At home among plants and monsters. (Kei and Klara)

[Zeronone]

Kei sat on a bench with a note pad in his hand, the youth leaning back as his sharp eyes moved from person to person. He was looking for someone to draw, a moment to store and preserve in time of his book. Old people feeding birds, already did that. Lovers on a picnic. Sweet but not exactly what he was looking for. For the past two weeks, Kei had been coming to the park to draw, to find the moments of beauty to lock away in his art. But it felt like every day was a copy of the one before. Where was the special spark he was missing?

He sighed, laying his head back. He closed his eyes and let the world fade away into the background, focusing on his art alone and the flashes of the park. The large fountain, the sound of bird wings flapping, the smell of grass with a mix of smog. New York was beautiful, but even here in Central Park the concrete jungles presence could be felt. Like a thick quilted blanket smothering the one true piece of nature left.

He took a deep breath and lifted his head, looking around once more. There had to be a muse here somewhere, something or someone that would grab his artistic nature. He wasn't allowed to draw monsters since what he drew came to life. But people were a bit strange, he never quite finished the drawing as he wasn't sure what would happen to them if he did. So he always left a small unfinished piece. His gaze moved from person to person before landing on her, his eyes widening as he saw a visage he had yet to come across.

[Gummy]

Klara had been told to get out of the house. It was something she didn't want to do as Friends was on again and that was just addictive! Reluctantly she headed out to Central Park after persuading the others to give her the bus fare. At least there she could enjoy the winter air and tend to some of the plants. Most were dormant but there were a few which were just starting to wake up in the frosty air. The holy and mistletoe which grew in the high branches were looking particularly good. She stopped by a large conifer and wondered at the large reaching branches which seem to shudder as she neared it sprinkling a little of the powdered snow off and onto Klara. She giggled and spun as more snow dislodged and scattered all around her.

Her face sparkled as she looked up and gently touched one of the heavily laden branches. Her red coat, red scarf, red hand knitted hat and neat black gloves made her stand out.

[Zeronone]

Kei stared for a moment at the girl under the snow dolloped tree. The red and black brought to mind the story of Red Riding Hood causing him to smile. Sitting back against the bench, he brought his sketchpad up and began drawing. His hand moved quickly over the page. The girl going from world to the page. Kei looked up every few moments to catch her visage and dove back into his art. It wasn't often he got someone so naturally perfect for his art. He had grandparents with kids, people caught mid laugh, a man buying a hot dog. They were each unique and special, this one however would be sitting in the front row.

He blushed a little as he realized how people could interpret his hobby. He usually drew monsters, but his parents had forbidden him from casually drawing those since they seemed to actually appear. So far, he hadn't summoned a person. Though, he never fully finished a drawing just in case. He looked down at the page and then up. There was something about that smile that he had to draw, she shined with life.

[Gummy]

Klara had a feeling that people were watching her but it didn't matter. She was enjoying herself, the air was crisp and the snow was gently falling from the branches as she moved from one to another. Looked around at the people and then she looked excited as she turned on the spot and moved some of the branches to duck under them. They seemed to lift slightly as she moved into the tree and looked up. She wasn't quite tall enough to see and the tree couldn't do much to move so she just listened and came out with dead twigs on her.

Brushing them off she flopped down on the light blanket of snow which hadn't been ruined by the passerby. This time was good and she knew why she was there but that didn't matter when the quiet of the area filled her.... then she frowned and looked directly at Kei as if something had just told her that he was watching her.

[Zeronone]

Kei's hand wove across the page, adding depth and shading to it, his pencil scratching across the paper. He moved slightly as she went under the branches, trying to keep her in sight. He stood up, moving a little to the side until he saw her once more. Her smile, the excitement in her form, the way she was part of nature and separate from it at the same time. As she fell on the blanket of snow an idea formed, he added background, the tree bright and strong, the branches seemed to both bend towards her as if to hold her and stretch outwards as if to protect her from the world itself. Snow fall came next, each one a different flake but highlighting the winter wonderland the girl was pictured in.

As he looked up for another take, he found his eyes locking with the girls in red. A blush forming as he realized she had caught him. He usually tried to hide what he was doing, he was an observer, an entity that witnessed and recorded but didn't add himself into it. But now, he was kind of caught. He gave a sheepish smile and raised a gloved hand, giving her a wave.

[Gummy]

Klara sat up and looked at him curiously. He was young, she had made several male friends so he could be ok but why was he looking at her as if studying her. Maybe he had picked up her gift? Maybe he was stalking her? She looked at him as her mind reeled through the possible options. He had a pad and pencil... he was drawing! Ohhhh.... that made more sense so she waved back to him and pushed herself up.

"Hi."

She said with a little voice as she got closer.

"You were drawing me? You must be good as people who arn't good don't draw random strangers in a park. May I see?"

Her eyes were bright with hope and joy. The moment of fear had gone. She was just a kid wanting to get along with other people and she had had enough of cowing down to others. If needed the brambles nearby could come to help or the trees could mask her a little more if she ran. Hopefully though the boy in front of her might be a good person. The blush definitely implied that he was thinking of more. Perhaps he was a ... what was the word ... prevate?

[Zeronone]

"Hello."

Kei responded to her greeting, he considered for a moment running off but that would have just been super weird and would have made him feel nervous about coming back to the park again. She seemed friendly and not upset about him using her as his muse for a little bit. As she asked about his drawing he looked down and then offered it to her.

"I apologize for not asking but... that is kind of the point. When you ask and people know they change, they become how they want to be seen not how they are seen. I try and capture the beauty of the true person not the person they put on for show."

He smiled at her when she called him good, he liked to think he was a good person. "My name is Kei, Kei Kawada."

It had been some time since he spoke to someone else his age and it felt both nice and weird at the same time. He admitted to himself up close the girl was much prettier, he gave a mental shake pushing those thoughts aside.

[Gummy]

Klara looked at the picture and smiled, she looked happy. The picture looked like she was a child... was she a child? What she had done, what she had seen. The people on TV understood the pain she had felt. Was it show or was it natural.

"It's really good."

She grinned at him and shot out a hand so he could shake it, kiss it or whatever they did now.

"I'm Klara, Klara... Prast."

There was that pause, it was a name but she hated it. A reminder of everything that had been in the past.

"You got the trees beautifully. I like the snow here, at least we get to see it. Reminds me of the mountains were I grew up in Switzerland. There was always snow in the winter there."

She looked back at the picture and frowned at it.

"There used to be an artist that did portraits down the block from us, he had a camera too but was better at painting life on the streets, they were always blurry in my opinion. His portraits were still good, I never had enough money to have mine done though. Shame he's not there now."

[Zeronone]

Kei took the offered hand and shook it, noticing she held the top of her hand up and an image of a gallant knight in full armor, kneeling in front of a beautiful princess and kissing her hand formed in his mind. The act made him smile but he just kept it as a handshake. Her compliment to his art made him grin, he was very proud of his artistic talent and hoped to be a professional one someday.

"Thanks, I call it realism art. I show the world as it is not the way people want it to be."

She seemed hesitant about giving her full name and he wondered if that was out of caution. He wouldn't blame her if she gave a fake last name. They did just meet, and he had been drawing her without her permission.

"Klara, that is a very nice name. Thanks, I love doing scenery, it has no fake to it. Nature is powerful and up front, no facade to it. Well.. except for like quicksand and bogs. They hide."

He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining Switzerland during winter. It must be an absolute beautiful sight. New York had its own magic, but it was building and sunsets, the park here was a wonderland compared to the concrete jungle that was the Big Apple. He could hear the sadness in her voice about the picture she never got, he looked at the one he drew and though it hurt a little to give up something so natural he couldn't help but see a pretty girl smile.

"You can have that if you want, it is you and would probably weird out my parents if I came home with a picture of a pretty girl I drew without her permission. So, you be doing me a big favor."

[Gummy]

Klara thought about what he was saying. She knew that the world wasn't like that picture though. There were dark things that didn't just hide under the bed but was in the real world. When he mentioned quicksand and bogs she looked around.

"Some of New York was reclaimed land but most was solid ground but there were marshes. Did you know that? It's crazy to think before the city was built it was lush land. I wish I could have seen it then. Perhaps it meant there were a few areas of bogs. I've never seen a bog or quicksand so I don't know if they do hide."

Then it was her turn to blush at the nice compliment, she looked up into his eye.

"Thanks. You think I'm pretty?"

She was a little distance from him and her small height and slim body which still hadn't put much weight on looked like a strong breeze would knock her over. Ever her husband had never called her pretty. Was she even going to let herself feel love? What was it supposed to feel like? The TV programs showed her some of it but Molly never understood why she watched them so much even the repeats she still found herself engrossed in. How could she be a child blundering through the world when in her world she was classed as an adult?

[Zeronone]

Kei looked around, wondering what New York would have looked like two hundred, three hundred, five hundred years ago. Massive forests, bogs, fields. It was hard to visualize a place like the rainforest having stood here and been replaced by glass skyscrapers, concrete roads, underground subways, and Central square. It was a sobering moment to both the strength of nature and the perseverance of humanity. Though, the world was unbalanced right now, too many people and not enough resources. Though, apparently that was changing as well. More and more were being created and discovered, it gave Kei a headache.

"It must have been very beautiful at one point; I wonder if the whole landscape looked like central park. I have seen quicksand once and yeah; you really can't tell with it. I saw bogs in books and most of it says you wouldn't even notice it until you were in it. I assume it is different than a swamp."

He blushed when she asked about him calling her pretty, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I mean yeah, the picture came out great. So, you said you are from Switzerland? That is really cool. Did your family move here for work?"

He was kicking himself for calling her pretty, it was such a normal word, but he forgot how girls could interpret things. Laura would not be happy if she found out he called another girl pretty. Was that allowed? He was an artist and pretty was a word used to describe so much. Better call her later and ask just to be sure.

[Gummy]

Klara muttered "no" when he asked if it was like central park. She had seen its decline at the when she was there. It had awful flooding issues like the sea was trying desparately to reclaim it back into the bog it once was. What it was today was similar but much much better. Then her whole demenour changed to be guarded and wanting to run. She looked down at the floor a deep sadness came over her.

"My family died. I...I got addopted by an American family and came here. It isn't the first time, I used to come here quite frequently. I wanted to move here but... yeah... "

She shrugged... it wasn't far from the truth. She had been adopted by the Runaways and she had come here to this timeline with them. As for frequently... she did go to Central Park as often as she could between work and her husband.... her husband... .... and yes, she chose to come to the here and now. She let out a little sigh.

"Do you want to see something?"

She looked back up to him.

[Zeronone]

Kei tilted his head slightly when she mumbled, it was pretty low, but he got the gist of the word no. Shame really, it must have been an even prettier sight. He wondered if it was a good thing or a bad thing that humans built so much. There were plenty of signs of beautiful artwork and constructs that seemed to capture the imagination and bring feelings of joy and bliss to those who gaze upon them. But at what cost, how many natural beautiful landscapes had been destroyed and decimated for someone else's vision. How many animals and trees have been ripped away so someone could have a hotel or shopping mall. Streets and roads cut through the landscape, excavated land ripped open and filled with tracks, trains and concrete. How much of the natural world had been ruined for the idea of human development.

He watched her body language change, going from friendly to guarded. He knew that look, like one trying to find the fastest exit. He wondered if he had upset her, he looked around really quick to see if someone else had tried to come near them. Be a bad idea for anyone to do that with him there. He may not look it, but he had an army of teeth and claws ready to go at any point. Then her words cut through him, he looked down, he didn't want to say I understand because he didn't. His parents were alive and well. He reached out slowly, careful to let her see him and laid a hand on her shoulder. Giving her a warm friendly smile as he tried to cheer her up.

"I am sorry for your loss, but I am glad you have a new family. It doesn't replace the ones you lost but it just extends the people who care for you."

He put his arm down, hoping it would help in some way. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say in tense moments like that.

He nodded at her question, his smile returning. "Sure!"

[Gummy]

To her, she knew her family had been dead for almost a century but how could she explain that to him. The hand on the shoulder made her flinch a little but then relax. She was getting used to good human physcial contact but this was a stranger but he was cool. She folded the picture up and placed it in her pocket before cheering up taking his hand and pulling him like an eager child towards the trees she had crept into. The branches looked impassable but they seemed to move out of their way slightly as they approached.

Klara put a finger to her lips and pointed to a hollow notch in the tree. Standing on the root it seemed to lift her slightly but she was still slightly too short to see properly and the tree couldn't move any further to allow her easier access. It would have been ideal for him though to step up and peep in to see a pair of hibernating chipmunks snoring. Klara knew they were there and she tried to see.

[Zeronone]

Kei smiled as he was pulled along, moving towards the tree Klara had been under when he had first seen her and drew her in all her glory. The branches looked low hanging but seemed to separate on their own as Klara went through. He ducked and looked around, amazed at the sight. He looked at Klara and wondered if she had special abilities. These days it felt like everyone could do something. He looked to where she was pointing and saw a hole. He moved up beside her, slipping up beside her and looked into the hole. He saw chipmunks and a grin formed, having never seen them up close before.

He looked over and saw that Klara was having a hard time, he lowered himself to her level. "I see them, that is really cool. Would you like me to lift you up so you can see?" He waited, wanting her to feel comfortable with the idea.