HOMECOMING

Jacinto Acosta, as hosted by Julep for Windsor Bay.

[acosting]

JACINTO ACOSTA

Intro / Replies / Mirror / Starters / Inspo

[avanguyen]

Hm, that's interesting. I'll have to look more into those types of feeders and see if I can find one. I did end up switching to a different bird seed. It's one that squirrels aren't attracted to because it has a bitter taste for them. But the birds seem to love it, which is all that matters. Ugh, I wish they could get all the house work done for me, because that's my least favorite thing to do. Plus just imagine coming home from a long day of work to a clean house thanks to all your little critter friends. If only life were more like a Disney movie in that aspect.

[acosting]

"Bitter with something not harmful to the birds, I trust?" That seemed like a practical thing, but Jack couldn't help but be curious about just what would repel squirrels and not birds. He knew that there were certain scents that were supposed to help repel raccoons (his trash bags were mint scented for that very reason, although Jack wasn't sure if it really did a damn bit of good), but if there was some kind of taste equivalent to squirrels wasn't something he'd ever looked into. "I don't have a lot of cleaning up to do, there's just two of us now and Addy's pretty good at cleaning up after herself." Benji, however? God, no.

[rainbowxsouls]

"Thank you! No I don't, I should've got one! That would've been soooo cute." She answered back sincerely, though definitely a little more enthused than she normally would be. She wasn't so drunk that she was stumbling around, but everything just felt happy and warm. This guy had the Hot Dad thing going on, she wondered if he was one. "That would be so nice, thank you! I'm Sarah. What's your name? Do you have kids?"

[acosting]

"Jack, and I have two." He said warmly, more willing to talk about his kids than anything in the world and smiling at just the thought of them as he offered the young woman - Sarah - his arm. "My oldest is away at college right now, and my youngest is still in high school, but she's not far behind." He wasn't sure sure where her question about kids came from, maybe she was wondering if he was there to play designated driver for one of them or something. "Are you at the age where it's rude to ask how old you are, or…?"

[liadanashford]

She couldn't help the snort that emerged when he replied, quick as a whip, giving his hand a respectful, firm shake. People's curtness rarely rattled her - she'd just come off a twelve-hour shift of kitchen chaos and shouting, simple answers and dismissal was hardly a poison in her system. Danny grinned, shrugging her mouth. "Whatever version you like, mate." Still, she couldn't quite place him - she hadn't needed a mechanic in her time here, and had made a point to establish her own grounds before venturing out too far in her new life. She made a mental note to ask her dad at some point. At his brush-off, a short pop of laughter made it out, and she shook her head. "Aye, grand. Sure look, Shooter's'll give the whole lot a good time. They've got a heavy hand behind bar." Whether it was to mirror his posture or to simply fold, she pocketed her hands and took a few steps backward, gently turning her body toward the bar to make her way for a well-earned pint. "Invite's open, Long Name Mechanic. Thanks again."

[acosting]

"Jack." Plain, unassuming, and not necessarily helpful until she paired it up with the autoshop part, but it was a hell of a lot simpler to say than Jacinto Alonso Acosta Silva. Truthfully, unless it was someone like a religious official, Jack doubted that anyone outside of his family even remembered that he had two last names. Her laugh made his mouth twitch, a reply smile threatening his features at her easy response. "The kind of hand that makes sure that even if you have a bad night, you don't remember it?" He asked, tone making it difficult to tell if he was joking or not. "Well, if it's open… then maybe next time. Enjoy your beer and have a good night." Jack told her politely, inclining his head as he went to move past her. She seemed fine and if she happened to drink too much, hopefully that bartender in there was also the kind that knew how to call a cab at the end of the night so that she wasn't left walking home alone.

[rainbowxsouls]

Starter for: Jack (@acosting)

Location: Magenta

"Oh whoops, sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you. Are you okay? I didn't spill on you, did I?" Sarah rambled, her hand on the man shoulder both to steady him, and to steady herself. She was definitely tipsy, Sex on the Beach in hand. "Today's my birthday! I'm very happy tonight! Do you want to dance?" She yelled over the music of the club.

[acosting]

Why did it seem like every time he was out past ten PM lately, he was going to run into a girl with an interest in a bar? Of course, considering he was actually in a bar (a club, but close enough to Jack), it made sense. "Birthday girl, huh? Happy birthday. Do you have one of those ribbon pins?" Jack asked, giving her a quick glance to see if she was doing the pin the money thing that he remembered seeing some women do. "Not much of a dancer." He lied, not wanting to try out ancient dance skills. "How about I just buy you a shot?"

[wb-javiacosta]

Javi chuckled at the question, but didn't actually respond. There was absolutely a time in his youth- even just ten years ago- he would have been asking his Tio for money instead of just exchanging it. "Sim, tio, obrigado," he said, switching to Brazilian Portuguese for a moment, easily. He'd been raised in a bilingual household, and often around family, Javi switched back and forth. He wanted to make sure that he stayed fluent in Portuguese and didn't solely use English and let his fluency slide. There were a lot of times he would say something in Portuguese and not think about what language he was speaking, especially around his family. Besides, for as long as he could remember, he'd called Tio Jack, Tio; he rarely used the English Uncle when speaking directly to the older Acosta.

He took the money and handed his Tio $50, then tucked the money into his wallet and then into his back pocket. Javi looked over at him and asked, "How've you been?" And it wasn't just to make conversation, he genuinely cared about his Tio and his cousins. Family meant everything to him; he was unwaveringly loyal to those he loved. Javi had been thinking about visiting his Tio's house after finishing up at the market, since he was in the area, to spend some time with family. It was quite amusing to bump into him here.

[acosting]

Huffing in amusement at Javi's easy agreement, Jacinto hummed and nodded, taking the younger man at his word - perhaps even being more inclined to do so because of his language choice. Maybe it was because English was the language most people spoke that made hearing promises in another language seem more sacred, but Jack had faith in his nephew regardless an appreciated that little reminder of home that came with that simple reassurance of yes, uncle, thanks.

Exchanging the change for the fifty, Jack tucked the money away before replacing his wallet and taking a step closer to examine the options for himself, wondering how much longer it would be until the sweet potatoes were ready. The usual harvest time, if he wasn't mistaken, but despite the time he spent in the farmlands, he was hardly a farmer. "Good. Talked with Benji, he's still planning on coming home for Christmas even though he didn't come back for summer. The vacation with his girlfriend went well. Addy's excited about drama club again, and she's worked out a system where her friends have to wash her car in exchange for rides." At some point in life, updates stopping being about Jack and started being about his kids because generally speaking, how his kids were doing determined how he was doing, but the fact that one was out of the nest and the other soon would be meant that Jack needed to find a new hobby soon.

[ashergoldstein]

Asher never had been much of a car guy, which meant he usually just depended on his mechanic to know what they were doing. Luckily his car wasn't too old and he hadn't had many problems with it, aside from today. "I definitely will," Asher said with a nod and made a mental note to call the shop as soon as he could. "Thanks again for your help. I would have been waiting for a tow truck for hours if I had to resort to calling them."

[acosting]

"No problem. I know someone that had to pay five hundred just to get pulled out of ditch after getting bogged down, those places are usually highway robbery." He'd considered once buying a tow truck and broadening his list of services so that people didn't have to contact someone else to get to his shop when there was an accident, but it never happened.Besides, there were other, more common ways to branch out an auto business, like car inspections, car sales, gas stations, and so on, and if Jack expanded, he wanted to be sure which would be the best move. "You should be good to go now," Jack added, shutting the man's hood and wiping his hands as he stepped back.

[rhettsinclair]

"hey, don't talk about my baby like that." rhett said as he circled back around to the front of his truck, frowning for himself at the dust coating everything inside. "you know what the roads are like out here in the farmlands, man. nothing but dirt, sand, and grit, it's just as bad as if i went joyriding down the beach without a hood on." but he'd need to have a day where he looked after maureen's insides to make sure she stayed running okay. rhett had won her in a bet right before ending up in windsor bay, and even though he still had his bike, he had to admit there were certain advantages to having a truck - even if the gas mileage wasn't one of them.

[acosting]

Despite his forward and blunt manner when dealing with most people, Jack knew the rules of customer service - it would be hard for him to not to when his family was in the hospitality business, where customer loyalty was your lifeblood. But this guy wasn't a client (Yet. According to the rules of customer service, this was a moment of truth because Jack always represented his company and his actions influenced how people would see his company) and all he'd said was the truth, no matter what excuses the man might make. Hooking up the charger to the battery in the proper order, Jack watched the lights and frowned when it blinked red instead of green. "You may have a bigger issue than a dirty engine."

[avanguyen]

My birthday was last week and my parents surprised me with this really nice bird feeder, since I've been transforming into an old woman with a bird obsession. I got it set up in the perfect place in my backyard and even got really excited when I saw my first bird flutter to and from the feeder. However a few hours later, I went out into my backyard only to find a squirrel with its greedy little paws digging through the bird seed. Now I feel like I need to take the next step and invest in a squirrel feeder so all the little critters in my backyard are happy. Is this what being a Disney princess feels like? @windsorbaystarters

[acosting]

"They make feeders that they claim are squirrel resistant, they have doors that shut when enough weight lands on the feeder." Jack said, which didn't answer any of her questions, but seemed like relevant information anyway. "Getting a squirrel feeder won't be enough to stop them from eating your bird food alone, and you're not a Disney princess until they start doing your housework." Cinderella, Ever After, he thought Snow White, all of them had little animal helpers if Jack was remembering correctly - his Disney movies had mostly stopped when his kids got older, but there were certain parts from the movies that he swore were burned into his brain.

[liadanashford]

Yeah, he reminded her of her dad. Reticent, but not flimsy; coy, but not unsure. It seemed rude to dismiss him, or even excuse herself, in the presence of someone who both ensured she was not dead on a bench and seemed concerned about what came next. Danny studied his face for a moment, wondering if she could match a name to it from the long-dusty yearbook of her memory banks. She'd seen so many people in the hundreds of times she'd been back and forth as a child, but very few made themselves a permanent frame on the mantle in her mind. It would dawn on her, she wagered, if she introduced herself first. "I'm Danny, by the way," she said, extending her hand. "Sorry, you seem really familiar. Maybe you know my dad, Nick?" To his question, she shrugged, a smile creeping along the side of her mouth. "The beer's good and the bartender is cute," she chuckled, tugging at the ends of her sleeves to wrap around her fingers. Her regards suddenly swung back as she realized she'd been impolite, and she hurried to smother the mistake. "Could I buy you one, as a thank you for checking on me? Please, it's the least I can do."

[acosting]

"I've been in town for over ten years, I know a lot of people." Jack said as he reached out to shake her hand, wondering just how new she was to the area that she did not realize the way names spread in the small town. "And a lot of people know me. I run the auto shop out in the Farmlands, you want the long version or the short version of my name?" He could just say his name was Jack, but if she was trying to place him, that wouldn't be very helpful unless she'd been by the auto shop. Fully possible, but it was equally possible she was just thinking about some other member of his family. Giving a huff of amusement at her offer, Jack wondered if she actually thought that someone stopping to make sure she was okay was some heroic, cumbersome deed that deserved a reward, because it wasn't. "I wasn't fishing for an invite." He told her, hands sliding into jacket pockets. "I have family coming in and we're supposed to out to a bar, my pick where. I'm behind on my bar reviews." Nowhere in there had Jack actually turned her down, but still, she wasn't obligated to invite him to crash her night - it wasn't the least she could do, it had been the least he could do.

[nrcissasmalfoy]

Location: Mug Shot Cafe Open Starter @windsorbaystarters

It was mid-morning, and Davina had another hour to kill before picking up Tabby at her little camp program at the preschool. It was a bit of a drive from her house, but it was well worth the practice run before she started going more regularly in the fall. It would be easier then, when she was there for a few more hours, to go back home, but the camp was a much shorter day. Graham was down for his nap in his stroller, and she was enjoying her cup of coffee without being interrupted by one of the kids. She felt a shadow come over her and glanced up, a smile on her lips. "Oh, sure, you can take a seat. I always forget how busy it gets in here during the day."

[acosting]

"Actually, just giving this back. Think someone lost this." Jack corrected in a soft voice as he help up a toy that looked like a shark on a ring, the item making a faint rattling sound. Even though it had been years since his kids were small enough for losing toys to be his problem, Jack remembered how they would drop things - usually shoes or socks. He didn't know how many times he had to go searching up and down aisles for a lost piece of clothing because he wasn't paying enough attention. There was a reason he usually wasn't trusted to take both kids to a store by himself, but eventually he didn't have a choice but to do it all alone.

[iv3lisse]

“with  you,  or  my  bike ? ”  ivelisse  hesitated  for  a  moment  and  tilted  her  head,  scrunching  her  lips  to  the  side.  “i  think  you’re  a  little  too  old  for  me.  what  if  i  just  ask  a  little  nicer  for  you  to  help  me ? ”  they  straightened  up  and  crossed  their  arms.  it  wasn’t  unknown  for  ive  to  bat  their  eyelashes  to  get  whatever  she  wanted.  for  years  she  had  been  handed  a  full  speed  life,  one  without  consequence  ;  now  she  was  stuck  in  the  dusty  remains  of  windsor  bay,  somewhere  they  were  born  in  but  had  been  so  desperate  to  some  day  escape.  “usually  i just  give  it  a  kick.  i’ve  never  had  any  problems  with  it  beyond  that  before.  i’ll  be  honest  with  you,  sir,  no  idea  where  the  fuel  filter  even  is.”

[acosting]

Giving her a very unimpressed look, Jack waited patiently for her to break and give him an actual, serious answer that would help him figure out where to start looking with her bike. "Kicking it doesn't take the place of normal care and upkeep." He told her, something she had to have realized by this point since she was in his auto shop in the first place. "There's a few different things that could cause your problem, so I can start with either the fast problem to fix or the cheapest. My top guesses are your fuel filter or carburetor's clogged, your spark plus are faulty, or the ignition is going out. Is the problem happening when you're slowing down, when you're accelerating, or any time?" Jack asked, still trying to trouble shoot so he could get her in and out.

[liadanashford]

Narrowing eyes accompanied a growing smile, her peculiar savior becoming both quainter and stranger by the minute. Her heart had a soft place for men that reminded her of her father - dangerously polite, a do-gooder, a thoughtful but uncalculated kind of masculinity that projected safety rather than sanctions. "Oh, yeah," she answered, casting a quick glance over her shoulder toward the pub, that sort of American dive bar feel about it, even from the outside. "I just really prefer a good cold one on tap," she added, breath leaving her in a rush, as if to either make up ground in the conversation or allow him an excuse not to babysit her. She smiled, lifting one shoulder in a shrug, uncharacteristically meek, as if wishing he might not be able to guess who her family was by the blonde hair and green eyes alone. "I'm a bit of a beer snob."

[acosting]

It wasn't that Jack gave up drinking, but going out to drink was something he hadn't done in so long that it seemed as though it belonged to another life. Sure, maybe he ordered a beer at a restaurant to go with his dinner if he wanted to treat himself after a horrible day, but that wasn't the same as when he'd been in his twenties with nothing better to do than stay out until two A.M. and meet new friends that he'd lose touch with in a a week. But just because he didn't get out much anymore didn't mean he judged someone else who might, or someone that was particular about their outings, so her remark earned nothing more than a considering tilt of the head and a calm remark of, "Nothing wrong with that." In fact, it was almost good to know because while Jack knew damn well that his son had drank beer before, he also knew the kid was insisting on Jack taking him out to a bar once he turned twenty-one. Now if his son had a fake I.D. that he'd used to sneak into bars before, Jack didn't know and wasn't going to think about, but he could at least try to take Benji somewhere decent. "Does that mean Shooters has your recommendation?"

[ashergoldstein]

"Yeah like an oil change, tire rotation, the whole nine yards," Asher nonchalantly said with a shrug. Asher did as the mechanic instructed and got behind the wheel to start it up. He turned his key and the engine revved to life. "Ahh, thanks so much. I'm lucky as hell that I happened to cross paths with you today."

[acosting]

Did the guy know they generally recommended a tire rotation every oil change? Had he checked his transmission fluid recently? Not that you could do that with every car, a lot of the newer models didn't let you check your oil or transmission, which was useful when some people couldn't be trusted to put wiper fluid in the right place. "Just make sure to have it checked. May be a cell going out or something, but a shop can hook you up and check."

[wb-javiacosta]

Open Starter @windsorbaystarters Location: Morning Harvest

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, casting a warm glow over everything, and for Javi, it was undeniably a gorgeous day. He had chosen to wear a casual outfit consisting of shorts, a dark green t-shirt, and comfortable sandals as he leisurely walked through the Morning Harvest Market, taking in the diverse selection of fresh produce on display. Surrounded by a symphony of voices, some chattering, some laughing, he felt the vibrant energy of the crowd. The aroma of fresh seafood floated around him, and it made him consider buying some to cook for dinner tonight.

Javi preferred this market in the farmlands to a conventional grocery store, as he valued the higher quality of the goods and the opportunity to support local farmers directly. Without a predetermined shopping list, he decided to explore the market and let the available offerings inspire his meal planning for the week. As he picked up some tomatoes, Javier noticed that he was short on smaller bills than he had thought. Merda! He didn't want to be that asshole who went up to a vendor and asked them to break it so that he could buy something.

"Hey," he said as he turned to a nearby person, " Do you happen to have change for a $50?"

[acosting]

Considering the high school's garden project and their stall at the farmer's market, as well as Addy's own latest food kick, Jack ended up visiting the stalls most weekends and so far he'd ended up mystified by a honey salesman (who swore that local pollen was the answer to all of his allergy woes lately) and in a sort of unspoken feud with a fisherman. As long as he had more associates than he did enemies, Jack thought he was doing good, but he knew that not everyone in his family would agree with that.

Not that he was asking Javier his opinion about farmer market feuds, instead wandering through the rows with his hands shoved in his pockets while Javier waffled over produce. He hadn't actually planned on meeting up with the younger man, but in a small town like Windsor Bay, it was inevitably that you should be out minding your own business and end up running into family.

"Do I look like a bank?" Jacinto asked, even as he pulled out his wallet to start searching. At least in this case, he was just giving change and not being asked to give up fifty dollars for a bathing suit. Again. "Two twenties and a ten, that good enough for you?" Should be good enough for the vendor, going by the way they were being watched.

[liadanashford]

His cheerful reference pulled a laugh out of her, and she used her sleeves to wipe the last of the sweat from her brow and loose ends of hair from her eyes. "Cheers," she said between giggles, nodding in approval. "Although I think Cinderella had a much better dress and smelled a lot nicer than this." Only then did his actual answer dawn on her, and she teetered between considerations: on the one hand, still early enough for a proper drink and a reasonable commute home; on the other, evidence of her fatigue seemed to paint a less efficient picture of a night out, and she may have been better off simply calling it. "Guess I'd better hurry for a decent pint before the clock strikes."

[acosting]

"Not before the ball." He countered, tipping his head to one side as he evaluated her and found no reason why she wouldn't pass a dress code - he didn't think there was anywhere in Windsor Bay that had a requirement that she be dressed to the nines. "You heading there?" He asked, jerking his head in the direction of Shooters. "Got plenty of time for your pint if you don't fall asleep at the bar." Seemed like she'd be better off picking up a six pack for at home if her job regularly left her so tired that she was falling asleep on a bench like a homeless waif, but not his business. She was an adult and it wasn't even midnight - he just hoped she wasn't planning on driving herself home, because he had the sneaky suspicion that drink was going to hit hard if she was that tired.

[emichoi]

open starter ➛ open to any! location ➛ better soon, pharmacy

@windsorbaystarters

As of late, a lot of time was spent working, taking care of her twins, and making trips to the local pharmacy to pick up different oral medications for Alder, the youngest of the two twins. Today was no different, they were trialing him on different medications and this one seemed to be doing well, after a two week stint on it, they had placed an order for a thirty day supply of the liquid and she needed to pick it up. With her work bag thrown over her shoulder, she would admit, she had been distracted. "Hmm, oh sorry!" Glancing up at the person she had just run into, "I didn't mean to..." Taking a breath to compose herself, "I wasn't paying attention, that's my fault." Giselle admitted, "I got distracted by well, it doesn't really matter." As she glanced around, still not to the back of the pharmacy to pick up medicine. Good thing about this place you could pick up all different little things. Glancing down she noticed something on the floor, bending down to pick it up. "Did I knock these out of your hands?" Asking because she didn't want to put it back up on the shelf if it was the person's. "I apologize again, you think oh I'll take two seconds to run into the pharmacy, maybe pick up a few extra things." Since this place did have a little stock of well, everything, "And suddenly your distracted by a work e-mail." Tucking her phone into her back pocket and adjusting her bag over her shoulder.

[acosting]

Raising at eyebrow at her repeated apologizes, Jack waited until she finished to point out, "You didn't hurt me." Considering their size difference, Jack didn't think she could hurt him unless she was secretly trained in krav maga and was intentionally trying to. But her just taking a step too far and hitting into him wasn't enough to matter, and part of Jack wanted to make a comment that he wasn't so old that he would snap like a twig from a bump. "Not going to sue you for a broken hip."

Jack hadn't been holding anything, so he already knew that whatever caught the her attention, but he wanted patiently for her to ramble, wondering how many times she apologized or said she'd been distracted. She'd be the kind of movie character that would inspire drinking games, he could tell. "Not mine, but that is what I was looking for," Jacinto admitted in surprise as he finally looked down at her hands and noticed the box. "Hate when they move shit around." Reaching for the box, Jack looked around to take stock of how busy the rest of the pharmacy was, and how many people were in line. "You need to get back to that work email?" He asked, giving a little nod in her direction, as if there was some invisible letter floating around her head in the air.