Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by LovelyComplex
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LovelyComplex

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After a good "power nap" and Chris taking the wheel of Mr. Tyler's pride and joy, the GearFits finally arrived at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. AJ told everyone to make sure they grabbed all their things because once they stepped out of the RV they would not be able to see it until tomorrow. His cousins would be taking the RV to the Kables' place of residency, on the outskirts, since this beast of a vehicle would not fit in the parking garage. Nate's van though? Of course it would! They were instructed to leave it at the Uber-Lyft pick up point and to give the front desk the keys. That would be Chris’ job since he drove.

Fast forward, there might've been a little argument with figuring out who stood in which room. Unfortunately for all those that didn't know this darling group of rascals, it happened right in the lobby, causing the front desk lady to tell them to 'lower their voices' on numerous occassions. AJ thought originally it would be a girls room and a boys room, but a good kick in the balls caused him to have second thoughts. Eventually, once a game of chance had finished, where they pulled candy out of a bowl provided by the front desk lady (either a white mint or blue mint decided the rooms), they figured it out with only one minor change. AJ switching with Val near immediately or she'd cut his throat instead of take away his chances of ever having kids in the future.

His room consisted of himself, Chris, Aleks, Chloe, Ivy, and then two people he'd learn to deal with, Katie and Reyna. While the other room held Val, Leon, Nate, Sami, Ava, Emilia, and Josie. Shoving the mint in his mouth and slapping the RV key on the desk, AJ made a resolution in this moment. He'd enjoy himself, all petty drama and bullshit aside. All uncomfortable tension he was harboring toward his ex's sister, OUT THE DOOR. All the pain that he once felt down under that caused him to nearly pass out erased in the back of his mind. Far, far, far back in his mind. He was going to have a good time, or die trying.

Marching backwards, nonchalantly avoiding people walking around him in the busy lobby, AJ threw his miserable funk in the trash, metaphorically. In reality he threw his candy wrapper to a trash in the general vicinity, only to end up missing. Man, he'd never be Like Mike. Once his sunglasses were on his fluffy hair, he quickly picked up his garbage, before proclaiming and pushing his mint to his inner right cheek, "Alright losers. I don't know about you but I'm hungry."

AJ shoved his wrapper in the garbage bin and turned on his heels determined to get to the objective. Once they reached the elevator, the boujie, rich boy poked the up button with his pointer finger, multiple times, all the while looking over his shoulder to address his plans to his friends (and not-friends), "I'mma throw my bags on the bed nearest to the balcony - DIBS - and take my boys—" He gestured toward Chris and Aleks, seemingly in a much better mood from getting some sort of rest. "—out on a date.”

Clearly, he didn't want anyone else to tag-a-long. Spiteful naps to clear the noise of certain individuals really did work! Due to the known fact that AJ rarely ever slept, AJ wasn't really sleeping on the ride here. He was being petty and pretending to be in dreamland, just so no one tried to talk to him.

"Feel free to do whatever you want until like seven...ish. Then we'll get ready and make the night our bitch." The door opened and he stood between the lobby and the elevator. Other hotel goers decided to take the next one after this big group went in. They were overwhelmed by the amount of vibrant teens that stood before them. "We got two keys per room, so if you want to be a keeper of a key, you best keep your phone charged at all times because I don't want to have to call poor Miss Lydia at the front desk. We gave her enough hell." Bringing his attention back to the the elevator, he debated if they could all fit...

"We totally got this."

Since AJ was trying to butter Val up, he let her choose the room for her group, which happened to be the Grand Lakeview Suite on the 35th floor. His group were on the tippity-top 36th floor, with the Penthouse Suite.

They were going to have a good time or try to OR pretend to. The only person AJ was responsible for tonight was he, himself, and maybe Emi since out of all the people here, he felt like she'd get in the worst situations. She was a dove, in the city that never sleeps. The creatures of Sin City would surely eat her up. But! That wasn't his problem right now. Definitely tonight though. For now, he'd let her do her thing, with girls he knew would cut a bitch. Everyone was going to do their thing and he was going to get his grub on, with his Valentine and Cosmos.

Yeah, he was ready.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by spooner
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spooner *cough*

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The near five-hour drive to Vegas hadn’t been nearly as awkward as Nathan had thought it was going to be. It had turned out to be only him and Valeria in the Van, Leon had probably gotten stuck in the RV’s shower, knowing him. Val was in no mood talking about what had happened at the BHHS parking lot and Nate had no interest to ask about it either. He was still reeling from his decision to mend his relationship with Josie… which had turned into… something?

So they both spent the ride listening to music separately, Val with her earbuds in with a scowl on her face and Nate with his phone plugged into the van’s sound system turned down low. It was probably good for both of them to digest the morning on their own terms. Trailing after the huge vehicle, Nate could only imagine the shenanigans going on in it.

As they arrived at the flashy Bellagio Hotel Nate was almost embarrassed to leave the van with the valet as it definitely did not fit in with the luxury cars that it would sit amongst. But at least he knew that it would be safe there. Soon enough he realized that the Van was going to be the least of his troubles as he entered the lobby. He had left the group for just about 10 minutes and there was already a heated argument going on, so heated that the staff had to intervene.

“Really?” he groaned sitting in one of the plush blue sofas leaning his head back to stare at the colorful glass flowers covering the ceiling. Whatever they were arguing about he didn’t want to be a part of it. It was probably not important in any shape or form. When it came to his attention it was about who was going in which room he just rolled his eyes “Who cares?” he sighed, it’s not like they were going to be hanging out in the room all day anyway.

When leaving it up to draw came up he gladly swiped a mint from the bowl and just accepted the room he was going to be in. He smiled tightlipped waving his blue mint signaling that he was over the whole ordeal grabbing his bag and marching towards the elevators. He had volunteered to be the keykeeper, mostly so that he didn’t have to wait to get into the room. He was exhausted from the drive and all he wanted to do was to take a shower and have a nap.

He was quiet the whole elevator ride up not paying attention to whatever his friends were talking about. Nate almost ran out as the doors to the elevator opened on the 35th floor. The Grand Lakeview Suite was not hard to find and as soon as the door to it opened Nathan’s jaw dropped to the floor. It was like something he had never seen before and he was pretty sure he had audibly gasped as he took in his surroundings.

When the group had all entered he turned to his friends “I don’t really care where I sleep so I’m just going to grab one of the beds and whoever is next to me after I shower… hope you like being the small spoon.” he grinned sheepishly before searching for one of the bedrooms. When he finally found it, he quickly threw his bag on the bed and grabbed what he needed for his shower, and locked himself in one of the bathrooms for his longed after shower.


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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by BrutalBx
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BrutalBx

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The journey between LA and Las Vegas was not a long one in miles but it was certainly a long one in journey. Those that slept, slept. Those that argued, argued and in the midst of it all, Sami caught up on his favourite podcast, Ace’s Asylum. Of course he had to do so with earbuds otherwise run the risk of Chris bursting into tears like a male Emilia if he hears Gwen’s raspy and sultry voice. Her latest piece was on the Los Angeles nightlife staple, the Pit. It was oft considered the home for the down and outs with a clientele list of some of the world's premier celebs (before they were famous of course) and had its peak during the neon soaked 1980’s. In the present day it’s a cesspool of scum and villainy that’s about to be raised to the ground save for a petition to make it a monument. It was also coincidentally the place where Gwen and Chris met. The memory of pulling those two reprobates out of their seats in an inebriated stupor was not a pleasant one for the Latin lover.

Sami had made the wise choice of being the last to leave the van and RV. Partly to avoid the dick swinging that would ensue in regards to who roomed with who but mostly to stash the gun he had brought with him in a safe place in the RV. As he watched the valet pull away with Mr Tyler’s baby, Samuel couldn’t help but immediately regret having brought the damn thing with him because now he had to be aware of it 24/7. Having a father like Hector Alejandro was enough weight on his shoulders as it was, now with the added worry that the notorious gangster could possibly maybe consider chasing his baby boy across state lines? That was perhaps a little too much even for the resolute Sami.

He was the last of the group to pull a mint as he was the last to arrive. It looked like he lucked out by rooming with Ava, Emi, Josie, Leon, Nate and Val. Not a bad collective but be trapped with; if anything it was a blessing because it meant that Chris or Aleks would have to be first responder to the emergency of AJ fucking Tyler. This would allow Sam to actually enjoy himself properly for a change without the added worry of planning an escape route in preparation for whatever fire the big cheese would cause. The elevator as filled to the brim with gearfits sans an elderly couple getting off on the 22nd floor. Of course being the gentleman he was, Sami blew old Ethel a kiss. No doubt she thought he was the pool boy.

The Grand Lakeview Suite on the 35th floor opened its doors like the legs of a good dogtown prostitute and welcomed the teens into her embrace. ”Well fuck me in the ass with a chainsaw” Sami eloquated as he followed Nate into the monstrosity of a hotel room. ”This place is nicer than my house” He dropped his bag by the side of the front door and made his way over to the large window overlooking the city of blinding lights. Six hundred thousand people lost in sin and they were fourteen specs of dust floating through the air, here today gone tomorrow but the night would belong to them.

Nate ushered himself away to a bedroom for a shower and to avoid whatever discussion would ensue about bedroom assignments. Probably not a bad idea. ”Ok, here’s the plan kids” Papi Sami made his way over to the bar and began mixing up something from the handily placed ingredients as he spoke to his friends ”We’re gonna make this as easy as possible. There’s two rooms, two beds. Seven of us. I say we can either do guys in one, girls in another or we do Ava, Emi and Josie in one, Val in a Nate and Leon sandwich. I’ll take the couch cos that things looks comfy as fuck and I don’t sleep anyway. Savvy?”

Sami had very little time for his friends' bullshit right now, he was tired. He had been awake for over 48 hours but he had no plans on going to sleep; he was too excited to see what the day had in store for them. He twisted his face just enough into his pissed off look just long enough to instill the fear of God into his friends. Not many things in life are for sure but one thing that is; don’t piss off Sami Alejandro. He finished mixing a drink for every member of the Lakeview tribe and propped them on top of the bar. The drink of his people;

”Mojito’s anyone?”

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by BeastofDestiny
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BeastofDestiny Death, is only the beginning

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Already, even before the trip had started, two of the most difficult and discouraging things had occurred to Leon. First of all, bane of his existence, the shower. Despite there being some kind of basic principle to showers, ie one direction gets hot water, one direction gets cold, every single shower Leon had ever encountered was different by some design choice or other. These differences would leave a frustrated man, slowly coagulating in his own clammy, sweat soaked skin, to fiddle with the mechanism until he was sure that he wouldn’t turn into an icicle or melt completely. Fortunately he had time to shower, dress and make himself as comfortable as he could before the RV had hit the highway, the telltale sign of the lumbering beast crawling it’s way from the parking lot as Leon toweled off, cued him off to get situated quickly. The second thing? It came after the fact.

The air was heavy and thick with tension, and even though most everyone had gone their separate ways to different corners and sections of the bus, whether to nap, relax or just idly pass the time; the mood was more than apparent. It was like a team just before the big game, wallowing in the fact that their lucky stick, knick knack or knockoff was gone and stolen, or just plain broken. It was a dour situation with sour notes in between, an abstract sense of loathing that, despite Leon being emotionally ready, was not mentally available to draw in this sense. It was a feeling he couldn’t really place other than a black shadow that seemed to grow in intensity with the passing moment and seemed to cascade down in the lobby of the hotel they arrived in. Where the time had gone, he wasn’t entirely sure as Leon had spent the majority of his time to himself, idly watching the world go by before it collapsed into the argumentative group of people before him. Even as he took his mint to signify which room he’d be staying, the young man kept wondering what he could do to help? He didn’t feel as though he was the root cause of the problem, but even so, he wanted to figure out some way to lift everyone up. Hell, this was supposed to be a final hurrah and here they were, bitching like little kids, having adults to break them up and find a compromise. They were supposed to be their own people now, their own adults. Was this what Leon was going to look back on when he left town? Years of memories, drowned and sullied in kids trying to be something they weren’t? ...This was getting to be too much.

Leon wasn’t entirely sure when he left the lobby, when he stepped in or out of the elevator, or how he even managed to follow his group to their suite. When the door opened though, it was like a veil had been lifted and all the bad feelings suddenly washed away in brilliant light. The suite itself was amazing, filled with glistening tile, thousand dollar furniture and open space, but what really caught his attention was that gorgeous Vegas skyline. In that instant, his imagination turned on and...everything else sort of turned off as for the second time that day he dropped all of his luggage and anyone else’s who thought they’d use the muscled athlete as a pack mule. “Yo! Check that shit out!” Leon scrambled for his art bag, as he dashed through the open space past everyone else. Anything that Nate had said, completely disregarded. Sami’s lecture? In one ear, out the other as he nearly tripped over a bar stool, knocking it to the floor, as he headed out onto the balcony and planted himself firmly into a chair. Sketchbook, graphite and eraser in hand, he got to work crafting the daytime view of the Las Vegas Strip. Night would probably be more magical with it’s bright neon lights and the sounds of drunken gamblers clambering through the streets, but the daylight brought its own sense of magic with it. What better way to share that magic, than with the people he cared about the most, “Nate! Vee! You gotta take a look at this!”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Plank Sinatra
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Plank Sinatra the reaper won't come when you're ready for him

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It seemed as though the group's cumulative morale had skyrocketed as they grew closer to Vegas than Los Angeles, and Aleks was no exception.

Las Vegas was one of his favorite cities on Earth. It was like Valhalla to him - the casinos, the food, the boxing, the MMA, the roller coasters, the little "driving experience" companies in the desert where you could drop a few stacks and put a harem of Italian fucking rocket ships through their paces on the dirt tracks. After AJ had deigned to let Chris drive the RV on the first leg of their journey, Aleks had sat still and contemplative, revealing nothing - all while frantically Googling several such potential tracks on his phone, wondering who would complain if he and AJ turned up at 2:30 AM with the keys to the garage and a few thousand dollars. He would talk to AJ about it later; by now he had a good idea of who would and wouldn't be amenable to eleventh hour requests from rich douchebags.

His initial sojourn in Las Vegas two years ago had only been for a painfully short week; last year he had made sure to extend that time a few days at a time, always finding something else he wanted to do or make plans around, to the point where he spent almost the entire damn summer in Nevada. Eventually Chloé had grown fed up of waiting for him to return home and gone seeking out the prodigal son in Vegas for herself. That had only doubled the fun. By the time school rolled around, they had been semi-seriously considering their first fucking casino robbery. He was in charge of the getaway car, and she was the gun plug. It was the first time in Aleks' life he thought he knew what it was to be in love.

Then school had resumed, Los Angeles dug her fingers into Aleks, and he and Chloé had returned to the status quo. From his perch on the couch in the Bellagio lobby, Aleks found his gaze drifting over to her briefly. She was standing at the edge of the seating melee, practicing her best Transcendental Meditation while the smell of blood grew thicker in the air. Aleks could not have given a fuck about the sleeping situation if he tried; he had been playing musical chairs with mattresses for so long, and slept so rarely on them, that he wasn't even positive he could discern them apart by sizes. If the hotel said they were king size, he would just take them at their word.

Nate plopped down on the couch too, clearly eager to avoid any of the ritual murder about to take place if Val didn't get her way. Aleks raised his eyebrows at him in silent understanding, mouth tightening into a stifled smile, and winked briefly at his too-nice-by-half friend. He understood the retreat impulse. He had been planning an escape route of his own if this trip went down in flames before Colorado. He could go to Montreal, maybe. Or Shinjuku, spending the summer on a pub crawl of love hotels with the cast of fucking Sailor Moon in tow. Anywhere but near this catastrophe.

It seemed like they'd come to a decision on how rooms would be assigned, at least. When it came time for mint selection, Aleks merely stuck his hand up in the air for whatever color mint AJ wanted to throw at him; he assumed that he and Chris were already a package deal when it came to room assignments. Sure enough, AJ tossed him the appropriately colored mint, and he popped it into his mouth contemplatively.

"Alright losers. I don't know about you but I'm hungry."

You were nauseous for half the ride, that's no shock.

"I'mma throw my bags on the bed nearest to the balcony - DIBS - and take my boys—" Aleks blinked as his name as implicitly called, looking up from his Apple Music "—out on a date.”

Oh, we're friends again. Aleks smiled and nodded before looking back down to Janet Jackson.

"Feel free to do whatever you want until like seven...ish. Then we'll get ready and make the night our bitch. We got two keys per room, so if you want to be a keeper of a key, you best keep your phone charged at all times because I don't want to have to call poor Miss..."

He had begun selectively tuning AJ in and out for relevant information, leaning against the railing in the very back of the crowded elevator and lip reading as best as he could. The bridge was coming up, and he hated having to rewind songs.

I'm not a prude, I just want some respect
So close the door if you want me to respond
Cause privacy is my middle name
My last name is control
No my first name ain't baby, it's Janet--


"We totally got this."

"Miss Jackson if you're nasty."

Aleks smiled innocently. He was listening. They totally got this.

Their suite seemed like it had been prepared for them personally. He hadn't been keeping track of who kept what mint, but he saw Chloé, Katie, and Reyna drift off to explore it, which meant that it would likely be him to bridge the peace between the lads and the ladies if someone got too belligerently shit-faced tonight. That would be manageable. Aleks, for his part, drifted off to the kitchen to explore the dishes and what was in the fridge, opening one cabinet after another and gliding on his feet to Miss Jackson. When he was done, he nudged the fridge door closed with a knee and hopped up on the counter.

"We'll need to stop at the store when we're done with lunch, bratan," Aleks called out. "No chocolate syrup in here. The best White Russians use chocolate syrup. Chocolate tastes better. At that point, of course, it would not be truly white, and the drink itself is not truly Russian. Is actually cocktail created by American Karen whores to mock proud culture in the first place, so fuck its faithfulness to the source material. You'll like it with chocolate."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by AlteredTundra
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AlteredTundra RIP to the GOAT, Akira Toriyama

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Mood — All over the fucking place
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The time spent on the road had blurred for Ava and it did so for a number of reasons. She was in and out of a couple of power naps that kicked in as soon as she settled into one of the comfortable beds she had claimed on the second floor and even applied her own signature to it. She had remembered going down to the ground level to get something to drink and one of the GearFits had mentioned they just passed some town named Victorville. That was the last time anyone saw anything resembling Ava Esposito until they reached their destination.

Dragging herself out of the comfortable bed with overhead air conditioning (which was something she appreciated )to the dry heat of this summer afternoon in Las Vegas, all of Ava's serenity and peace of mind was stripped away from her the moment her face felt the light gust of humidity. At the same moment, when all distractions of comfort had also been stripped of her (and in addition to her being forced to carry her own bag, she remembered why she needed quality alone time and the full head of pink hair was it.

If Ava was a lesser person, she might say something about everything that was pissing her off right now. She might even go as far as to make sure the people she was annoyed at heard her, but she didn't want to drudge up issues that were best left in Beverly Hills, Most of those who stepped off the RV were her friends and she was going to suck it up and try and not stir up anything. The only thing she wanted to stir up was something that would make her forget about her troubles.

Hurling her bags over her shoulder, Ava and everyone else went into the Bellagio, which holy hell was it a nice hotel. "Jesus fuck!" Ava exclaimed, eyes full of wonder. She lived a life of luxury and privilege but that didn't mean she was immune to getting starstruck. And from the ceiling to the way everything was placed and how shiny it looked, if this was going to be commonplace for where they'll be staying at throughout the summer, AVa could more than deal with Princess Peach and her five feet of mememe.

Ava had finished her moments of awe and followed the rest of the gang to the elevator. Truth be told, she was too busy basking in the glory of the lobby that she didn't even hear any of what AJ said. She heard his voice and even nodded, but between her eyes elsewhere and her attention wherever her eyes were focused on, it wasn't until the elevator stopping did she see the looks some of her preferred company give her as others who stepped off on one floor that she didn't want to waste time with. Ava's slow uptake on the scene had finally lit off the lightbulb that was her mind and she gave them all the "are you serious" look, to which she followed up with an annoyed, albeit accepting, expression as she dragged her bags with the others to their room on the 35th floor.

She looked back at not only Ivy, who she wasn't sure if she was still mad at her for this morning or not and Reyna, her ride-or-die who had to suffer with AJ.

When Ava and the rest figured out their living arrangements and she felt the wind of a rushing Leon, she parked it on one of the couches with one of her legs resting on the armrest and she whipped out her phone, sending Reyna a text.

I'm so sorry you have to deal with him boo. 
u can com crash in my bed if you get tired of him ;)

When it went through, she let her head fall naturally against the soft cushion of the couch, letting her mind sink as her head physically did into it, relaxing every muscle in her body in the process. She thought about a lot but the one thing that seemed to recur was her lack of college entry. Truth be told that was the only consistent thing she could think about and especially when she opted to be alone in her thoughts for a few moments. It wasn't that she was all that ashamed. She wasn't so ignorant to think that she wouldn't be accepted to a community college, when all of her friends were going to college and how she hid it, that weighed on her.

”Mojito’s anyone?”

Ava perked up immediately as though Sam had said the magic word. "Sammy, my man!" Ava hollered, rushing over to the bar, sitting on the stool next to the one Leon's impulsive ass knocked over. "I'll take two to start with and make sure mine is mostly alcohol. If I even get a whiff of fruity, I'm going to rub my ass all over that couch you just claimed!" She teased (mostly). Sam should know it was best not to test Ava, especially when it was clear as day that her good mood depended on how fast those mojitos were made.

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Boreas
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Boreas stay / chilly™

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With much of the problems avoided on Chloé’s end, she was quick on the uptake to get her ass on the RV once everyone started moving. A nap sounded good, but with all the negative energy hanging in the air the last thing she wanted was for it to infiltrate her dreams.

Instead, she sat near the end of the seating area in the RV, plopped her earbuds in, and positioned herself in the lotus position. The music in her ears was barely loud enough to hear over the wind blowing by, but she wasn’t really putting any effort into meditating. Really, Chloé was waiting to hear something juicy, that least could have been expected from having all the besties on one bus, but it seemed the mood was too sour even for that.

Eventually, as her friends took their power naps, and held light conversations amongst themselves, the Nainai inspired gossip-snooping turned into real meditation and the time flew by.

Chloé was no stranger to Sin City, and the last time she arrived in a very Chloé fashion she had committed many sins. Sex was best served in the Empathy Suite at the Palms Casino Resort and Blackjack was easiest to count at the Bellagio. Which is where Chloe found herself on the outskirts of the again arguing group in the impressive lobby.

The sunglasses Chloé had fished from her carry on were dark enough to hide her annoyance, she particularly didn’t care who she roomed with since she’d probably find herself in someone else’s bed anyway. Thankfully it seemed her favorite people weren’t really apart of any of the bitching, which by large was on the account of a certain increasingly annoying hotheaded girl.

Cette prend la tête.. I need a drink.” The grumble came out as she looked around for signs pointing to the nearest bar, or casino floor. Just as Chloé was about to walk away the group finally came to an agreement and the now pouting french girl quietly stomped behind them, following behind the group she was assigned to the room they’d all peacefully share.

The room was big, obviously, AJ Tyle could pull his weight around at least a little bit in Vegas, and as the camp counselor, he had to provide his kids with the best experience. Chloé didn’t explore too much into the suite and plopped down on one of the soft beds, “My vote is for some pre-drinking and shopping at Fashion Show, suddenly I feel like I have nothing to wear tonight.” Chloé spoke loudly enough for the girls looking throughout the suite could hear her.

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Aewin
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Aewin Fangirl Extraordinaire

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Well, shit.

Now this is what you call a god damn hotel room.

Josie had spent most of her time in the RV napping and distracting Emilia from having breakdowns with their shared Ariana Grande playlists. It worked for the most part, and their journey didn't seem so bad. Granted they weren't on the road for that long, and it seemed like the trip was starting with a high (ignoring the parking lot fiasco, that is).

By the time they reached the Bellagio Hotel, Josie was running on chaotic nap energy. She decided not to get involved with the argument... much. Her only condition was that she and Em stay close, otherwise she couldn't really give a shit. It wasn't like Josie had beef with anyone!

(It was quite the feat to avoid the icy vibes coming from a certain pretty brunette.)

Alas, things went her way (for the most part). Josie repressed sounding giddy when she found out that she and Sami were in the same group. Lucky. Hell, she even had Nate in the same group, and Josie was... optimistic to say the least. At least this way she could work on fixing her friendship with Nate!

”I’ll take the couch cos that things looks comfy as fuck and I don’t sleep anyway. Savvy?” Josie made a face hearing that. Papi was truly a sweetheart, but he couldn't keep getting the short end of the stick!

"You sure a sofa is enough? I don't mind sha-" It hit her that she wasn't exactly alone in that bed. And four people on one bed sounded like something only porn could accomplish. Or the rich.

And she couldn't exactly speak for Ava and Emi either.

Damn it. Thinly veiled chivalry aborted.

"I'll take that mojito." She decided to say instead, giving up. She looked at Ava as she practically ordered Sami to make it her way, before adding quietly under her breath, "Without the terms and conditions." She was a simple basic bitch. She heard drinks, she was down.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by AlteredTundra
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AlteredTundra RIP to the GOAT, Akira Toriyama

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Mood — Not in the mood for Josie's shit,
that's what kind of mood she's in!
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Ava was only kidding, of course. She knew Sami was more than capable in making a quality mojito. Plus, with the way he looked at her, even if it was in the usual way he was, he should know Ava by now that most of what she said was less than 10% of what she meant. There was an abundance of hot air that floated from her brain and out of her lips. She was word vomit personified, but at least having some sort of alcohol in her would speed along the process of not saying so much vomit but rather puke up real vomit. And after all, isn't that what they were all here for?

As she twirled around in the stool, spinning it around until she made herself dizzy, Ava stopped just in time to see the most unwelcomed face from where she sat.

Of all the people, she had to strut on over.

Ava had to relax. It wasn't Josie's fault Ava hated her. Oh, wait, yes it was. It absolutely was that pinkiepie-looking bitch's fault. Giving Nate the boot when he was just trying to be honest with her was an act of war from Ava's seated vantage point. No amount of shared hobbies or even mutual friends -- yeah, she's looking at you Emilia -- could ever make Ava want to give her a chance. She would rather jump out of this window and let her blood paint the strip than to share a drink with her.

"On second thought, Sami, why don't you give me two mojitos. I'm suddenly feeling in the need of a fix." Ava shot her fiery, shaded glare at Josie for a solid three seconds before spinning in the stool and looking around the room.

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by smarty0114
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Katie’s peace lasted approximately four hours and twenty five minutes. That was how long it took for the caravan of Gearfits to drive to Las Vegas, enter the hotel lobby, and devolve into a squabbling mess. This didn’t come as much of a shock to Katie. They were a group of strong personalities, not to mention the fact that most of them had grown up with pockets deeper than the Marianas Trench. In fact, Katie found herself wishing that the commotion in the lobby had been the most dramatic part of her day.

Unfortunately for her, the debate about rooms was accompanied by a personal lesson in, “Why You Can’t Ghost Your Boyfriend of Three Years 101.” As her friends began to bicker, her phone began to buzz, vibrating rhythmically in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a number she didn’t recognize, sending it to voicemail with hardly a second thought. Moments later, the phone began to buzz again, the same number emblazoned on the screen. Again, she sent it to voicemail.

The third time her phone rang, Katie quietly slipped away, answering it with a terse, “Hello?”

“Katie?” The voice that came through the phone was unexpected, unwelcome, but not unfamiliar. It was Carter Hersh, live and in stereo. For a second, she thought she might pass out.

“Katie?” The sound of Carter’s voice repeating her name pulled her back to reality. She ground her teeth together and stalked off, farther away from the group, doing her best not to stomp.

“What is it, Carter?”

An exasperated sigh came through the speaker, followed by a chuckle. She could see him, running his hands through his hair, trying to stay calm. He’d always been so much better at it than her. “Really? You text me less than twelve hours before we’re supposed to go to Europe, saying we’re done, and then just disappear? I’m sorry, am I inconveniencing you?” She admired the way his voice remained level, even though she could sense the pain. Pain she’d caused.

“Carter, I told you last-”

“You dumped me over text, Katie! You didn’t tell me anything! You sent me three fucking paragraphs and now you think that just erases three years?” Carter shouted. Katie was shocked by the reaction. Carter’s anger had always been cool, and calm, an icy river. He made a point of never raising his voice. This was fiery and hot. Stunned silence lingered over the both of them, despite the miles that lay between.

“Katie, whatever is going on, we can fix it. You just have to let me help you,” Carter said, piercing the silence with his voice, calm as still water once again.

“I don’t want you to help, though. ” Katie said, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one had noticed her absence. “I’m just figuring some shit out, okay?” Carter stayed silent for a moment. She knew he was unimpressed by her evasion.

“I waited for you. At the airport, I mean. I waited all morning. I thought maybe you’d show up still. And then when our plane left, I was going to leave too, but I guess I hoped you’d still show. Guess that was pretty stupid, huh?”

She wished so badly that she could say “I love you” and mean it, that she could erase everything she’d done and felt and came to accept, that she could be the girl Carter deserved. Instead, she did what she had to do. “Yeah, it was.”

Katie ended the call and quickly turned off her phone, shutting her eyes tight and tilting her head towards the ceiling, willing the tears to sink back into her. You will not cry, you will not cry, you will not cry.

Once she was certain that no one would catch her misty eyed, she spun around, and returned to the group, just in time to pick a mint and decide her fate. Well, her room fate.

The penthouse wasn’t bad, as far as roomies went. Chloe and Reyna at least would keep her sane, and after her conversation with Chris and Aleks, she felt like they had her back. AJ would be… well he would be AJ and she would be Katie, and if all went well there’d only be a little blood spilled. Had Carter’s voice not been so fresh in her ears, she might’ve even felt lucky to have Aleks in the suite. Now though, thinking about flirting with him made her think of Carter, waiting alone at LAX.

Once they’d reached the suite, Katie followed Reyna and Chloe into the room that she presumed they’d end up sharing. Tossing her bags on the ground, she flopped down next to Chloe. “Retail therapy and self medication. Count me in.”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Venus
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Riding shotgun in the van alongside Nate proved to be the perfect distraction for Val’s terrible mood. She wasted no time in putting her earphones on and losing herself in the voice of Hayley Williams, staring out into the ever-changing scenery stretching out in front of them. During the drive, she took some time to really think of all the reasons why her joining the trip wasn’t such a terrible idea after all: some good, some great, and some petty. There was, however, one that stood out the most: she’d been much too excited about this trip for so long, that it wasn’t fair to her if she allowed herself to be pushed away by people who wouldn’t be a part of her life after this anyway. She loved her real friends that much.

Sure: having Reyna’s presence getting in the way of her plans of confessing her feelings to Leon at some point after four years of a burning crush was pretty fucking shitty, to say the least. Yes: having Emilia going from scorching, suffocating sunshine to drowning, torrential rain pour in seconds would likely drive her over the edge. And yes: having Ava’s unwarranted input present at all times was probably not going to end well. But even then, Valeria was willing to use up all the possible patience in the world to see past it all and have a good time. Heck, maybe she’d actually try to put her moodiness and ego aside and build bridges with some of them. It was the longest stretches of stretches, but the fact that she was even considering it counted for something, right? Only time would tell.

Eventually, she and Nate arrived at their destination. She’d been on a few vacation trips with AJ to expect nothing short of a grandiose location, but even then Val was still stunned when she stepped foot inside the Bellagio Hotel. It was too bad that the initial excitement was short-lived. The conversation of who would be rooming with who quickly turned into an argument (so much for trying to be patient…), but eventually they were all able to come to a half-assed agreement. Although Val would be joined by Ava and Emilia, the absence of Reyna and the presence of Sami, Nate, Josie and Leon had definitely been a better outcome than what she had expected.

When the group arrived at their suite, they were all floored by the sheer size and beauty of it all: the luxury items, the attention to detail, the breathtaking view… However, the shortest girl of the pack didn’t spend too much time admiring the accommodations. As soon as she carelessly dropped off her belongings in one of the empty beds, Valeria quickly set out on the search for a secret prize hidden somewhere inside her suite. Every time she and AJ got into a fight that was his fault, the young man had a foolproof way of bribing himself into her good graces. And if she knew AJ as well as she did, then them being in Vegas would not change their dynamic. From the second she entered the large suite, Val knew exactly what she would find waiting for her.

She didn’t have to look for too long until she found her prize: a dainty gift box containing a dozen gourmet chocolate-covered strawberries-- AJ’s signature token of apology, appreciation and truce.

Grinning from ear to ear, the young woman quickly grabbed the box of strawberries and breezed across the room before anyone else realized the delicacy she was carrying in her hands. “I’m hoarding the bathroom for the next hour. Don’t knock or rush me.” Val said to nobody in particular before immediately disappearing behind the locked bathroom door. Chocolate-covered strawberries and a long, warm, relaxing bubble bath was exactly what she needed to kick off her Vegas adventure.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by NeoAJ
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As she lugged her suitcase through the penultimate floor of the Bellagio, the hard gold plastic skidding along the tiles that likely had only seen the wheels of many a high-roller's suitcase on them before, Emilia did her best to take in everything. This was the lap of luxury, the cream of the crop, the... Yasmin of Bratz dolls. It sure was enough to make a girl feel like a princess.

It would have to do some work considering how Emilia felt on the ride up from Beverly Hills. All the emotions of the parking lot, of seeing Katie and Val and Nate and feeling all the negative energy hanging in the air, it took a lot of effort to not tear up then and there on the RV. She finally couldn't hold back as the RV passed through Rancho Cucamonga. Brandon had taken her on a date to a minor league baseball game there, and she thought about how painfully boring it was and it just came out. Breakdown number two on the day.

Thankfully Josie was right by her side to deliver the Ariana dosage she needed to keep calm. That's all Emilia had to do. Keep breathin'. She'd get through this. Who knows? Maybe this would be the thing that finally brought everyone together? The double barrels of orange soda managed to last the entire trip through such exotic locales as Hesperia and Barstow, through the barren Mojave Desert, crossing the line into the Silver State and then finally running dry upon entry into this fabled land of dizzying displays and drunken debauchery.

Was she really willing to go through with all of it? Las Vegas was a long way from home. In more ways than one.

As she entered the palatial suite that would serve as their base of operations while in Sin City, Emilia was a bit lost in all the grandeur. She let her suitcase and backpack fall by the giant couch in the living room/dining room/front of the Titanic and flopped down in the sofa, letting the soft leather envelop herself. It was soft and cozy and welcoming after being in that RV for so long with the cushions carrying her tears all the way to Nevada. This felt like something else entirely. A new beginning.

Nate disappeared immediately and headed towards one of the rooms. Emilia wanted to ask him if Val had calmed down any during the ride, because Emilia wasn't going to dare risk that question herself at this time, but he was too quick. The sound of a shower could be faintly heard. Guess that's going to be the boys side... and Val I guess. Valeria seemed quick to confirm that thought. After claiming the box that rested on the dining table, she announced she was taking up residence in another bathroom and went through a door on the same side that Nate had claimed, effectively locking down that side of the suite for the next hour or so. Probably for the best. She seemed to be in a happier mood after grabbing whatever that box was. Maybe we can talk later.

Sami seemed to have a plan for coexisting in the place, and it consisted of a quick separation of factions and a healthy amount of booze. Of course, that meant he was going to be taking Emilia's new favorite thing in the whole wide world for his bed with this plan. The blonde was in no hurry to give up her plush cushions but then Sami started plinking glasses on the bar. A drink wouldn't be a bad way to start things, even if Leon didn't seem to care. He bolted for the balcony like a bull heading for a china shop. A Chicago Bull that... no. Not now. Besides he was gone in a flash.

That left four in the main room and it seemed like they were all in agreement that mojitos were the way to go. But as Emilia leaned over the couch, wanting to get a good look at Mr. Alejandro's bartending prowess in action, all she got was a blast of cold tension. Josie was close enough that Emilia could hear what she said under her breath at Ava's request for more alcohol than fruit. Emilia didn't care, she would take all the lime goodness on offer. But the glare that the Lady Esposito shot towards the couch, Emilia could almost see the lasers shoot through Josie and over her head. Ava went back to spinning herself right round right after, but it still sent a chill down Emilia's spine. Oh my God... I didn't realize it was that bad... And we're sharing a bed... Dang it, I'm going to have to be the monkey in the middle, aren't I? Ugh, goodbye sleep. I guess I can suck it up for one night. For the crew and all. I'll be the buffer zone.

Miss Seger finally pushed herself away from her cozy roost and started making her way towards the bar where the promised cocktails awaited. "I'll take Val's drink if she doesn't want to come out and get it, Sami," she offered. "I'm still really thirsty after that long trip!" She took one of the beverages for now, waiting for the official go-ahead from Sami before she made a move for it. "And here's to us! Finally getting out of California and seeing the sights and states on this super summer adventure!" She took a sip and did her best not to show just how strong the alcohol was sitting in her mouth. Sami did not skimp on the rum for these ones. Emilia was able to power it down and keep her glass aloft. "Woo! Right? Now let's go! I wanna get chocolate wasted!"

Josie and Sami would get the joke, although she wasn't sure if Ava would, or the others even heard. It was time to try and let go of the past. If only for one night. No tears in any beers, no cries in mai-tais. Just say thank you, next and keep moving on to the next one. Be it drink or whatever.


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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Grimoire Gaming
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Perhaps volunteering to drive the RV had been a bit… premature of him. Chris couldn’t help it, he saw a friend in need and he had to help, so his mouth just went ahead and offered to drive before his brain could catch up. AJ was in no shape to drive after Val’s swift kick. His boy needed a break to sleep it off, or something like that. So here Chris was, sitting behind the wheel of the largest vehicle he had ever operated. Seriously, aside from his mom’s old honda civic that he learned to drive on, he pretty much solely stuck to his motorcycle. This tank was much larger than a bike… and a civic.

That said, with Chris being a gearhead through and through, driving the RV went completely smooth. No rich kids died in the making of this road trip. AJ had passed out in the passenger seat, clearly comfortable enough to do so. All was well, and the rag-tag group of gearfits arrived at the Bellagio right on schedule. Chris leaned down to take in the sight of the place through the windshield and remarked a simple, “Damn.” This place was swanky as fuck.

“Aight, everyone get the fuck out. I need to park this thing and stretch my legs.” He instructed. His words were harsh, but his tone was friendly enough. He was excited to properly get this show on the road, and it was starting to show through his rough exterior. Once all of the teens piled out onto the sidewalk with their luggage in tow, Chris put the beast in gear and dialed in the address of this temporary parking area on the GPS.

AJ had offered to come along with Chris to park the RV, but he assured him that he’d be fine on his own. He would use the alone time to relax, decompress, and have a smoke outside. AJ’s compromise was to at least pay for Chris’ lift back to the hotel, which the punk happily accepted. Who the fuck knows how much an Uber in Las Vegas costs anyway, it would probably be obscene.

Chris lit up a Marlboro as he waited outside the temporary lot for his ride to show up. Staring out at the streets, Chris exhaled a stream of smoke as he took in the skyline of the strip in the distance. Shit, he was really out here in Vegas right now. Who would have thought making friends with a kid at a street race would lead to this? He took another drag and smiled gratefully at his situation as a sleek black car rolled up to the curb. Seeing the light in the windshield, Chris flicked his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out before hopping into the backseat.

“The Bellagio, huh?” The driver asked after a few minutes spent in traffic. The question was accompanied by an inquisitive raised eyebrow that Chris caught in the rearview mirror. He smirked, of course there was doubt.

“Yeah…” Chris responded as he watched the wide variety of people out on the street through the window. “Landed me a rich girl with a bad boy fetish, we’re gonna have a good time.” He lied smoothly. Why lie? Why the fuck not? Plus, maybe there was something to that whole ‘speak it into existence’ mentality. Anything’s possible in the span of a teenage summer, right?

The driver nodded and laughed. “Good deal man, good deal.”

The rest of the ride was silent up until they pulled up to the hotel and said their goodbyes. Twirling the RV keys around his index finger, Chris walked up to the valet man waiting at the front door entrance. “Hey man, where should I turn in keys for vehicles to be picked up from the Uber-Lyft pick up point?” The well-dressed worker instructed him that the valet office desk was right through the glass doors and immediately on the left. Nodding, Chris made his way inside and laid the keys down at said desk. The woman behind the counter asked for the name of who would be picking the keys for the vehicle up. “Uh… Sonya Kable. Make sure to ask for ID, this thing is worth more than my actual human life, so I’m not gonna be responsible for it getting stolen.” The woman laughed politely and assured him that it was their policy to always check IDs. “Thanks, Linda.” Chris replied, tapping the desk twice with his hand before turning to enter the hotel lobby fully.

The place was massive and marbled, with opulent gold accents. It looked like a scene straight out of a movie — in fact, Chris immediately thought of the Continental from John Wick. The leather-jacket clad teen most definitely looked out of place as he looked around, mouth agape. He took a moment to shoot a text to AJ asking which room he should head to before walking towards the elevators in the back right side of the lobby.

“Can I help you, sir?” One of the women, a blonde, at the front desk asked as he passed by. He turned to look up from his phone to be greeted by her somewhat judgmental looking gaze. Chris’ eyebrows knitted in confusion, “Oh, no. I’m just heading up to my room. Already checked in, thanks.” He offered a fake smile and turned on his heel back towards the elevators.

“And… which room is that?” She asked with an equally fake smile as his back was to her. You gotta be fucking kidding me… Chris thought to himself and took a moment to silently grind his teeth before turning to respond to the obvious grilling.

“Dunno,” He shrugged, letting his arms swing out wide at his sides. “I just texted my buddy to get the room number.” He replied honestly, but he could already tell where this train of questioning was headed.

“What’s your buddy’s name? I can look it up in the system for you.” Another fake customer service smile.

“AJ—A-Alfie Tyler.” He corrected with an awkward stutter, realizing AJ’s full name was probably needed.

After a few seconds of tapping on her keys, the blonde smirked proudly as if she’d just won a massive bet. “We don’t have any rooms listed under that name.”

“What?!” Chris asked incredulously. Was she playing a fucking game right now? Just as she looked like she was about to call for security, he threw his hands up in surrender. “I’ll call him, alright? I’ll have him come down, chill, jesus…” Chris aggressively tapped through his contacts to ring AJ.

“Hey man, can you come down?” Chris asked as soon as the line picked up. “These assholes—” He made a point of glaring directly at the blonde front desk worker. “—at the front desk think I’m too poor to be here and plan on stealing their sparkling water or some shit. Let’s go get some food before my hunger makes me really make a scene right now, because I’m feeling a little bit profiled, not gonna lie.”





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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by HaleyTheRandom
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HaleyTheRandom ☣ Hurricane Eyes ☣

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The drive to Las Vegas was fairly uneventful for Reyna. Sitting on the couch with her earbuds in, the young woman stared out of the RV window for the first hour or so. As she let the beat in whatever song was playing carry her away to day dream land. Snapping pictures on her phone ever so often, she made sure to save them so that when all of this was said and done she could print them off for her dream board back home. She needed to add pictures of her and all of the gang (even the ones that hated her) to the board too. Maybe she'd make one for everyone. Somewhere on the way there, the brunette managed to fall asleep. The sounds of the hustle and bustle as the rest of the crew shuffled around the RV woke Reyna up in a daze. Yawing loudly and stretching before grabbing her luggage, she made sure to keep up with the rest of the crowd as they made their way inside.

When the arguments ensued over who was going to bunk with who, Reyna chose to keep her mouth shut. No one was going to be completely happy with who they got stuck with, and acting like children in front of the staff wasn't a good idea. Besides, she was still a little groggy from her nap. Luckily for them, the receptionist seemed nice enough and understanding. Drawing a candy from the bowl, Reyna rolled her eyes seeing who she was bunked with. She didn't speak up though, so she couldn't complain much. At least she had her girls with her - that's what mattered.

Fighting her way up the stairs and making sure she didn't trip over anyone, Reyna managed to make it to the suite safely. Following Chloe and Katie, Reyna flopped her bags down on one of the beds before jumping on the bed herself. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, the girl nodded her head at her friends suggestion.

"Shopping sounds amazing. But first - " Standing up as she began a stroll around the room, Reyna found the mini bar in a few short seconds. Grabbing a few random bottles before heading back to the room, she held up the bottles in her hands like they were trophies. "I think we should start with those pre-drinks you mentioned."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Ejected
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By the time the RV had arrived at its destination five hours later, Ivy was just relieved that she didn't have to break up any fights on the way there or hitch herself a ride back home. Instead, she'd spent those few hours listening to one of her carefully crafted Hip-Hop and R&B playlists and taking a solid four hour long nap; she only woke up for a few moments every now and then to either check her phone, eat a snack or two, or speak to Chloe, who she didn't sit too far from.

When it came time to gather their things and head into the hotel, it took Ivy a few minutes to get herself together; after doing a few post-nap stretches and scrolling through her missed text messages, the young woman followed the rest of her friends into the lobby, her cheetah print suitcase and matching duffel in tow. "Well, this is niceeeee," Ivy said as she came to a stop near the rest of the group, a smile plastered across her face as she took in the fancy scenery. Her smile instantly disappeared, however, once she finally realized what was currently happening among the group.

Ivy wasn't surprised in the slightest when she found her friends arguing over their sleeping arrangements. And it wasn't long before she'd joined in on the arguing, initially trying to calm things down but only escalating things in the process. She was thankful that the front desk lady came up with the whole peppermint method before things got too out of hand. "Looks like we're roomies," Ivy said to Chloe with a sigh of relief before popping the white mint into her mouth.

Soon, the group headed towards the elevator, and Ivy's stomach growled at the mention of food. The snacks she'd eaten on the way over hadn't done much, and anyone who knew Ivy knew that she ate like a linebacker. Where it all went to after being consumed, no one knew. "Can I be one of the boys for today?" the young woman said half-jokingly before letting out a sigh and rolling her luggage onto the lift. It was after then that she volunteered to be a key holder, figuring that she was responsible enough to do so without any problems.

The Penthouse Suite was just as gorgeous as Ivy thought it would be. She was the last to enter the room, and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw where they'd all be staying. Following Reyna and Chloe's lead, Ivy set her things down on the floor and took a seat on one of the beds, resisting the urge to plop down on her back. "I'm cool with that," she said as she eagerly reached for one of the bottles Reyna had brought back to the room. "I'm always down to do a little shopping. And drinking... as long as we get some food on the way cause I'm fucking starving."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by BrutalBx
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”Dios mío, estas mujeres serán mi muerte”

For four years, Sami had spent pretty much all of his free time solving the problems of his friends. When AJ got in trouble with...well pretty much everyone, Sami stood up for him. When Val locked herself in a closet as a sophomore having a panic attack, it was Sami that sat on the other side for three hours talking her down. He fed Chris and Nate, he held Josie, he worked on cars with Ivy and through all of that, he had barely anything of a life that he could call his own. He was so intrinsically linked with the Gearheads and the Misfits that a question like “Who really is Sami Alejandro?” wasn’t a shock anymore. Outside of a problem solver, who was he really? Not once did he complain, not once did he just say fuck it like a normal human being and go find better friends. He loved these damn idiots but this was his last hurrah, he was an outlaw going out his own way and he was for sure not going out listening to them bitch and complain.

”Leon? Sit the fuck down before you fall out of a window you big goon” The Cubano began to mix a few more drinks for his group and lay them out on the bar before bringing his attention to the triple threat of Ava, Emi and Josie. ”Here’s the long and short of it ladies. We are not in fucking high school anymore ok? All the drama needs to stop or be taken down a notch. Now I’m not gonna give you a speech about how it’s time to grow up and this will be the last time we’re all together or any of that breakfast club shit. Ok? I’m gonna make it simple, I’ve been dealing with this crap for years and I want a fucking break to actually enjoy myself. Cut the sass, stay the barbs, drink your fucking drinks and have a damn good fucking time!

Emotion from Sami was a rarity. He was always so quiet and subdued. When he spoke he spoke with a confidence and authority far beyond his eighteen years. This was different. He wasn’t yelling or shouting, he didn’t lose his temper but the tone of his words were strong and forceful, dripping in power. It was a sight to behold when Sami actually tried.

Josie’s comment of sharing a bed had not gone unnoticed and the idea of holding the pink haired pixie close to his chest in the dead of night was an idea that he was coming round to more every day. Turning around, he popped his phone into the speaker and began to play some music throughout the suite. Moving away from the bar, Sami made his way over to the couch he had claimed as his bed and collapsed into the thousand thread cushions. Holy hell that shift was soft. He took a sip from his delicious Cuban delicacy and looked over at the girls with a smile on his face, completely allowing any tension to dissolve and fade away.

”Now, let’s enjoy this place for all its worth, where to first?”

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by AlteredTundra
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AlteredTundra RIP to the GOAT, Akira Toriyama

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Mood — Better. Following Sami's strongly-phrased suggestions
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She might’ve expected Val or AJ to snap at people like that, but the usually chill Sami was the last person Ava thought would lose his cool. She would’ve said a few things if she wasn’t the least bit terrified that he would bite her head off even more than he had. That and he wouldn’t pour her drink. Yeah, call Ava linear all you want, but she needed it right now, so she didn’t have any problem enduring this rare show of emotion from the most unlikely person to showcase it.

Ava glanced at Emi and Josie, rolling her eyes away from Sami so she didn’t have to hear round two of whatever slew of this and that he had in store; instead, she took her drink and swung the stool around, her body rotating along with it. Deep down she knew he was right: they were all supposed to be friends and Ava wanted to be friendly. It’s not like she didn’t have it in her, but Josie was one of the few people she might not ever be polite to. It wasn’t anything against her per se, just what Josie did to Nate and how Ava had to act hostile out of loyalty for one of her oldest friends.

Yeah, it wasn’t anything personal, right?

Sipping her mojito, Ava swung herself back and forth, keeping to a sort of rhythm as Sami put on a catchy song, the beat infecting Ava as she descended off of her stool. She shook her hips, swaying them slightly in every direction they could. She bobbed her head and casually sipped more of her mojito. She turned around and jogged carefully over to Emi, tugging at the blonde’s arm with her free one. “C’mon, dance with me.” Ava didn’t wait for an answer. She pulled Emilia off her seat, though only did so with enough force to pull her to her feet and not spill her drink.


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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by BrutalBx
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Featuring; Leon, Nate and Sami



The only way any of them were going to survive this road trip was small battles, tiny victories and time apart. Everyone had their own way of unwinding and calming the fires of their hearts. Some partied, some baked and others like Sami, they punched things; hard. The idea was simple enough, it was Vegas so he couldn’t resist the temptation to go to the famous and original Xtreme Couture gym. It was the home for a fantastic fitness and MMA program and it was the perfect place for Sami to push out a few demons before the evening's festivities. This time though, he wasn’t alone; Leon and Nate had joined him. They wouldn’t have too much time at the gym before they had to head back, there were so many things they had to do and their time in LV was short and sweet.

As the trio sauntered up to the state of the art gym, Sami looked at the two of them with his typical dad look. ”Best behaviour in here boys. We do not have a booking so we’re going to have to lie our way in. Everyone in there can also kick our asses and we don’t want to cause any trouble, so let me do the talking, savvy?”

“When have I ever been the one to get us into trouble?” Nate asked with his eyebrows high in his face. He shifted his eyes to Leon “We should probably focus on Mr. Highwayman here” he said, jerking his thumb towards his best friend.

Leon squinted his eyes at Nate and rather proudly proclaimed, “Joke’s on you, I’ve never stolen anything before.” Well there was that one time with the grape flavored gum when he was 5, but that was a long time ago and to his credit, he hadn’t actually stolen anything since.

Patting both of them on the back, Papi Sami led the two of them into the facility and straight to the front desk which was manned by a young woman with glasses who did not even look up from her computer screen.

”Name please?”

”We don’t have a slot booked but I spoke to Randy and he said I could use the gym for a quick work out before my fight tonight at the MGM” in that moment, Sami was hoping that this receptionist was a racist who assumed all Latino people were the same. The woman finally raised her eyes up from the screen and her jaw nearly hit the floor when she saw the trio. ”You can work me out whenever you want…..” She quickly sat back in her chair, attempting to salvage the sewage she had just spewed from her lips. ”I mean, all UFC fighters are welcome to work out here, go right in”

Nathan couldn’t really believe the words that just left the receptionist’s mouth and had to almost pick up his jaw from the floor as they made their way towards the changing rooms. ”I guess they’re really forward out here in Nevada huh?” he whispered.

“Don’t know why they wouldn’t be,” Leon said, unsure why Nate was being so quiet, “Some people just need a good partner to work out with, hell I’d ask to spot her, but she seems a little busy right now.” Leon stretched his arms across his chest, he was already in rather appropriate gear, tank top, basketball shorts, athletic shoes, basically just clothes to get sweaty in. “Anyway, what’s the plan Sami? Leg day? Arm day? I already got my cardio in...twice...ohhhh I get it now.” He laughed, finally understanding Nate’s quip at him.

”Well, I need to get myself relaxed for tonight, so I’m thinking of some light sparring, maybe see if one of these cage guys wants to go a round or two” Only Sami would find getting punched in the face as a way of releasing some tension. ”Leon why don’t you go get us all some drinks from the machine, I got to talk to Nate real quick” Cuban Yoda handed the golden retriever a few dollars and patted him on his ungodly firm butt. ”Now that shit just ain’t right...Nate, pick up the pads and square up, will ya?” he wrapped up his hands in some tape and cracked his neck. Some heavy stuff was about to happen and he didn’t just mean his punches.

“Oh I-” Nate started to complain, he wasn’t really here to work out, more so to just hang out and cheer his bro’s on while they did whatever they did in the gym. But as always he had a hard time saying no to Sami, so he picked up the pads that Sami had pointed to and stuck his hands inside of them.

Sami could feel some butterflies in his stomach, this was going to be one weird ass conversation. Sending Leon away wasn’t a necessity, he had nothing to hide but it would be easier if it was just the two of them and there was a lot of scantily clad, sweaty gym bunnies hanging around and no doubt they would all flock to Leon, buying Sami a little more time with his buddy. Once Nate was ready, the stocky boy raised his fists and began hitting the pads that his friend was holding.

As Sami swung at the pads Nate stumbled a little “Ok Sami, calm down you don’t have to break my hands…” he grinned. But as he saw the look on his friends face his eyebrows knitted together. “What’s going on?”

”Listen brother, I’m not going to fuck about with this, ok? I love you and I want to be honest with you. I think there’s something going on with Josie and me” Sami punctuated his words with some strong strokes to the training pads. ”I know how you feel about her and I wanted to get on this with you cos you’re my brother and it wouldn’t be right for me to snake you. There’s always been something you know but like high school, you know? We just click in a way. I’m not gonna do anything unless you’re good with it, ése”

There it was, the confirmation to the hunch Nate have had. The reason why Josie didn’t want to be with him in that way. She liked Sami… and he like her. “Oh-” was all he could say as Sami’s punches hit the pads. He didn’t really know how he felt about it, so he stayed quiet for a little while. “You know…” he said lowering the pads. “I’ll be honest” Nate took the pads of his hands and threw them back on the floor. “It’s an awkward situation, but I’m not going to be the one who comes between you and her.” he bit his lip in thought “If you feel that way for her… uh… go for it man.” he smiled at Sami shrugging his shoulders.

That went better than expected. Nate had always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, it was one of the many reasons that Sami loved him. Here he was being the mature man he had grown into, a far cry from the tearful child that Sam had to pull out from under his duvet on many occasions. He was right though, this was an awkward situation and the guilt that burned inside of the young fighter's chest like a fresh case of heartburn from downing too many drinks was not disappearing any time soon. Still, Sami was not going to run away from this problem, he was going to face it straight on with the same bullheadedness that he was famous for. ”I love you brother, no matter what” He placed his hand on Nate’s shoulder and smiled. This was going to be a very new and very different chapter in their relationship and for once, Sami couldn’t see the future coming.

Like the goodest boy he was, Leon took Sami’s order without question. “Sure Papi!” The strapping young lad went about to the vending machine, cash in hand, unflinching even as Sami smacked his ass. To be fair, a near lifetime of slap ass was the usual jargon in a high schoolers locker environment, so Leon was practically unfazed as his butt rebounded the firm hand of his close friend. Approaching the device, he perused through it’s wares, a mixture of soda, gatorade, red bull, powerade (were those two even allowed to be in the same unit?). Despite the near dystopia of it all, Leon chose the gatorade, it was like that Brawndo stuff from that one movie, the one that was what plants craved, something about electricity? Humans craved what plants craved right? Which was electricity, so Leon found no reason to spend his adequately given money on such beverages.

As he gathered his things, ready to head back to his awaiting crew, a young filly approached him. “Well hey there kid, never seen you here before.” In front of him stood a young woman..well as young as was legally allowed, she was clearly older than Leon, but still appeared youthful and spry, “What brings a strapping young man like you into LV?” Somewhat confused, Leon had to turn and see who she meant, only realizing she meant him, “Oh...me? I’m just here with my friends, having a good time and getting to know the local scenery.”

“Didn’t realize the local scenery included a gym.”

“Well, I like to keep myself in shape, went on a couple of runs this morning,” he emphasized, flexing his legs a little, “But, I was more looking forward to work on my core and arms, y’know?” again emphasized as he once again took off his shirt to flex his muscles a little. Nothing too impressive to the average Adonis, but more than enough to swoo the lucky lady in front of him as she brushed uncontrollably ...that was until he heard an unsettling cry of anger.

“YO! WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!!”

‘What the fuck?’, Leon looked over as a rather heavily tatted man made his way over to him and his newfound friend. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Confused, Leon looked around before eying the bottles in his hand, “Um...buying some drinks for my friends?”

“Oh really now?!?!” The man’s veins actually popped a little at that, “:and I suppose that included talking to my girl too?” To her credit, the young woman did try to pipe up, only to be shot down by the jackass beside her. To his credit, Leon tried to remain somewhat diplomatic, “Yo, man I was just trying to get some hydration for my buds, then I saw her and she was asking some questions about my routine, and I thought, I should demonstrate,” Leon emphasized this by flexing his calves again and puckering his abs and pecs to the gentleman.

“You think you’re fucking funny, dontcha?”

“I mean…” Leon didn’t really have a better response, he thought he was humorous if nothing else, but could this guy be asking for an act or something? “I did perform in my high school’s talent show, I don’t think they have any video recording but…”

“That’s it!” Before Leon could even react, the man began to swing his fist towards him

Hearing a rumble from down the hall Nathan swiveled around squinting to see if he could see what was going on. “You don’t think that…” he asked turning back to Sami “Big boy finds trouble anywhere so I think we should go check that out” he said walking towards the sound of the fight.

Scratching the back of his head, Sami let out a tremendous sigh. He couldn’t take these fucking kids anywhere. Following Nate down to the other side of the gym, the two boys came across their friend about to be pummelled by some juiced up toadie being goaded on by his peers. Within seconds, Sam pushed the steroid freak into the wall by the drinks machine and stood between him and Leon. The man was almost two of Sami (although that wasn’t very hard) but he has fought off worse odds. The juicer grimaced at the boy through broken teeth. “Fights not with you, homie unless you want seconds. The use of the word homie was the perfect turn of phrase to show off this idiot's racism. The perceived gang affiliation because of his race and tattoos was something Sami had dealt with for a long time and it was the best fuel to add to an already burning fire. ”I’m your huckleberry” He glanced back at his boys before throwing a heavy left hook into the side of the toothless wonders head. ”So much for staying out of trouble, go back to the hotel boys, I got this”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Plank Sinatra
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Plank Sinatra the reaper won't come when you're ready for him

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AJ Tyler (birth name: Alfie) Chris Reyes (birth name: Chrysler) "Aleks Belikov" (birth name: ???)






Absentmindedly, AJ went to his Instastory, droning out the girls’ chatter as they googly eyed the room and Aleks mentioned something about chocolate syrup. “Yeah, for sure.” He mumbled in response. Once he put his camera into selfie LIVE mode, he pressed record to get a part of his face and the background, making sure that a certain Callaghan was the focal point of his story. He knew how Jamie got, especially in regards to social media and how open their generation could be, spilling all the tea . No doubt he’d be following everyone’s stories on this road trip. His ex craved that kind of shit, knowing what his sister was up to and seeing if his ex finally moved on. Old habits die hard and AJ believed he could intrigue that side in Jamie that would never change. Plus, if he showed Jamie that he was having a good time, maybe the gossip boy would remember what he was missing.

“Just got to our suite — gonna’ relax for a few before we get buckwild!” He dramatically zoomed into the hot girls’ faces, resting it a second too long on Katie while making a dumb frat boy call ‘ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh’ while sticking out his tongue. Jumping on the bar counter, beside Aleks, he grinned at his audience, “First stop in the most epic, most dope, most baller journey of the century. Road trip across America! Chapter 1. Viva Las Vegas! No clocks. No locks. No restrictions! Now remember, home is where you park it. Stay safe insta, and I’ll check back in tonight. ajdose, out!”

When he finished his live video, he turned to one of his best friends and asked, “What were you saying about chocolate syrup?” But before anyone could say anything, AJ’s phone vibrated and the person calling was his ‘Valentine’. “Did he get lost or something?” He quizzically peered down at the Caller ID and then brought his gaze to Aleks.

Shrugging, putting Chris on speaker, AJ curiously questioned, “What’s up, babes? You okay?”

“Hey man, can you come down?”

Oh snap, I should’ve told him the rooms were under my aunt’s name… my b.

“Yeah, coming now.” *Click* “Time to save our damsel in distress. See you ladies later. If you need us, give us a call.” This comment was directed to Chloe and Ivy, the girls he had the least anger towards, even if it was said out loud to all of them.

AJ’s shadow sensed that it was time to follow.

Aleks slid off the counter with his hands in his pockets, only removing them to give the girls a friendly wave goodbye and then wrap the offending hand around the back of his neck. He could only barely hear what was going on through his earbuds, but he got the gist of what was happening due to AJ’s phone call. He could already sense the approaching storm, like a sailor, hopelessly adrift in his best friend’s wake; he had hoped that the three of them, bereft of any potential irritants, might be able to cruise all the way through lunch without anything going rogue. Chris getting lost in the lobby was a bad start already.

“Yes. Don’t do anything I would do,” he told the girls with a tight-lipped smile, gliding along the floor with such delicacy that one would believe the Bellagio floors were made of parchment paper. When he was inside the elevator, though, he sat up on the railing, slender figure making it a tight but not impossible squeeze on. His shoe tapped against the button for the ground floor and then lowered, kicking back against the back of the lift.

He was humming for a second before he realized AJ had repeated his question back to him.

“Chocolate syrup,” he repeated, shrugging lazily. “Doesn’t matter how cheap, I just need it for cocktails. Still trying to think of name for White Russian with choco. Maybe Dagestani.” His gaze drifted over to AJ. “A little racist, actually. Not Dagestani. Brown Bolshevik? Too long.”

He took a deep breath, mulling over names.

“Maybe I should just name it after somebody. Girls like when you name cocktails after them, in my experience. Even if you’re bullshitting. I think we and Sami - only ones at school with know-how to make cocktails. That makes lying about them easier. One time Chris and I--”

The elevator dinged, and Aleks saw the problem immediately. The aforementioned Chris was being held up at the desk by the receptionist, which caused the rest of the breath Aleks was going to use to tell his story to leave him in one giant, disappointed exhale. He had really been hoping to avoid this.




Unhooking his sunglasses off his shirt, AJ took out a cleaning wipe to remove the smudges, while speaking to the new face, a blondie, at the front desk, “I’m not going to pull a Karen on you, but please enlighten me, how long have you worked here...” He looked at her name tag and then focused his sly glare on her fake face, “... Rachelle?” Purposely, he enunciated her name, dragging out the vowels, to make her feel small, and that he was indeed better than her. When she answered with a seasoned customer service reply, AJ chortled in pretentious annoyance, “Then you should know my cous’, Trent, who wears dorky ass sweatshirts and gamer tees that you can get under twenty bucks or oh! Sonya! Who barely wears anything. I can’t say much for Joseph, since he’s the only one who seems to care about his looks, but you get my point.”

Finishing cleaning his glasses, he pocketed the wipe and delicately held his shades in one of his hands, “It’s funny. A place like Las Vegas, one of the greatest cities in the world, wouldn’t usually allow people, such as yourself, to be prejudiced, biased, or downright fucked up. People come here to enjoy the city that never sleeps and regardless how much my BEST FRIEND makes, that’s none of your goddamn business. He’s here, with a room, under Theresa Kable, btdubs, and is a GUEST at this motherfuckin’ hotel. He better be treated just like me, the nephew of the person who could cost you your whole career, or we will stay at a crappy motel. I don’t give a fuck!”

Times like these, one could tell that AJ Tyler was his mother’s son. From being a sassy bitch to an over-the-top drama queen, he learned from one of the most savage bosses who left no room for discussion. After putting his shades on, he pointed to Chris’ face, Remember him. Have those that work with you remember him. If this shit happens again, we’re out and I don’t say that lightly.” The last thing he said was a suggestive threat and anyone with a single brain cell would know better than to upset a kid connected to the ‘royal’ family of this honest fake kingdom. A paradise where money talks and in this moment, based on the woman’s shocked expression, money indeed did the talking.

“Alright babes, let’s get outta here. I’m starving.”

Chris looked pissed, and that’s because he was, on multiple levels. Pissed that he got singled out for looking like the kid that didn’t belong. The poor kid. The troubled youth. Did he seriously have to put on a polo shirt and khaki pants just to be taken seriously? And he was pissed that he had to be saved by AJ. He wasn’t a fucking victim — a damsel in distress that needed saving! “Man, fuck all y’all.” Chris hissed through gritted teeth and moved his shoulder out of the path of AJ’s incoming arm. He didn’t need to be fucking coddled, he needed lunch and to get out of this ritzy bitch hotel.

I am so sorry, Aleks mouthed over AJ’s shoulder at the receptionist, who looked as though AJ had unzipped his jacket and revealed he’d carried an AK-47 out of the lobby. Apart from that, though, he was unable to throw cold water on the very-much-Karenesque rant that his basically-adopted-brother was letting loose on the poor woman. She didn’t look much older than the trio themselves; the thought of her whole career being gunned down like the mob still owned the city must have been terrifying to her.

His hand that wasn’t holding his phone to his ear turned, as though he was tilting back the temperature dial on a stove. He made a little whistle, like a boiling tea kettle, through his teeth to try and communicate to AJ that he was coming on a little strong. Not that AJ did well with such subtle imagery.

“Papa,” he said into the phone. “I’m glad you’re still awake.”

“Aleksei.” His father’s curt Russian accent was a relief to hear for once. He continued in the same Russian, so slow and measured that Aleks could translate in his head while keeping an ear out for AJ. “You have arrived in Vegas? How was traffic? Your mother wants to hear your voice, she says you are screening calls--”

“I’ll call later,” Aleks insisted hurriedly. “We’re going for lunch. Can you place a call to Caesar’s, get us your table at Rao’s? Chris has never been. AJ either, I don’t think.”

”Rao’s? Rao’s is for celebrities and gangsters, not for business. Your mother likes Rao’s. Besides, you get table last year, they know you there. Do not call me asking again for the reservations.”

”We just want Italian, that’s all. Next year I’ll ask for myself, Papa. Please?”

“--He better be treated just like me, the nephew of the person who could cost you your whole career, or we will stay at a crappy motel. I don’t give a fuck!”

The imaginary dial between Aleks’ fingers turned faster and faster. As always, it seemed AJ was ignoring his plea for sense and sensibility.

“I swear they will behave,” he continued on the line with his dad, even though he doubted they would behave very fucking much. “We’re at the Bellagio, it’s, like, fifteen minutes away on foot. If we can’t walk to wherever we’re going I will--”

Aleks shot a quick look at the receptionist, even though she was mostly focused on AJ’s unhinged rant, and switched to Russian.

“--If we can’t walk to wherever we’re going, I will just have to steal a car from valet,” Aleks said in fluent Russian. His father sighed.

“Aleksei, Aleksei.” Another sigh. ”Very well. But if I do this thing for you, you call your mother this evening and tell her how trip goes so far. She wants to talk to Chloe, too. So do not ghost.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

“I swear, Papa,” Aleks sighed, switching to English. ”I will call tonight. Talk later.”

“Oh, and Aleksei. You mention the cars,” Osip Belikov said sternly. Aleks’ heart sank into his stomach. ”You are in school no longer, and consequences of actions will only grow greater and greater. This business with Tyler man, the stealing and the robberies--

“I’ll talk later.” Aleks hung up before he had to hear another word, and shoved his phone into his pocket. By now the receptionist looked thoroughly terrified of AJ’s very presence, and it looked like Chris was allowed freedom of the entire hotel. Again, Aleks mouthed a wry apology over AJ’s shoulder at the traumatized employee before he spoke up to his friends.

“It took some doing,” he said, although internally he acknowledged that getting to eat at a five star, exclusive restaurant for the low low price of calling his mom wasn’t so bad. “But I got us table at Rao’s, just across street at Caesar’s. Chris, you will like this. I went to original Rao’s in New York when I touched down in this country, and no place like it. Especially not in London. Such crap, crap fucking food in London.”




Chris spent the trip to the restaurant in extreme silence. Had it been a cartoon, there would have been literal steam billowing out of his ears, but instead he just tapped his fingers against his thigh rhythmically. Caesar’s Palace was massive, he’d seen it before in movies and stuff but it was larger than life in person. “Shit… it’s like it’s own fucking city.” Chris remarked and shook his head.

The eatery they were headed to was across the way and… it looked nothing like what Chris had expected. The entrance was small, set in the corner of a brick building. The red facade boasted the name of the joint in simple white font: “Rao’s”. Surrounded by all of the grandeur of the strip, it looked like a quaint diner in comparison — certainly not some five star place that Aleks had to pull strings to get into. “This… is the place? It looks so normal.”

“I did too, in freshman year,” Aleks Belikov said tersely, his voice slightly quiet. Granted, the Las Vegas location had none of the history of the New York original, where presidents and mafia dons preferred to dine with each other on a first name basis - but it was still a mecca of Italian food, with all the exclusivity you would expect from a place that could turn down those presidents and mafiosos. “Four years later you know better, da? Da. Pay respect.”

Chris raised his hands in mock surrender. “If they got food, that’s all I care about. Respects paid, brother.”

He walked in quietly, and it was as though a change went over Aleks too when he went through the doors. When he introduced himself to the front of house, his words became broken, his accent more Russian than English, and his own surname came up more in conversation than it did during BHHS roll call. When he was done with conversation, though, he gestured for Chris and AJ to enter too, pulling out chairs for both of them to sit beside each other. Aleks, knowing his place in the hierarchy, sat by himself facing the doorway.

“To us, motherfuckers,” he toasted with a sly smile on his face, speaking with his normal Russian-based creole. Whenever the three of them ate together, it was his go-to blessing for the meal - be it at somewhere exclusive like this or at an In-N-Out at 1 in the morning. “May no one ever come between us.”

“Not even a bitchy front desk worker.” Chris toasted with the complimentary glass of ice water at the table. “Damn, that is fresh as fuck. I normally don’t even like water.” Setting the glass down he perused the menu. The prices were steep, but not so steep that they didn’t even bother putting them on the menu. Chris had heard that’s what the super bougie places did, there were like ten things total on the menu and no prices, you just had to pull the trigger and hope to not go bankrupt. Well, rich people probably didn’t need to worry about that. “Twenty two dollars… for meatballs.” He peered over the menu at his friends. “And I don’t think the spaghetti is even included.”

“Don’t worry about the cost, I gotchu.” AJ didn’t bother looking at the menu, already knowing exactly what he was getting. Now that the awkward walk was over, where everyone was silent as hell, and they were finally alone, away from everyone else, he could focus on the more pressing matter. Being respectful to the place, he took his sunglasses and pushed them up, to rest on his head. Once he was done, he folded his hands together, staring at some of his closest friends, one annoyed him more than the other, but they were still hella’ tight, “Who the hell invited Katie-fucking-Callaghan on my road trip?”

Aleks sipped his water pensively, eyes squarely meeting AJ’s. His shoulders did a little shrug as he set his glass down.

“I was with you last night,” he answered. “I heard nothing about it, and if it was Chloe she would have given me warning.”

That seemed like a suitable enough answer to establish his own bona fides, but the question still gave him pause. He looked over at Chris, who seemed to have more of an idea of what was happening than he did. Knowing Ivy, it was likely she couldn’t give a fuck about whatever mob war was going on between AJ and the Callaghans, but he couldn’t see any reason to keep it a secret from AJ. Given the disproportionate amount of times he’d been on the receiving end of his friend’s temper lately, Aleks knew that AJ’s anger took longer to simmer than it did to explode. Given time, it was likely that he would have gotten over it - mostly - by the time they had all met in the parking lot. Ensuring that she surprised him there seemed like a recipe for disaster. It was uncharacteristic of Ivy - but exactly the kind of shit Chloe would pull. Did she have a bigger role in this than Aleks had thought?

No. She still would have told Aleks if she’d been the mastermind. Katie’s face flashed behind his eyes, and he bit down on the edge of his lip thoughtfully.

“For what it’s worth,” he said cautiously, hands spread out on the table to signal diplomacy, “Katie seems like she has a lot to leave behind in Los Angeles herself. I doubt she wants to talk about herself any more than you do. Clean slate seems possible to me. Agreeable, even. Maybe just try and bury hatchet.”

Left unsaid was the fact that he’d noticed Katie’s eyes on him since they’d left Los Angeles, but Aleks didn’t see any need to burden AJ with the possibility of something between them. If it came down to picking sides directly, obviously he would pick the imperfect, temperamental boy before him over a fling with Katie. But it was better to leave that debate off the table entirely.

Chris knew who was behind Katie’s presence, of course. And Aleks knew that Chris knew the details, and he was being his typical sneaky self about it. If it wouldn’t totally blow his cover, Chris would have glared. Instead, he dodged AJ’s question and took a different kind of shot at his bratan. “Aka, Aleksei here is trying to get it in… and bury something besides a hatchet.” Chris raised a mischievous brow and sipped at his water. “Which will be much easier to do if we all get along. But I’m also in favor of the get along plan, because this is supposed to be fun and SO FAR it has been anything but, fam.”

Aleks exhaled.

“If you had asked me yesterday, I would have told you I wouldn’t invite Katie Callaghan if I was throwing a fucking suicide bombing,” he said calmly. “That would have been before I talked to her. My sole concern is road trip, same as yours. If that was not the case I would have kicked Val’s teeth to Luxembourg where they belong when she ran from that RV. But then, as now, playing nice is easier. And healthier for all of us.”

“I get it, we all want peace. We all want to have a good time. I do too, which I’ve been trying, but that wasn’t my question.” Unlatching his hands, AJ leaned back, furrowing his eyebrows, “Someone did something without telling me, and that, I have a problem with.”

Snapping his finger, he came to a realization, disregarding most of what his friends were spewing about, “I bet it was Reyna. She was trying to butter us all up with those pancakes. See, I can put up with people I don’t like. I invited her. If someone was so desperate and wanted Katie to come so bad, I would’ve said sure, but shit. There’s a snake here and I gotta watch what I say to them or it’s going to come and bite me in the ass.” Yes, it had to be her. There was no one else, aside from Chloe who would do it for shits and giggles, that would do something so sus in his mind. “Fucking—” Trash. “— Reyna. I’ll need to talk to her.”

“Seems like it. Try to do so without the dramatic flair maybe, we’re all pretty tired of the drama. Sami might tie you up if you lose your shit too bad.” Chris chuckled, man did Ivy and Chloe owe him after this masterful swerve. “On second thought, go for it, that sounds funny.”

“I thought the rolls were better than the pancakes,” Aleks said idly to himself, head buried in his menu. “They made too many.”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by BeastofDestiny
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BeastofDestiny Death, is only the beginning

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The journey back to the hotel wasn’t necessarily long, but with the thoughts in his head, it felt like it took Leon ages to get back to his room. He had travelled back with Nate, but hadn’t really said much, partially because he had a lot on his mind, but also partially because it felt like Nate was leagues elsewhere himself, the two having split up somewhere along the way back having nary said a word to one another. Leon wasn’t sure whether that was the room itself or somewhere in between there and the gym, but regardless he had found himself in the same spot as when he first got to Vegas; the balcony. The young man leaned over the railing, looking out to the city below, trying to sort out where his mind was at, which happened to be with Sami, whom he left behind.

He knew Sami was tough and very capable of taking care of himself, but even so, fending off some jacked up dude in a fight club was a little over the top, even for him. Leon wanted to jump back in, to help his friend out, after all he was the one who caused the fight to break out, even if he still wasn’t sure why it broke out. Sami was insistent though, he always had to take care of things himself, which got Leon thinking. Sami was like the grown adult big brother everyone could rely on, even when Leon was dealing with his own demons, Sami was the one to always offer him a place to stay, to recuperate, to recover and yet, he never really seemed to take care of himself, let alone anyone take care of him. It made Leon really wonder if Sami really had everything under control or maybe..just maybe, he didn’t really trust anyone to let them take care of him if the going got rough, then again, maybe it was just Leon he didn’t trust? He really did have to wonder…

While her three friends had decided to take a trip to the gym (yuck), Val had done exactly as she'd said before: spent the last hour soaking in warm water and bubbles while snacking on her strawberries. She had emerged from the bathroom in a fluffy white robe with the hotel's logo on its back, a matching white headband that held back any stray strands of hair that had escaped her messy top bun, and leaving a trail of fruity-smelling soap behind her everywhere she went. She'd been on her way back to the bedroom when she spotted Leon at the balcony, and decided to pay him a visit.

“You’re back already? And here I was thinking we’d lost you to the gym for the next three hours” she teased her friend with a curious smile. But when she noticed just how pensive Leon was, her playfulness turned into worry, and she frowned with concern. “Leon? Are you okay?” she asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Feeling the hand on his shoulder he turned to look who it was and was pleasantly surprised to find Val, “Oh, hey V, didn’t see you there.” He paused a moment to look her up and down, was this some kind of new fashion, or was that just Vegas style in general? Man his internet searches were severely off point if monogrammed fur coats were the thing to wear, though wherever she got it from clearly misheard ‘Baleria’ instead of Valeria. “You look fancy, planning on going out or something?”

The short girl laughed and shook her head. “Not really, no. I was planning on ordering a bunch of room service and on demand movies under AJ’s name and spending the whole afternoon watching them while pigging out, but after I realized how lame that sounded, I thought
of doing something else. What that something else is, I have no idea yet. Why?”


“You just looked all gussied up so I thought I’d ask, though I could see the appeal in your plan,” Though why someone would wear something so fancy while eating and binge watching he didn’t really understand; again it was probably some Vegas etiquette he didn’t get. “Thought I’d be gone longer, before that I was thinking of touring the city, but to be honest, the view up here is plenty tour enough. Hard to believe that people like Mel Gibson could see this kind of sight every night.” Leon mostly mused, his head propped up in his hand as he leaned over the balcony taking in the view, “Wonder if I’ll get famous enough to come back here.” It wasn’t a serious thought, more something to ponder on.

“Oh, definitely,” came Val’s quick reply as she positioned herself next to Leon. “I doubt a guy with mad basketball skills, a huge heart and super humble like you would ever be anything less than famous. If anyone deserves that, it would be you, bud.”

Was Val being...nice? He had to raise his eyebrow a bit, “Who are you and what have you done with Val?” He asked jokingly. It wasn’t all that odd, deep down, past the glares and the nut shots, Val was actually a really nice person. What made it more odd for him was that she’d practically been avoiding him since prom, and less than six or seven hours ago she'd seemed less than pleased with him. Things seemed, at the very least, going back to more of a standard norm. All in all, though, he couldn’t help but laugh.

The short girl couldn’t help but laugh at his joking suspicion. “Shut up! You act like I’ve never been nice to you before,” she shot back, lightly elbowing him in the ribs.

He took the shot in stride as he rubbed his side, “There’s the sugar cube I knew was in there.” It felt good to laugh with Val, realistically it hadn’t been all that long since prom, but to him it felt like ages since Leon got to actually spend a good moment laughing with Val. He still wasn’t sure what upset her to begin with and he was slightly apprehensive to even bring it up, fearing he’d ruin the good mood. At the end of it all though, he was just glad to see Val smile again, “I’m glad you came along y’know? I thought at the last minute back at school, you’d changed your mind about coming. Not sure what Sami did but…” his mind wandered back to the Latino, hoping he was okay and wasn’t fucked up or passed out in the street, or worse. Shaking the thoughts, he returned his attention back to the girl beside him, “Anyway, I’m happy you’re here, it’d be kind of boring otherwise.”

His sweet words brought a warm feeling to Val’s chest. It was nice to be reminded of the reason she was choosing to put up somewhat voluntarily with the likes of Reyna, Ava and Emilia. After so many years together, her and her boys deserved to have a whole lot of fun before life and growing up inevitably separated them. “You have to give Chris some of the credit too. His patience with me was a crucial part of me standing here right now,” she laughed, smiling at how the one people were quick in deeming the ‘troublemaking hardass’ was probably the most considerate of her feelings out of them all. He deserved hell of a lot more than the shitty card he sometimes was given to. “Anyway, I’m sure there’s a few people here who wished I’d stayed back in California, but you know what? They can suck it. I’m here to stay, and I’m happy to be here.” How long would this good mood last, however, was anyone’s guess.

“Damn straight!” Leon exclaimed, raising his arms above his head to stretch, before lowering them and using his interlocked hands like a head rest. “Guess I’ll have to thank Chris at some point for convincing you to stay on board,” Chris was one of those people Leon wasn’t too sure about, he generally didn’t have a problem with anyone, but that guy always seemed to give him the evil eye whenever Leon looked in his general direction. He wasn’t entirely sure what Chris’ issue was, but if Val trusted him, then that was all the opinion he really needed, especially since some people did take issue to Val’s...impulses from earlier.

Staring out at the skyline, he continued to take in the aura and vibrancy that emanated from the city below, “Any idea on what the night is going to bring us?” He asked offhandedly, “I heard the city looks even better when it’s all lit up.”

“I’ve heard that too…” she noted, eyes still glued to the fast-paced, extravagant view stretching out in front of them. “And I have no idea, honestly. It’s hard to know what any moment will bring considering the fabulous group we got with us,” she said with a chuckle.

“Definitely right about that…” Leon stated, rather far more morbidly than he intended, nearly having his teeth knocked in at the gym. His musings were cut off at the sudden growl in his stomach, finally realizing just how hungry he was feeling. He knew what his calorie intake was, he knew what kind of foods he should be eating, but… Well...when in Vegas. “I know you mentioned ordering room service would be kind of boring, but that’s actually not sounding like a bad plan right about now...think AJ will mind? I really don’t want to be rude about it.”

At the mention of food, Val’s attention was quickly shifted from the view to Leon. But instead of a conspiratorial smile, she was raising her eyebrows at him. “Did you miss the part where I said room service is a lame idea?” she asked him. “We’re in fucking Vegas, panther. Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is literally right across the street!” she pointed out, grabbing his muscled bicep with one hand to stir the rest of his body in the direction her other hand was pointing to. “If we’re eating anywhere, then that’s where I wanna go.”

Despite the incredible size difference, Val had strength where it counted and in his hunger addled state, and was easily ‘shown’ the direction of the restaurant she described. “Oh damn, it really is! Wait, Ramsay, he’s that British dude who’s always screaming right...or was he Scottish? I think I read that somewhere.” He scratched his head to think before shrugging, “Screw it, why not? Hopefully they don’t discriminate ‘cause I didn’t think to bring a fancy monogrammed fur coat...if nothing else you could claim I’m your bodyguard or something, since you look the part.”

The thought of showing up to a fancy restaurant like Hell's Kitchen dressed in nothing but a white bathrobe and a matching headband with a poorly dressed 'bodyguard' like Leon definitely amused the young woman, but not enough to go through with it. "Give me ten minutes to get ready and we'll be on our way," she told Leon with a smile, lightly punching his shoulder as a parting gesture before disappearing back into the hotel room.

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