Aug 25 18:07:53 105 PA

From Chronicles

The current game time is: Tue Aug 25 18:07:53 105 PA.

Evening settles in slow and easy over Kingsdale. For the park, this is a time of modest activity. The earlier day outings are starting to end. Families packing up if they haven't already gone. Couples will be showing up in modest numbers soon. And the ever present scattering of single individuals. One of whom has taken a place under a tree, near to one of the many paths that wander through the park. Desmond leans back comfortably against the trunk, his legs drawn up. A proper brace point for the small sketchbook that he is fixated on when not lifting his eyes to taken in the details of a tree directly across the path from him. HIs pencil stills at these times, waiting until he glances down again to start carefully scratching against the page again.

As the day winds down, Aislinn walks along one of the park's paths with the serenity of someone who has no place to be in any hurry, but would prefer to make the journey the important part of the trip. The tall woman greets everyone she passes with a warm greeting and a friendly smile, and her kindnesses are returned with a whole range of reactions from susprised but willing friendliness to deep suspicion, the latter folk hurring away in case she wants more from them than just a passing nod. She's debating passing by Desmond without a greeting, focused as he is on his sketchbook when she comes across him, but she happens to arrive just as he's looking up, which answers the question for her. "Good evening," she says with a nod of her head and a smile on her face, one of her hands raising to give a quick wave.

The big male shifts his head towards Aislinn as she calls out to him. Used to most simply passing without greeting, Desmond looks at the tall woman silently for a moment before his head dips in a casually respectful nod. "Good evening," he replies in kind, his own voice a deep, smooth basso profundo with a subtle roll to his 'r's. "It finds you well, yes?" His attention lingering steadily, his expression remaining firmly seated into the neutral.

Aislinn seems a bit surprised that her greeting was returned with anything more than just perfunctory indifference, and her smile broadens somewhat. "It does," she replies in a vibrant contralto. "The park is beautiful. I was just enjoying it, and seeing the people of Kingsdale." Her eyes shift to the sketchbook, then back to Desmond's. "I'm sorry; if i'm interrupting, I will move on. I don't wish to be an imposition."

Desmond also lowers his eyes to his sketchbook, considering it for a moment before he flips it closed with a flick of his wrist. "There is ever more time in the day with which to render images and this one is nearly done," he replies steadily. "I find much inspiration here at times. Though one can tire of drawing inanimate things. And the small animals are rarely still enough."

Aislinn moves just off the path as she lingers to speak with Desmond, so that ths'e no longer blocking the way for anybody else who might happen along it. "I imagine not," she says with a quick glance around, like she's wondering if any of them are in sight. "Staying still means becoming dinner. Stillness is a luxury reserved for predators, and for hidden places." She glances up at the trees and adds, "They're not still either, though; not really. The breezes stir their branches, leaves will turn with the sun..."

Desmond cants his head slightly as he fixes his eyes on Aislinn once more. Seeming to take in her words with more thought than might be expected, his consideration visible enough by the set of his eyes, the subtle furrow of his brow. "There is truth in your words," he agrees. Pausing for a moment of consideration before he adds, his pencil holding hand lifted towards the tree across the path. "They do move, but ever so slightly. I have drawn others.. friends and even they move somewhat. But they linger, allowing me to take in their details, to render them as best I can. Do you do any such thing? A constructive hobby?"

Aislinn asks? "Constructive? I do all sorts of constructive things, when I see that they need doing. I'm not sure if you could consider that a hobby, though." She laughs softly and shrugs her strong shoulders. "More of a way of life. I suppose the closest you could say I have to a hobby is cooking." She adds after a moment, "Or gardening, though I haven't had a garden to tend since I was a child." Looking, as she does, like she can't be more than her late teens, some might consider her a child still.

Desmond furrows his brow slightly as she offers a few observations on her own path, but he shakes his head slightly just before she speaks of gardening. He pauses then, musing for a moment before he rumbles, "Gardening.. yes, that is of the sort I mention. Some sing.. some dance. Art and writing." He bobs his head in a reaffirming nod. "Perhaps it was an odd question, but.. such things interesting me greatly. I have only just come to know such simple joys."

Aislinn's brows rise slightly at that last statement, then quickly fall back down. "Only just?" she asks. "What kept you from them before?" She smirks slightly and her eyes shift off into the distance. "I used to hate gardening; my parents would make me. Considering I grew up on a farm, pretty much everything was gardening, in one way or another." She gaze shifts back to the present and she laughs softly again. "It's funny, the changes time can bring to your perspectives."

The big male considers in the wake of her question and further words. A deep enough musing that Desmond will be silent for a space of time after her musings on the past. But soon enough he seems to set upon a response. "My past was one that fixated on battle and destruction." Stated simply, a seriousness touching his expression. "For me.. such as this is very new.. calming in a way." He fixes on her again and wonders, "Do you plan to garden again?" His mood relaxing somewhat then, returning to that steady neutral.

Aislinn lifts a hand and places it over her heart. "Forgive me if my questions touched on sensitive points. I'n glad that you've found ways to expand your world, though." She looks around her, at the park, and then nods her head. "One day, maybe. But a garden requires a place that I call my own, and my duties make me a wanderer." She holds her arms out and rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "I'll have to settle for weeding someone else's garden, if they need help with it."

Desmond shakes his head slightly. "Trust that I would not speak of anything I did not wish to speak of," he reassures with that tone remaining just as steady as before. There is a pause as he has another brief period of thought before his head lifts and he glances about the park slowly. "Perhaps you could do your work here?" His head turns again to let his eyes linger on Aislinn once more. "Though pleasing, it can always be improved upon. Something that others can see and enjoy."

Aislinn raises a finger to scratch lightly at her cheek, a pensive habit she picked up somewhere along the line. "Perhaps. I have to spend a bit more time figuring out what needs to be done here, though." She continues, smiling, "Though I'm sure people would get enjoyment from that, there are probably far more pressing needs in Kingsdale."

Desmond muses that, t thoughtfulness dipping into his expression once more. At length, he slips his sketchpad into his jacket, along with his pencil, slipping both away before he braces an arm back against the tree, firmly, but smoothly levering himself upward. Once he's up, his back arching slightly for a moment as he works out the lethargy of being stationary, he fixes on her again and offers, "I know not what you seek to do, but it seems to me that one cannot do grand things with every breath. Even small things can give aid to others."

Aislinn nods at the wisdom of Desmond's opinions. "Perhaps you're right. I wonder who is responsible for the park, now. I would hate to just start doing things, without first asking permission." She gives Desmond a look that suggests she'd be happy to know the answer to this question, but that she won't be surprised if he doesn't know it.

Indeed, the question brings a fresh furrow to the big cat's brow, another of his thoughtful pauses preceding his guess at, "Perhaps the government." Desmond shakes his head a little as he steps closer to Aislinn, pausing at a respectful distance as he rumbles, "I have not lived here for too long, but I have seen something of how the people here run this city. I would suspect that if you do no harm, they will not care what you might do here. Placing flowers.. or other such things, I don't see that it will do harm or cause concern."

Aislinn shrugs her shoulders at that, looking up at the tall cat that stands before her. It's not often that she has to look up to meet people's eyes. "It's a matter of respect," she says. "It's generally not my way to impose my wishes on others, and to alter the park without permission would be doing so. I'll have to see what I can find out about who speaks for it with authority." She displays a startling lack of curiosity at the large, feline figure before her, as though she's either familiar with his kind or has no concern for the differences. "Thank you for your advice on the ways of the city, though; these are the things I'm trying to learn, still, since I've only been here a couple of days myself."

Desmond frowns then. A thoughtful frown, with a hint of concern. "You are that new, then?" A thoughtful question that requires no answer as he continues on without waiting for one. "If this is so, then I would offer to give what knowledge I have to you. One thing I would offer is about the Dregs. It is a dangerous place. It has been told to me that the authorities of this city do not go there.. allowing what will be within to exist so long as it does not touch the rest of the city. If your path takes you there, you should be watchful and alert. Many are the dangers one can find there."

Aislinn tilts her head in a gesture of curiosity. "You're the second person to warn me of the dangers of the Dregs. Are they truly so lawless?" She considers for a moment before saying, "I may have to go and investigate, then, though when I do it would perhaps be wise to bring along someone who has been there. We'll see."

Desmond dips his head once in reply to the question itself. "It is so. I did work in a bar within that region of the city for a time. I know it not too well, but well enough to take care when I do go." He pauses, considering her for a few moments before he asks, a hand lifting in gesture towards her, "What is it you do for your trade? The way you speak.. it leaves me uncertain."

"My trade is whatever needs doing," Aislinn says with a shrug. "Sometimes I'm a carpenter, sometimes a warrior, sometimes just a willing ear to listen to the people's troubles." She smiles up at the tall cat and asks, "And what of yourself? You mentioned that you used to live a life of battle, but what now?"

Desmond nods his head once, seeming content to accept them as given. Her own return question gives him pause, the big male frowning slightly. Again, in thought rather than upset. "I still train and hone myself, but for the resources needed for day to day life, I do labor at the Pro-Tech factory. It is more a means to an end, however. Though such ends are not yet to be."

Aislinn nods her head at this. "A fine way to make a living, as long as it contents you and gets you to where you want to be. Is it common for people in Kingsdale of more combative backgrounds to find simpler employment?" Then, realizing a grave omission, she adds suddenly, "I'm sorry, my name is Aislinn, by the way." She offers a hand in friendly greeting, then looks at the hand, with grease spots on it, and pulls it back. "Sorry, someone's chain came off of their bicycle and I stopped to help them with it."

Desmond simply nods, having begun to lift his own hand to take the offered one, but in the end he shifts, dipping in a slight forward bow instead, that arm shifting to cross over his middle instead. "I am Desmond," he returns in a steady rumble. "As to what others do, I cannot say what is for them. For me.. I have found something other than the martial path to embrace. Other concerns to think of in equal measure. This not to say that I do not walk that path from time to time, but there are.. better things."

Aislinn returns Desmond's bow with a respectful lone of her own. "You're so very right," she says with a short series of nods. "Might is not nearly the whole measure of one's worth. Life goes on because there are people walking those other paths, and the satisifaction that they can bring, from a job well done... I've found it to be more profound than any battlefield victory."

Desmond straightens again and lets his hands link behind his back as he considers the words offered. Head canted slightly, he rumbles, "I would not say that such work is satisfactory.. in a way there is a sense of accomplishment.. simply because it often tests the limits of my strength, my endurance as few things do. But even so, it is not a job I would wish to do for too long. I and Aimee have other plans. In time to build a nightclub together." Just mentioning her brings about a notable shift for the big male, his firm expression softening slightly, the tone of his voice warming. Subtle, but notable given the natural equilibrium that he tends to linger in.

Aislinn gives a knowing smile to Desmond's sofening expression. "Ah, more creating. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors. It seems as though you have a good handle on your life. You should cherish that; it's a gift that not many people find. Often, just dealing with everyday realities is an all-consuming duty."

Desmond dips his head in a nod. "I am one who has much to embrace. It seems impossible that such things have come to be so swiftly, but the truth is something I cannot deny. It has not been without some trials and still others to be met, yet in the now I want for little in this moment. I am not complacent, but I am content in the now." He pauses and offers after that moment, "I remember when first I came here.. did not know if I would linger on longer than it took to gather resources and choose a direction to travel. Now I have come to think of this place as my home."

Aislinn smiles. "Good, I'm glad to hear it. I don't know yet how long I'll be staying; I'm mostly looking for information, and this was the nearest place. Still, it's nice to be in a city again. I grew up on a farm, so cities always hold some wonder to me." She looks off in the direction of the rest of Kingsdale with a strange fondness. "There's so much to be done in cities, though. So many people who are downtrodden and in need of a champion. But I suppose such is the same everywhere, these days."

Desmond cants his head slightly at that last, his expression shifted into the thoughtful once more. "I suppose that is true enough," he agrees. "I have never known a farm.. I could not speak to what it is like." There is a pause before he asks, "You see yourself as a champion for those who have none, then?" From him, the question seems honest enough, his deep voice remaining simple and straight in timbre.

Aislinn nods her head in reply to the question. "I do what I can, in any case. Sometimes it's not enough." She pauses, then corrects, "Too often it's not enough. I'm but one woman, and there's only so much I can do, but I do what I can." She eyes Desmond with curiosity and asks, "Is this so unusual a thing that it bears questioning?"

"Unusual?" Desmond considers this, just as carefully as he is given to consider most things. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose it is not. There are those here who seem eager to do for others. Some eager when there is payment involved, though I suppose they might not be thought champions." His head canting again, the semi question sent her way with a look.

Aislinn nods her head. "I suppose that's true, but it's not what I mean. I've got no desire to be rich, and make a quick few credits by expoiting the needs of others for my own gain. I have what I need to get by, and any more would be a waste." She smiles reassuringly and adds, "That's not to say I see fault in others taking payment in exchange for their efforts. I simply don't have the desire or need for it."

Desmond considers Aislinn thoughtfully in the wake of her words. "I would suggest, then, that you seek an elf named Atticus," Desmond rumbles thoughtfully. "He is, I think, one who you would find agreeable to your way of thinking. Not that I am not, per se, but he is one who seeks to do. I am one who.. finds that he has much to consider without taking great pains to seek the troubles of others to confront. But there are times that I do act."

Aislinn nods thoughtfully. "I may seek him out, then. Thank you." She looks off toward the setting sun and says, "I should be going, but it was a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we'll see each other again, if I stay here in Kingsdale for long."

Desmond glances upward as she does, musing the sky briefly before he devotes his attention to Aislinn once more. "Perhaps we shall," he rumbles in reply. "Be well and take care if you go to investigate the Dregs." He will let his arms relax, a hand lifted in a casual gesture of parting before he turns, starting to wander his way deeper into the park.Tags:aislinn, desmond