the soul searcher.

Jasper did as he was instructed, trying to change his voice pitch enough to indicate different characters that were not the queen. As they went through the page, Jasper's gaze lifted to meet that of her own when they finished. "Yeah, doubtful." Jasper's lips parted as half a chuckle fell over them and he lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "I won't turn down a drink." He formed a crease between his brows at the way he said it but said nothing else for a beat. It was the drugs he had a problem with. "I'm Jasper." He introduced himself after that passing beat. @cheyennehoffmann

The eye contact from the man that had once shared a part of her heart was enough to send chills down Marin's back on a normal day. Today, though, it was just enough for her to be that much more annoyed at his presence there even if he was the one refilling her glass. Tossing her head back, she let the glass hit the counter top a little more aggressively than she'd meant, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. "Yeah, these." she answered, shifting so she could attempt to lift her leg over the bar top to show him her feet, the very ones that had carried her here and would carry her home too. "You offering?" @jasperxsinclair

Jasper took the glass after she found it necessary to let it hit the bar top rather aggressively. He placed it in the rack where the rest of the dirty glasses were, glancing up to see that she had lifted a leg overtop the bar. "Jesus, Marin." He grumbled, shaking his head. "C'mon," he paid her tab on the computer, not bothering to actually take money from Marin in this state. "I will take you back to your place." Jasper told her, hoping that she didn't fight him on it. Though, it wouldn't come as a surprise to Jasper. @marincole

"In the off chance I planned something for our thirty seventh birthday." Haven paused, eyes rose as she looked at her brother. "Something like a dinner, maybe a night on the town." she paused. "Would you hate that?" she questioned, thankful to be in a position in their lives again where they could celebrate their birthdays together. "I was thinking maybe if you were up to it we could do karaoke or something. I don't think I've done that since college and it sounds like it would be fun to do it with my twin." she shrugged. "Only if you want."

Jasper's gaze shifted to meet that of his twin sister as she brought up their upcoming birthday. The corners of his lips pulled into a faint smile at the thought of them doing something together. "I wouldn't hate it." Jasper couldn't imagine he would be the most comfortable on stage, doing karaoke. Yet, if it was what Haven wanted to do, who was Jasper to say no. "I don't know if you remember quite how terrible my singing voice is, though." Jasper added with a lighthearted chuckle. @havenhawthorne

"Been almost two years for me." Jasper said, a hint of pride threaded in his words. Honestly, had it not been for that single social media post that he had seen from Noah, he might not have ever tried to get clean again. He had previous attempts, but ones that had failed him when he was put back on the streets and the right or rather, wrong people got ahold of him again. "I still like going." Jasper said quietly, before returning the other's smile. "But, I've been good, yeah. Stayin' busy with work and doin' some work around the house for landlord. What've you been up to, then?" @riverxjackson

Jasper was taken back by her rushing over to him, her hand brushing against his arm. As icy as she had been when he messed up her line reading, she had practically flipped the script now that he was offering to help. "Okay," he nodded his head, looking to the top of the page on the script she held. He didn't memorize anything while looking at it, but he wanted to get a feel of the scene first. "Is this the one you want to start with?" He asked after reading over the page, gaze flickering to her. "Or was there something else?" Jasper didn't want to make any assumptions. @cheyennehoffmann

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Marin asked, a raise of her own brow as she looked at the male. Marin never claimed to be someone that could let go of her past, clearly she'd been holding onto how miserable losing Jasper in their past had been. It was the biggest reason she'd made it her own personal mission to keep ruining his life. Or at least his day; she couldn't promise that she made as much of an impact on him as he'd had on her in the end. "You have no right to question what kind of shit I'm still holding onto." she paused, lifting the glass he'd placed in front of her to her lips and pouring it back in a couple of large gulps. not breaking eye contact. @jasperxsinclair

The words shot back at him from Marin hadn't come as a surprise. Her level of alcohol intake had him knowing the kind of reactions he'd be getting from her. Though, they hadn't always been this way. "Alright." Jasper said, his own personal admittance of defeat as she took large gulps of her drink in front of him. He didn't break eye contact with her either, not until she was finished. "Do you have a way of gettin' home?" Jasper asked, knowing that it was getting close to closing time as another patron slid their cash across the bar to him. @marincole

Jasper stood where he had stopped, taking a look around. Now that she had said what she was doing aloud, he could see how that made sense but before, it hadn't exactly. He had never met anyone running lines in the park before. The complaints falling from her caused him to thin his lips. "Sorry," Jasper apologized, not even fully understanding why he was doing so, but it felt like the best start. "I can, uh, help if you want? Since I interrupted in the first place." @cheyennehoffmann

"Can't say it's the first time I've heard that." Marin spoke, eyes shifting from Jasper to the pile of napkins that had been placed in front of her. She were sure from the outside looking in, all people could see was Marin being an absolutely menace, and she had to admit bothering Jasper was her favorite pastime. Mostly for the sole reason that a small part of her felt like that was the only she could get back at him from the hurt he'd caused her years ago. It wasn't fair to hold a grudge, but Marin didn't find life very fair. It was only once she'd taken a napkin from the counter and dabbed at her jeans, drying the spill when she looked back up at him. Something in her eyes shifted, some might even argue it was pain, but Marin would never admit to that. "Life feels a lot less miserable when you stop holding onto shit, you know." she spoke, as if she had any room to talk. That girl had been holding onto pain for thirty seven years. @jasperxsinclair

Jasper looked to Marin, brows raising at her. "Yeah, you know that from experience, or?" He answered before shaking his head. He had his own demons to battle, none of which were any business of Marin but from the words that fell from her lips, he knew that she had not given up holding onto anything either. So, his question was more to goad her than anything as she had been doing to him since the moment she sat down at the bar. Which, a quick glance at the clock told him had not been that long at all. He silently cursed to himself, knowing that the rest of his shift was going to drag on as long as Marin was sitting before him. @marincole

"Depends on who you ask." Haven laughed. "I was that way for sure, and I'm sure Noah would say the same thing, as do you." she paused. "But Lake on the other hand if it were up to him would have the same diet he'd had as a toddler." Though, she were proud that he'd eaten a little healthier through the years with his diabetes diagnosis. As he stated that he'd bring Jesse, JJ on Haven's hip she placed him in the highchair, encouraging Jasper to follow suit. "We should probably feed them while they cook." she paused. "What do you want to do? Cook for the adults or watch the toddlers to make sure they don't choke or inhale their food in five minutes which JJ seems to be good at?" she paused. "That probably made the latter sound rather unpleasing." she laughed. "Maybe you should cook? But if you're not up for doing it I won't complain if you want to sit with your nephews." @jasperxsinclair

Jasper set his nephew into the highchair, following suit as Haven as gestured. The young boy gave him a smile as he stepped back and his heart flipped happily. As Haven spoke, he looked to his twin and let out a huff of laughter. "Yeah, you really sold me on that." He joked with her, shaking his head. "I don't mind cooking." Though, Jasper wasn't sure what the right answer was for his sister. He hoped that she wouldn't give him a choice if she had a preference. However, Jasper imagined that she did both cooking and feeding her sons a lot, so he didn't know which one would give her more reprieve. "I'm happy to help however you need." @havenhawthorne

"Well then how can you say such a thing, I want you to get married, how many times have I said to you I want you to get married." Cheyenne read her lines out loud in the park. The script for Once Upon a Mattress was in her hands and she paced the grass as she read off and tried different ways to say them. "I mean we're not exactly the oldest people in the world but on the other hand we're not going to live forever and I would just feel much better, much easier, and much more relaxed in my mind if I knew that that boy were married, settled and set and that's absolutely verbatim, exactly what I said to your father this morning." She spoke before looking as someone was walking by. Going over to them, she continued. "You are a prince, and you must marry someone suitable, someone who's good enough, smart enough, and fine enough for my good, nice, sweet, beautiful baby boy."

Jasper wandered through Kismet Harbor Park after his morning shift at Coastal Haven. The sun was shining overhead and while he was beginning to warm in his t-shirt and shorts. Jasper was looking ahead, only stopping when a woman approached him. Nonsense, at least to him, spilled from her lips and it caused him to stop in his tracks. Jasper rose his brows before furrowing them toward his nose. "Uh, what?" He questioned, "I think -" he paused, "I think you've mistaken me with someone else?" @cheyennehoffmann

Marin was far too wasted at this point to see the way that Jasper's jaw seemed to tighten as he realized her presence. Something she'd have teased him about a few years ago, but definitely would've hurt her feelings today. Maybe that was her own fault for allowing herself to get so caught up in someone that had tried to tell her from the beginning his intentions, yet, the sting of Maddox Cage leaving hadn't hurt any less. Thus why she was indulging in alcohol to this extremity. Eyes brightly watching as Jasper brought her a drink without her even having to tell him what she were drinking. Something she wouldn't have had to question if she'd been sober minded, but, right now her head was too foggy to think about the fact he'd just looked it up on her tab. With the drink now in front of her, Marin pushed the empty glass towards the other, lifting the more full one in her other hand, spilling a little as she'd decided using her non dominate hand in this moment was smart. The liquid landed on her lap, which caused her to smirk, looking up at the other again. "Nope, looks like you still know how to get me wet, so, that's all, for now." she stated, causing a snicker from one of the girls next to her as she took another sip of the glass in her hand. "Oh, maybe smile a little more, Jaz. Yours was always one of my favorites." @jasperxsinclair

His fingers curled around the empty glass, preparing himself to step away from the train wreck that was likely occurring before him when she spilled her beer. He grunted, reaching for some napkins when her words caused him to pause. There would have been a time in which those comments would have made him laugh, or for him to say something witty in return. Tonight all it did was make his shoulders tense. "Jesus Christ, Marin." The words were filled with more exhaustion rather than irritation. He placed the napkins before her and at the mention of his smile, his expression shifted. He wasn't hurt. He wasn't anger. It felt more complicated than all that. "Yeah, well, maybe it doesn't come around as easy as it used to." @marincole