thnks fr th mmrs || the crew

Finally off from work at the Garrison, Braxton was in need to a break. Lucky for him, his friends had a place all set up for just that. On the southern most tip of the island, where the Colosseum stood, was the perfect place for a rag-tag group to hole up and hang out. The Colosseum was only ever used for Authority sanctioned events and there hadn't been one of those since the Senatorships had been established three years ago. A large corner of the Colosseum seating overlooking the beach was covered in pillows, blankets, snack, and pretty much anything else you could think of to entertain teenage boys. Yes, even porn. Of course they kept that stashed inside a hollow tree along the wall because, well, it's porn and there was at least one member of their group that didn't dig it (cough@pancough).

It took longer than he had hoped to actually reach his destination. When he walked through the entrance to the Colosseum, Brax saw Deacon leaned against a wall, his feet propped up on the seat in front of him. Braxton took the seat next to him silently and saw his view of the sun sinking below the horizon streaking purples and reds across the sky above them, "Hey." He mumbled, letting his eyes follow a line of clouds.

TAGS |
@deacon
@taze
@tristan
@pan

	Taze and Deacon had been chilling at their hidden spot in the Colosseum for most of the day. It was nice outside, an awesome 80 degrees, and the sun now sinking below the horizon. The heat still permeated the air and left a hazy humidity hanging over the men. After a game of poker where Taze raked over sixty dollars from Deacon, he stood and ducked around a wall to...well...do what guys do in the woods. When we returned to Deacon, He saw the Braxton had joined the group, "How ya doin' Cap'n Brax?" He grinned, falling into his seat across from the two men. Taze reached for his Cheetos and popped one of the orange things into his mouth. It crunched loudly as he bit into it and he looked at Deacon, "Care to lose more money?" TAGS | @braxton, @deacon, @tristan, @pan

created by RYN

The Colosseum was one of the farthest places from the mall that they could've picked for a hangout. Tristan had decided this for the fifteenth time while he had walked there, having left his bike at the apartment for the day. When he finally got inside, he realized he was one of the last ones there. Well, he had at least beaten Pan and that's what mattered.

Taze was challenging Deacon to a round of poker when he finally reached the group, which brought a slight grin to Tristan's face. Poker was his favorite game, even if Taze beat him more often than not. It was the act of playing that mattered. "Who's losing money tonight? Surely it isn't D." He said with mock horror.

Sitting down beside Taze, he nodded a greeting at Deacon and Brax before reaching over Taze to grab the cards. Once they were shuffled, he looked around the group before setting them down again. "Pick your poison boys. What're we playin tonight?"

Pan had recently been enlisted amongst of group of guys that reminded him of his old crew back at camp half blood. When Taze brought the idea of a get together to Pans attention, he almost didn't want to go. His 'Band Of Fools' was a touchy subject, considering most of them had died. But, Pan really did need to make some new friends... right? So, he had started befriending the other dudes. Soon they were a tight knit group, and Pan was looking forward to the times they hung out together.

He was never on time, for anything, and the boys knew that. He reached his friends in their little hide out that they had chosen, and eyed the cards feigning boredom. "Cards? Eh," he sat down next to Tristan and leaned back on his hands. "We should bet something other than money this time," he suggested. Money was just so boring!

@taze, @deacon, @tristan @braxton

Tristan eyed Pan for a moment, trying to decide whether or not this was a good idea. Who knew what the trickster was going to say? Then again, whatever it was would probably be entertaining at the least. "Alright Bud, what do you have in mind?" He asked, an amused grin on his face. Picking the cards back up, he handed them over to Pan. While he waited for Pan to go ahead and explain his latest scheme, Tristan reached over to steal some of his brother's Cheetos. Thank Zeus that he was heat resistant, otherwise he'd probably die doin stuff like that.

Deacon leaned forward and looked around the circle. This was the coolest thing ever. Back home, Deacon never really did have many friends, especially not like this. He was always in and out of school. His teachers were freaked out by his ability to remember anything and completely didn’t understand why he couldn’t spell a word to save his life. He just never did understand what it was like to actually be part of a group.

He laughed when Pan suggested they bet something other than money, “Oh hell yeah. I’m broke anyway thanks to Taze.” He complained narrowing his eyes at the flame thrower before looking back at Pan, “What do you suggest this time? Loser streaks through Authority Headquarters?” He asked, looking to Braxton with a mischievous grin, “We all remember how it ended last time.”

Braxton shook his head, remembering the moment all too well. It was never good to lose a bet with these guys. The consequences were always astronomical and mortifying. The blonde’s face tinted red when he remembered trying to run between two senators in nothing. Literally nothing. It was probably his most uncomfortable memory ever. That had been the first time the boys had ever run a bet like that and Braxton being Braxton, just had to be the first one to lose.

He shook his head, “Thanks for the mental image, Deacon. We all needed that in our lives.” He smirked, “I think we need to put the ante a little bit. Let’s make things more exciting.” He looked at Taze, “Any brilliant ideas?”

Taze looked at the cards deep in thought for a moment and grin looked up at the guys with a devilish grin, "Ten hands. Texas Hold 'Em. Loser gets a Henna Tramp Stamp from that cute girl at the mall." Taze knew he wouldn't lose. He had never lost. Of course, there was a first time for everything, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone. He was confident he wouldn't have to sport the embarrassing tattoo, especially since some of their group, mostly Deacon, was so bad at poker.

Tristan only thought about it for a few seconds before chuckling. What did he care about winning or losing this one? That girl was more than a little stuck up and he'd get a kick out of it anyways. "You know I'm in." He said, repositioning himself so he could get a good look at the other guys. Odds were it would be Brax or Deacon who would lose. Pan was pretty good, Taze was undefeated, and Tristan himself wasn't half bad. Deacon and Brax just had bad luck some times. Then again, Tristan wouldn't mind losing this time around, just to see the look on the tattoo girl's face.

Shane pulled up to the Colosseum much later than he had originally intended. Normally he was one of the first ones there, but he had lost track of time training at the practice fields. Running up the stairs, he quickly caught sight of the guys in time to hear the crazy bet Taze was suggesting. Finding an open spot in the group, he sat himself down and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Well, at least it isn't a real tattoo. And no, Taze, that isn't an option." Shane had tattoos, but a tramp stamp was out of the question. Even he had his limits.

Deacon didn't bother to respond. He knew that even if he argued against the 'tramp stamp' idea that it would eventually be over-ruled. Especially with Tristan being okay with it. He shrugged and shook his head at Shane's disapproval. Leave it to Shane to try and ruin Taze's fun. The real key to this bet would be to hide the tramp stamp until it faded away. Either that or take advantage of the thing as a good story and chalk it up to better luck next time. But Deacon would probably prefer hiding the thing underneath his stiff Garrison uniform.

Braxton rolled his eyes, almost immediately annoyed, "Shane, dude, don't be such a girl. It's not like its permanent or anything." Brax complained, turning his eyes to Taze, "We'll all do it, I'm sure. Miss Shane just needs to make sure he doesn't lose." Knowing Deacon would choose to stay quiet, Brax looked to Pan for confirmation, ignoring the fact that he might have angered the son of Ares.

Before Pan could reveal an idea the guys were soon spit balling all sorts of nonsense. When the verdict came down to a henna from a 'cute girl' Pan rolled his eyes. "Is girls all you guys can think about?" He said, annoyed. This was the main problem with his new group of friends, they were all about the ladies.

A part of him almost mentioned Tylar, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to bring her to the guys attention...

"Shane, dude..." Tristan started with a shake of his head. Luckily Braxton jumped in before he could finish his sentence. Sure, Shane was his buddy too, but things like this made him way too up tight. The role of calling Shane down generally seemed to fall to Brax though. Maybe it was a Garrison thing? He would probably never know. Rolling his eyes at Pan's statement, he decided to ignore the two of them. "So, since we're mostly in, who's dealing?"

Taze rolled his eyes. Shane was one of those guys you just loved to hate, "Yeah, the Princess is in, he just needs some good old-fashioned peer pressure." He started to deal the cards out, making sure everyone got two, "Y'all know the game. I'm dealer so Deacon bets first." He looked to his friend expectantly.