Boats Against {Devilyn Intro} the Current *{OPEN}*

Dev hadn't been home in days, spending his nights in his Uncle Aryth's office on an old cot which was kept there just for him. It was comfortable enough, with a thick wool blanket, and, anyhow, it beat going home even if he'd had a feather-bed waiting there. Even so, Dev had to see his father at work, since the man worked for his brother Aryth just as did his son, but he merely ignored him as much as possible, and it wasn't him who Devilyn really hated, anyhow. It was better not to even think of her, that bitch. Focus on work, for one thing. Dev was his Uncle's apprentice at the boatyard, helping to repair and build the fishing boats so essential to the primary industry of District Four; one day, the ownership of the small boatwright shop would pass to Dev, and the young man truly loved his work, especially those times when he was allowed to take one of the smaller craft out by himself to test it for sea-worthiness. Nothing was as satisfying as sailing alone for as long as he could stretch the test before heading back to shore, knowing he had helped restore the craft. In those moments, Dev was free and at peace.

Devilyn still had to go to school, regardless where he spent his nights, and though he really didn't care for it all that much, he was obedient and made decent grades, and was friendly and generally got along with the other kids, though he had no truly close friends. Those he hadn't got along with, in the past, had learned a sharp lesson about Dev's temper when he was pushed too far, and had thereafter left the boy untormented; Dev was not necessarily a great fighter, but he fought viciously when he had to do so. He even flirted with the girls in a very vague way, trying to seem ordinary and average, and tried hard to avoid staring at any of the other boys even when he really wanted to: the last thing he needed was to not fit in at school any more than he did at home. After school, though, and the days off, were the times Dev lived for. He was either at work, or, in his few free hours, able to walk along the beach, daydreaming, trying to think up only pleasant fantasies - usually ones where he found someone to love and was loved in return - he knew there were also happy relationships and not just the misery of his own parents. Sometimes, he dove into the surf and swam for an hour or two, something he was expert at; he had no fear of the water even when he knew he should.

The only thing Dev liked less than school was home, which he loathed, and happily would never have gone back to. In the young man's mind, the hours that his drunken mother and whipped and timid father spent watching endless recaps or live broadcasts of the Games only demonstrated their ignorance and cruelty. Privately, alone in the safety of his own mind, Dev was a rebel, despising the Hunger Games, the Capitol, the President, and all that they stood for, though of course he kept this to himself entirely, expressed only in his own lack of viewing of the Games even when a D4 tribute was in the final running. He felt terrible for the tributes, almost as much as he was also grateful never yet to have been one. Tonight, for example, he knew what his peers would be watching, and he wanted nothing to do with it, even though Uncle had told him to knock off early and go and do something enjoyable, a rare treat; Dev suspected that Aryth wanted to close the shop a bit early to entertain some woman in the small apartment he kept above the shop. He had no objection, reflecting that he would enjoy a walk along the beach, and headed down to stroll along the sand, having left his boots behind in the shop and wearing just a pair of jeans and a light blue tank. He listened to the ocean as he walked, trying to focus on the good in his too-often unhappy life.

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((OOC: willing to play with anyone here, if anyone wants to be wandering along the beach too. Potential friend or love interest, even an enemy, whomever... otherwise it's just an intro.))