Owner	Pose
Susan Sullivan	The park was cold, but nature thrived. Practicing martial arts in unseasonably cool clothing, Susan was off the beaten path. Her goal was not to show off, but to meditate through martial arts. Her movements were a combination of quick and slow, and she waved around a store-bought dowel in lieu of a more proper staff. It looked like a shao lin demonstration, only done by a girl.
Roland Livingston	As it's a sunny day out Roland has decided to take in some more of the city. The North Woods of Central Park seem as nice a place as any to explore. The young man wanders alone beneath the trees, enjoying the scenery and the feeling of being closer to nature. His path takes him past other people, to whom he'll give polite nods or smiles. It's a good day to be out and about, at least for Livingston. He finds himself more of less alone when he hears the sound of someone moving as though practicing some sort of combat system. It instantly piques Roland's interest and he heads in that direction, slowing down when he sees the woman practicing her forms. He doesn't say anything at first, then seems to remember himself and lifts a hand in a wave.
Susan Sullivan	Without seeming to notice him, the woman kicks the base of her makeshift staff. It swirls around her body in careful, controlling movements, until it's resting at the back of her neck as she bows to Roland. She shrugs one shoulder and catches the dowel as it rolls off to the other side. "If I'm in your spot, I'll move on," she offers with a wave to mirror his.
Roland Livingston	"Oh no, I heard you practicing and wanted to come take a look," Roland replies with a smile. "Call it professional interest. I'm a bit of a martial artist, myself. Tend towards historical European martial arts, but I'm no stranger to Chinese combat systems. I always thought they were incredibly elegant." Then he pauses for a second and nods towards her, "I'm Roland Livingston, by the by. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Susan Sullivan	Susan nods. "Nice to meet you, Roland. I'm Susan." She flips the dowel back up over her shoulders and lifts her arms to hook them over its length. "Hopefully, it's been edifying, at least?" she tries.
Roland Livingston	"It's a pleasure, Susan," Roland replies, bowing slightly to the woman. "You seem to be quite adept with your staff there, if I say so myself. I quite enjoy staff work, but I focus more on the longsword and the bow." A nod is given towards the dowel, "Do you study other weapons as well? I've quite the collection at home if you ever needed a specific item to practice with or use to put on a display."
Susan Sullivan	"Not really," Susan says, shaking her head. She pats the dowel with her hands. "I'm not particularly experienced with this. It's just something my laoshi taught me." She bounces the rod up with her shoulders and balances it with her right hand. "It's not really even a weapon. It's just a dowel."
Roland Livingston	"Well, I train nearly every day in some form or other," says Roland with a smile. "Even participate in fights from time to time. I'm always looking for people to train with if you're interested in having someone to practice with." There's a chuckle, "If you like staff forms, though, wait until I get a spear in your hands. Spears were used far more often than swords and staves for a reason. Good reach, deadly, throwable in a pinch."
Susan Sullivan	"I'm not really training to fight," Susan admits. "I practice martial arts as a form of meditation and self-defense. The staff is a defensive weapon. I'm not out to kill people."
Roland Livingston	"Very few people would use a spear or whatnot for killing any more," Roland says with a smile. "I might, but that's because I hunt dangerous creatures from time to time." He shrugs, "Anyway, it's also good fun for me to try to master every weapon I can get my hands on. My meditation, on the other hand, often involves a glass of whiskey and a comfortable chair."
Susan Sullivan	Susan smiles softly. "I've not tasted alcohol," she admits. "It's not great to use to heighten one's mind." She drops the dowel and catches the end of it with a slightly raised foot. She continues balancing it there. "I am not a weapon. I am not a monster. I am one with the world around me. I am a Disney Princess."
Roland Livingston	"You've never had a drink?" Roland is clearly surprised by the woman's statement. "To each their own, I suppose." There's a shrug and a bit of a chuckle. When she explains that she's a Disney Princess, though, he's momentarily at a loss for words. When he does speak there's clearly curiosity in his voice, "A Disney Princess? I've never met one of you before that I can recall. I doubt you'd need a knight in shining armor, but if you do I might be able to arrange for that." Livingston chuckles.
Susan Sullivan	"Had some challenges before I was old enough," Susan says. "I'm thirty, now," the at-most 20 year old looking woman continues, "and I kind of don't have the inclination to start. Maybe if I end up going to college." She shrugs.
Roland Livingston	"You're thirty?" Roland sounds damn curious once more. "It's official, I can no longer tell how old people are." There' a shoulder shrug, "Intoxicants can be fun, but if you're training a lot they might slow down your progress. I only use them in moderation." There's a little pause, "Except for my birthday and on holidays."
Susan Sullivan	Susan nods. "I have smelled alcohol," she says. "You're not really selling it, as I have spent the last decade of my life in training." She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. She opens her eyes and looks around herself. Her bare arms don't have goosebumps; her short hair isn't protecting her from the cold; her clothing isn't heavy, and yet she doesn't look uncomfortable in this weather. "I don't want to lose myself to intoxicants," she concludes.
Roland Livingston	"I don't want to sell you on it, just wanted to give it a fair description," Roland explains with a smile. "I don't want anyone to get into any sort of drugs unless it's entirely their own decision. Except for caffeine. I recommend tea to everyone." With his jacket on the Englishman appears perfectly at ease with the weather, not letting it slow him down at all. "Where did you study martial arts? Shaolin? I had a Shaolin trainer for some time when I was a kid. Tough guy, took me a long time to beat him."
Susan Sullivan	Susan smiles weakly. "I'm going to keep that under my hat," she says. She runs a hand over her toothbrush-length hair. "So to speak," she adds. She looks around at the snow. "You know," she says, "the snow adds a bit of padding to the grass." She looks back at Roland and raises an eyebrow. "Hmmm...on second thought, that's not exactly fair of me, is it?"
Roland Livingston	"There is some padding, isn't there?" Roland asks as he raises his eyebrows after looking around. "What wouldn't be fair of you? Would you like to train together a little bit? Or do you have something else in mind?" There's a smile on his face now, "Because I enjoy a good adventure now and then."
Susan Sullivan	Susan sets her makeshift staff against a tree. "No, no," she says. "You've no chance," she adds with a confident smirk. "I'm Mulan, not Sleeping Beauty." She brushes her hands down her monk-like outfit.
Roland Livingston	"Okay Mulan, lets see what you've got," Roland says with a big grin on his face. He moves towards a bench to drop his jacket off on it before he starts doing some light stretching, getting himself ready for what might come next. "I much prefer a princess that does her own rescuing. I find helplessness to be dreadfully dull." He scans the snow covered grass for a moment before moving into the closest open area. "I'll let you know if you start beating me up too badly."
Susan Sullivan	While Roland is still talking, Susan moves like someone right out of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. With a quick leap, she uses her momentum and kicks Roland in the bottom, pushing herself backward and up as she imparts all that force into him. She lands safely on her feet. "The baddies rarely wait for you to monologue," she says.
Roland Livingston	When he's kicked in the rear Roland steps forward a few times to catch himself, then turns and assumes an almost relaxed looking fighting stance. Legs shoulder width apart, left foot forwards, hands held loosely open. But when he moves it's with speed and grace that show he's focused on the fight at hand. "I don't give the bad guy a chance to interrupt my monologues. I wait until he's unconscious." When he darts in he leads with a low kick towards the legs, followed by a spinning backfist. Neither blow is particularly strong, as the pair is playing, but they're lightning fast.
Susan Sullivan	Susan jumps up, feet landing on Roland's thigh. She is hit by that backhand. She pushes off, kicking his leg the other way. She lands on her hands before bouncing back onto her feet again. She raises an eyebrow. "I've been training all day," she says. "Clearly, I'm worn out." She sprints largely away from Roland, doing a cartwheel. When she stands, she's wearing Roland's jacket. "Maybe I'm just cold," she suggests, swimming in the far too-big coat.
Roland Livingston	Laughter erupts from Roland as he watches Susan's antics, straightening himself up before moving closer to his opponent and assuming a horse stance, this time with his right hand leading. Those in the know might recognize something from Jeet Kune Do. This time when he moves in it's with sudden, darting motions. When he strikes out it's with a pair of side kicks from his lead leg, leading off with a pretty basic side kick towards the mid section that's crisply executed and following it with a back hook kick aimed for center mass. He doesn't wait to see if the blows land before tucking into a back flip to give himself a little bit of distance.
Susan Sullivan	Susan moves like a monkey, squealing a bit as she bounds up and toward Roland. His leg sweeps under her before she uses him like a post, jumping off him and leaping into the trees. She draws herself up into the branches as easily as others might stand from sitting. "Goodness!" she says. "What forceful hooha!"
Roland Livingston	The young Englishman launches himself towards the tree, grabbing a branch with both arms and swinging forward and back until he can project himself in amongst the branches. With a grin on his face he eases into a crouch, waiting for his opponent to come at him. The crouch is a weird stance for a fighter, but Roland is ready to spring up in any direction.
Susan Sullivan	When he finally gets up into the tree, Susan....isn't there. Seek though he might among the branches, Susan's not there. She was whisper quiet as she moved, apparently. Currently, she sits approximately twenty meters away, on top of a statue. Her dowel is spread across her shoulders, her arms up and resting on it. "Are you having fun playing in the trees?" she calls out to him.
Roland Livingston	"Quite a bit of fun, actually," Roland replies with a grin. It's clear he's enjoying the chase. Though he's not particularly sneaky, the young man is incredibly agile. He jumps down to the ground, landing with a tumble and comes up on his feet, running at the statue. His eyes rarely leave Susan, however, not wanting her to get away again. "You're quite stealthy. I'll need to remember that."
Susan Sullivan	"Yup," Susan suggests. "Or, rather, your back was to me." The statue is icy as Roland gets to it. It's not the easiest thing in the world to climb at the best of times, so it's quite difficult now, for sure. Susan is not even trying to get away sneakily. She's not even trying to move. She simply sits on the statue's frozen head, watching Roland come at her.
Roland Livingston	The statue is studied momentarily, then Roland dashes for it, jumping into the air to plant his hands as high on the statue as they can go. As his hands wrap around it and he feels the icy slipperiness he quickly grabs, and grabs again in an attempt to gain purchase. But he finds what he's looking for. On the way up he glances at Susan and winks. As he gets close to the statue's head he does something he hopes will be surprising: He launches himself straight into the air and attempts to grab the lapels of the jacket Susan just swiped.
Susan Sullivan	Susan just watches him. The looseness of the jacket works in both their favors for what they're trying to do. Roland grabs the coat and Susan slips right out of it, letting him overshoot and fall. He lands just far enough away from the statue not to have cracked his head on the base. Susan looks down on him as he lays on his back. "If you wanted your coat back, you should have just asked," she says. She slips down to hang from her staff, dangling from the statue's arm. She slips down and lands on her feet. "As much fun as that was, I'm not really into you like that," she insists, which is an odd thing to say. "Thanks for playing, though. I should get going, though."
Roland Livingston	From his spot on the ground Roland starts shrugging back into his jacket. His head shakes a bit at Susan, "That was fun. Play your cards right and we might do this again." After his jacket is worn properly the Englishman produces a metallic business card from it, "And I found the first card already." His head lifts quickly, "Thank you for the entertaining afternoon, regardless." He pushes himself to his feet, "And have a wonderful day." There's a little bow then.