ArchivedLogs:Law and Justice

Law and Justice
Dramatis Personae Eric, Nox	2013-02-23 A discussion in the dark on law and justice, and a warning.
Location <NYC> Central Park North
Central Park North is slightly quieter than its southern counterpart, being further uptown and slightly out of the bustle of the City - insofar as one can escape the bustle of the City even here, in the acres of green and blue that make up Central Park. The reservoir is in the northern half, providing miles of jogging and biking trails along the clear water, as well as benches for people to sit and rest. It's full dark, the lull between strolling tourists and clubgoers. The weather has been wet of late, leaving the paths shining silver between the orange pools of lamplight. Treading /off/ the paths is challenge for those who don't enjoy picking their way through dull, sodden grass and the puddles of mud where the lawn has been rubbed bare. Those who prowl here do so where their feet are less likely to become soaked, or dirty. Nox is on a mission, and damp and mud figure into it. She's dressed as most street people are this season, in dull grey and brown layers, dirtied by weather and hard living. She's claimed a bench by one of the trails that leads towards the reservoir, piled it with newspapers for effect and then curled around herself, hands on knees and eyes peeping above them. Watching, waiting, lying in wait for a creature who may or may not come this way--and may or may not have a taste for the homeless, the down on their luck, the defenseless. With her hood pulled up and those dark hands hidden inside of tatty gloves, she could almost pass for human. Almost. A light spears out across the path in the distance, rapidly approaching. A figure on a bike with a thick jacket pedals towards Nox, light illuminating her. The same figure pulls to a stop a foot or so away, and swings off the bike, kicking out the stand. The bike is blue, with an odd looking light on the front of it. Only a third of it seems to be lit up. The front of his jacket, as the man approaches, has a badge stitched into it. "Hey," the figure says, words dipped in a thick southern accent. "S' time to get up. You can't sleep here." he says, pulling a flashlight off of his waist and flicking it on. "Oh bother," Nox murmurs as the bike pulls to a stop. She is prepared for the officer's approach. Less so, perhaps, for the beam of light that flicks towards her. She makes a soft sound of discomfort and shields her eyes. With her hands close to her face, wisps and tendrils of her hair drift forward beneath the hood's edge, trying to curl around her fingers--only to snatch back as the light washes over them. Still in a whisper, she tells him, "I beg your pardon, sir, but I'm not sleeping. I am sitting, enjoying the quiet," but even as this is shared, the woman eases to her feet. "Ah." The flashlight is turned off as quickly as it was turned on, and Eric gives Nox a warm smile. "You can sit as much as you want. It's only sleeping that's not allowed." he looks her up and down once, giving a faint look of concern. "Do you have a place to sleep indoors that's warm tonight?" he asks, pulling a water bottle out from one of two holders on his bike and taking a sip of it. The hands hiding her face are slow in their lowering. Nox ends up looking at him through her fingers before she lets them slide down from her face and curl loosely at her sides. That...was not the answer she'd been expecting, which could account for her hesitation before speaking again. "The cold doesn't bother me much of the time," she finally says, and with it comes a small uncertain smile--more heard than seen. Another pause follows, spent in glancing left, right, over her shoulder, as if checking for others nearby. "But I thank you for asking. Are you...ah, very cold? I hadn't thought they would employ police on bicycles until the warmer months." "Naw," Eric shakes his head, with a chuckle. "They just give us long underwear and tell us to get on with it." he says, eyes twinkling in a very friendly manner. "We're like the post office. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet and all that." There is a faint frown at the edge of his mouth as he butchers the motto, but it is gone and back with a smile. "Cold not bothering you don't mean you shouldn't have a safe, warm place to stay. There are lots of places to stay in the city, if you need it." "I believe that motto belongs to the postal service, officer." But it's enough to leave Nox relaxing by just a hint, her smile more steady, her gaze less likely to stray. "Ah..." This time it's she who chuckles, though hers emerges as a hum. Her fingers pluck at the cuff of one sleeve before she curls them as if to study the black nails that tip her grey hands. "Not so many as you would think. But I have a place to sleep. Thank you," she whispers, looking up at him again. "You seem familiar. Would I know you?" "It does, indeed." Eric says, eyes flicking over her hand as he places his gloved hands in his pockets for a moment. "Perhaps. I am on patrol here a lot, and I was at the garment district before this. And... you know, for a big city, it's a small world." he says, teeth shining through his smile. "It wouldn't surprise me if you did." "Mm, I would remember if you had rousted me before this," Nox says with a smaller smile, a sudden throwback to her initial attempt to appear the homeless waif. She tugs briefly at the hood, bringing it closer to her face, over those defiant escapee tendrils. Having been given leave to do so, she sinks back onto the bench and draws one knee up to her chest as a post to curl her arms around. "But I'm almost certain I've seen your face before. Officer...?" "Oh. How rude of me. Sutton. Eric Sutton." The police officer says, stepping forward and extending a gloved hand for Nox to shake. His eyes track over her face, but he makes no comment on the tendril-like hair. "It's good to meet you...?" he trails off as well, raising one eyebrow, questioningly. When presented with a hand to shake, Nox blinks slowly at it. Again with the unexpected. She gingerly slips her gloved hand into his ungloved one, with a grip that has slightly more give to it than it should. "A pleasure, Officer Sutton. I am, ah..." For that fraction of a second, she seems to be searching for a lie before settling on the equally unhelpful, "Nox." She's quick to retrieve her hand, and to smooth that withdrawal over with a fresh smile. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm unaccustomed to such...warmth. From members of the law enforcement community." "Nox. It's good to meet you." Eric says, smile remaining warm even as things begin to add up for even the slowest of people. Of which, Eric might be. "Well, we're not all bad." he says, brightly. "As I see it, our job is to serve and protect the members of the public. That's what I signed up for, and that's what I'm gonna do." A brief pause, and his lips quirk into a wider smile. "Plus, my ma' would hit me with a wooden spoon if I was rude to a lady." "Ah, the maternal spoon. Never to be trifled with. If only all boys were raised in the South by such mothers, it might be a kinder world. For ladies." Nox folds her hands over her knee and observes him from behind this makeshift barrier. It hides her smile from sight, though can't erase the sound of it when she speaks. "A shame that the few give the many such a harsh reputation. It must bother you, terribly." "To tell you truthful, ma'am, I don't spend much time worrying about things that I can't control." Eric confesses, with a little bit of a wry look. "It's up to me to act how I act, and do what I do. It's up to my supervisors to make sure that my fellow officers do." A brief pause. "Besides. I think it's as you say it. No one reports on all of us who do right. People only report on the handful that don't." Nox's chin lifts just enough to perch on her knee, displacing her hands. They slip down to curl over her shin instead. She spends more time considering what he's said than is perhaps warranted. "May I ask a question that could be offensive to a certain type of officer, Mister Sutton?" she finally inquires. "If you'd rather I didn't, I won't. I'll speak instead of the weather, perhaps." Eric gestures, his hand unfolding and pointing towards her, a gesture of permission. Even still, he follows it up with, "Go right ahead. I reserve the right to not answer, of course." he says, eyes twinkling. "But I will not take offense. Unless you critique my figure, of course." he adds, with a playful wink. It's difficult to tell but her eyes might widen--Nox lowers her head immediately afterward until she has her expression back under control. The little hum that she gives indicates amusement, though. "I wouldn't," she says, perhaps too earnestly. "I was only wondering why it was that you aren't enforcing the recent ordinance against people of my sort." "Ah." Eric's smile fades, slightly, and he looks down the dark path in front of him for a moment before he looks back at Nox. "And what makes you think I'm not, Ms. Nox?" he says, softly. "I am an officer, sworn to uphold the law. And I /do/. But the ordinance makes it explicit - it is only /voluntary/ use of mutant powers in public that is a violation, not /involuntary/. The devil is in the details, as they say." "The devil," Nox echoes. She might have said more but her head dips again and when it lifts, her smile is back, replacing whatever urge she'd felt to speak more on /that/ subject. "It is just Nox, please. I gave up titles too long ago to wish them back now." Though she's certainly comforting using them. Witness: "I think perhaps I remember now where I've seen you before, Mister Sutton. Yours is a face well-liked by cameras." Eric winces slightly. "Not my best picture, I will admit." he says, with a faint smile. "But, yes. Then, you see, you prove my point for me. That picture would never have been taken if I don't uphold the very ordinance that you asked me about." he points out, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and fetching the water bottle from his bike to take another sip. "I enforce the law." "I had wondered. You did not seem best pleased by having been placed in that position, though it was a rightful enforcement of the detail." Nox watches him, her eyes moving from man to bike to bottle to man again. "Have you seen, I also wonder, a man in a red hooded jacket? Within this park or perhaps on your other rounds, sir? A man with a face the likes of which make children cry, and a manner to match?" "There is such a thing as the laws being an impediment to justice." Eric says, words sharpening. "Ticketing a person who just helped save the lives of several people and assist law enforcement is not my cup of tea. But... I am an officer of the law, and I must obey it." This last sentence sounds like something of a mantra. "A red hooded jacket? Hm." His lips purse, gloved thumb rubbing against his nose thoughtfully. "I saw someone like that down near the Bethesda Terrace a few days ago. Why? Someone I should be keeping an eye out for?" "Well said. We must all obey the promises we've made, however much they might chafe at times." But Nox is happy to leave that subject aside, even approving of the turn it's taken, in favor of this new one. She straightens her back, hands falling away from her leg and foot returning to the ground. "Bethesda Terrace. He is, I think, someone to keep an eye out for and someone to avoid, if at all possible. Should it become necessary to engage him, Officer Sutton, I recommend you do so without allowing him to touch you. But you're certain? Bethesda?" "There are plenty of people with ugly faces and red jackets in this city." Eric says, cautiously. "But... has this person committed crimes? If they have, I can have his description bulleted and the relevant people notified." he continues. "If he is as dangerous as you imply, he shouldn't be on the streets." Nox slides to her feet. She has a hand raised as if to ward him off. Or /warn/ him off. "The question had to be asked but I did not ask it that you would turn the wheels. So far as I am aware, he has done no crimes that would warrant the attention of you and yours. Still..." Here she smiles, attempting reassurance. "I would like to know that if you saw him again, you would be cautious. You've been...surprisingly pleasant." Eric smiles and nods. "I will be sure that I don't shake his hand, then." he says, brightly. "And... I'll put the word out to some of the other patrol officers. Nothing official, but... we'll keep an eye out, if only to make sure things don't get bad enough that they need more formal things." He says, nodding his head, once. "Thank you for the forewarning, Nox." "Oh, good." And so in trying to reassure, Nox is instead reassured. She breathes out, though it's barely audible, and her smile deepens by a large degree. "Consider it a public service. How could I do less for someone so committed to doing the same? Will you excuse me now, Officer Sutton? I'm afraid I must commit a voluntary breach of the law and I would so hate to involve you." "As long as it is a breach of the law we discussed earlier, I will admit I would rather not be here to see it." Eric says, eyes twinkling mischievously. He puts his water bottle back in his bike holder, and remounts his bike. "It was good to meet you, Nox." He nods, once, and waves a hand. With that, he presses down on the bike pedals, and begins to bike away, the blinking red light on the back of his bike visible even as the darkness swallows him up. Nox stands as she was, in front of the bench, watching that light go. Perhaps just to be certain that he really /is/ leaving before she turns to slip into darker regions of the park--away from the shielding illumination of the lamps.