Situated in the center of a large, open meadow is a clustering of six trees, a flower bed, a few steel-and-wood benches set firmly into concrete, and a flagstone courtyard that is dominated by a large fountain.
The fountain is a wide circular pool of water some fifty feet across and about five feet deep in most places. The sculpture in the center is a mix of old and new, traditional and modern: eight concrete-and-stainless-steel slabs about six feet high are set in a rough Stonehenge-like circle around the center of the fountain. Water flows from their tops, cascading in bright mesmerizing sheets to the pool below. Rising above the steel circle is a large marble statue of the Water Bearer, an androgynous figure draped in robes of flowing water. It bears a large jug carved with various Greek symbols, from which pours a seething torrent of water into the pool at its feet.
Cars on the nearby street have an excellent view of the park as do any residents of the tall buildings which line the waterfront.
The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of St. Claire. Recent construction work is creating an earthen berm several feet high all along the borders of the park in all directions.
Compact is the word for him: wiry, maybe 5'6" in his beat-up black combat boots, with a sense of compressed energy and imminence like a coiled spring -- or a cocked gun. Never quite still for long, balance flowing through the balls of his feet. There's a striking intensity to his narrow blue-green eyes, the colour contrasting with his fair skin and spiky copper hair; just below the left is what at first appears to be a faint mole, but closer inspection reveals as a small, long-healed scar. His features are appealing, with high cheekbones and a good jawline, but it's the confident mein and roguish smile that most often seem to draw people in.
He's in old black jeans with a rip in one knee and the cuffs half walked off, with a faded black band t-shirt ('Anarchy Burger - Hold the Government', parodying the In-N-Out sign) under an open dark red hawaiian shirt. There's a couple leather-and-bead bracelets on one wrist and a length of ball-chain disappearing beneath his collar; his nails were apparently painted black some time ago, since they're starting to show chips. Late teens, most likely, and when he speaks it's in a mellifluous, southern-accented baritone voice.
Thick honey-blonde hair, styled in a poofy set of curls, rings this pretty blue-eyed young woman's head. She's in her late teens, and her hair's currently left down, though it's occasionally pinned up. She stands about five and a half feet tall, and is a little on the thin side of things, though not to an extreme. She dresses mostly in informal styles, from ripped jeans and tank tops to the occasional sundress.
Currently, she wears the former, her black tank top emblazoned with a large sequined red heart, and her jeans so ripped as to be nearly indecent. About half of the heart's sequins are missing. Her feet are clad in red strappy lightly-heeled sandals that have seen better days. She wears little in the way of jewelry, just a black wooden bracelet, a stainless steel and rhinestone mood ring, and (probably fake) gold earrings. When she speaks, a fairly thick Southern accent is evident.
On one of the steel-and-wood benches set into the fountain, there's a young man playing a dark blue acoustic guitar partially covered in stickers. The guitar's case is on the ground beside him, as is a black duffle bag and a couple plastic carrier bags. He's smoking while he plays; it doesn't seem to get in the way of that or of singing, both of which he seems to be focusing on fairly intently. There's actually a little bit of money in the guitar case, although at present the area is more or less deserted if you don't count him. The song, currently, is Under the Bridge.
It must be the sound of the playing, or maybe the singing, that attracts the blonde to come closer; she's seated next to a tree, sketching, or was before she began to make her way across the park. Her path takes her behind him, though she's making no move to sneak up, so if he wants to, he can easily hear the approach. Lilah tucks her sketchbook under her arm, digging in her jeans pocket to pull out a couple quarters. Unless he turns around, she leans over to aim the quarters into his guitar case, one after the other.
"It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there; it's hard to believe that I'm all alone..." Felix's head lifts slightly at the sound of someone approaching, and he turns his head to glance that way, breaking into a grin when he sees who it is -- or at least that it isn't trouble he didn't start himself -- and sings the next lines to her, "At least I have her love; the city, she loves me. Lonely as I am, together we cry..." He takes another glance around, and stills his hands on the guitar, sitting back a bit. "Heya, beautiful. What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this?" Since I failed to write it before, he's actually sitting on the edge of the fountain with his boots on the bench's seat, instead of sitting on the actual bench like a civilized person.
Of course he is. Lilah grins right back at him, tilting her head as she listens to him sing, her smile going a bit soft. When he stops, she flicks the quarters toward his guitar case after all, and teases, "Ya don't have to stop on my account. I'm jus' gettin' me some fresh air. How's about you? Looks like ya made a killin' today." She runs a hand through her hair, and then climbs up to sit next to him, giving him a warm smile.
Felix snorts. "I wasn't even tryin' this time. Reckon there might be an entire hamburger in there today," he says dryly, although hey, with the quarters there might even be a meal deal. Maybe even large! "C'mere." He reaches over to the back of her neck, pulling it closer and leaning in to give her a kiss. It's not until after that, when he's got his hands back on the guitar, that he remembers to answer, "Just playin' some. Slow day. Tryin' to chill, mostly, see how long I can keep from gettin' bored outta my skull. I gotta find more shit to do 'round here. 'bout you? 'sides the fresh air, I mean."
"I reckon a hamburger's not so bad, an'-- oh!" Lilah is easily pulled in for that kiss, and when it breaks, she smoothes out her pants and clears her throat. Embarrassedly, she indicates her sketch book. "Seemed like a good time for it." She pauses, then adds, "I like when you sing. Y'should do it more often. Just walk around 'n sing all the words, like one o' them musicals or somethin'. I'd pay to hear it, anyway."
The sketchbook gets an interested look, but the remark distracts him. "Not like old-school breakin' out into random song musicals, just singin' =everything=?" Felix asks, "Like," he starts singing to no particular tune, although it's melodic enough, "'Hey, fuckface, move your ass, some of us got places to be'?" He grins at her, and adds, still singing, "...speakin' of places to be, what I'm thinkin' is you and I oughta see if we can find a nice private one." Speaking again, "Like that? 'cause if so, what would you pay, hmm?"
Lilah laughs at his first question, nodding her head. "Yeeeeees, exaaaaactly liiiiiike thaaaaaat," she sing-songs lowly, while waving her hands about as though conducting an orchestra. She grins back at him, shaking her head, and replies in her usual voice, no singing now, "I reckon I'd pay at least three, maybe even three seventy-five. But I already threw in fifty cents, so I'm 'fraid you'll have to content yourself with three twenty-five. I ain't gonna overpay." She leans in to kiss his cheek. "What'd ya have in mind?"
"Mm. Three seventy-five, huh? S'pose I might have to give that some consideration," Felix muses, and smiles at the kiss to his cheek. The last question gets it back to a grin, though, and a wicked one at that. "For the place, or what to do when we got there?" he asks, giving her an up and down look, then one to the street and buildings with a view of their location, and back to her, "...'cause at this point I'm just about willin' to demonstrate here 'n' now."
"For the place. I reckon I already know what you wanna do once we're there." Lilah giggles softly, her cheeks flushing less than one would expect at his up and down look, let alone those final words. "You got any demonstratin' you can do that *won't* get us kicked outta the park? I like this fountain. Would hate to never see it again."
Felix considers. "...possibly. Maybe more if you was wearin' a skirt today," he decides, and lets go of the guitar again to slide an arm around her waist and pull her in a little closer. So much more convenient now that the thing has a strap. He leans to claim another kiss, in no particular hurry; surely they can't get banned from a park for =that=, right? "Can't say as I had any specific plan for where," he murmurs when it breaks, "Whatever we can get away with. ...that hostel got any private bathrooms, maybe? Or locks on that room you're in..."
Lilah lifts up a hand to his cheek, stroking it lightly as they kiss. Now she *is* blushing about as much as one would expect from her, and she replies in a murmur, "I don't rightly know that I would trust wearin' a skirt 'round you. Seems like it'd just get me into more trouble. Not necessarily more trouble than it's worth, but definitely trouble." She smirks, pressing her forehead to his, and adds, "An' I share a room. No private bathrooms, neither. Seems like a pickle, but somehow I know you'll figure out somethin'. You're clever enough for the both o' us."
"Can't we just kick your roomies out for a while?" Felix complains, fingers sneaking under the hem of her tanktop and playing along the side of her waist. "We really gotta find somewhere else to live if we're gonna be stayin' here much longer. And for the record, it'd be 'zactly the right amount of trouble. Promise. A'right, let's see..." The toe of his boot taps lightly on the bench seat while he considers. "Don't exactly got hotel level money at the moment. Your Denny's got a unisex bathroom? Those lock. I mean, they ain't exactly =ideal=, but somewhere's gotta have one. S'pose there might be somewhere out nearer the bridge or Walmart..." He grins suddenly, "Prolly a car 'round somewhere I could borrow. Might be a mite cramped for ya, though."
Lilah looks down at his hands as they slip under the hem, and then returns her gaze to his, kissing him lightly. "It *would* be 'zactly the right amount o' trouble, I reckon. I dunno if'n Denny's here has a unisex bathroom, let alone one that locks. Seems like..." She pauses, glancing upward, and then looks to him once more. "Seems like we oughta just figure out where we're gonna live, an' THEN take advantage o' the privacy. I'm sure it'll be more fun if we ain't rushed. So much..." she kisses him a bit more hotly, "...more fun."
Felix makes a frustrated noise, but kisses her back. Obviously. "Well, yeah, but seein' as I'm pretty sure we ain't gonna manage to get set up with somethin' in the next half-hour or so... Anyway, rushin's kinda fun, once in a while." His fingers roam a little higher, and he sighs. "If this was back home, I'd know 'bout twen'y places..." A thoughtful look at the surrounding buildings. "'s too bad I dunno the thing for handlin' locks. Make life a lot easier." He steals another kiss and then lets her go, slipping off the bench to empty the guitar case and refill it with guitar. "Got an idea."
"Nah, not in the next half hour or so, but somehow I reckon we'll get a place faster if we're both properly motivated-like." Lilah is happy to return his stolen kiss, however. When he lets her go, she lifts her brows in surprise, and then laughs softly at his announcement. "You got an idea already? Maybe my theory had some weight to it, you figure?"
"What, the one where I'm clever? We know =that=," Felix replies with a grin and his best airy arrogance. "Not a place to live, though. Well, not for us an' not right now, anyway. Plus it'll take some luck. But worth a try." He closes up the guitar case, hoists the duffle onto his shoulder, picks up the case and carrier bags, and then offers Lilah his other hand to help her back down. And probably also just to hold her hand, but hey.