Keeping Your Promise

Trust Me First

Summary: Of course, not all that glitters is gold.

The world around you was a chorus of golden wealth. The glorious city declined into an azure bay, the rising sun sparkling crescent-shaped ripples along the vast expanse of water. It was just past dawn in Canto Bight, and your heart had been enchanted by the divinity that it welcomed you with. The transport shuttle had offered no insight into direction, only a scrollbar reading off your estimated time of arrival. The minutes dwindled until you heard the exit ramp descend and felt a foreign warmth rapture you with rays of majesty; only when you had to think for a moment did you realize – no sun, no star had warmed you in the past four years, and never had it met you with the gentleness that currently kissed your skin.

"How is this real?" you whispered, the bag in your hand slipping free to your feet.

There was so much to take in. All that surrounded you were concrete structures with domed tops, gold accents glinting with early morning, luxury gleaming at you in every direction. This was a world wholly unknown to you; it made you feel small, shrunk you and towered over your ego.

Engines whirred behind, the water's patterned swells whooshing only a short distance away. Opulence filled each breeze, grandiosity evident even in the way the stones set beneath your feet. Every step you took, face gilded in sunlight, you kept yourself from acknowledge why you were here. Cantonica was more beautiful than any planet you had ever known; it hardly mattered that it held the probable fate of being the last.

"I have that same thought every time I visit," Mason said, stepping beside you and placing his bag by his feet. "I haven't been here since the break between our third and fourth year at the academy."

"When you brought - what was her name? Clara? Home to your parents after knowing her for a grand total of two minutes?"

He sucked his cheek and shook his head, turning his face down and meeting you with feigned exasperation. "Her name was Kara, first off, and I knew her for more than two minutes-,"

"Okay, fine. Ten minutes. And that's being generous."

"Hey!" Mason nudged you with his elbow. "She was fun," his eyes trailed to the side, an eyebrow lifting in remembrance, "yeah, Kara was really fun."

"I remember how fun she was," you laughed, arms crossed to your chest, "especially that night you hid in my dorm because she wouldn't accept the breakup you gave her."

Mason's past-drunk eyes went wide. "Yeah, well," he rejoined the present, "Canto Bight isn't home, anyway. My family owns various properties here, but we would only ever use them for vacationing."

"Ah, I see," you rolled your eyes, turning back to the ship when it finally shut off, "it's easy to forget you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth."

"Born with the silver spoon, worked for the white coat."

Only now did you realize the auburn undertones of Mason's short, soft hair; the gentle breeze seemed to know him, embracing him with familiarity. Tendrils swept behind his ears. It rarely occurred to you to think of him as wealthy; you figured if he never brought it up, neither would you. It was never a factor in your relationship. He was always just Mason, not Mason McCarty, trust fund.

Although, with the soft planes of his face contoured with radiance, a navy pullover clinging to his lean torso with every sigh of wind, it was difficult not to notice how at ease he was. You had spent years fawning over him in school, silently admiring each detail of his face. Here he was in technicolor, features defined in a brilliance you had never seen. He was quite handsome, and his presence provided the reassurance that you would not be so alone in the end.