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Trees dotted the field, while paths worked around them through short-cut grass. There were benches and beds of colorful flowers in key points along the paths, with orange-yellow marigolds standing out most prominently. It was clearly a well-managed lot, but Willow had some trouble making sense of how a green, plant-filled place could match so closely to the buildings around it. Plants clearly did not have free reign in this place.

She approached a tree and frowned at the place a missing limb had once been. The squirrel child patted the tree, then gave it a proper hug, asking softly, "Why'd d'ey do dat?" Willow gently rubbed its bark. "Maybe you hadda rot? I's clean now, d'ough, an' i's not all broke an' sharp."

With a huff, she jumped up and effortlessly climbed the tree, only to kiss the spot where the branch had been sawed off. With a smile, she told it, "D'ere, all better."
The park wasn't vacant for much longer. Not far from the tree that had lost its limb was a plastic playground with some slides and a tunnel, and coming up the road from the opposite end of the park, was an older man and his six-year-old son. The old man sported silver hair and a rotund appearance, while his son was nearly his opposite: a mop of black hair and thin as a rail.

With a shriek of joy, Hunter slipped from his father's gasp and ran full out to the playground, ignoring the swings in order to clamber up the ladder and dive into the tunnel. Sterling, his father, grinned in spite of himself and took a seat on one of the benches to keep an eye on his son, while pulling out a book to pass the time since there was no one around to talk to.
Willow had turned to swinging and leaping from tree to tree, managing to both go further out along the branches and leaping greater distances than looked possible, when she heard the other kid. She rapidly dropped down through the branches, seeming to barely even touch them, before stopping to grasp one that lightly bent and bounced with her weight. From there, the squirrel gazed that the child. Willow had hardly seen other children before, let alone any so small - so similar to her own size!

She dropped further down the tree, and rather than climb down properly, she scuttered out along a limb until it bent far enough for her to easily drop uninjured, then whipped back up once she let go. Dashing over to to the brightly colored playground, Willow leapt onto it, fingers grasping onto a crosspiece, and gazed at the boy. Without wasting a moment, she practically shouted, "Hullo!"
Hunter was halfway through the tunnel when he heard a greeting. Sliding out of the tunnel, his eyes grew huge as he took in the giant squirrel girl that had spoken to him.

"Hi! I'm Hunter." He looked at her face, then at her tail, back to her face. He was both confused and curious, but his curiosity won out. "Are you a squirrel? You look like a squirrel. Can I pet your tail?"
((By the way, his dad's name made me smile.))

The girl giggled and pulled herself onto the platform properly.

"Yep!" she declared in answer to both questions, and pulled her tail forward with pride, hugging it even as she offered it over. "An' a witch, like momma! I'm Willow. My full name's Michelle Gabriella Marie Eddings, each after a past family witch. But I like Willow."

As she'd spoken her real name in full, her voice took on a tone of recital and she spoke it as though it were more of a title. Once she returned to her chosen name, however, she was grinning broadly once again.

Curious, Willow leaned forward and sniffed at him, then asked, "Are ya' human? Or are ya' a shape-iffer? You smell more human."
((Haha, did you catch the pun? Also, Sterling has his own profile.))

Hunter was beside himself with joy when he was allowed to pet the squirrel-girl's tail! He scurried up to her, not unlike a squirrel himself. Willow was a name he could latch onto, much easier than the other one she had spewed out which was too long for him to remember.

"I'm a human!" he said proudly. "What's a shape-iffer? Is that what you are?" He gently reached out to pet the furry tail softly and giggled at how soft and warm it was. "I wish I had a tail...actually, I want a doggie, but my daddy won't get me one. Says they make too much of a mess." He pouted briefly before an idea came to him. "But maybe he'll let me have a squirrel!"
((In my defense, clock is made out of metal... he is slow? That's a horrible excuse, I'll just reply now.))

As the girl ran ahead of him, for a split second Clock debated turning around and walking back. He was not the type to go running around and playing with children, but something stopped him. As the girl ran ahead he realized she was as much alone as he himself was. He decided he would give it a go. What was the worst that could come of it?

Clock, the way he dressed, was probably not a parent's favorite thing to see at a park. This did not stop him from walking past a large tree, a branch having been severed (which he himself had had to do for a bit of cash some time earlier. Some hidden traits helped with this), and into the playground. There he stood looking for the little squirrel girl that had led him there.
((PenGryphon - Yep. And I actually have a character who uses Argent as a surname.

Gamers - Ha, I thought you'd abandoned li'l old Willow!))

"Yep! Momma said I get i' from daddy." The little girl laughed and buried her face into her tail, then released and allowed it to return to its proper place behind her. "I's a person d'at sometimes isn't a person. Doggies can be mean sometimes, ya' know. 'Specially woo'fs. Sometimes dey're nice, but sometimes d'ey growl an' try ta bite'cha. But I can be yer squirrel-friend!"

That said, as proof of both that and her claim to be a shapeshifter, she changed. Willow's whole body shrank; her hair seemed to fade, replaced by rich, brown fur that covered her whole body before her un-shrinking clothes vanished; and the shape of her body, head, and limbs warped. Within moments, where the little girl had been, there was only a young squirrel chittering away. She dashed around the boy and climbed quickly up one of the beams, stopping to look at him with a twitching tail, cheerfully squeaking.
Hunter just watched, fascinated, as the squirrel-girl dwindled down into an actual squirrel. He yelled in joy and clapped his hands, thrilled with the magic he had just seen, and causing Sterling to look up from his book.

Alas, Sterling saw only Hunter being chased by a squirrel and thought nothing of it--except that his son had the unusual knack of drawing animals to him--before a stranger on the perimeter of the playground caught his sharp gaze. A slight frown creased his face as he took in the odd fellow's clothing and unusual way of watching the playground. Or, more specifically, Hunter.

He closed his book, surreptitiously checking his pockets for the holy water squirt gun and silver-tipped stakes he kept on him at all times. It was too bright for a vampire to be moving about, but Weres were, unfortunately, common enough to be a nuisance. And either way, Sterling wasn't taking chances.

He rose to his feet and ambled in the direction of the stranger.
The small squirrel jumped and pranced about in a proud display of her agility, bouncing all about the little boy before stopping abruptly at the sight of the man from the little yummy-stuff shop. Her tail twitched, and if a squirrel had the right set of muscles to smile, she would have. He'd come after all, then.

Willow hopped back down beside the boy, and moments later, it was a little furry-tailed girl there once again - her clothing fully replaced, as if it had never gone anywhere. She pressed herself against the wall of the tiny tower and stuck her arm out over it, pointing out one new friend to the other, newer friend. The other man had yet to attract any of her attention.

"Hey, look! 'At's my friend, Mr. Knight!" She giggled, then said in a much more conspiratorial tone, "He's a grumpy-pants, bu' he's nice. He helped me get yummy blueburry bread."
Clock scanned the area for a moment. His gaze passed over a little boy and a squirrel, then went back to them. Was that... no, it couldn't be. He kept looking around for the girl. Then he heard 'Mr. Knight' come from where he had just been looking. It was her... He looked up towards the kids and gave them a nod.
Hunter giggled happily, chasing the squirrel as it hopped around him, not realizing that his father was watching. Fortunately Sterling was preoccupied with the stranger, rather than with the squirrel that had just turned back into a girl..

"Mr. Knight?" Hunter echoed, looking to where Willow pointed. His young eager face flickered with something akin to fear and he couldn't help but take a step away. Something about the man--maybe the way he dressed--frightened him. But, if Willow wasn't afraid, maybe he wasn't all bad? "I-I dunno...my dad doesn't like me talking to strangers."

And as if Sterling needed another reason to keep an eye on the stranger, the fact he nodded at his kid--no, wait, there was a girl there now, what?--triggered his protective streak. He cut across the playground, heading more directly towards the stranger, the look on his face not exactly friendly, but then, not exactly like he was out to get the man either. When he was within hailing distance he paused. What if the man was the father of the girl on the playground?

Now he just looked awkward. "Hello. Are you looking for someone?"
"Strangers?" the girl asked, tilting her head and scrunching her lips thoughtfully to one side. She was familiar with "strange," though didn't quite have the concept down. It was a term she'd heard most often from humans, and seemed to mean anything that wasn't human. "Why? Lotsa strange 're nice."

Pointing to herself - as she was not only not human, but had also specifically been called strange before - she asked, "Whatta 'bout me?"
"Indeed," answered Clock, nodding up to the children. He only actually meant the girl. The man seemed curious, and he silently hoped his own voice would not add to it. The clockwork had a mental itch in his gloves. He felt the need for defense in the presence of this man, but he could not reveal that, not here. "I assume you have a child in the vicinity?" Not being teh best people person, as he had shown at the coffee shop, Clock had yet to associate the kid and the man as father and son.
Willow had discovered the flaw in Hunter's argument and it showed in the young boy's face. "Well, but...you're my age. My dad says I can play with other kids, but older ones I need to be careful." He looked down, scuffing his foot along the plastic edge of the tunnel. "I have bad luck with grownups." The few times he had run into vampires and weres had not ended well--for either of them. He shuddered briefly and then brightened. "Wanna race? I'll race you to the swings!"

Sterling turned a little, seeing the girl again. "Oh, so the girl's yours?" He hesitated. "Daughter? Or...?" he wasn't sure what the relationship was, if there even was one. Then nodded at Clock's question. "Yes, Hunter's mine." He glanced sidelong at Clock, trying to figure him out. "You come here often?"
"Well d'at don't soun' like much fun," Willow said with a pout. Of course, as rarely as she saw other children, her perspective was perhaps little a little skewed. A grin was quickly back in place at the offered challenge, though.

"Yes!" was all she said, and she didn't even wait to start moving. Knowing that humans tended to be a bit slow, though, she took the time to climb down properly - as properly as could be done when completely ignoring ladders and such - before zipping off.
((Sorry it's so short, watching Ender's Game but wanted to get the reply in so others could reply!))

The figure shook his head. "She's not mine," he said, "just a friend." He would have offered a friendly smile, even though it would most likely unknowingly make him look even creepier, but he had nothing to smile with anyways. Then, with the second question he answered, "this would be my first time here."
Hunter was quick as well, rocketing after her with a laugh. When he finally made it to the swings, he grabbed the nearest one and after some amount of flailed attempts to clamber onto it, managed to make it. The swing wobbled as he settled, grabbing the chains for balance.

"Do you come here a lot?" he asked Willow, pumping his little legs to get the swing going. It wasn't working so well. His light frame didn't have much momentum to lend to the swing.

Little alarms went off in Sterling's head at that comment--he couldn't help it. But he just nodded and decided to keep an eye out. "Ah. Ours too," he supplied, then looked around for Hunter. He smiled a little as he saw his son trying to swing. Poor kid needed a push. Probably so too would the other one. "There're a few benches if you're just here to hang out and watch. I think I'm going to wander over and give my son a push."
Willow grabbed and swung around one of the chains, and stood on the seat rather than sitting down, laughing all the while. Seeing Hunter having so much trouble with it made the girl giggle, and she hopped down.

"Here, gimme yer feet," she said. Rather than pushing the boy from behind, she grabbed onto his ankles and pulled him forward as far as she could before releasing him and hopping out of the way. She did similarly with her own swing - pulling it back first, then hopping on, once again standing on the seat. Adding to the initial motion, standing allowed her to better shift her weight, bending her entire body forward and back. Only once she had good momentum did she finally plop her bottom down, midswing.

"Nope!" she said between laughing. "I'm new here. I wander a lot, an' I see all kindsa f'ings!"

((Please forgive the minor control there. I'll happily change my post to remove it if you like; I just figured it'd smooth things here.))
The stranger nodded. "Thank you." In all honest he wasn't sure what he should do. Although the nod revealed a hint of blue to the man, he hadn't noticed it himself. Should nothing come of it, he would wander over the beaches, raising a hand to the squirrel girl should he catch her eye, and sit until someone needed him. He wouldn't mind it, he liked the peace and quiet.