avaxrandallxlucy:

Randall smiled as he heard her agreement, his eyes crinkling in their corners. His face was the kind that always showed his emotions. He would be the worst at poker, always easily breaking the serious expression required. Randall was emotional, and he embraced it. To him, life was too short to pretend to be otherwise. Wasn’t the beauty of being human rooted in imperfections like vulnerability? Nah, I’m just mad stoned. He even had to admit sometimes his whole flower-child outlook on life was a little much. 

“I dunno” he shrugged, “As far as we wanna go, but we should go back when the sky starts to darken, I guess. Safety and stuff.” his grin stayed on his face. “We can go as far as we feel like, my legs feel all rubbery from not moving for so long.” Randall scratched at the regrowth of stubble, jutting his lower lip out slightly. “We just can’t separate, if we’re going off on our own, we can’t wander.” He knew Kennedy knew this, Randall just felt the need to iterate it to be sure. Clearing his throat, he picked up his pace to match Kennedy’s.

“Isn’t this the best? Open sky, open road, friends, no obligations.” He looked over at her, “I mean, maybe I’m a bit hungrier than I anticipated, but still, this is so cool. Totally worth it. Totally worth all the money spent on supplies, too.” Randall touched his scruff again. “I totally gotta shave soon, too. Unless you guys wanna see mountain-man Randall. That might not even be a bad idea.” He shook his head, smiling still. “How are you liking this whole thing? I know Ava can be a little extra.” he laughed, “But I’ll talk to her if she’s bugging you, she listens to me.” he felt a brotherly bond towards Ava, taking it upon himself to look after her. Randall liked looking after everyone, it gave him a sense of fulfillment and put his constant worrying to rest. When he was worrying about others he did not have to think about himself. 

Suddenly, he put his arm in  front of Kennedy, blocking her. “Ken I swear those three lights in the sky were not an airplane, they have to be the aliens!” his eyes widened as he surveyed the area. “I’m not even tripping, that’s what I think it is.” he frowned, searching for the lights, a little saddened when he didn’t spot them. “Never mind, sorry.” he mumbled, knowing his affinity to watch alien documentaries and get lost in wikipedia articles about them was a little absurd.”Hey, do you think we’ll see wolves?”

“I think Mountain Man Randall would be quite the sight.” Kennedy laughed a little as she lightly hit his shoulder. “Seriously though. I think you should keep it. At least for a little bit.” It was nice to be exploring with Randall. There was little that Kennedy enjoyed more than being out in nature– especially somewhere new. There was something special about the woods and mountains of the West Coast. Though she enjoyed the woods of the East Coast where she grew up, there was a different aura from each. Had she been given the poets gift as her brother had, maybe she could articulate the differences in what she felt. Unfortunately, like most of her feelings and thoughts, she found herself unable to express them with any amount of precision.

“I love all of this so far, though.” She smiled up towards the sky. “I love that we get to just hang out and go on this adventure together. We’re gonna see so much cool shit! I should have brought my camera with me but there’s plenty of time for that.” Despite her almost non-existent relationship with her mother, Kennedy as much talent in photography as photojournalist mother. Though it could be argued Kennedy had picked up a camera in the first place in an effort to connect with her, it was something Kennedy would never admit to and Christine, her mother, would never give any attention to. “I’m not concerned about Ava. Honestly, I just kind of let her go off about stuff figuring that if I don’t it’ll just make things worse and it’ll probably just come back up. I generally don’t listen.”

Kennedy stopped abruptly as an arm was thrown out in front of her. She wanted to tell Randall that she didn’t see anything and that anything in the sky was most likely not aliens. But she kept her mouth shut since it would only take a few moments for him to discover there were no aliens near them. Kennedy had no strong opinions on aliens one way or another. She didn’t have the same interest in them as other people did and the only reason they came up in her life so much was her friendship with Randall. She let the incident blow over and moved on to his next question. “Maybe. I hope we see them from a distance though since we don’t have much that would really help us if we were to come in contact with them. I didn’t know that you were so into wolves.”

The beginning of anything was exciting for Kennedy. She loved adventures and getting to see new places. Kennedy wanted to see big, grand cities such as New York City and small, quaint towns like the little Amish villages. Even though she had some preferences, she was ready to go wherever her friends did, eager to just experience different places and try new things. She wanted to go cliff jumping, it was one of her only “musts”.

No stranger to the art of setting up a tent, she was glad that the one that she was pitching went up fairly easily. Camping was a Graves family summer tradition. Although her oldest brother had stopped camping once he hit high school and their mother long before that, it was always something she looked forward to with her other brother and father. She stepped back and surveyed the work she and Amir had done. The rooming situation would change was sure to many times throughout the trip but two tents with three in each seemed like a safe bet that still left room for movement.

Kennedy looked up when Randall said her name. She considered his proposal and first looked around the campsite to ensure everything was set. The last thing she wanted was to come back with Randall as it was getting dark and find there were still things lift to do. When it didn’t look like there was anything else to do, she nodded. “Yeah, sounds good to me.” She walked towards him as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

She walked past him, turning around to face him with a smile as she continued to walk backwards. “We headed very far? I think we still have enough daylight to get a good amount of exploring in.” She loved spending time with her friends as a group but her favorite person to hang out with one-on-one was Randall. He had a calming presence about him that Kennedy loved and more than anyone else, they just clicked.

Randall rubbed his hands together, beaming with pride at the tent he helped the others put together. Now that the hard work was over, he was beyond excited to begin exploring this new location. It was the first one after all. But, all of this would have to wait until he had a cigarette. Randall felt as if he earned it, doing all this work in order to have a place to stay for a night, something that finally was not the crowded van they had rented. Reaching into his pocket, Randall pulled out a slim, rolling, circle, and put it to his lips. He reached into his other pocket for matches, struck one, and inhaled the first, harsh, drag. Exhaling, he looked around the makeshift camp, studying the faces of others. Lucy and Ava were talking amongst themselves, and the rest were just idle. Randall felt as if he was full of an electric charge, ready to start exploring the area before the sun went down. Clearing his throat, he spat on the ground and covered it quickly with the toe of his boot.

Heading up to Kennedy, a small grin adorned his face. He quickly finished his cigarette, stubbing it on the bottom of his boot before tossing it to the ground. 

“Hey, Ken.” he greeted cheerfully, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Want to go an explore the trails before it gets to dark? I’m exhausted and could use the time to stretch my legs.” 

Randall made a show of stretching his arms and back out while awaiting her reply. He liked Kennedy, she was certainly the most interesting in the group to him. He also felt this little nag in the back of his mind to look out for her, and to make sure she was doing alright. His gaze shifted to the ground, before he brought it back to her. 

avaxrandallxlucy:

“They’ll hate us, but I don’t think they’d hurt us, maybe pity us.” Randall said, squinting his eyes in thought. “Yeah, they’ll pity the way he kill each other for such horrible reasons and hate for equally as horrible reasons, too.” he nodded at his musings. “It’s all..curious, social constructive concepts. Concepts themselves, all I know is, I would totally help them get acclimated and used to Earth, or try to make peace. Or join their race.”

“Or maybe they’re just as bad as we are and that’s the beginning of space imperialism.” he laughed slightly at how ridiculous that even sounded. A love for space was always one thing but love and belief in aliens was what made Collin take Randall less seriously. “I think we’ve got quite a bit of time until that happens though. You’ll be out there networking with the aliens and I’ll be in a bunker somewhere hiding.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Lucy gave a nervous smile to Kennedy, twiddling her thumbs, before tapping them lightly on top of her thigh. “I’m counting on that, if we get caught, you’ll have to figure out a way out, Kenny.” she laughed, half serious despite her joking demeanor. “Good! Wow, I really can’t wait. I think I’d also love to go to a huge Zoo, there’s a wildlife reservation in Denver, Colorado I’ve been reading about, and some Planetariums in New Mexico.!”

“Lucy, I haven’t met a situation I couldn’t get out of.” That wasn’t true but it sounded decent. “You need to worry less.” Kennedy nodded, “There’s one in Nebraska. It’s fucking huge. But wow you’ve really done your research.” It wasn’t like Lucy to not be thorough about everything. “I’ve never been to a planetarium but I’m sure Randall would be thrilled.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Ava laughed, rolling her eyes slightly. “Well, I don’t know about that.” she tried to play off modestly, but Ava knew her tenacious nature would lead her to some sort of political position. That, and her parents’ money. It was awful to admit that, but she wasn’t ashamed. She was ambitious. “I can respect that. I’m sure there will be a lot of beautiful things we’ll get to see.”

Amir raised an eyebrow, wanting to roll his eyes and say Yeah, alright but he didn’t say anything in response. He’d watched Collin and others build her up, Oh no I bet you will someday. You’ll rule the country. She didn’t need it. She knew. Or at least he figured she did or else she wouldn’t be touring something most people are satisfied taking a photo outside of and being done with it. “There are sculptures I want to see too if we get to it but I’m not worried.” Amir shrugged. 

avaxrandallxlucy:

“Maybe we’re the weird ones to them, dude.” Randall said, shrugging his shoulders before letting out a hearty laugh. He loved laughing, and when he did laugh, really laugh, he’d feel it in his stomach, and his eyes would tear. This wasn’t one of those laughs, but it was a great one, still. “They probably have their own way of communication, some kind of technology. They could look different from us, like E.T., but they could also look like, I dunno, you, Lucy, Kenny, Avs, or Amir.” he took a hit, passing it to Collin as he leaned back in his chair. “I like thinking that they think about us as aliens. That’s funny.”

Collin was starting to become hung up on his own comment about numeral systems. It would make his job infinitely harder. Doing accounting for aliens with an entirely different number system? Or would the aliens eventually push him out of his job? It already seemed complicated. Collin took the joint from Randall and took a hit. “Okay but what if they hate us? I think they’re going to have to send you out or something as some sort of welcome wagon.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

“We should! I’ll read up on the safety around that, and the local laws. I don’t know if that’s alright to do on every beach, but maybe we can break some rules.” Lucy grinned, playing with the ends of her hair. As much as she admired Kennedy and grew to know her, the girl still intimidated her slightly. Nonetheless, she considered her one of her closest friends. “Oh, I’ll have to get that in writing and send it to my mother.” she joked lightly. “I have a good feeling about all of this, honestly.”

Kennedy tried not to laugh too hard but Lucy’s close attention to the rules and laws always seemed humorous to her. “Nah, don’t even bother wasting your time reading. We just won’t get caught.” A grin passed over Kennedy’s lips as Lucy spoke. “I have the exact same feeling, Lucy. I really really do. I think it’s going to be great.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Ava nodded her head to what he was saying. She shrugged as Amir answered her. “Washington D.C., I would like to see all the memorials and landmarks. I booked a tour of the White House for myself, too. I’m very excited to check out the city. I planned a lot of things for it, too.” she mused, a small, excited grin growing on her lips.

Amir nodded, now understanding what the conversation was. “A White House tour but of course. You have to get to know your future home, right?” He smiled as she did, though there were other things he wanted to see more. “I really want to just see all the famous stereotypical things. As lame as that might be.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Lucy let a melodic laugh slip past her lips. She sipped on the soda in front of her and twirled a piece of hair with her finger. “Maybe there is some nice place in there, I’ll bet. I’m just excited to see the open ocean, to hear the seagulls singing, to watch the sunset. I’m ecstatic.” she paused to take a breath, “I can even drive first tomorrow so everyone else can recover from tonight.”

“Sounds beautiful. I can’t wait for that. We should do like a beach bonfire or something.” Kennedy couldn’t help but smile at her genuine excitement but also her kindness. “You are a saint Lucy Walsh. I’m sure everyone will appreciate that.” It was foolish but Kennedy saw Lucy as someone who could do-no-wrong and Lucy hadn’t let her down yet. She was always there with kind words or gestures.

Long live the pioneers, rebels, and mutineers. 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Lucy smiled brightly, excited for the trip to finally begin. Butterflies filled her stomach to its brim. “I know! I cannot wait. The pretty city lights must be ethereal in a way, too. I can’t even fathom a city that never sleeps, especially since our school seems to be in the town that always sleeps.” Lucy shook her head slightly, “I know! I can’t wait to learn more about other places. Lots of people write off how beautiful the States are, you know?”

Kennedy loved to listen to Lucy speak; her words always so descriptive and specific. She was brilliant, words such as ethereal casually placed into her sentences but still sounded like they belonged there. “Yeah. You’re right. I think Bumblefuck, Iowa could be pretty, even if you have to tilt your head slightly and squint.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Randall nodded as he packed his bowl, handing it to Collin, tilting his chair back. He shrugged. “Statistically, the universes is so big we can’t even wrap our minds around it, that odds are there is another Earth like planet. We’ll destroy this one and find another and do the same. 4.6 billion is nothing compared to the age of the Universe. It hurts my brain to think about all that, man. I just hope we don’t piss off the wrong aliens. They’re not little green dudes. I bet they look just like me and you.”

Collin’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment as he digested the information. He liked that Randall was passionate about space but to him space was just a topic of confusion that offered little to no pleasure. If anything, it was just stressful. He couldn’t imagine thinking about how the Earth was being destroyed beyond his lifetime and how desperate conditions would become in the future. Ignorance truly is bliss. “Huh, maybe they have like something weird though like more eyes or maybe they invented a completely different numeral system that we would have to be taught. How insane would that be?” Aliens weren’t real but with Randall it was fun to pretend. 

avaxrandallxlucy:

“I’ve made a list of everything I needed, but I still have yet to throw it all together.” Ava admitted with an easy grin. As organized as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to pack just yet. There were a lot of things she would have to put in clever places in order to conceal them from her friends. While she adored her friends, there was plenty she never let them know about her. Her easy grin stayed spread across her face. “Do you have a particular destination in mind?” she asked, eager to keep the conversation going.

"So you’re about a step or two ahead of me.” he smiled lightly. “For both our sakes I hope we both don’t have to stay up all night trying to get packed.” Amir knew it wouldn’t take him long to pack but he felt behind knowing that Collin had already completely packed and Kennedy was almost there. Lucy probably was too, although he didn’t truly know that. Distracted by his own thoughts concerning packing he had mostly missed what Ava had said, only catching the word destination. Quickly, Amir picked a vague direction to take that word with and hoped it was relevant enough. “Destination? Not in particular. What about you?” He hoped her answer was enough for him to figure out what she had originally asked so he could answer the question properly. 

avaxrandallxlucy:

She clinked her glass and took a sip before finally sitting down. Ava hooked a piece of hair behind her ear, looking towards Amir. “Why, thank you.” she responded, tracing her finger along the lip for the glass. Her modesty, as usual, was not genuine and more so forced. “Well, I tried. Anyhow,” she paused to finish off her glass. “Are you all packed for tomorrow?”

“You knocked it out of the park.” He smiled, though ready to move on from the subject. Amir shook his head, “Nope. Not in the slightest. Haven’t thought about it much really.” He hadn’t thought about it much. He’d throw some clothes into a duffel bag tonight, carefully pack a sketchbook and some other supplies in his backpack and be done with it. “What about you? I’m sure you’ve been packed since like yesterday.” 

avaxrandallxlucy:

Lucy let out a soft laugh, shrugging at Kennedy. “Yeah, I guess so. I dunno, I hate to think I’’ll continue to go my whole life without seeing the ocean. Actual beaches seem so magical.” she smiled. Lucy loved studying the universe, and the ocean was an entirely different universe. She nodded, not sure if she was a fan of busy cities just yet. “I can’t wait to explore the cities, too. They seem cool, I’ve read some books.”

Kennedy loved talking to Lucy, the way she spoke made her love people and the world. Magical was such a strange way to describe beaches but it felt right when Lucy said it. “Well get ready to experience the magic then because it’s right around the corner!” She felt another surge of excitement as she spoke, knowing the greatest trip of her life was just ahead of her. “They’re so much fun. This is going to be great!”

avaxrandallxlucy:

Randall scratched at the back of his neck. “Nah, one day people will be living up there, they’ll fuck up this planet and be forced to find a new one.” He nodded in affirmation of his thoughts, completely content with them. “It’s true, just wait.” he rubbed his face, reaching into his pocket for a bag of weed, a bowl, and his lighter, setting them on the table. “You in, or nah? I gotta make this party fun somehow, dude.”

Collin nodded, “Yeah, I’m in.” It wasn’t something he liked to do often or very much even when he did. He’d smoke when other people around were but it wasn’t something he sought out. “So back to this planet thing though. You think it’ll be like Earth but on a different planet?”