14423/Making Friends

Making Friends
Date of Scene:	03 June 2022
Location:	Randall, Nantwich
Synopsis:	Bucky, Leon, and Nick visit and leave Channel Park for various reasons
Cast of Characters:	Phantasm (Drago), Winter Soldier, Leon Kennedy

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Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
It is an odd time in Gotham. Odd being that the weather is reasonably pleasant. Considering that and how close to summer schools are, one would think that Channel Park would be a bit more crowded. It isn't. But there is a little bit more foot traffic.

One contributer to the current (living) body count is Nick. One perk of the park being in Gotham is that the man's neutral toned clothes just blends in. The ballcap, just as nondescript.Nick takes his time walking along one of the paths, quietly considering the scenery before him.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    A pleasant day in Gotham... some would call this a contradiction in terms, or a logical impossibility, and yet today is by all objective standards, pleasant. Part of what makes it pleasant, of course, is the park. Possibly not the people in the park, but certainly the park itself, an oasis in the city of grim and darkness that is Gotham. And New York. And, well, truthfully, any city aside from Metropolis, and even then. Every city has its darker spaces, and every city, even Gotham, has its oasis of calm and tranquility, which usually is the part that ends up on the postcards.

    Not part of a Hallmark greeting is the man that wanders through the park, sharing occasional greetings in Russian with some of the more insalubrious passers by. He's dressed in dark colors, this man, and carries an open bottle of alcohol in his right hand, half concealed in a paper bag. The face looks grim and expressionless, with oddly animated eyes that dart around from time to time. And so, incognito and looking like a Bratva enforcer, The Winter Soldier stalks the park. A shark among minnows.

Leon Kennedy has posed:
    Summer was an odd time of year for Leon Scott Kennedy. His dishwater blond hair would lighten with the increased sun exposure, when he was lucky. A lot of his summers were spent with him asleep or inside a building during the day, and doing god knows what at night. It gave him a bit of an unusually pale complexion, but something he was working on rectifying.
    Today, a rare day off, he had come into Gotham to meet an old friend, but just his luck, his friend had a work emergency, and so the young federal agent was in a city he did not know, with nothing but time. He could have driven back across the bridge to Bludhaven, but instead decided to go for a walk.
    He was out of place, with a coat, even a light one, with bulges under his arms indicating he was armed. They were hidden well, but those in the know could spot it, even when you did your best to conceal it.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Indeed a sad (And in some cases, SCARY) collection of folks walk this oddly peaceful park. So when Leon comes in exercising his bluebird of happiness attire with boomstick of unhappiness spurned shapes peeking from the coat. It is indeed noticable. Even to the untrained (and sometimes jusitfiably paranoid) eye of Nick.

There's just the slightest of glances to Leon as Nick comes to where the path diverges.

And the musician took the path less traveled by...Well, the one leading away from Leon.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    The man, and by now he has earned that moniker with a capital, since he appears to exude an aura of minor malevolence, has found himself a temporary seat on a low divider wall by the path. This perch serves as a support sufficient to his dual task of drinking and watching people. Mostly watching people.

    There are some people that simply cause offense just by walking around. Be that a conscious effort of body language, an aura of menace, or just simply foul language and course manners, these people grate on the nerves of all those who are good and righteous. This Man is one of those people. And until Leon walked into the park, he was probably the most watched man in the whole place, with eyes on him from every side, the hidden watchers and informers that try to gauge the threat to the Organization before even allowing a stranger to approach. All that seems to end with Leon, and as the Man glances in the direction of the unexpected but subtle disturbance, he notices why in an instant. Quite possibly, plans have been derailed or at least set back by some small but inconvenient measure.

    Whatever his reasons, the Man mutters something as Leon passes, in fluent Russian with a Saint Petersburg accent, which needs no translation to understand just how foul it was.

Leon Kennedy has posed:
    Kennedy was observant. They trained him to be. He was always scanning his environment, looking for things that might be out of place, and taking note of it. When people catch his interest, he may do other things, look other ways, but until he leaves or that other person does, he will always know where they are.
    In this case, Nick caught his eye. Glances in Leon's direction, followed by a seemingly conscious effort to move away. With the way his hair hung over his eyes, bangs on either side, Leon must have had the patience of a saint. It didn't seem to bother him one iota.
    It did not take long for Kennedy to come to the conclusion that although this was a beautiful park, he was in territory influenced by the mob, and hearing a man of Barnes' bearing speak to him in Russian, well, that sealed it.
    Likely Bratva. Thing is, Kennedy wasn't here for law enforcement, nor did he know of any crimes going on, planned, or anything, and besides, this wasn't usually his jurisdiction. If something were to happen and he saw it, he would act, even on his day off, as most people in his position, but he wasn't looking to be a civic hero here.
    Now he had two people to watch for, and it was complicated by the fact that he did not want to turn his back towards Barnes...

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick continues on his way. Seemingly paying Leon no more heed. But, even so, the path he chose is a curious one. Not only is this the path that Leon is not on. It has an added feature of leading towards one of the park exits.

Now it should probably cross Nick's mind that heading towards the exit is a bit telling but considering the sampling of persons previously passed. The smaller statured man presumes him to be of little consequence to those that don't know him.

The path is not straight by any means. Whoever designed this layout wanted to maximize the walk time for even the smallest of tasks. But one irritation leads to other benefits as it does allow for things that were once behind to sometimes wander into the field of view. If one really wanted to strain themselves like that.

Hmm. Maybe the guy who designed this place had ulterior motives as well.

Or was drunk.

He lived in Gotham. Both are possibilities.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    There are many people who are not turning their back on the Man, even as they are walking away from The Man with almost indecent haste. Loiterers that were minding their own business suddenly found urgent reasons to be elsewhere. Businessmen out for lunch seemed to all finish within a few moments of one another and leave in opposite directions as if they had never clapped eyes on each other before. The eyes and informers slink away, all except a hardy few who are tasked with keeping a final eye on this new development... the drunks, the beggars, the friendly people walking dogs. Any of them could be reporting back to the Organisation.

    As the challenge goes unheeded, the Man turns slightly towards one of the remaining watchers as if he's not aware of what he truly is, and shares a few words with him. In Russian, of course. There's a reply, there's laughter, and soon the two are in an animated conversation that seems to center on something exceedingly funny, judging by the laughter. And yet one of them will frequently turn to look at Leon, after which point another comment is made, and the laughter resumes.

    And, very occasionally, the Man will turn his eyes to the skyline of the far path, catch a glimpse of Nick walking to the exit, and pretend as if he's not interested in the slightest.

Leon Kennedy has posed:
    Stopping in his path, Leon would pull out his phone, which looked much like any other phone, except his was government issue, and included the capability of recording audio in his vicinity, and translating it into written text. What it did catch, he wanted to know. In the off chance that someone might approach, he opened a second application, which he could easily switch between. That second one was looking at YouTube videos, something about cats.
    Looking around, he stood near a bench, but didn't take a seat, just pacing, back and forth, observing, listening, trying to garner what he can.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Unchallenged, Nick continues on his way to the exit. Distance is his friend as his eyes look towards Leon for a moment, determining him not to be following. Ok. Maybe he's just being paranoid.

But, considering matters, he has good reason to keep the course towards the exit.

And maybe take the long way to his next planned destination.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    Whatever has been said, whatever has gone on, the Man gets up after a few moments and walks away, accompanied by the man he has just met. Neither look towards Leon, and after a last glance towards the distant Nick, the Man seems to have eyes for nothing or nobody except the surrounding area, even as the conversation in Russian continues.

    A short while away, they are met by two more men, and exchange greetings as if they are long lost friends. Hands are shaken, shoulders are clapped, booze changes hands. Just a group of friends out in the park...

    All heading for the exit.

    Together.

Leon Kennedy has posed:
    The translator helped to alleviate Leon's concerns. As he suspected, they were talking about him. It didn't take a government agent to figure that out, but the comments were far from complimentary. He sent a sampling of the voices to the office for analysing, in case any of them were of concern. But even with today's technology, it wasn't instant. Besides, they were leaving, and he had no cause to follow them yet.
    Instead, he pulled up a map, checking how far away Brighton Beach was, and the Little Odessa neighorhood. It was out of his way, but he would have to make a trip out there son. And perhaps start studying Russian.