2018.02.22: The Park is Closed
| The Park is Closed | |
|---|---|
| Random Encounter in a Condemned Park | |
| IC Date | February 22, 2018 |
| IC Time | Evening |
| Players | Itto, Latona, Faith - Officer Donahue, Martino |
| Location | Dilapidated Playground |
Dilapidated Playground
Once, back when the city was young and the neighborhood was vibrant and growing, this was a shiny new and much loved playground tucked away between a candy shop and a bakery. The playground has teeter-totters, a merry-go-round, two uncovered slides of different heights, swings, and a jungle gym, all encased in a large sandbox. The rest of the space was lush and green with trees to hide in and benches to sit on. There was even a wishing well with three fish leaping from it in the spray of a fountain.
With the sun down, the playground is alive with darkness. Only one of the park's overhead lights still functions, and then only intermittently. It crackles and pops, occasionally sending down a flicker of sparks before temporarily blacking out. Little cherry sparks of light flicker in the shadows, teased to life by lighters and matches while miscreants light up their choice of poison.
Time has not been kind. The structures are still here, more or less, but the paint has been picked, scraped, or worn through in places. The merry-go-round, scoured with dirt and who knows what to a lovely shade of puke green, and so encrusted with the evidence of gang tags and brutality that barely moves now. The slides are dented and too rough to use without the risk of tearing your pants. The once beautiful green lawn struggles to survive, choked with weeds, garbage, and needles, and the lush greenery around the playground is now scraggily and skeletal despite the year round temperate weather. Even the wishing well has fallen into disrepair. Of the three fish only one remains, and then only a chunk of a pockmarked tail. The basin is empty of coins, wishes and dreams, filled instead with a viscous green-black sludge of human excrement, rotting organics, and shattered beer bottles.
Contents:
Latona
Itto
Obvious Exits:
Out <O>
Latona continues to slowly wander through the park with her arms crossed tightly, not noticing Itto's presence before he notices hers. She quietly mutters to herself, "Holy shit, this place is as bad as that basement..." She quickly turns her head to the side, staring at the darkness beneath a tree. She jumps when she hears Itto's voice, quickly turning towards the man as she's startled. "Oh, umm, hey," she replies to him awkwardly after a brief pause, chuckling as she attempts to quickly compose herself. "Mister Ogami. It's a pleasure to see you too."
From outside the enclosed area, there's a loud banging, like a heavy boot jarring against the boards and chainlink fencing. It goes on for at least ten or fifteen seconds before Faith calls out, "Coming through!" Someone's clearly not from this corner. So by the time Faith actually squeezes in through the boards, who knows if anyone will still be here.
Itto walks towards Latona, eventually stopping a few feet from the woman. "Seems the fates of the world seek to draw us together... Not that I mind being around such brilliant individual such as yourself." Itto gives a soft smile to Latona and studies her. "Is everything okay Miss Latona? You seem a bit distracted." Its about this point that Itto hears the sound of someone kicking or such boards and looks over towards one of the openings to see someone entering. "And it seems tonight this place is a popular place."
Latona jolts her head to the side as she hears the commotion to the side, clearly still quite jumpy. She raises an eyebrow, but looks back to Itto, offering the man a smile. "It seems that way. I'm afraid I've never learned how to read omens well, so I'm not sure it's a good or bad thing. But I'll assume the former for now." She chuckles, her eyes shifting to a spot nearby Itto, rather than directly at him. She stares for a few seconds, looking at the spot, before looking back at Itto. "And, uhh, yeah. Everything's perfectly fine. It's just a chilly night." After a brief glance again towards the noise, she comments. "Probably just a junkie. This seems like a pretty good place to go for that kind of thing, if you want to do it outside."
Indeed, the person who entered through the fence seems to be making their way along the best-travelled corridor in the park, squinting into the darkness as she looks for others. A low whistle pieces the night, and Faith pauses at the Merry-go-Round, leaning over the battered piece of equipment. She pulls a small, but very highly powered flashlight from her pocket, and holds it in a manner that's more suited to LEOs and first responders than typical civilians, turning the metal slowly - causing a loud and terrible creak.
The comment about cold has Itto pulling the scarf from his neck and offers it to Latona in an attempt to help, in a fashion, to keep her warm. "Here, its not a lot, but something..." Itto catches the look to his side and there is a bit of a smirk that shows on his lips and looks to Latona. "An issue?" Itto questions before he looks over to see who was entering, noticing that its not a junkie, but a member of the police. "And not a junkie..."
Latona smiles warmly at Itto's offer. "Thanks," she says as she accepts the scarf, wrapping it around her neck. "I probably should have just worn one, but I guess I didn't think I'd be out long." She tilts her head, shaking her head as she replies to his question, "Huh? No, sorry. Umm... Places like this just make me jumpy." An eyebrow raises as she turns her attention towards the other in the park upon hearing the man's comment. "Crap," she mutters.
The light flicks and searches over the wedges of the old piece of play ground equipment, each of the eight sections inspected one by one. As it flashes of a patch of bare metal where the paint has been peeled away, enough of the light reflects to give the impression of a white, tall individual in civilian clothing. But No matter how good-will chic those clothes, as she stands up and the single light flickers on for a moment, providing her with the disadvantage of looking into the dark from the pool of yellowed light, it is clear the woman carries herself like an officer or soldier. Turning toward the voices she can't quite make out clearly, she calls out "Hey, I'm not here to arrest anyone. Just looking for some information." Indeed, the woman pulls out a badge and displays it in the light, unreadable from a distance. "You mind coming over here? I'm Officer Donahue, Prospect POlice Department."
Itto eyes Latona for a moment, but he says nothing in regards to his suspiciouns. "Worry not about places like this when I'm around, Miss Latona." When the light from the flashlight shines on Itto and the woman introduces herself for who she is, there is a bit of a chuckle from him as he begins to walk towards the officer. "And yet, it seems the Heavens move mountains to make connections." Itto approaches and eventually stops not far from Faith, bowing. "Oddly enough, we seem to meet, Miss Donahue..." Itto looks over to Latona to see if she approaches.
Martino enters from the street.
Latona grins at Itto's statement of reassurance. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I felt unsafe like that. It's just a bit creepy." She grimaces as she hears the unknown figure call out, glancing over at Itto to watch his reaction as if her own would be based on it. Such is evidenced by the fact she does, in fact, follow him over to the officer. A brief glance is made between the pair, before she addresses the other woman. "Hey..."
The light is kept lowered even as Itto moves closer to where Faith stands in a pool of lamp light next to the merry-go-round, keeping it from shining in the man's face. Officer Donahue, dressed in civilian clothing, raises an eyebrow as the man comes into her visual field. "Ogami Itto?" The tone of her voice is somewhat incredulous, then a look over Latona as well. "Ma'am." Faith nods her head in polite, somewhat formal greeting. "This isn't exactly the safest place to go for a walk after dark. We just had a mugging out on the sidewalk. Have either of you seen a six foot four African American male wearing a black leather jacket and blue basketball shoes in the last ten minutes?"
Martino walks up the street quickly from the direction of the diner, and slows at the entrance to the park. He seems to be looking from side to side, "Buno?.... here boy..."
"One and the same, unless there is another Ogami Itto here in the city..." Itto responds to Faith before looking to Latona. "And I wasn't meaning in that fashion, Miss Latona..." And Itto looks back to Faith. "No, I have not seen an such individuals, and if they did try something, it would be their folly, not ours." Itto responds to Faith and smiles to the woman. "I would ask questions, but seems you are busy." The sound of someone else coming close to the place gets a look towards the fence line.
Latona sticks next to Itto as they engage in conversation with the officer. She offers a small smile to the woman at the greeting, although with a hint of distrust behind it. "Oh... I was just walking by to pick something up from the store, and got curious about this place. I'm really fine. I haven't seen anyone who looks like that." Her eyes drift towards the sound of yet another voice in the area, before looking back to Itto.
"Jesus..." Officer Donahue shifts her stand to bring the entrance to the park into line of sight, while keeping the couple also in front of her. "Very well." Faith uses her free hand to gesture toward the entrance as she states, "Miss Latona, Mr. Ogami, I'm afraid that I have to insist you leave the premises. Whether you're fully capable of protecting yourself from a mugger, or the entire Spanish Inquisition, this area is condemned and as such is not open to the public. Especially at one in the morning." While her words are informal, her tone is not. It seems she expects to be obeyed. She calls out toward Martino - flicking her flashlight in his direction before turning it to light the path before the couple, or at least the path she expects them to take. "Sir, one moment.. please wait there. I'm Officer Donahue with the Prospect Police Department." If there WERE any muggers or junkies, they've probably scattered.
Martino pauses, tilting his head a bit to the side, and then asks in a voice that holds a slight New York accent, "Me? Is something wrong Officer? I am trying to locate my dog. He slipped his leash at the diner, and ran this way."
The mention to leave gets a look over to Latona for a moment before Itto looks back to Faith. "Well, was enjoying the atmosphere but a request to leave is that, and I do not wish to over stay." Itto looks to Latona. "Shall we Miss Latona?" Itto questions before he reaches to his wallet and pulls it out. After a moment he opens his wallet and pulls out a card. "Miss Donahue, would you care for my card since you've been asking around about me?"
Latona rolls her eyes at the order to leave, but doesn't seem willing to push the issue. "I guess I missed the signs in the dark. I didn't realize it was even midnight yet either." She shrugs her shoulders, before nodding to Itto. "Sure. Do you have anywhere in mind? I was heading to the store, but it can wait until later."
The officer glances at the card being offered, and answers the poor man who's lost his dog first. "I'll be with you in a moment Sir, I'm afraid I haven't seen a dog in the park, but it's quite dark and it's possible I missed him." Faith then plucks the card from Itto's fingers with something of a little scowl. "I hope your nightclub serves roast crow and humble pie - I have a feeling I'm going to be eating a heaping serving of each." She gives Latona a little sideways glance and a smirk. "Thanks for being understanding Ma'am. We appreciate the opportunity to serve." She gives them a little 'shoo' with the flashlight.
Once Faith takes the card Itto smiles to the woman and bows his head. "I do not, but I do offer good food and drink, both alcoholic and non... In that, we shall see you soon, Miss Donahue." Itto looks over to Latona. "Well, I can help with the shopping if you like, I do not mind the rather tame domestics of shopping." Itto comments and offers his arm to Latona before motioning towards exiting the area.
Latona allows her eyes to wander for a few seconds before she begins to leave the park, before they seem to lock onto something in the dark. They widen, the woman looking a bit weirded out. However, she closes them for a second, not commenting before looking back at Faith. "Uh huh," she comments dryly, before looking up at Itto and accepting his arm. "I mean, if you want. I really don't mind dealing with it another time, if you want to go somewhere to just talk or something."
Faith rubs her face with her free hand as she informally escorts the couple to the street, where Martino is calling for Bruno. Once they have stepped out of the playground, she follows out and turns her full attention the other man. "What is the approximate size and breed of your dog Sir?" She does not glance after Itto and Latona, apparently having done enough to rain on their parade already.
Martino seems ti be trying to get a good look at Faith, and frowns abit as he looks her over. "Undercover officer, perhaps? Mind my asking to see your badge? Oh well, nevermind... my Bruno is a fox terrier, and a fast rascal when he gets after something. A rat ran out in front of us, and he took chase."
"No, not undercover - just not on duty." She pulls her wallet out and opens it up to provide Martino with a good look at her badge and ID. Officer Faith Donahue, Prospect Police Department - Gang Unit. "I'm sorry to hear about Bruno, I have a flashlight. I can help you look for him. Does he usually come back when you call?"
Martino looks at the badge, and nods, "I am Martini Caravelli. Thank you Officer Donahue. Yes, normally, but as I said he is after the rat. I hope he didn't go to far, I hate to leave the area without him."
"A pleasure Mr. Caravelli," answers Officer Donahue. "Let me get a squad car with a floodlight to come by. We had a mugging out here just a little bit ago, and I don't want to leave you in the area by yourself, especially not looking for Bruno, given the kinds of places rats like to hide." She fishes her phone out and begins to send a text message.
Martino shakes his head, "I would hate to cause such inconvenience." But he doesn't say no to her offer.
Faith steps out of the park proper under the street lights to send for the car.
In the distant the excited yapping of a small dog can be heard.
Martino looks in the direction of the noice, and appears relieved. "There he is, that sounds like him. Bruno! Come here, boy!" He looks at Faith, and smiles. "Looks like the mystery is solved. Thank you for your help."
The officer smiles warmly enough, though it's somewhat distorted by the scars. "Fantastic.. I'm glad you found him Mr. Caravelli, even if I had nothing to do with it. Please have a safe and pleasant evening, and make sure you get a leash for Bruno. Local ordinances."
