The Park, Friday Afternoon

[smilestopscars]

On this, the most commercially hallowed day of the year, when over-stressed consumers trampled over eachother to get at various discount goods and were even less likely to notice the press of people had emptied the pockets even before they made it to the cashier, Ezra had been ordered (by Lock, and then by Ava) to go to the one place in the country where he was the least likely to steal things: Fandom Island.

Sure, maybe it also had something to do with how he hadn't been back here or anywhere near the people here for who knows how many months it had been since that thing with Dante and his brother. But Ezra was ignoring that. Clearly his friends just wanted to keep his eager hands away from people's wallets, out of the pure goodness of their hearts.

Also, of course, he'd taken a long detour through the mainland, so his pockets were heavy with things that strictly speaking didn't belong to him.

Oops?

But here he was now, by the pond in the park, throwing bits of bread out to the flamingoes while smirking at them like the superior predator that he was. (He wasn't going to do anything to them, of course. But you couldn't separate the fox from the man.)

[ooc: Open place, open post.]

Comments

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden, who had started to spend quite a lot of time in front of the TV watching entertainments, had noticed that there had been a holiday, and that people were now expected to buy things at discount prices. The latter came across as quite vulgar to her, and as for the holiday, it seemed mostly to involve food that looked unappetizing.

Instead of spending the whole day indoors, she had decided to go for a walk, perhaps eventually go to the tea shop (she refused to call it a coffee shop) and see if Sparkle's instructions on how to get proper tea actually worked.

She had to admit that the park was rather pleasant, although she was looking out for the person with the pets. She (Seivarden wasn't going to bother guessing pronouns) was nowhere in sight, but someone had decided to feed the birds.

[smilestopscars]

Indeed, Ezra had. With stolen goods, no less, although that was really neither here nor there.

It didn't seem like Ezra noticed the new arrival. But of course he had - his nose picked up these things, and it also told him she wasn't Kathy or Dante or anyone else he knew. So he was being lazy about looking over - or possibly playing one of his usual games.

"Are you blushing because you're so delicious, I wonder?" he asked the nearest flamingo, instead.

The bird said nothing. Just pecked at the bits of bread he'd just thrown out at its feet.

[1000yearstoolate]

Of course Seivarden had met people talking to animals before, but usually not making such predatory comments. She considered just walking past, especially since this person didn't pay attention to her, and because conversations with people here generally were frustrating.

But she was bored, and in the end she said, when she was close enough: "Is feeding them some kind of local hunting technique, then?"

[smilestopscars]

"Absolutely," Ezra replied without missing a beat as he looked up, not seeming the slightest bit surprised at being adressed. "But the compliments are also a very important part of the process."

[1000yearstoolate]

"They are?" Seivarden asked, raising an eyebrow. This person seemed unusually... calem? That wasn't quite the right word.

[smilestopscars]

"Oh yes, definitely," Ezra replied easily, because he was fluent in bullshit. He nodded at her. "You'd think you'd be familiar with that. I'm sure you get a lot of compliments."

[1000yearstoolate]

Either this person was just trying to have some local variety of conversation or she was blatantly flirting. Either way, Seivarden considered just leaving.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," she said, with a smile and a tone of voice that expressed how thoroughly unimpressed she was. She added a tiny bow, small enough to be rude by Radchaai standards.

"Seivarden Vendaai. I don't believe we've met."

She had quickly got used to ignoring titles here, which made this sound even more insulting.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra believed variety was the spice of life. Also flirting. Also, not taking anything seriously.

So he wasn't too bothered by any hints of rudeness he picked up on, though he did make a mental note of dialing it back a notch or several. "Ezra Sagishi," he replied, with a little nod. His smile didn't waver. "I've been away for a while."

[1000yearstoolate]

"I arrived not long ago," Seivarden said. "And I'm unable to leave."

Again, she considered leaving. Why did she ever bother to talk to people here?

The truth, of course, was that she was bored. And lonely.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Look what the fox dragged in," Dante said.

He hadn't seen Ezra in what felt like centuries, but you wouldn't be able to tell by how casual his tone was.

[smilestopscars]

That made two of them.

Ezra had smelled him coming, of course, so he'd had a second or two to make sure nothing was threatening to bubble up to the surface. Who even knew what lurked there?

He gave the closest flamingo a toothy smirk before looking over. "Please, darling, it was a portal."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You portalled here? Voluntarily?" Dante said, tilting his head in amusement as he came on up. "Gotta be boring back home."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shrugged his shoulders, then picked an imaginary speck of lint off one of them. "I was told I'm supposedly not allowed in Boston or anywhere else with a lot of frenzied shopping going on," he said. Like it was a tragedy. "My darling Ava seems to be under the false impression that I don't put my hands in as many pockets here."

No, it was actually true. But not something he would admit to – professional pride, and all that.

[rebelseekspizza]

"There's less people," Dante said. "So she's kind of right."

He still wasn't sure what to do with Ezra, these days. He was acting like regular old Ezra - but for how long?

[smilestopscars]

Probably until he figured out how much things had moved on in his absence, and how he should probably just have stayed gone.

So far, he was okay. "Well, true. Fandom and crowds are never really a thing."

[rebelseekspizza]

"And it's only getting quieter around here," Dante said. "Not sure you'd be into the new bunch of newbies."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure whether I shold accuse you of giving me too much or too little credit, Dante."

[spin_kick_snap]

Thanksgiving had been filled with delicious food, even for someone currently avoided meat, so Kathy had decided to go for a run around the island to try to work some of it off.

...And possibly make room for leftovers when she got back.

Running through the trails in the park, she nearly stopped dead at the familiar outline by the pong. And then hesitated, unsure if he'd want to talk to her, but incapable of just continuing on like he was some stranger.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra let her hesitate for a while.

Then, casually throwing some crumbs for the birds and still without looking back, he called, just as casually, "You know I can smell you, don't you, my little hotteok?"

He'd run into a Korean street food truck a while back.

[spin_kick_snap]

Always playing games, Ezra.

Still, she flushed at the endearment. It had been awhile since he'd called her anything at all, and even if it didn't mean anything--well, hotteok. Taking that as an invitation to talk at least, she crossed over to him.

"I do," she said. "Which meant if you didn't say something, then I'd know it was because you'd rather not talk."

And would have been a clear indication that she should continue on. Whether she would have or not...that was another story. She'd never been exactly great at moving past Ezra.

[smilestopscars]

Oh, Kathy. Always had to go for the uncomfortable

He looked over – and immediately rolled his eyes. "Please, when have you ever known me not to talk?" he asked, going for the jokingly melodramatic. "I love the sound of my voice."

And ignoring awkward topics.

"And so does everyone else."

[spin_kick_snap]

By which he meant 'honest'? Though she was playing nice and now bringing up their last 'conversation' when he hadn't been able to speak much at all.

"That's because most of what you say is dirty," she teased lightly. "Can't blame us mere mortals for enjoying that."

[smilestopscars]

"No, I suppose I can't, and I won't," Ezra replied, because obviously. He liked the attention of his adoring, imaginary audience. He even cracked a smile. "The dirty is understandably popular."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh, Ezra, always a giver," she said with a shake of her head. "Except on those occasions when you enjoy taking instead."

[smilestopscars]

"And I've mostly been taking today," he said, and patted one of his pockets with a wistfully happy sigh.

Yeeeah, that was definitely someone else's wallet.