Players:
Summary: Omri and Valerie meet in the park.
Date: February 19, 2010
Friday Afternoon in the Park
Rating: G
NYC - Bryant Park
Located right behind the New York Public Library is the quaint Bryant Park. Looking over 42nd Street, chairs and tables have been set up all around the green, making it ideal for book readers, people to sit down and eat, or just relax with friends. Trees surround three out of four sides of the park, and in one of the corners sits a little stand called The witchcraft creamery which offers ice cream sandwiches, milkshakes, floats, and warmer beverages in the winter.
A cold day, and Valerie is dressed in thick clothes! Gray pants, and a yellow wool sweater protect her from the winter cold as she walks slowly through the park, looking around with a soft smile on her lips, though it's next to impossible to tell where she's looking exactly, what with her eyes shielded by her black sunglasses. She seems to be murmuring something to herself, as her lips softly move as she walks.
Omri is seated on a park bench. He is wearing a pair of rather expensive, dark jeans with a white button up shirt, tucked in. He has a black tie on, fashionably loose around his unbuttoned collar. It's covered with a dark grey vest, buttoned, and finally a wool overcoat. He has a tupperware container in his lap, filled with slices of fruit, which he is eating with a fork.
Valerie notices the man eating slices of fruit not too far away from her, and notices the man's attire. Smiling, she can't help but approach the man. "I'm sorry, I know it's none of my business, but… aren't you cold wearing just that?" The woman asks, still sporting that soft, friendly smile, despite having her eyes still shielded by her sunglasses.
Omri finishes chewing the piece of kiwi, and looks up at the woman. "Um…," he swallows. "Wool is pretty warm, eh," he says, with a soft smile. He lifts the container a bit, "Kiwi?" He smiles a little wider, and gently brushes his empathic abilities against her mind, quickly touching to see her current emotional state.
Valerie lets out a soft chuckle. The woman seems to be calm and satisfied, for now. She nods, and accepts the offered kiwi slice. "Thank you." she says, softly chewing on it with a smile, "Mmm… delicious." she says, giggling softly after swallowing. "So, name's Valerie. Thank you for the slice." she bows softly, holding her sunglasses so they don't drop.
Omri seems suddenly off guard, "Oh!" He holds his hand out, as if he forgot all about them being strangers already. "I'm Omri. Nice to meet you." He grins, "It's fresh from this organic store near my loft." He offers a little, sheepish shrug, "Vegan."
Valerie giggles softly as she shakes Omri's hand, "Pleased to meet you too." she nods softly, "Nothing wrong with liking to eat vegetables." the woman says with a soft smile and a light nod. "Omri. That's quite the exotic name. Where is it from?"
Omri nods, "The Bible. He was a King of Isreal." He shrugs, "My father's idea." He furrows his brow, and then addendums. "The name, not the vegetables." He smiles. "Any ideas on what to do around here for fun? I'm sorta new to the city…"
Valerie ah's and nods, "So I take it your father reads the bible often, hm?" she asks, smiling softly, crossing her arms softly, in front of her chest. "As for what one can do in the city for fun… depends on your tastes, I guess." she shrugs lightly, still smiling. "There's the theater for the ones that like it, there's the park for the ones that like peace and quiet while being around people… there's the mall, etc."
Omri nods, "My father did, yeah. Me? Not so much." He nods at her suggestions, "Is that why you're out here? Staying away from people, eh?" He smirks a little, "That would be my guess, anyway, with the glasses and all."
Valerie oh's softly and adjusts her glasses for a moment, "Oh, those? Well.. let's just say that my eyes have a rare condition, so I like to keep them hidden." she smiles, "They're sensitive." she nods softly. "As why I'm here? Well, I like the outdoors. And in a place like this city, the parks are the only way to go."
Omri studies her a moment, "Is it a health issue? Or just cosmetic? You seem to see okay." He nods at the rest. "I come to the park to eat, mostly. My work's across the street," he says, gesturing to one of the high rises nearby. "If you like the outdoors, why be in the city at all?" He blushes a little, and withdraws, "I'm sorry. I'm prying."
Valerie chuckles softly, smiling softly, "Well, I can see fine. It's just that too much light hurts my eyes." she might be lying about it. "So the sunglasses block the extra light so I can see fine." she nods softly. And as for teh question of her choice of settlement, she smiles, "Well, I have to be in the city to find decent work that would make use of my college degree, so, yea."
"I never went to university," Omri offers. "But I do alright, eh." He smiles, "I'm a translator. It's boring, though, actually." He watches her sunglasses, more from interest and curiosity and not intentional rudeness. "What's your work aboot?" he asks, his pronunciation of about clearly screaming Canadian.
Valerie nods softly, "Well, may be boring, but important for international relationships." she nods softly, and then adjusts her sunglasses again. "And I'm a computer expert. A programmer."
Omri grins, "I had to do a lot of studying about computers. It's hard to do technological items in other languages if you don't really know what they are." He gives another little shrug, "Still, it's not as interesting I suppose as what you do, eh?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out one of his business cards, identifying him as Omri Laroche, Linguistic Relations. "Um… I do some freelancing… heh… you know… if you ever need… something…" He shifts in his seat as he holds out the card.
Valerie smiles and takes the card, smiling softly, "Ah, thank you. I'll keep it in mind." she nods softly as she pockets the card. "And as for my work not being boring… oh, it can be." she nods softly. "And frustrating. Imagine putting on paper instructions, detailed instructions for someone. But instructions down to the last detail, like which glass exactly to get, and where exactly to put it, with pin-point precision." she says, smiling softly. "And then having to rewrite everything in case something goes wrong after it's finished."
"It sounds as if there's little room for mistakes," Omri says, nodding. He takes another piece of the fruit, chewing it, swallowing. "I've never been to the theatre. Do you recommend anything? Or is it stupid?"
Valerie chuckles softly, smiling gently. "Well, it's a castle of cards. All cards have to be precisely placed, or else…" she shrugs softly, smiling a bit, relaxing her arms, "Or else, bugs, crashes, and other nasty computer stuff happen." she nods. She then listens as you ask her about advice. "Well, the theater isn't really my thing, but if you like going to theaters, I don't see why not go check it out?"
Omri smirks, "I don't really know if it's my thing or not. So…" He shrugs, "Maybe I'll just stick to books." He puts the lid back on his fruit, and pushes himself up to his feet. "Anyway… Um… It was…" He wipes his hands nervously on his jeans. "It was nice to meet you, eh."
Valerie smiles and nods, shaking Omri's hand after he wipes it, "Nice to meet you, too, Omri." she nods gently, "And good luck around. Hopefully you'll like this city, despite its oddities."
Omri smiles, "Thank you." He gives a quick nod, and then begins to head across the park.
