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Not many people,if nobody did NOT like Ripper. Admittedly:They had the right to. He was obnoxious,gross and too prideful. He didn’t sit right with anyone,and he didn’t care. He saw himself as a “leader” anyways so why would he need others with him or even friends? Not like he cared.
Night fell,he sat alone. Whether it be to feel cool and tough since he’s sitting at the dock alone at night,or he struggled to sleep;It didn’t matter. He seemed to just stare at whatever was beyond the sea,zoning out. How long has it been? No matter. He instantly snapped back to earth when he shivered at sudden footsteps from far. It was dead quiet so it would be heard even WITH the long distance. Ripper straightened his back as he flinched and turned to the direction of the sound as the other seemed to pause. Since even the other heard the high pitched squee Ripper unintentionally let out. The other was well.. Zee.
“Ohh,Heyy man.”
Zee waved from afar. The two haven’t interacted all that much besides Zee telling Ripper how he “lost his leg.” Ripper didn’t like anyone in this camp but he found the story cool,So he gueeessed zee wasn’t as bad. Maybe? He can’t think much. He’s groggy but can’t sleep. Zee seemed to just be pacing around as he was finishing a quick can of soda ,or two. Who knows? He didn’t care.
“ZEE?? Why are YOU here?”
Ripper half whispered-half yelled,annoyed by the startle he got by the laidback lank.
“I was.. err. Never-mind,just answer me.”
He was going to say that he was gonna do something cool or tough but he didn’t have an idea. Whatever.
“Just finishing up a can,maaan. I randomly woke up so like.. why noot?”
He asked rhetorically,shrugging. I guess he couldn’t blame the guy,They didn’t know when Chris would do a challenge so it’s probably a messed up sleep schedule for all the campers.
“Soo..why’re you here?”
Didn’t ripper just say nevermind?? Why is HE asking??? Oh wait,it’s Zee. Why would he remember. Guy probably has the memory of a goldfish. He felt “generous” enough to answer him though.
“I couldn’t sleep. Why else would I be here?”
He spat out,crossing his arms as he was still sitting nearby the dock.
“Hmm,I dunno man.”
A weird wave of silence creeped along as they kind of stood there for a bit. Ripper’s un-necessary harshness with someone who doesn’t exactly catch it properly can get awkward,especially since one is trying to appear tougher than he is. Although the uncomfortable quiet wouldn’t last long.
“Heyy,dude. Can I sit there too?”
Zee asked,pointing by an empty place at the dock. Ripper turned to where Zee seemed to point,honestly thinking for a bit. He’d probably be offended that someone as lowly as what people thought was a hippie would even UTTER to ask an “alfalfa male” (whatever that is.) but it was only irritation.. with slight confusion. Why would he ask? nobody took him seriously anyways. He shrugged it off.
“Knock yourself out I guess,but I’m not going to act like I enjoy it.”
He huffed,looking back to where he was originally zoning out to,loosening up again but still on some type of alert.
“Siick! Thanks.”
He gave a thumbs up before walking down to the dock and sitting nearby Ripper. They were close,but each were on a different side of the decking,Ripper being at the front and Zee being on the side. The other seemed to scoff at the thanks that seemed unnecessary,but it wasn’t intentional weirdly enough. It came out on its own,but deep down it felt weird that someone who seemed to get along with everyone else that hated him would get near him. He couldn’t describe it,he was never good with words anyways.
The silence this time felt..oddly comforting. Probably because Ripper was sleepier,but he was still up,why? He doesn’t know. Both of them seemed to mind each other’s business,for a bit? For a while? Who knew? Ripper just kept an eye on Zee,he didn’t fully trust the guy or ANYONE really. Hes the best one here anyways,the rest just seemed like filler to the bully. Ripper just gazed at the sea and Zee was rocking himself subtly as the quiet seemed to persist for a bit.
“Soo,how has the competition been with you?”
Zee seemed to lean back,grabbing the boards from under so he doesn’t completely flop down on the decking. Weird question,sure. But what else did they know about each other anyways?
“Good. Cause I know I’ll be going home with that million dollars! The dorks here should know that by now,including YOU!”
He swaggered,his tone shifting to the usual you’d hear from him:loud and cocky. He placed his hand on his chest,smirking. Although confident in himself,he fully expected an insult or competition from the other,but were talking about Zee here,so Ripper’s stupid for that.
“Well,good luck with it. If you do then you earned it.”
He drawled,”straightening” his back to continue rocking a bit. He was bored,but there wasn’t much to do in the middle of the night without risking getting caught.
“Personally like.. I like it here,everyone’s cool and..”
The rest was just rambling he went on about the others and whatnot. It formed into a blur to the shorter of the two due to the unexpected response. He always expected people to be as harsh as he is to them,it SHOULD be! It wasn’t as a way of offence due to breaking his personal tradition,but more so surprise that someone would even talk to him and not one up him. It was fun for him,so he doesn’t know why he’s this intrigued about it.
He’d usually interrupt him to try and form an alliance or whatever,but he just stayed to listen. He assumed it was because he was forced to anyways,nothing else could interrupt Zee or nothing else to ease drop on. Something in him couldn’t just yell at Zee to SHUUSH IT! Probably because he was barely awake. He thought to himself if there was any other reason he didn’t do it. He wasn’t gay (or so he thought) to not. All this thinking made his brain hurt.
The more time that passed,the more invested Ripper seemed in whatever Zee seemed to ramble on about. Hey,he did find him cool once. With whatever he seemed to find a story to correlate to another:he got more interested the more he yapped. Little remarks could be heard now and then until it went to full on conversations about the others or whatever happened before the camp. Although whatever Ripper seemed to try and say seemed slurred and lazily spat out,but Zee could understand. He probably talks the same so like..
Time seemed slow,but in a good way. They’d think one another rambled for days,but really only an hour and a half or so passed. Would’ve been longer if Ripper didn’t fall asleep sitting up as Zee seemed to ramble about something else. Took him some time to notice since he was looking away. But when he turned back to Ripper:He saw Ripper full on passed out sitting up,snoring quietly. Zee seemed to stare at him for a bit. He never exactly got to be this up close to anyone from the enemy team,especially the one nobody enjoyed to be around out of anyone. Something about being this close to a person or.. a guy honestly seemed to feel like something in him shifted gears a bit.
He’d snap out of that fog,and shrug. With the one brain cell he had:He couldn’t leave him alone without no one to be around if not his cabin. He’d turn his cap to the front and pull it down to his eyes,leaning his back towards Ripper’s back as they didn’t face each other. As Zee seemed to sleep,leaning towards Ripper.
The sun shined and MK was the first one awake. Walking out the cabin she just stared at the two.
She held in a whole burst of laughter as she seemed to yank whoever’s camera it was to take a picture.
“This’ll be useful later!”
She chuckled before walking off to where ever before the rest woke up.