Massey Park was a large green space at the end of the Massey shopping district. The shopping district was a mile long stretch of road that was closed off to vehicle traffic, making the whole area a rare pedestrian haven in the city. There were some benches, a fountain, and a some hybrid statues/children's climbing toys in the park. By the time Violet arrived, a decent sized crowd was milling around, but she quickly spotted Ian, shaking hands with the two dread-locked guitarists near the fountain. He waved her over. They were back to playing when Violet reached him. "That's Acen and Bailey. They've got a whole dualing hippie guitar act that they do here." He threw a five dollar bill in the guitar case at their feet and they started walking. Ian gestured to a snow cone cart and they queued up behind a mother and her two girls. The girls were dancing around to the music. Violet got a cherry lime and Ian a tiger's blood, specifically because he didn't know what it tasted like.

"Tropical as fuck, you've got to try it." Ian offered her a bite off of his spoon. She took it, and a small line of syrup trailed down her chin. Ian's laughter cut off quickly as a uniformed police officer approached them.

Violet wiped off the syrup on her chin and said, "Afternoon, Officer Giffords."

The officer slid her sunglasses back to perch on her blonde hair. "Violet, you know you can call me Becky." She said in a low tone. "How's...uh. How's things going today?" Violet smirked, "Good. Just got off of work and enjoying a snow cone. You ever had tiger's blood? It's pretty tasty."

Becky didn't appreciate being teased. "Violet, seriously! Is something going to happen here?"

"Besides the busting of some funky fresh jams by Acen and Bailey, there will be no havoc caused by supernatural happenstance." The park did have some shadows, but mostly the peaceful type. Some birds and puppies darted around while several butterflies took their time by the fountain.

Except...

Violet continued, "But I'd highly suggest offering a bottle of water and a bus voucher to the homeless man on the edge of the park. Tell him some information about the homeless shelter and what stop it's located by. He needs a little kindness."

A cloud of flies buzzed around the rough figure, who rummaging around in his ratty backpack.

Becky nodded, "Easy enough. You take care, Violet. Ian, nice to meet you." As the officer made her way to the snow cone cart to inquire on some water, Ian's eyes went wide.

"Are you a police psychic?!"

Violet laughed, "There may be a few officers who are...aware I know certain things, and they may call me in from time to time to see...what's up with some people."

Ian was beaming. "You are a police psychic. This is the best day ever."

"Stop it," Violet laughed. "I'm just gonna ditch you with Acen and Bailey and they can deal with you."

"They wouldn't have me! They think I'm a sell-out." He took a beat. "However, I just realized I know fuck-all about you."

Violet took another bite of snow cone. "Alright. I guess I've been all up in your business, so fair being fair, ask away." She scooped another bite of snow cone. "But first, realize that cherry lime is a superior flavor in almost any context." She offered the bite to Ian. He took it happily.

"Okay, where to begin...alright, who do you live with? Your house is pretty nice, there's no way you rent that thing yourself."

Violet said, "My parents. They travel a lot for work so I'm basically on my own a lot. We've been here for about five years, moved after I graduated high school. Oh, but we do have a housekeeper, Maritza, she's basically family. She's why I don't subsist solely on gas station taquitos and coffee. And have clean clothes."

"Oh, you're a slob? I did not expect that, you seem pretty organized."

"I am not a slob! I pick up after myself. I just...get bored with household chores. There's always homework to work on or shadows to chase, waiting on the dryer just seems so pointless. Also, I have no ability to meal prep and the grocery store has too many options. Plus I can't go back to store bought tamales. Maritza sells tamales and the like on the side - I told her I can replace the grocery budget with just me buying more of her food. She just shook her head and said 'pobre chica'."

Ian was thoroughly amused with her answers. "How's your relationship with your parents? Do they know about the whole..." He gestured to the ether.

"They know, but they don't believe. I'm functional now, so they just kind of...monitor me. I think that's why they're still cool with me living with them. I mean, I'm working, I'm going to school, I have friends...kinda? I socialize with classmates. I mean I don't blame them."

"What do you mean...functional now. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want..." he stared in to the melted dregs of his snow cone.

"Like...I've seen shadows since I was a kid. We all just assumed they were imaginary friends, like all kids have. But when I kept talking about them in like fourth or fifth grade, my parents were like 'she's too old for this!', so I talked to some counselors and school psychologists, and like none of them were believing me. I wasn't dumb, but I wouldn't do my homework, I wouldn't do my chores, I was just like talking to other kids and chasing those shadows. Even though I was able to tame the class bully, they thought I was just really emotionally empathetic, but he quite honestly had a monkey on his back. So I stopped talking about them at school. My parents took me to a few more shrinks. Then they took me to a few priests and rabbis. Mind you, they're not religious. The priests thought I was talking in metaphor, and the rabbis gave my parents referrals to child psychologists." She took the last bite of her snow cone. "I shaped up after that. Toned down the crazy talk and got my homework done. I never denied what I saw, mind you. I just didn't talk about it unless they asked. I still kept looking for answers. Even tried to reach out to some actual Wiccans, but they thought I was mocking them." She crushed her snow cone wrapper. "I dunno. I guess I could prove it to somebody, like I did you, but honestly, it gets really old trying to explain exactly which of my screws are loose and they won't just believe me. Anyway. Way too much, I know."

He shook his head. "Nah man, you just uncovered the Rosetta stone for me, I'm digging it. So when do I get to me your friends? And do your friends know?"

"Heeecckk no they don't. I mean, I've moved around a lot, so like when I was younger, sure. Since I've moved here, I've just been hanging out with whoever I've been having classes with. But...I guess Modern Religion has an open door policy. If you come next week, we're talking about portrayals of Voodoo in the media."

"Done, I'm there."