Kei listened intently as the female named Marlin spoke, and as for the guy, before giving any sort of name he called Kei out for being presumptuous. Honestly he was right for all Kei knows maybe they were trying to get the attention of someone else in the Old Starboard. It wasn't long after that though that the male of finally introduced himself as Ren. Kei smiled and nodded, as he went to open his mouth and apologize for being presumptuous about the stares, Red stood from his seat looking a bit uncomfortable and excused himself to the bathroom. As such Kei didn't get to apologize or say anything at all to the male rather. Now it was just down to Marlin and Kei.

It was during this time that another patron had come into the store but, Kei did not pay much attention to the other customer. After a brief second of silence, Kei looked towards Marlin and began to speak.

「Well as Ren said before excusing himself, I was definitely being presumptuous and as such I wanted to apologize for being that way. As such there is no reason to be apologizing for anything as in all technicality you could've been just staring into space that coincidentally was in my same direction.」

After taking another small sip of his now diluted rum and coke, he coughed slightly to clear his throat.

「Anyway as you were mentioning about the pool, I definitely did see you there earlier today, while brief, I did see you. Is going to the sports facility a part of your daily routine? Thinking back I have seen you there other times besides today. Sorry if I am being a little nosy, no obligation to answer by the way.」

Kei didn't realize but he was starting to become a blabber mouth, he was just going on and on about something he really had no business knowing about. Not only that it was starting to make him sound a little creepy. In his mind he had come to realize this and as such he was starting to become a little embarrassed of himself. He let out a small laugh trying his best to mitigate any awkwardness between the two of them.

@Furiosa@PrinceAlexus

Noting Ren was somewhat showing signs of having a few, not too many and still sobre ernough to function though the roads might not be very safe of he was driving. There was somthing strange about him though Marilania could not put her finger on it.

He seemed about to say something then came the outburst. A sudden dash to the toilets, definitely somthing up there though she had known him all of 5 minutes and be very rude to pry.

"sure. Il watch your books"

The other man had arrived, thr bar seemed to be friendly and the alcohol had rather a handy effect to make people less awkward even though she was stuck on tea and the non alcoholics.

The guy seemed to ramble alot, what was it with this place and men tripping over there own tongues, not like she was wearing anything provocative. Pink track top, skirt, boots, coat folded neatly next get bags and pair of aviators on the table. Vintage from the 50's and thr kind you saw in a old WW2 movie.

Smiling slightly, the rambling was not crazy rambling at least.


"well I kinda was looking at you.. I was not sure if you where someone I knew from anchorage"

That was a lie, but it might cover for the staring, and maybe make her seem less like she was stalking him. Hardly a good way to meet someone in any capacity. Anchorage. The English accent was always fun to have at times.

The pool, OK.. No worries there, they both where being about as low key creepy as the other. This was a rather diffrent day than Marinalia had planned.

"yeah... I'm a regular if life let's me, rota work and all. Try to get a few km in before things get too busy with all the kids.

I used to swim competive until I had some bad luck with a injury"

Injury, yeah knife wound to the gut but that rather put people on edge, questions and all. Injury, one no one ever saw, bar a few lovers and family she had pained to hide that one for years.

"So, apart from awkward bar meetings. What's your thing?"

@Robo27
@Furiosa
@aladdin_sane

Upon hearing her admit to looking at him, he felt a bit of the awkwardness in his mind go away, he felt a little better about approaching her. He still did not want to come off as a creeper though so he kept as collected as possible. After taking yet another sip from his drink, he finally finished it off, ice and all, considering the ice just melted away. He placed the cup down on the table and with a light cling sound he then slid the cup away from the two of them. After being preoccupied with his cup for a good five seconds he finally looked at the girl as she spoke to him again. She had mentioned how she thought Kei possibly looked like someone from Anchorage. He let out a very friendly small laugh and began to speak.

「Ahaha, that clears everything up then, well I am sorry that I was not the person from Anchorage.」

He let on a friendly smile as she began to mention the sports facility and how she used to be a competitive swimmer.

「Hey I feel the same way, if life let's me I try my best to be at the gym everyday of the week. Just like you, though, sometimes life gets too busy. Also got to say, I could never imagine trying to swim competitively, I can swim but I completely suck at it when it comes to speed and form. Maybe you can teach me sometime?」
His eyes went wide for a very brief second, he felt that he said「 something that could be completely misunderstood, after all Kei was just trying to be friendly to someone he just met today, but not come onto her. He was deep in thought before she had asked him a question, at first he didn't catch the first half of it, but he immediately caught the tail end of the question.

「My thing huh?」

He really had to think about that for a second, how could he just openly go and tell her I am currently a student that day trades as his job and for side money deals small arms. That's not something everyone hears on a daily basis and nor is it something that people normally take part in when trying to be a good member of society. He ran his fingers through his hair and scratched his head for a brief moment.

「Well I am a student currently. I work from home, the pay is decent, I make enough to say that I am comfortable.」

Kei paused for a very brief second.

「Aside from that I honestly don't do anything else, I just kind of go about living life as the days come」

@PrinceAlexus

Time?, Place?

In his chemically altered state Sasha was in no position to avoid the collision and the eventual fall; had it not been for the thud and the sharp pain he would have barely even registered the back of his head slamming on the floor. It was by no means a graceful plummet. His vision went blurry and the petite man blacked out for a few seconds.

When he came to he wondered on how managed to end up on the floor and why his foot hurt; he also felt stupid, but that feeling stemmed from more from the fact that he was profoundly unaware of his surroundings than from colliding with someone. Some questions pushed to the forefront of his mind. Why was he at a what seemed from his vantage point to be a bar? Did he drink? Is he drunk? Is that why everything ached? Oh, no he was dying…was he killed in a bar? Why was he killed? Despite the cocaine fueled paranoia, Sahsa managed to calm himself by focusing on the known knowns. He was not dead or dying, it seemed he just literally ran into someone; perhaps he was very accident prone. His name was Sas…no it was Jocelyn… totally was Jocelyn as that name held some sort of intrinsic meaning to him. The expensive looking clutch suggested to Jocelyn that he must be pretty fashion forward to be walking around with a woman’s handbag. However, that coupled with the fact he felt strangely aroused by the beautiful stranger that collided with him spoke volumes about his sexuality; this was supported by a hazy memory of a polite Uber driver talking to him about the various homosexual establishments in the city earlier in the day. What a helpful service oriented individual that driver was, Jocelyn reminded himself to leave a positive review when he got the chance.

“I’ve heard about falling for a man, but this is ridiculous darling. I suppose most tend to buy me a drink first.”, said Jocelyn pushing the stray brown hair from his face as he shakily rose to his feet; his Russian accent more pronounced than normal as his inhibitions were quite low at this moment. Something felt off like he should be berating this man for his incompetence and demanding an apology, but Jocelyn dismissed it as he didn’t feel like he was that terrible of a person.

“Do forgive my clumsiness…I presume I can be quite the ditz when I am drinking. I truly am sorry.” After sanitizing his hands with some lotion found in his clutch he extended a now clean hand to attempt to help the handsome stranger up before blushing. “Oh, my gosh I do hope that you were not an online date or something. That would be really embarrassing. I would feel even more terrible then I already do. I hope I am not always this terrible at first impressions. I hate to sound forward, but before I make a larger fool of myself could you please clue me in if I should know you or not. It seems I took quite the bump to the back of the head and things are still quite hazy daisy."

Something still felt wrong, like he should be a lot more callous and spiteful then he was acting. His subconscious was yelling at him to sneer, but Jocelyn let out a slight smile instead.

@PrinceAlexus
@Robo27
@Furiosa

Ren could only roll over when the person underneath him tried to get up, groaning as he moved his head too fast.

“I’ve heard about falling for a man, but this is ridiculous darling. I suppose most tend to buy me a drink first.”

Falling… Right. Looking like a drunk fool Ren had not only awkwardly left Marlin and Kei, but now he’d made himself look like an even bigger asshole by physically attacking this woman in the bathroom. Or… man? If so, a very pretty one. This was Ren’s third encounter with a stranger today. Well, third times the charm, right? Ren looked at the person. They were quite tall for a woman, but very slender and no curves. Ren’s head hurt too much for this sort of puzzle right now. “Falling – Yeah, no I –” Luckily he didn’t need to finish his uncoherent sentence before the other man spoke again.

“Do forgive my clumsiness…I presume I can be quite the ditz when I am drinking. I truly am sorry.”

“Oh no, no. This is all on me. I – ahh.” Ren tried to get into a sitting position, but his body had other plans, so he ended up in a half slump against the wall. The wo… Man spoke quite formal as he pulled out his clutch – Maybe woman then? – and applied some liquid to his hands. On the other hand, Ren himself was wearing a so-called man-purse for his books, so… The person had shoulder length, brown hair and piercing blue eyes – although it was a bit difficult to see due to his dilated pupils and flickering gaze.

A hand was extended in front of Ren, and he wiped his own on his pants before grabbing it, steadying himself on the wall as well while standing up. He muttered a thank you under his breath. The slim man continued speaking, the words coming out a little too fast. All Ren could do was stare dumbfounded at the person in front of him.

“Oh, my gosh I do hope that you were not an online date or something. That would be really embarrassing. I would feel even more terrible then I already do. I hope I am not always this terrible at first impressions. I hate to sound forward, but before I make a larger fool of myself could you please clue me in if I should know you or not. It seems I took quite the bump to the back of the head and things are still quite hazy daisy."

“Date…? Know me… I, uh. I was here alone, but now there’s those two strangers and… Eh.” Ren scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know about any dates, sorry.” The words were coming out all wrong, and Ren cursed inwardly as he could feel a slight blush on his cheeks. His mouth was broken. That had to be the explanation for all this gibberish. Was this man mistaking him for somebody else? He had a tiny smile on his lips. Ren cleared his throat after staring a little too long, trying to compose himself before continuing.

“This was all my fault. I hope you are not hurt in any way. Let me buy you that drink you mentioned as an apology at the very least.” Taking a deep breath, Ren held the bathroom door open for the man, as they walked back into the venue. Leading the way to the booth where Marlin and Kei were still chatting awkwardly he could hear Kei talking.「I just kind of go about living life as the days come」 Ren sat down on the bench and scooted over, making room for the stranger. Marlin and Kei stopped talking and there were a few seconds of silence at the table. Eyes flittering about, awkward coughs or fidgeting with loose threads on shirt hems before Ren started. “I owe this guy a drink. Can I get you anything while I’m at it?” Ren had never been good at apologies, but he felt like this was a good way to start. Even though he wasn’t quite sure why he wanted to get on everybody’s good side today.

---

@aladdin_sane @PrinceAlexus @Robo27

---

Marilania smiled slightly. Swimming was one of the things that made her happy, where she felt at home no matter where she was and whichever country she always found a swimming pool. Life was always better when you had a hour to exercise and relax.

"aye. He was a flight engineer, we became friends on long night flights. Lost touch"

Then the awkward meter started beeping, was he hitting on her, great a guy seems friendly first thing he I after getting her skirt up and the sports jacket zip down. Or was he? Deciding that sarcasm might be a defense, maybe it might put Don Solarte back on the fridge.

Maybe other woman left there clothes on a bedroom floor without much of a fight, he would be sorely mistaken if he thought it would be that easy to pull off, or pull any clothes off that he did not own.

Eyes flashing a slightly cooler grey to make it clear she was not that easily seduced.

"well you swim faster than the others, its pretty simple. I'm not exactly the best teacher... Trust me."

Oh, so a student, stocks. Well that was abit more diffrent than scraping by on Raman and working in a shop, bar or one of sols many dive bars.

"Stocks, successful. Well then, no Raman dinners nightly then. Still not trade it for a office at 10,000 feet and some 54L supercharged radials."

Then the award came... So much awkward, by what god had cursed this late afternoon, a random guy who had a few too many, another wanting to lift her skirt and now one brought over who had a hand bag... A hand bag that was more expensive than hers.. Jealous... It was a nice bag.

Was the guy... Into guys,... Or what. This was a very strange afternoon.
Maybe that was why he was so awkward and ran off to bathroom?

"hey, so you made a friend then? I did not manage to walk into a date did I...?,"

Cringing slightly embarrassed, things where getting strange, no alarm bells but certainly cringe bells. Maybe a drink order might delay them.

"oh, Im on soft tonight. I'm alright for now. Work tomorrow."

@Furiosa@aladdin_sane@Robo27
Have some shade lol.

"The manor house was filled with dusty furniture, dusty fittings and dusty everything in between. To call it a manor was a stretch, it was large and lavish for certain but did not carry the size or stuffy air that a mansion would otherwise have. Max's room was the smallest in the house, the biggest he had set aside for his mother but at the dawn of her waning years, she preferred to sleep in one of the smaller parlors downstairs, where Max had a bed set for her. Despite having mostly stepped back from piloting, in his heart Max continued to hold a strong proclivity towards appearing as what he wanted to be; a pilot. He peered back at himself from the glazed surface of the mirror, all bags and bloodshot. Max had difficulties sleeping as of late, he pretended more so for himself that it was his mattress, but deep inside he knew it was his spirit guttering.

Max reached for the dresser top and grasped on to the the handle of a brush, carelessly smoothing his hair into a casual mess. He glanced down for a moment, breaking contact with the eyes of his mirror-bound doppelgänger. His hair fell over his eyes, much to his relief. Max had lost a significant amount of weight, a combination of stress, poor eating and far more smoking than usual having killed his appetite. 'A little longer and your ribs will show.' Max shoved that thought out of his head and stood up, reaching for a white shirt and pulling it on.

Stepping out into early morning sun, Max threw his leather jacket over his shoulder and began to make his way across the drive way. Heeled boots moved swiftly across cobbled stones as he approached the row shaped structure that was the garage; back when all his siblings lived in the family home, and when the family was more affluent, the garage was full of polished cars. Now all that was left were two, a posher sedan that his mother insisted on holding on to, and a Mercedes 1979 SL convertible. The car was cool to the touch, and Max ran his fingers over the hood as he approached the drive side door from the front. The reflection of the car fell on his blue-chrome aviators, and Max couldn't help but crack a smile.



From inside the car, moving at speed, the world fell away from the rear view mirror to a sound not unlike rushing water. If one payed attention to the sound long enough, they would surely crash their car. The freeway was desolate where Max raced ahead, gear shifting and engine thrumming, like the noises of some monstrous, metal beast. Sol was painted on a distant sky, the car seeming to make no progress towards it, but in the corner of Max's eye, a sickly light called out to him. The traffic control's many reflective windows made it look like a blazing torch.

Max cocked his jaw as he caught glimpse of Sol International Airport in his wing mirror. It was a distaste harbored in him by his father, it wasn't the money that angered him, it was the loss of pride. Looking away, Max throttled the gear up and the car raced forwards, he would have described it as flying a plane. But nothing really comes close to flying a plane.

The Airport bled away from the mirror as The car drifted through a bend, the wheels screeching for only an instant, a smile crossing Max's stern face. In the back back of the car, technical drawings rolled into tubes, shoved into tubes, rattled about; Max was heading for a meeting with a contractor he had been hired by to do some calculations for the foundations on a new office block, the maths was simple and he wondered if the companies he worked for just pitied him. The smile melted off his face, turning the music up on the radio, he headed into town with a sullen expression.



Pushing through the doors of The Old Starboard, Max stepped out of the afternoon sun and into the comforting dim of the bar and grill. He reached for his face and drew off his sunglasses, tucking them into the front pocket of his white shirt. His flight jacket suddenly began to make him uncomfortably warm, the leather and fur affair working a bit too well. Max began pulling it off as he crossed the room towards the counter, draping the bomber jacket over his shoulder.

The Summerson & Suhl logo was embroidered in white thread on the back, and various patches and badges were sewed onto the shoulders and sleeves. Many were from flight school, others he had made personally for his own aesthetic.

Max pulled himself on to a stool and scanned the bar as the bartender drew near, there were a few people around, no one he really recognized at first glance. His eyes locked on a girl in a corner, flanked by two other men, he squinted, wondering if the familiarity he felt was real or not. It was not until the bartender had asked for a second time what he wanted that Max snapped out of it.

"Coffee, Irish."

Kei Sat there silently, he felt the awkward air set itself down right around the two of them. He knew he was misunderstood and more likely than not there was no way out. What really gave it away was her reply, she was blunt and a bit cold as if shutting down an advance that was never actually there to begin with. He was embarrassed, he managed to accidentally show himself as being nothing but a no good womanizer. He hung his head in shame and sighed to himself under his breath. 'Oh well' he thought to himself. Looking up back at Marlin he shrugged lightly and went along with the rest instead of making things even more awkward.

「I guess you're right swimming faster than the rest is key, I shall keep that in mind when practicing.」

He cleared his throat and rubbed his left arm with his right hand. Successful huh? I guess he would consider himself that but he didn't want anyone thinking that he was better than everyone else.

「I guess, but honestly I put it all towards school so it's not like I am running around spending money left and right trying to show off.」

The conversation between Marlin and Kei was abruptly ended when Ren made his way back to the table with another guest. Kei looked the new stranger up and down for a brief moment and smiled, introducing himself.

「Hey stranger, my name is Kei, nice to meet you.」

During this time Ren offered to order some drinks while it was a nice thought, Kei was good for the day he had his drink and didn't feel like drinking any more, ontop of that he was driving home later he didn't want to inadvertently get drunk and end up having to drive home impaired.

「I am good as well, I had my drink for the day and considering I drove here, I'd rather not introduce any more alcohol into my system. Thank you for the offer though.」

Things were definitely getting interesting in this bar.

@PrinceAlexus@Furiosa@aladdin_sane

It is not necessary for you to get purchase me a drink hun, but how on Earth could I turn down such a gentleman like yourself" said Jocelyn playfully as he scooted next to Ren on the bench. He

Jocelyn subconsciously thought the sassy woman could honestly dress better than a pink track top with a skirt. Was she waiting for her parents to pick her up from cheerleading practice to then take her to her babysitting job? Because that was the kind of vibe she was giving off wearing a lazily constructed outfit like that. A warm pastel pink would have also been preferable to the solid pink, though even that was about mid-tier when it came to her seasonal color palette; since from first impressions the woman seemed to be a Light Summer meaning she should really consider incorporating more light grey, grey blue, cocoa, rose brown, rose beige, and perhaps even taupe into her outfits if she wanted to better highlight her natural beauty. Poor dear could take some tips from him as a Light Spring himself Jocelyn though he managed to better incorporate the colors that best suited him. His Carmel Ralph Lauren V-Neck sweater, the stone colored polo underneath, and his khakis worked for the benefit of his innate beauty. Jocelyn mentally shook these negative thoughts from his mind however, as it would be ignorant to write people off based on their supposed imperfections. Was he really that vain that he could effortlessly write off his own shortcomings? Ugh, thinking about these deep topics that apparently caused his head to hurt again. He rubbed the back of his head.

“Unfortunately, much to my dismay it is not a date darling. It seems I just have a predisposition to be rather clumsy and your acqua… I guess now our mutual acquaintance insisted on buying me a drink. Funny how the world works.” Jocelyn pauses to sniffle before continuing taking note of the tea cup. “I do admire your fortitude to come to the bar and not drink. Color me quite impressed. It takes moxie to break with conventions. Regardless I was wondering and stop me if I am being too forward here dear, but do you perhaps know any place in this city that serves a good Oolong tea. It would simply wonderful if this city had a quaint little tea house.”

Noticing that Kei introduced himself caused Jocelyn to blush and he blushed a tad harder as the man briefly scrutinized his body. “Oh my…where are my manners. My name is Jocelyn Bray and I am quite enchanted to meet you all.”

@PrinceAlexus
@Robo27
@Furiosa

So, there was a stranger in a flight jacket. Now that was different, patches, a pair of aviators, if he was not flying then he must think it was Halloween or somthing. The airline patch she did not recognise, local maybe though she had hered of a smaller company in passing and one that seemed to be a shadow of past self since deadlines had taken over.

Waving slightly she gav him a confirming glance. Maybe he would tell from choice of sunglasses but they where hardly rare. Anyone could buy vintage aviators. Instead as well Marilania gave a thumbs up and pointed to where the flight wings normally went on flight suits and jackets.

Hopefully he would be quick ernough to reconise the meaning.

Turning back to group. She was sure she recognised him, and remembered him from one of the Sol Civil aviation briefings. Rather dull. She probbly had had a chat to him, Deadalus had a few new pilots getting briefed that day. If he recognised her and took notice, some of the older pilots had been slow to warm up to anyone new and considered it a rather closed club.

A few of the oldest where stuck in there fraternity rut that women belonged behind the flight trolley not the controls of a aircraft. Thr fools would be retiring soon, they where a rare breed now. It was almost a shame. There was alot to learn from older genorations.

...

Turning back to Kei and the others her gaze met the man she had so heavily put back in the cooler and warmed slightly seeing he backed off his run. She had made her point. There was no need to be rude. Explain her reaction to the other guy too, that would be a good idea.

"aviation is a very small club. Honestly. Smooth is fast, practice and get the stroke feeling right , once you done that you'll improve your times alot.

And. Yeah, the local university looks crazy expensive"

He was not a jerk about cooling off, so maybe she had been too harsh on him, maybe she misunderstood. Marinalia decided to wall off any advances but it seemed unlikely to be needed.

...

So. Thr stranger the Dr in training had brought over was defenitly strange, overly somthing with his language yet there was somthing else. On trend, the outfit did seem to work well for him. Marinalia did follow loosely, but always had been happy to let others live the high fashion. A little black dress worked In any situation though.

Yeah. Her current outfit was a tad lazy but Sunday, swimming her level of wanting to dress up had been about as much on the floor as her washing pile.

No date. OK then and Russian, well this bar was getting more international her accent as much a give away his as for their local actions they came from.

"oh, sorry about that... Yeah. This all started with a cheesey ringtone"

His use of language was intresting, she did know a tea place though.

" Marilania Olympus, nice to make your aquitence. Tea. Aye. I'm working tomorrow, and find this place pretty easy going. Tea place, only been here few weeks but there's parfits and ports at old harbour. By the old trade hall."

The name should not link back to her family, Olympus heavy industries was back in the UK and Europe, she had not been seen at a company event in 5-6 years. She had her own life, own money and own path.

Though some still tried to drag her back to her starting point.

@aladdin_sane@Robo27@Voltus_Ventus@Furiosa

Bzzzz...Bzzzz....Bzzzz....

Her phone was vibrating on the night stand next to her bed. With her face in the pillow and sleeping with the covers off the bed, Xia moved a little giving an annoyed groan. She moved her arm to try and blindly search for the phone the was buzzing until getting her hand on it and pulling it towards her. She hated to do this but she had to open her eyes to the beaming light of the sun shining through her window. Sleepily looking at her phone, it was a miss call from her mother checking in on her. More than likely, she wanted nothing but Xia was going to call her back soon after she got up.

Lazily laying her phone down, she took a look at the clock on her nightstand as it read 11:57 AM, blinking a few times before opening her eyes widely and made sure she was seeing the clock correctly. Shit!! she barked and gave a sigh. She collected herself for a moment, rubbing her eyes with her palm and stretching a little before getting up. She was sporting an undershirt and underwear while rolling out of bed and looked around her room and at her tv that still had netflix displayed from watching tv all night.

The moment Xia got up to start her morning ritual, she thought about all the things she was suppose to do today. She woke up later than she wanted and since she was off work today, she was going to explore a little of Sol City.

It was not too long ago that Xia moved to Sol City. She got a nice little one bedroom, one bathroom apartment that wasn't too bad on the price nor the area besides the talkative older lady next door but regardless, she was content. She didn't have a car yet so she would mostly walk or take the bus and if need be, she will get a bicycle. Where she lived, she was not too too far from everything se needed to travel to. She recently got hired on at Luna Sports Facility as a Physical therapist/ Personal trainer. The staff there were nice and the facility looked well taken care of. She was still building up some clients for herself. So far, Xia have only found her way around places mostly to shop for groceries and house items, bars, cafes, and even the park. She was looking to expand her knowledge of the landscape so she could have a well varied mental list of places she can visit.

After getting washed up and changed, Xia hurried to get on her shoes while she was on the phone with her mother, who basically didn't want anything. Just checking up on her daughter to see how that city life was treating her. Grabbing her purse and heading out the apartment to lock it up. Alright Ma, I gotta go okay, I love you and tell daddy I love him too. Alright, bye-bye
Hanging up the phone and started towards town. What Xia could go for at this moment now was coffee and something to snack on.

After some time passed, Xia made it to Central Point where the location was bustling. Now, she remembered there was a park close by and around there, a coffee shop. Walking a little ways and checking out a store or two, Xia noticed the sign for the coffee shop, Coffee Pot. The place looked quite welcoming, walking in and looking around before heading to the ordering counter while looking at the menu thinking of what she wanted to choose.

"Suit yourselves." Ren was silent as introductions were made. He got eye contact with the waitress and ordered two new drinks. As soon as they were placed on the table, he took a big sip of his own. The other drink was placed in front of Jocelyn. This day just got weirder and weirder... Ren's mind started to wander. He'd need to get up early to go to classes tomorrow, then he should finish up his assignment. Another late night at study hall it seems. He'd need to pick up some new items for his apartment as well, but he could do that on his way home on the Riverside.

Ren was resting his chin in his palm, eyes aimlessly wandering around the venue. What on earth was he doing. Why were he socialising with these people in a place like this. Was he actually thinking they might enjoy his company? Narrowing his eyes, Ren stood up. "I have an obligation I need to attend to. Enjoy the rest of your evening." His voice was icier than before. Fully aware of the awful excuse, he grabbed his bag and pushed past Jocelyn. In a few swift strides he excited the Old Starboard.


Back in his apartment, Ren was eating dinner and watching Netflix. His latest guilty pleasure was an old sitcom called "The Nanny". On the sofa next to him was a stack of school books which would be his official occupation that night, were anyone to ask.

---

@PrinceAlexus @Robo27 @Aladdin_sane

---

Max understood instantly, swiveling his chair to face the woman, and then adjusting his body so that his right art faced her. Sewed finely into the leather jacket was a pair of wings, and embroidered below that was the name of the flight school that Max had attended, Loraedo. In the background the bartender brewed a cup of coffee, the whirring and burbling of steam and hot water filling the air for a few moments before coming to an abrupt end. When the mug sat on the counter Max rose and took it, unseeingly, in one hand. The bartender spoke in objection, Max cut him off unconsciously.

"I'll pay when I'm done." He said, glancing over his shoulder at the man and giving an apologetic look, "You know I'm good for it."

Turning his attention back to the table, he found one of the men previously sat there retreating in what seemed like a hurry, freeing up a seat. Max strolled over and placed his mug on the table, offering his hand to the other gentleman sat beside him but keeping his eyes on the woman.

"Max Summerson, Pleased to meet you." Letting his eyes linger for a moment longer on the female pilot, Max turned his attention fully to the gentleman. Not regarding someone when speaking to them was impolite, and Max was many things but that. Pleasantries aside, Max turned his attention to the awaiting lady, and extended his arm towards her, "Summerson and Suhl Cargo limited," he offered his best smile, "And you?"

Marilania smiles slightly noticing the wings, flight school symbols and the large patch on the jacket. Definitely not one to hide his career, she had a flight jacket once but lost it due to a airline Ironically. Never got round to a replacement.

Giving a apologetic look to the others slightly, she seemed to attract alot of attention.not that she entirely found it bad.

"Hey. Marilania Olympus. Deadalus Airlines."

Taking his hand and shaking it, somewhat formal but like all the others she had come across, things where not always what had seemed.

"wait. I remember you. DC 3... Had a engine issue and forced to land at Sol. I kinda ranted at you over radio for cutting me off in my landing path... Sorry.

Oh.. And nice nose art! "

Yawning slightly and looking round the bar. It was not late yet she had a early flight to Neo City and the DC 7 took alot of work, not a fly by wire system.
" maybe see some of you at the Jazz night, Swan Songs, tomorrow.. And look out for a DC 7.. I'm flying the old Anne Marie. I'm used to a cargo helicopter. Try not to cut me off!

Gotta go, I promised I'd call my sister Vika tonight. "

Adding the last bit with good humour and putting on a fitted mid lengh coat for the chill and grabbing her bags, record shop bag and hand bag, before standing up and looking for a scarf and realising she never packed one cursing the weather.

"see ya"

Heading out and turning with a light clip of low healed boots and a bounce of blonde hair she vanished into the now much darker evening and headed back to her apartment at Old Harbour before she would have to get a Taxi. Even Sol she was not yet knowing City ernough to walk it at full night.

@Voltus_Ventus@Furiosa@aladdin_sane@Robo27

Everyone was basically making their own way out of the Old Starboard, it had definitely gotten late and seeing aas everyone was already leaving Kei felt that he should head out as well. He was not the first to leave for sure, it was first Ren and then followed by Marlin. While Kei felt that he was being rude to the other two people that were at the table he smiled at them and bid them farewell. Just to be nice he opened his wallet and pulled out some money and place it down on the table.

「Just in case you guys decide to order something more, it's on me.」

He left a good amount of cash on the table in order to basically cover anything that could be ordered. While it doesn't excuse him just getting up and leaving while everyone was conversing and all, he had some stuff to take care of at home, some of which included school stuff and work stuff. he gave a small friendly bow to the table before he made his way straight to the door. Once out the door he felt the cold autumn air hit his face, sucking all the warmth out of him and leaving him with a chilling breeze. he cupped his hands together and breathe warm air into them. Once he was accustomed to the temperature outside he reached into his pockets and grabbed his keys. He pressed the lock button twice on his key fob to indicate where his vehicle was located in the sea of cars. Once he made his way to his car he got in, turned the car on and after a few minutes of letting the car warm up he shifted into gear and made his way out of the parking lot and onto the road.

Seeing as Riverside was across the way, the drive back took a little bit, but it was a nice peaceful drive with no real bumps in the road. Once he was home he parked his car into his garage. Once he was out of his car he simultaneously put his keys in his lock box and closed the garage door. Once the door was fully closed he unlocked the door in his garage that connected to his apartment. Once inside the lights throughout his apartment lit up and basically welcomed him home.

Monday Evening

Monday Night blues and Jazz at Swan Songs

In his younger years Joel had dated a girl whose father ran a small heating and air conditioning company. The man had really liked Joel, but his daughter had other plans and her and his insistence that his daughter’s current catch was a “good guy” with a “future” probably didn’t help Joel or her for that matter. At any rate, over ten years later she was long gone from Sol City while Joel was not. Whenever he was in a bind, usually with the worst possible problems at the worst possible times, he tended to turn up. Tonight was no different.

Joel, only a few hours out of the sack, was putting the wheels on the S13 when the rollback rounded the corner with a Chevy work-truck onboard. He glanced up and shook his head as the truck approached in the evening din of Southside. You gotta be fucking kidding me… He thought. For the last couple of years Joel had contemplated getting out of the repair business completely and only being a speed shop, he knew he had the clientele for it but the money was so easy, particularly when he could screen his work. He accepted the keys paying no mind to the grizzled rollback driver’s opinions on what had caused the breakdown.

A few quick tests confirmed the driver’s guess: Bad starter. Not that it was a hard diagnosis or a hard fix either. He only needed the part and it could be done in less than an hour. Joel checked his phone for the time and as always was his habit, looked up at the sky to confirm to himself that it was correct. It was a behavior many people found amusing. He made a quick call to his closest supplier: No dice. The part was at the downtown warehouse near Riverside. If he was swift he could make it over there before they closed up for the night. Ugh… He thought. Crossing the river was a pain in the ass, but the joy he would feel about taking that worrisome old man’s money in the morning won out.

Somewhere around the Costa Bridge he began to observe the evening traffic to be noticeably heavier than usual. His boot had touched the ground numerous times leaving the side of the Harley Davidson on which he rode. The pipes cracked and popped bouncing their loud broadcasts off the sides of cars and trucks alike to the point of annoyance to many drivers. The lowered Harley Dyna was his second-oldest mode of transportation. Diamond-Ice Pearl with blacked out trim and exhaust. He had bought it off an old biker from the 501 Club who considered himself “retired” from the scene. It still had relatively low miles and with a carburetor was easy to tune.

Joel never wore a helmet and as he lightly coasted down the exit ramp and passed under the shadow of downtown skyscrapers, felt a chill of the Fall evening down through his leather jacket and jeans. He suddenly remembered, observing the foot traffic, it was first Monday and that meant Riverside Blues and Jazz. His lips pursed briefly at the thought. He hated blues and jazz almost as much as he hated traffic. The thought clashed with a quick self-examination that had popped up in his subconscious: His current nocturnal trend was pushing him over line from just being known as an eccentric to an eccentric hermit. The only human being he’d interacted with in the last twenty-four hours was that tow-truck driver. He grumbled to himself as he thundered past the record shop. The warehouse was only a block away.

The part was waiting at the front desk and Joel stuffed it into his twenty-dollar backpack that he’d bought new off Craigslist. He briefly engaged in the customary chit-chat with the counter guys and turned to leave before a familiar poster hanging by the door stopped him in his tracks:



The date at the footer was set for near the end of the month, three days before the final Formula GT race of the season to be held in Sol-City. “Really?” He said glancing back with feigned surprise. “That’s a really bad picture.” He lied. He actually liked it quite a bit compared to most of the media they’d done. Tommy, ever the sportsman accustomed to the limelight, stood with arms crossed while Joel leaned on the car to his right looking away from the camera. The #75 on the side of the car was between them along with their names. Looking like a couple of tough guys. He thought with a smirk.

“This one’s your year, Joel” One of the clerks commented.

“That’s what they keep saying.” Joel replied casually with a nod out the door. They were fierce rivals with the factory Nissan Motorsports team and thanks to Tommy’s monetary connections, had secured two of the same highly tuned V8 engines the factory GT-R’s were running- A great point of contention among the Nissan brass. So much so, that Tommy had flown them to Tokyo just to negotiate in person. The Japanese were hands-on people and they liked data and they especially liked competition. Sol-City was one race out the entire season and unlike the factory sponsored cars, Joel and Tommy only drove the one race. They were no threat in the grand scheme of the regular season, but the #75 had hounded them doggedly with the older, twin-turbo setup. The big bosses at Nissan wanted to see what the 300ZX would do with a proper engine and last year it’d nearly won.

Joel took a hot Americano off of a close by coffee truck as a band was warming up near the record shop. He took a few sips and tried to wake up. He’d been working for days straight on end and with that poster in mind, knew he’d have his work cut out for him for many more in a row: They had testing out at the old airport coming up this weekend. He sat on an open bench outside of the gathering and tried to simply enjoy the outdoors for a while.

@RawrEspada4

Old Harbour . Monday later afternoon

The sun was setting over the old harbour and glitteting into the large old warehouse windows into the fairly impersonal but nicely fitted apartment, a few personal touches such as a soft blanket on the sofa and a selection of photos on the coffee table of family and friends.

Marinalia sipped a Solbecks pumpkin spice lattees, extra shot standing watching the boats go by slowly drifting back to the Marina. Her day had been a busy one, arriving at hanger 12 the DC 7 had been waiting and ready, a fairly slow flight to Neo city cruising at about 6000 feet. Low but it was easier on the old aircraft and the engines where barely taxed.

The terrain and plains around Sol where beginning to turn to winter and a sea of gold Forrest below glinted in the morning light, passing over a small grass strip, hangers and a line of glinting older aircraft parked nosing out into the dawn.

Things had been pretty uneventful after that, endless forests and plains mostly undisturbed till Neo city had started riding on the horizon.

Shaking her head, damn it was late and thr jazz evening. If she did not leave soon the traffic would be impossible!

Finding a little back dress in the wardrobe, making a effort, rather suited her but not thr kind she would get stared at for a entire evening at her body it seemed right. Make up was easy, not like it was a date and grabbing a quick shower beforehand.

Damn... Well good job she had no one across the steer realising the windows where so large and open as rhe zipped the dress up grabbing a fitted mid lengh coat, hand bag and keys before heading down the parking garage.

Sol City Freeway . Monday Evening

The drive to Swan Songs was a grind, nose to tail traffic as the land rover engine almost grumbled with annoyance at the slow chain passing over the bridge. It had been too far to walk on the other side of the river and the Taxi company locally was a total rip off.

Switching over to KAWAII 105.9 the music was cheese as it got but here taste was hardly classic. Singing along to some cheese k pop number a loud roar of a moterbike was constantly chugging by her, a large bike, male, no helmet. The 12th chug start was slightly jarring and getting to her.

Thr road cleared up ahead as she aggressively put her foot down and sped past the biker, the white Landrover discovery could move when it wanted to. Arriving at Swan songs she parked up behind In a near by car park before swapping from trainers to a low pair of heals.

Swan Songs Blues and Jazz evening . Monday Evening

Walking slowly over to Swan songs thr band was beginning to warm up. She was abit early but it meant she could relax bit and took a sofa near its bar with a mocktail and enjoyed a people watch as the band played a few easy numbers to get sound right.

She looked round as a few milled about and staff did last minute preparation doing her best to look lady like in a nicely fitted little black dress above the knee and heals after a day wearing a baggy flight suit.

Marinalia could dress up when she wanted to. The people from the old Starboard last night would probbly have to double take as she played with a delicate silver necklace, 3 interlinked moons, a gift many years before by a past friend and lover.

@Pilatus@Voltus_Ventus

It was quite obvious that Kei would be attending the music event tonight, it was even more apparent since he lived so close to the actual event venue as well as the fact that he has been seeing advertisement everywhere he went, even on the side of town that was across the river. He went about his day as normal and took care of all his classes and ensured he made any important trades in the market. Once all was said and done and that he was free to do whatever else he wanted for the rest of the night he went ahead and began getting dressed and ready for the event.

Seeing as it was somewhat formal of an event he did his best to look as formal as possible but with giving off the feeling of being casual. After a nice shower he made his way into his closet, sprayed himself with some acqua di gio cologne, and began looking through all his formal casual clothing. First thing he grabbed was a nice pair of fitted slim black slacks. What followed was a fitted white dress shirt. With it all tucked in he grabbed a comfortable fitted suit jacket and grabbed a tie along with it. Once he had everything he needed he stepped outside from his closet and stood in front of his mirror as he tied the tie around his neck, somewhat loosely. He threw the jacket over his shoulder and slid each arm into the respective sleeves. Once all said and done he inspected himself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. He quickly threw on a belt, a watch, and finally grabbed his essential items, like keys, wallet, and phone. After he did one more check he went downstairs, slid into comfortable dress shoes, and went into his garage and got into his WRX STI with keys in hand.

He was quick about leaving his house. With his garage closing behind him he made his way towards the event venue. It was maybe a five minute drive for him. He parked his car with ease since he was there before the event had even officially begun. Seeing as he was so early to the event he went into the venue and went to the bar first to grab himself a nice light drink. He sat comfortably at the bar and sipped his drink as he waited for the event to officially begin. Kei didn't really look around upon arrival as such to his knowledge he did not see anyone he knew.

After getting around a bit the other day, Xia added a new location in her mind making a mental note that she could be coming to this coffee shop for now on. The next day, Xia went in to help out an older client who had an old hip and knee injury he needed surgery on. Now being released he was going through rehab and Xia was taking her time with him to help start with small exercises first.

The older male loved to talk, speaking about his wife and what he used to do. He was once a fireman which sounded pretty cool. He was injured from falling off the later on a call. She felt bad about his injury because it reminded her about her father but gave a light smile to encourage that she would help him be capable of having enough mobility to move freely again.

While out near the track of Luna Facility, The man spoke about the Blues and Jazz evening. Xia raised an eyebrow Blues and Jazz evening? Wait...I heard about ti when I first moved here but never went... She told the man while he explained what it was. Sounded interesting. She did like that music since she grew up on it thanks to her grandparents. She didn't have shit to do so...why not get out and check out this event going on tonight.

It was getting dark when she was leaving work and after the information she was given, she needed to dress a little formal. She found a black and white striped fitted dress she wore at a few formal parties and remember she had her white and black stripped fedora as well that she could wear.

Getting into the shower, Xia was a little nervous being that she didn't know anyone but was willing to let loose a little for once, enjoy herself to some good music. Perhaps, meet some good people. Her temper was not like what it used to be but she was not going to take any bullshit if there are any drunken dumbasses.

After getting out,she had her clothes laid out, finding some shoes to go with the dress, necklaces her mother gave her and makeup to spruce herself up. She took her dreads to fix it up into a bun so she could wear her fedora and a small jacket she could drape on her shoulders. Spraying perfume, she stared in the mirror afterwards. She smiled but then sighed. I hope I'm not overdoing this... She said to herself before mustering up to courage to leave the house and head out to Swan Songs.