gabi

"Well, save it for the next." She smiled at her. "I'll give one to them too. Really, it's fine." Nancy promised her. She moved to put the order in and get Gabi a drink, so she didn't notice the sneakiness of the other slipping money into the tip jar. Once back, she smiled at her and was glad she was good. "We've been good. And always. I'm told I work too hard, but I like it." She shrugged and smiled. "How's work for you?"

Gabi couldn't help but laugh as Nancy mentioned working too hard, immediately nodding, "You...? Working too hard...? I would never have guessed, Nanc." She understood the drive to work hard, but she hoped the other woman at least got a little down time before burning herself out. When asked, Gabi sighed gently, "It's good... I've been advertising some personal classes, a few people have actually been booking in, but that's been good, y'know? And there's a new installation going in from a young artist from Harlem which I think the school will bring their kids down to see, so that will be nice."

Dean only smiled brighter when she told him to shut up, "You careee about me" he teased her, dragging out the word to emphasis it. He found it really easy to maintain his friendships with both Gabi and Andrew, neither one really wanted to talk about the other so they didn't ask about Dean's own friendship with them. He knew she was aware of his remaining closeness with Andrew, but he didn't know if Andrew knew how much time he'd been spending with her.

Gabi tried to ignore him, clearly failing in rolling her eyes again as she found herself chuckling softly, "I said shut up," she reiterated, playfully shoving his shoulder.

Cael was absolutely not going into therapy. He had no interest in someone prodding into his head and tell him all the things he already knew was wrong with him. His list of medical ailments was quite extensive as it was, especially since he needed a psych eval when suing the state of New York. Yet if there was anyone he would listen to, it was his mother, who influenced him into going through an alternative route and see if he couldn't find a way to improve mentally. He already hated it the second he stepped towards the entrance. Ringing the doorbell and fighting his own thoughts to just turn around and walk away, possibly disappointing his mother. His jaw clenched, heels digging in the pavement when the door opened, looking up until he met her eyes. "Gabriela?" @gperez-jackson

Gabi wasn't shy about being in therapy, it had really helped her through a lot of the issues that had come after her now ex-husband had announced the end of their relationship. She had been speaking with her therapist about how her artwork was helping her process things and calm her down and she suggested looking into helping others as well. Gabi had always offered one-on-one sessions on how to tackle water colours and oil paints as well as sketching live models, but she'd had a few good inquiries once she'd added her services to an art therapy website. Of course she wasn't going to try and unpack someone else's trauma, she wasn't nearly educated enough for that, but she was rather good at help people find their inner artist. Having just finished setting up a few easels, she heard the doorbell and made her way to the door, opening it with a soft and welcoming smile, "That's me, you must be Mr Montgomery?"

Dean smiled smugly as he looked back at her, watching the relief wash over her when she realized it wasn't him who was injured in the hospital. "You were worried about me, that's cute" he nodded. "You must really like me" he joked, batting his eyelashes at her.

"Shut up," Gabi hummed with a roll of her eyes, swatting at him as if he would stop simply by her asking. Of course she'd been worried about him, he was possibly the closest friend she had now since everything with Andrew had gone down -- even if it was increasingly difficult to stop reminding herself that Dean was actually one of Andrew's closest friends.

Gabi was glad to have the divorce finalised. Since moving from the home they'd shared together and into her own space, the signing of the papers was the last formality to go, the last nail in the coffin of their relationship and Gabi was ready for it to all be over. Her ankle was barely bothering her anymore, the bruising had turned from a deep purple to a soft green/yellow as it healed. It was the first day she'd worn heels again since the incident so she was a little unsteady as she sat down at the table, her phone to her ear as she finished up a work call, "I told him," she hummed into the phone, "He replied to the email I sent last week and said he'd see me on the 30th. Now, is today the 30th?" She paused, listening to the assistant on the other end of the call, "Good, glad I've not lost an entire week either. So tell him I'm out of the office and I'll see him on the 30th... thank you.... bye."

Dean shook his head when he noticed her looking him over for any injuries. He did appreciate all of his friends concerns, they seemed to know him well enough to know that even if he was actually injured, he would've never let anyone know that he was in pain. Luckily, he was actually fine this time. "Oh, stop it I'm fine" he said, not wanting her to keep checking to make sure he was being honest about his injuries. As he realized his sentence sounded worse than he meant, he turned back over to her. "I wasn't at the hospital for me- sorry." he said, before elaborating, "I went to visit Roman and make sure he's doing alright."

The idea that Dean had been in the hospital but was insisting he was fine was obviously a rather oppositional idea, but when he clarified by saying he was visiting a friend, Gabi visibly relaxed, "Oh... I'm glad you're okay." she sighed softly, breezing over who he had been visiting before hobbling her way back down the hall into the loungeroom she was trying to unpack.

He could've never predicted the events of the carnival, but luckily Dean had made it out almost completely unscathed. He had sustained some small superficial cuts and scrapes on the side on his face and on his arm, but they didn't require medical attention so he didn't pay them any mind. If anything, the ordeal took a harder toll on him mentally than it did physically.

Gabi was busy looking him over, making sure he was being honest when he'd told her the extent of his injuries. It really wouldn't have surprised her if Dean was underplaying his own issues in favour of helping others through theirs. Her head whipped up when he said he'd just left the hospital, worry clear in her hardened features, "The hospital...?" she asked, clearly prompting him for an explanation without having to actually finish her question.

She cocked her head and looked at the woman. "Don't you worry about it, okay? It's on the house." She assured her and smiled as she waved her server off to put the food order in and smiled. "I can afford a free meal to someone who's like family." She reached out and touched Gabi's arm. "How are you doing?"

"And I can afford to pay for my meal," she argued softly, "Save the free meal for someone who might be struggling -- or a kid who looks like they need a free desert or something." Gabi knew arguing with someone as sweet as Nancy was almost impossible, the older woman's demeanour far too kind for her own good. She spied a tip jar close by and quickly shoved a $50 note in there, pointing a warning finger to the server who Nancy had stopped from charging her, "If I see that come back out and try to fall back into my bag I'll be pissed." Of course she was joking, but Gabi wanted to do something to thank the staff -- and Nancy -- for always being so wonderful to her.

open starter - @gperez-jackson

Gabi had been milling about for most of the day, wandering around on her own and playing a few of the games. She tended to fill in the last spot of a group game if a particular attraction required a minimum amount of people to play. Everyone was having so much fun it was hard to not let the kids around her cheer her up as they won the tin-horse racing or the clearly rigged game of darts. Finally having enough and wanting a small break, Gabi grabbed herself a fresh strawberry lemonade and found a table to sit at. Realising there was a rather large piece of gum stuck to the table, she grabbed a spare napkin and picked off the sticky spot, getting up to put it in the bin so anyone sitting there later wouldn't get themselves into trouble. When she turned, Gabi saw someone had sat down at the table and raised her eyes in soft surprise, "No, no it's totally fine--" she recognised the woman from when she'd spoken to Nancy earlier in the day, "--you guys are working super hard, you deserve to sit... are you waiting for people? Or do you mind if I steal the corner of the table? My feet are aching. Wearing heels was probably a terrible idea."

closed starter for @gperez-jackson location: Nancy's Bar & Grill

It was getting harder for Gabi to try and avoid Andrew's people in Easthaven. So much so that she'd considered if she should simply move and start over somewhere new once the house had sold and she was officially divorced, but she was trying her best not to focus on the negative. She'd always loved the drinks and food at Nancy's and, since she wasn't actually on the front counter Gabi had thought maybe she'd get away with a nice snack and drink without having the potentially awkward encounter with the other woman. To her surprise, the server was interrupted by the woman in question and Gabi quickly shook her head, "No... no, Nancy it's fine! I'm happy to pay, please..." She hated the idea of getting anything for free, especially when she knew Nancy and her team worked so hard, "I'm good, thank you... I really would prefer to pay though, please."

Simon had always had little to no problem with taking space. He came from an affluent family, he had what he considered an important job, and he felt himself rather important as well. So speaking loudly and without a care in the world wasn't something he cared to stop. But even he had to admit she might have a point. He put his phone away in his pocket and sighed. "I hope it was interesting then." It probably wasn't for anyone who isn't closely following the trading market or thought about the finances beyond their bank account. While those things might be fascinating for Simon, as well as simply crucial for his job, he was aware that this wasn't the case for most people. "So what, you're not here to have loud conversations on the phone?"

She nodded as the man spoke of the conversation being interesting, "Positively riveting," she deadpanned, unable to help herself as she chuckled a moment later. If he had been divulging his inner-most secrets to whoever was on the other end of the phone she would have made a point to block out the conversation or leave the area to give him some privacy, but he hadn't been, so surely his conversation was fair game to those around him. Gabi knew smoking wasn't good for her, but sometimes it was easier than actually taking a break and getting lunch. "I left my phone in my office," she revealed, holding up the cigarette before shrugging, "Thought I'd come have a break before my actual break, y'know? Get some sun before I turn into a vampire locked away all day."

Dean smiled down at her as she leaned into his chest, happy she seemed to be as interested as he was. They came together so naturally, the way they moved, the way they looked at each other. It was very in sync, and he would never admit it to her or anyone else, but he felt very comfortable with her. Normally he tried to be charming and sweep people off their feet, but he could be fully himself with her. Even with all of the signals pointing to her being interested in him, he was still slightly surprised that she agreed to come home with him. Sleeping with your ex-husbands best friend didn't seem like the best move- he figured maybe she didn't think about it too much, or that if she did she didn't care. Either way, he wasn't complaining.

In the morning Gabi would be thankful that Dean had the good sense about him to find her jacket considering how much money she'd impulsively spent on it, but as he began to look around for it, she let out a groan, "It's fine..." she insisted, wanting more to leave the bar with him than spend the time looking for her jacket. In the morning, Gabi was surely going to rethink the entire scenario of the two of them leaving to gether in the first place, but that was a later problem, it certainly wasn't a six-drink-four-shots-deep problem.

Sully had not for many years had one place that he call his home. Till two years ago when he moved to New Haven. Before he was always on one cruise ship or another. The most having a few weeks off when he was changing one ship to another. But mostly he was always gone, working traveling the world. So he rarely saw his family even know he always had his family take the cruise a few times a year to see him. But it was the cause of both of his divorces over the years. That he wasn't around and that was hard on a young family. Then his own family had their business so he was busy and away from them. But here he goes moving to another state far from most of his family now. His own kids in another state, but both old enough to have their own lives.

Gabi couldn't help but laugh at the man's reply, feeling rather stupid for even asking considering he was behind the counter, "Sorry," she replied rather sheepishly, "that was a pretty stupid question wasn't it?" she approached the man with a slight shrug, explaining why she'd come to the Adventure Center in the first place, "My dad is a pretty... look, I don't want to say boring, but he's a pretty chilled out sort of man. He's into doing stuff alone, like fishing and going out on his little tinny boat on his own to relax... so I guess I just want to find something he could use to help with that sort of a hobby...?" Gabi paused, looking back at the older man and sighing through her nose, "I'm sorry, I'm rambling... I just don't know where to even start."

**time skip**

The drinks had flowed as easily as their conversation had and Gabi was definitely feeling more intoxicated than she'd intended to get. Usually she'd feel a little vulnerable being drunk in public, but Dean was one of the only people she felt safe around in situations like the one they found themselves in. They'd not done well at pool, but Gabi honestly couldn't have cared less. She was having more fun than she'd had in months and she had no one else but Dean to thank for it. At some point in the night her gaze had stopped being on everyone else in the bar and focussed solely on Dean's attention, wondering if it was the alcohol or if he was doing the same.

Dean shook his head, "No- definitely not. That's like my worst nightmare" he protested quickly. He wasn't actually opposed to it, he actually thought it was would really fun to hang out with both women together. He raised his eyebrows when she said he seemed like he'd enjoy punishment, "Okay- listen- listen.." he said, not denying that fact, "That's not..completely inaccurate" he admitted with a laugh. Dean was never shy about talking about his interests, he was very open about his preferences.

"You better not," Gabi shot him a cheeky warning glance when he mentioned the taking the tequila for himself, even though she'd threatened to have both mere moments before, "I'll get my nails out, Dean." Again, it was something she almost mentioned he probably wouldn't be opposed to, but if she did that she'd be commenting on almost every playful comment she had to offer that evening and then they'd just be blatantly flirting with each other. This was more fun, at least in her opinion. As said shots arrived, limes and salt shaker lined up next to the glasses, Gabi eyed Dean before picking up the salt shaker and offering it to him as as form of a truce that they'd each take a shot. She licked the top of her hand so the salt would stick and held her hand out too, waiting for Dean to use the shaker for her.