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| Menagerie and Terrace Park, Landing |
| This park is most aptly named due to the various tiers and terraces that are neatly stacked with one another to create a rather pleasing aethestic. It is accessed through a series of pathways leading from the Statuary Forum. It encompasses about two square kilometers of space that, when combined with the various ups and downs of the tiers, means for quite a harch for those trying to explore every inch of it. Built within the parks architecture is a stream that burbles along and cascades over the tiers. Each tier varies in its ratio to lawn, trees, and flower beds. Some have stone bench seating, while others encourage sprawls across the plush grasses.
Tucked in the center of the park is a modest zoo and aquarium that is always open to the public and contains a wide range of animal life from all over Haven. |
| 8 May, 3013 |
The majority of the park and terraces has been roped off to allow the 'vid crew to do their work. As has been the case with movie sets, this one is flush with more people than seems absolutely necessary to film a single scene - but they all seem to be practiced at looking busy. Heads are turned toward the terraces as they either watch or record the scene currently taking place - a rather tense, romantic interlude between the two main characters before, presumably, things being to blow up.
Lines are exchanged, Jane manages to shed a few believable tears, and the scene closes on a hot kiss. The call for "Cut!" is given, and she steps away from the actor, wiping her mouth surreptitiously before flashing him a smile. Now that the scene has ended, bodies begin milling about tending to their 'important' duties, leaving Jane a moment's breather to jog away from the mass of bodies and linger on the perimeter of the set chugging at a flask of water.
Nikomachos has — in that way that only nobles can — inveigled himself onto the shoot, flashing his spurs and his smile in equal measure. He watches the shoot, the reaction of the lead actress after the call to cut causing him to stifle a laugh, shaking his head in amusement. Allowing the actress a moment to just get -away- from people, the Cindravale then quite directly cuts into what's left of that moment, approaching with a smile and an extended tin of breath mints. The really strong kind. "I bet you could convince Mister Hansen to chew one of these before the next take… not that I thought you needed another one."
If she were more of an athlete, Jane would be dumping the water over her head. Instead, the actress spins the top closed on her flask and tucks it away into her back pocket, turning just in time to nearly bump right into Nikomachos. Startled, Jane steps back and puts a hand up to her forehead, catching her breath and offering a sudden laugh of surprise. "Oh! I'm sorry, you surprised me. What? Oh, hahaha. Yes, I suppose the lot of us could do with one or two," she admits, accepting the mints and even prying open the tin to pop one into her mouth. She offers it to Niko to take one should he so choose. "How did you get over here, anyway? I don't see you wearing an official *badge.*"
Nikomachos pose steps back as the actress turns into him, holding out his hands to his sides to ensure that they don't land anywhere inappropriate. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you, Miss Wyre." He then breaks the bonds of protocol to stick out the tip of his tongue and demonstrate that he's already working on one of the breath mints himself. Gathering it back into one corner of his cheek, he shrugs a little helplessly, "Well, I may have intimated that I was one of the Cindravales, rather than just a Cindravale. Good thing the guard was just enough of a tourney fan to vaguely recognize me, without knowing anything more about me."
Jane "ahs" and snaps the tin closed, tucking it into a pocket before dropping one of the tiny mints onto her own tongue. Her eyes glitter with amusement as she crosses her arms over her chest, cocking her hips to the right and eyeballing Nikomachos. "Of course you did, and I am sure he was happy to direct you straight to me, too. Well, if you're going to stay here, follow me this way. I've a guest badge with my things, and you had better put it on before someone catches on to you."
Nikomachos laughs lightly at the assumption, shaking his head, "Oh no, Miss Wyre, I just walked in the direction everyone was looking." He moves to walk alongside the tall woman, bowing his head slightly at the offer that comes with the invitation, "It wouldn't do to have to cut my way off of the set, would it. I suppose that would put you behind schedule." His boyish grin flashes broad and crooked, "…and it would be most embarrassing to be clubbed insensate by the guards on set."
"Embarrassing for you, yes, but amusing for me," Jane answers with a laugh, leading the way along the perimeter of the set until they come upon a tent-like structure tall enough to admit them without ducking. Pulling back the makeshift flap, Jane snaps it into place hanging open - just in case people get the wrong idea about the visit. "You have impeccable timing, I must say. They aren't filming my next scene for another few hours."
Inside, the temporary dressing room is big enough to hold a dressing table laden with cosmetics and accessories, a small cot with a crumpled blanket in a vivid, hot pink hue, and a small foldable table with two chairs to each side of it. "Sit," Jane directs Niko to a chair while unbuckling her belt and tossing it onto the bed. She begins to rummage through the collection of crap before fishing out a bagde on a clip from beneath a pile of half-used tubes of mascara. She turns back and tosses it at Niko. "Here you go, your safe passage onto the set so long as I'm around. Does this movie really interest you? I was talking to a knight the other day, one of them stodgy Khourni kinds, and he was less than amused by this upcoming 'vid. I think I managed to extract a promise from him to see it at the premiere anyway."
Nikomachos starts to reach out to take the flap and hold it, but the actress has already snapped it up and out of the way, and he turns his hand palm-up helplessly, then lets it drop back to his side. He quite clearly takes in the area, nodding slightly, "Well, we Valen are known for our impeccable… well… everything." He sits as he's bid, although he keeps his sword-belt on, merely brushing the weapon aside so that he can sit comfortably in the chair. He even starts to tip it slightly backward before it shifts a little and he thinks better of the instinct. Catching the badge, he smiles his thanks, clipping it to the rolled arm-hole of his jerkin. "I have to admit, I've been quite curious what filming is like. I mean, I've seen the vid-cams at tourney, of course, and done a few interviews, but nothing like a big-screen shoot." Tilting his head to one side, he smirks, "Now I must say that I'm quite curious what the Khourni disapproved of." There's a beat-pause, and then he adds, "Well, besides everything."
Leaning back against her dressing table, Jane crosses her arms over her chest and offers Niko a brief grin. "Now you will see that there is a very not-glorious aspect to being an actress, and that it's mostly grueling hours of work, work, work. Awake at 4am and up until the next morning, catch a nap here and there and celebrate when they're not doing your scenes one day." She pauses, allowing Niko to continue the conversation, and the mention of the Khourni earns a loud laugh. "Oh everything! He never said it outright, because he was a bit of a gentleman about it, but his disinterest and disapproval was practically palpable. Why make war movies when you can just make war? Why have a movie about something as silly as romance?"
Nikomachos may look interested by the tales from behind the screen, but the Khourni's reaction leaves him positively aghast, "Well now that's just patently ridiculous. War movies inspire the next generation of youngsters to enter service, and remind those who have already served what they're fighting for. As to something as inspiring and hopeful as romance, well… anyone who thought that 'silly' does not know human nature, Miss Wyre." He pauses a moment, then frowns thoughtfully, "I have wondered how actors managed to do so much kissing without it amounting to anything. I mean, you're all so very glamorous, I would imagine it would be hard not to develop some sort of feelings for the beautiful person you're kissing from 4 A.M. until the next morning — which seems very tiring, I must say."
Jane grins. She half-turns to empty the contents of her pockets onto her table before taking a seat in the chair opposite Niko. "Perhaps they simply view human nature through a lens of a different color, my lord. It would be wrong of me to judge someone simply because their perspective is different than mine. Still, it's a bit of shock to realize firsthand that your target audience is relatively small compared to the total population." Leaning forward, she props her elbows on the table and cradles her chin in her hands. "Sometimes it is hard, but mostly it isn't. It's a job, it's work. That takes a bit of the fun out of kissing, I think. It would be like—say you worked in a coffee shop all day long, many many hours. You're a master of making any kind of coffee drink, and you've tried them all a hundred times each. After a while, you get tired of coffee. You like the smell, and the taste is okay, but you much prefer juice now."
Nikomachos shakes his head slightly, "Khourni never can see so far, stuck down as they are on foot. Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of Khourni who enjoy your movies almost as much as we Valen, so I shouldn't badmouth them around the set. We wouldn't want any sort of dislike to seep into the movie itself and sabotage ticket sales in the Crescent." He listens thoughtfully to the comparison, nodding along, although the last point causes him to laugh lightly, "You realize, of course, that you have just made it impossible to resist asking what 'juice' is in this analogy." He holds up both hands to ward off immediate response, "Which puts me in a conundrum, as actually asking would be ungallant of me. So I'll have to satisfy myself with simply stating the impossibility of the position I'm in." His lips purse together tightly, quite failing to smother a grin that threatens to stretch all the way across them.
"I am sure there are small groups in each culture that enjoy the movies, although I wouldn't presume to say there are 'plenty'. Enough watch the movies that I get a decent paycheck, although nothing compared to my dad's." Jane sighs rather dramatically, but is taken aback a bit by Niko pursuing her half-assed analogy about coffee and juice. "Hmm, well, asking is not ungallant, per se. Perhaps your thoughts have merely strayed to the wrong place, and so you assume it would be ungallant to pry into what you have already predicted to be my response? In this case, the 'juice' is real romance. What girl doesn't want a little genuine heart-fluttering romance with someone who isn't paid to kiss her?"
Nikomachos laughs lightly at having his teasing words turned back on him, "I hadn't actually predicted anything, Miss Wyre. I wouldn't presume to have any idea what you might be yearning for to break out of the doldrums of stage romance, although I must admit that your presence at the Violet Siren might suggest something closer to excitement or adrenaline than genuine romance." Shaking his head a touch, he shifts in his chair to hook his left elbow around one side of the back of the chair, tipping his left boot up on his right knee, "I can, of course, assure you that not only is that desire restricted to women, Miss Wyre, but that I hardly think the men who star opposite you need be paid to kiss you." He pauses, considering, then admits, "Well, except for those who favor boys, of course."
"You flatter me - I think," Jane accuses, leaning back in her chair. Mimicking Niko's position, albeit subconsciously, she crosses her legs at the knee and sets her right foot to swinging. "Oh, but they do get paid to kiss me, and that changes one's whole perception of a relationship. It becomes nothing more than a work exchange, and we all become neatly categorized in each other's minds. Obviously enough people make a go of it to feed the tabloids - because what day isn't there some new bit of celebrity gossip? - and some of them even succeed. But more of them fail, and it's a combination of this perspective plus one nightmare of a schedule."
Pausing, Jane reaches up to flick the tail of her braid behind her shoulder. "You know, I never did ask you what brings you to Landing, anyway. You've escaped the Vale, at least for a while, and yet have found time not only to drop in on a rockin' party at the Siren but to hunt me down at work. Tell me about your work."
Nikomachos laughs again, nodding his head at the accusation, "I do. Not well enough, apparently, or it would have been much clearer." Still, he doesn't seem to hold a grudge, nodding his understanding at the description of the fates of celebrity romances, "Very similar, I would think, to how many of the Tourney romances go. You know, boy meets girl, girl tries to knock boy off horse with a stick, boy marries girl, girl keeps knocking boy off horse with a stick, boy divorces girl. The oldest story known to mankind." Spreading his hands broad to both sides, he states with pride, "I'm a jouster." Hooking his left arm back over the back of his chair, he settles back to expound on that point, "Not a champion yet, but I've a winning record. I'm in Landing to work with Sir Erskin on my point control before the next tourney."
One of Jane's eyebrows arches upward (the left one, if you must know). "A jouster. Really. I didn't realize people really did that for a living - like a genuine source of income. But, I guess for nobility it's a bit of a different story than the regular peons schlummin' it in middle class. So, you use your winnings to travel around and train with masters so you can get better and win more money so you can train more and get better and win more money?" She flashes a toothy grin in an attempt to elaborate on her sense of humor. "I must know what fantastic name you have given your mount."
Nikomachos shrugs helplessly at the mention of 'income,' "I must admit I receive a sizeable stipend from Aunt Kallista." That would be the High Lady of House Cindravale. "You're quite right that very few can afford such a life, and my expenditures would be significantlly less than if I were not born into House Cindervale, but I do believe I could make a go of it. But yes, I use my winnings to… continue the circle, for the sake of sparing my tongue the attempt to follow that path you so delicately laid out. The eventual goal, of course, was to hone my skills to the end of surviving as a member of the Generation of Vengeance." Someone always gives the generation that will face the Hostiles a fancy name. The question about his horse draws a laugh, "Well, at first I was considering 'Horse.' But even at 13, I thought that was a little too on-the-nose. I ended up with Erinye. It's an Old Earth Greek word that caught my ear, and apparently means 'fury.'" Not quite, but at more than a hundred light-years distant, who is going to correct him?
Jane grins a second time at Nikomachos. "Why not just name him Fury? Oh nah, nah, I understand. I'm just joking. It sounds like a very pretty name, and befitting a horse happy to carry her master toward potential death. But—Generation of Vengeance…" Jane echoes the words carefully, evaluating the weight and feel of it on her tongue while squinting at Nikomachos. "Not for me. But at least you know where you will be when the time comes. Some of us just have to wing it. Did you want a tour of the set?"
Nikomachos laughs at the question, "Because Fury would be far too direct. My family has always loved being troublesome about that. My own name, the name of the first High Lord Cindravale's younger brother, it has something to do with victory. And Ares, as in the Fields of Ares? He was some sort of primitive war god. But we can't just call ourselves 'Victor,' or the grasslands 'The Fields of War.'" Shrugging helplessly again, he shakes his head in dry amusement, although he sobers somewhat as she goes on, "Please don't take this as an insult, as it is not meant to be such in any way, Miss Wyre, but the reason that people like myself train to fight the Hostiles is so that people like yourself do not ever have to, may the Six see that it is so." The invitation that follows draws him quickly up to his feet, "I would love one, but I don't want to take up all of your break… please, only if it is not imposing myself upon you. I am quite willing to withdraw and leave you some time to yourself."
"No insult taken, my lord. I am well aware that my purpose is not as an unrelenting war machine or Hostile killer; I just play one on the 'vids. We are grateful, you know. Silently, at least for now, because most people these days just aren't quite willing to let go of the hope that maybe nothing will happen. But when the time comes, and our soldiers begin to die, the people will rally up behind them in whatever way they can." Jane shakes her head as if warding away an annoying insect, and her expression brightens as Nikomachos accepts the offer. "Nonsense! All I would have done was sleep, and I don't even need it right now. Come on, I will introduce you to Mister Hansen." Her eyebrows waggle in amusement as she gestures for Niko to precede her out of the tent.
Nikomachos chuckles dutifully at the comment about playing one on the 'vids, although he bows his head somewhat solemnly at the words that follow, "And that is why you have had a successful career, Miss Wyre. The ability to inspire others with your own words — and to make rot like The Underdark come alive." That matches her dismissive gesture, bringing an amused smile back to his lips. Rising to his feet, he narrows his eyes slightly, "Will you promise to get him to eat a mint first? I may not plan to get as close to him as you did in that last scene, but I saw the reaction." He's laughing again by then, leaving the tent quite cheerfully and with a soft chiming of spurs, off to get his first official tour of a film set.