( hanako greensmith, 27, cis woman, she/her ) ☼ congratulations, lucy wakaba, you’ve been accepted as a campsite host at discovery canyon in grand hazel national park this summer! we could tell from your application that you are athletic and daring, so we are so pleased to welcome you from buffalo, new york for your first summer on staff. hopefully you can check only checking your phone once daily, mastering survival sundials, and hiking throughout the park off your bucket list. please consult your employee handbook with questions!
backstory!
lucy was born and raised in buffalo suburb. she likes it enough; the people are nice, the buildings are pretty, and the food is good.
(tw for parental alcoholism) her parents are social and fun and fit into the community well. the only issue is that her dad always has a drink in hand. think fun bobby from friends; not cruel or mean or anything like that, but just needs a drink to be functional and comfortable.
(tw for problem drinking) as lucy got older, her life was taking the same shape as her dad’s. drinking at high school parties turned into drinking at college parties turned into irish coffees to settle her nerves before exams.
lucy hasn’t had a drink since college! at first, taking it seriously was hard in an environment that didn’t, so lucy moved out and distanced herself from her friends.
it’s hard to make friends as an adult, though, and even harder when she doesn’t go out for drinks after work, which has given her a reputation for being kinda rude.
which, to be fair, she can be kinda rude! she’s a little blunt, a little standoffish, a little dry. she’s fun enough in social situations to make up for this; she’s pretty okay at playing along with a joke, she’s still got some party tricks up her sleeve, and she’s never one to turn down a dare (in fact, she’s usually the one to bring them up). none of that is appropriate in a work setting, though, so none of it helps.
she has some social interests, mostly outdoor ones, which could help her meet some new people, but that really just seems way too fucking embarrassing to her. everyone has already found their niche, so she can’t let anyone know that she hasn’t found hers, or worse, that she’d already found and lost it.
tldr: lucy loves the outdoors and needed to get the heck out of buffalo! enter the park!
fun facts!
lucy played lacrosse in high school and embarrassingly still has the grind never stops mindset, but this mostly manifests in an inability to sit still for too long
she's decently impulsive but speaks pretty calmly and slowly so she comes off as way more rational than she is
cannot be deterred. if she decides she's going to do something she's simply going to because she won't be able to get it out of her head otherwise
chronically Self Sufficient and Independent and No I Don't Need a Hug (she does. but tbf who doesn't!!)
loves a good snack. will always have a good snack on her. chips, carrots, granola bars; if it's good she's got it (but not all at once she just has like a normal fanny pack unless she's planned to go hiking)
possible connections!
it's lucy's first summer here so she wouldn't have any preexisting connections, but here are some new ones we could develop!!
opposites attract besties! someone to be the addition of 'of fun!' to lucy's 'somebody's gonna die'
hiking besties!
hiking ENEMIES!
stupid impulsive besties!
person who is sooooo bad at being outdoorsy that lucy takes pity on!
"'cause i'm still stuck with this thing," she said obviously, holding up the phone in her hand. "kinda tempted to just dump it somewhere. i won't, though."
Fully encouraged by her playing along, Beau dramatically flopped onto the desk in front of them. "I haven't had a single break!" Technically true, since this was their first shift. "I'm dying of exhaustion." Not true at all. "When I die," they moaned, "put on my headstone: 'Beau Sun... Overworked... Underpaid... Debilitatingly sexy...'"
She lifted her eyebrows, holding back a laugh. "For sure," she said. "Yeah, I'll get right on that. I'm sure I'll be the first person they ask about your headstone."
"That's cool! I have relied on many a campsite host in my camping days, so I'm sure you'll be helpful to a lot of people. What made you want to be a host?" No offense, but Lucy wasn't super hospitable so far.
It was like talking to a brick wall, but Anya always persevered. “Cool! Are you new, or have you worked at Grand Hazel before? I’m a tour guide, and it’s my first year.”
“uh,” lucy said dumbly, looking down at herself and then back at kaede. “well. i guess it can’t go to waste now.”
“ew…” kaede muttered, flicking her hand so the excess sunscreen glops would fly off of it and onto her arm instead. “i am so sorry… why is there so much in there? stupid freakin’ nozzle…”
it felt oddly familiar, like a joke one of her teammates might've played on her in high school. the situation was so ridiculous that she didn't understand how the other woman was still taking it seriously. "it's okay," she assured casually, shrugging. "not my clothes, anyway. i'll just get another uniform. you should probably switch back to normal sunscreen, though."
❛ nah, ❜ he says, ❛ my phone is right here. ❜ and with the word here, he opens his outdoorsy jacket to show the pocket sewed on the inside, where he always kept his phone — and where it is currently missing. ❛ well, shoot. ❜ before a quizzical look shows on his face, adding: ❛ but i haven’t been in discovery canyon, though… ❜ voice petering out as he holds his hand out as if asking to check if the phone might, nevertheless, still be his.
she offered the phone out after only a moment's hesitation, shrugging. "that's cool, though," she said, mostly just to fill the silence. "that pocket thing. does it look familiar?"
she nodded before answering. “yeah, there’s a small one in each visitor center.” harper had made more than one trip to lost and found for her own forgotten items, and there were many, of course, that were likely picked up by some tourist who wasn’t as kind as lucy was. “i can show you where it is, if you want?”
"Well nice to meet you, campsite host." Their eyes brightened with humor. "Oh the springs...!" Beau groaned loudly and exaggeratedly rolled one of their non-worked, desk-job shoulders. "I've gotta get there and soon. Do you see how hard they're workin' me?" They gestured around at the empty visitor center. "I don't think my muscles could get any more tense. My job is so much harder than you kids who just hike all around the park. I'm unappreciated, I really am." One could have mistaken Beau's sense of humor for actual complaining if they weren't smirking in jest.
"Lucy," she supplied belatedly, realizing she'd missed one of their questions. She quirked a smile, amused. "Oh, yeah, you look exhausted. Way overworked. Are you getting your breaks?"
"No wandering, and no petting the animals," Anya agreed with a laugh then waved at the camera. "Okay we have work to do now, byeee!" Then clicked it off. As she tucked it away, she asked Lucy, "So what's your job here?"
Anya's brow furrowed slightly when Lucy didn't play along with the joke that she started. Huh? But she quickly pasted on a smile for the camera. "Yeah, I was just messing with you. Of course you should all come to the park, and definitely come visit me and Lucy at the canyon."
“i don’t usually use it but i bought it so i could spray my back all by myself! but i usually cover up my back during work so i don’t use it super often but now it’s about to expire so i wanted to use it all up so it wouldn’t go to waste!” kaede explained in a bumbling manner. she held the can up and shook it violently one more time – of course, this last shake made the can’s top explode and sunscreen blasted all over the two. “oh FUCK…”
“uh,” lucy said dumbly, looking down at herself and then back at kaede. “well. i guess it can’t go to waste now.”
Anya laughed at Lucy's joke. It was a joke, right? "Yeah, we work at the canyon, and we've already got some horror stories for you. Right, Luce?" Playing along, Anya bumped shoulders with her co-worker.
Beau softened their smile. "I was just asking how you're doing! Name's Beau. I'm a firstie, you could say, and I've mostly been behind this desk so far. Is the weather nice out? It looks nice for sure. I'll have to enjoy it on my break. So what's your name?"
