Do any of us really know anyone?

Alexander

[Arete, sensing Time. TN 4, taking time -1, target 2 successes]

Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (6) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Alexander

Washington Park: home to the beginnings, middles and ends of stories. Chance encounters and purposeful introductions sparking new friendships and relationships, or maybe bringing them to an end. People pass through on their way to other auspicious – or hopeless – places and people. Sometimes, though, it is simply a place to be.

Everyone needs to be somewhere, and Wash Park is where Alexander is once again found. The clear skies, bright sunshine and warmth have brought him outdoors again. Although, honestly, driving snow and wind isn’t all that likely to keep him cooped up indoors when he wants to get out. But this is a good day to relax, rather than throw himself against nature. He doesn’t have anywhere to be – no work today, no errands to run, no monsters to track down. Oh, there are things that need to be taken care of. But beyond putting what he’d managed to dig up at a certain campsite out on Ginger and seeing what help could be garnered from others in the city, he’s at a little bit of a loose end.

And so here he is, lying on the grass by a lake. Cargo shorts and a tshirt cover him, with boots and a shirt sat on the grass next time him. His lower legs are in the water, slight waves occasionally submerging the parts that aren’t already covered. He’s watching the sky. The afternoon sun is still high in the sky and it’ll be a few hours yet before it starts to get close to the horizon, replacing the vibrant blue of the sky with deeper oranges and reds. Time to pass. Time to feel. And he does feel. To those attuned to such things, Alex has created an effect that lets him do just that. Just like the water flowing and lapping at his legs, he’s feeling the flow of time as it passes by.

Ian

[Awareness]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 6, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Ian

There was a time in Ian's life when spending a Friday night alone in the park would have seemed... well, like a waste of a Friday. And maybe later he would find something (or someone) to occupy himself with, but right now he wasn't thinking about that. Not long ago, he'd been sitting on a bench near one of the flower gardens with his knee tucked up to his chest, just... watching. Listening. Feeling the warm breeze play against his skin. But then he felt a little stir of winter - subtle and prickling just at the edge of his awareness - and after a while he abandoned his bench in favor of the lake, making his way toward the shore at a slow, relaxed gait.

Inevitably, Alexander would find his solitary moment interrupted by the dawning awareness of a steadily encroaching animal. Ian came up behind him, paused a moment, then sat down in the grass at Alexander's side. He had boots on, so he folded his legs rather than trailing his feet into the water (for now.)

"The lake's pretty today," he observed quietly, gazing out across the rolling water at the sun's golden reflection.

Alexander

[Awareness?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )

Alexander

[Alertness?]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 6, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 4 )

Alexander

Alexander isn’t lost in sensation today. That last time, with Kalen, hadn’t exactly ended well. Hell, he still needed to track down Kalen to work out what the hell had happened. And maybe to apologise to him. But wasn’t a little paranoia good for survival?

Either way, Alexander is aware of what’s going on around him. The approach of a certain resonance is a stealthy thing, prowling through the grass as it approaches the Frozen water near the lake. It’s there though, and it’s enough to tug at Alexander’s attention, though, and he looks around at his surroundings. The lake, with some ducks drifting by. A couple of people running along one of the tracks. Ian. He feels different – deeper and more complex, just like Grace and Kiara and Elijah and... Well, nearly all of the Awakened that he knows, really. They’ve all changed, gotten some kind of closer relationship with reality.

He can’t help wonder when his turn will be.

But it’s a passing thought, and he goes back to watching the water once he’s picked up on Ian’s approach. He doesn’t leap away, ready to protect himself, when Ian sits. Alexander stays, comfortable that there isn’t any immediate risk of strange occurrences.

Alex takes a deep breath, smiling a little, when Ian speaks. “It is a beautiful day.” He looks across at Ian, adding, “You’ve changed.”

Ian

Alexander could have meant that in any number of ways, and all of them would have been true. Though Ian was not so changed as to be unrecognizable. Unlike Kalen, he hadn't undergone any dramatic mystical transformation. He'd just sought out (and found) a deeper piece of himself. In more ways than one.

"People do that, it seems." Ian turned his eyes toward Alexander's face, squinting just a little against the glare of the sun. "I can leave, if you want me to." He left a beat of silence there, giving Alexander a chance to tell him if the company was unwelcome. "I saw the message you left on Ginger."

There was always something, wasn't there? Some threat or concern or new piece of business to be discussed. It almost felt like an insult to the beauty of their surroundings.

Alexander

“Up to you. If I’d wanted to be alone, I wouldn’t have picked a park to sit in. Especially not this park.” He smiles, adding the humour that lies behind the comment. “Although given how often we just ‘happen’ to run into each other, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to have Kalen and Grace appear with a picnic if I was sat on the top of a mountain.”

The smile and the humour fade as Ian asks about the message on Ginger. “Yeah. Skye didn’t want to bother anyone with his problems, but I think he’s gotten to the point where he knows he needs help to sort things out with Claire.”

It could almost sound like any other regular conversation about a couple having relationship issues.

“And I still have no idea what created those animals. I don’t suppose the symbols meant anything to you?”

Ian

There was a brief smile when Alexander mentioned Grace and Kalen and the notion of a surprise picnic on a mountaintop. It faded though, more of an echo than a real smile. He sighed when Alex mentioned Skye - this soft, almost defeated sound - and looked away toward the water.

"No. Not really my area of expertise." Ian hesitated before asking his next question. "Was he okay? I tried to call him, but I just got his voicemail. Probably shitty reception."

Alexander

Alexander’s attention is back on the water – or maybe on something else fluid – as he sighs. “Worth a try. Maybe the others will find something.”

“He’s...” There’s a pause, a moment of contemplation. Maybe a search for the right words, the right way to put something. “Disconnected, I guess. He’s been beating himself up about what happened to Claire, blaming himself for it. I don’t think he’s had much to do with other people since she went missing.”

There’s another moment of consideration, but of Ian this time. Alexander watches him, curious. It wasn’t so long ago that he’d asked Ian about Skye and been told that he hadn’t seen him in a while. That he’d just been a guy that Ian had slept with. It might have been puzzling at the time, given what they’d gone through to find the guy, but Ian wasn’t easy to read. And Alexander and Ian weren’t exactly close, for that line of questioning to really carry on.

“Lousy reception, or a dead phone, or a changed number. I swapped numbers with him, if you want it. Just in case.”

[Per+Empathy – what’s going on with yooou?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 6) ( success x 2 )

Ian

[Oh, are you trying to figure me out? Subterfuge]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1

Ian

Sometimes there were things that Ian let slip through. He wasn't always cold; detached. Often there seemed this gossamer-thin slide of emotion that never fully manifested in his expression - enough to hint at some inner thoughts without giving away the truth of the story. Perhaps it was a defense-mechanism (too ingrained to really shed) or perhaps he was just naturally difficult to read. Either way, there were no answers in Ian's eyes when Alexander looked at him. Just this calm, murky darkness.

He looked over when Alexander offered Skye's number. After a moment, he nodded quietly.

"Yeah, I should make sure mine's still current." He slipped his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts to find Skye's number, offering it to Alexander to compare. As though they were talking about any ordinary contact who'd just gone off the grid for a while. As though their lives weren't mired in ghosts and corpses.

But then he said, "You probably think I'm an asshole. For Skye. For a lot of things. I guess you're not wrong."

Alexander

Alexander keeps studying Ian while he searches for his phone, but there’s just nothing slipping through Ian’s self control. Whatever Alex is going to find out is going to have to be offered by Ian. Alex unearths his own phone, though. The one that could easily be tossed into a fire, if it ever became necessary. The one that doesn’t get used for his mundane life. Finding the new contact entry for Skye (no surname listed), the numbers match up.

“As I said, he’s kinda disconnected from people at the moment. He thinks we all have enough of our own crap to deal with to help out with his, especially as we don’t know him and he doesn’t know us. He... thought that you’d already done enough to help him.” There’s another shrug, as if to say that he doesn’t know whether that’s true or not. Because he doesn’t. The conversation with Skye about Ian was even less detailed than the one he’d had with Ian about Skye.

The temptation to ask is sidetracked when Ian continues. Surprise crosses Alex’s face, at the bluntness of the statement. “I...”

It wasn’t a conversation he’d ever expected to have with Ian, so his thoughts took some time to order themselves enough to come to a response. His gaze returns to the water as he thinks. “I did, when we first met. I thought you were playing games with me, and I didn’t like that. I don’t know, but only because I don’t know you. Not really. I don’t know what happened between you and Skye. But who the hell am I to judge, anyway.”

Alexander turns to watch Ian again. A question rises and escapes, before Alex can decide if he should ask or not. “Does anyone really know you?”

Ian

Sera had said something similar to him once. She'd been more blunt. More confrontational.

Ian grew quiet at the question.

"Do any of us really know anyone?" It was a rather grim thing to say, and perhaps not the kind of thing that Alex would find comforting. Ian seemed about to say something else, but then he just looked away. Something changed in his eyes, this slow etching of expression. Tendrils of some abyssal sadness creeping in around the edges. It wasn't dramatic, but it was there. He unfolded his legs and brought his knees to his chest, draping an arm over them.

"I don't like it when people assume I owe them answers. But I was a dick that night, and for what it's worth I'm sorry." He let his gaze turn back, watching Alex in this reserved, careful way. "Do you want to know me?"

Alexander

Do any of us really know anyone?

It’s Alexander’s turn to grow quiet again, studying the water again. To feel the bite of second after second after second as he thinks of his answer, feeling the moments pass by to be caught up and frozen in time. He thinks of the people he knows here, of the people who know him. Hell, of the people he thought he knew so well a lifetime ago. Do they really know each other? Some know more, others know less. Nobody in his ordinary life – the beat cop, living out the clichéd ideal of serving the public – knows anything about his Awakened life. The Awakened that he knows, those he keeps his ordinary life away from – because it’s easier for them – for him – to do what needs to be done without worrying about what unAwakened justice would end in. What other attention would be attracted.

“No. I guess we don’t.” It suddenly didn’t feel quite so warm by the lake. The temperature hadn’t changed, but maybe there was more of a suggestion of a drop towards freezing that there had been just a few minutes earlier.

“I don’t think you owe me anything, least of all answers. Not unless what you do affects me, anyway. It’s your life. And it’s ok. That night, I mean. I gave up thinking it was anything personal a long time ago.”

Alex closes his eyes, legs still in the water of the lake and the wash of time ebbing and flowing over the rest of him. It seems that he’s spent more time recently pulling apart the pieces of the universe that are within his reach. Thinking about where they had all come from and where they were headed. Big questions, for sure. But... important ones? Maybe all that really mattered what where and when they were. This place, this moment.

He turns his head to Ian before his eyes open. There might have been ice there, coldness numbing him from what was around him. There had been before. There probably will be again. He’d been compared to a comet before. Perhaps this is the ice just starting to burn off.

“If you want to know me.”

Ian

Ian smiled a little, tipping his head in this way that felt contemplative. "I haven't decided yet." The tone of his voice was lower, softer and a little resonant. There was subtext to it, but if Alexander didn't notice it, he might at least notice the way that Ian's eyes lingered on him.

"There are different ways of knowing people, but I'm only really good at one of them."

He didn't make any move toward Alexander though. Perhaps he'd already decided that it wouldn't be welcome if he tried. Instead he said, "I suppose I could try and manage an actual conversation one of these days."

(They were having an actual conversation now.)

Ian's expression grew heavier for a moment. "I think I need to go talk to Skye. Can you tell me where you found him?"

Alexander

In some ways Alexander has hardened since his time in the city. Since he Woke Up with capital letters. Given what their kind are prone to running into and fighting against – monsters, people who are worse than the monsters – that’s hardly surprising. But he’s softened a little too. He doesn’t pull away from physical contact, even offers it when he thinks it’s needed. That doesn’t mean that he’s hugging strangers, but he’s not as distant with people he at least knows a little. Or maybe just knows will be there when things hit the fan. Some things, though, are a little too far. Things like Ian’s usual way of ‘getting to know’ people.

But he can at least joke about it, and his tone is lighter. “You are so not getting into my boxers. But conversation I can do. I think it was... Did you ever meet Alyssa? She had lots of useful advice. A lot was how to tell the more uptight members of the traditions about what it would be appropriate for them to sit on before rotating at speed. And something about alcohol being a good way to bond too.” He smiles, a warm memory in his mind. A memory that brings Sid to mind, a curiosity about where she might be. How she’s doing. “Do you sing?”

Alex lies back again on the grass, waving his feet gently in the water. Mud from the bottom is stirred up, drifting and settling back down again. “Reynolds Park, but I doubt you’ll find him there. He was too worried about the possibility of werewolves. That, and I’m not sure it was actually Claire he’d managed to track there anyway. Whatever had her feels like decay, this was more like... contamination.”

“You asked what I can do. That first night. Do you still want to know?”

Ian

"Boxers? Man, you really are straight." There was an equally teasing tone in Ian's response. "I've met Alyssa. We hit it off about as well as you and I did." Whatever had gone down between the two of them, though, it didn't seem he'd taken it personally.

Do you sing?

Ian raised his eyebrows at that, smirking quietly. "Once in a while." (This was a somewhat misleading answer, though not precisely untrue - at least not these days.)

Skye was worried about werewolves, and something about the mention of them made Ian's eyebrows draw tight. Made him remember that night he'd met Sabine by the fountain - though he would never think to describe her as wolfish. (No, she'd been rather a lot more like him.) "Well, I'll see if I can track him down. I suppose worst case scenario I can ask Grace to help."

Do you still want to know?

Ian was slower to answer that, less out of reluctance than because he felt the subject deserved a thoughtful response. That kind of sharing, whether through words or experience, was intimate to him. "Yes. But... I really can't stay. Another day, maybe?"

Alexander

“Hey, they’re comfortable! And lace chafes.” Alex laughs a little. “And, just to clarify, I have never worn lace underwear. Anyway, I was introduced to Karaoke not so long ago. I haven’t been...” Since Sid disappeared. “...in a while, but if you fancy it sometime..?”

He leaves the offer hanging. He doesn’t know if that’s really Ian’s idea of fun, but then he hadn’t thought it could be fun before he gave it a try. Never say never, right?

“If I bump into him again, I’ll tell him that you’re trying to get in touch. He was talking about going to California to get some help, but I think he’s happy to hang around for a bit longer to see what we can come up with. I was actually wondering if Grace would be able to help Skye track down Claire. He said that wasn’t really his thing – he was better at sorting things out once they had been found.”

The pause in the answer catches Alexander’s attention, and he wonders what’s up. Ian had already apologised for being a dick that night, was it an unwanted reminder? Was it something personal that he didn’t like to share? Was it..? Yes.

“Sure. Another day. And I would be interested to see yours too.“ Alex smiles. “Way of working, that is. I’m still figuring a lot of this out. Most of what I’ve seen from the more traditional guys doesn’t really resonate with me, so I’m curious how you see things. If you don’t mind sharing.” He’s asking, but there’s no expectation. Because it’s still not clear to him if this is something Ian is happy to share, especially with someone who’s barely more than a stranger. A stranger he fought beside – twice – to bring down monsters. But still a stranger.

Ian

Ian had shared his senses twice since coming to Denver. Once with Elijah just before they'd done something they could have gotten arrested for in a public park. And once with Kalen, because Kalen had asked to know how Ian practiced Life magick. The latter had arguably been one of the most intimate experiences he and Kalen had shared. The look on Ian's face when Alex suggested they try it was... complicated and difficult to gauge.

"We'll see how things go."

This was probably the closest Alexander was likely to get to a positive response on that subject (at least, at the moment.) Ian got to his feet, brushing a few stray bits of grass from his jeans. Before he turned to go, he suddenly stopped, as though remembering something. "Oh, I don't have your number." So he pulled out his phone again and went to add Alex into his contacts (assuming Alex was willing to give him that information.) "I usually have to be a little drunk to do karaoke, but it might be worth it to see you sing." He winked there, and maybe there was a bit of a challenge in it.

"It's good I ran into you. Have fun watching the sun set." Ian gave the picturesque landscape one final glance before turning and making his way back the direction he'd come, eventually disappearing down the trail.