Logs:For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost.
Dramatis Personae Leo, Sarah, Winona
In Absentia	2019-09-30 "I do believe in at least some of the stories, but I don't know if that means they are true."
Location <NYC> Tompkins Square Park - East Village
Small but popular, this tree-lined park is a perfect centerpiece to the eclectic neighborhood it resides in. Home to a number of playgrounds and courts from handball to basketball, it also houses a dog park and chess tables, providing excellent space for people watching -- especially during its frequent and often eccentric festivals, from Wigstock to its yearly Allen Ginsberg tribute Howl festival. It's starting to actually feel like fall, cloudy and cool in the city as it edges into evening. Leo is just making his way through the park, seasonally appropriate in a blue-and-black damask nehru jacket with silver trim and cuffs, gray twill trousers, and black ankle boots. He's holding a large paper bag in his arms, ignoring the fact it has handles and cradling it carefully against his chest instead. "--kind of feeling like. Maybe a burden? I don't think my host is running out of money but a job soon would still be -- oh!" He's saying this a little awkwardly to Winona, at least until he's briefly distracted by a small passing white mop that is trotting briskly off toward the dog park, escorted by a skinny teenager at the other end of its leash. Possibly Leo was heading somewhere else but with the allure of dogs to watch he instead takes a seat on a bench just opposite the pair of dog runs, setting the bag down in his lap. "It's okay if you don't like it," he adds a touch anxiously as he starts to unpack the takeout containers. "I think some -- things are maybe, an acquired taste." Winona's listening to Leo with a focused expression, and though her rainbow hair is swept over one of her eyes, her eyebrows are clearly knit and her lips pursed. Her gaze follows the mop dog as it passes, though her attention switches back to her walking companion quickly enough. "I know what you mean. I feel like, yeah, I need to like. Do something. Nobody's said anything but I am sleeping in someone's room and they definitely need that back and..." She trails off, her tongue passes over her teeth and she makes a clicking sound with her tongue. "I should probably acquire some tastes anyways. Never know if I never try it," she says as way of encouragement. She wears a pair of olive green pants and a similarly coloured jacket over a tan tee. Today, Sarah is proudly wearing a brand new shirt! A black tanktop that reads 'sᴍᴏʟ' in white tinycaps. The rest of her outfit is old garb - faded jeans covered in various heart, rose, and Hello Kitty patches; sunshine yellow converse; a pink and baby blue plaid flannel worn open to display her Official Status. A purple canvas messenger bag that states 'never too old for fairy tales' hangs from one shoulder, and is currently the main recipient of Sarah's attention as she rummages through it, coming out of the larger of the dog runs. She is Absolutely Dogless, but the teenager (or his small mop) don't seem bothered. She wanders away from the gate in small steps, weaving back and forth but generally staying Out of the Path while she digs, dig, digs. She only has, like, five things. What dark magic makes the thing you are looking for the hardest to find? Finally, she lets out a small triumphant cry. Gotcha! She pulls a bag of banana chips from the depths, resisting the urge to hold it over her head like Link. (Possibly, some mimicry of the 'Item Get' tune does emerge from her mouth.) Now that some sort of food has been acquired, Sarah actually looks up and notices her surroundings. Sees her new neighbors across the way. Smiling broadly, she waves--Hello!--but hangs back. Best to see if they want company, first. "There's tamarind shrimp -- and some lumpia -- and this chicken adobo, my tita she makes this so good." Leo's expression has grown more animated as he unpacks the food to set it neatly on the bench beside him, offering a small wad of napkins and some plastic cutlery to Winona. "Do you have any ideas? For things you'd -- like. Doing." His brows knit deeply. "Maybe though there is not a lot of choice. I'm maybe at the anything-that-will-pay-me stage." He spreads a napkin of his own carefully across his lap, one ankle crossing behind the other. His dark eyes lift at the wave, darting up reflexively with a small tension of shoulders that passes almost as soon as it's started. His return wave is cautious, and his quiet murmur to Winona embarrassed: "She is the neighbor, right? I forgot her name." Winona's expression is momentarily blank with non-recognition at hearing the names of everything, though a grin starts to appear on her face once Leo mentions his tita's chicken adobo, and her interest is maintained by seeing it unpacked. "I've been getting help getting my scholarships in order. Before, I was going to have scholarships and some support from my community to go to film school, but with everything." She exhales and shakes her head. "Feels overwhelming. I used to make some extra money from Youtube stuff, though it wasn't..." She gestures her hands vaguely in circles above her head. That gesturing turns smoothly into a welcoming wave when she notices said neighbour, and she whispers to Leo, "Her name's Sarah." She pauses. "I think." Well, they waved back, that must be some sort of invitation. Right? <strikethrough>She's never gonna Get this.</strikethrough> Those thoughts are shoved down, the same as she shoves the banana chips back into her bag. "Hey," she greets, after wandering over to the occupied bench. One hand fiddles with the strap on her bag while her mind races. "It's, um. Leo and Winona, right?" She thinks that's right. The list in her head that's titled /Neighbors/ has 'Winona - Awesome hair', and 'Leo - Good clothes.' "I'm Sarah, from the apartments," she adds, awkwardly. "How are you settling in?" "Do you think they'll be able to help you? That -- um, Lucien, he seems very..." Leo trails off, his fingers smoothing slowly at the napkin in his lap. "Film school sounds, neat. What kind of movies do you make?" A vague relief flits across his face when Winona supplies Sarah's name. He relaxes back onto the bench, his smile a little bit less hesitant. "Do you like dumplings?" He's opening the lid on the container of lumpia, holding them out to Sarah and only in the next instant looking a little awkward about it. "I mean to say, yes. I'm Leo." Winona nods firmly, plenty of confidence that Lucien is capable of helping. "I have a pretty diverse portfolio, but I was... interrupted while starting filming on the second 'season' of a series- Oh geez, it's gonna sound pretty goofy. It was a documentary series about ghost stories and paranormal things like that in the midwest. But it was a framing device for telling about some actual history." Winona brushes her hand back through her hair, taking her turn in seeming self conscious as she averts her gaze momentarily. "Yeah, that's right, I'm Winona. I am settling in okay, I think. At least, I've been getting out more." Sarah lights up like a Christmas tree when Leo offers her a dumpling. "Oh, wow, thank you!" She manages to take one like a normal person instead of snatching it out of the container, to take a single bite instead of eating half of it in one go. Her eyes slide closed, a content and happy grin curling the edges of her mouth while she eats. "Seems like you found a place to get awesome food," she says, when she can. "That's always a great start. And a place with dogs. Did you ever find a skate park?" Another bite is shoved into her mouth, this time with a bit less grace. "It was a few blocks --" Leo points off in the direction they'd come from. "Ressie's Kusina it was called. Ryan tells me there is more Filipino food in Queens though." He's looking kind of pensive with this thought, before he takes a dumpling for himself and sets the container back down on the bench. "Ghost stories?" His eyes widen. "Are any of them true?" Though regardless of answer, he's still leaning forward, intrigued. "That seems like a very. Interesting framing for history. I love to hear people's stories. Places... stories." "Yeah, there are actually a lot of skaters who hang out in this park, and they know more about what's in the city. I just had to go out and talk to someone," says Winona to Sarah, a half grin on her face, before she answers Leo. "I do believe in at least some of the stories, but I don't know if that means they are true." She takes a dumpling from the container that Leo had just put down. "I like hearing about people's stories too. And I like telling them. That's been the main thing for me... I think places can remember the people who were part of them, and they're haunted with those memories. Telling those stories, especially the ones that usually don't get told, feels important. Whether or not the ghosts are real, the people they're about were." Sarah cranes her head to look in the direction that Leo points, silently mouthing the name of the restaurant until it's remembered. "Talking to people is always more difficult than it sounds," she offhandedly comments. "So many rules." Her attention is grabbed again by mention of ghost stories, whipping her around to look at Winona with wide, engrossed eyes. "You said you tell them? Like, in a book or what? I'd love that kinda stuff." "Movies," Leo says this with a quiet sort of awe. "She might to go school for it." He dips the dumpling in sauce and pops it into his mouth whole, licking clean his fingertips and just enjoying it quietly for a moment. "I like that thought," he finally decides. "That places remember. Although some places..." The shiver that passes through him is brief, but noticeable. "Some places, I think, that remembering would be painful to know." "I do write short stories, but I love video. I wish I knew where my camera got to, it's been awhile..." Winona says with nostalgia. She places a hand on Leo's shoulder to offer a reassuring squeeze, then moves on to more properly take some of the tamarind shrimp. "I've gone into places that feel kind of wrong... just a little bit off? Might be just me, but I imagine those kinds of places having painful memories in them. Places that feel really haunted." "Oh wow, movies," Sarah answers, unconsciously mimicking Leo's awed tone. "That's rad." She's nodding along with Leo's next words, all ready to agree, when the phrase 'remembering would be painful to know' reaches past her ribs to grab her by the spine and shake. Something in her face, behind her eyes shutters close, the thoughts of a slowly decaying, drafty house that was never warm in the winter creeping around the edges of her mind. Does she haunt it in return? Sarah blinks to bring herself back to the present, quickly rearranges her face into something like cheer. "If there's one thing I've learned about this city, it's that you can find a shop for just about anything. There's gotta be a used camera shop, maybe somewhere that does rentals." Leo offers a small grateful smile to Winona at that squeeze. Offers the dumplings back out to Sarah when her expression shifts. "You should ask that -- that, that --" He holds other hand up parallel to the one with the dumplings, twisting it down like the throttle of a motorcycle while making a soft -- VROOM. "The loud one," he explains to Winona, to augment this Helpful Description of who he is talking about. "He went out with Polaris and got phones for everyone maybe he knows how to get cameras. Then you can tell more YouTube stories. I'd watch them. I bet," this is quietly musing, too, "New York has a lot of ghosts." Winona's expression is initially one of confusion, but recognition settles onto her face by the time that Leo refers to 'the loud one'. She says quietly, like she is imparting some secret fact, "That guy's really intense." Her volume returns to normal as she continues. "I used to have a quality camera, it was a gift from my family, but... I lost track of it. I guess that guy will know at least where I can get equipment that... works." She grins lopsidedly. "Without a camera or car, I don't think what I planned in the midwest could work. But yeah, New York." She makes a sweeping movement with her hand. "That's a different story."