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IVY HEARD A disturbance from behind her, and hearing JJ's voice in the mix, she obviously turned around to see what was happening. she saw a man escorting JJ out of the house, making her scrunch her eyebrows in confusion.
"look— look, man, i can walk myself." JJ exclaimed. "i got legs. can you see that, brother?" he gestured to his legs that were stumbling over one other.
"JJ, what's going on?" ivy asked, walking beside him in a fast pace to keep up with the man.
"alright. i really appreciate what you did back there. let me just walk out by myself." JJ grunted, trying to pull away from the man. "woah, mr. dunleavy, i see you got your drink. good, that's really nice of you. i'm actually gonna down that." he grabbed the elder man's drink from his hand and drank it all in one gulp.
"what the hell's matter with him?" the man asked.
"sorry, sir." the man escorting JJ apologized.
"i appreciate the discretion there, daryl, you know?" JJ said sarcastically. "it's okay, everybody! do not panic." he shouted. "let's leave it to the men and women in uniform. let's hear it for them. rose! look like lady liberty."
"JJ, what the hell's going on?" ivy seethed, grabbing onto his arm to make him look her in the eyes.
"well, you see, these very nice gentlemen in the rest room had some very interesting things to say about you. then they punched me in the face. i think the chat went well, to be completely honest, though." he laughed, grabbing her hand so she'd walk with him.
"let go of him!" kiara shouted from the porch.
"you can't just boot him." ivy stated, trying to stand in front of the man to keep him from walking.
"i invited him here. i'm a member of this club." kie continued.
suddenly, ivy shoved the man, causing him to crash into a table. the crowd gasped, but JJ just hid his giggles of amusement in his hand.
"hey, mandatory power hour at rixon's, kie." JJ pointed at her. "pope, you as well, alright?"
"rixon's cove. let's roll." ivy smiled, jumping onto JJ's back in a piggyback ride. "kie, you coming?"
"workers of the world unite." JJ laughed. "throw off your chains!"
JJ walked over to john b who cheered in excitement at the sight of his best friends.
"colonel." ivy saluted, smiling at john b.
"captain." he saluted to JJ.
"mission completed, sir." JJ said formally, secretly rubbing his thumbs up and down ivy's thighs, making her hide her blush in his neck.
"you guys are dorks. come on, kie!" ivy called to her best friend who was running towards them.
pope joined kie in running towards the other pogues, with mr. heyward shouting at them in protest.
"whoo!" kie cheered.
————
THE GROUP WAS sat by a campfire, hanging out when pope spoke up, "hey, guys. so, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. so what's this mandatory meeting about?"
john b shot fingers guns at the boy, then looked to JJ for confirmation.
"might as well tell him, man, before we get gaffed." JJ said, playing with ivy's hair as she sat between his legs.
"you ready for this?" john b asked, making everyone sit up in anticipation.
"yeah." kie nodded quickly.
"so, the gold never went down with the royal merchant." john b stated.
"oh, my god. here we go again with this." pope groaned.
"pope, shut the fuck up and let the man speak." ivy threw an acorn that she found on the ground at the boy.
"it's been here the whole time." john b let out a small smile. "it's on the island."
"you're serious?" kiara asked. "oh, my god."
"i'd like to voice my skepticism." pope stated, making ivy rub her eyebrow in frustration.
"i'm sure you would, pope, but can i please present you with my evidence, sir?" john b sauntered over to his backpack.
"proceed." pope waved him off.
"alright, so. in my backpack, i have a letter from denmark tanny." john b stated, holding up a folded piece of paper.
"who the hell's that?" kie asked, shaking her head.
"isn't that the slave who turned free and became, like, the richest man on the island?" ivy asked from her place between JJ's legs.
"yeah, and he survived the royal merchant wreck. check this out." JB handed the paper to kie who studied it. "okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. that was his big discovery. so tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom."
kiara whistled to get ivy's attention and she handed her the paper to read, making pope and JJ both look over her shoulders to get a peek.
"after that," john b continued. "he bought his farm. drumroll, please, because that farm is..."
the pogues slapped their knees in a drumroll-like rhythm, anticipating john b's next words.
