Reading by the River ((open))

[Aqua]

(( Set about a week after "These Streets Aren't Paved With Gold" ))


It was an extremely nice and sunny day; too good to spend inside, and Emily longed to be near water, so she decided to dedicate some of her free time (of which, unfortunately, she had too much on her hands) to reading by the river. She headed to the Riverside Park, a place she'd grown to love very much since having moved to live in the city.

Finding a nice bench that looked out to the river and gave a pleasant shade, which made reading more comfortable, Emily sat down, setting a book she'd bought recently aside and first opening a newspaper - she was hoping to find some job to at least begin to learn to gain some independence from her parents.

[Odin]

((OOC: If I understand when the other threads took place, I need to set this before "Out on the Streets."))

::Another aspect of his position that Odin appreciated was his ability to keep abnormal hours. They weren't as free as when he'd been a consultant, as he had to respect business hours, but he could take afternoons off when he wished. This had led him to Riverside Park to enjoy the particularly nice weather.

While strolling, his sense went off. "Mutant," his mind told him. Hydrokinetic. With a lock on her, he went in her direction to converse, always up for interaction.::

[Aqua]

Engrossed in reading, Emily was too distracted by mulling over a position at a post office to notice anybody heading her way. Even if she noticed a person walking nearby, she would think they were going to pass her by.

[Odin]

::Odin came to rest by the bench where the young woman sat; she looked the age of a student, perhaps yet another student from Mystique's lover's school. Wherever she'd come from, she was here now, as was he.:: "Is this seat taken?"

[Aqua]

Emily raised her head, surprised, but quickly managed a polite smile. "No, it's not," she said and even put her book over to the other side of the bench to support her words. She had a fleeting thought that whoever the man was, he must have chosen this particular bench to sit down to because of curiosity related to her hair color. The remains of discomfort because of her hair still lingered after the winter incident with Aedan at the restaurant.

[Odin]

"Thank you," ::Odin replied, a similar polite smile on his lips. He sat down, crossed his legs such that his right ankle rested on his left knee.:: "The weather's lovely today, isn't it?"

[Aqua]

It seemed that the stranger was intent on making a conversation; perhaps he was, indeed, as curious as Emily had first thought. She tried to come up with an adequate answer just as she was trying to decide whether she wanted to talk to him at all or not. "Yes, it is," she replied, placing her finger between the pages of the newspaper so as not to lose the ads she'd been reading.

[Odin]

::Odin caught the movement from the corner of his eye and glanced at the page. The Classifieds, how familiar. Perhaps she wasn't a student after all.:: "You don't need to worry about losing the page; it's C7."

[Aqua]

For a moment, Emily was lost about how to react. She hadn't met anyone this - she couldn't put her finger on it - straightforward, perhaps? - in quite a while. At the very least, she wasn't used to strangers starting a conversation like that. "Okay," she managed with a small nervous chuckle, now staring at the man. "That's... considerate of you."

[Odin]

::The nervous chuckle hadn't quite been the reaction Odin had sought, and thus he backed off a bit. He needed to remind himself that what he considered courtesy, helping, others found to be invasive, and vice versa.:: "I apologize if I come off as rather eccentric. I can go back to talk about the weather, if you'd like."

[Aqua]

"I'm not sure," Emily said. "I mean, I can't really be telling you what to do. I could question it, of course... that would be one option." She almost bit her tongue at that; she thought it was unnecessarily sarcastic, or at least it seemed that way to her, but then she felt rather confused by the whole conversation to be able to react appropriately.

[Odin]

::Odin noticed the sarcasm, but behaved as though it hadn't occurred. There were far worse reactions he'd encountered in the past, although rarely from fellow mutants. All the more reason to be persistent.:: "I don't mean any harm, I assure you. I'm merely interested in meeting new people."

[Aqua]

"Oh," Emily said, deciding it was probably safe for now to just accept it for what it was. Just a random non-dangerous conversation in the park. "I guess you're in the right city for that, then," she gave a small smile.

[Odin]

"It's a great place for conversations," ::Odin agreed with a nod. There was an abudnance of mutants, which always served to make his day.:: "Be they in parks or in diners."

[Aqua]

Finally Emily gave up hopes to continue reading the newspaper and placed it aside, showing her acquiescence. "What is your usual topic for a conversation, then?" she asked. "Aside from the weather, that is?"