Realistic or Modern (OLD) The Five Steps

[AniMANIA7983]

Tommy

Tommy gets off the boat and turns his music off as they unboard. Its odd having the quietness, but he is perfectly fine with it as he listens to the waves hitting against the shore. He places his speaker back into his large bag and reattaches his lock onto it before leaving it to be picked up by the ties employees. He listens to the two arguing and holds back laughter. He could already tell that this experiment was going to be fun.

He holds his left wrist out for trent to place the science bracelet on and coughs into his right arm, “Trent”. He feels awkward meeting him as he still feels like they got off on the wrong foot in the messageboard that they were communicating on. And not even their communication, but the way trent initially reacted to Tommy flirting with everyone.

“The first step has already started? Neat.”, Tommy says to himself, he listens to everyone introducing themselves and then finishes with his introduction, “Hey, Im Tommy. My fun fact is that I play violin, though most of you already know that.” He thinks for a second, “i guess one that you probably dont know is that my mom owns a coffee shop”

He thinks for a moment before asking his question, “whats the first activity that we will be doing here? I bet you have all kinds of fun planned for us.”

Location: leaving the boat -> the play area

Mentions: smolfluffball

 

[Chione]

ELIJAH

Elijah allowed his mind to wander, the bubbling chatter and shitty blaring music dissolving into idle background noise, content to nurse a thoughtful moment to himself for a second. He gazed out at the horizon, transfixed by the shadowy figure of the island that was steadily growing closer with each passing minute. The butterflies that had been momentarily quelled returned with a vengeance, the reality of the situation dropping like a stone in his stomach.

This was actually happening.

Venturing off into the unknown like this, not knowing what would be in store for him, was exciting yet daunting – a combination of emotions that reminded him of his flashy ring walk. Except, this time, he would soon be facing someone who had him by the balls from the get-go. One prickly strawberry with a smart mouth. Part of him wanted to die on the spot right there, remembering how forward he’d been with his flirting, but he was also riddled with giddy anticipation. He had to see if Jasper would be able to win their little bet, after all. Eli crunched down on the humbug in his mouth, shards of mint melting on his tongue. It was time to get the show on the road.

Eventually, the boat eased to a stop alongside the dock and the young boxer descended with the rest of the participants, his single suitcase rolling behind him in all its blazing Union Jack printed glory. After receiving a cheerful welcome from Telltale and Trent, his curious gaze darted around and latched onto the blonde, freckle-faced man who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but there. No prizes for guessing who that was. Eli felt his heart stutter, his face feeling uncomfortably warm all of a sudden - and not from the Pacific sun. He mentally shook himself, cursing the schoolboy tingles that danced across his skin. He was twenty years old, for fuck’s sake.

‘Be cool. Be cool. Be cool.’

Elijah chanted it over and over in his head like a sacred mantra as he obediently queued behind Akemi to receive his bracelet, adhering to etiquette that had been ingrained into him from the moment he could toddle. Then it was his turn.

A slow and easy grin warmed Eli’s face, entirely disarming with a teasing edge as he pointedly made eye contact. They were a striking shade of green, rimmed by dark moss, creating the perfect canvas for all his emotions to spill across. The giddy exhilaration. The tentative hesitation. The rosy affection.

“Hey there, strawberry.” Eli’s voice had softened yet still managed to maintain an undercurrent of strength, creating a perfect illusion of confidence. His smile dimpled, noting how he had a couple of inches on the guide. “Guess you didn’t get to go hide, huh?”

Eli held out his bare left arm, brows raising to accommodate a wide-eyed forlorn look as his bottom lip jutted out in a childish pout.

“Could you put the bracelet on for me? It’d be a bit awkward with my other hand.”

It was a blatant lie, but hey, all’s fair in love and war.

Jasper almost had to avert his eyes when Eli’s gaze landed on him, but he took a shallow breath and looked the brunet over, quickly, covertly. He had thought it’d be obvious who Eli was when they first met, and he also thought it’d be incredibly awkward, and he had been right. The wrist brace was the first obvious thing Jasper saw, but as Eli approached, he noticed how curly his hair was and how goofy his face looked. God, he looked so giddy, and it was because of him.

It was such a weird feeling. His heart was banging against his ribs, but he did his best to hide his red cheeks. Then, Eli said it. Strawberry. Jasper snorted, then looked down at the bracelet in his hand, in a meager attempt to disguise his blush. Dammit. Of course. He had expected it, because that was something Eli would absolutely do, but it still caught him by surprise.

He met Eli’s eyes when he asked if he could put the bracelet on, then he glanced at the brace again. “I guess I can help you out just this once, mon petit choufleur,” he said lightly, a smile flitting across his face briefly. He wrapped the bracelet around Eli’s wrist, then closed it and looked back at his face. His eyes were a pretty shade of green, but Jasper just smirked. “I think you’re taller than me, Eli. How fortunate for me.” He took a step back, then, and gestured for Eli to move on and follow the others.

Elijah sucked in a sharp breath that caught in the back of his throat, prompting muffled spluttering sounds. Heat scorched a trail up his neck, red pooling in his cheeks as his brows shot skyward. How fortunate for him? Mon petit choufleur? His mouth parted slightly, but any suave retort had died a quick death. Eli had been so sure, so confident, that he’d have the upper hand but no. Jasper had effortlessly reduced him to pitiful speechlessness. He’d used his own weapon against him. God, how he wished the ground would just swallow him whole there and then. Quickly gathering his composure, Eli palmed the back of his neck and a shy smile quirked at the corner of his lips.

“Thanks.”

As they were herded along towards the play area, Eli couldn’t help but soak in the sights around them. The swaying, lush palm trees and the fizzing sea foam were enough of a distraction to forget about the grainy bits of sand that would no doubt make a permanent home out of the soles of his trainers. He was starting to think that he should’ve just walked barefoot. The participants gathered around a set of colourful blankets dotted around which Eli eyed up curiously as he listened to people’s introductions, methodically filing away these little tidbits of information.

Whoever invented icebreakers needed a good beating.

“Hey everyone!” A cheery grin brightened Eli’s face, his rich, northern brogue lilting at the edges of his words. “I’m Elijah but feel free to call me Eli.” He slipped his hand into the left pocket of his shorts to hide his drumming fingers as he paused to think for a moment.

“Hmm... a fun fact? Well, I’m pretty fluent in French, Spanish and Italian. Surprisingly, I do have a few brain cells bouncing around up here,” he tapped his knuckles on the side of his head before shooting a cocky smirk at Yohan. “And sorry mate. You’re not the only cooking whiz in town. You’re all standing in the presence of a Junior MasterChef finalist.”

play area

at ease

navy polo shirt | shorts | white trainers | sunglasses

smolfluffball mindheist Kidzait MokkaDrip Letai Sage Orion 0312 cadence AniMANIA7983

coded by natasha.

 

[cadence]

Garrett Lindberg

"Fair enough," he nodded, moving his head so he was looking out to the sea again. "The whole situation is kinda scary - especially if you're not, like, used to it. I'm used to the whole people thing and I'm still terrified, to be honest. But it's good to be optimistic. It helps if you can see the bright side of things. Like, I'm going into this knowing that even if the whole 'finding love' thing doesn't work out, I'll end up with some pretty cool friends, y'know?"

"We should probably start getting ready. The boat is about to dock." They had talked awhile, and Garrett had enjoyed the conversation so much he almost wished the boat wasn't docking just yet. Still, he knew there would be other opportunities so he nodded and opened his mouth to agree. Before he could say anything, Jupiter had already turned around, collected her things, and began to walk off, making Garrett's stomach flop nervously. Had he talked too much? Scared her away? He was only trying to be friendly but it was possible. Ma was always telling him he came on too strong sometimes.

It took him a moment to realize he was the last one still standing on the boat, a realization that made his cheeks flush in embarrassment. Being nervous - anxious, even - was so uncharacteristic for him, he felt like a different person. He had to remind himself that he wasn't the type of person to back out of something because of nerves. That this, like his fortune said, was his golden egg. He inhaled, deep and shaky but with just enough newfound confidence to have him gather his things, speed-walking after the others just fast enough to catch up with them.

The island was beautiful. That was the first thing he noticed. He knew it would be; all nature was beautiful. No matter how many times he had seen the ocean, he could never grow tired of it. He walked backwards after dropping off his luggage, watching as wave after wave of crystal water came crashing on the beach. Palm trees swayed back and forth with the breeze and Garrett realized that this was just another bright side to focus on if things, for whatever reason, didn't end up the way he hoped. He'd get to spend the next few months surrounded by this. The thought brought a smile to his face once again, putting him at ease.

He walked backwards until he was fully in the sand, having no choice but to turn around and push the chair full of his luggage forward in the sand. If he thought managing it all in the parking lot was hard, pushing it in the sand was harder. As he knew it would be, of course. He never wanted to bring it in the first place, sure he wouldn't need it at all, but his mom, as concerned as she always was, begged him to. In the struggle, he had missed the rabbit-eared robot hovering around their heads, Jasper and Trent bickering playfully behind him. He had been idly listening to what the robot said, focused on how on Earth he was going to manage getting all of his stuff all the way to the house and then up some stairs. When he heard him say they could leave their belongings on the dock, he couldn't help the audible sigh of relief that came from his mouth. "Oh, thank God," he breathed, instantly letting go and stepping up to Trent to get his bracelet.

"Hello, Trent," He beamed, holding out his wrist. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"It's nice to finally meet you, too," Trent smiled, causing Garrett to smile as well. He was thankful for whatever invisible force led Trent to put on his bracelet instead of Jasper. He liked Jasper, don't get him wrong, but he couldn't help but think he got on the boy's nerves no matter how many times he assured him he didn't. "You came prepared," he commented, gesturing towards his stack of luggage with his eyes.

"Yeaaah," Garrett laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It looks like more than it is, really. Kind of have to bring most of it in case something happens, you know?" Sure, it was slightly embarrassing to haul around so much when everyone else had packed rather lightly, but he didn't have much of a choice. It was worth the temporary embarrassment to have a back-up plan in case his prosthetic, which wasn't really build for sand, stopped functioning.

"Are you going to be alright in the sand?" He asked, moving his hands away from his wrist to reveal the bracelet now secure on his wrist.

"I should be fine, yeah. But thanks for asking! Not a lot of people take things like that into consideration." Truth is, he was slightly concerned about whether or not it could last in the sand, but he figured he'd cross that bridge when he got to it instead of focusing on it now. He offered a polite smile before slipping in with the rest of the group, joining the others as they began to walk to the play area.

They had arrived at the play area after a short walk and the group took turns introducing themselves, all of which Garrett paid careful attention to until he was the last one to go. "Hi, I'm Garrett," he introduced, flashing an awkward peace sign before giving his fun fact some thought before settling on the only thing that come to mind right off the bat. "Uh, the plan is to travel the world. Visit every single country at least once. Currently about forty countries in, so. That's fun."