The Gardens] A Sunny Summer Stroll (Open!)

[Strover Selthannin]

Timestamp: Aperitus 9, Summer of Era XIV PF, early afternoon

It was a glorious afternoon in Nexus, and Strover had decided that this was decidedly not a brightening for remaining shut in at home. Not that home was a terribly attractive choice anyhow; a one-room hovel with little in the way of furniture aside from a bed, a table and a few rickety chairs was not exactly somewhere the young half-elf wished to spend any more time than was necessary.

Strover Selthannin was, if nothing else, a realist. He knew that the afternoon would be quite wasted if he attempted to engage in anything remotely productive, and he would certainly regret making that choice. Instead, then, he had decided that it was a lovely brightening to meander through the Gardens.

And so it had proved. The brightening was ideal, the Gardens glorious, and Strover's mood decidedly good. Meandering along the paths through the Gardens and taking turns at random, it occurred to him that this would be an ideal brightening to make a new acquaintance or three. Aslan knew he could use some.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn spent most of her time in the gardens, a refuge from the cluttered streets of a city larger than many of the places where she'd spent time over the past era. She was there now, settled on her knees in one of the more overgrown sections where the plants were given free range to grow rather than being clipped into unnatural forms. She'd brought over a small bag of seeds not because the place required more life, but because she wanted to contribute something to a place she'd come to know and love. One of the few places in the city she enjoyed.

The small bag sat open at her side and she dug her hands into the burlap pouch and snagged a very small handful, about five or six seeds pooling into the slightly curved palm of her hand. She'd dug several small holes into the ground in front and around her. She dropped the seeds in her palm into one hole, gathered more seeds and proceeded to do the same in another hole, then repeated the process with the rest of the seeds until the pouch was empty and the holes were filled or unnecessary.

She covered them up, patting down the soil over the seeds, and sat back on her heels. She allowed herself to concentrate, meditating away outside interferences as she slipped into Clara, casting a reshaped spell she'd worked on, Garden Growth, to cover the cluster of seeds she'd just planted. The soil dampened with the concentration of water that worked its way into the ground with its summoning and pushing fresh green stalks through the dirt at her urging. An inch or two they grew before they halted, leaves budding on either side of the tiny new bit of life...the start to a patch of marigolds.

She sat back, investigating the cluster of plants that had grown. Not all had bursted into life, but enough had grown that the new patch was decent.

Aydyn picked the bag up off the ground and stuffed the edge of it into the waistline of her skirts, haphazardly brushing off the dirt smudges from the fabric. The green skirt was a picture of dirty, soil rubbed into the front where her knees had pressed into the ground, and lines of dirt streaked where her hands smudged. She wasn't all that concerned, by the looks of it, as she drew in a deep breath and looked around her. Not for anyone in particular, just seeing what had become of the surroundings since she'd sat down to work with the makeshift patch of garden.

A half-elf nearby, she spotted, wandering, enjoying the gardens. She was not the sort to stop and speak to a person, but she did watch him for a time, making note of his progress, where he walked...because even though she thought she could feel safe and relaxed here there was always that chance. She'd been relaxed in Acumin and things had happened. She'd wandered too far. It paid to be wary and aware of her surroundings, she'd discovered.

She flashed a smile at him, faintly, and looked elsewhere for a moment, considering, brushing her hands against her skirt absently.

[Strover Selthannin]

That brief, faint smile, though, was all that Strover needed. One did not become a successful pickpocket without being observant, and he had noticed her watching him. This woman seemed more than a little bit shy, and almost afraid of him, for some reason. He had made a point throughout his career of being nonthreatening, and he knew that his appearance was exactly the opposite, so to find someone who seemed afraid of him was quite unusual.

Ordinarily, the half-elf would probably have walked right on by, not wishing to disturb someone who would plainly rather keep her own counsel. But not this brightening. Strover was out here in the Gardens to meet people, after all, and despite the eminently pleasant afternoon this was the first person he'd even seen. Even that, though might not have been enough, but Strover was blessed with insatiable curiosity, as were many in his line of work. In his professional life, that curiosity often regarded what other people might have in their purse or their pockets, but it was hardly the limit of Strover's wonderings. While he had watched this strange woman watching him, whatever she had done to make her seeds turn into plants had not escaped his notice, and Strover was immensely curious. Curious enough to do something about it.

Approaching the woman slowly, Strover returned her smile with a winning smile of his own. Ducking his head in a motion that was somewhere between a nod and a bow, he greeted her. "Good afternoon, milady," he said politely. "Lovely weather, no? Please, forgive me if I seem forward, but... how did you do that?" He swept one hand in a gesture to indicate the new plants she had grown. "Was that Druidism? I've heard of it, or course, but I've never seen such a thing in action. Is it very difficult to learn?" Visions of planting vines wherever he needed to make a swift getaway swirled momentarily in his brain, but Strover was almost certain that things wouldn't be quite that easy.

[Aydyn Blair]

Afraid wasn't quite the word. Not afraid, simply cautious and she watched him from the corners of her eyes as she toed the soil in front of her, shifting it around as if to tuck into place...as if the shoots that had popped through had dislodged it. Men were a tricky sort, capable of so much that had given her hurt, and she didn't think it wise to turn her back when she hardly knew a man at all. That she was in the middle of a public place meant little to the druidess, but at least they weren't in the middle of nowhere with no chance of anyone failing to see something amiss.

He approached and Aydyn frowned a little, thinking she'd done little to encourage an advance, but far too polite to make anything of it. Usually far too polite--she was well aware that she certainly had her moments, given the right individual, the right setting. He, in turn, seemed polite enough, but people wore facades...she'd come to realize that...and she remained on guard even as a slight smile touched her mouth...pleasant enough in its way, but not overly inviting.

"Druidism?" she repeated, as if to be certain it was indeed what he'd ask. He'd seen her playing around with the plants then...which was all well in good given that she hadn't been trying to hide anything either. "Yes, Druidism," she responded after a moment, feeling a glow of pride. Her life, her love...so much of it in her Druidism. There was no extracting it from who she was as a person.

She shrugged slightly in answer to his last question. "It can be. Not everyone can be unbound. Arcana isn't for everyone." She'd had that discussion with Janis, wondering if he'd ever thought what he might have done if he hadn't been able to be unbound, to be a Druid. What then? The pair were thankful for what they'd both been able to lay a claim to.

She crouched down in front of the faint sprouts of future marigolds, nudging one with her finger with the utmost care and delicacy...as if she were checking some thing or another. "I take it becoming a Druid is not a lifelong dream of yours," she commented, peering up at him.

[Strover Selthannin]

No, of course it wasn't easy. Strover wasn't really sure why he had even asked. Nothing worth having comes at anything less than it's full value, though it could easily cost more; that was a truth he knew well. It even applied to his chosen profession. If one were to calculate the value of the planning and effort that went into stealing a man's purse, it would compute out to quite a depressing profit margin. Strover, as a rule, generally did his best not to calculate it.

A small smile crossed Strover's face as he squatted across the sprouts from the woman, still looking interestedly at the tiny plants. "Well..." he said slowly, drawing the word out somewhat wistfully. "Not exactly, no. I love nature as much as the next man, I suppose, and probably more than some. But I wouldn't say that I've always -- or ever, really -- dreamt of following that path. My life seems to have led me along quite a different road."

Changing focus, he turned another winning smile upon the woman. "But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it, either. To do what you've just done, creating life where before there was none... That's amazing, and I'm not sure that I haven't missed out horribly. With all the destruction that can be wrought by Arcana, it's refreshing and quite wonderful to see someone use it to create."

Still squatting, he offered the Druid his hand. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. The name's Strover. Strover Selthannin."

[Titus Crow]

Another had taken time to watch Aydyn's spell, a thin man in monk's robes. He looked on at the scene with a warm glint in his gray eyes as he listened intently to the interaction between the two. His hair was cropped short, dark but peppered with gray. He wore a large, wide-brimmed hat that kept the sun out of his eyes and obscured his face a little.

He waited politely until after the initial introductions were over before stepping forth. He bowed in Strover's direction.

"Well said young man. The path of honor and peace is a path lightly traveled these days. It is so much easier to destroy than to create. Smash rather than build. Takes a hundred eras for a forest to grow, but a candlemark to burn it down. Goodness involves patience, especially when you are waiting for marigolds to bloom." He smiled at Aydyn. "My name is Brother Titusarov."

[Aydyn Blair]

She still seemed to cling to a little reticence, wariness, but she was gradually warming towards Strover. He continued to seem to pose no threat, had a pleasant smile and spoke kindly enough. There was no hard glint to his eyes or rough movement to his body that suggested he was simply presenting pleasing words and smiles to lull suspicion.

Aydyn found herself smiling at the praise, nodded slightly. "It's a shame what some people do with it. Arcana, that is." Of course, she couldn't say she'd never used to hurt anyone either. She had and still felt justified at the thought of her captor flailing his hands at his own crotch as he tried to put out a fire. No, that image was rather satisfying. It had, however, come with consequences. She rubbed at it, the empty place where a finger had been, and dropped her hands quickly as she realized she'd directed her attention there. "This is more rewarding," she said with a nod, her voice firm with the fact.

"I'm Aydyn Blair," she responded, following the movement of his hand, almost hesitating before clasping his with hers--the hand with all five fingers. The clasp was quick, fleeting and she brushed her hand against the skirts at her knee merely to dispel any remaining dirt that had attached itself to her fingers and palm.

She jerked around as another voice interrupted, slightly startled. A deep breath and she was calm again, observing the older man that had approached, gray and at ease with himself and his surroundings. She found herself smiling, amused. "Easy enough to wait for marigolds to bloom when all you need is a spell," she pointed out, rising to her feet, mindful of the new growth. Not that many people had spells at their disposal.

"You are a monk? Priest?" She seemed hesitant over the proper title. "Unless your real name is...Brother?" She did not sound disrespectful, but rather making sure she would not step on toes in some fashion or other. Better to collect the facts rather than blithely inserting foot into mouth.

[Strover Selthannin]

If the short duration of the hand clasp bothered Strover, the young half-elf showed nothing of it by word or deed. "A pleasure to meet you, Aydyn," he said warmly. "I wonder --"

But what he wondered would have to wait, for it was then that the two were joined by another, older man, introducing himself as Brother Titusarov. "Erm," Strover said eloquently. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Brother Titusarov, he went on, giving the newcomer a friendly smile. "I am not sure that I'd classify myself as a follower of the path of honor and peace, either, however. I would say that it's closer than the other, though I am hardly perfect."

That was by choice, of course, though Strover was not about to say so. Honor and peace? Not hardly. And yet, the thieves of Nexus Prime had their own peculiar sense of honor and their own brand of morality. It wasn't as if they were complete anarchists, after all, and there were certain rules of governing what Strover rather whimsically liked to think of as honest criminals. Just because his profession happened to be illegal didn't mean that he had no morals, after all.

Instead of speaking any of this aloud, though, he simply smiled at his two companions. "As for the marigolds, though... Well, miracles are rare enough. I am content to wait for this one."