j o s h u a

merrockite from Japan with a hot girlfriend (❤). therapist & mechanic. lives on the lake, best friends with the fish. rp only.

[joshlane]

JOSHUA AKIO LANE. josh, joshy. he/him, cis man, april 12, 1978. born in Kyoto, Japan, raised in Merrock, Maine. lucky enough to have mom, dad and another dad. lives on the lake in the countryside of Merrock with his dog, Toshiko, and has been in love with Esperanza for most of his life. works as a therapist / counselor at the Merrock Community Center and is the co-owner of Takato's Garage. hashtag lake life.

bio. stats. timeline. connections. wanted. muse. writing ideas.

[treywright]

Maybe we need to be more honest with ourselves about how we just want to be called good boys. Because...we'd be happier than ever. Listen, if you think about it, that's what Jurassic Park is anyway. Dinosaurs are basically birds, down to the fact that they were probably covered in feathers.

[joshlane]

You're not wrong, it probably would be better for us in the long run if we were honest about what we wanted. You're always right about these things, Che. No kidding. Even the noises that they make are pretty... prehistoric. Not that I'm a bird expert or anything, obviously. Or a dinosaur expert, for that matter.

[elisequinn]

But being bad does feel sort of good, doesn't it? Because there's definitely some joy in that. No, that's not very good therapist of you, to lie about who you are to the world or really to anyone. Maybe you should start with the mechanical bull, let it humble you once or twice, and then see.

[joshlane]

You might be asking the wrong person that sort of question, Elise, I'm not sure that I've ever been bad for a single day in my entire life, not that I would brag. I know, I'm pretty sure that's the sort of thing that gets people to not want to work with you, come to think of it. Opposite effect of what you should want to do. Well, in ten years when I am a famous rodeo star, we can always laugh about the time you told me to get on the mechanical bull.

[chessxwilde]

"Oh. Was I giving the impression that I didn't think someone would want to win it? Because that's not what I meant at all," Chess asked with genuine concern. She opened her mouth as if she was going to explain herself more, but decided against it, knowing she had the tendency to over (or under) think situations sometimes. "Anyway, did you see anything you think I should check out? Or were you more focused on Mission-" she paused for a moment and searched her brain for some clever wordplay then continued, "no, I don't have anything better than 'Snack Possible,' which doesn't really flow as well."

[joshlane]

"No, no, no!" Josh shook his head, offering her a reassuring smile, "not at all, I knew what you meant. I think that we have a hot commodity here, like an underdog. Sure, one of those gift cards for free wine over at Bardales Inc. seems good, but can that wine fix your car, tune up your bike?" He made a 'tsk' sound and shook his head, the smile on his face clearly teasing. "You mean besides the delicious food...? Actually yes," he nodded, pointing in a different direction, "I pet a pony. Also, I made Espie a very nice bouquet over at Kennedy's DIY flower bar, I do recommend that. And Mariah has a rock painting activity over at her new business, which is actually quite fun to see come together."

[taryngramsey]

"That's my motto in life. Always spoil the dogs." Taryn teased with a laugh. She couldn't imagine not spoiling her dogs anymore.

Taryn shook her head. "Not really, but it can get pretty rainy at times which I know isn't good for bike rides. But more times out of ten, Si or both of us were out on his bikes. He had a Suzuki bike. That's the one that his parents would like me to have. It's actually my favorite one that he would take me on. I guess I would have to learn how ride it myself as well." The idea hadn't dawned on her until just now. She wouldn't be a passenger, she'd be the driver. That hit her heart a little, but she quickly recovered. She smiled and took the card from him. "Thank you. I will make sure to call and set up an appointment."

[joshlane]

"Much better than something cliche and overdone," he replied with a warm laugh, "and I'm pretty sure that all of the dogs in the world would agree." Or at the very least, the dogs that liked to visit her cafe, none the less.

"No, definitely not. It's not so bad in summer time when you don't have to deal about fallen leaves in the roads, but slick spots are slick spots," no matter what time of year it was, you were going to run into problems with that. "Suzuki's are good bikes, are we talking more of a classic, or a crotch rocket?" He paused, letting out a laugh, "which I realize sounds really lewd, I spend too much time in a garage, clearly, but I mean the kind that are basically built to fly?" Sometimes, when he got talking about cars and bikes, his mind went right to those late nights talking with his dad or Nathan, Hess or Chess as they finished up a project.

[nathanxames]

Nathan gave a nod when Josh said that Skylar was welcomed to hang out at the garage. "I'll let her know. She'll be happy to hear that," he gave a small grin. "Just, don't be surprised if she starts asking questions and wants to try assisting in small repairs. She said, and I quote, 'if I'm driving, I should know how to fix the car'," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. The fact that his daughter was at the age to want to drive was still something he was getting used to. He then let out a sigh, giving a nod at Josh's words. "There are silver linings, I guess. More people are more aware now of our wildlife for one thanks to this. And I wouldn't be surprised if the council is thinking about ways to present something like this from happening again. Or at least makes it harder to do." Like changing the zoning ordinance, as Josh mentioned. "And the rules and regulations they'll have to follow if something like a new resort really becomes a reality." Would the town be able to adapt to the changes? Maybe. Eventually. Would the community felt the same? He had his own doubts about it. "I suppose it's just, I don't know, too extreme of a change? Too much to lose, yeah. I mean, I get it when it's coming from those whose families have been here for generations. I am pleasantly surprised that some who doesn't have deep roots here in town are also against the building of a resort. Maybe we'll be able to stop it afterall."

[joshlane]

"Well… not that I want to play devil's advocate here, but she's probably not wrong," he said with a laugh to his voice, "it's not a bad idea to know your way around the car that you're driving, after all." Most teenagers just wanted to put the pedal to the medal and go, they weren't actually interested in what was going on under the hood or how to make something work. If Josh could help nurture that in someone, then why not? "How do you feel about her driving?" that brought a grin to his face, "a little nervous?" Without kids of his own, he couldn't say that he knew exactly what it must have felt like, but he did watch Espie go through it with her kids, knew that it wasn't always the easiest thing for parents to tackle. But it was what they had to do. "That's incredibly true. I'm hoping that at the end of the day, they can use some environmental studies, maybe have it a designated wildlife area, or something history related to make sure that they don't end up in this position again years down the road?" If not the Benefactor, wouldn't someone else eventually step up and try something like this? And then it would be bad all over again. "Me too, some of the new people in town, even. It's kind of nice to know that it doesn't take a long history and generational ties to make people see how truly special our little town is."

[jj-hayes]

JJ could not help the laugh that escaped his lips at Josh's suggestion, and he responded with a nod. "Oh, definitely! Built character, encouraged me to learn how to cook... Oh, and I also took a class in nutrition during my undergrad because I wanted to understand it better. I'd say that helped me become a better doctor, too." He had to give credit where credit was due. The experience of eating cafeteria food during high school had some sort of positive effect on him, and that was something. He would always be grateful for that. "The thing about meatloaf... It's typically made with beef, isn't it? I'm not particularly fond of red meat, so I make mine with ground turkey instead. I add lots of breadcrumbs, milk and spices, and I also glaze it with barbecue sauce instead of ketchup. It's definitely not your traditional meatloaf, but it's an easy make-ahead meal that I like to prep during my day off. It freezes well, so I divide it up into individual portions that I can reheat during the week when I don't feel like cooking. Meal prepping has been a lifesaver lately." When Josh pointed out that his preference for pretzels might not be available at Snack Shack, JJ nodded. "They don't. I'm afraid Auntie Anne's is my go-to when it comes to pretzels. But when I'm at Snack Shack, though, I usually go for the smoothies." Some might even call JJ a picky eater for having such specific preferences when it came to food, which was certainly true. "I don't think I'm looking to achieve anything more in my career, if I'm being honest. When I was younger, I might have thought I was going to do so much more. Boston's big on medical research, and I did spend some time working on some clinical trials and whatnot when I was a resident. That sort of work can be just as stressful as working in the ER. But now, I'm definitely more focused on working at a much slower pace. I see a handful of patients a day, maybe even make a house call or two, but then I get to clock out and go home to my daughter. That's more than enough for me. I don't feel like I need to do anything more for my career." And that was something he firmly believed. "But I'm not ready to retire, though. That's for sure," he admitted, laughing softly. "Now, I don't know if I would have made a good librarian, but I did have a fascination with the Dewey Decimal System as a kid. I think the idea of organizing things in a system like that... It tickled my neurodivergent brain in a very specific way. I definitely would have enjoyed working in a quiet environment as well. Libraries are not as overstimulating as hospitals." Perhaps in another life, but not this one. He could not complain, though. JJ knew that pediatric medicine was his calling.

[joshlane]

"Definitely not a bad class to take if that's the career you go into," after all, anything that gave you a leg up in the health department was going to be a good thing. It never hurt to be able to answer any kind of question that a patient might come to you with, whether it be something specialized like diet, or… well, anything else that they could come up with. Josh didn't know much about that side of the medical world, but he knew that there were probably a million questions one could come up with. "Beef," he confirmed with a nod, "or beef and pork, a lot of people do a mix." Though he supposed that had less to do with taste and more to do with the cost, and the meat being affordable for more people. "I guess that's the joy of cooking something like meatloaf, there are no real rules, so you can doctor it up however you want, make it to your taste to be sure that it's exactly what you want." And it was better to eat something that you liked than to force yourself to eat something that you really weren't all that into. "Snack Shack has Auntie Anne's beat, sorry to say -- they use a little extra butter and salt, but somehow it ends up more flavorful than it does a greasy mess," he said with a laugh, taking another bite of his food and chewing thoughtfully as they talked about careers, nodding his head. "What matters is that you find something that makes you feel fulfilled. Truly. Sure, you might not be where you thought you would be ten years ago, and that's fine. We don't always end up in the spot we had in mind -- we end up where we're supposed to be, instead," and JJ did seem pretty content with where he was, like he had something figured out that worked for him, and that was important. "You're far too young to think about that," he laughed, shaking his head. Josh had been, too. But he had retired from private practice into working at the community center and picking up mechanic work and co-owning a garage, so… retirement hadn't really quite happened. And Josh was okay with that. "I think, as accurate as that might be… you're good at what you do, it seems to be where you need to be. Besides, you can always visit the library for fun, right?" he laughed, "maybe ask Jayla or Oliver or Will if you can volunteer to organize their shelves?"

[theobrowningfd]

As Theo looked out upon the rain as it came down, thankful for the overpass above them, he nodded. "I mean it doesn't look too bad if it doesn't let up, that we can hopefully find a place to hang until it passes," he got off his bike for a moment as it was in park and walked to the edge of the covering to see if he could see any cloud cover. "As least it's not freezing rain or snowing, or cold in general," turning back to Josh while lifting both his shoulders. "For sure, let's see what we got," he smiled and walked over to the saddle bag and took out some ziplovk baggies. "I have both healthy and the not so healthy in here," he then patted the other saddle bag as on his seat now lay carrots and celery.

[joshlane]

"Wouldn't be the first time I had to ride home in the rain," he admitted, scrunching his nose a bit. Soggy, damp, sure, but… there were worse things. And besides, as long as it wasn't a storm with lightning and thunder and bad winds, at least it wasn't too hard to navigate. He hoped. "Snow would be worse," he agreed with a laugh, "I've definitely been out when it's started hailing or sleeting during those summer storms, too, and that's just as bad. Absolutely no one wants to deal with ice on the road," even if you should have expected it. "Not so healthy," he said without missing a beat, and then letting out a laugh, "or… whatever, I guess we should have a little bit of both."

[xespietamayo]

It took everything in Espie not to start loudly cackling at the suggestion of matching denim jumpsuits. Not offence to other couples who enjoyed that sort of thing but that was not for them. The closest to matching anything for them was Espie stealing items from Josh's closet. And that was how she liked it. Swallowing her laughter, it was silent as Espie shook her head. "I can't wait to go see how everyone's tents have turned out. I was excited seeing all of the proposals with ideas come in. I know there's a ton to do," she agreed as she worked on putting together the first few gift bags. "I hope it's also motivational for folks who have been more or less fence sitting or slow to get involved. I hope this is sort of a moment of realizing they don't have to be on the committee or leading anything themselves. How they can help and show support, get involved by supporting those of us getting our hands dirty. And who knows, maybe it will motivate others to get involved more."

[joshlane]

"I already know that I'm going to end up spending way too much money on baked goods," he admitted with a low groan. For as much as Josh liked to budget, and as much as he knew that he would have to eat far too much to make it through everything that he bought at every event that he went to… he still couldn't stop himself from getting more. Every single time. "Plus, I was eyeing that prize wheel, maybe thinking about painting some rocks, making a couple of buttons…" plus side, everything that they did ended up funneling back into the money to fix the issue at hand: stopping the Benefactor. That made it a little easier to hand over crisp dollar bills. "I hope so, too. I know that they've mentioned other events happening, so I'm sure this might inspire some people," even if it was something as basic as helping to set up, or volunteering to work for different things. "Although selfishly, I wouldn't mind seeing us do more events this way, anyway. Less reliance on the Benefactor, more on community."

[treywright]

Listen, that "good boy" can get a lot of species pretty far in life. It's nice to be told you're doing good, right? I get how dogs work, sometimes. They are pretty darn close. I feel like they could have just used them instead of raptors in Jurassic Park, it's about the same level of fear.

[joshlane]

That it absolutely is, everyone desires it, and if they don't... or they act like they don't, they're absolutely lying to themselves to feel better. Could you imagine? Actually, with the way technology is today, I bet someone already has re-made the entirety of Jurassic Park using birds and only birds. I'd watch it.

[theobrowningfd]

It was typical, everything that was going well had to end sometime. Though thankfully it was just rain and nothing worse, plus they were able to pull over and take cover. Theo was just glad that they didn't have any necessary plans or a time constraint, things that would ultimately be affected by the downpour they were in the midst of. Pondering Josh's question, Theo looked out at the rain for a moment, "Hm let's see if it's just passing first? And then if it doesn't end in say like ten minutes, we figure something else out?" He asked, leaning his helmet on his lap.

[joshlane]

"I'm pretty sure that the 'figuring something else out' is just going to be us riding in the rain," he admitted with a laugh, shrugging both shoulders. It happened, though -- weather was never a guarantee, especially this time of year. And in Josh's mind, a rainy day on the bike was still a better day than a dry one at home. Although… he couldn't lie and say he he wasn't hoping it would taper off. "I guess maybe this is a good time for that snack break, then?" if they were already stopped, they might as well fuel up a little bit, do their best to get some energy.

[elisequinn]

And it's harder to get back to the clean and noble path once you've veered off those familiar ways. Some people have cowboy boots they wear to ride motorcycles, though, I didn't know if you were secretly a biking cowboy or if you've got aspirations to be a rodeo star. You're not too old yet. Probably, they might sort of side eye you if you tried bull riding or something.

[joshlane]

Easier to go bad than to go good, how true is that? And a little bit sad, too, but that's the way it goes. That's true, but that's not me. I feel like I would be lying to the world about the kind of person that I was, and I don't want to do that. Or start chasing rodeo dreams, don't go giving me ideas about that. Well, there's the mechanical bull at Tumbleweed, that's... kind of similar, right?

[nathanxames]

Nathan took a glance at towards the back of the tent at Josh's response before letting out a chuckle and nodding. "Eh, most likely." He took a sip of the drink he had and more than glad than this time it really was coffee. He placed the cup on a table nearby and watched until he couldn't see his daughter anymore before saying, "You know, for the moment, I wouldn't be surprised. She recently asked me if she can hang out at the garage for the summer. Told her that she should ask you first. Might be her way of bribing you," he said the last part with a small nod towards the coffee in Josh's hand as he let out another chuckle. He then let out a sigh, thinking about how much things seemed to change since the news came out. Things were calm when the year started. "I wish it never crossed my mind, to be honest. I tried to be a little optimistic, trying to think that maybe, just maybe, some good will come out of the resort if it can't be stopped, which I still hope we can stop it. But somehow it just hard to be optimistic." He watched other booths that he could see from where he was sitting, seeing people came out to support each other. Maybe they could make it happen again next year when they weren't trying to outbid the Benefactor. "Yeah. It is sad. I don't think I've talked to anyone that is particularly happy with the Benefactor at the moment. Just because of one decision. I want to say it's a bad decision but bad or not changes depending on who you ask."

[joshlane]

A lopsided smile slid across his face as Josh took a sip of the coffee in his hand, mostly joking about his dad, but unable to help it. He had a very good, very healthy relationship with his father, but that didn't mean he couldn't egg on the teasing at least a little bit. He normally got it right back. "She's always welcome to come hang out at the garage," he wanted it to be a safe kind of space, where the crew could bring family and friends and make the working environment even more pleasant. As long as they didn't try to fix a car with no knowledge or blow something up, he was happy to have them. "So tell her that it's working," he sloshed the coffee in his cup with a grin, before sobering up a bit to talk about the more serious things, nodding his head with understanding. "There's always the tiniest bit of silver lining, which is that we can find a way to change our zoning ordinance, make sure that if they do get their resort, it comes along with all sorts of rules and regulations that they have to follow, but that just doesn't seem like the best case scenario," it would be better if they didn't have to worry about that at all. "I'm surprised -- in a good, pleasant way -- by the sheer amount of people who haven't wanted to see this happen. But I think living in a town like this, with so many deep-seated roots, people are afraid of what they could lose."

[chessxwilde]

"No offense, but isn't fixing cars like, a Dad Thing?" Chess realized how that sounded given their reality, so she followed up with, "Okay, yes, I know I'm literally a different type of human than a dad and whoever wins doesn't need to have work done on their car, but, I guess the main Dad Thing of it is wanting to work on their own car?" She hadn't even thought of the fact that it was Father's Day soon. "My dad's more of the gadget type."

[joshlane]

"Alright, maybe more of an... emergency gift," he suggested, "you know, so that when a father insists that he can fix someone's car or bike, and then a disaster happens and the bike lays in ruins... bam." It might end up insulting the father a little bit, until the bike was fixed and everything was good to go again, at least. "But yes, you're right. I absolutely grew up with that dad," he pointed in the direction of Takato himself. His adopted dad hadn't been as hands on, he might have actually liked the gift card, but still. "Either way, someone's got to want it, right?"

[xespietamayo]

"I'll take matching face paint over matching outfits," Espie chuckled. She was open to a certain degree of cheesy couples wear but would draw the line at matching outfits. At least face paint was whimsical. "Let's see if we can refill this thing," she gestured toward the half empty box of gift bags, "then we can head back out of here for a bit." Espie did really need to get out from helping out at the tent and take the opportunity to explore the rest of the event. She laughed breathily through her teeth at the teasing of her son. Her kids knew it was all in good fun. She appreciated that. Once comfortable in her chair, Espie distributed items between Josh and herself for an assembly line of sorts as she spoke. "I'm happy seeing everyone come out, supporting. Not that I doubted it. But you never know! It's not until it's happening that you understand it may actually be successful.. It's a promising turn out. Huge step in the right direction in all of this."

[joshlane]

"Oh… so…" he heaved a small sigh, "I guess the matching jumpsuits I was having made for us out of all denim are out of the question, then?" As though he would ever dream of slipping into something like that -- leather, maybe, and only then when they were on the back of his bike, otherwise they were probably going to leave the leather at home. "Sounds like a good plan to me. There's definitely a lot to see, I was surprised by how many tents popped up, ready to go," but he shouldn't have been; people in Merrock really didn't hesitate to get involved when it came to something that meant a lot to their town, could make a big difference in something important. And when it came to the Benefactor doing something messed up… well, that was important. He shook open one of the bags and began taking items from each of the piles and began to place them inside as he spoke. "Definitely. I was saying to Nathan, it's obviously going to take a little more than just the Spring Fling, but it's a start. And if nothing else, it shows the Benefactor how serious we are about this."

[jj-hayes]

"God, don't even remind me. When I first moved out to Boston, I couldn't even eat the food that was served in the BU dining hall. Cafeteria food had scarred me so much that I eventually started cooking for myself," JJ explained, letting out another laugh as he took another bite of his salad. "If anything, that forced me to learn a life skill. I'll take that as a win. I promise you. I can make a better meatloaf than what they served us." And that was something he was extremely proud of. "Cinnamon sugar? Really? I'm more of a sea salt pretzel kind of guy, but it has to be drenched in a grainy mustard. Otherwise, I find that it's too salty." Perhaps JJ was a little picky when it came to food, but he was certainly grateful for the options of restaurants that they had around town. Even if his stomach could no longer handle the food from certain places, he liked the convenience of it alone. "Yeah, I tried that once. I would not recommend. The Tums did not help at all." Technically, the last time he had consumed said giant plate of nachos was on an empty stomach after working a double shift at the hospital. He did not stand a chance at that point. "I think I came pretty close to burning out, especially during my residency. I was working at one of the busiest hospitals in the country during a time when work-life balance was pretty much non-existent for medical professionals. It's why I moved back home once I finished my boards. At least, working at the hospital here was much easier than working in a big city. But you know what they say. Old habits die hard. I was still working a lot, and I wasn't ready to slow down until about a decade later." Of course, being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult had made him more aware of how much stress he was putting on himself, even if he had not been the best at managing it at the time. Thankfully, life had taken JJ exactly where he needed to be. Not in the emergency room, but in an office where he got to decide his hours and spend his lunch break with his friends before going home to his little girl. That was the right fit for him. "God, no. No hospital for Mia, unless she wants to. I'm not going to push her like my parents pushed me. If she wants to volunteer, which is important for kids once they reach a certain age, I'd encourage her to do her own research and find a position herself. That could be at the sanctuary, the library or even here at the community center. But I'd like to give her the choice."

[joshlane]

"I like to think that those experiences built character, or … in your case, encouraged you to get better at cooking for yourself?" he suggested with a laugh, trying to find the silver lining in the situation. At least they had been well fed. Maybe they hadn't loved all of the food, but no one had gone hungry, and he would always be grateful for that fact. "See, I don't really like meatloaf all that well to begin with, so I'm afraid that one's not going to win me over," he grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'd still believe you." As JJ talked about his preference in pretzels, he see-sawed his head back and forth, "that sounds good, but I'm not sure that they sell those over at Snack Shack," considering sea salt and grainy mustard might have been a little high brow for a snack kiosk in a local market place. Although it did sound good, and he was sure that at the right place, it would be a huge hit. Nodding with understanding to the idea of burning out in residency, he had never really worked in that field, or had any plans to, but he knew that it was stressful. "It can happen to anyone, any career, any job, any amount of time, no matter how much you want it or love it," he had gone through it and then he had worked with clients who were going through it, felt burnt out by life in general and came in to get some help. He did his best to coach them through it. "It's good that you listened to yourself and realized that it was time to slow down, though. You can preserve your career a lot longer that way," especially if it was something that JJ saw himself doing for a long time to come yet. Smiling as he chewed through his food, Josh knew that the way JJ was handling it was smart -- pushing anyone to do anything both wasn't fair to them, and also ended up causing a lot of resentment in the end. "And to think that if your parents hadn't pushed it on you, you might have volunteered at the library, turned into a total nerd, instead," he paused, grinning as he reached for his drink, "well, nerdier."

[xespietamayo]

Espie simply shook her head, dismissively, rolling her eyes, playfully. While there had been a time where the pair had been seeing one another more casually, dating others, when they first reconnected, the pair were in a happily committed place where they could securely joke about fictional other partners. "Maybe.. we'll have to make some time to stop over there at some point," her head met a raised shoulder as she debated the idea of face paintings at some point. She wasn't completely opposed to the idea. "Everyone's pulling their weight! Some of us don't even work here!" Espie called out after her son, laughing when Josh teased as she ordered Efren around. Of course, Espie was always more than happy to help out with anything for the garage. But she would be lying if she denied finding it to her advantage a bit that her oldest son worked for her boyfriend. "I like that plan," she agreed. With that said, Espie let some of the garage's employees take over crowd interactions, leading Josh aways back where the pair could take a seat in lawn chairs and work on putting more gift bags together. She quickly rearranged the set up to be more comfortable for them both to work, before taking a seat. Espie paused for a drink of water from her bottle, before getting comfortable. "I have to say, this is all turning out to look like quite a success. I'm quite proud, I have to admit."

[joshlane]

"Some people do his and hers jewelry, matching t-shirts, and we… well, we can have matching face painting, and I don't really see how anyone could not be jealous of that," unless they were sane people, that… was always an option. But that was okay, Josh would be happy with it, and knew Espie would, too. "I'm sure that we'll have some time, though. I'll end up needing another food and hydration break before too long, so we can explore, make the rounds," and that was his favorite part of attending events like this, after all, was just getting to spend time seeing everyone, not missing out on anything that there was to offer. "Poor Efren," he said with a laugh as he turned back to Espie. But he really did pull his weight and work hard, and Josh was grateful for it. Though the team had grown over the years, he never turned down help, especially when it came in the form of family, and people that he knew he could trust and rely on. Dropping down into one of the chairs, he instantly stretched out his legs and let out a long, content groan, happy to get off of his feet for a bit, to just kick back and relax. Spring Fling? Fun. Spring Fling? Also exhausting. "Me too," he replied with a warm smile, "not just of this stand, but everyone. And the people spending money, too -- I knew that the businesses and people selling things would come together, but I'm surprised in a really good way at how much people are putting out into games and goods, it's really nice to see."