PROGRESS 10/26/21: Halloween Prompts COMPLETE 12/27/21: Stop, Drop ... Write COMPLETE 12/30/21: November Challenge: What's in a Name? COMPLETE 12/31/21: December Challenge: Auld Lang Syne COMPLETE
8/1/21 | christmas in july challenge ~ leverage ~ 1,483
She has half a mind to cancel it. The romantic trip to the Poconos that Nate had planned for them shouldn’t see the light of day without him in it. But going away and being somewhere new, possibly even someone else for a little while, seems more and more appealing. Each time she picks up the phone to cancel, she pauses and puts the phone down again.
Maybe it would be good for her. Maybe she should take a break. Besides, Nate wouldn’t want her not to take it.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Eliot asks as she helps him wash the dishes after their yearly Christmas dinner. It’s one of the few times a year she sees him, Parker and Hardison these days, with them being so busy with Leverage, International. She’s proud of them and all the hard work they’ve put in to turn their little crew into something so much bigger.
She’s briefly tempted to take him up on that offer, but in the end, she shakes her head. “No, not this time. I’m going to have to get used to doing things on my own, eventually.”
“You’re not on your own, though.” Eliot stops her, taking the dish she’s finished into his muscular hands to dry. “You’ve got us.”
“I know. I know I do.” She reaches for the next piece of china on the stack as she nods. “But that’s not the same.”
Eliot nods once, because he gets it. Eliot, Parker and Hardison, as much as they may love her, weren’t her partner of eight years, the love of her life. The man who isn’t there anymore. She needs a change of scene, but she needs one that will help her reestablish the force of nature that is Sophie Devereaux.
“I won’t be long,” she says with a soft smile. “Just staying through the New Year. I want to get it started on the right foot.”
“Alright.” Eliot nods as the last dish comes into his hands to be put away. “But if you need something—anything—you call, alright?”
“I will,” she smiles. “I promise.”
She doesn’t know how well she intends to keep that promise, but she’ll try.
Arriving at the upscale New England resort is fine, at least for the first few days. The small vacation isn’t as upscale as her previous adventures, but it’s quiet, cozy enough that she can settle into the ski lodge and lightly put on one of her personas, slowly test out who Sophie Devereaux is now without Nathan Ford.
So far, she’s not sure she likes the person, but it’s nice to get out of her own sorrowful rut for a little while.
Skiing shuts down after those first few days, however, when a nor’easter comes through, dumping almost a foot and a half of snow on the surrounding hills. The storm traps all the vacationers in the resort, eyeing the disappearing tree trunks of the evergreen trees nearby and partaking in more and more of the alcohol.
Part of her wants to fall back on old habits. Sneak some wallets while the other guests are too drunk to notice. But the thrill simply isn’t there, and she keeps enjoying her stay with no extracurricular adventures. New Year’s Eve brings a fresh rash of festivities, but Sophie keeps her distance. After claiming a table by the window to herself, watching the swirling snow around them with a glass of wine, she hears the voice of the last person she expected to see.
“Sophie?”
She turns at the sound of her name and smiles softly. “Sterling. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Was working on a case, then got caught in the storm.” Sterling steps up and gestures to the empty seat across from her. “May I?”
Sophie nods, watching as he settles into the seat across from her with his whiskey. “Nate and I planned this before…” She waves a hand, and sees the sadness in the other man’s eyes. As much as he and the other man were rivals in most things, she knows that he and Nate cared for each other, in their own way. Perhaps not the most traditional friendship, but enough for their purposes. “Anyway, I didn’t have the heart to cancel it, I suppose. Seemed like a better idea than staying around the house.”
Sterling nods, taking a sip of his drink. “I’ve been meaning to call. Things have just been so busy.”
“Mmm,” Sophie smirks. “You know you don’t owe me anything, Sterling. Being at the funeral was enough.”
“I know. But I suppose in some ways, it feels strange to miss him. And given our history…”
“You mean the many times you’ve tried to arrest me?”
“Yes, that exactly. I thought I might not be the most welcome face.”
“Maybe.” She thinks of the weeks that Eliot slept in her guest room. The tropical vacation that Tara booked to get her out of the house over the summer. Distractions that kept her from wallowing in the sadness, fully adjusting to her new normal. And those things were nice, truly they were. “But I think I could have benefited from someone who…just wanted to talk about him.” Sophie rests her chin in her hand. “I think they think I might fall apart, even if I hear his name.”
Sterling’s head tips to the side curiously, before a thin smirk crosses his face. “You know, I have more than a few delightful stories from our IYS days. Though, I’m sure he told you all of them.”
Sophie’s eyes briefly light up, intrigue coloring her features. “Oh, no. Unless I was in them, I can’t say I know them.”
Sterling’s flat-out grinning now, finishing his glass and signaling the server for another round for them both. “Well. Then do I have a treat for you.”
“—And then Nate, in his infinite wisdom, goes diving into the pool after it.”
Sterling’s hand rises and falls to mimic the arc Nate likely took into the pool after the artifact in question, and Sophie can’t contain her laughter any longer. It bubbles up out of her chest freely, not forced or faked, and it feels good. She can’t say she’s laughed this hard since she lost Nate, and it’s a relief.
She’d wondered if she ever would again.
“Did he get it?”
“The pool was ten feet deep, and the artifact sunk like the rock it was. And your husband was not a swimmer.” Sterling shakes his head as he finishes the latest glass of whiskey with a sigh. “He made a very valiant effort, but in the end, we needed to leave it to the professionals.”
Sophie nods. “Probably for the best.” Then, there’s a deep sigh as she looks at her own empty glass of wine. “I miss him.”
“So do I.” Sterling shakes his head. “I love what I do. I always have. But it was always more fun with Nate. No matter what side of the law he was on.”
“Agreed,” she sighs. “I don’t know if putting on a con will ever be the same, honestly.”
“As an Interpol agent, I know I should encourage that line of thinking.” Sterling leans in to her, a conspiratorial smirk crossing his features. “But off the record? I think you’ll find your way again. Maybe not for the art, or the jewels, or the thrill—but because it’s what you do. You con the people who need to be conned and help the people who need to be helped.”
Her eyes lift briefly, studying his face curiously, and he shrugs.
“The job was always more fun when you were in it too.”
Her smile turns fonder. “You always forced us to up our game.”
“Likewise.” A countdown begins in the main ballroom where they had gathered most of her guests, and he glances down at his watch. “That time already?”
“Must be,” she sighs, pushing herself up into a sitting position. The servers come around, passing out complementary flutes of champagne, and they each take one, leaning forward in their seats as the seconds tick closer.
“… Five! Four! Three! Two! One… HAPPY NEW YEAR.”
The roar of cheers fills the ballroom, and Sterling leans forward, clinking his glass against Sophie’s gently. “Happy New Year, Sophie.”
She smiles in return and nods. “Happy New Year, Sterling.”
Hopefully, the coming year would be a little brighter.
Re: 8/1/21 | christmas in july challenge ~ leverage ~ 1,483
Re: 8/1/21 | christmas in july challenge ~ leverage ~ 1,483