"So, uh. Which one are you?"
Sep. 15th, 2014 03:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
renferretGhost and Dakota briefly discuss caerns.
Harbor Park -- Fountain
Situated in the center of a large, open meadow is a clustering of six trees, a flower bed, a few steel-and-wood benches set firmly into concrete, and a flagstone courtyard that is dominated by a large fountain.
The fountain is a wide circular pool of water some fifty feet across and about five feet deep in most places. The sculpture in the center is a mix of old and new, traditional and modern: eight concrete-and-stainless-steel slabs about six feet high are set in a rough Stonehenge-like circle around the center of the fountain. Water flows from their tops, cascading in bright mesmerizing sheets to the pool below. Rising above the steel circle is a large marble statue of the Water Bearer, an androgynous figure draped in robes of flowing water. It bears a large jug carved with various Greek symbols, from which pours a seething torrent of water into the pool at its feet.
Cars on the nearby street have an excellent view of the park as do any residents of the tall buildings which line the waterfront.
The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of St. Claire. Recent construction work is creating an earthen berm several feet high all along the borders of the park in all directions.
Obvious exits:
Harbor Park Meadow
Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (23% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the northeast at 10 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.95 and falling, and the relative humidity is 49 percent. The dewpoint is 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius.)
It's a beautiful day, which means it isn't raining, and the clouds have almost entirely cleared out. On top of that, there's a decent breeze and the sun is warm without being hot, which appears to have brought out the parkgoers in earnest. No less than two softball games are going on, there's a significant number of joggers, frisbee throwers, and picnic-ers, and yet, in general, only one person lingering for any length of time around the fountain itself. Ghost is sitting on the fountain edge, in significantly less layers than usual but still looking rather vagabond, watching the screen of a cheap looking cell phone she's holding in one hand.
With the day so mild, Dakota is free to stubbornly cling to the last vestiges of summer attire. She's got a brown, linen-like sleeveless peasant top with khaki pants and brown boots. A woven fabric belt is looped around her hips and flaps in the breeze in colors of orange, rose, and purple. She's got her hair back and there doesn't seem to be much bothering the young woman as she walks the park, appearing to simply be people-watching.
Ghost appears to be doing anything but people watching. She's fixated on the cell phone to the exclusion of everything else, but no one seems terribly keen to bother her in any case. At one point a young couple and their toddler visit the other side of the fountain, but they don't stay.
Dakota: OH. Does Ghost still look the same as the one time Dakota ran into her in KC?
Ghost: Yeah.
Ghost: Same clothes even.
With the fountain being a focal point, Dakota's eyes ultimately wander that way. It's a double-take that brings a flash of recognition as she spies Ghost and she approaches the young woman. "Hey." She says when she's close enough, a friendly smile coming to her face. "Guess you, uh, found that bus in the end? Didn't imagine seeing you again, you didn't seem keen to stick around much."
Ghost looks just a little startled when she tears her eyes away from the phone screen, something she quickly attempts to mask. "Oh, uh. Hey. Yeah, found the bus." She tucks the phone into a pocket.
"Sorry, didn't mean to spook you." Dakota says in a gentle tone, politely leaving some distance between the two of them. "Well, I hope you find what else you're looking for. I... heard, the news and all. Didn't put two and two together till I spotted you here from when we met before. Don't worry, not hear to call a witch hunt or anything."
If one judges solely by her expression, Ghost doesn't quite grasp what Dakota is saying until 'witch hunt' is said. And then there's a noticeable increase in tension. "...Oh." She openly studies the Gaian's face for a few moments. "So, uh. Which one are you?"
"Which one?" Dakota asks, blinking a few times as she purses her lips thoughtfully. In the end, she shrugs unknowingly. "I'm just.. me? Dakota, one of the children and a..." She holds up her hand in the shape of a C, or more appropriately the shape of a crescent moon. "No one all too special these days but been around on and off for awhile."
"That one," Ghost says, before clarifying. "Children, I mean." It might be the imagination, but it's possible she relaxes slightly. "You don't look pissed, I guess. Sorry about your uh...I haven't gone back there."
Dakota gives her head a shake to the apology. "Don't worry about it. Just been rough so can't take chances with strangers and all. I got no reason to be pissed, not at you. Least not that anyone's told me so I'm not jumping to conclusions on 'did you hear's'. Sides, those I know to have brains already gave you the nod, so I'm fine with that." She gestures towards the fountain edge and the rim. "...mind if I sit?"
Ghost blinks twice. "Yeah. I mean, no, go ahead." She rubs carefully at the back of her neck, not quite taking her eyes off of Dakota at any point.
Dakota dips her head faintly as she moves to sit, giving a good two arm lengths between the two of them. "...and if you want me to bugger off, just say so." She adds. "No hard feelings. I.. know, a little, about running from family. Not nearly to the same degree probably, but never comfortable regardless."
Ghost's eyebrows lift just a little. "Yeah?" she asks. "Are you uh." A beat. "Someone else told me he'd been Ronin once. Are you like that?" As to asking her to leave? It doesn't seem forthcoming.
Dakota gives her head a shake, "No, not that. Hard to get yourself kicked outta my group, but.. homeless, I suppose, would be a term. My husband and I made some mistakes and I was young and stupid and... just too proud and full of myself to know when to shut up and see a fight was lost. Let's just say I got on the wrong side of someone a few steps higher in the food chain than me and insulted a few close friends on the process. Took me five years and a lot of soul searching to make amends. Some still seem to hold a grudge."
Ghost snorts softly. "Isn't holding grudges what we do?" she asks, clearly not expecting an answer. "I uh. When you say 'home', do you mean...?" She gestures toward the river. Or maybe over the river. "I've never seen one. Just places like this, you know? Elliot was from London though. He told me about what his was like."
"Sure, we do. In the end, though, what's the point?" Says the Child with a shrug. "None of us are perfect. Mm... yeah, here." Dakota says as she looks to the city. "Spend a long time in San Francisco while I was mending things. For those years though I wasn't really a member in either place. I'd left here and they wouldn't accept me fully till I proved myself. I came back here though. I had apologies to offer and... this was still home, even after everything." She glances back towards Ghost. "So, cities aren't places you know? Or just one like this?"
Ghost shakes her head. "I know cities," she says. "I mean the special places. But I've been in lots of cities all over. London. Richmond. D.C. really briefly. Chicago, Portland. A bunch more."
"Ah." Comes the quiet note from Dakota as clarification sets in. "...you think someone like me'd be better at vague talk. Guess I'm just better when it's not in English. Guess you would travel a lot. I never have, really. Sort of regret that but, eh, other things keep cropping up. I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to be apart from It that long. It's not right for any of us to be alone that long, especially not /that/ alone."
Ghost shrugs slowly, but her voice is more animated than the gesture might suggest. "It sucks unless you want to travel a lot. When you have to, it's a giant pain in the ass. But I've never been to one, so that part probably sucks less than it would."
Dakota looks equal parts shocked and disturbed, but it fades quickly enough with a clear of her throat. "That's awful." She says in a quiet voice. "...so much missing... I'm sorry. Maybe someday..." She begins to say but trails off. Who is she to say what may or may not happen? "I hope you find a place. I guess it's hard to know what's missing if you've never known it."
Ghost's right eyebrow lifts a little higher than her left. "Probably not," she says, in the tone of someone not entirely bothered. "It upset Elliot too, I guess, that I hadn't been to one. He was like you. Job-wise, I mean. He was really good."
Dakota gives a nod of her head at the words, "Suppose in some respects the shock of it hits us the most. Guess it's like living in a world without grass or the sun, like those stories and games of folks living undergrounds for generations. They don't really know what's out there, save they don't have it."
"Kind've hyperbolic, isn't it?" Ghost says. "I mean. I'm not blind or anything. And I've been to places like this park. I'm as good on the other side as anyone, I bet."
"Maybe." Dakota says with a faint shrug. "Probably. A blind man may not know color but he probably hears things I don't. Guess we're all where we are for a reason, bewildering as it can be sometimes." She cocks her head then, a subtle gesture that brings her eyes looking towards Kent Crossing. "...blah. Sorry to chat and bolt, but business calls. Got unwanted solicitors. Never a dull moment around here lately. Take care, Sen. Maybe we'll run across one another again."
Ghost's mouth quirks faintly, briefly. "Yeah, uh. Yeah, if you want. That'd be cool."
Dakota grins then as she's getting up, giving her head a nod before she's turning and jogging through the park and leaving the fountain behind.
Harbor Park -- Fountain
Situated in the center of a large, open meadow is a clustering of six trees, a flower bed, a few steel-and-wood benches set firmly into concrete, and a flagstone courtyard that is dominated by a large fountain.
The fountain is a wide circular pool of water some fifty feet across and about five feet deep in most places. The sculpture in the center is a mix of old and new, traditional and modern: eight concrete-and-stainless-steel slabs about six feet high are set in a rough Stonehenge-like circle around the center of the fountain. Water flows from their tops, cascading in bright mesmerizing sheets to the pool below. Rising above the steel circle is a large marble statue of the Water Bearer, an androgynous figure draped in robes of flowing water. It bears a large jug carved with various Greek symbols, from which pours a seething torrent of water into the pool at its feet.
Cars on the nearby street have an excellent view of the park as do any residents of the tall buildings which line the waterfront.
The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of St. Claire. Recent construction work is creating an earthen berm several feet high all along the borders of the park in all directions.
Obvious exits:
Harbor Park Meadow
Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (23% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the northeast at 10 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.95 and falling, and the relative humidity is 49 percent. The dewpoint is 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius.)
It's a beautiful day, which means it isn't raining, and the clouds have almost entirely cleared out. On top of that, there's a decent breeze and the sun is warm without being hot, which appears to have brought out the parkgoers in earnest. No less than two softball games are going on, there's a significant number of joggers, frisbee throwers, and picnic-ers, and yet, in general, only one person lingering for any length of time around the fountain itself. Ghost is sitting on the fountain edge, in significantly less layers than usual but still looking rather vagabond, watching the screen of a cheap looking cell phone she's holding in one hand.
With the day so mild, Dakota is free to stubbornly cling to the last vestiges of summer attire. She's got a brown, linen-like sleeveless peasant top with khaki pants and brown boots. A woven fabric belt is looped around her hips and flaps in the breeze in colors of orange, rose, and purple. She's got her hair back and there doesn't seem to be much bothering the young woman as she walks the park, appearing to simply be people-watching.
Ghost appears to be doing anything but people watching. She's fixated on the cell phone to the exclusion of everything else, but no one seems terribly keen to bother her in any case. At one point a young couple and their toddler visit the other side of the fountain, but they don't stay.
With the fountain being a focal point, Dakota's eyes ultimately wander that way. It's a double-take that brings a flash of recognition as she spies Ghost and she approaches the young woman. "Hey." She says when she's close enough, a friendly smile coming to her face. "Guess you, uh, found that bus in the end? Didn't imagine seeing you again, you didn't seem keen to stick around much."
Ghost looks just a little startled when she tears her eyes away from the phone screen, something she quickly attempts to mask. "Oh, uh. Hey. Yeah, found the bus." She tucks the phone into a pocket.
"Sorry, didn't mean to spook you." Dakota says in a gentle tone, politely leaving some distance between the two of them. "Well, I hope you find what else you're looking for. I... heard, the news and all. Didn't put two and two together till I spotted you here from when we met before. Don't worry, not hear to call a witch hunt or anything."
If one judges solely by her expression, Ghost doesn't quite grasp what Dakota is saying until 'witch hunt' is said. And then there's a noticeable increase in tension. "...Oh." She openly studies the Gaian's face for a few moments. "So, uh. Which one are you?"
"Which one?" Dakota asks, blinking a few times as she purses her lips thoughtfully. In the end, she shrugs unknowingly. "I'm just.. me? Dakota, one of the children and a..." She holds up her hand in the shape of a C, or more appropriately the shape of a crescent moon. "No one all too special these days but been around on and off for awhile."
"That one," Ghost says, before clarifying. "Children, I mean." It might be the imagination, but it's possible she relaxes slightly. "You don't look pissed, I guess. Sorry about your uh...I haven't gone back there."
Dakota gives her head a shake to the apology. "Don't worry about it. Just been rough so can't take chances with strangers and all. I got no reason to be pissed, not at you. Least not that anyone's told me so I'm not jumping to conclusions on 'did you hear's'. Sides, those I know to have brains already gave you the nod, so I'm fine with that." She gestures towards the fountain edge and the rim. "...mind if I sit?"
Ghost blinks twice. "Yeah. I mean, no, go ahead." She rubs carefully at the back of her neck, not quite taking her eyes off of Dakota at any point.
Dakota dips her head faintly as she moves to sit, giving a good two arm lengths between the two of them. "...and if you want me to bugger off, just say so." She adds. "No hard feelings. I.. know, a little, about running from family. Not nearly to the same degree probably, but never comfortable regardless."
Ghost's eyebrows lift just a little. "Yeah?" she asks. "Are you uh." A beat. "Someone else told me he'd been Ronin once. Are you like that?" As to asking her to leave? It doesn't seem forthcoming.
Dakota gives her head a shake, "No, not that. Hard to get yourself kicked outta my group, but.. homeless, I suppose, would be a term. My husband and I made some mistakes and I was young and stupid and... just too proud and full of myself to know when to shut up and see a fight was lost. Let's just say I got on the wrong side of someone a few steps higher in the food chain than me and insulted a few close friends on the process. Took me five years and a lot of soul searching to make amends. Some still seem to hold a grudge."
Ghost snorts softly. "Isn't holding grudges what we do?" she asks, clearly not expecting an answer. "I uh. When you say 'home', do you mean...?" She gestures toward the river. Or maybe over the river. "I've never seen one. Just places like this, you know? Elliot was from London though. He told me about what his was like."
"Sure, we do. In the end, though, what's the point?" Says the Child with a shrug. "None of us are perfect. Mm... yeah, here." Dakota says as she looks to the city. "Spend a long time in San Francisco while I was mending things. For those years though I wasn't really a member in either place. I'd left here and they wouldn't accept me fully till I proved myself. I came back here though. I had apologies to offer and... this was still home, even after everything." She glances back towards Ghost. "So, cities aren't places you know? Or just one like this?"
Ghost shakes her head. "I know cities," she says. "I mean the special places. But I've been in lots of cities all over. London. Richmond. D.C. really briefly. Chicago, Portland. A bunch more."
"Ah." Comes the quiet note from Dakota as clarification sets in. "...you think someone like me'd be better at vague talk. Guess I'm just better when it's not in English. Guess you would travel a lot. I never have, really. Sort of regret that but, eh, other things keep cropping up. I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to be apart from It that long. It's not right for any of us to be alone that long, especially not /that/ alone."
Ghost shrugs slowly, but her voice is more animated than the gesture might suggest. "It sucks unless you want to travel a lot. When you have to, it's a giant pain in the ass. But I've never been to one, so that part probably sucks less than it would."
Dakota looks equal parts shocked and disturbed, but it fades quickly enough with a clear of her throat. "That's awful." She says in a quiet voice. "...so much missing... I'm sorry. Maybe someday..." She begins to say but trails off. Who is she to say what may or may not happen? "I hope you find a place. I guess it's hard to know what's missing if you've never known it."
Ghost's right eyebrow lifts a little higher than her left. "Probably not," she says, in the tone of someone not entirely bothered. "It upset Elliot too, I guess, that I hadn't been to one. He was like you. Job-wise, I mean. He was really good."
Dakota gives a nod of her head at the words, "Suppose in some respects the shock of it hits us the most. Guess it's like living in a world without grass or the sun, like those stories and games of folks living undergrounds for generations. They don't really know what's out there, save they don't have it."
"Kind've hyperbolic, isn't it?" Ghost says. "I mean. I'm not blind or anything. And I've been to places like this park. I'm as good on the other side as anyone, I bet."
"Maybe." Dakota says with a faint shrug. "Probably. A blind man may not know color but he probably hears things I don't. Guess we're all where we are for a reason, bewildering as it can be sometimes." She cocks her head then, a subtle gesture that brings her eyes looking towards Kent Crossing. "...blah. Sorry to chat and bolt, but business calls. Got unwanted solicitors. Never a dull moment around here lately. Take care, Sen. Maybe we'll run across one another again."
Ghost's mouth quirks faintly, briefly. "Yeah, uh. Yeah, if you want. That'd be cool."
Dakota grins then as she's getting up, giving her head a nod before she's turning and jogging through the park and leaving the fountain behind.
