Potential for Darkness (Peter Pan)//(Robbie Kay)

33 ~ Mermaid Lagoon

<<<Day 59>>>

Felix had been up for some time now, three hours to be exact. He'd been awake before dawn had even broken through the stars, the twisting feelings in his gut making it impossible for him to rest. Instead, there he was, sitting by the fire all morning, watching lost boys come and go, the camp slowly gaining life and activity as the sun leisurely rose over the horizon. He'd picked up a discarded piece of wood earlier and was whittling it. Absentmindedly, he'd carved into the wood without even thinking about it, his gray eyes lost, the burning inferno of the fire reflected in them matching his inner turmoil. About an hour ago, he'd found that the piece of wood between his fingers roughly had the shape of an owl taking flight, its wings outstretched, so that was what he was shaping, deciding that if he was satisfied with it, he could give it to Adelina as a gift to celebrate her becoming a lost girl.

Just thinking of her made his stomach clench, anxiousness biting viciously. He checked the sun again. Pan usually never slept in this late. What was taking him so long?

Ryan, ever trying to get on people's nerves, had noticed Felix's evident apprehension and decided to have a few words with the second in command. An insolent grin displayed on his face, he set himself down on the log next to the second in command.

"Good morning," Ryan practically sung, abnormally cheerful. "Beautiful day isn't it?"

"What's gotten you so happy?" Felix grunted, not lifting his eyes from his piece of woodwork. He knew that whatever Ryan's reason for being here, it wasn't purely for small talk.

"What's gotten you in such a bad mood this early in the day?" Ryan responded right back with a question of his own. He took on a mockingly compassionate tone, pouting slightly. "Is it because Pan got to bone the girl before you could?"

"Dude, just fuck off, will you?" Felix snapped, his fists tightening around his blade.

Ryan chuckled. "Seems like I've touched a nerve, eh? What?" He leaned insolently closer to Felix. "Feeling a little jealous? Possessive? Don't worry, I'm sure the little tramp will let you bone her too, if you ask nicely."

Before Felix could punch a couple of teeth out of Ryan's smug grin, he noticed Adelina and Pan exiting his treehouse. Forgetting Ryan, Felix's heart contracted in his chest. He prayed that she was okay, feeling that if he saw her expression indicate that Pan had taken advantage of her the previous night, he might just snap and try to punch the king of Neverland. Felix could feel Ryan's smugness from where he sat, both of them expecting for the worst to be written on Adelina's face.

It seemed as if it took her an eternity to descend the ladder and to finally turn her face towards him, but when she did, her expression was not one that he'd been expecting. Even Ryan made a slight noise of confusion in the back of his throat.

Adelina sauntered confidently into the clearing, a slight spring in her step. As she approached him, he saw her eyes shining with triumph, even shooting Pan a mocking glare as she passed him, one that he ignored. Pan, on the other hand, looked worse than usual. Disheveled, dark circles under his eyes, his set of jaw indicating his irritability as he clenched and unclenched it repeatedly. There was an air of barely controlled anger hanging around him. Definitely not how someone would look after having spent a pleasant night.

"Good morning," Adelina sung as she arrived close enough for him to hear. She was wearing the widest smile she'd ever displayed, yet she sat down next to Felix as if there was nothing out of the ordinary, and that half of the boys in the clearing weren't staring at her in utter disbelief. At one point, Ryan had left, probably to sulk, disappointed from Adelina's lack of misfortune.