Tangled Affairs IC

OOC

Newport, a harbour town giving to the Atlantic ocean was a quiet town where fishing and shipping were the primary source of revenue. Some artist and engineer also took this place for a home but were struggling at best, making the town notoriety nonexistent. The town had a wide variety of lodging however, from the decrepit to the lovely beach resort a little way from the gentle activity of the town.

The Starfish Festival, a charming little event that was hosted by a different town of the region each year was about to begin in the very town of Newport and filled the townspeople with cheer as it was always good business to host a festival such as this one. Every able young men and women was asked to either cook a fish meal, gather ingredients or again take up art and craft to make merchandise to sell when the event would start in a few days. Robots and even an android or two were hard at work fishing and gathering seashells on the order of their owners.

These day would bring together many a live in the town, and a certain band of lodgers in the seediest part of town would become the closest of them all...

Rina was a writer, not a chef, and so she really didn't have that much faith in herself being able to make a dish that people would actually eat. That being said, she couldn't fish either, so it seemed as though she was going to be stuck cooking. This can't be that hard she mused, skimming through a cookbook before eying the rather formidable stack sitting on the table before her. Right... this would be easy. I must be overthinking this she thought, getting up and going over to the window in the living room, looking out at the city before her. It wasn't the best of neighborhoods or else she would have gone out and sat on the steps or a nearby bench, but as it was Rina had a feeling she would probably get mugged or worse...

Swiftly pulling her mind away from that train of thought because it only ended badly, Rina glanced at the table again and sighed. Regardless of whether or not it was safe she needed to get away from all the books and the cramped confines of her apartment. So Rina grabbed her keys off the table and headed out the door, locking it safely behind her before heading down the hall, realizing too late that she was still carrying the book she had been holding originally. Oops she thought, glancing back at her door and then shaking her head slightly. No, might as well take it with her. Perhaps she could get some pointers from someone or something like that. Right... like she'd be able to ask anyone for help as shy as she was! Rina smiled slightly to herself as she continued down the hall, having absolutely no idea where she was headed.

"Loki! No… Let go!"

Mirabelle let out a surprised yelp as the string of seashells she was trying to get out of her puppys clutches broke, causing shells to scatter all over her living room floor. "Loki...." She let out a frustrated moan, her lips pursing into a defeated pout. She glared accusingly at the four month old chocolate Labrador who decided to take a seat on the mess, his tongue rolling out in a comical expression. Mira tried to maintain her angry scowl but couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corner of her lips. She scooped Loki up and placed a kiss on his muzzle before setting him on the couch so she can clean up the mess.

The Starfish Festival was rapidly approaching and the entire town was abuzz with excitement. When she first found out about the festival, Mirabelle was equally as excited, especially when she was asked to participate. That excitement soon grew to frustration when Mira realized she couldn’t cook for the life of her. She had burnt her first two dishes, and nearly set her little kitchen on fire with her third dish before deciding to try something less… hazardous. She had spent hours the day before collecting shells, trying to find the pretty and shapely ones so she can make bracelets or rings to sell on the day of the festival. Now, they were all on the floor, cracked or broken.

“Come on Loki. Let’s go for a walk.”

Back to the waterfront she goes. Grabbing the leash, she hooked it on to Loki’s collar before grabbing her purse and keys and heading out the door. The minute she locked the door behind her, Loki began barking excitedly.

Mordred had lived in the region long enough to have visited a few Starfish Festivals, but this was the first year that he had been an official resident of the hosting town. Official, that is, as of yesterday. He had just moved his meager collection of possessions into a slightly less meager apartment the day before. He had sat on the fire escape and had a bitter-sweet drink by himself, and awakened the next morning to find a flyer that had been slipped under his door, asking the help of the local residents with the upcoming tourist trap.

Well, Mordred hardly had anything to offer, so he decided to go down to the beach and see what others were doing. He stood at the edge of the sand, looking out at the milling people. The whole town was busier than usual, but the beach was especially crowded. Today, before the festival started, it was mostly locals who were suddenly more interested in the ocean than normal. In a few days everything would be even worse, the town packed to the brim with out-of-towners, venders, and maybe even a few European or Asian tourists.

Mordred looked on, hands in worn jean pockets, trying to guess what people were even doing. Supposedly everyone was contributing in some way, but to him it looked like most of these folks were just playing in the sun. Collecting shells or mollusks, crabbing or fishing off the dock. There was even some guy carving a giant mound of sand into some kind of sculpture. All these people were doing things they liked, and those things just happened to be useful. What was some West Coast city guy supposed to do?

A blaring alarm clock greeted Dean as he awoke from the depths of sleep. He let out a loud groan as he absently tapped the top of the clock in order to silence it. Rubbing his eyes, he turned his vision towards the clock and let out another loud groan.

"Why am I doing this to myself again?" The clock was impassive as it shot back the time of 5:30am. "Right for the love of my family."

Getting out of his bed, he quickly maneuvered himself to the bathroom to ready himself for the rest of the day. After a quick shower and change of clothes, Dean took out a piece of bread from his cupboard and began to absently munch on it.

"I've got about thirty minutes or so to get to work, after my five hour shift I have to go work at the cafe for another five hours." Staring at his phone's calendar Dean let out a long sigh.

Stuffing the last of the bread into his mouth, Dean pulled his coat out his closet and tossed it on. "The sooner I start the day, the sooner it'll end."