kalon tryout - marshmallow and watermelon

[chanhee.]

form for these two- do not post

name: maxim
gender: male (he/him)
[1000/1000]

name: sonny
gender: nb (they/them)
[1000/1000]

[chanhee.]

In. Out. In. Out. His breathing kept time with the clicking of the grand clock hung above the entrance of the building. His partner was already at the counter, batting their lashes and talking to the two women who were seemingly transfixed to them and their built-up story and fake accent. It nearly made Maxim laugh, honestly, how good Sonny was at creating elaborate tales from nothing and having people believe him, like these two ladies, but he held himself together.

As he got closer to the counter, hand in his pocket, on the pistol he kept on him (loaded with blanks- meant for fear rather than harm), Max could hear Sonny 'recounting' a story of his trip to Paris and how enchanting it was. Mid-sentence, Max wrapped his arm around Sonny's neck, though they were about a head taller than him, and put the gun to their head, threatening the ladies behind the register with a person's death if they didn't give him what they had. He was aware of the gamble of them having a button under the desk, but Sonny had assured him there was none, so he felt secure in this plan.

Of course, it didn't go perfectly. A man passing by outside had seen the ruckus within the building and called the cops as soon as Maxim had grabbed Sonny. Sirens could now be heard in the distance, growing louder. Max didn't let that get to him, though, and held onto his 'hostage' while the girls stacked cash on the counter in front of them. With time running out, Sonny slipped from Max's loose grasp and took their backpack off, filling it with the money now exposed. While they did so, Max turned and ran to the door, looking out and planning their escape.

"Thanks, darlings, but we really should be heading out," Max heard Sonny say behind him, and he would have rolled his eyes if he weren't so focused on the sirens getting incredibly close. What shook him from his focus, though, was his partner grabbing his arm and leading him out the door, where they waited for Max to take the lead.

[chanhee.]

It took a year to spend the cash. It was used sparingly, only splurged on new phones and rent. Sonny cooked and cleaned, letting Maxim spend as much time as possible doing freelance work so they wouldn't have to go out and risk themselves again anytime soon. Eventually, though, the work wasn't coming and they couldn't support themselves on just what they had stolen, so it was time to start planning again.

Winter was harder to heist in, as the snow would hit and it was too freezing out to spend a lot of time watching without looking suspicious just sitting in a car in front of the building, but they didn't have a choice. Max knew this. They didn't have the money to mess around until it was warmer- they needed this, and they needed it now.

Sonny was on point as usual, with their innocent look and their vivid storytelling, and, though covered in at least four layers, their arms were moving like they were excited to talk about whatever it was they were. Maxim looked at his partner and deep down felt a pang of pride at how good they were at what they did. No one spared Max even a glance as he came up and leaned against the counter, acting like he was intrigued by the accent and good story.

Max's hand fell into his pocket and landed on the sharp edge of a blade, which he moved to find the handle. With it firmly in his grasp, he pulled it out of its confines and pressed it against Sonny's neck, which still had two layers on it because of the cold. His other arm wraps around his partner, pulling them closer as he slices through the sweater material whilst ordering the people behind the desk to empty the vaults behind them onto the counter. They calmly followed his demands, which immediately set off alarms in his head, but as he let Sonny go to go stop them, he saw one of their hands shoot out to hit a panic button.

[chanhee.]

Swearing under his breath, Maxim made a rough estimation on how long it'd take the cops to get here, so he grabbed Sonny again and kept up the guise, whispering under his breath to them so they weren't caught off guard by the sudden change in plans. Something neither of them was expecting, though, was an armed security guard, who had apparently never handled a hostage situation, because he took an unclear shot. Suddenly, there was dead weight in Max's arms.

The gunshot doesn't even register until after the screaming starts, and it's not from his partner, who'd just been hit. It was from the two behind the desk who watched, thinking the guard had taken out a civilian. They didn't know the person in Maxim's arms was more than that- more than anything to Max, and he was glad Sonny was light, as he dropped the knife and scooped them up, not caring about the next shot that rang out, narrowly missing him. All that mattered was getting Sonny somewhere safe and keeping him alive.

That turned out to be harder than anticipated, with sirens blaring as soon as he was out the door and the guard from inside yelling at Maxim to stop. He didn't listen, of course, and he slid his unconscious partner into the passenger seat of the car before hopping in the driver's seat, not even bothering to buckle either of them in before taking off at ungodly speeds down narrow streets. His eyes kept wandering over to Sonny, who was still bleeding heavily, and his mind raced on what to do in this situation. It didn't take long for him to pick up his phone and ring an old friend.

"Hey, do you still have room?"

[chanhee.]

The first thing Sonny noticed when they came to was the pain in their abdomen. (Where did that come from?) Following that, it was the uncomfortably strong scent of cinnamon and lavender- an obvious sign to try to cover the spicy allergen with floral tones. All that, and they hadn't even opened their eyes yet. They could tell the room was brighter than their own, and the familiar warmth they were used to waking up next to wasn't there, but they could feel the cooling on their palm from someone just letting their hand go moments prior.

Opening their eyes was harder said than done, though when they went to roll into a more comfortable position it suddenly became a lot easier. A gasp ripped its way from their lungs at the movement and suddenly there was a commotion next to the bed, the distant sounds of voices barely reaching Sonny's ears over the sound of rushing blood.

A hand came to rest on Sonny's shoulder, but it wasn't Maxim's, and that sent them into a spiral of panic. A small part of their brain knew they couldn't be in a hospital, because it smelled and looked homey, but the on edge part of them didn't care- someone they didn't know was touching them.

"Hey, hey, calm down," A soft voice reached Sonny's ears, making him pause his struggle to move, "Max is in the other room- I'll go get him if you just relax."

Sonny obliged and finally turned to look at the man who'd just spoken to them. He looked... familiar. While Sonny tried to figure out where they knew the man that was helping them from, Max nearly broke the door in with worry on his face. The man- a medic, Sonny assumed- followed him in and closed the door behind himself again, standing near it to give the two space.

"I'm so sorry," Max was already almost crying as he leaned over Sonny, accidentally pressing a bit too hard against their abdomen and causing a pained groan. He winced as he pulled away slightly, though his hand stayed in Sonny's, "I... I should have prepared more, I just didn't expect the armed guard! I'm.. I'm so sorry. I can't say anything else, I just... I really screwed it up this time."

Sonny wished his voice would work so they could console their partner, but when they tried to speak nothing came out. Instead, they just leaned forward, ignored the pain shooting through their body, and embraced Max to let him know it was okay. They were okay.

[chanhee.]

Three months had passed since the incident. Sonny counted the days, nearly the hours but they always lost count after about sixteen. Sure they could do the math, but it defeated the whole purpose, they assumed. The sun from the window they were sitting at beat down on them as they went over the time they've been here, and while they could feel the burn on their cheek, they ignored it. They were at the window for a reason, and they wouldn't leave until they saw what they needed to see.

An hour later Sonny was finally able to move, as a bright yellow sports car, followed by several motorcycles and another car, this time armored but more civilian-looking, pulled up. They moved quickly and quietly through the house. It was past two in the morning and while they were sure the others wouldn't mind knowing half the crew had come home, they wanted at least a few minutes alone to help take care of anything that needed it.

The garage light was on and the door was open when they came down the main staircase, and they weaved their way around the wounded members shuffling in, looking for one face in particular. Sonny found who they were looking for leaning against the garage doorframe, looking out onto the city that offered nothing else for their greed at this point.

"How was it?" Sonny asked softly, coming up behind Max and wrapping their arms around their shorter partner.

"It was... boring. Easy. Yeah, some of the crew got hurt, but..." Max trailed off, huffing in frustration like he was biting his tongue.

"You're wasting away here, you know," Sonny pressed their face to Maxim's hair in a brief head kiss before turning their head to just rest on him. "You look... sad. Like you want more."

"I'm fine here." Max's reply was short- an obvious lie.

"You're not and you know it, Max. It's not enough for you here! We're both bored! We- I miss our old life, Max." Sonny pulled away from Max, moving to stand in front of him with concern on his features.

"Yeah, well, at least you're safe here! Our old life got you shot, Sonny! We can't... I can't do that again!" Max broke, his voice rising to a shout. He immediately fell quiet after that, though, jaw clenched and hands balled into fists at his side, "I don't want you to get hurt again and I can't keep you safe alone."

"We don't have to leave here alone, though, Max. There are others here that want something more. We don't need to go back to just the two of us," Sonny held their hand out for Max to take as an offer, and though it took a minute, Max took it without a word.

[chanhee.]

Six months later and Sonny and Max were back out West with their own small gang climbing the ranks in the city. The men who had taken them in agreed to 'branch out' and split the gang up, letting the duo take some of the newer crew members back with them.

Max and Sonny were still wont to go out on daring adventures with just the two of them, but they knew if they got in too deep they'd have people to lean on and, if worse came to worst, they had a home out east with their family.