j a s o n

Smirking at his friend, Ben shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'm pretty sure it's because I'm hilarious and should probably just quit this tattooing shit and hit the road making peeps laugh." He joked again, laughing softly. "I think we can make this one time appearance in public, but next time definitely going to hit the Hangout spot to enjoy some food and the great outdoors." Ben noted, mentioning the old hangout that mostly the residents aged 30 and older knew about. The number of parties Ben had attended there back in the day was beyond the number of fingers and toes he had. It was a cool place that Ben still enjoyed visiting to current day. "Scarring people? C'mon, man, you know I'm better than that. I create amazing permanent pieces of art on folks." Ben muttered, following into step with Jace as they entered the restaurant. He nodded at his friend's request to eat outside and walked along with the hostess and Jace. "It's too pretty of a day to not sit outside and enjoy some good food." Ben commented, giving Jace a half grin. "I guess hanging with you adds to it." He settled into his seat and started looking over the menu. "You wanting to grab an appetizer? I definitely need a beer." Ben pulled his wallet out to prepare for when the waitress arrived and he would need to show ID for his acohol.

Jason nodded his head thoughtfully, as though he needed to truly consider whether or not Benito would be a good comedian, before the nod turned into a see-sawing motion, "alright, let me be the one to ask: are you allergic to tomatoes?" The grin on his face soon after said that he was joking, knowing that his friend was funny enough that he wouldn't end up booed off stage and have tomatoes thrown at him, but it might not be a bad question to ask. Teasing, of course. "God," he let out a soft groan, "I spent so much time there growing up, but I feel like I'd end up there at the same time as some smart mouth seventeen year olds that would know exactly how to humiliate me." And Lord only knew that teenagers knew how to do that better than anyone else on the planet. It was something in their DNA, he was sure, something that … admittedly, he had probably been good at, too, but he didn't need to think about his younger years. "No, I know you do, don't worry," he assured him with a grin, knowing that he would trust Benito with any tattoo idea that he came up with, more so than most any artist that he knew. And he had gotten to know quite a few. "Yeah, obviously," he laughed, sliding into his own chair and lifting up the menu, scanning the options. "To both the beer and the app, of course. What sounds good, app-wise? I mean besides everything, don't say everything."

"Where did you work before?" Candice asked taking a sip of her water. She nearly spit it out when Jace shared a couple of his craziest stories. She swallowed quickly so she wouldn't choke and began laughing. "Those stories are amazing. Please always tell them at parties." she grinned. "Who knew that the state park was an aphrodisiac. Do you think it's all the oxygen from the large amount of trees or mountain air that's having people feeling freaky?" Candice couldn't say she hadn't gotten down in a park before. Maybe the outdoors makes everyone a bit of an exhibitionist.

"Yellowstone, primarily. I subbed in a couple of times at Grand Teton when they needed extra help, or to do different kind of training, but most of my time was spent at Yellowstone National park." Truthfully, some of the happiest years of his life, often feeling a little bit like a dream come true, given that he had grown up not knowing whether or not he would ever be able to make that happen. The fact that he had, still blew his mind. "I will!" he replied with a grin, glad to have made her laugh at the stories before his nose scrunched up, "honestly? I think people just get really… adventurous." Which was putting it mildly, given what he ran into. "You know, they get out there in the middle of nowhere and think, 'we've never tried this before,' you feel like you're the only people in the whole wide world." A beat, "you know, until the park manager wanders by and completely ruins your fun."

That’s fair! I need a way to kickstart back into running. So you get the job of holding me accountable just in case I try to get out of it. Oh no, well, at least it was just one group right?

I'm really good at holding people to their word. And calling them at like, five in the morning and reminding them that they said they'd go out on a run... just warning you now! Yeah, thankfully. Most people in this town really are respectful of the basic rules of the park.

"Oh, yeah," Jason scrunched his nose, shaking his head. "That part wouldn't be so great." He didn't have anything against kids, per se. Knew that they weren't going to be a part of his life, granted, outside of his brother's children, but... "I can't hold it against them for enjoying a warm summer day, though." Jason felt a small, warm smile touch his lips at Jasper's suggestion, letting his head fall to a tilt, "think I could get behind that idea. Plenty of good views out there, so, yeah. Let's make that happen."

When Jason suddenly tracked down the coloured horses, Sabrina dashed around to the other side of the carousel, a bright smile appearing on her face. "Amazing!" she gushed with a laugh. "Lavender is definitely purple. One of my favourite kinds of purple, in fact. Works for me!" She flashed another grin and hopped on before someone else snagged the horse. "We're good with these."

Feeling satisfied with his find -- and the fact that lavender would, indeed, count as purple -- Jason dragged the back of his hand across his forehead in a teasing fashion as he hopped on his own horse, placing his feet into the wide stirrups, one hand gripping the golden pole. "Better these than finding ourselves standing on the carousel while it goes around and around," trying desperately to hold on to something, anything, so that they didn't fall off, "or worse, ending up in one of the carriage seats." They weren't very fun at all. These, though, would be good.

JJ could not help the laugh that escaped his lips upon hearing Jason's question, to which he responded with a rather playful eye roll. "Fair point." He shook his head, continuing to grab a few more punnets of blueberries and placing them in his basket. "Well, it depends. Sometimes, I make her blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Other times, I give her some blueberries with Greek yogurt for her snack. She also loves having them as a sweet treat with her lunch and dinner. It's not like I deprive her of blueberries, but lately... She likes to up walk to the fridge and point at it, asking for 'bubba', as she calls it. She doesn't take no for an answer, so I wanted to have them on stock, maybe even freeze them so that I can have them year-round. It seems like she could never have too much, and you know I can't say no to her. So, here I am."

Blueberries were right in line with lobster and fresh fish, Jason thought that if someone didn't like those things, they might have moved into the wrong town -- especially given the proximity of the marina and the large farm that they had right there in town. But, he supposed, there were always outliers who were allergic or just not so much into it. "Could be worse, right? She could be addicted to cookies," he paused, reaching for a small basket of sour cherries, placing them into his own basket, "although I guess you could kill two birds with one stone there and make some sort of blueberry cookies? I remember being the world's most disappointed kid when I'd grab a chocolate chip cookie only to have it end up being oatmeal raisin or something with fruits in it, though, might have to watch for that."

STATUS: CLOSED (@jaceeverett)

Whenever he had the chance, Jason liked to stock up the kitchen with fresh produce from the market. It was a good opportunity to give back to the local farmers, to make sure he had the freshest ingredients to cook with. And, of course, sometimes he could get a little snack for himself while he was out, too. An Italian sub was calling his name. "Judge you for buying blueberries? In Maine?" Jason asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice as he gave JJ a look. "In Merrock, in Maine?" for emphasis, given that one of the biggest blueberry farms in the area was right in their little town. "I'd be more worried if you told me that blueberries weren't an important part of her diet. Does she just eat 'em, or do you find fun ways to cook with them?"

Lottie laughed a little, "She knows she never gets this much at home which is probably why she keeps asking for it. I will have to cut her off soon." She shock her head for a moment as she tried to keep Maisy close by because if her daughter had it her way, she would be running off to any where she could. She laughed, "Oh of course, it's the only way. I taught Maisy it last year when she understood a bit more and she knows she has to do it now." She giggled as she paid for three tickets for the train ride to the person working there.

Making a soft 'tsk' sound with his tongue, Jason shook his head and shot Lottie a teasing look, "buzz kill." But he also completely understood the need to say no more sugar after a while -- otherwise, someone was going to end up bouncing off the walls, hyper as all get out, and that really didn't do anything to help the situation at hand. "I sometimes have to cut myself off, but mostly when it comes to coffee, so I get it. Couple cups of that in a day, and I'm a whole different person," probably not someone he wanted to be. "Ah, good! Then she's on the right path, we can trust her on the train," he laughed, looking over at Lottie with a grateful smile when she paid for his way, making note to do something special for her and her daughter when they finished. "You want to pick out our seats, Maisy?"

Ben found himself grinning at his friend's laughter, loving that he was able to make him feel comfortable enough to laugh like that. Ben dramatically made a face and shrugged. "I mean, my ma thinks I'm pretty funny." He joked again. It was normal for Ben to be in causal clothes as well, so he agreed with his friend. "I wouldn't have cared, but we probably would have got some looks, for sure." He muttered then gave a half smile to Jace. "I guess we could have ordered it to go though." Ben watched his friend pull his phone out and laughed at how Jace had not checked the message before now. "Hey, I get that." Ben said, considering if he was tattooing he was definitely not on his phone for hours at times. "Oof, yeah, long day deserves a nice steak." He simply concluded. Ben followed along with Jace as they walked towards Overlook's front entrance. "Sounds awesome, dude. I'm sure you're keeping everything in line, for sure. I need to get down there for another hike again soon. But, yeah, work has been occupying my time lately. Especially now that summer is in full swing. I stay pretty booked, which is really not something I can complain about. I like making money."

"That's because she's your mother, she has to find you funny," he said without missing a beat, even while knowing without any hesitation that his own mother would never find him humorous. And honestly, Jason was okay with that. He had long ago given up on the idea of needing his parents' approval for pretty much anything. Letting out a low laugh, Jason reached a hand up to push through his recently-shorn locks, already desperate for the cold months when he could really live up to that mountain man name, go all in on a beard and long hair, sweaters and boots, not worry about appearances. Slow and steady, though. He knew to enjoy each season whil they had it. As they headed towards the front door together, he couldn't help but to laugh, "what, you want me to eat my nice steak dinner in the car, afraid that I'll be too much of an embarrassment to go inside?" Which actually, might have been a good idea. But he could behave himself long enough to have a meal. "It's a good time of year for it, but… I think every time of year is good for a hike," and for the most part, it was. Given that there were always good things to see, and the trails were well taken care of. "Like making money and permanently scarring people, right?" although that part was asked with a grin, given that Jason himself was a pretty big fan of tattoos, as evidenced by how much of his body -- albeit discretely when fully dressed -- was covered with them. "Cool to eat on the patio?" he asked, though he didn't need to wait for an answer as he told the hostess and started following her out to a table.

"Well I got one can say thank you for your service," he quipped back before clapping him on the back gently. Bradley had to hand it to those who braved getting in the tank, both because of the dunking part and the embarrassment part. But it was all in good fun. Grabbing his stomach, he nodded and playfully let out a groan, "Yeah. And I had a very light dinner last night and breakfast this morning because I knew how much good food there'd be. And for sure, ending the day on a high note with some ice cream is the way to go." He grinned before see sawing his head a bit, "I'm definitely thinking a hot dog and maybe a burger. And then maybe some fries. See how I feel you know?" He didn't want to overdo it right out of the gate. "I'm doing really good," he replied and strode next to Jason, "how about you?"

"First time someone's thanked me for service that included a dunk tank, anyway," Jason said, a hint of amusement to his voice. Normally, it had to do with his military service, but it was nice to be thanked for the fact that he was willing to get soaking wet in a dunk tank. "Better to save room for it than come here already full and not be able to eat anything at all," which was pretty much the worst feeling in the world -- everyone just wanted good food, that was how it worked. It just so happened that there was too much good food to choose from. Although, Jason knew if there were limited selections, that would be disappointing in a whole different way. "Go with the flow, or... go with what your stomach is telling you, I guess. Either works. But good, I'm glad to hear it," he nodded his head, "things are good, work is busy, but that just means people are coming to the park, so I won't complain."

Location: Overlook, Rural Countryside Who: @jaceeverett

Jason's eyes widened as Benito complimented the way that he dressed, unable to hold back a laugh as he threw his arms out to the sides, "considering we're practically in the same outfit, you're honestly hilarious." If Jason wasn't in khakis or his ranger uniform, he was in a t-shirt and jeans, although that particular day, he had opted for a slightly cleaner than normal pair of boots to complete the look, maybe that elevated him... a tiny bit. "You're lucky I didn't show up in dirty, sweaty work clothes, bud." At the mention of his message, Jason reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, flicking the screen to life and letting out a fumbling laugh, "I mean, I did now. Admittedly, I haven't checked my phone in a little bit, but. Steak does sound kind of good right now, it was a really long day, and I could eat," which meant that a salad wasn't going to do the job. He gestured for Ben to follow him as he started towards the restaurant and nodded his head. "Good, I've been good, keeping busy at the park since they promoted me to manager, which has been fun. How about you? Getting a lot of summer tattoo traffic at the shop?"

Cori simply shook her head, rolling her eyes at hearing the 'you better'. "Practice shot! That was a practice shot! I just need a little warming up!" Whether Cori was trying to convince herself, those watching, or Jason wasn't clear. However, the self pep talk seemed to work as Cori returned to a throwing stance, calling out, "get ready to get wet!" A couple of deep breaths later, Cori threw the ball, hitting the bullseye. "Hell yeah!" Cori's arms flew up in triumph as she watched Jace sink into the tank.

"Uh-huh!" she shouted back, a low laugh in his throat. But he knew better than to tease, knew that it would only end up riling her up. Jason had known Cori far too long to ever believe that he wasn't going to end up in that tank, and that he would deserve it a little bit, too. Narrowing his eyes, he opened his mouth to say something back before she released the shot and the ball hid the bull's eye, feeling the seat beneath him give way as he plunged into the cold water. He accepted defeat for a moment, before pushing himself back up and letting out a sputtering laugh, climbing out of the tank and shaking himself off like a dog. "Damn, Cori!"

"I try, and sometimes I think that's all we can do." She smiled and looked over at Jason. She didn't always do everything right, but she tried to be a figure in Finley's life that would teach him as much as she could. There were times where she needed help and relied on her friends and neighbors, but it was always best to go to someone she trusted when she needed another hand. "I'd hate for that too. You'd have to look my mother in the eye and explain to her why the family home is no longer in the family." She teased and took a sip of her drink.

"Finley's a happy kid," he offered after a moment. Jason didn't know much about parenthood, outside of what he saw his brother do with his kids. It wasn't like they had good parents at home to learn from -- back then, or now -- and that meant that everything that he learned came from the world around him. "Sometimes, I think that's the biggest battle. Just making sure that they're happy and healthy and in a good place, and he is." Any time that Jason saw Allison and her son out together, she knew how much she cared about him, how good he had it just by having her as a mother. "Ouch," he said with a laugh, pressing a hand over his heart, "bringing out your mother for a guilt trip like that? Absolute low blow."

For sure! I’ll let you know! Ha, well I can tell you that every year we have at least one. Mostly people being a bit too ambitious. Nothing too serious has happened, thank goodness. Just minor things. And then the week after too with the leftover fireworks if they don’t use them all.

As long as you don't occasionally mind me moaning about my knee, we should work it out pretty well with a good run now and then. I figured as much -- I worked the overnight shift after the fireworks in town, just to make sure no one camping tried anything they shouldn't, and we did catch a couple of people with fireworks, I had to be the party pooper.