Despite the differences between their fathers, and the fact that they’d never met (or forced from meeting, along with the rest of either family), Ari and River were kind of similar. Both would agree that their fathers were huge, dumb assholes, capitalistic and obsessed unnecessarily with money. Both would agree that the feud was ridiculous, and anyone following the offspring of those feuding like paparazzi were stupid, too, because what the hell did two rich guys’ kids have to be famous for? Well. There started the differences: Ari was vaguely aware of how River utilised his platform, for the better of the world and to speak out for what he believed in. And, y’know, Ari might hold the same views, but he definitely wasn’t much of an activist. An activist was more eloquent than he was, with unoriginal one-liners like ‘eat the rich,’ ‘kill the one percent,’ and, less politically, ‘get your fucking camera out of my face.’ Ironically that just earned him more coverage.

Yea, Ari had seen magazine covers about him, particularly the kind you looked at absently next to all of the convenience candy by the register while you waited for your turn to check out at a corner store. He’d seen those ridiculous Snapchat newsstories, and links from friends, like, ‘hey, check out what your arch nemesis is up to,’ as if he had ever seen or spoken to River himself. That was about it, though, he only heard headlines, never a full story, never delved too much for fear that he’d get too involved in his dad’s stupid catfight that’d gone on all his life. Now it was different - said stupid catfight had apparently found its peak and was getting so fucking annoying that Ari saw an opportunity to potentially piss his dad off and took it. Plus the fact that River might be a little attractive, that didn’t hurt. He was already well aware, yeah, whatever, but what you see in pictures versus what you see in person... River seemed to just get better.

So. He maybe sort of invited him along. Scott looked like he was going to argue more about it when they both heard River from behind, turning in unison as they guiltily pretended they weren’t just arguing about him. After a moment’s thought they both stood up, Ari hurriedly in order to seem vaguely polite (almost as if he’d ever striven to make a good impression on anyone), Scott more calmly and composed. [i]Hey. I saw you guys come outside and- well, it seemed smarter than taking part in the circus.[/i] Scott laughed first, naturally, and Ari looked at him briefly before deciding to smile, too, shrugging his shoulders. [b]”That’s the plan. Avoiding the idiots.”[/b] River seemed pretty calm considering it was their first time meeting, two kids supposed to hate each other in solidarity with their fathers, probably. So maybe they were as similar as he thought.

River turned again then looked back at him, and Ari was almost concerned. [i]This might sound a little rude, but I feel like I should know who you are.[/i] Oh. His gaze flickered to Scott, who had his lips pursed like he was going to burst out laughing any second now. [i]And I don’t.[/i] It was maybe a little embarrassing how often he’d seen River for the same not to apply to him, although they did have different personalities despite their views. For instance, he was sure the only media River paid attention to was shit that mattered, like world crises and environmental issues, whatever. Ari, on the other hand, kept up with all trashy news available to him, was embarrassingly knowledgable on subjects that made zero difference in his or anyone’s life. So it wasn’t that hard to believe River didn’t know what he looked like, or if he had seen him, didn’t remember his face. But it was kind of pissing him off how funny Scott clearly found it, so he set his jaw, shooting an annoyed look from the corner of his eye to the tallest of them all.

Ari held out a hand, half-smiling as much as he could muster. [b]”I’m Ari Livingston. Our fathers have hated each other for about a decade and a half.”[/b] He saw Scott opening his mouth to introduce himself and decided to cut him off, since he had decided to be more of an asshole than usual today. [b]”Scott Whitaker, he’s one of my dad’s investor’s kids. You can ignore him. He’s a dipshit.”[/b] Scott was already reaching to take River’s hand after him, clearly ignoring the comment. [i]Nice to meet you.[/i] Yeah, yeah, shut up. [b]”Glad we both agree that the feud is ridiculous.”[/b]