“Getting here only now. If I'd seen someone else had signed up, I would have made more of an effort to be here earlier, instead of leaving whoever I was working with to get started all by lonesome, like an ass.” She spread her arms to shrug, hands still full, but bundled everything---net, bags, gloves, and scrub-brush---beneath one arm to hurry forward and help with the bag. The turtle would've had it, unaided, sure, but there was the thought. “Lunch or whatever can be on me. Unless, of course, we've decided we can't stand each other by the time noon rolls around.”

Grinning, she lowered the cleaning supplies to the ground so she could get the gloves on. “I've made better first impressions, but I don't think this one was as bad as all that. D'you?”