Giving up is hard to do.

Arionna de la Babin
The weather isn't entirely nice yet, though it's warm enough that those who have been through the winter recently feel it acceptable to wander around in nigh nothing. Some people anyhow. Others are more sensible and keep to their hoodies until the weather warms up.

Arionna is not one of those people who finds it acceptable to wander around in very little, despite finding a great deal of pleasure in the cold. Though it's not cold, not anymore. It's too warm really, but it's not likely to cool off anytime soon. It's going to get warmer, and she'll be back to feeling double the misery, especially when the days grow longer and the nights shorter. Despite that, she takes to the park, resting on the grass with a series of books and papers on the ground in front of her. Some weighed down should the wind pick up. Her dark hair lays over her shoulders as she peers over a book.  Her legs are out to her side, hidden only partway under a knee length skirt and a pair of spider-like stockings. It's her long sleeve that keeps her warm, simple and black to go with her skirt. As usual, the three ravens rest on a necklace at her throat.

A small turn of the page shows her deep interest in the book at hand, though she's not without attention elsewhere. Ari is always wary of those around her, for reasons so few understand, and so while she seems engrossed, she's not half as she ought to be. But she is there, with her tools at hand, just off the path.

Ian
[Awareness]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Grace
[Awareness too!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 6, 7, 7) ( success x 3 )

Ian
It was 63 degrees in Denver, and the landscape around Washington Park had the look of early spring: soft earth, muddy in patches where the snow had only recently melted, and a carpet of old grass that was just beginning to sprout fresh shoots of green. Ian took the path today, running in wide loops around the lake. Unlike Arionna, he absolutely was the type to dress lightly - especially when the weather (and the activity) called for it. Tonight he had on a pair of black and white track pants with a tapered leg and a basic white tank top. A black armband strapped around one bicep held his phone and keys.

His expression was focused while he ran, zeroed in on some fixed point ahead of him. His breaths came in a steady rhythm, keeping time against his pulse. Inhale. Exhale. Blood moving in his veins, drumming against the inside of his head.

At some point he passed the point where Arionna was lying in the grass. The ground sloped up to one side, opening up to a dry patch. Ian's rapid pace slowed as he drew closer, ramping down to an easy, loping jog. After a brief moment of consideration, he turned off the path and approached her, finally ending in a walking pace as he came up to stand beside her. He set his hands on his hips while he caught his breath, tilting his head to look down at the book in her hands.

"What are you reading?"

Grace
It might seem strange for Grace to return so soon to the park. The last time she was here, a vampire made shadows dance and flow and suffocate her. But that vampire hasn't been back to this park since. Grace knows that for a certainty. Chances are, no vampire who knows what happened will be back to this park for a while, if they're all so terrified of Mage attacks, thank you very much Sera.

Which is a good thing. This is a nice park, and one of Grace's favorite places in the city. The Message 'lives' here. It's not all vampires and creepy shit. And it's not nighttime -- yet.

She goes along as she usually does, meandering pathless with her face in her phone. With all this nature, why wouldn't she be looking at it? But when she catches the familiar hint of the catlike Ian, she bends in that direction, puts away her phone, and finally looks.

Oh, dear. He's with Arionna. This could be interesting. As in interesting times.

Still, she walks up, albeit without a smile.

"A book, apparently. Dead tree."

Arionna de la Babin
Arionna shifts slightly in her place on the dirt as a figure seems to approach. She stiffens, moves a little to the opposite side, and then seems to recognize, through voice, that it is Ian. Ari lifts her head, letting her attention slide over him. Ian had the benefit of looks, as did Elijah, when talking to Ari; she was still not accustom to well...being a young lady. Her brows lifted just a little. "I've never understood why individuals willingly move out of their own way to just run." Ari pulled her legs in slowly to straighten herself. "Conservation of Large Felines. Part of a course."  Her head tilted a little to the side. Ok, maybe she could understand it, in a way.

Ah but then there is Grace, who of course, speaks with honesty. Ari might even come to like her for that, but for now, Arionna shifts her attention to the other individual. "If you want to speak simply, then yes, it comes from dead plants." She curls her legs in further until she's sitting on her knees.

Ian
Ian gave a small nod of acceptance when Arionna responded to his question, his expression shifting slightly to indicate lazy interest. Her previous commented elicited a delayed smirk as Ian reached up to card his fingers through his hair. His visual attention shifted to Grace as she appeared at his side, taking her in for a moment with an air of relaxed greeting. As though her showing up out of the blue no longer surprised him (which it didn't, really.)

"I've never understood why some people don't appreciate the bodies they inhabit."

One could probably make a fair point to Ian that many people were not born with the kind of body that he had.

"Running is freeing. It focuses you and makes you feel more alive at the same time. Assuming you don't mind a little pain."

Ian
[Edit: Her previous comment elicited a delayed smirk...]

Grace
Grace, for the record, is wearing her grey jacket today, zipped up to the neck. It's not the cold, but hey -- a bite-resistant shirt is never a bad idea, right? It works wonders on all kinds of undead threats. Unless vampires don't really bite -- that guy she found didn't have any marks. Maybe they're like the salt sucker from Star Trek, all suction cups and... eww. Gross.

"A vampire attacked me in this park not too long ago," Grace says, apropos of nothing, and to Arionna. Ian already knows. "I think it's scared off, but still. Might do to be careful."

She then turns to Ian. "Hi. I do mind a little pain, for the record."

Arionna de la Babin
"Do you assume that those who don't engage in such activity are those without appreciation of their forms?" She closed her book slowly, focusing on the conversation at hand instead of her book. Besides, there wasn't much she could accomplish at the moment. "Appreciation is never limited to one method. A fault in thinking on the part of many." Grace, Ari had decided, looked the most normal in a city. She just seemed to fit in a way. Her brows furrowed slowly, though more in interest at Ian. "Well I can't deny running feels enjoyable, though best when there is a reason to run, I find."

Oh Grace, Morrigan bless her. She's abrupt, to the point. They may not agree on much, but the bluntness she has... "Must not be a very capable vampire."

Ian
"No," Ian countered Arionna's question easily enough. "I assume that about people who say they don't understand the point of it." His smile was an easy thing though, playing at the edges of his mouth while he watched her. Grace's advice was sobering, but it didn't seem to concern him in an immediate sense. There was no coil of tension or sudden darting of his eyes to check for hidden shadows.

"I don't think it's quite late enough for vampires yet. But yeah, being careful is never a bad idea." The topic seemed to bring something else to mind though, as Ian tipped his head in question, glancing between Grace and Arionna. "Is she not in the loop yet?"

(He meant Ginger. The Chantry. Someone to explain... all of the things that the new kids usually needed to know.)

Grace
"I have my grave concerns about loops," Grace says to Ian, giving him a pointed look that says: caution.

Truth is, Grace is still halfway convinced that Arionna isn't merrily traipsing her way down the same road as that cannibalistic Hermetic they had to deal with. The other truth is, she's not going to say that in front of Arionna.

"And yeah, I'd say any vampire who went about their nights trying to be as showy and gaudy as inhumanly possible, drawing the ire of not one but two Mages, with absolutely no backup? Yeah. That counts as being a not very capable vampire."

Arionna de la Babin
"Possibly not the best assumption to make. Though, maybe those who appreciate their own bodies less are more capable of appreciating the bodies of others. " The interaction between him and Grace warrants a calm, quiet observation, at least until Grace has said her piece.

"If you mean am I aware of whatever it is that all the rest of you are aware of, Alex has been kind enough to provide hints. Whatever knowledge you have, seems to be well guarded." Ari pushed to her feet, lightly dusting off her skirt. "Probably well. Anyone who admonishes me for lacking trust, only to do the same, seems unlikely to be worth the trouble. Seems I've discovered a few good apples, and not the other way around."

Ian
"Or maybe just young and cocky."

Maybe there was a double meaning to that, but if so Ian didn't draw attention to it. Grace got a silent stare in response to her statement, but he seemed to take the hint because he let the subject drop, allowing Arionna her misinterpretation.

"Yes, Alex is... helpful, like that." (Alexander would most assuredly have less complimentary things to say about Ian.) "Trust isn't a binary. You get to know people, and gradually you learn the ways you can trust them and the ways you can't. That takes time. But you can be wary of people and still enjoy their company. I do it all the time." This seemed to be directed equally at both Grace and Arionna.

"And I don't think I need much help appreciating the human form in any capacity." His smile there was self-aware, but he let it linger on Arionna a moment - acknowledging the obvious innuendo inherent in her choice of words.

Grace
Grace rolls her eyes at Arionna -- hard. Apparently, there is much reason to work out the eye muscles lately.

"Ari, you talk about the world as though it's dying and you want to watch. You want people to stop saving it and let nature take its course. And you're a Mage. You talk about people as though they were a plague of locusts that you'd love to squish beneath your feet. And you're a Mage. You might not be much of one yet, but as you grow into your power, you become more you. What you say and believe becomes what you actually do. And it makes me wonder -- are you going to watch the world burn? Or are you just talking out of your ass? I trust people fine -- when they're not assholes."

Talk about bluntness. Grace holds no punches. Ian will get the picture here -- the reason why Ari is not, and will not, be in the loop. The loop is about discussing threats and handling them. Ari wouldn't even be slightly interested in that anyway.

Arionna de la Babin
If she has caught onto Ian's innuendo, it has become slightly apparent with the shift of color to her face, and a small quip of her lips into a grin that fades almost as quickly as it arrived. Ah but it was there. "I guess you're right." She says to Ian. "I admit, I've seen little reason to trust much of any since I've met them. Judgmental, most of them. Blindly heroic, to a fault I'd say."

"I'm a witch, and I engage in witchcraft. If Mage is your word for it, then by all means. As for my perspective on the world, I think very few individuals...no... no one has the capacity to express my view accurately. It reminds me of the poor individuals who read Dostoyevsky once and think they understand the point of it. The truth is there are layers, and those who think they understand from a cursory read, are those who are shallow and lack the motivation to tear it apart. What you know, or think you know, is based primarily on perhaps...two encounters with myself. Limited sample, don't you think?"

"Personally I think you overstate your importance, and the intensity of the situation with the world. But then..." She held her hands up lightly in a small shrug. "What do I know? What I learn I learn of my own accord, with my own will, as has always been the case. Alex seems to think it best I build some sort of network with all of you, but I see no reason."

"Do you know the difference between small town, religious bigots and most of the... mages... I've met thus far? One is wrapped in technology, and the other in false civility. Admittedly, at least you're honest about it. I prefer the honesty. Far less skulking required."

Ian
"Oh for fuck sake, Grace, do you have any idea what a monster I was when I was a teenager? Being likable doesn't make someone inherently trustworthy." Ian let out an irritated breath and rolled his eyes skyward, as though asking for patience.

"This is a stupid argument. You're making assumptions instead of talking. I fail to see how that's helpful to either of you. But if you want to sit here and pick at each other all night, be my guest. I'm going to finish my run."

And with that, he turned around and jogged back to the path.

Grace
"I've tried talking with her. It's like talking to rather uncaring rocks," Grace says, to Ian's retreat.

"Well, it is," she says, to Ari. Now this is gone uncomfortable, but again -- Grace doesn't much care.

"And you're right -- I don't know you very well. But from what I have been able to parse, you don't particularly want to be trusted. Either that, or you don't see the need for trust. You like arguing with people, and not by attacking their ideas, but attacking them. I get the feeling you like making people uncomfortable, whether that's intentional or not. And it really really works. I realize I'm doing a bit of arguing and prickling at you right now, but you seem to like it. So. We can do that."

Arionna de la Babin
There's a small tightening of her lips as Ian starts to jog away. There is little for her to say in what he said. In her perspective, it wasn't her that was the brunt of the problem.

"Rocks lack the capacity to care to begin with. " She leans over to begin gathering her items up and slide them in her bag. "And why do you think that? Because I don't agree with your perspective? Perhaps I don't find your ego to be engaging. Maybe it's because I don't find the concept of playing nice with those who judge me to be rather appealing. "

"You give your trust where you like it. I'm no more in control of it than anyone else. If you don't give it, then you've chosen not to. And you'll have to live with that. I'll survive with, or without the group of you. A choice you make. But if you think that I'll hand over my trust so freely, you're mistaken." Ari slid the strap of her bag on her shoulder and straightened. "As it stands, it is a greater cost to me to trust you, than it is the other way around. And given what I've seen so far, you don't come across as a particularly happy bunch, or an enjoyable one. Not very giving, certainly."

She shifted a little, tilting her head. "Do I make you uncomfortable? Have you considered that perhaps it's not entirely a choice?" Her brows furrow slowly, and her tone darkens a little at Grace. "Some of us were not gifted with plainness. How easily you would have fitted in where I come from. No one would have suspected anything, and how I envy you for it. Must be a lovely feeling to blend in."

Arionna de la Babin
[OMG being able to blend in]

Grace
Grace raises an eyebrow. "Okay, now you're making assumptions about me that aren't true. I know exactly what it's like to be completely alien -- to have nobody in your life, even your parents, who consider you human. I still don't talk to them. They should have known better.

"When I was growing up, I had nobody, Ari. The reason why I like technology so much is that I found that the only way I could talk to people was through an interface where they couldn't figure out how old I was or what my gender was or any of that shit.

"You don't have a monopoly on solitude. Maybe the reason why I'm so hard on you is because you remind me of the very worst parts of what I became when I was alone. I hated people. And I wanted a release for that hate. But then, I grew up. I had to come to a realization that was I was doing to myself wasn't beneficial to me."

Arionna de la Babin
"Then you should know better yourself. If you profess understanding such concepts, then perhaps you should recall that the methods of interaction most of you employ is not endearing. Why should -I- chance my own safety when it's likely you're no different than anyone else? Solitude has benefits. Benefits that I see no reason to relinquish to individuals who have given me no reason to do so."  Her brows stayed knit, focused on the woman in front of her, though she slowly began to cross her arms over her chest. "What you have to offer I can find on my own. It'll take me longer, most likely, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of completing it myself. "

"Though it seems you have one distinct advantage. You were able to interact with people. "

Grace
"I gave you all the chances, and opened myself up to you in the beginning, Ari. You've shot me down enough times since then that now you've got me on the offensive. That's why my method of interaction with you isn't endearing. Anymore.

"And it won't be, up until the point when you learn to treat people with the respect you now reserve only for yourself.

"You will find, that interacting with people comes a lot easier when you want to. I don't think you do. I don't think you see the point. Or the benefit. So I don't know why you even try. Do you?"

Arionna de la Babin
"Is there a point? Other than dancing around n the middle of the park, is there a point to our engaging in any sort of conversation? The truth is I see very little point to most of you. Alex seems to think that making friends is somehow important, and that somewhere along the way, the lot of you might be helpful. Thus far, I don't see how that's even possible."

"There are ...certain.... individuals I've grown to enjoy being around. For them, perhaps I do, a little. But then, they've given me cause to give them what little I have. For the rest? I know how it will end. Why put effort into something that will only end with a great cost? I'm better off channeling the effort into something more useful."

Grace
Okay. Grace is the kind to let people do what they want to do. And Ari wants to be alone. She doesn't want to engage in conversation, so that's where Grace ends it.

She won't even say goodbye, just nods, and turns around -- starts meandering away. Likely this will be the last time Grace will even acknowledge her presence.