ғʟux

𐙚﹒  " this  might  be  the  only  place  in  the  park  where  you  can  actually  hear  yourself  think. "

crowds weren’t his favorite thing, per se, but he suffered through on a variety of occasions. game days and big events were the main few. though it really was nice to take some space. especially in the texan heat. “ my thoughts are kinda loud, constantly. but i know what you mean, ” he replies with a soft laugh. “ anything fun on your mind ? ”

"i'm only watching to see who loses their temper first. you?"

“ like what they say about car crashes, hard not to look, y’know ? ” she answers. her gaze switches to her neighbor now. “ how much longer until someone blows you think ? ”

madden’s brow lifted slightly as she looked over at rocio, “twenty-five?” she echoed, like she was genuinely considering the offer. "hmm," she thought. “that’s a pretty low price for my integrity.”

“ hm, what’s the going rate for integrity these days ? i don’t think i’ve got that much more cash, ” they make a reach for their wallet, of course they’d make good on an offer. was a little bump and mess worth any more ? “ what you thinkin’ ? ”

“ you're my hero, ” they breathe. “ i’m not exactly light on my feet or watch where i’m going all the time. ” no, your nose in a phone will do that to you. while it was work related this time, that truly didn’t matter here at all. “ bumped into this person eating a hot dog and the mustard kinda went, ” they pause to gesture all around their chest. “ it wasn’t pretty and they were pissed. which, fair. but accident ? i apologized and offered to get them something new to wear and a new hot dog, but um, i think i caught them on a bad day. ” rocio made a yikes kind of face. they could not fight, so skedaddling was the best option.

paloma couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips as the target was missed. maybe she’d actually have a shot at winning. “ happy to hear actually, because i’m awful. glad the playing field is even. ” the woman had many skills, but tossing projectiles were not on that list. she pauses before making an attempt of her own, the dart landing in the lowest possible point spot. “ i’d be better with a bullseye. but aside from that ? i’ve been good. you ? ”

the texas sun in march had no right to be this aggressive, and fitz had made the rookie mistake of wearing a dark shirt, which he was now paying for somewhere between the vendor row and the main stage, beer getting warm in his hand faster than he was drinking it. he found a patch of shade, leaned against a tent post, and glanced sideways at whoever had the good sense to end up in the same spot. "please tell me you know where the actual food is," he said. "i've been walking in circles for twenty minutes."

paloma had done her fair share of mingling amongst the crowd. catching up with friends, spotting patrons, and listening to a few fantastical stories relayed by overly excited toddlers. these events were some of her favorites. her days were usually filled with relative quiet, this excitement was a great departure from that. the heat unfortunately wasn’t forgiving and so it didn’t take too long for her to meander under the shade. “ you came from this way, ” paloma gestures in one direction before moving to the other, “ and i’m pretty sure the food is that way. ” her gaze now shifted to her neighbor. “ pretty sure there’s a killer barbecue stand over there somewhere if you’re a fan. ”

“   yeah,    you're   not   doing   karaoke   ...   ever   again,   ”

“ oh come on, ” rocio groans. almost immediately there’s a grin bursting from formerly tight lips. “ no one is talented at everything. some of us are geniuses with the voice of a dying raccoon. should that preclude us from ever trying to carry a tune ? ” yes, it probably should, but as always, rocio didn’t care much. “ i’ll make sure you’ve got ear plugs next time, fair ? ” a hand reaches to pull their hair to one side, fanning the back of their neck. “ you gonna have a go or just rag on me ? "

"I said, if you don't get your fuckin' ass down here, I'm going to kick it into next Tuesday, dude."

they couldn’t fully suppress one huffed chuckle. “ what in the hell could be that serious? ” though, if they thought about it, there were plenty of serious situations such as reaction could be warranted.

ADULTS 1.03 | Have You Seen This Man?