Redwood Creek Park

((Note that this is free for anyone wanting a park setting. Feel free to stage RPs in this area at will))

San Malarus typically didn't have room for such things as parks, but like most things, it had an exception. Along a short creek leading to a large pond that was popular with fishermen, was a preserved area. Complete with a small playground for children, nature trails, and bike trails, the area is known for it's rather peaceful surroundings. The creek trickles downhill, making for some pleasant spots of miniature waterfalls.

The area is large enough to find peace and quiet, though some of the trails have said to be easy to get lost in, and even a missing person's case happened around there. It hasn't done much to damage the place's appeal, however. The pond sees enough business as one of the only places for fishing in the area.



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It had been a fairly long day. Filing the weekly report on the student's health was easy, but time consuming. Veronica was all too eager to get out of her desk chair and get moving. Donning a white t shirt and jogging pants, she found herself taking a brisk walk around the pond, the sound of a couple frogs being the only real noise this evening. She would eventually get to jogging, but for now she was relaxing a bit, trying to clear her head from the day's stresses.

For unknown reasons, the only thing Ray had been doing today was hurrying somewhere. Whether it was in the morning for school, or trying to get somewhere on time in the afternoon. Sadly, there was no way out of that, as he had been planning to go around and do some stuff. The fact that today ended up being one of they days he was forced to spend in school quite a bit longer than neccessary, was both uncalled for, and rather hindering to his case. That being the case, he had been running around San Malarus most of the afternoon, only to get everything done on time.

Which, thankfully to his quickness, he managed well enough, even though it was evening already. Still better than being way too late. All that aside, he was finally able to slow down, as he made his way through the local park. However, at this point, he wasn't paying much attention to what was happening around him. Not a good idea, obviously. Definitely not when you almost walk into someone on your way. Almost being they keyword, but still. ''Sorry. Didn't mean to not pay attention.'', he would say calmly, looking over at the woman he barely managed to avoid bumping into. Then again, he had not expected anyone to be here at such a time of day. But, that doesn't change the fact that his mind was elsewhere while walking.

Hachiro sat near the pond in a fold-able chair with a fishing rod in hand. Fishing at night was always the best time, some of the more nocturnal fish were a bit more active once the sun started to go down. Not to mention various carps or bass were looking for a last minute meal, well they could always tug on his fishing rod. Though thus fair it had been a rather quite night, he only managed to catch one fish, which he had to throw back in. It wasn't a keeper to say the very least, couldn't even get a decent meal out of the little guy. Since then he hadn't gotten a single bite...a shame to say the very least.

He would set his fishing rod in the little hold that came along with the chair and was about to kick back and relax when he heard a familiar voice apologizing to someone. He turned around to see Raynar apologizing to a woman, he was curious to see if the young man considered his offer anymore. Well there is only one way to find out. The wanderer got up, and approached Raynar and the young woman who had nearly ran into one another. "Hey Raynar, good to see you again. Did you consider my proposition recently?" The older man would ask, waiting for his answer, then he would gesture to the woman that the singer nearly ran into, "Friend of yours?"

The Russian woman was prepared to dodge the boy but he stopped short before she had to. The woman raised a brow, but stopped as well instead of merely nodding and continuing on her way. The boy looked young... perhaps a student? She had not seen him before, so was unsure if he went to Zela academy. Either way the nurse smiled a bit "Did not run into me, It's okay. Why head in clouds? Good place to do that, here. But not when sharing trail." The woman's accent was rather obvious, as was her shaky grasp of english grammar. It didn't stop her from being understood at least.

She hadn't been paying attention to the fishermen, though. Only now noticing Hachiro After listening to his question, she smirked a bit. "Stranger. and Proposition? You two are lovers then?" She was very aware they were both men, but her expression suggested she was only kidding... not that it took away from her just throwing that out there casually.

Oh, she didn't seem too bothered about it. That was good. She had a strange accent, enough for him to suspect she was probably foreign, but such wasn't too uncommon around here. It seemed that many people moved in and out these days. ''Yes, right. I should be looking where I'm going...'', Ray would start to respond, but was distracted by another voice chiming in. Turning his head after trailing off with his original sentence, he saw Hachiro. '...What a coincidence..' He had been recently considering the idea of looking for the man, both because of the way the previous meeting went and the fact that he now had a companion who'd probably be interested in guitar playing.

The woman took the greeting in her own way, but it did appear that was just a joke...hopefully. Not that such an assumption was not funny, but it'd be way too strange, if only considering the age difference between them. Just, no. ''No, we aren't. You needen't worry about that at all.'', he would comment lightly, not really serious about it, as he was pretty sure she didn't truly mean it. And if yes...well, let's deal with that when it comes. ''But, that aside. Hello to you too, Hachiro. Actually, I had thought about it, but it wasn't as if you gave us any way to contact you, you know?'', he would finally answer the older man's question. ''...And no, we don't know each other. Just a random meeting.'', he would add after a moment, looking back towards the woman for a moment. Well, it looked as if he wasn't going home anytime soon. But he was sort of glad he ran into Hachiro here. He did want to talk with him eventually anyway.

Hachiro watched the woman smirk a bit before asking if they were lovers in a joking manner. The older man cocked an eyebrow at her, not really all that amused with the joke evidently. Then again it took a really good joke to make him laugh, his apathetic nature proved to be a difficult obstacle for most comedians to climb over. His body language might be read as though he was somewhat offended by that joke, it wasn't that he was, he just didn't care. Raynar took care of it though, if Hachiro had responded then his message might have been mistaken as anger. Then Raynar began to speak again saying that he had thought about it, but the bartender did not give the singer contact information.

"Yes, sorry about that. I was in a rush to get to work, I can give you my number this way you can contact me about your decision if you need more time. Or have you already decided?" The older man would ask curious about the singer's decision, it would help his little charity group if he did. Singers always seemed to get a lot of attention for some reason, maybe it was because it was one of the oldest ways of entertainment. Though the older man felt a bit rude for leaving out the woman, who was evidently staying around to listen or see their reactions. "You're not from around here are you? You sound...Russian, if my time as a wanderer has served me well. What's your name, if you don't mind me asking." It was only correct to ask the woman her name, if she intended on sticking around this conversation.

Sensing her jab was taken poorly, Veronica closed her eyes for a moment and gave a sigh. "Apologies. Poor taste, I'm sure. Used to different attitudes. People here are calm. Strange to me sometimes." The woman looks like she regrets the jest, but tries not to dwell on it for too long. She does, however, seem to feel her welcome was worn out rather quickly. She gives a smile to the young man though. "Is okay. I should step aside for approaching people too."

Not to be rude though, she does answer the man's question. "Yes... Is Veronica. I should keep going though. Do not want it to be nighttime when done walking." Unless stopped, she would then keep walking with a friendly wave to both individuals.

The woman seemed to think her joke wasn't taken well. Honestly, Ray himself didn't care, though Hachiro didn't appear very amused by it. The man hadn't chosen to comment, so Ray couldn't be sure what his thoughts on the subject were. ''It's fine. It wasn't that bad. Just didn't have the effect you were probably hoping for.'', he would say when she apologized. She obviously didn't mean anything bad by it, and even though he wasn't happy about being put with someone like that, there was no reason for him to be upset about a joke out of all things. There were far worse things one could do. A few words had nothing on that. When she concluded that she should pay more attention too, he would nod in acknowledgement, offering a small smile in return.

Then, he would turn to Hachiro who was giving his own apologies, for not providing contact information back then. ''Well, at least you weren't late for work. But, as for your question, I suppose I did. I don't have much else to occupy my time at the moment, so I can give it a go. Some form of contact would probably be still useful though.'', he would respond casually. Well, he wasn't particularly busy with anything, besides maybe going around to test out the power he had acquired a while ago. That, however was something he could surely arrange in between. And this idea sounded much easier than running around and looking for a part time job elsewhere. Even if this wasn't for money. He had enough at the moment, so it wouldn't be an issue for a while longer. ''By the way...if I can ask...I have a friend that seems interested in learning how to play a guitar. Would you be willing to help him out? Maybe he could join the group later as well.'', he would ask, a little curious whether the man would consider it.

When Hachiro turned to the woman again, Ray would do so too. He appearred to think she was Russian. Well, Ray could tell she was foreign by the way she spoke and her accent, but he wouldn't dare and guess the country. So, her name was Veronica. Hm, he would try to remember in case they ever met again, as she seemed to want to go already. Maybe she lived farther away, if she was concerned about it being nighttime soon. ''Allright, I guess it was nice meeting you then. Have a safe journey.'', he wouldn't try to keep her here if she wanted to leave. Maybe she had a good reason for hurrying away. There was no way for him to know.

The woman would apologize for her poor jab, it was evident that she felt very sorry if she was offensive. He would scratch the back of his head a bit, "Sorry, I'm just stoic by nature at times. It's difficult to make me laugh, you weren't the first, nor will you be the last to make me crack a smile at your jokes." The bartender would say, it was the truth no comedian, even professionals, had made him laugh. He considered comedy a bit of an escape from the hardships people have to face in their life, and acted as a way to make them feel better about themselves. Raynar then began to speak about the contact information he would need to remain in contact.

"Ah, yes you can contact me at this number." The bartender would say flicking open an old cellphone, and showing Ray the number to contact him at. It was evident by the flip open nature of his home, he was old school as some of the kids today would say or outdated. To be honest, Hachiro didn't care. He liked the plan and he couldn't operate the touch keyboards on i-phones, his fingers were a bit too big. He always hit more than one letter on those i-phones, therefore he was content with his own phone. Then Raynar asked a rather surprising question, though Hachiro's face didn't shift that much. It remained rather stoic, apparently Raynar had a friend who wanted to learn how to play the guitar. The older man's expression lightened up a bit at that, "Of course, I can help him out. I got plenty of free time to help him out, and of course he can join the group later." The guitar player would say, it would be nice to have more hands helping out since not everyone was interested in doing that kind of charity work.

The women Veronica would say she would be more careful, and getting ready to leave. "Why not stay a while Veronica? What brought you to the Azores region anyways? This place is fairly safe, most people around here wouldn't hurt a fly."

Veronica couldn't help but smile when the man offered her to stay. Every social norm she ever learned was telling her to make her exit... and they still apparently desired her company. She could speculate why all day; boredom, interest in her accent, thought she was pretty enough to keep around... Regardless she lets out a small sigh followed by a chuckle. "Well.. Suppose it is not too bad to stay for while." She stepped off the paved path and moved to a tree nearby the bench, leaning back against it and providing a position to the side of both men. "It fine. Bad joke anyway. Who would laugh?" She shook her head, getting over her blunder.

"Here? Work. Work as nurse at Zela now. Surgeon later, maybe? Will see." She gave the short answer to her reason for being here, a little bit more interested in what they were talking about. "Ah... group? Music perhaps? Not had time to see local... ah, culture?" She seems to be struggling for the right word to express the idea she had. Likely just meaning she was still settling in to the area, and not had the time to explore the local sights beyond the park so far.

Hachiro gave an explanation to his previous zero reaction towards the joke, explaining that he almost never laughed at jabs like that. Hm, he was a calm man, wasn't he? Then again, Ray couldn't say he often joined in on the fun either. Not unless he had a reason or it'd benefit him. Besides, nowadays it was hard to say what was supposed to be funny and what wasn't. Really. When Hachiro showed him his phone for the contact info, he would take a closer look, before taking out his own phone to write it down. He didn't want to risk trying to remember just like that. He wasn't forgetful by nature, but one could never know. ''Great...So, should I give you mine too?'', he would ask, in case the man wanted so in return. It didn't really matter anyway, cause he would find out if Ray tried calling him in the future. So, he could as well give it now.

He would nod with a small smile when the man agreed to the proposition. ''That's nice of you. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that.'' Maybe it would work well this way. It looked like Hachiro would rather Veronica kept them company for a while longer. Hm, he didn't expect that, but he was fine with it. He hadn't said anything before, since he figured she might have a reason to go. But, she seemed willing enough to stay. He would nod at her, following her to the tree. ''I'm sure someone would. Everyone likes different kinds of amusement after all.'', he would comment when she went back to the joke, assuming it was bad. It wasn't really, she just picked the exact people who did not feel the need to laugh at it. He would look at her thoughfully when she answered the man's question. She worked at the academy? He hadn't seen her there before. Ha, but it wasn't as if Ray spent more time in the building than neccessary. And he hadn't been sick while in school before, so he didn't even have a reason to go to a nurse. ''Yes, something along those lines. I don't think you need to be concerned though. I wouldn't say there is much to see in terms of culture around here right now. People seem to prefer different kinds of entertainment apparently.'', he would say, as she inquired about what they were talking about and all, finally noticing that there was a bench nearby, but he wouldn't go sit yet. He had been running around so much today that he didn't even feel like sittign down anymore.

"Yeah feel free to give me your contact information, and I will keep you updated on when the group meets to practice. I'm looking for at least one more person, then I'll start to organize the practices. After all we have to get a feel of how we all play together, and what kind of muisc we all like." The older man would say as he kept his phone out ready to put Raynar's contact information into it when the highschool student was ready to give it to him. Once that was done he would put the cellphone back into pocket and look back when Raynar, who was smiling at his agreement to help his friend. "It's not a problem, I might not be the best, but I'm sure I can help him learn it." It was the least he could do since Raynar was agreeing to participate in the group, Hachiro felt somewhat obligated to help his friend out. Not to mention, it would be kinda fun to have the shoe on the other foot for once.

Veronica seemed to decide that staying a bit longer wouldn't be a bad thing, she moved over to a nearby. He would simply shrug, allowing Raynar to speak the truth on the subject. He had said his piece on that part of the conversation. Evidently Veronica was a nurse at Zela acadmey, with the dreams of being a surgeon, well at least she was helping people who needed it. Granted, there were less able people who could use her help in another country. "Well that's an admirable goal, it is good to see there are still people who care about others. Ever consider a humanitarian trip? I know the Red Cross is always looking for extra help." Veronica would then assume that their group was part of their culture, though Raynar would say that there isn't much in terms of culture around these parts. "Yeah, but culture is hard to see when you're born into it. Though to answer your question Veronica, I'm trying to get a small group of musicians together so we can play for charity. All the money would go to local charities for different causes like cancer, world hunger, Aids, and the like."

Veronica listened with rapt attention. She had not had many chances to listen to people and learn about her surroundings since moving here. Too busy with settling into her home, her job, her environment... But this was nice. Sometimes she'd 'people watch' but it usually didn't involve her. Not that this was a bad thing either. She decides to respond to the comment directed at her first. "Eh... Red Cross sound nice. But does not pay bill. Cannot run everywhere, give school training for free. Run out of supply. Run out of health." Whether her excuse was being practical, or revealing she wasn't as giving as her profession made her sound, was up in the air.

"Music... from here? Did not think city was too large to have bands ready to work for nothing." She tilts her head. "Not that it bad idea, not sure it work in this place. Then again, do not know place well either." Ms. Yakimov didn't seem to think it was a very sound plan just from the brief explanation, though even she realized there were probably a lot more details that made it sound less misguided.

''Alright then. Moment.'', Ray would nod, fiddling with his phone for a while, before showing Hachiro his own number. Well, now he'd just have to wait till something happens. Who knew how long it would take the older man to find one more person for this. But, Ray was in no hurry at the moment. There were a lot of things aside from normal life he'd have to investigate soon anyway. A little bit of waiting time might actually be good right now. Even though he didn't think this arrangement would eat too much of his time. They definitely wouldn't be doing much until at least some things were established and set in stone.

When Hachiro asked about the Red Cross, Veronica gave quite the interesting answer. It did not pay bills, eh? Money sure was an important driver these days wasn't it? People doing something for free was getting more and more rare as time went. But, who was to blame? Everything was more and more expensive as well. ''I see. Getting paid is rather important nowadays, isn't it?'', he would muse a bit aloud. He did see her point though, even if it wasn't a total waste of time to do something for free....once in a while. ''Well, I don't think the size of the city is what matters. It's the people that live in it, and how far are they willing to go. Even if you had a huge city, but full of greedy people, it might not work.'', he would shrug when Veronica showed being skeptical about Hachiro's explanation. Really, size wasn't all that mattered sometimes. When you set yourself up for something, there was always a chance.

Hachiro recorded the number he was shown, good to have Ray's number, he would be in touch fairly soon. He had an idea of who to contact and even a place that the group could practice before their performances. He met a guy at the bar that mentioned being willing to lend them a space to meet up and practice together, Hachiro just had to get a group together. Then Veronica began to talk about how The Red Cross doesn't pay the bills, and how that appeared to be important to her. More important than helping people who desperately needed it? "Bills who the hell cares about bills when you can be giving five year old children another chance at life? Is human life not that important anymore?" He would retort rather harshly, didn't she understand that there are people who are dying of easily curable diseases? Who are suffering and unable to be treated with tools that are available in other countries. No...of course she didn't....how could she know if she had never volunteered once. After a moment he shook his head a bit, "Sorry, how could you know that. I apologize about my tone, I should have said it in a gentler way. You're still getting settled in."

Raynar would explain why they were doing what they were doing and why the size of the city doesn't matter. "He's right the people in the city matter more than how many there are in the city. If I have 100 people who each contribute a dollar, compared to 1,000 people who only a small fraction of them contribute. I'll be more successful in the smaller town because they're willing to help others." Hachiro simply hoped that the people here would be like the smaller town of 100 people, people who understood the struggles of others. He'd had to have to show these people what it was.