Mar 20 16:50:36 105 PA

From Chronicles

The current game time is: Fri Mar 20 16:49:36 105 PA.

At this time of night, very few people like the park. The darkness is broken by the moonlight reflecting off the layers of snow giving the area an oddly luminescent glow. The ducks are all curled, heads beneath their wings, sleeping through the nighttime. The benches are empty, the children long gone home to bed. Here and there, rustles can be heard; night time creatures seeking food, snow falling from branches.

Beside the water, a small figure is sat, on a fallen tree. A rich brown woollen coat is wrapped around her, belted tightly against the cold, and a black beret perches on her head. The pebbles she tosses into the cold water cause ripples across the crater created pond, and the sound carries on the night's air. In her hand, something glints silver.

Desmond comes upon her quietly. An unexpected and pleasant surprise. Desmond will have lurked for some time on the periphery. Watching Aimee. Considering if he should approach her. Her last words.. his.. he promised to leave her be. Yet.. he cannot compel himself to depart. Eventually, he must act. "Aimee." That low, deep voice speaks from the shadows. He will be there when she looks. Crouched beside a tree, the shadow of it making his outline hard to see as he blends with it. Though his eyes, reflecting the low light of the moon will glow a soft blue as they watch her.

Aimee turns her head slowly, no bright smile, just a slightly weary look. "Desmond." She speaks flatly, twisting on the log to sit astride it. The jeans she wears hug her thighs with the movement and her boots crunch in the snow, the new rubber holding out the damp well. "How long have you been there?" Her voice is soft, low, needing not to carry far in this still white silence.

"Too long.. I cannot keep my promise," Desmond rumbles in low response. Though he does keep his distance and his chosen place. "I am sorry, but.." A pause, then he asks, "Are you alright, Aimee?" Concern in his deep voice as he considers her state. "Did they take anything of yours? I was not certain.. if so I will check through the items again."

Aimee rests her hands on the rough bark of the fallen tree, transferring her weight through her arms onto them. She tilts her head back to look at him, the movement baring her neck, the reflected light from the snow making it glow pale. "I hid. They didn't even see me." She speaks softly, almost unwilling to disturb the stillness. "You went after them?"

"I did." A long pause from Desmond before he adds, "You need not concern yourself with that.. it is a done thing." Another slight pause before he asks, "What do you think of me, Aimee. Truthfully.. brutally so if you must be. I would see myself through your eyes, for I have no other means to see other than my own." He continues to watch her quietly throughout their talk. Lingering by the tree. Eyes aglow with reflected light.

Aimee takes a slow breath, her eyes dropping to her hands as she releases it, the warm breath a white cloud in the air for a moment. "I don't think my eyes see clearly at all, not with anything." Her voice is low, steady, but her fingers rub the bark lightly, absently. "I can't even figure out who I am, let alone you, Desmond."

"Because you are changing, Aimee," Desmond says quietly. "In your clothing.. in how you talked with Kelley this night. Your old work left behind. I am glad for that.. for what you are being given, even if I could not be the one to give it to you. You are changing. And I think it is for the better."

Aimee reaches up slowly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear, ignoring it when it slides out again, curling on her forehead. "I don't know, Des." Her words are soft, holding a world of confusion, matching troubled green eyes. "Why do you want to know how I see you?" One of her hands moves, tugging bark from the fallen tree, using nails to do so.

A length of quiet as Desmond considers the precise why. The urge there, but the detail.. it takes a few moments to truly appreciate. "Because I cannot see myself without the bias of the life I have led. Only through the eyes of another can one see themselves in a new light. I trust your eyes to be firm in how they look, how they perceive." A pause. "And I would know how you see me.. to perhaps understand why we have come to be here."

A length of quiet as Desmond considers the precise why. The urge there, but the detail.. it takes a few moments to truly appreciate. "Because I cannot see myself without the bias of the life I have led. Only through the eyes of another can one see themselves in a new light. I trust your eyes to be firm in how they look, how they perceive." A pause. "And I would know how you see me.. to perhaps understand why we have come to be here."

Aimee shifts her weight then, leaning back, her hands hiding in the pockets of the coat. She turns her head, looking towards the water, her eyebrows drawn together slightly. "I guess... stiff, formal, reserved, but passionate. Protective. Honourable to a point..." She speaks slowly, the thought heavily resting on each word. "Confusing."

"To a point?" Curiosity from Desmond. "I suppose my actions have put my honor into question.. though I have tried to treat those I care for properly. Best intentions are not always enough, I suppose." A pause before he asks, "Tell me what confuses you, Aimee. I will try to explain if it is within my power to make clear what you cannot yet grasp."

Aimee shakes her head, definitely, firmly, her gaze returning to him. The green eyes shine in this light but give no secrets away. "No. Thanks but no. I'll untangle my own head." The words, although softly spoken, burst out in a quick, hard rattle, and she swings her leg back over the tree, reaching for a pebble, her fingers rubbing it experimentally.

"As you wish," Desmond says without argument. Perhaps he hasn't the fight of before left.. or he restrains it. he gives away no sign of either, his eyes remaining intent on her. "I feel I should so something to help safeguard you, Aimee. After what happened tonight. To teach you.. as I cannot be near to protect you. Would you allow me to try?"

The pebble is thrown, with narrowed green eyes watching it as it skips across the still water, eight times before it sinks like a stone, leaving only ripples to prove it existed. "What do you have in mind? I can defend myself..." She turns her head, looking up at him, "You are looming, Des. Sit down?"

Desmond slowly dips to a crouch, which reduces his height considerably. "I have no doubt you have some skill. I would expect it of you, Aimee." His deep tone shifting slightly. Pride? THat could be a word for it. But its a fleeting, involuntary expression for him. "But.. I would show you more. Had I the years needed to train you properly in my arts. But I don't. I have something simpler in mind."

Aimee reaches for another pebble, picking it with care, her eyes narrowing on it in the dark. "What do you have in mind, Des?" There is something, some emotion underlying her words but the darkness hides her face enough to make it hard to read. She rubs the pebble against her leg, before taking aim and throwing it. She watches it skip before she twists to look up at him properly, waiting for an answer.

"To train your confidence," Desmond replies lowly. "You were hidden.. afraid. It is not a disgrace.. most are not well prepared to face such stresses with ease. The natural response to danger is to flee. It takes training.. experience to ignore this instinct. To stand and, if not fight, face a situation with control and focus. I know not how.. but I would try to give you this if I can." He lifts a hand to his chest. "It is something I know well. How to push back fear. To face danger with mind sharp."

Aimee stares at him for a moment, a flush rising in her cheeks, before she speaks, her eyes snapping at him before she does verbally. "I didn't hide! Kelley knocked me off my chair and I couldn't move without drawing their attention." Her gaze slides off him, towards the water, avoiding looking at him.

"Aimee." The name spoken with a bit more firmness this time. "You argue semantics with me. I do not look to belittle you. I know you are brave.. I can sense that in you. I only wish to give what is within you strength." Desmond shifts, rising to take a few steps closer before he drops down into his crouch once more. Nearly within his own arms reach, but still just a bit distant from her. "Look at me, Aimee.. will you deny this help I would offer?"

Aimee turns her head slightly, watching him out the corner of her eye. "What exactly have you got in mind?" She rests her elbows against her knees, green eyes steady but wary, her shoulders hunching against the cold. "I wasn't afraid!" The words are blurted out on a wave of bravado.

Desmond frowns slightly. "Do not lie to me, Aimee. I know fear when I see it. I evoke enough of it to know," he tells her. He pauses, breathes out a low sigh and asks, "What are you afraid of. Everyone has something that they fear.. something that they cannot face." He considers her for a moment, then states, "I fear failure. Disgracing those who I care for.. not being there when they need my presence the most. I face my fear in the now.. act to prevent it. What do you fear, Aimee. Know what you say will go no further than my ears. This I pledge to you."

Putting both hands on the log, she pushes off, using the momentum to rise to her feet. A puff of white breath rises as she walks towards the water, standing with her toes touching the edge of it. "What makes you think I'll tell you things like that?" She asks softly, her face turned towards the water, the darkness of the liquid reflected in green eyes that hide her feelings well. "I should go back, Kelley will wonder what happened..."

Desmond remains where he is, watching her quietly as she speaks, as she approaches the water. "I did not expect you would. But I had to ask. I know our trust is shattered, but that is the first, easiest thing I could think of to begin with. To master fear, you must face it. To master it and see that there is nothing to fear. To use that insight to master other fears and keep the mind clear.. focused." A pause and he lets his eyes drift away. "Perhaps I shall have to think of another means. I do not wish to fail you again."

Aimee shoves her hands into her pockets, a pebble still in one palm. The movement hunches her shoulders slightly, and she slowly turns from the water, giving him a direct look. "You can't fail me, I don't expect anything from you, Desmond..." She nudges the pebbles on the ground with her booted foot, her eyes dropping to flicker over them, searching for a shape. "Being old and alone..." She mutters, reluctance in her voice. "Nothing to do with fighting."

Desmond frowns slightly in the wake of her words. The first he could respond to.. the second? "Old and alone?" His confusion is clear in his tone. "What do you mean? If there is something.. If you feel alone, you need not. Simple company I can provide.. I would delight in providing." He can't help a slight hopeful twinge to his voice at the thought of it. Though a part of his mind snaps up with a warning. "I mean.. not intimate companionship.. I will not seek that. I have promised that.. I will not break that promise to you. But.. as we are now. Speaking.. or whatever else you want."

Aimee shakes her head slowly, giving the man a look of impatient irritation. "I'm not old now, am I?" That is a definite snap, and she lifts a bare hand to rub her forehead, the movement at once irritated and weary. "Look, Des, can we talk about this another time? It isn't you, I need to think." She pushes the hand into her pocket, shivering slightly, hunching her shoulders. "I think I'll go home, go to bed."

"You are not.. that is why I was confused," Desmond replies quietly. He then stands slowly and nods his head once to her question. "If you wish to speak to me, you need only leave note at Moe's. Or come to see me there, if you wish," he replies to her. A pause, one thick with a moment of tense indecision for the big male. Quiet urges, wants that go unexpressed, his stance growing tense with some restraint before he simply offers, "Sleep well, Aimee."

Aimee offers him a small smile, pulling up the collar of her coat against the cold. "Goodnight, Des." She hesitates before shaking her head slightly, a reply to a thought in her own head, before turning and walking off slowly. Her feet make a crunching sound as she places them, crushing the snow beneath her feet.

His face softens slightly, barely visible in the dark. Then she is leaving. The softness fades. Always leaving.. Desmond turns to track her departure, but he does not follow. The claws of his right hand dug deep into the bark of the tree nearest him. Only when she has left his line of sight does his head turn. Followed soon by the rest of him as he wanders deeper into the cultivated park.