as kaz started talking about all of the pez dispensers he had, piper felt their jaw drop. coming from a relatively well off family, they knew their parents most likely would have given them all the pez they wanted growing up, but that was the last thing they wanted. piper would take compassionate parents over candy any day, despite their personal love for the dispensers. leaning against the wall, they couldn’t keep the excitement out of their eyes. “don’t worry, i won’t tell the others.” they leaned forward as well, moving to whisper in his ear. watching as he slid jerry back into his pack, they smiled softly. “oh, don’t tell him you know that. it’s a big secret.” they teased, leaning back against the wall and letting the space between them grow. “you’re like, you’re into bud and stuff, right?” they asked curiously, running a hand through their hair.
with the way their breath hit his ear, kaz couldn’t help but laugh softly, his nose instinctively wrinkling as they leaned away. “is it?” he laughed, pulling his knees up and wrapping his arms loosely around them. “good thing we can keep a secret.” he noted, smiling wide at them. kaz liked that he was known as the guy who was into bud. it was one of his only passions and knowing people recognized that was cool. plus he found it incredibly funny that he was so obviously gone enough that people just, knew. “i partake in herbal recreations, sure. why’d’you ask?”
Olivia knew the first night was bound to be rough. Not that she didn’t appreciate being away from home, and her mattress was far more comfortable that she would’ve hoped for, but still, sleep didn’t come as easy to her as it did for the rest of her cabin. There was a place by the lake that seemed like the best place for a smoke but when she tried her lighter nothing happened, a few sparks here and there but no flame. “Ugh, come on man!”
Kaz always wandered the grounds at night. He tended not to fall asleep until he could hear birds chirping and laying in a cabin listening to everyone else snore. He had his own little world out here while all the others were asleep. After all the time at camp he’d just about perfected his routine by now, so it was a surprise to hear another voice coming from the darkness. He climbed to his feet and wandered over. “I got you, dude.” He informed the stranger, pulling out his own lighter and lighting it for her.
what was the point in life if you weren’t going to find joy out of the smaller things? after all of the trauma piper had been through, they made a point to enjoy the simpler things. life was too short to be serious. piper smiled up at kaz as he held out the pez dispenser, reaching out for it. “thanks.” they popped the candy into their mouth, taking extra care with jerry as they balanced him between their hands. “is this a whistle?” she asked, thumb lightly brushing against the plastic on the back of jerry’s head. using their index fingers to give jerry arms, they waved at kaz before adapting a raspy, old man voice that vaguely resembled kermit the frog. “hi, i’m jerry and i smoke one pack of cigarettes a day for myself, and one pack for my wife who is in heaven.” breaking off in giggles, they handed the dispenser back to kaz.
“yeah.” kaz’s eyes brightened at the mention of the whistle, his favorite feature of this particular dispenser. “i have a bunch with whistles. and a bunch without. but the whistles are most definitely my favorite.” he leaned his head forward, dropping his voice to a whisper and shielding his mouth from potential lip reading eves droppers. “but let’s keep that between us. they can get a little sensitive.” he watched with amusement as piper gave jerry a voice and a story and it was impossible to keep the silly grin from his face. “i had no idea you were such a romantic, jerry.” he commented as he took the dispenser back and placed it back in the pocket of his backpack.
she gave him a teasingly exasperated look, “you know i can’t. trust me, i’ve tried.” actually, darcy couldn’t really remember a time when she was mad at kaz besides the dumb childish arguments they’d gotten into that all kids get into every now and then. “if you did, you know i’d have to kill you.” she threatened with a grin. camp reverie wouldn’t be camp reverie if kaz wasn’t here with her. “do you know what cabin you’re in yet?”
“and i am way too young to die.” he gave her a wink and an easy grin slid onto his face. “nope, not yet. so i’m just chillin’.” he explained, relaxing further into the couch, as if that were possible. he was comfortable almost everywhere, but especially in his present company. there were few people he’d known as long as darcy, and fewer still who he still even talked to. summer time was, in his mind, darcy time, and it was a welcome calm for his mind. “what about you?
“jerry?” piper asked, trying to contain a laugh as they tugged the sleeves of their sweaters over their hands. there was something about seeing the dark haired male just yank the head back that made them break out into actual giggles. “yes please.” they nodded, reaching their hand out for some candy. raising a brow curiously, piper added, “can i see him for a second? i promise i’ll be gentle with him.”
their giggles were contagious and kaz found himself laughing along. it left a warm feeling in his stomach, and his smile became soft as he watched them take the candy from jerry’s neck. “oh yeah, for sure.” he agreed and quickly handed it over to her. “just watch his head, he’s got a bit of a weak neck.”
sitting on the floor of the director’s cabin, legs crossed as they looked at the guy in front of him, piper realized he was their hypothetical soulmate. he’d taken that stupid pez dispenser out of his bag and their face had lit up. “is that pez?” they asked, leaning against the wall as they stared at him. pushing the frame of their glasses further up on their face, they couldn’t hide the grin that spread across their face. “does the dispenser have a name? did you name it?” that’s what they would have done. unironically, of course.
“hell yeah, of course i named it.” he had not named it. “it’s jerry.” the first name that came to mind. he used both his index fingers as the dispensers arms and used them to make ‘jerry’ salute and then wave at them. “you want some?” he offered, pulling back jerry’s head.
darcy watched him plop down on the couch next to her and she tried not to give him a look as she slid off the arm onto the cushion itself, not too close but a distance that showed the comfort between the two. “you got fired from two jobs? is this the only job you haven’t been fired from yet? and you better not get fired, i’ll never forgive you.”
“harsh. you really think you could stay mad at this face?” he asked, pointing his face as he gave her his best set of puppy dog eyes. he broke down into light laughter. “it’s become kind of like a hobby now, ya know. getting fired is a fine tuned skill for me. but you know i could never leave you to fend for yourself here on your own.”
“you should be,” darcy replied though the smirk resting comfortably on her lips made it clear she was only joking. with a roll of her brown eyes, she let the door swing shut behind them and crossed over to perch on the armrest of the couch. “oh you know, boring and real. took my lsats. moved into a new apartment with my brother. how was your more boring half of the year?”
“shit.” kaz laughed, a little surprised how eventful her year sounded, especially in contrast with his own. “i got fired from roy rogers and taco viva. so ya know, livin’ the dream.” he grinned and fell onto the couch next to her.
darcy let out an exclamation interwoven with a laugh when kaz’s arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her up into the air. her feet met solid ground once more and she turned around to face him. “happy first day of camp, kaz.” darcy replied, her lips still curved into a wide smile. “i was wondering when i’d see your ugly mug.” she teased, reaching out to nudge his shoulder with her fist.
“i feel like i might be offended by that.” kaz laughed, clutching his shoulder dramatically as if she’d caused him actual pain with the blow. “so,” he started, dragging out the word as he dropped his oversized backpack to the floor. “how was the real world?”
there was a little area, just behind one of the cabins, where rissa knelt, digging with her hands. it would seem strange to anyone passing by, but was even stranger was when she stopped, grinning, and with a motion gentle then rough then gentle, she unearthed a squirrel skull from beneath the earth. “there you are, buddy,” she muttered, tapping against his skull. “i knew you would be a good one.” she’d known since she’d buried the recently deceased squirrel here last summer. it took her a moment to realize someone had noticed her, and she scowled, “what?”
“don’t bite my head off, man.” kaz held up his hands in defense and walked towards her slowly, like approaching a wild animal. “woah. dude. what is that?” he asked once he spotted the small skull in her hands. he lifted his sunglasses and blinked against the sunlight, squinting his red eyes as he leaned over, trying to get a better look.
Audrey brought out a bottle of vodka she had stolen from one of the corner stores before getting her. In fact she stole way more then just the one bottle having distracted the clerk long enough to get whatever she wanted. She opened the bottle taking a chug from it before exhaling deeply. “We might as well have some fun before the kids come right, hon?“ Teasing the person beside her.
Kaz grinned from where he laid on the ground, his head resting on his large backpack. “Most excellent.” He mused and quickly sat up. “Trade you these for some of that sweet juice.” He pulled out a tupperware of plastic wrapped brownies, popping the lid slightly to take a whiff. “When I tell you these are my best work to date, I mean you’ll be flyin’, babe.”
“damn it feels good to be back.” if there was any other place in the world that felt like home to darcy, it was camp reverie. strolling into the directors cabin for the fourth year in a row, the woman was more than ready to make herself comfortable. she didn’t have her cabin assignment yet so holding up in the directors cabin seemed like the best option until she knew where to go.
kaz, having seen darcy enter the director’s cabin and sprinted after her, grabbed the girl from behind around the waist and lifted her in the air, emitting a sound that could only be described as dinosaur with a head cold. “happy first day of camp!” he cheered, setting her back on her feet with a grin, pushing his sunglasses up and effectively his hair out of his face.
[ TIMOTHEE CHALAMET. CIS MALE. HE/HIM. ] [ KAZ LINUS ] is a [ TWENTY ONE ] year old [ COUNSELOR ] at camp reviere. [ HE ] makes me think of [ HOTBOXING YOUR FRIEND’S VAN, A DRIVE THRU BURGER AT 2 AM, THIN SILVER NECKLACE JUST VISABLE UNDER A TSHIRT, AIR GUITAR, WAKING UP WITH NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT DAY IT IS ]. their favorite horror movie is [ ERASERHEAD ] and they remind me of [ ANTON TOBIAS ]. [ kaylee. 28. est. she/her. ]
headcanons:
despite being a burnout, kaz has always been someone that people enjoyed being around. he’s an easy going guy who really just wants to chill and have a good time.
he is absolutely always high at all times don’t even ask.
he liked skateboarding and bmx in high school and is still into it now, though it isn’t his whole life anymore.
his dad tried to kick him out at eighteen because he wasn’t ready to go to college just yet. he tried to explain how it was a wise financial decision to take some time off, maybe a year or two, who knows, but to avoid going into debt for a degree he didn’t even want. he didn’t even know what he wanted to do with his life. his mom came in clutch, like she always did, with the perfect solution: he would move into the apartment above the garage if he cleaned it out and got a job.
it took an entire summer, but he and his friends finally got the apartment all set up. the employment thing was a little tougher. he tended to find a job only to be let go a couple months later. what could he say, it just wasn’t a good fit.
his dad is pretty tired of him still hanging around the house, but he has to do his laundry somewhere right? and his mom is always making such good dinners, it beats take out any day.
he doesn’t really have any goals, his guidance counselor said it was a lack of direction, whatever. he was going in a direction, just not as fast as everyone else. he prefers to live in the moment and enjoy his life before adulthood completely sucks out his soul and he becomes a mindless nine to five drone.
he’s a bit of a conspiracy theorist, feel free to ignore his delusions.
need a lighter? ask kaz. need some papers? ask kaz. need some weed? ask kaz. you’re playin if you think he came to camp without a lot of supplies and he’s always happy to share. well, sometimes he’s more happy to charge, but he’ll give you a deal, no worries.
collects pez dispensers. he just thinks they’re neat.
he loves horror movies, especially they really weird and messed up ones. gore and absolute nonsense are his bread and butter.
also a big fan of cartoons, no surprise.
is philosophical and surprisingly intellectual. it surprises even himself to be honest. but he does maintain that he thinks better while high so, there you go.
he is an excellent knitter. his mom taught him in high school and he’s continued to do it ever since. it’s relaxing and keeps his hands busy, he enjoys it, especially when he feels like he’s being a little too lazy.
does not have a sleep schedule, it just doesn’t exist. camp is the only real structure he has in his life right now, otherwise he’d be a complete mess.
