small miracles. [aidan, elijah, ian]

Ian Lai
The evening is warm and mild in Washington Park. Autumn hasn't quite crept into the city yet, and Ian can smell the heady perfume of the nearby flower beds. He's lying back in the grass, running one hand over the tips of the blades as he watches the sky dim to a darker shade of blue. There's a squirrel chittering at something a few yards away in a tree. When the breeze hits, there's a rustle of leaves and the animal sound goes quiet.

He'd been running earlier, a fact made obvious by his state of dress: shirtless with running shoes, black shorts and a tight band around his left bicep where he kept his phone and his keys. His skin is still damp with sweat. There's a meditative quality to the way his chest rises and falls with each breath; to the way he listens to the sounds of the world around him (feels the earth - warm and alive beneath his back.)

Kiara[Awareness and all that]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 6, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Aidan[nightmares]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )

Aidan[awareness - perc spec Intuitive]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 3 ) [Doubling Tens]

AidanAidan doesn't need reasons to wander, he just does. He wanders because he likes to see new things, and because listening to the same things over and over again can be exhausting; the world is never silent. It's always talking. He dresses in clothing that is too big for him, that he likely knitted himself, and that should be too hot for him at this moment, yet he enjoys it. A loose pink 'sweater' though he knitted it from some light fabric, and a pair of jeans with sneakers.  Money, or the need for it, is still strange to him, despite living a world that requires it, so he wanders with almost nothing...and he's content.

When he sees, and feels Ian, there is a bit of excitement that surges through him and he gravitates towards it. Aidan is...energetic. Whatever it is that slides out from him is so...enthralling, as if it knew the smallest little desires of the people around it, and it played to it..promising more with a sweet smile and a cheerful attitude. And it was touched, no saturated, with the pulsing feeling of life.

KiaraIt had only been a few nights since the last time Kiara Woolfe had set foot in Washington Park. Then, it had been evening and she'd come toting flashlights and trashbags to help dispose of the remains of something inhuman that had attacked two of her friends. Then, it had been weighting down remains and pushing them into the lake; sweat-covered, dirt-smeared.

It's only been one night since Grace called her to say she'd found Samir wandering, incoherent and paranoid in Federal, struck by Paradox trying to unweave reality to battle the very thing she'd helped Elijah conceal from the Sleepers of the world. One night since she'd put her hands on another Awakened's face and healed bite marks savaged there and in return - there's still a dull ache set behind the Verbenae's temples.

She hasn't been running tonight, Kiara, but she has been sitting at the lake's edge; looking out over the water and listening to the gentle rhythm of it as it lapped against the shore. It's a warm enough evening not to require layers but the brunette has a sweater on; has her arms curled around her chest. There's a pensiveness to the set of Kiara Woolfe's jaw that suggests her focus is anywhere but near.

The distraction enough to make the sensation of others a gradual realization; she drops her eyes from the water when it comes, though; gathers her bag and slides to her feet; pushing dark strands of hair from her eyes and lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the last vestiges of sunlight cutting across the grass; dappling light into the water's surface and looks out across the stretches of grassy lawn and winding pathways.

Somewhere, she can feel the primal hum of Ian's energy, another she cannot place. She sets off across the park's grounds, the pagan, cutting a solitary figure across the park.

Ian Lai[Awareness]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 4, 6, 8, 8) ( success x 3 )

Ian LaiThere's a new sensation on the air. Someone Ian doesn't recognize. It makes him sit up, knees bent as he rests his weight back on his hands. A few blades of grass cling to his back until he brushes them away. When his eyes land on Aidan's approaching figure, he watches the boy quietly, taking in the picture of him - his clothes, his gait, the almost fae-like effect of his resonance. Ian doesn't rise to his feet right away. Instead he cuts his gaze across the park toward the lake when he catches a hint of Kiara's rejuvenating pulse. It's then that he rolls up to a standing position, shaking the stiffness out his limbs with a roll of his neck and a light hop from one foot to the other.

Both of the others are wearing sweaters. Ian cannot possibly imagine being dressed that warmly in August, and for a moment his eyes are drawn back to the pink strands of Aidan's knitted shirt. "You look hot."

(And for once he actually means it in the literal sense.)

AidanHe curls his lips in a warm and pleasant smile. "Me? Oh. " He  lightly touched at his neck, exposed given the size of his shirt. "Oh. A little. Maybe." But he doesn't seem to be bothered by the potential revelation; Aidan likes his clothes, hot or not. Aidan moves in close because he has no understanding of space, and clasps his hands in his own lap as he does. "Are you hot? The wind hasn't been by has it? Maybe that's why?"

"I'm Aidan." His lips curl into a brighter smile, pleased to meet someone new, someone different. "You're different too."

KiaraKiara's sweater is an earthy brown; the neck loose enough that it slides over a thin shoulder; offering a glimpse of a white camisole beneath. The brunette's hair left to its own devices tonight; it falls in waves around her shoulders, bangs cut low across her brow half conceal the lilt up of her eyebrows as she crosses over a small incline and sights Ian with - a stranger.

A boy. Kiara's eyes slide over Aidan; feel the enchanting, engaging thrum that surrounds him before ticking back to Ian. "Hey," she calls as she nears; her closing presence accompanied by a wash of rejuvenating, pulsing energy. There's a bag slung over one of Kiara's shoulders; her right wrist heavy with beaded bracelets tonight.

There's a touch of something restrained to the Verbanae tonight; a subtle sense of sobriety; the smile she cuts Ian slighter, a degree less brighter than usual. She touches his shoulder when she's closer. A sweep of her fingers over his bare skin as she turns her dark eyes on the stranger.

"Making friends?"

Ian Lai"I'm all kinds of different."

There's enough of a breeze in the park to keep the air moving. A brush of it stirs at Ian's hair as he watches Aidan step into his space. For a moment he doesn't respond to the intrusion, though he is acutely aware of it. Aidan is short enough that Ian has to look down to meet his eyes, and there's a steadiness to Ian's dark gaze that feels subtly challenging. The way a larger animal might look at a smaller animal that's infringing upon its space.

"And yeah, you know. Running in the heat has a way of doing that." (Raising one's body temperature.) There is evidence of it still on his skin, a glistening sheen at the base of his neck and a slow drop of sweat that winds its way down to his stomach.

When Kiara draws near, Ian's attention cuts away. He looks at her when she touches his shoulder, and the weight of his attention feels different than it had a moment earlier. Softer, more familiar. She even gets a little smile, though it's sobered in response to her own.

"Don't know that I'd go that far. This is Aidan." His eyes meet Aidan's again, and he finally offers his name. "I'm Ian."

Ian Lai[Empathy on Kiara]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )

AidanAidan is undeterred by Ian's look, doesn't even seem to mind or recognize what the amn is trying to say. His smile brightens and Aidan let's out a laugh. "You both are!" His eyes shift and he looks off in the direction the wind seems to travel. "There it is! I wonder if it found a leaf. The leaves are going on vacation now. Sometimes the wind tries to catch them before they go."

He looks towards Kiara and beams at her. "Yes.They call me Aidan! You must be something herbal...like lavendar, but with more energy, like mint! Mint isn't like you though. You don't feel like mint. Mint is more..more..numbing I think. Like a rainstorm before winter. Hmm..What is that...what is that.." He scratches behind his neck lightly, ruffling his artificially dark hair. "Oh! Cinnamon! Like cinnamon!"

KiaraIf he didn't know better - he might imagine Kiara was feeling a little hungover and in some ways, he wouldn't be totally wrong. Except that being what she was, it seemed unlikely Kiara would tolerate feeling absolutely wretched without good reason. Without at least an attempt to heal herself. There's that manner she holds herself tonight that speaks of distraction, that speaks of something tugging at her attention. A certain flinch she gives, a tiny, fleeting pinch at the edge of her mouth when Aidan speaks in bright, joyous tones.

As if the decibel level were grating on her.

The symptoms of someone who was suffering a hangover - or the lingering sensitivity of a (Paradox induced) migraine. There's a subtle tension carried throughout Kiara's entire body right now. Something's on her mind and she's feeling it physically.

KiaraYou both are.

If Ian eyes Aidan with the steady challenge of one sort of predator; the pagan does it with the curious (if wary) regard of another sort. There's less direct challenge in Kiara's dark eyes as they take in the boy and his chatter and more, as he goes on to declare she's something herbal and cinnamon - rising confusion and a flicker of something close to agitation.

It's brief, though. That flicker, a register of something like a recurring irritation before it clears and she manages a smile; brighter than the last. A flash of teeth, deliberately so. Her mouth is painted a very bold shade of red, the Verbenae, as it so often is. Her eyes dramatized with black liner and her presence; with that wild hair and the touch of vitality; that of something dynamic and engaging. "Kiara, actually."

She glances at Ian, then. A brief, questioning look before continuing: "How long have you been in town, Aidan?" A beat, the brunette's eyes consider the boy. "Are you here on your own?"

Ian LaiThe truth is, Kiara's presence probably saves Aidan from the worst of Ian's sharpness. There are times when having the full weight of his attention is not a wholly enjoyable experience (as a few of the other mages in the city could probably attest to.) Instead, what Aidan gets is a lofted eyebrow and long, silent look. Ian doesn't back away (doesn't relinquish his ground,) but he does finally reach out and put a hand to Aidan's chest to give him a gentle push back.

"You should be careful about walking up to strangers in parks."

Whatever Ian notices in Kiara's eyes (in the cues of her body language,) he doesn't draw any obvious attention to it. Instead he sets his hand on her lower back, brushing slow, gentle circles with his fingers. The touch feels grounding (comforting - I'm here.)

AidanAidan steps back a few paces, confused by the clear gesture. He's trying to figure out what it means, even rubbing the space on his chest Ian had touched, and looking down at it. "But you're not a stranger." He says with the sudden beam of pleasantness. Aidan is happy to see them, even if they aren't happy to meet him. "Not really. The grass knows you. The trees know you. That means I know you. Maybe. A little."

And then he blinks, shifting his attention to Kiara momentarily, furrowing his brows at her question. "On my own?" Another brief look of confusion tinted with thought. "Here in time? Here in place? I have lots of friends so I'm not alone. I'm never really alone. none of us are. People just don't hear the things around them all that much. Too busy, sometimes. Sometimes they don't want to."

"Do you mean did I come here with someone? I did! And I have a friend coming sometime. Granna will be here soon I think. She's never late. Always at the right time." He nods affirmatively, agreeing with himself on the matter. "But we came in... we came in.." Aidan was terrible with time. He was either early or late (more often late). "I don't know." There's a moment of disturbance as he realizes he doesn't quite recall; it's not because he can't really remember but because it's never been important. Did it matter -when- he came to Denver? "Elijah would know. He's better at time than I am."

KiaraThere's something about the way Aidan reacts to Ian's gentle (but firm) reaffirming of space between them that refocuses the brunette's attention on him. It's not the same sort of disconnection from the present she'd seen in Samir last night but a fracturing of the here and now. Aidan speaks of time (and Time) the way Seers did, the way Kiara had heard Serafine talk of it.

Speaks of nature like an elemental of it might. The trees, the grass.

Ian can feel the stillness that creeps into Kiara at the registering of that, that and the mention of Elijah. "Nature knows us but we still need to make ourselves known to each other. It's - how we make sure. Sometimes things aren't as they seem." She chooses her words carefully, the Verbenae and then, a beat, a sort of sharp interest: "You know Elijah."

Kiara's eyes cut away, over Aidan's shoulder as if she half expects to see the Initiate wandering up to them with cheerful aplomb, apologizing for letting his friend wander off on his own. "He's not with you tonight?"

She sounds as if she hopes he might be.

Ian LaiIt isn't really the fact that Aidan approached him that gave Ian cause for concern. Plenty of other mages have done that. People come and go in Denver. Sometimes they stick around. Sometimes they don't. Just as often as not, he's the one who approaches them. Because they're something new and curious. Because he's bored or hungry or both.

It's the fact that Aidan seems both oblivious and vulnerable. (Kid might as well paste a sign onto his back that says: Reality Deviant.)

But then he mentions Elijah, and Ian looks at him with momentarily renewed focus. "You're friends with Elijah." It comes out at exactly the same moment that Kiara's statement does, which has the effect of making them seem... well. Even more in sync. Ian glances at her and gives a little exhale - amused.

He didn't sound as though he was even remotely surprised. Somehow the pieces fit together - Aidan and Elijah.

"I'm sure I'll see you again, in that case."

Elijah[per+aware: Do I notice people?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 4 ) [Doubling Tens]

ElijahThere's a thing with people who study time. An oddness of being where one is supposed to be at the exact time that they are supposed to be there. Elijah wasn't quite remarkable enough for his presence to be because of an advanced knowledge of where his presence (or lack thereof) would make the most difference. No, sometimes things just sort of… fall into place.

Like now.

He had come to the park with the intention of walking the same path he had the night Samir had his tiff with reality. Elijah had to think, had things to think about, too. The the football field and assailants who went too far for his senses to pick up. Grace said that if he didn't have more than what he did- a few hazy images and a picture of what happened- then she couldn't quite help. She couldn't work her magic (or Magic) without some jumping off point. She wasn't a miracle worker. So, there he was, trying to piece together a motive for people who weren't necessarily people.

Had a lot to think about. Had to have more than an inkling and a thought before he brought anything up to Henry, had to have more substantial leads and what-have-you. That was neither here nor there, he was walking a circuit, something that got progressively larger until the spiral reached out, touched a different set of senses and-

There's a thing with people who study time. An oddness of being where one is supposed to be at the exact time that they are supposed to be there. Right now, things seem to fall into place. Stacked like card's in a crooked dealer's deck, it comes up aces and he feels something. Someone. More than a couple someones and there he is. Speak of the devil and he doth appear, maybe twenty or twenty five yards out. Trots to close the distance.

Aidan"Oh. OH! Right." He bobbed his head with a smile, lightly ruffling his own hair in a sort of semi-embarrassment. "I forget sometimes." He said as if it was no different than forgetting to put on underwear in the morning; an inconvenience but hardly something for the world to burn over. "Granna says I do that. Forget. I think she uses a different word." There's a moment of contemplation, as if he's trying to think about exactly what she might have called him.

"Oh! Yes! I do!" He's excited that someone else knows Elijah, but not surprised. Of course, he's not far himself, and his resonance is closing in; it tingles at the edge of Aidan's senses. "He didn't come with me." Is his response to Kiara, because he's somewhere nearby, but Aidan had no intentions of them meeting. But the universe, and the energy within it, had a tendency to pull things together... like pieces of a clock. You needed the right ones to get it working and maybe..maybe it needed them together for... something.

KiaraThere's a way that Kiara's attention shifts back when Ian echoes her; this small edging smile that curves into being at the corner of her mouth.

She leans her weight into him, into the palm pressed to the small of her back. It's a nuanced gesture, a physical reaction to the synchronicity of their words. The similarity in their thinking. Aidan was vulnerable - in more ways than one. There was a certain naivety about the way he perceived the world and his place in it that seemed nothing more than a blinking neon sign to Technocracy.

He didn't come with me.

The brunette's eyes search the gathering dusk and after a beat, they return. "Well he does have a knack for timing, I'll give him that." She gestures beyond Aidan, toward the figure closing on them from a distance. The last time Kiara had seen the Initiate, it had been covered in Samir's blood, it had been Elijah attempting to keep his cool in front of her while they dealt with the remains of what had once been two women - or parts of them, at the very least.

There's a subtle tension thrumming in Kiara tonight that seems to pick up as Elijah approaches. A certain set to her shoulders, a little tilt of her mouth at the edges as he grows nearer.

Ian Lai"Speak of the devil." Ian grins when Elijah draws near. There's an easiness to the gesture that speaks of a mood he doesn't entirely feel, but Elijah has a way of drawing that out of people (and Ian is rarely precisely what he seems.) He tips his head to indicate Aidan. "I think you lost someone."

Perhaps another day, they will have more time to talk. About nature. About spirits. About any number of things. Perhaps - but not today.

"I have a thought," Ian lowers his voice to a more intimate tone when he leans into Kiara's side, sliding his hand around to her hip in order to draw her closer. "How about you and I go back to my place. We can drink wine and watch a Wong Kar-Wai movie."

Or they can talk. Or... not talk, as is so often the case with them. Given her physical and emotional state, wine and a movie might not be the most appealing offer, but whether or not he actually means it is fairly irrelevant. The real offer is there under his words.

Elijah(Manip+sub: TOTALLY nonchelant]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )

Elijah"I have been summoned."

A grin is met with one in kind. Weariness at the edges of his expression, a slowness in movement but not in purpose. He's comfortable, or as comfortable as one could be given the fact that a good chunk of the present company spent their day dredging up ways to dispose of a body (it was human. Was being the operative word. There are things he could tell people later, recent developments and a determination to see things through to the end. He wants to do this right. He wants to prove that he can do this right.)

Gives Aidan a look, brows raise and he seemed pleased, "yeah, oh! Hey," he nudged Aidan, "Jenn said she was going to flay you if you missed dinner. My words, not hers, but she made vegetable curry. I think I'm rethinking my philosophy on meat."

He smiles, something right and charming because he could spring back. Pretend that nothing had happened and that he was just here instead of being out in the park on some personal mission to make something make sense. He knows he probably shouldn't be in the park, thoughts roll around in his head. Grace detected a virus, but he hadn't seen any indication… how did things overlap? He plays his thoughtfulness as absentminded.

"Which, on that note- Kiara, I am indebted to you, at your beck and call for precisely one favor. I would say dinner at some point, but I don't want you to think I'm trying to poison you and you don't seem the bluebox type.."

Aidan[empathy because... >.> Yeah this isn't weird at all]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )

AidanHe turned a little to look at Elijah and smiled warmly. "I thought I took a right at the Pho place but I think I took a left and then... I got distracted." Aiden fluffed up his own hair again, giving a sheepish smile now to the group. "I really do get lost. One time I got lost trying to save a butterfly. Another time I chased a plastic bag two streets and I didn't know where I was. I guess....I guess I still don't know where I ended up. But I did save the butterfly!" He felt a bit like a hero in that regard at least.

"Jenn made me curry? With vegetables?" There was a small sound of pleasure that rose from his throat. Aidan, not detecting the faintest hint of any sort of oddity from...at the very least...Elijah, clapped his arms around the man to give him a hug. "You won't regret it. The pigs will be happy. And the cows too! They'll be your best friends. Really. Chickens are very loyal." He nodded a little and let go. "They're birds after all."

Aidan likes to see people happy, he really does, so he clasps his hands behind his back and stretches them out a little as he leans forward. "What's a bluebox type?"

KiaraThere's a way that the Verbenae and the Orphan interact with one another that speaks to a level of familiarity and intimacy most people observing them would have no hesitation applying a label to. The way Kiara allows herself to be drawn closer with a hand curled around her hip, her focus shifting to Ian's face and the smile that's been a rarer occurrence than usual for her re-appearing as she sets a hand over his chest in a casual, bracing gesture.

She rubs her fingers over the bare skin there and seems ready to respond when - there's a pause, the smile ebbs just so, it's a tiny flicker, like surfacing from a dream to face starker reality - "It's okay, Elijah." She sounds a little weary, the brunette. There's a certain sobriety to the way her eyes search the Initiate's face that reads it. "You don't owe me anything. I'd have done it regardless." Quieter, then. "I'm just glad you were okay."

Aidan starts to speak of pigs and cows and Kiara's eyes tick over to him, there's a flicker of something close to concern there. Or perhaps it's just a reminder of another man she's just seen, pressed against a brick wall; smeared with dirt and blood and running from people he knew because his reality had fractured inward. The fragile grip they all held on sanity.

There's a tiny give at the edge of Kiara's mouth, a certain gleam in her dark eyes, empathy and strain and something else, something volatile and unnamed. "Although I suppose okay is a relative term." They tick back and she smiles; a brief, bright thing that doesn't seem entirely honest.

"I won't say no to dinner sometime, though. Somebody has to be a bad influence in your life." Her hand skirts over Ian's chest, she slides her fingers around one hand; her attention slipping back. "You had me at wine. Let's go." She turns, half twisted in the loose capture of Ian's hold to find Aidan.

"It was nice to meet you, Aidan. Keep an eye on this one for me." A nod at Elijah, a hint of the Verbenae's typical humor.

Ian LaiIf Ian has any concern about the way he and Kiara appear to others, he doesn't indicate such. Though there is a certain amount of calculation in the way he orchestrates their escape (using those assumptions to cover for something deeper and more complicated.)

Something passes between Kiara and Elijah that feels weighted, and Ian looks between the two of them with a quiet expression. He doesn't ask, though. (Later.)

Then Kiara bids a goodbye to Aidan, and Ian looks back to offer the newcomer a nod of acknowledgment. "We'll catch you guys later." Elijah gets a lingering smile as Ian turns away, then the pair of them walk off together towards the parking lot.

[Alas, it's bed time for me. Thank you for the scene guys! Aidan is adorable. Have a good night!]

ElijahAidan hugs him, which makes Elijah let out a little sound of surprise, but he certainly doesn't push Aidan away. He takes a second to clarify, "blue box macaroni and cheese, it's instant food. And, uh, really an acquired taste that you have to acquire early in life."

He looked back to the other two, shrugs and seems content to just, well, be. For now, at least, doesn't behave like any of this is abnormal, doesn't act like things could be strange or that his present company is anything other than just people he's friends with.

"Small miracles, right?" he says to Kiara, smiles something that's almost reassuring. Calm, confident because he has to be, a depth of things that Ian knows Kiara and Elijah aren't saying, but can definitely be said later. But, for now, there was a parting of ways, a little wave and the indication that the young man in perpetual motion was going to stay here with Aidan. "I'll hit you up later, I look forward to dinner."

Aidan"Oh. Elijah doesn't need me to keep an eye on him. Everyone else is watching." No, that isn't creepy in the slightest, but it's true. To Aidan there is so much watching that it's hard not to know what's going on, if you know who to talk to, and how to. "Enjoy your bluebox! Oh.. wait.." No, no Eli had said that. "Or your.. have fun!" Because he hasn't really a clue what they're going to do, whether it's because he didn't hear, because he was too distracted, or simply didn't recall (so much happening at one time!).

"Oh...OH! With the orange dinosaur on it?" That sounds familiar to him...the macaroni and cheese in a blue box. "I've seen that before, when Granna took me grocery shopping. Why do people want to eat dinosaurs in orange sauce?" It was meant to be cheese but... but orange cheese still seemed so odd.

Aidan brought his finger to his lips, chewing on a nail there absently as the two wandered away and left them alone. "They're nice friends." He said, casting Elijah a smile. "You have nice friends."