#thread: sterling

[chaoticfoxes]

Location: The Fox Tower Date: Friday, December 31 Time: Almost midnight (open​)

For once, Sterling feels good wrapping up the year with his birthday. Having a New Years birthday has always been the worst. He never gets to celebrate with anyone except for his family, and the day is always a reminder of all the things that Sterling didn't accomplish that year. 2020, though? It was a fucking whirlwind, but overall full of a lot good things.

Sterling has two boyfriends he can now take home because he finally told them his secret. They didn't play a totally shitty season for once, and it's not even over just yet. Thanks to the Terrapins fucking up, all they have to do is beat the Gamecocks and they get to play in the Championships. There's still a chance that Sterling can provide a decent life for him and his mom after he graduates.

There's still a constant weight on his shoulders, and it's only growing heavier the closer he gets to graduation, but he's trying not to think about that today of all days—his 23rd birthday. He's finally spending it at his favorite place and with his favorite people. It started off strong with a morning practice where he got to yell at the other Foxes for not pulling their weight and now it's finishing strong—by watching the ball drop on the TV in the common area.

There's only a few minutes left until midnight, so Sterling moves to the kitchen to pour himself another mixed drink. He has a good buzz going and he wants to carry it into 2022. After mixing a drink of mostly vodka and some coke, he turns to his teammate and smirks. "Don't forget who this night is really about just because the ball is about to drop," Sterling reminds them, not for the first time tonight. He's always the champion for birthdays on this team, so there's no way in hell he's not going to champion himself.

[breakagain-writes]

@imperfectox​

One caught sight of her was all it took to change his night. If it had been just one minute later, he wouldn’t have seen her across the street. Seen the group she was with. Seen that asshole that was smiling and talking to her. Wouldn’t have seen her laughing back at him. Everything in him fought to stay on his side of the street and go into the bar he had planned on going to, so he did. He did what he was supposed to do. He went in. He had drinks. He made conversation with a girl. But the thoughts didn’t stop. The woman who was all the more willing to go home with him and give him what he wanted, couldn’t hold his attention for a moment. Not when he kept thinking about Rory. Rory with him. It made him sick. Made him angry, and every drink he had that was supposed to ease it did nothing of the sorts.

That was how he ended up there at her place. He ditched the other woman and couldn’t find it in him to just go home. He had to know who that guy was. His fist was clumsy as he hit the door, his other hand on the frame to steady himself. “Rory,” another round of pounding on the door. “Open up. Open the door.”

[chaoticfoxes]

Location: The Hotel Date: Friday, September 17 Time: Post-Game (open​)

Sterling tries not to believe that Colin was right that one night when he said that was the last win they got, but it feels like a bad omen now. He still stands by what he said too and refuses to give up, but if that was their only win of the year, he doesn't know what he's going to do.

It's only the second game. There's still time to turn it around. The Jackals are always pieces of shit on the court. These are all the things Sterling tells himself to try and deal with it, but it's not working.

His stomach is churning with worry, and he feels extra on edge, like if someone says one wrong thing, he'll explode. The only way he can think to deal is to just drink the bottle of rum he brought with him and hope it makes him forget.

With his rum in one hand, thoroughly drank through at this point, and a full bottle of vodka in the other, he wanders the hall of their hotel and taps the bottles against the his teammates' doors, including Wymack's closed one, to try and get their attention.

"Who needs booze?" Sterling calls loud enough that he's basically inviting the rest of the hotel too. "You get the whole bottle if you promise not to fuck up the next game."

[chaoticfoxes]

Location: Team Retreat  Date: Friday, August 20  Time: Night (open)      

Sterling is pretty in his element here actually. It’s not the desert. There’s actually some fucking shade. No one’s making him carry a heavy ass bucket of water back and forth. It still feels familiar to him. Sterling’s had years to get used to modern amenities by now, but sometimes he prefers things simple--just outdoors without relying on anything that makes things too easy. 

This is definitely easier than living on the commune though. They had things down to a system where everything ran smoothly, but that was because they all put in so much hard labor to make it that way. They didn’t roast marshmallows at night or trade scary stories. They didn’t pack up everything when the weekend ended and go back to their air conditioned dorms. It was just---Sterling’s life.

The fire’s dying and Sterling’s full and happy from all the s’mores he ate. He pulls away from the group slightly to lay right there in the grass and stare up at the night sky, the stars so much more visible out here. He hasn’t seen anything like it since he lived in the desert. Salt Lake City has too much light pollution. 

It’s hard not to get lost in his thoughts these days. It feels like there’s a ticking clock over his head always now, counting down the days until this is all over. Either he gets drafted or he goes home and resigns himself to living in the basement and picking up some blue collar job to get by. He and Colin will graduate and leave, while Kent stays behind. It feels like they’re doomed. 

When he hears footsteps approaching, he sighs and prays that it isn’t some freshmen here to annoy the shit out of him. Without checking who it is, he points up at the sky. “Know any constellations?” He asks in a bored tone. 

[chaoticfoxes]

Continued from [x] @go-foxes

Usually it'd bother Sterling more that he spent the summer mostly Exy-free, but he doesn't regret any of it this time. He cares more that Colin and Kent finally met his family than preparing for the upcoming year. He doesn't know whether what's going to happen once he graduates, but he at least knows he can bring the people who matter to him most home now.

Besides, it's not like Claudia and Glory won't kick their ass daily leading up to the season.

"Yeah, it was pretty good," Sterling huffs a laugh, definitely underselling it.

It sounds like Olivia had a pretty good summer too, whether it was a wrench in her plans to come back to Palmetto. He wouldn't mind spending time in the mostly empty dorms with Kent and Colin and then getting practice in on the courts. Kent might mind it though.

"Not a bad deal then," he grins. "Like college summer camp or something." Not that he would know, since he never went to summer camp. "We're back, so it's party time. If no one else throws one, I'll do it in the Tower."

[chaoticfoxes]

Location: Nature Date: Saturday, May 22 Time: Morning (open​)  

Now this is Sterling’s kind of birthday party--out in nature. He might miss the dance floor and the alcohol, but at his core, he’s an outdoors man. There weren’t many trees on the commune growing up, but he still learned how to live off the land, so he appreciates a good hike. He’s pretty sure if he got stranded out here, he’d still survive, which is a weird thought to have during Glory’s birthday party, but he can’t really help it when he’s just kind of built that way.

It’s also a nice break from being glued to the TV in the lounge, anxiously waiting to see who’ll play in the finals. It definitely wasn’t boring, and the results are surprising considering the Big Three hogged those final slots for few years. The Buckeyes didn’t fuck around this year, and it paid off. Sterling didn’t even have his money on them, which sucks.

It’s interesting and all that, but Sterling is already looking to next year when the Foxes get to play again. Grayson won’t be here anymore, but fresh faced freshmen will. He’s ready to knock them on their asses if they treat next semester like a joke. Next year is Sterling’s last year, and he isn’t going to tolerate fucking around anymore. He wants to go to the god damn Championships. 

Hikes are supposed to be healing or whatever, so he tries to leave that all behind and embrace the fresh air. Look at trees. Kick some dirt. Be one with nature and all that. It’s mostly working, but it’s always on the back of his mind. He pauses by a berry bush and points it out to the Fox closest to him. “How much do you wanna bet those are edible berries?” He’s actually not confident in the answer. Again--not a lot of berry bushes at the commune.

[chaoticfoxes]

Location: Sterling’s house Date: Saturday, June 12 Time: Afternoon (closed for the bro’s)

For how much time Sterling spent worrying about Kent and Colin meeting his family, it was going relatively chill. His mom’s definitely withdrawn and a little jumpy, but she still managers to hold short conversations with his friends. His uncle makes up for it by excitedly talking about Exy every chance he gets and making sure the house is well stocked with a lot of snacks and beers. 

The basement is definitely a tight fit with all of them, and at some point, they’ll have to try and get a hotel for the night just to get some alone time. Sterling tries to make it feel less suffocating by showing Kent and Colin around the city or taking them on hikes, but they do actually have the house to themselves for once. Definitely for the first time since they got here. His aunt and uncle took his mom to a park to get some fresh air and a walk, taking Bandit with them.

Sterling brings a bunch of bags chips down to the basement and a case of beers for some quality chill time. Cracking a beer open, he sits cross legged on the floor and wrinkles his nose when he spots one of his mom’s doomsday paintings next to him and flips it so he doesn’t have to see the burning city. 

“So, does this beat staying in Palmetto so far?” He asks, making it sound like a casual question, but he actually feels a little sick from nerves. His biggest fear after all of this is that they won’t want to come back and deal with his weird family.

[breakagain-writes]

closed: @imperfectox​​

There was not a single reason that he should have been here. The torn up invitation should have been his last thought about it all. Yet, Sterling was there at his ex’s engagement party and the champagne in his hand was not strong enough of a remedy to make it painless. His morbid curiosity was what was putting him through this. A need to see the happy couple in play. To see her. His only plan was to make it known he was there. After three years, wondering if his presence mattered at all. He wanted it to and yet, didn’t want hers to matter to him, but he knew the moment he caught a glance of them coming in, it was impossible to be unaffected.  He had caught a small conversation with Alden, but was purposeful that he didn’t see Rory yet. Not able to help that he wanted to catch her by herself. When that moment presented itself, he went up as if it hadn’t been years since their ugly ending, a casual smile in place. “Congratulations. This is quite the party.”