The park's trees were the first she'd seen in decades that weren't frozen or forbiden to the general public.
Kiana had already spent an hour wandering around, feeding the turtle ducks and listening to an old man busking in the centre square. She didn't mind being by herself. It was a welcome change from the chaos at home — as weird as it was to call anywhere in Republic City home. But there it was.

There were Equalists near the entrance, and she gave them a wide berth. Her walk took her into the shade of a large tree overhanging their table.

She doubted they liked being eavesdropped on, but Kiana was bored and had nothing better to do. She grasped the highest branch she could reach and pulled herself into the tree.
She climbed steadily, willing herself not to look down.

Kiana settled herself onto a thick branch, picked bark out of her braids, and sat down to watch the people passing by.

Jizu walked through the Republic City park, ignoring Equalist speakers as he went. He was constantly looking around, taking in the scenery, seeing the people who were out and about, just trying to get out for once. Originally he'd just stay inside and tend to the bookstore, but after having a few encounters with some interesting characters, he decided that maybe he shouldn't just stay inside. Though now that he was outside, he didn't exactly know what to do.

Jizu has little to no social experience since moving to Republic City, other than interacting with customers, and even then he did so by recalling formal lessons in manners given to him by his uncle. He sat down at a bench near a tree and rested his head on his hand. He was sure that he wanted to do something other than to wander purposeless around the city, but he couldn't think of what. Maybe next time he'd bring a book with him, reading outside might be a pleasant change from the bookstore

Sitting up a tree was beginning to look like one of the more impulsive decisions Kiana had made that day. She had no food, unless you counted a squashed snack cake that had been in her pocket for who knows how long. She had no water, either, and nothing to read. People watching was not nearly as exciting as she'd thought, and the view wasn't that great anyway. The Equalists mainly shouted and waved their leaflets around, and the most she saw of people walking by were some vague shapes through the leaves. She had a good view of someone sitting on the bench near her tree — if good meant the top of their head.

Boring.

Maybe if she climbed higher, she'd at least have a decent view of the whole park. That was something.
Kiana rose into a crouch, balancing carefully on her branch, and grabbed the branch above her. As she pulled herself up, her shoe slipped on the trunk, sending a small shower of bark and leaves spiraling downwards.

His head resting on his hand, Jizu was about ready to fall asleep. That wouldn't do, maybe he'd go home, take a nap, and try again tomorrow.He was about to get up and leave, when he felt something fall on his head. He put his hand to his head and felt some leaves that fell from the tree above him. "What the...?" he brushed the leaves off of his head and stood from the bench to see what had caused them to fall.

Naturally, he was a little confused to see a short-statured girl climbing the tree above him. Were people allowed to climb the trees!? It wasn't a common problem, so Jizu has never seen it enforced, but Jizu would be surprised if it wasn't, at the very least frowned upon. Slightly annoyed with tree bark raining on his head, Jizu addressed the stranger. "Excuse me, but may I ask why you're up there? Or should I just stand here and wonder?" Jizu tried not to sound rude, he'd have to try harder to adopt a friendlier tone when talking to strangers.

Kiana nearly lost her grip when she heard someone calling out to her from below. She pulled herself over the branch just in time and crouched, balancing precariously. She peered downwards through the leaves, trying not to think about how far away the ground looked.
Whoever had been on the bench was talking to her. A boy it looked, about her age. Maybe younger. He'd asked her what she was doing. Shouldn't that be obvious? Climbing trees. People watching. Getting her hands dirty, along with everything else. Or maybe he wanted to know why, specifically. Kiana wasn't sure she could really answer that.

"I'm here for the view," she called down. That was mostly true. She did have a better view from her tree branch. The leaves were a little thinner, and the branches were a little less sturdy, but it was better than her last perch. She'd only be up here for a few minutes anyway, then climb down - and try not to look at the ground.