SEMPER FI

@frostfordstart​

“Dude, be gentle.” Ace groaned as the other dropped him rather abruptly  — or was it just him feeling it that way? — on the seat and his head spun and throbbed as if someone was hammering inside. It had probably been a bad idea to drink that much and he was facing the consequences now in the form of a raging headache. “Wait, what’d ya’ do with my glass?” The words coming out slurring. “It was still full!”

“I’ve had an easier time dragging guys around with full gear on than you,” Dakota responded as Ace was dropped down onto the seat. He rolled his eyes as he swiped away the glass full of... something and replaced it with a Gatorade bottle. “This is a first,” he joked and pushed the bottle towards Ace. “Usually it’s both of us on the floor.”

Dean: Of course, what are friends for?

Dean: Man, they'd be crazy not to put that pretty little face on the cover

Dakota: Your support means everything to me

Dakota: I mean, the cover is the dream

She moved the skillet off the burner and turned it off before bending down to check on the lasagna in the oven. As she straightened, she turned back to face him. “So… You know I love you and I just want to see you happy, right? What if I told you, I may have a girl I want to set you up on a date with?”

The slow “so” at the beginning of her sentence automatically caused him to close his eyes and exhale, preparing for what was coming after that. “Oh God,” he said as she continued and waved a hand at her. “What -- what is happening?” Dakota couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her. “I’m assuming that ‘may’ means you do, right?” He shook his head. “Alright, I’ll bite. Who is it? Who did you con into this?”

This wasn’t the reaction she was expecting. She keeps telling herself she’d do better in her delivery, in the way she words things. But here she is, doing the opposite of that. “I’m not trying to rub it in,” she starts as she pushes a strand of hair behind, “nor do I have perfect hair.” She sat down next to him before letting a sigh escape her lips. “I thought these products would be nice for you. And, I don’t know, you’ve been giving off some,” she waved her hand, “you know, vibes — I just want to make sure everything is okay.”

Dakota’s brows furrowed as Audrey sat down and he looked away as she began to speak, fixing his gaze on the bag of bullshit she had brought him. As she waved her hands he had to close his eyes, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Vibes?” He asked and turned to look at her. “Aud, I’m fine. I don’t know what type of vibes you think you’re picking up but... nothing new here.” He rose both of his hands in innocence, “I mean, really. What... what is the issue here? I mean, I know I need a haircut but... vibes? Really?”

“Your only problem with gettin’ married right now is competing with Kiran? Hm. That mean there’s a contender?” She asks, raising her eyebrow. “He’s only the local Golden Boy ‘cause you put him on a pedestal. Look at him from my lens, you’ll just see a big fuckin’ idiot.” At the mere mention of a wedding of her own, she rolls her eyes, trying not to gag at the thought. “Maybe if Isaiah starts givin’ me the time of day,” she jokes. “Been there done that, no offense to Kiran and Elle, but a wedding might be the only good thing that comes outta the whole marriage schtick. I’d rather choke.” 

“No, there is no contender,” Dakota said quickly and shook his head. Alina was right, in a way, that Kiran was only Golden Boy because of the pedestal that Dakota had him on. Kiran was his older brother, though. He was always going to be Golden Boy to Dakota even if half the town wanted to burn him at the stake for what he did to Brooke in high school. “Oh, Isaiah?” Dakota asked with a questioning look, “We’ll come back to that... but yeah, I’m sure that the wedding planning won’t be so fun. Not one of my problems, though.”

She snorted at his words and turned back to the skillet, stirring the veggies as they sizzled. “Well, you might not be so glad you came over when I tell you what my plan is.” Flo flashed him a winning smile and tossed her hair over her shoulder with a giggle. Dakota was one of her favorite people in the whole world, he had been since high school and since moving back, they’d fallen back into their easy rhythm. 

In high school, Flo had been one of the few individuals who would pretty much do anything at a moment’s notice, even go along with his so-called “plans” which usually ended up being more of a wild story than a night-in. “Okay,” he began slowly, eyeing her as she stirred the vegetables in the pan. “What’s the plan then? It’s gotta be pretty good if you’re sayin’ I won’t be so glad I came over.” 

“Y’never know until you try –I was once as naive as you, thinkin’ that it was gross. Seriously, try it. If you hate it, I’ll give ya five bucks.” 

“Okay, but how surprised were you when you first tried it? I just keep imagining that it’ll taste like fake watermelon flavor and I don’t know how to feel ‘bout that.”

Dean: I'll still take it

Dean: Bet. Do you know if you can set a DVR to record a commercial?

Dakota: I'm sure there's some way you can. Thanks for the support on my big break into beauty products.

“Listen, I’ve come to terms with the fact that the men in this town will never be the type to sweep me off my feet with big romantic gestures. At this point, I’d happily accept just a modicum of effort. I’ve seen so many girls in this town forced to make the first move with a guy. What happened to ‘the gentleman asks first’?”

“Callin’ it a big romantic gesture gives it a lot of pressure, though. I mean, okay - look. If I ask you to go fishin’ with me you’ll probably tell me to take a hike. It’s low risk, nice and casual. I mean, no one has to get dressed up, you get to go out somewhere together, and if you don’t know how to fish it gives us an excuse to show you something. You don’t learn anything about the other person during a movie. Also, if you do something during the day and don't hate us at the end of it then you can catch dinner or something like that.”

“Do I actually want to do…anything? No. I don’t. I just need more than minimum wage, man”

“Okay, you got me there. I wouldn’t want to do anything, either. I just meant if you had any type of interest in that. It’s supposed to help when you’re learning how to do it or whatever, right?”

@frostfordstart​

“Care for a cookie? I made three batches this weekend. Had nothing else to do, ‘cause all the men in this town seem to have given up on the concept of courtship altogether!”

“Nothin’ else to do? Plenty to do around here, I’m not complainin’, though. Cookies are good but you’ll probably be overloaded with cookies soon if you’re holdin’ out hope for some ol’ fashioned courtship. You’re talkin’ about goin’ steady and wearing his jacket type of thing, right?”

“Don’t get me wrong –Plantation Praline and Mint Chocolate Chip are in a close tie as my favorite flavors, ‘n this might be controversial, but tonight’s a perfect night for a cone of Watermelon Cooler, dont’cha think?” (@frostfordstart​)

“That’s real bold of you to say considerin’ Watermelon Cooler sounds pretty gross as far as flavors go.”

@frostfordstart​

“i can’t remember where i put my keys.” micha said rubbing the temple of his forehead as he looked around the room. surprise his keys were on the table in front of him but he just wasn’t noticing it.”hey man, have you seen a pair of keys anywhere? i swear i just found them and put them down somewhere but i can’t even remember.”

Dakota turned his head slightly as Micha inquired about his keys before looking down at the tabletop where the keys sat, probably six inches from Micha himself. “Oh, those?” Dakota asked then and pointed towards the pair of keys, “Those your keys?”

Flo busied herself in the kitchen, tossing some frozen vegetables into the skillet on the stove as she hummed, happy to have a reason to cook dinner for more than just herself for the first time in ages. She’d convinced Kota to come over for a long over due night of just hanging out and she was content. “Do you want something to drink? I have wine, I have beer, I have liquor. There’s also sodas in the fridge.”

@kotawilson

Flo had finally convinced Dakota to get off his ass and actually go over and hang out. Of course, it wasn’t too difficult to convince him to hang out. The difficult part was hanging out and also not somehow almost setting something on fire that was not meant to be on fire. “I’m good right now,” he said and held up the half drank water bottle as she buzzed around the kitchen. “Can’t believe you called me up and got me out here actin’ normal,” Dakota joked, “Who would’ve imagined?”

@kotawilson​

“Here, I got you something,” she hands him over a bag filled with some hair product.

Dakota peeked in the bag and rolled his eyes before looking back at his sister. “Wow, Aud. Sorry I didn’t receive the naturally perfect hair that you and Kiran have. You don’t have to rub it in.” 

“I saw some ad online. Said it was easy to learn and you can make money pretty fast. But yeah…I guess now is as good a time as any.”

“I mean, is it something you want to actually do?”

This was going to be a tough nut to crack- no pun intended. So Amelia figured she was persistent enough and he didn’t seem totally uninterested or he would’ve just walked away by now, right? This was how Amelia’s mind worked and she saw something that she wanted and she wasn’t going to let up so easily. “What do you say.. you take me wherever you’re going and we let it be an adventure?” She went there and she was going to continue going there. Probably not for long given he’d given her one more chance and she likely just messed that one up. Who didn’t like adventures though?

Adventure. He was trying to run away in the nicest way possible and Amelia did not strike him as someone who was actually here to have a good old fashion time out on the back roads. But who was he to judge, right? Wasn’t that something he was supposed to have learned from going to church and paying attention all of 2 times in his life? He sighed, “Amelia, I’m really not interested in any live, laugh, love shit right now. I am going fishin’. So either that’s done in complete and utter silence or I’m sure your sister can come to get ya.”