My World of 1x1s discussion

Name: Travie Hannes
Age: 23
Height: 5'11"
Appearance:

History: Traveling from Washington state to Florida wasn't an easy feat, but Travis managed it with the money he'd saved up through middle and highschool. The day after he graduated he took his dog Koba and started his trip with a full tank of gas in his beat up Volkswagen van and what his parents were pretty sure was a lifetime supply of beef jerky. Now he lives in a cheep motel room right on the beach, though he never actually spends anytime in the room, all of his time is spent playing music on the beach for tips, surfing, and working in he kitchen at Rui's Diner across the street from where he lives.
Personality Traits:
- Prankster
- Cocky
- Animal Lover
- Slightly Nocturnal
- Messy

Name: Tonya Jeidy
Age: 17
Height: 5'9
Appearance:

History: Tonya's parents send her to her grandparents house every summer, where she works in their herbal remedies shop a hangs out on the beach for hours on end. She knows the shop inside out, but as she's gotten older she spends less and less time there. When her grandparents told her that they might have to close she promised them that she'd do anything he could to help them since her independently wealthy parents refused.
Personality Traits:
- OCD
- Avid Runner
- Allergic to Anything with Fur
- Clothing obsessed
- Positive.

Name: Andrea (Andee) Lee Rhodes
Age: 19
Height: 5'1"
Appearance:

History: Andee has lived in this town since she was born and has never had any desire to live anywhere else. Her parents own the local used buy/trade/sell book shop, "The Nook," and are sickeningly happy together. She makes a living running a coffee cart on the beach, cleverly named (note sarcasm) "That Coffee Cart on the Beach," but she also spends quite a bit of time volunteering at the local animal shelter, Sandy Paws. She's got a soft heart for strays; whether it's dogs, cats, or even people, such as her best friend, Maizen, and has a tendency to make projects out of them. Though her parents love her staying at home, she insists on paying them rent for her room and buys a third of the groceries. She had just begun to look into applying for colleges when the contractors began threatening to buy the land right out from under the town. Now, she is working furiously through social media and highly publicizing local events to get their town on the map. This town is her new stray, and she isn't giving up on him.
Personality Traits:
- Insanely Perky
- Easily Entertained
- Self Sufficient/Proud
- Kind/Generous
- Passionate
- Lives in Dresses
- Loves to Crochet


Name: Maizen Reyes
Age: 20
Height: 6'
Appearance:

History: Raised--if you want to call it that--by an alcoholic mother, Maizen learned early on that he should screw others before they had a chance to screw him, and this is the motto he lived by the first fourteen years of his life. He spent his days alone, defacing buildings with beautiful, yet illegal, graffiti, stealing from local stores for cheap thrills, and trying to make his mom's meager tips at Rui's Diner stretch far enough after her nightly booze allowance to buy peanut butter and bread. The day he decided to rob "The Nook" was the day his life changed forever. At fourteen, he had sidled into the tiny book store, grabbed the first book he saw, and slipped out. High on "getting away with it," he hadn't noticed the tiny thirteen year old girl behind the counter follow him from the store. Rather than yelling at him or being angry, she convinced him to come back to the store and come clean to her parents, the owners. To this day, he can't figure out how she did it, but he soon found himself apologizing to the owners of the merchandise he stole, and rather than being reprimanded, he was offered a job as a shelf-stocker. This one act of kindness shocked and touched Maizen to the core, and he decided that day to give up his delinquent ways. Though changing has been an uphill battle, every day gets easier, and his best friend/wake up call, Andee, is always there to crack the whip. He still works at "The Nook," rents an apartment nearby, and spends his free time with Andee or seeking legal thrills, such as lifting weights, running marathons, sky diving, surfing, etc. He is also an apprentice at the local body art studio, learning how to put his art to good use. He is devastated to learn that the town he is finally happy in is being threatened, and vows to do anything he can to help Andee's campaign.
Personality Traits:
- Endorphin Junkie
- Quiet
- Unwaveringly Loyal to Those he Loves
- Artistic/Creative
- Stubborn
- Romantic

Name: Aileas Jernigan
Age: 20
Height: 5'8"
Appearance:

History: Aileas is not someone without money, and because of that she always had access to the best of whatever. She stayed a night in the area just passing through, only staying after she saw something involving what was going on. She's still not completely sure what is going on, but either way she likes to be a part of things.
Personality Traits:
- Colourful
- Excitable
- Noisy
- Living jewelry box
- Disorganized

Name: Katsumi "Ham" Hamasaki
Age: 25
Height: 5'6"
Appearance:

His cat, Moca

History: Ham grew up flying back and forth from Japan to the States, living in both places equally until he turned eighteen and had to choose a citizenship. Having picked the US, mostly because it was warmer in the south and he'd never liked the cold much, he traveled for a couple of years before coming to an area he liked enough to stay for a while.
Personality Traits:
- Impatient
- Easily distracted
- Sleepy
- Easily amused
- Completely convinced that he can talk to cats

Picking up the corded phone behind the counter Tonya dialed the number for The Nook, the town meeting was this afternoon and if they were going to get anywhere they needed to talk soon. The bell on the door chimed and she glanced up to see who had entered, hopefully it wasn't one of the druggies that were convinced the store sold pot, which it didn't. Instead she saw a familiar face with thick rimmed glasses and messy brown hair. "Keep that animal out of here." she with a smile, though she was completely serious. "I meant to ask you or Andee about the meeting tonight, and you're closer to the Diner." he gave her a slight grin and straightened his glasses absently. "I'm calling her now, don't get dog hair anywhere." she drummed her fingers on the sunshine yellow painted counter top and waited for her friend to pick up on the other end.
(view spoiler)[Her outfit:

His outfit:
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Running down the sidewalk towards the shop, Aileas slipped around Travie as he opened the door and flopped over the counter in the most dramatic possible way. "I'm boooored." She whined, glancing back and waving with one hand when she realized she'd nearly knocked him over. "Is there anything interesting you have to tell me?" Straightening up again, she leaned on the brightly coloured surface with her elbows and rested her chin in her hands.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

Maizen jumped at the sound of the phone ringing and looked up from his most recent tattoo idea to check the caller ID. Noting the phone number, he picked it up, said, "Tonya, it's Maiz; I'll go get Andee," and, without waiting for her response, promptly put her on hold and jogged out the door.

Considering The Nook was on the strip facing the beach, it was a short jog to "T-KOB" (as he had lovingly/lazily dubbed her coffee cart).

"Yo, Dee!" Maizen yelled, crossing the street. "It's Tonya," he finished, pulling up beside the tiny cart.

Andee turned and peered up at Maizen with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "You know you could have just waited until you got over here to say anything. You didn't have to scream my name from across the street."

Maizen smirked. "Don't you like it when I scream your name, Andee?"

She tried to look offended, but her sunny disposition prevented any fabricated anger. Instead, a cheeky grin found it's way onto her face, and a laugh bubbled forth. "In your dreams, Reyes," she said and stretched out her hand, palm up. "Now, isn't there a phone call for me?"

He relented, putting the phone in her hand. "One day, you'll realize how much you want me," he joked, ruffling her hair as he turned back toward the store.

She swatted at his hand as she answered the phone, rolling her eyes at her best friend's retreating back. "Tonie! What's up, Love?" she said into the phone.

(view spoiler)[
His Outfit:

His Tattoo Idea:

Her Outfit:

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"You're always bored Leas." Tonya chuckled, pronouncing the nickname Lis. She heard the phone ring one more time before, Maizen picking it up at the store. "Hey! Oh- Okay!" she said as he spoke, as she listened to their conversation she chuckled softly and rolled her eyes when Andee picked up the phone. "Hey sweetie, where are the five of us meeting this afternoon? The town hall meeting is at seven, so we have six and a half hours to figure out how to convince the mayor to hold back on selling that land." Technically the new mayor couldn't sell any of the beach land, but he thought he could do whatever he wanted.

"No I'm not, I just am right now." Aileas leaned forward so that she could partially hear the other side of the conversation, though for the most part, it was hard to catch. She turned slightly, noticing a great lack of yellow fur behind Travie, another thing she hadn't quite caught before. "That's weird, has she ever not followed you into someplace she is or isn't allowed before?"

"Do you want to meet at my cart around 2? It's noon now. I can make us drinks, and we can talk on the beach. That way I can run my cart, and Maizen can keep an eye on the store; hold on one sec," she said as she put the phone on the counter to greet a customer.

She began to create one of her specialties, a Kinky Frappe: whipped cream on the bottom, topped with a blended iced mocha, caramel swirl, toffee crunch, and a dash of salt. She then finished it off by stabbing through a chocolate chip cookie with the straw, effectively fastening it to the lid.

As she created her masterpiece, she animatedly visited with her customer, learning her name, where she was from, and what she liked/disliked about the town. Though it seemed like idle chat, it was a sort of mental survey she conducted with all of her customers, gleaning information about what could be improved and what people loved. If they seemed interested, she invited them to sign the petition the group had started to keep the town in the hands of the townspeople.

After her happy customer left and her petition was one signature heavier, she returned the phone to her ear.

"Got another sig. on the petition!" she said, beaming through the phone. "Anyways, beach? I seem to have a clearer head with my toes in the sand. By the way, is that Aileas I hear? What kind of trouble is she getting into today?"

"Good! Yea, our jingling accessory drawer of a friend is here too, along with Trav, hopefully he leaves the mutt at home." Her words about Koba were somewhat serious, though she didn't mind as much when they were outside. "I'll have to let my G's know, so if I'm late I'll have Trav let you know." she stuck her tongue out at Travie, then smiled into the phone with a sickeningly innocent expression.
The sound of Trav's dog whining outside made him think it was a good idea to open the pink door and let her in. "No! Get it out! I'll gut you and the dog both if you don't get out!" Tonya yelled, forgetting to cover the phone as she did so, "Oh sorry! I have to go! Travie might not be there, if he doesn't show I didn't do it." Before she could scream at him again Travie slipped out the door with a grin and took a seat on the bench outside. "I hate him, seriously I don't hate anyone and I hate him." she said into the phone in the most threatening voice she could muster, which was pretty pathetic.

Aileas covered her mouth as she laughed, looking between the two until Trav finally retreated to the outside bench. "That's just because Koba smells better than he does." She shrugged once her breath had caught up to her. "If he's not there I'll hunt him down." She said loud enough to be heard on the other end of the phone, she seemed to have an unusual and somewhat creepy skill for finding people, especially in a small town such as the one they were in.

Andee's eyes widened at the threats she heard coming from her sweet friend, and she chuckled as she pictured the look of contempt coloring Tonya's face. "I know you do, hun," she said knowingly, smirking to herself. "Just try not to murder him until AFTER we've won our battle against the man, 'kay? We need all the manpower we can get!

She laughed gleefully at Aileas's loud comment on Travie's *ahem* aroma. "Well, Leas is right about that. He could do with a bath--and not in the ocean! Tell her I'll hold her to that promise of hunting him down. Stinky or not, we need him! I'll let you get back to flir--I mean fighting with Travie," she said slyly. "See you on the sand!" She quickly hung up before her poor friend could retaliate and smirked in a self satisfied kind of way.

After glancing around to ensure that the coast was momentarily clear of potential customers, she skipped across the street and peeked in The Nook.

"Hi buddy!" she said in her tiny voice.

Maizen glanced up at her, smiling. "Hey there."

Andee bounced into the store and hopped onto the counter, giving herself a clear view of her cart. "The gang is getting together at two by my cart to discuss how we can convince the Mayor not to sell. You gonna be fun this time?"

His gaze turned a bit apprehensive. "Come on, Andee. You know I'm not good in groups."

She sighed. "You aren't good with anyone that's not me," she said, lightly tugging one of his dreads, a habit of hers since he'd first dreaded his hair. "I wish everyone else could see the you I get to see."

"Maybe some day," he replied, quiet again.

"Hey look!" She said excitedly, brushing off his somber response, "I have a customer! See you in a little bit!" She hopped down and flounced out of the shop.

He shook his head, smiling, as he heard "see you at two!" yelled from over her shoulder.

"After, I'll remember that" Tonya grinned sarcastically and set the phone on the hook. "Tell the moron outside to meet at Andee's cart at two, and tell him if be talks to me I know how to mix at least three mixes that can put him in a coma for a week." she folded her arms and leaned forward against the counter, crossing her ankles lazily as she took a tiny pair of scissor and began pruning a bonsai plant that sat beside her in a deep purple pot. "We something to get the mayor to change his mind, whether it's a law we can dig up or something else remotely official. Think on it, I'm about to close the shop for a bit, need to go to my grandparents house and let them know what's up, they never answer their house phone and they have refused to join our century, so no cellphones will be found." she wiggled her fingers at her jewelry covered friend before ushering her out the door and twisting the lock, the flimsy thing probably wouldn't do much if someone actually decided to break in, but nobody would want to steal a bunch of plants and remedy stuff anyway. Within ten minutes she had the lights out and was on her teal motor scooter that she parked out back.

"Pushy pushy." Travie shook his head with a laugh. Rubbing Koba's golden blonde neck with one hand he looked across the street over the tall hotel that had recently been built there. When he first moved here there was a great view of there had been a great view of the beach, and since they were on the gulf side of Florida the sunset was gorgeous. "If another one of these goes up I swear-" he glanced up at Leas and shook his head. "Never mind I forgot who I was talking too, so when and where are we meeting?"

Aileas rolled her eyes, crossing he jingling arms over her chest. "Cart, at two. And if I were you, I'd keep Koba at a good distance." Smirking she turned as Tonya pulled out onto the street Ane waved before turning back for a moment. "Gotta go now!" She petted the dog on the head and ran off again, tripping and nearly crashing down as she turned around a corner.

A couple of hours later:

Andee bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet, periodically scanning the street and beach, looking for any member of her ragtag group of friends. She glanced at her watch and began grumbling under her breath.

Seconds later, Maizen appeared at her side. Noting her mild frustration, he looked over her shoulder at her watch. "Andee, calm down. You said two. It's one forty-five. Not everyone follows the '15 minutes prior' rule," he said, dropping to the sand next to her cart. "Now, I'm dying for one of your magical coffee concoctions. Make me something?"

Momentarily placated, Andee set to work, preparing another drink she had been formulating in her head and waiting for Maizen to play guinea pig. This time, she began with iced coffee, two shots of espresso, and a splash of half-n-half. She mixed in one pump of a rich chocolate sauce and a few dashes of a secret ingredient she had been dying to try. After topping it with whipped cream, she drizzled on a version of her homemade raw sugar syrup that she had infused with more of the secret ingredient, giving the drizzle a beautiful red tint.

She handed him the java and perched on her chair, watching for his reaction.

Maizen began to go through her winning drink checklist in his head, examining it for appearance, taking a whiff to make sure the aroma was pleasing and not overwhelming, and finally, taking a sip. "I like the strength of the coffee and the mocha flavor, but it is a bit unoriginal when compared to your other drinks. What's making the red tint in the drizzle?"

At this, she gave a mischievous smile and began to count in her head, *Three, two, o--*

"Woah! It's spicy . . . and a little smokey . . . Cayenne pepper? And--" he took another sip. "Chipotle?"

Andee grinned happily at her friend's super-power. He could always guess secret ingredients in anything she made. It didn't matter if it was food or drink, cooked or raw; if she made it, he could guess it, and she thoroughly enjoyed the game.

"This is why I love you!" She said, high-fiving him. "I'll call it, Aztec Sunset Surprise. You think it'll sell?"

"If you make it, it'll sell," Maizen said confidently. "I've told you, you're a coffee-wizard."

Brushing off the compliment (direct praise always made her a bit uncomfortable), she laughed and glanced up and down the beach once more, noticing a figure approaching from far enough away, she could hardly make them out. "Look! Someone is coming!" She said, jumping to her feet for a better view. "Is that one of the gang?"

Tonya had switched her black tights and heels for black flip flops with a few jewels climbing up the side. She pulled up on her little motor scooter right has Maizen said something about Andee being a wizard, "She better be more than a coffee wizard if you want to keep this area the way it is, my g's just got the information on what land was going to be the debate tonight, we knew it was right on the beach, but guys. . ." She sighed and parked her moped next to the street curb. "Guys we're standing on it, mayor says it's just a parking lot, according to the paper work his goons have been handing out it's where kids party, and it'll be better as beach-side townhomes." She handed them each fliers about the area, with information about the wild parties that had been stopped here. Truth was there had been no parties, the wildest thing that happened here was the elementary school Halloween carnival every year, and Tonya was never even in town for that.

Within a few minutes of Tonya's arrival Travie walked up with a leash in his hand, Koba trotting behind him obediently, though she wasn't actually on the leash. "I got another ticket yesterday for not having her leashed, she's a retired police dog and they seriously expect her to misbehave?" he shrugged, not having heard the words she'd said just before he'd walked up.

Having completely changed clothes for their meeting at the beach, Aileas ran down the sidewalk, wondering if she'd taken too much time before she left. "Anything happen yet?" She called once she was close enough, switching what shoulder she had her watermelon umbrella was resting on. Before she caught an answer, she turned to glance up the road where an unfamiliar face was wandering, and looking somewhat lost.

Katsumi hardly looked where he was going as he argued with the cat perched on top of his head, she'd climbed up and didn't want to move despite the fact that she was partially blocking his vision. "You can't stay up there foreveee-" Before he had the chance to finish his sentence the ground under him changed, his foot catching on the edge of the sidewalk sending him face forward into the sand in the middle if a group of people talking about... something. As he fell down, Moca simply jumped backwards, landing on his back and crawling back up to his head to lie down.

(view spoiler)[Leas



Ham
(hide spoiler)]

Thrilled to see that at least one of the friends outside her direct line of vision had made it on time, Andee jumped to her feet.


"Tonie!" she cried, throwing her arms around the taller girl's waist. "Ohmygosh, I'm so glad to see you! I was worried that everyone was going to be late--"


"Hey! I was here earlier than her!" Maizen interrupted indignant. "Where's my joy-filled embrace?"


"Maizen, you work across the street. You can't be late; I make sure of that." 


"Well I'm going to be almost late more often if you'll get that excited to see me."


She breezed past him, patting his chest lightly as she went. "Stop pouting Maizey. It's not a good look for you, and I have drinks to make. 


"And say hello to Tonie," she added under her breath. "Don't be rude." She softened the reprimand with one of her sweetest smiles and continued to her cart.


He sighed and, not meeting her eye, said "hello Tonya, how are you?" He knew he seemed like a bit of an asshole, but talking to people other than Andee and her parents was difficult. He was so used to being a loner that adding new people to his life took a lot of effort. For now, he'd settle for socializing when it made Andee happy, and maybe he would eventually be able to have 'faked it' until he 'made it.'


Andee busied herself with creating something new for her classy and refined, frappucino-loving friend. She started with a non-coffee base of coconut and white chocolate for the bottom layer and topped it with a black layer of espresso and dark chocolate blended with just enough ice to cool it. finally, she formed a thin line of red sprinkles across the top and added two stemless maraschino cherries side-by-side on the line to form a bow. 


She presented it proudly to Tonya. 


"I call it Snow White. I'll make you something new if you don't like it."   


 She turned to her cart, pulling out a baggie of homemade dog treats, a bowl, and a jug of water from the cabinet below. With a voice suddenly reduced to baby talk, she called for the sweet dog, impressed, as usual, when she waited patiently for Travie's permission before happily trotting over. Kneeling in the sand, she began to scratch behind Koba's ears, muttering things like "who could possibly think a sweet thing like you is capable of any damage?" and "you're just about the best doggie I've ever seen. Yes you are!" She looked up when she realized that all three humans were staring at her, and felt her face heat. She filled the bowl with water and gave Koba a treat, then hastily stood, brushing the sand off her knees. 


She grinned sheepishly at the group, turning to Travie. "Hi there, Travie. I'll go ahead and get your tea ready . . . and your shake," she said to the rainbow explosion strutting towards them. 


A few minutes later, she emerged from her drink lab with Travie's iced green tea with honey, and a multi-colored swirl of strawberry, blackberry, and mango ice cream topped with rainbow marshmallows and a four-inch mountain of whipped cream (dutifully named "The Aileas").


Once everyone's drinks were made, Andee plopped down next to Maizen, snatching his half-finished frappe from his hand and taking a sip, closing her eyes while she savored the disconcerting spicy aftertaste. "You're right, Maiz. This is good."


Then, she addressed the group. "Right, so plans? Obviously we don't party here, but the people buying the land don't know, nor do they care. All they stand to reap from this are profits. I think what we need," she tipped her head Tonya's way, "like Tonie mentioned earlier, is to find some sort of law that might help us protect our space. In the meantime, we need to double our trash-pickup rounds, and start really pushing the petition online and in every business we have any pull wit-- oh no!" She jumped to her feet, pulling Maizen along, as she watched the black-haired man pitch forward and sprawl in the sand. "Is he okay?"

Though the expression on Tonya's face was less than excited as she walked up she brightened with the tight hug from her tiny friend. "Am I ever late?" She asked with a grin, before backtracking and laughing, "Nevermind, don't answer that."

While Tonya was distracted by the bored sounding Maizen she didn't even watch Andee making the drink, instead giving Maizen a wink and a bright smile. "I'm doing great Maize, you know you'd be a little happier if you cleaned the sand out of your hair once in a while." She shrugged with a sarcastic smile as Andee held out an adorable Frappuccino. "Oh! I love it, and I know it'll taste good everything you make always does." she took the cup and put a straw just below the bow, so she didn't mess it up.

Travie nodded to Koba's pleading look, she knew Andee always had treats for her. As soon as Koba saw his head bob once she walked over to Andee and sat down happily, letting the girl give her as much attention as she wanted.

Travie took the tea drank it slowly, looking from Aileas' shake to her brightly coloured form. "I'm pretty sure you've been puked on by a fairy Al." he grinned, just about to give his own input about the lot when a new distraction made its way into their lives. "Well that's interesting" he chuckled softly, not bothering to go over and help him as Andee, Tonya, and Maize did.

Aileas twirled her umbrella around in one hand and took her drink in the other, grinning at the resemblance between herself and the ice cream mix named for her. She was possibly the only one of them that didn't have much caffine, she didn't need it. "Well, how is that a bad thing?" She shook her head at Travie with mock dissapointment and stabbed through the mountain with a thick straw. Nearly dropping her stuff as the person she saw before faceplanted, she stood back for a moment as if something might happen, but soon leaned closer.

Ham laid still, not irritated at the fact that he fell, just that Moca didn't seem to care and continued to use his head as a chair. Reaching up he pushed off the cat and sat up, brushing the sand off of his face and spitting out whatever made it's way into his mouth. "I blame you, you're the reason I couldn't see anything." He said to the cat, hardly noticing the people around him. "It was too your fault! Your stupid tail was over my eyes!"

Maizen managed a small smile, relaxing a bit. Banter he could handle. He knew how to banter.

"It's a lifestyle, not a hairstyle. Washing the sand out of my hair is, like, blasphemy." He shook his head, specks of sand flying as if to prove his point. "No can do, Northerner."

"Don't worry," Andee piped in, "I'm planning on hosing him off before the meeting!"

He groaned.

****************

After witnessing the spill of Ham:

Ever the fixer, Andee surged forward, Maizen in tow and Tonya not far behind, but pulled up short, uncertain how to proceed, when the man sat up, pulled the cat toward him and began to speak . . . to the cat.

She turned to her friends and asked quietly, "do you think he hit his head too hard?" worry was evident in her eyes as the other two shrugged.

Steeling herself, she put on her best smile and cautiously approached him while the others hung back.

"Hi," she said soothingly, addressing him as she would an unstable child. "Are you alright?"

Tonya frowned at the arguing between the stranger and what seemed to be himself, or maybe it was his cat. "I'm not sure, maybe he's buzzed on something, there's plenty of those around here." she said in the same tone as her friend.

She almost followed Andee as she approached the man, but thought better of it and stayed standing next to Maize a few yards away. "Have you seen him around before? I mean I just got here what? Two weeks ago? Was he here before that?"

Leas watched from where she stood, partially behind the others and leaning out. "But what would he have hit it on...?" She said, unless he had done the same before. She had a habit of falling down, but she never hit her head hard enough to go that loopy, not that she knew of anyway.

Ham rolled his eyes, standing up to brush himself off. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Falling in sand is better than on concrete or something." He laughed slightly, turning to the group when they continued to whisper amoung each other. He was wrong when he briefly thought they might stop. "Ya know I can hear all of you. I didn't hit my head, and I'm not high." He crossed his arms, why was that always the first thing people thought? "I've been here a couple of months, actually."

Maizen had just raised his shoulders in a shrug as an answer to Tonya's question when the strange man began talking.

"There's your answer. Couple months, and we've never seen him. Maybe he's a schizo . . ." he muttered quietly to Tonya, "crazy people usually swear they're not crazy, right?"

*****************************************************

Worried, Andee laid a placating hand on his arm.

"Of course, you're obviously fine," she said soothingly. "My name is Andee. Why don't you come and sit down while I make you something to drink?"

She began trying to slowly lead the man toward a chair.

Hoping to distract the obviously troubled man, she brightly asked, "so, you've been here for two months? This is a pretty small town. How have we not seen you around?"

"I think you're right. . ." Tonya trailed off quietly, listening to the stranger and Andee talk. He'd been there longer than she had this year and no one had noticed? Maybe he was in jail, or in a mental institution, or was being taken care of by a not as a crazy relative, a hundred other scenarios, good and bad, ran through her mind as she watched the others.

Travie leaned against Andee's coffee cart and glanced at Aileas "I think I've seen him once, talking to a cat behind Tonie's shop, ya think he does that a lot?" he looked back to the rest of their little group, two of which looked wary of the stranger, and Andee, always the sweet one, was trying her best to figure out what was wrong with the stranger.

Ham huffed, they obviously weren't going to stop muttering with each other so he made an attempt to ignore them. He followed the one that was at least pretending to be civil. "Yeah, sure." He stepped over to the stand and leaned against the side. "Name's Hamasaki. Most people just call me Ham though." He glanced over to the rest of the group as if expecting more introductions since they were all just standing around.

Leas straightened up and took a long drink from her smoothie, deciding she might as well say something. "I'm Aileas." She balanced her umbrella on her shoulder for a second to lift one heavily decorated hand and waved.

Andee, noting the discomfort her friends' quiet muttering was causing, shot them a look, and breathed a sigh of relief when Leas piped up with an introduction.

She knew she could count on Leas to be judgement-free. The only thing that girl cared about was being entertained. The more entertained, the nicer she was.

After pulling the chair from behind her cart and offering it to Ham, she turned her brilliant smile on the group.

"Everyone," She said as if no one had heard, "this is Ham."

And to Ham, she said "Ham, this is Maizen, Tonya, and Travie," and gestured to each in turn sending them an expectant look.

"Now," She said, clapping her hands together and moving to her cart, "what can I make for you? You like sweet? Frozen? Coffee or tea?"

*********************************

Maizen smirked at his friend's insistence on solving everyone's problems.

He sighed and lifted a hand in greeting towards the crazy man.

"Hey there, Ham," he said, waiting for Tonya and Travie to follow suit.

Tonya chuckled quietly and waved with a smile, "Ham it is then, you just here for the season like me? Or are you here for good?" she still couldn't tell if he was another pothead that was there looking for a fix, or if he was there to do something useful. Of course he might be useful to them, if the group could show the mayor that not only the locals from over the years liked it there, but also new residents like the area then he might leave it alone, it was a long shot, but it might work.

Travie lazily mock saluted Ham with two fingers and gave him a grin before turning to Andee "His name is ham, maybe he'd like that as a drink." The words barely left his mouth when Koba stood up and pushed her front paws against his chest with one bark, if he'd still been leaning on the cart it probably would have gone down as he jumped in surprise. "Koba what the-" She sat back down and turned her head toward the nearby street, Travie following her gaze quickly. A giant yellow construction machine rolled down the street and into the lot where they were standing.

Tonya's face grew red and angry as she took a breath, "The hearing isn't till next week, they can't make us move now." she said with a glare in the direction of the machine.

Ham followed the hand with his eyes, mentally matching each face with the names and hoping he would remember them. "Ah, I don't know, maybe something bitter?" He shrugged, he wasn't a big fan of things that were overpoweringly sweet like some people. "Actually," he turned to Travie. "It's just from my surname, not actual ham." He corrected, turning to look up the street as well. "What's that for?" He questioned since none of them seemed to be pleased to see it, including Moca who had just climbed up to his shoulder and hissed at it.

Aileas sucked down the rest of her smoothie and discarded of her cup with a huff, her angry face less menacing than even the cat. "Exactly what it looks like it's for. To tear stuff up." She snapped the umbrella closed and held it one hand as she pointed at the rig. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Andee walked past Leas and laid a hand on her umbrella.

"More flies with honey, Leas. Let me try to handle this."

She walked toward the big yellow dozer and motioned for the driver to stop. Brakes brought the hulking monster so a halt with a crunch and grind of gears, and the door swung open.

The short, fat driver jumped down and sidled forward. His wife beater was stained with food, sweat, and other unnamed substances, and a beer gut sagged over the tight waistband of equally filthy cargo shorts. Small strands of thinning, greasy grey hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, and pasty, pock-marked cheeks.

He sneered at Andee, beady eyes appraising her.

"What can I do for you, sweetheart?" the man asked in a phlegmy voice.

Andee smiled sweetly. "Hi, there! I'm Andee. I work here on this beach, and I was wondering if you knew who authorized this early tear-down?"

A dirty-nailed hand slicked his hair back, as he answered, "the Mayor, baby doll."

Her eyes widened, but she kept her voice even, hoping to fix this before her friends really began to freak.

"Well," She asked, smile back in place, "is there any way you could postpone? The town hasn't approved yet, and we really need some more time."

"I could probably help; my dozer had been acting up, and it would be easy to get it in the shop for a week. But. . ." he asked, and his hand raised to trail a grimy finger down her arm, "what do I get in return?"

Travie had slowly followed Andee to the greasy man, he had enough sweat coming off of him to fill a glass, twice. . . Disgusting. He thought to himself just as the man went a little bit too far with a girl who could have been his grandaughter. "Hey- Hands off." He said, appearing at Andee's side like an older brother, then he continued with a serious expression, thankfully the few things he had picked up from his uptight family had to do with the problem at hand. "Orders form the mayor or not this isn't property of the town, or county, it's property of the state and people, which means county vehicles like this aren't allowed to be here until after the hearing."

Tonya actually had to keep herself from applauding the brave words of her friend, when did he learn anything about law? Maybe in all those years he wouldn't tell any of them about, she shook her head and put her attention back on the group in front of her. Trying to think of ways to help the situation she frown, she was a minor, she could get the man in trouble in ten different directions if she tried hard enough, but did she want too? That could ruin someone's life, and though she didn't like the creep, she wasn't sure if going far enough to get him arrested was the right thing to do.

Leas flipped her umbrella over her shoulder, holding it almost like a weapon as she glared at the thing she would hardly call a man. How anything could look or act that gross was beyond her reach of understanding. Her grip on the handle tightened slightly when he mentioned who gave him the supposed permission to clear the site, but relaxed again when Travie answered. "That's right, so you'd better be leaving soon. Let your stupid thing break, and maybe take a shower. Or four."

Ham looked around at all their faces, little had been explained, and he was still fairly confused. Moca's tail was puffed up and flipping around, she looked as if she was ready to pounce at any time. He couldn't blame her, and if she did something it wasn't like he would try to stop her. There were plenty of excuses he could make for her, most of which could barely be considered excuses.

At the sight of the swine touching Andee, Maizen's blood boiled. He stepped to her opposite side, two paces after Travie. He made a mental note to talk to him more often. Anyone who'd step up for Andee that quick was a friend of his. As Travie seemed to have the argument under control, Maizen contented himself with putting a protective arm around his tiny friend and fixing the man opposite them a poisonous glare.

As the two taller, stronger men stared the driver down, he visibly slumped, snatching his hand away and backing up a step.

"Calm it down there, fellas," he muttered. "I was just messin' around."

Maizen let out what sounded almost like a snarl, and the man turned towards the dozer, opened the engine compartment, and finished breaking a wire that looked to have been hanging on by nothing more than brittle electrical tape.

"Would you lookie there," he finished nervously. "I'll just have to . . . call the mechanic." At this, he scrambled into the safety of the drivers' seat and began to talk on his cell.

Andee, shocked and feeling very icky, shuddered and pressed herself further into Maizen's side, turning her face from the cowering pervert to her friends.

"Maybe five," she answered Leas, finally beginning to breathe normally, "you should have smelled him up close; oh boy."

She managed a small smile as her eyes flicked from Tonya--who looked to be at war with herself--then to a confused looking Ham, and finally, settled on Travie.

"How did you know that stuff?" She asked, "Better yet, why didn't you let on your were a secret law-genius before? This is great!"

Travie realized what Andee said a few moments after the fact, making his stuttered answer awkward and slow. "I- uh- just m-must have pickupsomewhere." His last three words were strung together as he turned away, now that Andee wasn't being mentally felt up by some county government hired jerk he almost felt as if he shouldn't have said anything, or maybe he could play it up as he just read it somewhere on the internet, but if he said much more about it he doubted they'd believe him. Shaking his head he went back to his dog, "I don't think genius is the word for google." He said with a shrug as he grabbed his tea from the side of her coffee cart.

Tonya, glad the man had finally left, sighed, "We have to figure out something before that creep comes back again." She mumbled, going through her own knowledge of state and local governments, which was extremely limited.

"No thanks, I smelled enough from back here." Leas waved her hand in front of her face with a grin, turning to the now stuttering Travie. "Picked up where? You been doing a lot of research lately?" She waited for an answer she wasn't actually expecting to get and rolled her eyes at the Google comment. "Yeah, right. You had to have at least memorized some stuff. Unless you can just do that in your head, but I'd doubt it." She popped the umbrella open again and held it above her head.

Ham turned his head slightly towards the cat on his shoulder, shrugging as they continued on. "Figure out what, exactly? What are you trying to do?" He looked around at the group, all of them were talking like they already knew what was going on, which meant what he was picking up was, in general, pretty vague.

Andee patted Maizen's arm in thanks and stepped away from him, approaching Travie.

"Leas is right, you know." She said, frowning. "If you know about this stuff, you could be a big help! I mean, why hold back? Your life here is on the line just like ours."

She stepped forward and gave him a quick, tight hug. "Thanks for stepping up for me, though!" Her eyes widened innocently. "I had no idea he'd be such a creep!"

Finally, her gaze landed back on poor Ham. Not only had he been left out of the loop, she hadn't gotten to his coffee yet.

"Oh no! I forgot your coffee! And you must be so confused! Someone explain while I get his drink going?"

As she busied herself at the cart, Maizen stepped up.

"So here's the deal, the mayor is trying to sell our beaches to contractors so they can build resorts and make more money off the land. We don't want that because this place is our home. We're trying to figure it how to correct this situation, but we're running out of ideas."

He turned to the group, "Anyone else have any input?"

Travie hugged his friend back lightly, but kept his tone of voice even as he spoke, "Like I said it was just a little research." Nodding toward Ham he let Andee explain and looked to Tonya, expecting her to have something to say as well. Sure enough she pitched in with "They're throwing around fliers like this," she handed Ham a colourful page explaining the unnecessary griminess and wastefulness of the area. "They say wasteful, we say home. The Lot is used to hold fundraisers, elementary school functions, and other things that don't make money for the city, so the tyrannical mayor wants to build condos here instead, for rich tourists from Brazil to buy, since they're the only ones who can afford it." she huffed out a sigh and crossed her arms, looking out to the ocean with an almost depressed look.

"Not to mention the fact that everyone here likes it as a beach! I live up the hill a little bit, and its nice to look down at it, but if there was big buildings in the way," Leas huffed, not bothering to finish the sentence since she knew they would all get her point. "If I had enough money I'd buy the land myself so they couldn't do anything with it, but even I'm not that rich."

Ham gave a small smile as he rubbed the back of his head. He didn't really mind that she'd forgotten, but a drink wouldn't be bad, as long as it was good. And from what he'd seen everyone liked her drinks. He listened to the taller guy as he explained, only barely thinking on it. "If you're using it it's not exactly wasteful. Besides, it's just a beach area, there's plenty of that in bigger tourist areas, aren't there?" He wondered aloud. The area was cute, and really nice, but not exactly something he could associate big hotels with. "You can always find people who aren't from here to help, so it's not just locals who wanna keep it. Or just not leave the place they wanna build on."

Andee eyed Travie suspiciously, about to speak again, when Maizen stepped in.

"Hey, cut the guy some slack, Dee. Just appreciate that he saved your butt just now."

Ignoring her look of reproach, he turned to Travie and muttered, "don't let her size fool you, Bro. She's a bulldog, that one. Doesn't give up easy. She'll have you spilling all your secrets before you know you're even talk-- ow!" he broke off as a bag of coffee beans smacked him in the back of the head. Rubbing his skull he turned to see an sweet, innocent, doe-eyed Andee handing Ham a drink.

"It's a red-eye," Andee informed Ham,"black coffee with a shot of espresso. But it's my own brew, hope you like it!"

She sobered as Tonya and Leas finished their speeches, but brightened as she heard the mild interest in Ham's voice.

"It's just not that easy, Ham. I'm all over social media, but I don't know many people outside my little town! Do you have any suggestions about how to get the word out? Because I'm at a loss," she said, shaking her head sadly.

Travie let out a breath as Maizen saved him from throwing together a fake explanation, he chuckled awkwardly as Maize's description of their mutual friend and nodded just as he got hit with coffee beans, even if he didn't know that's what it was the added smell and the quiet rattle of the beans made it obvious as she turned back to Ham. "Well I think we all have a few secrets that we aren't exactly proud of." he said quietly, his family didn't even know where he was, and as long as they still wanted him to be a lawyer like everyone else in the family he was going to keep it that way. He was good at law, but his passion was in music, and that's where it was staying. "We could just not leave, but they'd probably send the cops to arrest us or something, and they wouldn't have a choice even though most of the ones I've talked to agree with us, not the mayor."

Tonya sighed in agreement and nodded, "Most of the town agrees with us, but their leases are being threatened by the condo company too, if they don't buy here, then they'll try somewhere else, we have to figure out how to drive them out of town for good. Of course what's a teenage summer vacationer, a local with a record, a homeless musician, and a girl who knows more about clothes than anything else going to do about it? Andee you're the only perfect one here by the way, unless you're hiding something," she sent a smirk Andee's say, lightening the topic a bit as she continued in her second breath, "No offense you guys, but it's all true, they just think of us like a bunch of kids, and the only way to make them think of us as something more is if we can impress the judge, hopefully it's going to be that older one who buys tea in our shop, not the younger one who just bought that mansion on the hill with his too-tan barbie wife." She stopped, realizing that she was probably babbling by bow, something she did when she was annoyed, excited, nervous, or all of the above.

"Thanks." Ham said with a nod as he was handed a cup. He was still partially distracted by thought, but his partially formed ideas weren't much to go on. Social media... He knew plenty of people outside of a small area, but the big question was, would that be very useful? "If it's public property they shouldn't be able to make you leave." He said in a half questioning tone and turned to the red haired girl.
"What if something brought a big group of people down here, like a concert or something? Some people from soemewhere else and something that would bring in locals?" He could probably help set something up fairly easily. "Or some sort of music festival type thing?"

Andee eyed her musical friend, desperately curious, but fought the urge to press him. She knew she had a tendency to smother people, and even though she only had their best interests at heart, it usually put them off. Maizen was a rare exception and let her sift through his mind to her heart's content, but others weren't usually so forthcoming with their deepest, darkest secrets. She shot Travie a contrite smile at his quiet statement. "Sorry Travie. Everyone is entitled to their personal stuff, and I know I can be a bit pushy," she muttered guiltily, twisting her hands and staring at her yellow shoes.

When he spoke of the police officers, she smiled. "They would never arrest me. Do you know how many of those police officers have coffee for free at my cart? Daily? And they know how much I care about you guys. It wouldn't happen." she said confidently. "But that wouldn't work anyways. We are trying to prove that we aren't a bunch of hoodlums. A standoff with 'The Man' isn't going to rest our case well.

Andee blushed at Tonya's words. "I'm not perfect, not even close. I'm a neurotic, nosy brat who pries into people's personal lives. I just look good on paper." She shivered at the thought of the rich new judge. "Yeah he gives me the creeps. He leches out jail bait like a mosquito does blood. His wife can't be older than me."

She clapped her hands at Ham's suggestion. "A music festival! That would be great! We could have it on a Saturday, so the farmer's market will be going. That would get tons of business for our local famers, and we could have petition slips available all over to sign." Her face lit up. "We could have an art walk too! There are tons of great artists in town. I'm sure the tattoo shop Maizen is apprenticing at could open a booth, and Jeremiah down the street is a great photographer. He could do prints . . ." she trailed off. "I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. Music. Travie is a great musician. He could play." she said with a smile.

______________________________

Maizen stared in shock as his friend actually apologized for being nosy. That had to be a first. "Yeah, the cops here wouldn't arrest me. I've actually helped put some of the guys I used to run with behind bars. They know me and owe me favors."

"My record was expunged when I turned 18," he told Tonya. "so they wouldn't have that excuse. I'm sure my alcoholic mother doesn't look too hot on my 'fine upstanding citizen' resume though," he said bitterly.

At Andee's words, he nodded his head. "Ham's got a great idea. Music festivals on the beach are always a hit, and Trav. is awesome. Who else would play though?

((AYE

We should continue this.))