Flatline

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Follows: 

   For all the laughs and smiles she had today, Kate had to be sure to lean closer to Chris, poking his shoulder lightly, “Hey, thanks for letting me tag along.”
    Chris smiled as the others chattered in the background, “Trust me, I’d rather have your company than the rest of them here.”
    “Wow, that is awfully sweet of you to say,” she said flatly. Partially teasing and partially in disbelief. It mostly had to do with who was around him at the time that determined how open he’d be. This was a pretty relaxed atmosphere. She didn’t blame him. She was no different. It felt like everyone here was more like friends than competitors.
    Chris shrugged, “Not intentionally, but think what you want.”
    Kate sighed, “Okay, you’ve convinced me. I wasn’t going to ask but if you’re going to play nice guy, it’s going to backfire on you.” She had his interest now. “That cross country class tomorrow afternoon…”
    “You mean the scavenger hunt hack-around class,” he classified it as. It was hardly real cross country. Wandering around a trail to find points on a map? Just above a trail ride, really.
    Kate smiled warmly, “Yeeess, call it what you want.” She used his words against him to return that little sassy attitude of his. It strangely worked in her favor more often than not, “Let’s do it!”
    “Heeeey, kids,” Taysom had to insert himself into the conversation. He did take his job seriously when it came to watching out for them. “We aren’t talking about anything I gotta be concerned about, right?”
    Chris raised a sharp brow at him, “Seriously?”
    Taysom held up his hands in defense, “Hey, man, I’m the cool nanny. Don’t make me be the lame nanny too.”
    Kate laughed, “We’re just talking about a class for tomorrow. No worries, Super Nanny.”
    Taysom sniffed and pretended to wipe a tear away, “Such good kids.”
    As he wandered back into the other conversation, Kate continued her request, “So? It’ll just be the two of us. We might not get another opportunity, just you and me.” She saw his expression flatline. And she felt kind of dumb for getting a little flustered over it, but it was that look he got when he was a victim of his own intelligence. “You know, without your dad making it all awkward,” she laughed.
    Chris let it fly. She meant well. Not everyone was like his family where the language got so wordy, it was hard to understand what they actually meant. “Think you can keep up?”
    Kate was relieved, letting a smile loose, “Absolutely. It’s just a hack-around right?”
    Chris smirked, “Right.” As he jogged Dapur into the arena, he didn’t honestly feel all that great about what he had heard her say. He knew it was just insecurity. He didn't have a reason to feel that way. He shouldn’t overthink what she said. But the thought had already snuck in before he could close the door on it. What if there was a day where it wasn’t her and him? It would be immature to think there wouldn’t be. But… what if he didn’t want an end?

    Speaking of overthinking... it’d be nice if the hard-headed stud underneath him would give a little more thought, though...why go to the gym when Chris could spend a round dragging Dapur’s hard-mouth refusals around instead? SIGH.

Previous: IS THIS DUMB ENOUGH FOR YOU | Next: To Hope For Better

(564 word count)

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Yea, even cool-as-a-cucumber Chris has insecurities. -gestures to his Daddy issues- This surprises no one. -gestures to his future fling with Fang down the road- Just proof he's not just Swag and Gucci. 

And, yes, this is the end of the stick and potato ponies~ For now xD

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Chris/Dapur/Kate/Taysom/Art © Drasayer
No specific refs used for this noodle crew


SAI/Photoshop CS6