A lovely day or a Picnic (Closed)

[Vivian Astor (DELETED 6402)]

The Saturday dawned as a beautiful sunlit day with a brisk wind and a smattering of clouds in the sky.Vivian had prepared for appointment by going to one of the local wineries, Arbor Winery, and picking up a variety of wines. She was a big proponent of supporting local businesses. She would be attending a grassroots meeting about bringing visibility to the overabundance of police shootings that happened in her new city.

Over the last few weeks once she discovered it was a true issue, she herself witnessed an event. It was a shocking event to witness. Now Vivian was not a stranger to weapons and guns, as she was an avid hunter herself. But never had she ever in her sixty-eight years seen a person deliberately shoot at another person. It was doubly shocking that it was a constable that was tasked with upholding the law.

As Vivian strolled along the pier, which reminded her of the boardwalks from England, she found there were actually preparing tables and benches that could be utilized for their meeting. She doubted anyone would miss her, as she spread the flowered tablecloth across the table. It wasn’t exactly normal to see a older woman in a straw hat seated at a covered table with wine bottles surrounded by fishermen.

[Dhara]

She was excited and it showed in the bounce of her steps as she packed a picnic basket with her selections of breads, meats and desserts. Slinging her lute over her shoulder and adjusting it across her back, she grabbed the basket and her satchel, shoving a couple bottles of water in it before it was slung cross body to settle against her side. She hummed a jaunty little tune as she headed for the docs, referencing her paper map to find her way. The basket in one hand, her long black skirt held in the other so she wouldn't trip, she enjoyed the sun on her skin and the light breeze playing in her snowy white curls.

As she neared the docks, she spied an older woman sitting at a table. There seemed to be to much wine for one person to drink, so she guessed she had the right place. A smile curved her lips, amber eyes lighting up. There was something to say for human interaction, and it was something Dhara didn't get enough of. She approached the table and smiled again.

"Pardon me, Madam, is this the meeting about the police?" Between her impeccable manners and German accent, it was easy to tell that Dhara, like Vivian, wasn't from around here. She gave the woman another warm smile, still holding her basket and waiting for confirmation.

[Vivian Astor (DELETED 6402)]

Vivian smiled her best hostess smile as she stood up. “”Yes. Hello.. I am Vivian.” She offered her hand out to the young woman. “Please have a seat, my dear. May I pour you some wine? I found a lovely local winery that has a delicious selection of both red and white. Personally, I think I will go with white, a viognier. It tends to be lighter, yet not so sweet.” She may appear older, but she was far from a push over. There was steel behind her eyes. She was fight to the death if she needed to, and it showed.

“So you must be … Music at Midnight. So pleased that you came. Our task is a daunting one. But it we owe it to ourselves and this city to do what we must to protect our citizens.” Vivian paused briefly while taking a breath, “Tell me .. how how did you come by your internet name..?”

While waiting for the young lady to answer, Vivian pulled a bottle of viognier and cork puller, and expertly set about decorking and pouring them both some wine, “Please do forgive the glass.. I am far too too clumsy to risk my crystal.”

[Dhara]

She slid a tiny hand in to the older woman's and gave a firm, but gentle shake. She then placed her basket of goodies on the table and took a seat. "I am Dhara. It is a pleasure to meet you,, Miss Vivian. No wine for me, thank you. I do not drink." Instead she pulled a bottle of water from her bag with a grin, it wasn't her favorite thing, but the day was too warm for coffee and she didn't own a travel mug.

"I am Music at Midnight, yes. It seemed a fitting moniker. I make my living as a musician." She sipped her water and smiled thoughtfully, "Not your typical blues or jazz or rock music though. I am more like... a travelling bard, you could say." The two women were an odd contrast indeed. While Vivian would fight to the death, Dhara was the ultimate pacifist. She didn't even carry mace. It would certainly be interesting to see what they came up with. "As for the situation with the local authority, I could not agree more. However, perhaps we should wait until more have arrived to begin discussing things such as that. Please, if it is not too personal, how did you come to be in Canada from England?"

[Vivian Astor (DELETED 6402)]

“My accent gives me away I see.” It was a statement not a question. It did not bother her in the least. Vivian pondered giving the young girl the full truth, opposed to the almost truth. She chose the ‘almost’ truth. She did not want strangers pitying her. Nor did she want -anyone- pitying her. So Vivian smiled delightfully at the young lady, perhaps invoking the thought that Dhara too could play a large role in the cleaning up of Harper Rock.

“I came to Canada, Harper Rock specifically because I have family here. And upon arriving, I found.. after being given a heads up through the Interwebs,” She said the word ‘interwebs’ as though it was a real and legitimate word with a legitimate definition, “that there were indeed far too many Constable shootings against the population as a whole.”

Vivian paused, she tapped her forehead in obvious regret, “My apologies Dhara,, I am Vivian also known as Miss Marple on the forum we share.” She took a generous pull from the wine she bought at Arbor Wineries.

“So tell me, my dear, is music really as lucrative as the press would have us believe?” She drank, rather than sipped her wine, “I have found .. out of all the musicians I know only one in a twenty manage to procure a contract. And of those with contracts, only one in fifty, actually move past being a back up singer or musician. What have you seen?”

[Jana (DELETED 5000)]

The docks. Jana hadn't had normal human socialization in oh so long she craved it. Having a place, a room in Yasu's above-bookstore apartment, was beautiful. It meant daily showers and a place to lace her corsets without worrying that someone would walk in on her. With her red hair teased and styled, printed scarf in place, black jeans up and on, and patent leather sapphire corset laced tightly, she zipped into the over-the-knee boots, pulled her cream coat around her slim shoulders, and made her way to the waterside picnic.

Despite being one of the anonymous entities who had found interest in conversing about the police shootings, she was honestly going more for the sake of keeping the others safe. Shouldering the blue leather tote purse containing Dark Avenger, partially disassembled but easily put back together if the need arose, and a small, opaque bottle containing the latest content of her fix from Lora, the contact who supplied her the occasional pint of vampire blood, for a price.

As she approached the two women, the heels of her boots making satisfactory click-clack sounds against the solid wood, she tugged her tote and coat both a little tighter to her frame. "Hey," she said softly, not willing to sit until greeted. "This the picnic meeting about police shootings?"

"Oh, yes, Deborah, what a fabulous way to start off," her grandmother's spirit chastised in her ear. "They're sure to invite you to join them now!"

[Dhara]

"Honestly, Miss Vivian, I wouldn't know. I don't play the mainstream types of music. My style is very renaissance. And while I can play pretty much any instrument, my favorites are the 15 string renaissance lute, the 24 string baroque lute and the violin." She grinned and sipped her water, amber eyes following a figure that seemed to be heading directly for them. "Mainstream media and music wouldn't come any where near me with out trying to change every thing about me." She added with a laugh.

Before she could say more, the figure that had been coming down the docks was now table side. Dhara got to her feet with a warm smile as the newcomer spoke. "Hello. It is, yes. I am Dhara and this is Miss Vivian." She introduced the older woman and held out a hand for the newcomer to shake if she choose. It almost seemed as if this was going to be more of a ladies social than an actual brass tacks meeting about the problem. But the day was sunny, and so far, the company was nice.

[Rory Gagnon]

Saturday had come and Rory was not in the best of shape. Oh he looked normal, had even showered and shaved at his apartment in the Quantine Zone late last night before promptly returning to the embrace and quiet of the woods. All in preparation for this meeting... this attempt to bring the police in line. Media? Documenting abuses of police power? That was a little discomforting to a man who essentially had been a professional criminal since puberty.

Speaking of which, he checked his goatee with a small hand mirror before leaving camp and hiking into town.

First stop, a rented garage where he stored one of his Spyders; this one the cruiser variant because it felt like that kind of day. While there he put two spare magazines for his pistol in the left front pocket of his jeans and checked the mirror. Good, his weapon was concealed under his gray and black flannel and then over that, a jean jacket. Hiking boots check, helmet and he was–– his jeans were a bit dirty from the woods. Crap.

Too late now. Next stop was a gas station. Fuel and one of those cheap foam coolers- ice and beer bottles into that. A friggin picnic. He was going to meet total strangers. To essentially stalk cops. Avoiding them worked so much better and that's what he did. H.R.P.D knew him and he knew them right back; had gone to school with a few even.

Claudia would be proud of all this diversification in his habits he thought with a smirk as he swallowed down a couple clonazepams. Legal drugs to calm the bucking anxiety bronco. Rory headed for the docks, but took his time to let the medicine start working it's spell.

He was mortified of a simple picnic!

[Jana (DELETED 5000)]

"Another musician?" Jana asked as she took Dhara's hand, her California origins showing in the lilt and pronunciation of her words. "I'm a cabaret and lounge singer, myself. Unemployed, but married to the art, as it goes."

Her steady companion, her beloved Grandma Rose, gave a light scoff as she actually gave the redhead a gentle shove into Dhara's personal space. "You wouldn't know a happy marriage if it bit you in the backside, girl," the elderly spirit grumbled, even as her granddaughter barely caught herself when she would have knocked the other woman to the floor and they would have been in a very compromised situation indeed.

"Sorry," Jana mumbled, acting every bit like freshman high school student who'd just nearly fallen into the head cheerleader. "I have -- bouts of dizziness sometimes. Might be good for me to sit down."

I hope you don't mind that I posted again! Jana's grandma's "play by" is Joan Plowright. Because that woman is as epic win as Helen Mirren.

[Dhara]

Shaking the woman's hand, she listened to what she said and nodded a bit. As Jana stumbled, Dhara side stepped neatly, the tiny woman was intensely over protective of her personal space and the lute that was slung across her back, even to the point of being rude. She took up her seat again and her water bottle with a faint smile. "Seems this town is full of musicians. Good opportunities for it, too." She took a swallow over her water and looked to Vivian with a faint smile, then back to Jana. "Please have a seat, you do not need to stand the entire time. Especially if those shoes make you a bit wobbly on the wood."