"and chocolate is just sugar." he wasn't a chocolate fan but he didn't think they were really talking about flavours of food, more flavours of something else. he had to admit that alisha had put more spice into his life than he'd had before and he was much better for it. before he'd been with her, had built that connection he'd been, well he'd been a bit of a shit. not that he thought there was anything wrong with that though, there was nothing wrong with looking out for number one, knowing your worth and thinking that no one was better than you, they were all life lessons they were taught as kids, the problem was when kids got big enough to do all those things, the people who'd taught them those values often regretted it.

he shrugged his shoulders just a little before he folded his arms across his chest lightly as he watched the male still sitting on the chair before him. "well she's never mentioned it." okay maybe that wasn't all that true but he couldn't recall her telling him it was mind blowing. actually come to think of it, it might not even have been alisha that mentioned it. her group of friends were entirely too open and far to willing to dirty a conversation. "everything?" he raised his brow, slightly curious on just how far everything meant. he heard him chuckle and couldn't help but feel that was a win. like it was something that had amused the guy enough to have him crack that exterior he was famous for. "and what about a demonstration, something i can compare notes with." he said, his eyebrow raising just slightly, unable to help just how fun this conversation was feeling.

he really wasn't sure where this had sprung from. one moment he was talking to dei about pointless shit and then the next it was turning it something of a different conversation. not that tripp was complaining, not in the slightest. which again surprised him a little because while he'd never been sure he was straight really, he certainly hadn't put much thought into whether he like guys or not before. at the moment he was just alisha sexual and that was more than enough for him. he glanced when dei slunk down into the chair a little and he coudn't help but follow the lines of his chest down to the bare skin and the trail that led further down his body. he glanced away to finish what he was doing but he couldn't deny that he was curious to see further down. "well i'm sure she'd love to answer her phone if you really want to know." he said with a slight roll of his eye as he started finishing off what he was doing with the chairs, making sure it was fine before he took the picture.

"to be fair i've never thought of joining before." he said honestly, there was no point in lying about any of it. if it was headed where the conversation was pointing to it would become painfully clear that he didn't know anything about anything, apart from alisha. tripp snorted slightly and couldn't help but jab a little at the opening dei had given him for an insult. whatever was happening back and forth between them, most of their communication had been jabs at each other and tripp rather enjoyed it, he didn't like politeness and he wasn't one for airs and graces. give him an argument or a banter any day than pleasantries and niceness. "no freebies, got it. so how much do you charge an hour?" he asked casually as he climbed to the top of the bleachers to take his photo before he headed back down to the court.

he reached the bottom of the stairs as dei stood and stretched again and once more tripp found his eyes drifting downwards for a moment. they were standing almost face to face now, just a few feet between them. he raised his brow a little as he slipped his phone back into his pocket after showing dei the photo and he couldn't help but smirk slightly. "i thought you didn't give freebies?" he joked as he folded his arms over his chest a little, the move causing his arms to bulge a little, his shirt straining a little from the tension. "until you show me, i'll just have to use the photo."

he scoffed a little and raised a brow as he looked across at deimos. "show me a better shaped one out of chairs and then we'll compare." he said as he rolled his eyes, sliding the final chair into place before he stood back to inspect the work. it wasn't the best but he'd seen worse. not done with chairs though but the thought was there. he heard deimos again and he patted his jacket and his jeans pockets and then held up his hands a little. "fresh outta spray paint." he said with a hint of sarcasm.

it seemed to shock people when he was able to keep something from bothering him. there were some things that got his back up but name calling had never really been one of them. he'd grown up with bright red hair, he'd heard them all before. it wasn't until he'd started to grow up and fill out that the names had slowed right down. "can't disagree." he said, though there was nothing behind it. he was just genuinely glad that he'd finally found a girl he liked that didn't expect the world. there were too many bitches who craved drama and strife and he wasn't about that.

he wanted someone who could tell him what she wanted, he could work with that. he couldn't work with sly comments, hints dropped and needy. he looked up at dei and he nodded a little. "you know, i think i like the sound of that." he said as he leaned down on one of the backs of the chairs, as if putting the ball in the other mans court.

tripp saw the eye roll and ignored it. he did know that he lacked the patience other people seemed to have but that wasn't something he could really help. he'd been born without the ability to wait and to sit still and be patient. he glanced in dei's direction and raised a brow when he asked what he was drawing. "do you need an anatomy lesson?" he said with a brow as he placed another chair.

he snorted when dei called him alisha's bitch and he shrugged slightly. "well alisha would like that." he said knowing that she'd get a kick out of it if he told her. which he probably would, it would make her smile and that was worth it. he raised a brow a little and he looked back at dei and he leaned his hands down on the back of one of the chairs he'd been setting out. "there's not much someone could suggest i wouldn't do." it was strange to see where this conversation was headed but was it weird he was willing to find out?

tripp stopped unstacking the chairs as he was watched from across the hall. he leaned against the back of one of the chairs and shrugged a little. "you're here too, don't you?" he asked as he looked about at the chairs he'd pulled apart, wondering if the message was a little clearer from above or whether it would be able to be figured out from ground level. if it couldn't, he'd need to get to a higher vantage point to take a picture to send to his brother to get him to hurry up.

he saw the eyebrow rise and almost scoffed a little. it was like he was almost expected to know who was standing in front of him. he knew of him but that was about it. he was sure he'd heard his name mentioned once or twice but he just couldn't recall it right now. "i'll bet you can't tell me my name, so why should i know who you are?." he said with his own roll of his eye as he walked across to another stack of chairs and he reached to pull the stack down so he could spell out the final word before he find out how to take the picture.

did he know why he was laying in the middle of the basket ball court? no. did he also have plans to get up from the basketball court and find something else to do or go home? also no. he had his hand up above his head, spinning a basketball around. he watched it was he lay there, getting caught up in the spinning of it. is this what his life was now? had he been reduced to being entertained by something so trivial? he grunted as he frowned, tossing the ball away with all the force he could as he sat up, watching the ball bounce across the court. he knew that he'd needed to clean up his behaviour but he was starting to wonder had he gone too far.

he knew that if he messed up again, his family would have no qualms about shipping him off again. he'd done that once. since then things hadn't been going all that great. he'd lost his apartment, ended up sleeping in his car before one of his older brothers had found out and offered him their couch for a while but he couldn't help but feel he was wearing out his welcome. they'd never been all that keen on him being around. with rafe, tripp cramped his style, jasper had kara and their baby now so who wanted a tag along hanging around.

he sighed as he stood up and purely out of lack of anything else to do he started unstacking the chairs that were tucked away in the corner of the room. what he planned on doing with them, he had no idea. he was only bored because he was waiting for his brother to finish working so he could drive him home and it was either wait until then or take the bus, he'd chosen the first option.