Turtle Bay Starters

Around him, the venue buzzed with conversation and nervous laughter. People seemed eager. Hopeful. Some already looked as though they were collecting stories to tell later. Toni simply looked like a man who had wandered in by accident. With his sleeves rolled to his forearms and a smile that came easily despite himself, he settled into his assigned seat and took a sip of his bourbon. The amber liquid burned pleasantly on the way down. Not bad. A lot smoother than this evening was likely to be.

His gaze drifted toward the entrance as another participant arrived. For a moment, he considered making a strategic retreat. He had twins at home. A perfectly valid excuse. Nobody would blame him. Instead, he exhaled a quiet laugh and remained where he was. If he could handle twin infants, a five-year-old with endless questions, and a leaking roof all in the same week, he could survive a few awkward conversations. Probably.

When the chair opposite him finally scraped against the floor, Toni glanced up, offering the familiar smile that had welcomed countless guests through the doors of his B&B. "Well," he said, lifting his glass slightly. "I suppose we're both committed now."

Who: open( @turtlebay-starters)

Emma had arrived to town in the beginning of the school year and hadn't had the time to actually do any exploring, with school and getting to know everyone on there, decorate her new place and the coffee shop next to her house, she didn't know much of it. It was kinda of a normal thing, she had never been the type to have lots of friends, even growing up. So right now she was casually seated at one of the restaurant's table, with her glass of wine and waiting for her food to arrive as she either looked outside or down at her phone, texting her family group pics she had been taking from the town she was setting on for the next semester. Emma never realised someone approaching until they spoke to her.

Clayton's 1971 Ford rumbled to a stop outside his daughter's old apartment building. It was the only place in town he knew how to get to from memory. He stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking for any sign that he was close to where he needed to be. "Excuse me, can you point me in the direction of the," his nose twitched. Evie still had him wrapped around her finger. "The um, doggy daycare?"

To say it had been a long and stressful week would be an unfortunate understatement. Normally, Grace simply kept a pack of cigarettes in the bottom of her purse as a vice or security blanket of sorts. There were times when temptation managed to get the better of her, though, and at that particular moment, her resolve had faded all too fast.

“If you’re here to lecture me on what a horrible habit this is and how I should quit, you’re wasting your breath.”

Aaliyah had her sunhat on as she set up her chair on top of the sand. She had a small cooler with some beverages in it and set it in the sand so that she could set up the umbrella that she had brought with her to provide a bit of shade. She leaned down and was trying to get the umbrella in the sand but there was clearly a struggle. She grunted to herself as she was becoming frustrated, even though it wasn't that big of a deal. "This thing is stupid." She said as she just let go of the umbrella and plopped down into her lounge chair, but not lounging at all.

Location: Downtown Art Gallery.

Location: Founders Festival. (Area for Music and Dancing.)

Who: Ava McPhearson & --- ??

The Where: The Carnival.

"Are you looking for this?" Ava asked as she leaned against the side of a booth. Holding up the person's water bottle, as she held it out she half smiled. "I thought I saw you leave this, but I wasn't sure until I saw you looking around for it." Ava shrugged her shoulders and handed it over. "Do you like carnivals? or are you just here because someone asked you to be?" she was here alone, and she knew quite a few of the people, and she had sworn she knew this person as well, but couldn't quite place why or how. "Oh!" She said with a small smack to her forehead. "I'm Ava, by the way! Do I know you from somewhere?"

With still being new to Turtle Bay, Angie had decided to spend a lot of time people watching. She wanted to get to know her new community, not just ot the happy good person welcoming facades people would turn on for small talk. Angie found a pretty good spot near the food trucks and other vendors. The scents and employee chatter quickly became inspiring. Catching the eye of someone in a line, she smiled a bit awkwardly. "I think I heard these guys say something about not having a working fountain drink machine today, if that helps you choose what to get."

Where: Turtle Bay Founders Event - Dunk a Founder

The Whom: Christopher Sanders & ??

"Come on, who is going to actually dunk me?" Chris teased lightly with a grin on his lips. "No one has had any luck so far." He had volunteered to have the last spot of the Sanders. Honestly he didn't mind it at all. "What about you? You think you got the skills?" He questioned the person walking by. "It is totally for a good cause."

The phone call had ended so abruptly that Adam thought he'd hung up by mistake. He tore his phone away from his ear, stared incredulously down at the flashing 'call ended' on screen, and thought expressly, about throwing his cell into the ocean, if only it mean he'd never have to hear from that pompous piece of shit media executive ever gain.

"Fuckin' asshole-" he mumbled into the lip of his take away coffee cup, fiddling absently with the cigarette tucked behind his left ear.

It was only then he realised he had come to a stock still stop in front of a church. Scowling, Adam pursed his lips and stared up at the sun blotting cross on top of the spire, adjusting his sunnies as to not blind himself. Technically he was Catholic, though very severely lapsed.

"-think if I ask God super nicely he's smote someone for me?" Adam glanced at the random person beside him "-they're a multi-millionaire so like, it's not like they're a real person anyway."

Location: Outside at the Downtown Coffee House.

Location: At the Farmer's Market.

The Who: Freya Sanders && --- ?

The Where: Ringside Punch.

Freya had just gotten done with training, sweaty and wiping her face down with a towel as she half smiled. "I can feel you staring, and you don't even have to breathe for me to know you're there." She said, looking over towards the door after a few moments of actual silence and her face and arms weren't sweaty anymore, as well as the towel was now down out of her hands. "What can I do for you today?" she asked the person standing in her doorway. "I'm done for the day, but we can set something up, or..." she trailed off, giving the other person time to speak as well.

The Who: Jersey Hopkins && ----?

The Where: Oceanside Park.

Jersey had felt like it had been a long day - when in reality it had just been a long morning and she wanted to relax. She'd gotten all of her to-do list done and was now sitting on the play-structure at the park. Just far enough away from the slide that if any kids, or anyone else wanted to slide down they could, but she was just letting one leg dangle off the edge as she scrolled her phone for a bit before she heard someone speak, and realized she wasn't the only one there anymore. "Oh, hi." she said softly, looking over at them. "Am I in the way? I tried not to be in the way..." Jersey made sure to slide down off the structure and step to the side, looking over at them still.

Emmie moved like a bride down the aisle, every few steps she greeted guests with a warm smile and a 'thanks for coming.' She threw up her hand in a wave a few times, her other hand tightly wrapped around a glass. Her cheeks ached from carrying the big grin. She just needed a few seconds. Looking over her shoulder before ducking inside the little shed/barn feet away. Emmie gasped and jumped back after she bumped into a person. "Holy fu - you scared me!"