[Center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/5158df3cef6e79226249eaae2014ee36/a9a525248c84cf5a-48/s1280x1920/8fb450c90b84990179808c8e8a98170c7aff94af.pnj[/img]

[i]It was all so [b]extra[/b].[/i]
Of course, that was to be expected because Rachel was pretty [i]extra[/i]. He'd partied with the girl a few times and it had always left him with the impression that she had something to prove. Not that he didn't like that about her, the sheer abrasiveness of her personality had been why he'd gotten along with her to begin with but they were terribly different people.

Quinn was content with the mediocre, grab him a beer and a pack of cigarettes and he was good to go. A party was a party with or without the fanfare. Looking at all of this now and there was quite a [i]lot[/i] of fanfare. Rachel had really gone to the next level with all of this shit and he was excited, admittedly, excited but a little weary. 

Quinn liked parties, sure, but he also liked his space. He didn't forsee himself getting a lot of space here and that brought out the weariness. So, here he was, excited and also somehow weary as he rode on a ferry towards Carnation Island. He exhaled smoke, leaning on his elbow to better watch the others as they laughed and chattered excitedly about what things waited for them on the island. 

He didn't really have to wonder, he knew that whatever Rachel had set up, it was going to be bigger and even more vibrant than what they'd seen so far. He couldn't really blame her, she had a flair for this sort of thing and as much as he would be begrudged to admit, he found it all very impressive. He wouldn't be telling her that she'd impressed him because the last thing Rachel needed was more points for her ego but he took in the ferry with an appreciative glint in his eyes.

It was on his second drag when he spotted [i]her[/i] out of the corner of his eye. He turned completely to get a better look at the girl who stood amongst her friends, just barely angling himself to watch her for a moment. He didn't think he [i]knew[/i] her, but by the look of her, he [i]wanted[/i] to know her. Long blonde hair, tied into a high ponytail beneath a red bandana, built small, very cute. 

He considered approaching her and he very nearly did but the ferry was docking and he was becoming a bit too distracted to go chasing down a cute blonde. At any rate, by the time he'd glanced back over, he'd lost sight of her. [i]Well, shit,[/i] he thought with a flicker of frustration. [i]Maybe I'll run into her again after all of this wraps up.[/i]

He tried to focus on what Rachel was saying but he was almost too busy taking in the fire dancers and the flowers. It was exactly what he'd hoped it would be, ridiculously vibrant and full of life. It was kind od incredible how good she was at outdoing herself. He laughed to himself when Rachel retreated on the golf cart, it was all so [i]like her[/i].

"[color=8dc73f]Christ, this is something.[/color]" he mused, mostly to himself.

[i]Rich people[/i] still kind of baffled him, even the ones he'd wound up close to over the years. It was amusing sometimes to watch the levels that they were willing and able to go to, it sometimes made him wonder how differently he might have turned out if he'd had it easy. Of course, it wasn't really the time for philosophical debates about nature, nurture or money. He had a BA in psychology so he could debate those things about [i]other[/i] people. 

Finishing off his cigarette, he flicked it away from him, grinding it beneath the toe of his sneaker. It wasn't time for any of that, it was time to enjoy himself and he entirely intended to do just that. It was just a matter of deciding where he wanted to go first.

[/center]


[Center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/884c557bedb0eb6d96d7085a142ef6f2/86f98bb54619172a-1a/s1280x1920/6b9a1c77f53dfe47c414df920d9a49db37e0c585.pnj[/img]

[hider=Mentions][@spooner][@vox][@melo][@hero][/hider]

"[color=f26522]There couldn't [i]be[/i] more alcohol, could there?[/color]" He joked as he took a seat at the bar near Theodore. He wasn't quite next to him but he was close enough. The other two who had beaten him to Theodore's left and right sides didn't seem [i]unfriendly[/i] which was really all he asked for. "[color=f26522]Actually, maybe I don't want to issue that challenge. Rachel would find a way.[/color]"

Zeke didn't really drink with friends anymore, that had all stopped abruptly when he'd slipped up the first time. He knew he'd grown up a lot since then and that he wasn't the same kid that had planted a drunken kiss on his best friend but he also knew that he'd always be nervous. It wasn't easy to shake the feeling that if alcohol had blurred the boundaries once then it would blur the boundaries again. 

While his friend hadn't remembered the incident and he had gotten away without any awkwardness, he had to be on his toes to make sure he didn't repeat the situation. It was a problem that he couldn't shake because while he wasn't that same kid, he was still unfortunately pretty attracted to his friend. There wasn't any hope for that attraction, but he figured that it didn't really matter as he had no intention of coming out. 

People had been curious about his lack of interest in girls at first until he'd dated one. The relationship with [i]her[/i] had ended so quickly that most just presumed he'd been burned. He [i]hadn't[/i] been burned but [i]she[/i] might have, he had sort of been avoiding her ever since the whole thing. It was easier to dodge her then it was to have awkward conversations about what went wrong and why they couldn't fix it. 

[i]It was easier to avoid her than to admit that he'd never really been interested in her at all.[/i]

"[color=f26522]Water, if you don't mind.[/color]" He said to the bartender, offering her an awkward smile. "[color=f26522]Thank you.[/color]" It was like that sometimes, he couldn't let himself get tangled in old feelings, he had to keep moving forward and so he did, he kept moving forward. Zeke had long since learned that life as a whole was much smoother when he kept his head out of the clouds and didn't worry so much about what once was. He [i]did[/i] sort of miss the carelessness sometimes though.

He gave a slight nod of greeting to the others at the bar, a friendly acknowledgement of their presence. He recognized Nathan from hanging out with Theodore but he didn't recognize the girl. 

[/center]