intimate / blindside

"I feel like I should apologize to you for…something," Sam said with a chuckle as he approached the other, having just did his turn at the dunk tank and had now changed so he was dry, mostly. His hair still needed some time. "I mean, I'm not sure what I did but felt like you were quite determined there earlier when I was at the tank. So, I gotta ask, what did I do?" he asked with a grin to say that he was just joking. "Cotton candy on me?"

ఇ "Apologize? Never. Aren't we supporting our firemen and first responders by helping them cool off?" Seungbin hadn't meant to dunk any other person besides JJ, but then the fun had kicked off and he'd been carried away in the heat of the moment. "Unless you were responsible for that anonymous tip about Bigfoot they tried to have me announce..." He considered going along with it but ultimately had run out of space in the morning announcements, leaving it for another morning to try if he chose to. But he stretches out his arm and nods. "Why not?" He'd yet to have any and he had not tried the berry mix since he was a kid here.

"Two hours!" Cherry leaned back against the picnic benches on the edge of the fairgrounds. She'd taken to them with some funnel cake needing a reprieve and some space to brag. "Two hours at the ring toss! I was going to go insane. But I saw this," she lifted the stuffed animal from her lap and tossed it over. (The ugliest, and somehow cutest, blobfish stuffy.) "And I knew I had to have it." She tipped a piece of funnel cake into her mouth. "Now the fun can really begin."

ఇ Seungbin had also taken to the benches for a reprieve and to try the funnel cakes. He glances up at her ring toss lamentation and then a blobfish stuffy, and he blinks long and hard and almost thinks the stuffy blinks back at him. Neither he nor the blobfish know what to do with each other. "Now what's more fun ... than that creature? He looks like an escaped science experiment." It isn't said with derision really. He likes fish well enough. "And you said two hours to win his hand in — ohp." When she tosses it, he catches it. Little League as a kid came in handy, even though he only did it for one season.

what: emergency services carnival

"How willing are you to go on the rides?" Joella looked over at Seungbin and Marisol before glancing back at the tea cups. The sound of squealing in the background probably wasn't the best selling point, but wasn't too bad. "I'm sure they're not that bad. I probably could go for one of those lemonades afterwards also. Always a good little pick-me-up for this time during the day. Also I'm glad I wore my walking shoes instead of my flats... or... yikes," she grinned.

ఇ "Were you thinking of wearing your pumps?! Joella ..." Seungbin lets his dramatic trail-off speak for himself. Now he naturally isn't that dramatic of a person, but she naturally draws it out of him. He really doesn't think himself capable of such shenanigans, but here she is, about to convince him to go on the teacups (for a second time.) "What do you think?" Marisol still had energy, so she shouted her resounding yes! "We're apparently very willing. But I might coerce you into buying all the lemonades as payment after we get spun around."

ఇ "Well of course! You let her!" Seungbin finds it easy to tease with Lena. It's not often that he falls into patterns of laughter or really relaxes, but despite all the spoiling, he can rest easy knowing Marisol is in good hands. With the mischievous look Marisol casts them both, he anticipates the answer and says it as she does: "Make Dad pop the balloons." She cheers as Seungbin makes a bit of a show 'warming up' his throwing arm, rotating his shoulder. The pops aren't a sign he's ageing well. "It'll be me needing the band-aid, I can already tell you that. We'll do the duck pond after. Don't push my face in, I promise I'm not poking fun at the bag." (He was a little.) Marisol takes one of each of their hands and takes the lead in taking them to the balloons. "I might only throw enough darts to get the small prizes," he warns. But he was going to try for the massive stuffed animal. He picks up one of the darts and gets ready to throw it. "Sometimes ... I still can't believe I'm back here." Pop!

ఇ "Mm good points. With everything going on right now, we're in need of community shows of support now more than ever. If I get another land announcement for the morning show I'll tear my hair out." The seriousness fades when Marisol returns to them and she has in fact brought a roll of cotton candy with her. She paid with her own coins and is proud so Seungbin can't help but break into a smile. "She's been so tall for so long, I forget that exists." When was the last time he had to check a height requirement? She sprouted like a weed in the last year. Both he and JJ were in the mindset of turning their 'work brains' off, so he nods in agreement to the duck pond suggestion and takes Marisol's hands to lead her alongside JJ and Mia. "I'd take you on for that offer. He might end up dunked twice. Speaking of pay, have you been on guard for the jar? I was going to volunteer to watch it tomorrow." It was incredibly petty to consider someone may take the funds, but who knows? The duck pond was still chock full of yellow ducks floating around and hitting each other and when Marisol asked if she could go first, he told her to let Mia and to finish her cotton candy beforehand. "No need to add any stickier hands to the mix," he jests.

"What happens between me pulling the fish out of the water and you going home with a couple of fish to show off to your daughter is no one's business but ours," he confirmed with a laugh and a nod of his head. He really didn't mind, though, if the other wanted to take fish home, why not? "I've caught and ate, yeah. Most of the time it's just sort of… relaxing, I guess," even if he sometimes ended up more stressed out than he started. Fishing was a lot of hard work. "Well, help yourself to anything in my tackle box, if you need. I've also got a cooler with a couple of waters and some snacks, so if you get hungry…" he trailed off, but the offer was there. "I'm Jason, by the way," he said after a moment, extending his hand to shake.

ఇ "None. I've only come to these spots to take a nice long walk and try to forget I have noise and problems waiting. Now I have this Father's Day cap and a dream on this line." Seungbin nods to his guess. It was weird to think about how fishing was a distant dream. Something he saw in passing on Hallmark movies and he never took a chance to do. He always is a go-getter when it comes to his job but his hobbies? They fall to the wayside. He didn't even have many hobbies until he moved back here. Most of them were his daughter's. "I have to impress her. So long as none of them look like Dory nor Marlin from Finding Nemo, we'll be in the clear." Otherwise she would be very upset and think he caught her friends. "I'm hoping for the relaxing myself," he confirmed. He isn't too sure it will happen but hey once isn't enough to figure that out. The glance to Jason's tackle box was overwhelming. It looks like a collection of strange creatures from a cryptid exhibit, even though technically Seungbin knows it's pellet food, insects, and other things. "Seungbin." Hopefully he didn't put on his radio voice by introducing himself. He accepted the handshake and returned it firmly. "Is there a special bait that tuna like to catch onto?" Even for a beginner he set his hopes fairly high. He wouldn't be who he was without a high goal. Tuna and salmon are the big guys he hopes to be bringing home by some sheer luck. But he keeps his voice fairly low to prevent any of those suckers from being scared off.

WHERE: carnival

WHEN: july, 2026

"Alright, crew!" Elena announced, clipping her fanny pack -- literal, embarrassing fanny pack -- around her waist, placing her hands on her hips with a determined look as she glanced from one end of the carnival grounds to the others, "where do we want to start? Are we hungry? Thirsty? Want to hit the rides, play some games, do something fun, what are we feeling most?"

ఇ Marisol told him point-blank (impressive for her age) she was determined to stick to Tía Lena like glue. Already she makes good on the promise by tugging at Lena's hand and asking politely to start with the games. He shakes his head watching her. "She's running the show until nightfall," he jokes. "If she's feeling the games, then the games we'll go ... to." He might have the voice for radio but the wit didn't always follow through. Interviews are factual to his mind and don't count the same. "Are you all ... set?" He clears his throat to not chuckle at the fanny pack. It looks bodacious-ly packed.

LOCATION: Annual Summer Carnival

"I think this is the first year that I haven't had to volunteer for the dunk booth," JJ admitted with a shrug as he walked past the dunk booth. "Perks of no longer working at the Emergency Room, I guess. I might stop by later, but right now... It's all about Mia." He glanced down at the stroller he was pushing to see Mia. "This is her first carnival, and I'm determined to make it special for her. Where do you think we should go first? Don't say cotton candy, because I'm not ready to fill her up with sugar just yet."

ఇ "I don't envy your history with the dunk booth." Seungbin walks along with JJ and watches the carnival around them. He hadn't made a habit out of attending but this year, he aims to do things differently. He glances down to the stroller and smiles to himself. Marisol is within their line of sight at the food tent and paying with her own spare change for a sno*cone. "Marisol has the sugar covered. You won't hear me encourage more, trust me. What about the teacups?" The line doesn't seem too long and it was appropriate for their ages. "Just don't hold it against me if I dunk you later on."

And then he clocked his hat.

The laugh that left him was loud, but not obnoxious, the kind of laugh that seemed genuine, as though someone had actually, truly seen something funny. And he had. "That hat," he pointed to his head, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it's just that the fish is wearing a hat, too, I don't think I've ever seen something so..." cheesy? tacky? dad-like? But oddly, "wholesome." He finished, and he really did mean it. "With the amount of luck that hat's going to bring, hell yeah," he gestured to the spot next to him, "drop in a line. I've had a few nibbles this morning, I'm catching and releasing, so you'll have to take my word for it, since I didn't keep any of them."

ఇ Seungbin closes his eyes with the laughter, but his mouth twitches with a smile. He already nods along with the pointing, lips thinned into that smile as he pulls the fishing rod around to his lap. He has long since outgrown getting all flustered or embarrassed, although there is something to the rumble of laughter as wholesome was the chosen description. "We can thank my daughter for it. She coaxed her aunt to buy it for me. I can take a hint, I need to get out in nature more and away from the mic. I have no idea where they found it." He pulls out the simple bait. It isn't live, but it has to do something judging by the price, and Seungbin has to work in stages. He might have spent the better part of his childhood down by this same place skipping rocks, but that isn't the same as handling live critters. "Alright then that means I'll be keeping what you let go." A joke as he adjusts the hat as though he means business. He knows how to cook fish but there is a certain intimidation with the idea of catching one live and doing the whole thing. "Are you a releaser usually or do you keep them sometimes? I really came with the bare minimum here." He gestures to his basic set-up. But hey at least he was out there giving it the ol' college try. When he was younger, he was much quieter and kept more to himself. This was him coming out of his shell.

WHERE: lake malory, countryside

WHEN: june, 2026

Growing up in Merrock meant that he had learned at a young age how to fish. Whether it was on the shore of the lake, the creek, out on the marina, from the side of a boat... it didn't matter, it was a sort of rite of passage for most boys, like riding a bike and shooting a gun. And truth be told, it was a slightly more relaxing hobby than some of the others, even after the third tug on his line turned up... nothing on the hook. Or, worse, a clump of weeds that had drifted away from the shore at some point, only to end up his prize. Prize being a loose term, of course.

The sound of someone else approaching the small clearing he had decided to fish from drew his attention, glancing up from where he had been staring intently at his bobber, seated in one of those old camp chairs, a little worn out and tired, but still working. Like Jason, himself. "Hi," he greeted with a quick smile and a nod of his head, making it clear that he wasn't going to chase the other man off.

ఇ He fell deep in thought as he looked at his new fishing cap. He just cut the engine and decided to do this on a whim. A whim of all things. It was a blue hat with a white fish and the lettering was red: GONE FISHING. The fish even had a hat on too and that hat said DAD. How someone managed to squeeze this on one hat, Seungbin had no idea but he put it atop his hair to hide the exhaustion and headed into the clearing. He did research online but ultimately didn't bring much with him: a basic tackle box he bought on sale and an amateur's rod. He freezes in place as he tromps accidentally through someone's — it isn't a full-blown campsite, but still. He nods and tips the bill of his hat. "Good morning." (Dad why do you always sound like you're at work?) Marisol isn't wrong. It's difficult to turn that off when the place of work involves how you speak. He clears his throat, then opts for a tree stump nearby, flat enough to make into his own lawn chair. Now how did he forget one of those? Oh yeah because this was a whim. This is why Seungbin never does whims; something falls through the cracks every time. "Are they biting? Am I going to have much luck?"

"Wait, that outfit is adorable!" Navy smiled, head nodding as she looked at the other. Pride Palooza was something she'd been trying to participate more and more as the years passed; she loved coming out and celebrating love with the town and seeing all the festivities happening within the little village of Merrock. She was currently nursing what had been a rainbow colored mocktail she'd found at a booth nearby, a glittery face tattoo of a rainbow heart on her cheek. Her family was somewhere nearby, but she wasn't exactly sure where they'd run off too as she'd spotted the other. "I'm obsessed." she herself were wearing a white tank top, a rainbow stripped button down shirt overtop and tied loosely in the front, jean shorts as her bottoms. "It's always nice when I get to wear something already in my closet but that I wouldn't always put on." Not that she had anything against wearing the shirt typically, but there was truly no better time to wear it. "What all have you gotten to enjoy so far? You make it out to Vibrations?"

OPEN (0/2)

ఇ Seungbin glances down, slowly, at his shirt. In truth, he didn't think much of it, having snatched it from the back of a closet that was a sorry excuse for one. Marisol took it upon herself to paint blue and pink stripes across the back, which in theory, clashes with the off-brown of the basic fabric. Acrylic paint, and it began to flake off in the June heat, but he offered a pained smile nonetheless. "A daughter special. She thought it looked better this way." His eye scanned the glittering heart, jean shorts, and then the mocktail in Navy's hand, and he couldn't help the little chortle that bubbled up. "You look a lot better than me. I'm ... having a good time?" That sounded more like a question than he anticipated. "I've never been good at this kind of thing. I'm pushing my limits." One may think him privy to such spaces due to the history of his family in acting; it only drove him to crave privacy more. "But no, Vibrations hasn't seen me. And I doubt they will." There was such a thing as, well, too much of a good thing.