no subject

[cassieholmes]

WHO Cassie Homles & Briar Moss
WHAT Meeting for the fiiiiiirst time
WHERE Central Park


Being a grown up made life a hell of a lot easier in so many ways. Being in a big city made it easier to hide. It felt like she could breathe here, like she could actually figure out who the hell she was. Still an artist, a somewhat better Watcher, and generally a pain in the ass for the people she loved. Which was really just Emily these days, given she had helped relocate her to NYC, set her up with a shitty apartment and some connects to keep herself out of trouble. Mostly.

Keeping busy kept her out of trouble, even if that busy was teaching herself how to draw better or people watching or both. Central Park was perfect for both of those things and she'd gotten herself into a bit of habit of taking the same route into the park from her place, stopping at the same hole in the wall coffee place for the biggest cup of black coffee they had.

After that, it was just crossing the street to enter the park off one of the side entrances. A little less busy, a little more shaded. There were some beautiful trees that were perfect for sitting under, and they were positioned just a touch above that section of the park so it was perfect for prime people watching. Well, it would have been if someone wasn't also there.

"You mind?" she asked, a hit of tone in her voice but even she couldn't tell if she was asking him if he minded that he joined or if he minded clearing out. Maybe more the former than the later. Personal growth and all that.

Comments

[shakkans]

The only thing easier about being an adult for Briar was that he had the experience behind him to face the things that were difficult. No harder than his early childhood, that was for sure, and he'd made a good life for himself before he'd wound up in New York City. A Great Mage, medallion and all, was a decent career choice outside of Winding Circle, enough to pay his way and keep plenty hidden away just in case. A good habit, Rosethorn had encouraged him when he'd first started selling Shakkans. If he wasn't going to take the robes of a Dedicate, he needed to be prepared and if Briar knew one thing it was that he wasn't going to be the reason he wound up running on the streets again.

He'd spent enough years doing that and he was soft now. The rest of the time he taught local kids, plenty who were like he'd been, helped them to read and write and to know what plants were friendly and what to use if they were hurt. He was a healer, when he needed to be, a gardener when he wanted it, a combat mage only when the coin was right. A traveler when his feet itched.

And always with his room, his workshop, at Daja's house to go back to.

New York was far from his favorite place that he'd wound up, but he found comfort in green spaces like Central Park, where he often found himself spending his spare time. Where he sat with a notebook of his own, a few colored pencils in his shirt pocket, meticulously sketching a nearby plant. It had taken a minute for him to convince it not to reach for him, a little trickling of magic to satisfy its curiosity, but he was adding it to his record of unfamiliar plant life, that he planned to take back to Rosethorn one day. If he could.

Briar barely glanced up at the woman who approached his bench, decided in the span of a beat that she was pretty and there was no harm in inviting her company, and so gestured vaguely to the space beside him. "Go ahead."

[cassieholmes]

Cassie inclined her head slightly in thanks and moved a little to his right before she sat herself down. There was a little more grace in the movement then there would’ve been had she been alone, but he was sharing the space and all that. Best to be nice, she told herself.

She had come a long way from being prickly to everyone she met, but she wasn’t exactly the smoothest around the edges. Still, she knew enough to be somewhat quiet as she rifled through her bag for her notebook and pencils. Where everything else was worn and patched up, her notebook didn’t have a wrinkle or crease in it and her pencils were safely stored in a discreet black hard case. She took care of her things, but these were Important Things. These were the little luxuries she had allowed herself when she was younger and while the quality was much better these days, the care and reverence was the same.

She drew her knees up to rest the notebook on her thighs and took her grey sketching pencil in had. Looking out in front of them, it was peaceful. Cassie smiled slightly, grateful for the feeling. Her eyes scanned the scenery, looking for something to draw, and while there was plenty, her gaze kept drifting over to the guy next to her. Definitely hot, maybe a little weird. She tried not to stare too much but eventually she realized her pencil was moving across the page in a rough outline of his profile. Best to get it out of her system.

[shakkans]

It was impossible to miss being watched, even if Briar hadn't had to spent much time looking over his shoulder for several years. He hadn't needed to, even when his instincts said otherwise. He was safe, as his sisters always reminded him when he felt like he wasn't. They weren't there to remind him now, so he had to be on his guard more than he would be at home. So of course he noticed her looking.

He'd mind less if he'd invited her to do it. She was pretty much exactly the sort of girl he'd normally be trying to seduce.

Adding a few labels to his own drying, Briar's eyes flicked toward the girl beside him. "Has no one ever taught you not to stare at folk?"

He didn't really mind, though. Only because she was pretty.

[cassieholmes]

She had the good grace to pink slightly when he called her out on staring. "Subtlety used to be a strong suit of mine," Cassie shrugged. It wasn't an apology, but then again she rarely apologized for anything, even if she was caught wth her hand in the cookie jar. He didn't seem all that mad about it, or at least he was taking it better than she would have if their roles were reversed.

Cassie shifted so that she was facing his profile directly. Her legs fell into a criss cross as she settled her notebook on her lap. "You mind? You're pretty hot but I don't need a crick in the neck." Apparently this was her thing now, at least with him. She still had every intention of just getting it out of her system but maybe there was more than one way to skin that cat, so to speak.

[shakkans]

He had to respect her boldness. Briar wasn't shy about flirting with a pretty girl if he was interested in doing it, but he wasn't sure he'd have gone such a direct route to do it. It brought a little surprised, amused huff from him and he looked back at his notebook, adding another precise label to his drawing. Not an artist by any means, nothing like Dedicate Crane had been, but years of practice under his teachers watchful eyes had meant he could do well with plants. It helped that they were what he knew.

"What if I do mind?" he wondered, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, not quite making it all the way to the surface but he clearly didn't actually mind.

Briar hadn't ever sat for a portrait of any sort before. It was a strange feeling, to be watched like that. Not what he'd call comfortable by any stretch but not the worst thing in the world.

[cassieholmes]

He hadn't told her to fuck off yet, so that was a good sign. He also didn't seem to mind her boldness either, which was a point for him as far as she was concerned. While she could sort of do subtle, she wasn't exactly known for adhering to social norms. She was still learning that part.

Cassie shrugged at his question. "Then I'll try and find something different to draw. Didn't have much luck before but I'm adaptable." Nothing else was really as appealing to draw as he was, but since he didn't seem to really mind, she turned her attention back to her drawing now that she had a much better angle.

"What're you drawing?" she asked, since she knew it wasn't her.

[shakkans]

Social norms were something Briar had spent a long time and a lot of hard work getting better at himself. A lack of fitting into them wasn't something he was ever going to hold against someone, if he even noticed in the first place. People came different, he knew that and just went with it as long as no one was causing him or his any trouble. The girl beside him wasn't causing anyone any harm, much less him, and he had to say maybe he liked the attention.

Even if it wound up with him just posing for a little while. Nothing so bad about that if he got to chat with a pretty face in the meantime.

With another little amused huff of air he finished his labelling before turning his notebook to face her. A realistic drawing of an orange flower that grew across the path, precise labels of the different parts filling the space around it filled the page. "It's called butterfly weed."

More than that, he didn't know yet. But he'd learn.

[cassieholmes]

Cassie glanced up at his drawing, intending to only be mildly interested, but it was pretty good. She didn’t know shit about the plants she drew, just knew the contours and shadows. “Damn, cute and you know stuff. You some kind of plant person or something?”

He didn’t really strike her as someone who did the whole white lab coat routine, but gardener seemed too simple. Plus, what gardener needed to know all the bits and bobs of a plant? Cassie picked up her pencil again and went back to shaping his jawline. She wondered if the rest of him was as well defined, and when she looked up at him next, she decided she might as well ask.

“You wanna grab a drink or something?”

[shakkans]

"Or something." New York wasn't the sort of place to go around proclaiming great mage status, to flash his medallion. It wasn't even the place to let the tattoos covering his arms, fingertips to shoulders, draw attention to themselves and it had taken a good amount of practice to keep them from responding to his every thought and feeling. They did still move, but they were less obvious than they had been when they were new.

His instinct when she invited him out said to tell her that he didn't drink, but Briar wasn't some bleat-brained kid anymore. He'd been around long enough to know that grab a drink didn't actually require drinks and was more about an excuse to spend some time together, get to know each other. Which he'd never thought was necessary, why not just come out and say it? But Briar had never tended toward dancing around what he wanted.

He could play the game, though. He knew the game. He liked to think he was pretty good at the game.

"I might if you tell me your name first," he said instead with a quick smile, snapping his book closed and setting it on the bench between them.

[cassieholmes]

That was vague. She didn't mind vague. The less he told her about himself, the less she had to tell him and that always made everything easier. Cassie just hummed agreeably at his answer and continued drawing.

"Cassie," she answered easily. "What's your name? Or should I just keep calling you some variation of hot?" There was a glint to her smile, a promise that she was down to get to know him in a better way if he was interested in that sort of thing. Names were one of those things she didn't really need to enjoy the company of an attractive guy. Half the time, she didn't even give her real name. This guy though, there was something about him that made her wonder if this couldn't be a more long erm casual thing if she played her cards right.

"Definitely not my best work, but not bad," she added as she turned her notebook towards him.

[shakkans]

Briar never considered any meeting as anything more than a night. So many years later and he still suffered too many issues to think himself capable of doing anything more than a here and there. If he didn’t find it so easy to seduce the town girls, the occasional farm boy on his travels, into his bed, he’d think it easier to just pay for it. But that wasn’t him, no offense to the women who offered it, and Briar had never had any trouble so long as he left it clear that he wasn't going to be marrying anyone. Ever, probably, but definitely no time soon.

A drink that wasn't drinking had absolutely no chance in his mind of leading to any confusion over that and so there was no reason not to play friendly and cordial and all those other things girls liked. With small smiles and playful glances, he had no doubt he could convince her to be interested even if that had been the last thing on his mind when he'd settled down in the park.

"You can do that if you want, but my name is Briar," he offered. No harm of giving that, though more was questionable until they got to know each other. If they got to know each other.

His attention turned to the notebook she showed up, a smile that was more genuine than flirtatious threatening to surface, pulling at the corners of his eyes. "Pretty good even." She didn't need his approval but every girl liked a little praise. "You've got talent."

Talent was more important than skill. Briar had skill when it came to drawing. Just enough to get the job done accurately, but only with what he needed. People didn't make his cut.

[cassieholmes]

Briar was an interesting name. She wondered how well it fit him. Cassie wasn't sure her name fit her well, aside from the whole Cassandra thing. Sometimes she wondered if her mom had been on some kind of drugs when she named her, since it felt a little too on the nose considering they were supposed to hide what they were. The rest of it actually meant something along the lines of shining over man, whatever that was supposed to mean.

A compliment shouldn't have been surprising, nor should it have actually meant anything to her, but Cassie felt her cheeks pink slightly when he said she had talent. She recovered herself after a moment and grinned. "I've got lots of talent. Drawing's just one of them, not even my best," she promised, and if there was a tinge of suggestiveness in there, well she was just looking for a good time and she'd yet to dig herself too deep of a hole she couldn't get herself out of.

She shut her notebook and stuffed it back in her bag. "So. How about that drink? Or we can skip that part and get right to the getting to know each other bit." Cassie arched her eyebrow as if in challenge, just to see if it would throw him off.

[shakkans]

If her aim was to throw him off, she was going to have to try a lot harder than that. Briar, for all he liked things a certain way when it came to his gardens, his plants, but for everything else he as more relaxed. It took more than a veiled proposition to shake him.

Or less than. It depended on what that thing was. But in this case.

He tossed a grin at her and tucked his pencil into his shirt pocket. "Isn't that what getting a drink is supposed to be for? Getting to know each other?" That didn't mean Briar necessarily wanted to get to know anyone but he was far from against the idea when it was a pretty girl who kept saying things like she wanted to do a lot more than get to know anyone. "Unless you don't actually want to know about who I am and where I'm from."

He wasn't interested in sharing that anyway.

But was he going to make her be very clear about what she meant? Yes. Yes he was. Briar didn't play games of maybes and mights.

[cassieholmes]

Cassie shrugged with an unapologetic smile. "Why ask you questions I don't want to answer myself?" she replied easily as she scooted closer to him. There wasn't much room to get closer but that was the whole point. She leaned in and tucked some hair behind her ear, and she absently thought about putting color back in it again. Maybe purple next time.

She didn't think he'd mind if she were more forward, so Cassie put her other hand out to rest on his chest. "I was thinking more along the lines of a little more privacy and hopefully some damn good sex." Sometimes being hot wasn't enough to have a connection, so she did like to at least have a taste first before she got too far into it. Bad sex was never worth it and Cassie wasn't above stopping halfway if it didn't work for her. She was hoping he'd be pretty great though. She needed a good time.

Cassie's gaze moved from his eyes to his lips and then back before leaning in to kiss him. She wasn't timid about it, but she also would get back if needed. If he didn't want it.

[shakkans]

She was different from the usual sort of girl who came his way, that was for sure. More like the sort Briar would approach himself. A little sharp around the edges, quick, obviously knew what she wanted and wasn't going to toy around with the guessing and the teasing and the games. He liked the flirtation part as much as anyone, maybe a little more some days, but there was nothing poor to be said about a girl who was ready to lift her, admittedly metaphorical, skirt without knowing more than his name.

His eyebrows lifted, amusement dancing across his features, gaze flickering to her hand on his chest. Picking someone up, going home or to some other place, with them hadn't been in his plans for the day but some god must have been looking out for him because that was a pretty good change of those plans.

"I think I can promise that much," he assured, in the next moment leaning toward her to meet her lips when they came to his. Briar had gotten a fair amount of good practice in, enough that he could be confident in being good at the sex part. And he had no problem showing that without knowing a single thing about her.

Knowing someone and wanting someone didn't have to be the same thing; they rarely overlapped in Briar's life.

When he pulled away he was grinning, a flash of teeth while his hand smoothed down her arm to rest on her thigh. "Don't suppose you know a place near here?"

[cassieholmes]

Cassie was definitely glad he'd been there on that bench. His chest felt nice against her hand but his lips felt way better. He was confident, met her without hesitation and she didn't get the sense that he was trying to overpower her or anything either. That was nice and not always the case with guys she flirted with. Maybe her tastes were getting a little better, too. She was more than happy to deepen the kiss, but then he pulled away with a smile that promised a good time. So did the hand on her thigh.

"Yea, I'm a couple blocks away," she replied before she stole another short kiss. Thankfully, she'd changed her sheets yesterday and tidied up. Cassie let her hand slide down his chest as she debated whether or not he'd be interested in testing the bounds of public decency laws. She wasn't so impatient that they couldn't wait the ten minute walk to her apartment though. "Shall we?" she asked as she got up from the bench, her bag slung over her shoulder.

[shakkans]

If he were a better person, Briar would have asked about her drawing. She'd come to the park to do it, after all. But if he were a better person, he wouldn't be accepting an offer to go to bed with her, a stranger he'd met on a park bench, who he knew nothing about other than that she was pretty in a rough around the edges way and that she drew better than he did. He'd have tried to get to know her first. But, well, truth be told he didn't see the necessity girls tended to put on that sort of thing and far away from home and everyone he knew and loved? He'd be a fool not to take whatever comforts he was offered.

Briar might not have had a mother to raise him but he hadn't become a fool all the same.

"Right then," he agreed easily, his notebook tucked under his arm as he stood to join her. "Lead the way. And I'll ask you not to try to slice my throat when we get there." Going off with strangers wasn't always safe, Briar knew, and New York was even as much so as any of the more dangerous cities he'd been to. Cities, by in large, didn't have the plant life for him to call upon for protection if he needed it. He had to rely on his mage kit, and that wasn't practical to carry around much of the time.

[cassieholmes]

Cassie grinned when he asked her not to kill him. "I'm more of a self-defense fighter so as long as you don't try to hurt me, you'll be good," she promised. He didn't seem very dangerous, maybe if provoked, and while she was intent on provoking him it was in the fun way not the bad way. That did make her think, though. "Hey, you clean?" she asked as they walked. "I'm clean, and on birth control," she offered, since the two usually went hand in hand.

They were stuck at the light, waiting for it to change so they could cross. She tilted her head to look at him, in a kind of considering manner, but it only lasted a moment as the light turned and they were able to cross. Cassie grabbed his hand as she led the way, weaving in and out of people. She lived in the more populated, densely packed areas, the cheaper side of town for sure. Hopefully he didn't judge. He was getting laid, that had to be enough incentive not to judge too much.

"Only another block, just up on the left," she promised.

[shakkans]

Briar was absolutely a lot more dangerous than he looked, but he'd made the choice a long time ago not to be. Well, it wasn't much of a choice. When Niko had saved him from yet another arrest, he'd had to give up any path that might have led to being a violent man. And then a life with Rosethorn and Lark, the girls? Turning himself into a gardener and a teacher and a healer? A self-defense fighter sounded about like how he approached things too. And Briar did not think that Cassie posed any kind of real threat to him.

But then, who knew what she was capable of. He'd grown up with Tris Chandler; he knew not to underestimate anyone.

He hadn't really been worried about birth control or anything like that, he took care of that for himself and it had never been an issue. Droughtwort had been one of a few important herbs he'd always have on hand. Briar was determined not to sire any unintentional children. Ever. He doubted he'd be doing it intentionally, either. To messed up, for that.

"Guess we don't got nothin' to worry about, then," he said lightly, easily following her through the crowd of people. He moved with the same ease as he always had, as comfortable in packed cities as he was in the quieter streets of Summersea or the spiraling paths of Winding Circle. "Except maybe that you're in somethin of a hurry?"

The latter came out teasingly and he squeezed her hand around his. A hurry wasn't a bad thing. He sort of liked it.