Logfile from Brass&Steel. Brynn says, "YES, I HATE YOU... er, I mean no. Not at all." Harriet and Brynn are sitting on a bench, talking. Harriet looks uncomfortable in the extreme. Zach offers flowers and chocolate in the reflexive way of a man that is being yelled at by a woman. :) Swope Park -- South Side A huge expanse of grass and trees and rolling hills, the southern half of Swope Park -- everything south of Gregory Boulevard -- contains golf fairways, a lake, nature centers, and hundreds of access roads covering hundreds of acres. It is easy, however, to lose sight of the individual details in a swath of greenery and urban landscaping this big, requiring one to refocus on those things lest they be lost. In this refocussing, other things become clear: like all big urban park projects, Swope is not entirely paradise. Some trails are less well lit than others, and certain patches of grass clearly bear the marks of abuse. There are clusters of park less heavily patrolled by the police as they pass through, and here gangs of juvenile delinquents gather after hours, passing around their beer and baggies. Even by day, some parts are less than safe, so perhaps it's better to stay focussed on the big picture, look past the problems, stick to the well-lit paths, and enjoy the thin veneer of suburbia before the cracks enlarge too much to be ignored. Brynn is sitting on a bench with Harriet, tormenting the poor woman. "I'm afraid I can't," the student states, being mean and needlessly cruel. She doesn't press the issue any further at the moment, though, but who knows what her evil little mind is planning? Brynn yays! Harriet is a woman in her early twenties. She's below average in height, and thin and pale, as if she doesn't get out much. She has short-cropped, unruly, dark brown hair, and green eyes. Her round, open face seems as if it's used to doing a lot of smiling. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses perch--slightly askew--on her nose. Harriet is wearing a Thanksgivingish sweater and jeans. The thick, warm sweater shows a fall scene in dark browns, rusty reds, and faded gold, while the jeans are patched in numerous spots with bronze and gold colored cloth. Both jeans and sweater are lightly splattered with dried plaster. Harriet is also wearing a large, thick denim jacket, which has been patched, whether it needed it or not, with numerous squares of rainbow and tye-dyed cloth. Zach comes walking along a path, seemingly deep in thought and absently whistling a tune. Harriet looks at Brynn, and sighs. "It won't help," she says, sadly. "Nothing you do will make this any better. Trust me on this. If I thought it would...if I thought for a single moment...I would help you, you know?" She shakes her head again. "But it won't." Harriet pages: Harriet /so/ needs Lying and Emote. So, so much. The Brynn gives a small nod. "It's possible," she admits, but makes no promises. Because promises are evil, and sometimes attack puppies. "I have a knife I want you to see," she suddenly says, apparently aspiring to become the queen of non-sequiturs. Zach moseys on along the path lost in his own thoughts. But as he passes a certain bench, he hears a familiar voice that snaps him right out of his contemplation. He turns his head to have a look, and so he spots Harriet and her distressed look. And isn't that the redhead he and Cosmo met? The tall man stops and looks down on the two women. "Hey there Harriet. And....Brynn, wasn't it? How're you doing today?" Harriet blinks, distracted by the sudden change in topic. As no doubt was Brynn's fiendish plot! "Um, okay," she says, and smiles just a little. She's certainly not going to argue with the change of subject. And then, Zach! Relief lights up her face, and she rises to hug him, fiercely. "Hey, Zach. I'm okay, you know? You?" "Yes," Brynn admits. There's no point in denying it; too many people know of her identity. Even that paperboy from down the street. He knew too much. But he's gone now... yes... In the meantime, the student watches the two hug. It's immoral! Zach embraces Harriet tightly and rubs her back to get that warm blood circulating. He smiles lovingly down to the little lady. "I'm fine, sweetie! But you look confused and frozen, whazzup with that?" Brynn, just for the record, still wants a Biblical Action Figure. "'Hey! I died for your sins! Now buy my figure!' Can't argue with that." Harriet chuckles slightly as Zach engages Worry mode. "I'm okay," she repeats in a soothing tone. "I'm not even very cold, you know?" She pulls out of the hug and looks over to Brynn. "Byrnn was going to show me a knife of some kind." She looks a bit confused at this, but amiable. Harriet is a woman in her early twenties. She's below average in height, and thin and pale, as if she doesn't get out much. She has short-cropped, unruly, dark brown hair, and green eyes. Her round, open face seems as if it's used to doing a lot of smiling. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses perch--slightly askew--on her nose. Harriet is wearing a Thanksgivingish sweater and jeans. The thick, warm sweater shows a fall scene in dark browns, rusty reds, and faded gold, while the jeans are patched in numerous spots with bronze and gold colored cloth. Both jeans and sweater are lightly splattered with dried plaster. Harriet is also wearing a large, thick denim jacket, which has been patched, whether it needed it or not, with numerous squares of rainbow and tye-dyed cloth. Brynn was indeed. But then Zach came and ruined it. Sniff. No stabbity today. But then, maybe that wasn't what she had in mind. Or maybe it was. You never know. Not even God knows, because he's busy trying to find out what Cthulhu's tiny bat wings are for. The woman waits for a moment, though. Harriet quails in fear of Brynn! Brynn says, "Fear me! And all my studenty might!" Zach says, "Ai! Ai! Cthulhu fthagn! (Or however that is spelt..:)" Brynn likes to think it's really Japanese. "Love! Love! Cthulhu... something." Harriet says, "An entire generation of tentacle-porn writers would probably agree with you." Brynn says, "It would explain a lot, wouldn't it?" Zach snakes an arm around Harriet's shoulders and beams down on Brynn with a rougish smile. "A knife? What sort of knife?" Harriet leans briefly against Zach, and then makes her way back to the bench to sit down. "It sounds interesting," she says, and offers Brynn a hopeful little smile. "And you've gotten my curiosity aroused now, you know?" Brynn looks up at Zach, but not for long. Instead, she opens her jacket partiallu, and reaches inside... and pulls out a knife. It's a knife. In a sheath. A leather sheath. Since she's holding it, it's probably not possible to see much more than that. That may be remedied soon, however, as she offers it to Harriet. Zach sits down next to Harriet and looks at the sheathed knife with some curiosity. Harriet takes the knife gingerly, and holds it with the air of someone who's total experience with knives is as cooking instruments. She pulls it out of the sheath, and examines it. The knife has hard rubber grips, an intact 'HJ diamond' set into the grip. A few words is engraved in the blade, as well. 'Blut und Ehre!' apparently. All in all, it's in pretty good condition. Brynn watches, of course. Zach raises an eyebrow as he notes the details on the knife and then looks at Brynn with a small smile. "You into collecting old military stuff? This a World War two leftover?" Harriet smiles at the knife, watching the play of light on the blade as she tilts it this way and that. "It's rather pretty," she says. "What do the words mean? Is that German, you know?" Brynn nods, reaching out to gently tap the blade with a finger. "It means 'Blood and Honor'. It's a Hitler Jugend knife," she explains, and adds, "Sometimes," with a look at Zach. Zach nods to Brynn. "I thought it looked familiar. You see 'em from time to time in shops selling military leftovers." He sighs softly. "Blood and honor indeed... And how they abused it." Harriet looks down at the knife, then over at Zach. She resheaths it, obscuring the words, and hands it back to Brynn. "Thank you for letting me see it," she says, and nods. "I suppose you keep it for protection, you know?" She shifts in her seat a bit. "It was my grandfather's," Brynn volunteers, taking the knife. She draws it, slowly, from its sheath, pulls a little away from Harriet, and goes about tossing it into the air and catching it again, absent-mindedly. Oh, and yes, 'Amsel' is indeed German. Zach watches Brynn go about her knife-tossin routine. "Ah, an heirloom. It's a nice piece," he offers. "Well cared for, it seems." Again the roguish smile and a twinkle in his green eyes. "But rather surprising to find in the pocket of a your girl. Or maybe I'm just gettin' old.." he muses. Harriet also watches Brynn, trying very hard not to flinch every time the unsheathed blade comes down. If /she/ tried that, she'd have a knife through her palm. She looks away, with some difficulty, from the blade to the student. "Do they give you any trouble on campus for carrying that around, you know?" Toss, catch. Toss, catch. Toss - Brynn sends a glare at Zach as he refers to her as a girl - catch... sorta. She catches it the wrong way, and ends up with a clenched hand around the blade. That probably hurts. And just as she was about to answer Harriet, too! Instead, her gaze slowly, slowly turns towards her hand. Brynn hmms. "2-3 body hits? Four?" Zach says, "2 at the most." Brynn thought so, but wanted to be sure. "How do I spend them again?" Zach says, "Your desc states that you're wearing gloves. How thick are they?" Brynn says, "...How could I forget? I seem to mention them constantly." Zach says, "Can't recall how to spend hits. Annoyingly.. <:)" Harriet never knew. Since, if she's ever in a position to need to, she's dead. Brynn nods. "Thanks anyway." :) "Holy shit!" Zach exclaims as Brynn catches the knife entirely wrong. He jumps up and moves over to her. "Did you cut yourself? Let me have a look at your hand, please." Harriet yelps as Brynn's hand grasps the blade, and digs into her jacket pockets. She comes up with a soft, white hankerchief, which she offers to Zach. "Here. To bandage it, you know?" She pats Brynn on the shoulder, her eyes wide with concern. "oh, dear...are you okay? How deep is it?" Brynn continues to look down at her hand. "I'm fine," she claims, taking the knife with her other hand, then inspects her damaged glove. "They were expensive, too," she says, a little resentful, as if the knife and/or glove did it on purpose. The knife is a little red on the edge, but not much, and the woman doesn't seem to have noticed it. Zach takes the hankerchief from Harriet and then points to the red edge of the knife. "I think it cut through. Why don't you out that thing away before some uniform sees it, and take off your glove. You're bleeding," he says calmly but firmly. Harriet hovers, as much as one can do from a seated position. She nods at Zach's words, and pats Brynn comfortingly on the shoulder again. Her eyes are riveted on the student's cut hand. "You must keep that thing awfully sharp," she says, faintly. Bleeding? Brynn looks down at the knife. So she is. She sheathes the knife, and puts it away, keeping it out of the sight of nearby fascists. "I'm fine," she repeats, and pulls off her glove. Her palm has a small but, but it doesn't seem to be very deep. At least, it doesn't seem to bleed much. "Just a scratch," she repeats, indicating the cut. Zach inspects the cut critically and nods in agreement. Then he brings out a hankerchief from his own pockets, rolls it into a tight compress and ties Harriet's hankie firmly around it on Brynn's hand anyway. "There, that should keep it from getting worse. You should get someone to take a closer look at it though. You have a nurse on campus, don't you?" Harriet lets Zach take care of most of the worrying. He's taller, after all. She curls up on the bench, and watches Brynn with worried eyes, occassionally flicking little glances in Zach's direction. Zach admires the Harriet-Logic! :) Harriet sticks her tongue out at Zach. "I will keep that in mind," Brynn states, not comitting herself to anything. Besides, nurses are scary. "I really liked those gloves," she says, looking down at the damaged glove with a hint of regret. In the meantime, she lets Zach bandage her hand, allowing this indignity to transpire. Zach quirks a wry smile at her as he releases her hand and sits back. "They're real nice gloves hon, but I think your hands are kinda neat too. You might wanna take care of 'em, you know." Harriet's lips quirk with warm amusement at Zach, and she extends a hand towards Brynn. "Might I see the damaged glove for a moment, you know?" She smiles. "I'll give it right back, I promise." Brynn allows that lese majesty, too. "My hand will heal. Besides, I've had worse." She hesitates for a moment, but then offers her the damaged glove. Can't hurt. Unless Harriet uses it to initiate Armageddon. Zach tilts his head, a warm smile playing about his lips as he too watches Harriet to see what plans she has for the glove. Initiating Armageddon is someone elses department. Harriet just wants to look at the glove. She takes it gently from Brynn, and looks at it, avoiding the cut area. She makes a mental note of the size, make, and manufacturer, and runs an admiring finger down the side seam. "They are very nice gloves. Thank you." She hands it back to Brynn, secret mission accomplished. Zach should be heading for bed soon. <:) Harriet says, "Alas!" Brynn aws. As Harriet starts to offer the gloves back, she blinks, and looks down into it. A puzzled look crosses her face, as she fingers the inside. She hands the glove over, saying, "Did you get them custom made? I've never seen gloves lined with asbestos, before." Brynn quirks a smile. A somewhat nervous smile. The smile of someone that isn't really sure what to say. "I, ah... well... uhm..." Pause. "Yes." Smooth. Zach chuckles softly but not unkindly at Brynn's slightly flustered response. "Heh, those ain't exactly the kind of gloves I'd expect to see lined with asbestos, no. Do you stick your hands into the fire on a regular basis?" he asks teasingly. "Oh, okay," Harriet replies, and smiles at Byrnn's flustered look. "I didn't mean to startle you, you know? I was only curious. They're nice gloves." She leans back and looks away for a moment, her gaze sweeping from one end of the path to the other. "It's very good insulation," Brynn notes, and adds, "I freeze easily," vehemently contradicting herself by her very presence, not to mention her long walks and what have you. Zach nods and again smiles wryly to Brynn. "Of course." He glances at his watch and sighs. "Oh dear, I'm sorry to leave you gorgeous ladies here, but I need to get to work." He rises and moves over to give Harriet a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you soon sweetie, okay? If you need anything just call me." Harriet rises to meet Zach's hug with one of her own. "Don't worry about me too much, you know? Go forth, fix things, and stay safe." She smiles up at him. "And yes, if I need you, I will call. I promise." She pats him on the shoulder, fondly. Brynn watches in silence, with her well-insulated gloves. She's getting the feeling she missed something somewhere along the way. Still, there's the gloves to worry about. Very important, that. Zach gives Harriet an extra huggle for good measure. "Take care of yourself now, d'you hear?" he murmurs softly and warmly to her, then he releases her a bit reluctantly with a final kiss on her brow. Turning to smile warmly at Brynn, he says, "It was nice seeing you again, Brynn. Take care now, and be careful with your hand. /And/ your nice gloves. So long!" Harriet nods, the tiniest bit of exasperation sliding into her expression. "I will, Zach. Now, go forth and conquer, you know?" She smiles up at him, before retaking her seat beside Brynn, and waving goodbye. Brynn sends another glare at Zach (the first being what started the whole mess with her gloves and hand). "Don't patronize me," she says, intent on being disagreeable. She takes her damaged glove, and stuffs it into a pocket. Maybe she can bury it or something. Harriet pages: Poor Malarub! Zach waves at then as he walks away, and sends a roguish, carefree grin in Brynn's direction. "Wouldn't dream of it, lady" he chuckles and off he goes. Zach says, "Thanks for the rp! :)" Harriet turns to blink at Brynn. "He's not being patronizing," she says quietly. "He's just being Zach, you know? He's a bit of a knight-type." She smiles. "It's all well-meant." Harriet says, "Thanks a lot! It was much fun! Sleep well! *HUG*"