#crescent:starter

Theme: Sanem & Alli’s wedding

Status: open to wedding guests

@crescentstarters​​

It had been the longest time since she’d attended a wedding and, it had been purely by chance that she had been asked to attend as a ‘plus one’ (the eye rolls she’d tossed to begin with) and with the availability of whatever open bar had been on offer, Grace had quite literally downed her weight in alcohol, which had never done her any good favors in the past. She’d already torn her dress, when it had gotten stuck on one of her heels when she’d first gone to the bathroom. Weddings, coupled with the free-flowing alcohol were never a great combination for Grace, so as she sat at the bar, her wedding date had gone off to mingle somewhere, she was left to cast around her resting-bitch face at the guests in attendance, until she could find some other form of amusement.

His eyes slid over the menu, eyes narrowing at the listed prices. It wasn’t astronomical by any sense of the word, but with no money coming in and eating out a necessity rather than a luxury at the moment, his bank account was suffering. And okay, maybe the drinking was a want rather than a need, but the socializing that came with it was not. Jackson was not made to be alone. So, he leaned into the person nearest him. “Hypothetically, if I were new to town and living my best broke bitch life, what would you say is good here?”

“As far as Instagram is concerned, I’m currently on a juice cleanse, but if I don’t get a burrito or a pizza or something full of grease and cheese in the next hour, I don’t think I can be held accountable for my actions anymore…”

As the frigid weather began to recede, leaving behind promises of spring, Nate found himself out here more and more often. He’d always been drawn to the sea, to the brutality of it. The predictability of it. His pants legs were rolled up, feet buried in the sand, his favorite bottle of whiskey half gone and laying beside him. Smoke rose from the burning down cigarette between his fingers and his elbows rested against his knees. For one single moment, there was peace. 

It was the unmistakable sound of feet sinking into sand behind him and growing closer that shattered that illusion and found him groaning-- a rumble in his chest-- as he tossed a quick sidelong glance at the figure, shrouded in shadow and highlighted by what little moonlight peeked through the clouds. “This is a private beach,” he called, though it was halfhearted. It wasn’t the first wayward soul to stumble through and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. They never stopped to chat.

At least, Nate thought with a long-suffering sigh as the person grew closer still, they didn’t usually. Finally, slowly, he looked up again. “You lost?”

   Alexis loved her job, she wouldn’t trade it for the world if she was honest, but that didn’t mean it was easy on her. Growing a strong connection with people was always nice until they unfortunately left this earthly plane to move on to what was ahead, and it wore on the red head at times. Though she had gotten more and more used to it, today was rough and after leaving work, Lexi made her way to On The Rocks, a moody bar she had grown fond of since she had moved into Crescent Peak. The Bartender she had grown a good relationship with was thankfully around and she smiled. “What can I get for you tonight, beauty queen?” Lex smiled and sighed gently. “It’s been a long day, i’ll take a Makers old fashioned on the rocks, please. Keep a tab open.” Nodding their head, Lexi gave them her card and the bartender took it before they went to log it into the system and began making her drink before she finally looked down at her phone all day.     Lex felt someone sit not too far away from her and she looked up to acknowledge their presence. “Hey.” She said politely before received her old fashioned and took a breath of relief. “Hey, put their first drink on my tab too.” She held up her drink in cheers as she took her first sip. 

    ❛ Fuck you. ❜ Words press past a cigarette held tightly between his lips, one that he had just a moment ago attempted to light up inside the bar when the bartender quickly told him off. Of course he knew smoking inside was illegal but it didn’t stop him from fucking trying. After taking a sip of his sixth-- seventh? -- beer he’d had at the bar, Bash put the stick back between his lips and flicked the lighter again. The bartender jerked his head at the sound to glare at him and Bash mocked the expression BEFORE rolling his eyes. Then suddenly; a hand on his shoulder. A fucking bouncer. Life was ironic, wasn’t it? Not that he had previously worked at On the Rocks but still, he’d done exactly what this guy was trying to do to him. 

His nephew Donovan had apparently come down with a cold, so to keep the kids from cross-contaminating, his sister-in-law had asked Lachlan to take Ava for the afternoon. He didn’t mind - for a five year old, his niece was surprisingly good company. Later, he’d use her as an excuse to get ice cream and eat chicken nuggets for dinner, but for now, they decided to go to the art store and pick up some crafts that would last them a couple hours. 

“What about this one, Avs?” he asked, picking up a Sew Your Own Unicorn Pillow kit and looking over his shoulder to consult... no one. “Ava?” The kid had wandered off... 

He turned the corner to the next aisle - not quite panicked, but getting close - only to spot the little girl had struck up conversation with someone. He sighed in relief before approaching. 

“Ava, kid, you gotta stay in my eyesight. Your mom would kill me... Sorry, was she bothering you?” He directly this question to the other, who might not find the girl’s company quite as charming as he did.