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Castle Williams is one of the stranger places and a reminder of New York's ancient state. The round drum of a brick building with three layers of square windows, the red sandstone is especially handsome against the Hudson River given the abundance of snow. A row of fine deciduous trees flanks the surrounding curve of asphalt, shielding the backside of the building. An interesting little piece of history rarely sees much attention from the general population, given Governors Island is more of a hopping off point or a background for the Grand city. Though this year, it acts as something of a military prison, barring Shield getting their much larger one up and running. Cannon on its lower roof don't even scare the seagulls, and despite it being a prison, there's practically nothing to speak of for elegance. The concrete floors and courtyard aren't very welcoming, and there's no reason to explain why a certain girl sits atop a cannon, legs slung over the sides. Do they have security guards or cameras? Evidently not very many. Two soldiers sit inside eating a sandwich, blithely unaware of their 'guest.' It's doubtful there are any prisoners, either, but who knows.
*
Slowly but surely, Groot is exploring. There is a lot of this city that is not an ashphalt jungle, but it takes a bit of doing to find, and so many of the trees are not actually awake enough to be much help in directing a botanical tourist. Not that they get out much. The historical site seems to have acquired an extra tree in the row. One that is glancing at the tree next to him, and huffing with faint irritation at the lack of useful conversation.
*
The city is vast, but Governors Island is quite different, a smaller place hemmed in by nature on all sides. Where river and sea meet is not the most welcoming of environments, and the wind blowing over the wavelets is frankly freezing. Such might explain why Hope blows on her fingertips, though she's wearing gloves. Icicles fringe the building, and a few knocked to the ground measure where she went climbing. Alas, going up is probably much easier than coming down, short of hanging from the barrel of the cannon and falling with grace onto slippery asphalt. Still, the view of Manhattan is gorgeous even if the heavy construction on the Triskelion Building behind them aways is weird and annoying. The benefit of being up high: ambulatory trees are /terribly/ obvious. Doubly when she has met said tree in her boyfriend's company.
Remember Star-Lord and the search for the infinite burger? She does. A wave then, once she realizes it's not an evil illusion or worse. Might as well. If she's wrong? She's sitting in a fort.
*
Young women sitting high upon cannons, equally obvious. The cold doesn't seem to distress Groot overly much, or at least there's no real external sign of it if it does. He tends towards the slow and ponderous at the best of times, how much of that comes with chilled sap is hard to tell. If there are those watching the row of trees from within the fort, they will see one of them lift a branch and wave it towards Hope before moving off in that direction.
Ambulatory tress are /terribly/ obvious, no matter where one is situated.
*
There's no distracting from the fact that Groot proves far more interesting than passing boats or buildings shining weakly in the sun. The soldiers right now might wonder if they're high, did they decide to look out into the world, but they are too busy arguing and talking about their sandwiches, since this day's duty may be the worst in the military. Especially with the Triskelion being so much more interesting.
The ambulatory tree warrants a bit of a grin, and the redhead makes no bones about saying, "Hello there! You are having a good day out here? Bit chilly. Surprised you didn't go find a nice cozy conservatory. Much warmer than all this snow." A wave of her hand indicates the white and grey drifts about.
*
Groot comes near enough for casual conversation, and on his way over, somehow seems to now be tall enough to be on level with the cannon. Handy that. There's a look of surprise upon his face at the mention of 'cozy conservatory' and he squints at her a moment. "I am Groot?" A glance around and then back to her, his tone generally conversational. "I am groot?"
*
"Hope," she answers, giving her name, though under the circumstances she might be hopeful he is in fact Groot. The sylvan king earns a bit of a grin, and she shifts slightly on the cannon, keeping her legs from sticking to the cold metal surface. Jeans might not be up to the task, even loose as hers are. "Doing well, and you? I didn't think anyone else bothered with this neck of the woods." Pun intended? Doesn't seem like it, though the knowledge catches up with her and her eyes glitter, leaf green and intensely bright. "And how about that guy you were with. Star-Man? No, Star-Lord. That was it, right? Maybe I was forgetting and it's Starboard. Way too many names to remember."
*
Groot smiles as he gets her name, nodding. "I am Groot." Is his reply, and for once it seems likely that he means /exactly/ what he says. There's another glance around before looking back to Hope at her question about asks about doing well and being out here. He nods, with a quieter 'I am Groot.' It's casual, almost, how he leans against the building as they chat, or rather as she chats with him and he gestures a branch in the affirmative at the 'Star-Lord' guess. "I am Groot?"
*
Bonhomie between starbound visitor and displaced messiah warrants more than a casual pass. She pats the metal cannon, and it barely resonates with the clap, percussive waves melting away into nothing through the dense, many times painted steel. Heck, it might be near solid iron for all she knows. "Cool. Say hello to him for us the next time you see him. He ever get that hamburger he was going on about? I'm afraid I still haven't tried the restaurant. Burgers, however, are splendid, I suppose." Her wistful sigh speaks volumes indeed to her opinion of a good meal, but it's not as though photosynthesis keeps her adequately nourished. Many gifts has she; living off light alone is not one of them, though she might wish. "No one around here. There are people inside the building, but they didn't come up even when the ice fell to the ground. I figure it would take a full invasion to get their attention."
*
Groot nods his agreement in passing the greetings along. How much help that will be depends entirely on how much Quill is faking his understanding of Groot, but the sentiment is there. There's a snort at the query about hamburgers and a rumble and a fairly disgusted version of "I am Groot", but with a grudging nod about Star-Lord and his damn burgers. Groot twists, leaning down a little as if to establish that there's no humans skittering out of the building unbeknownst to either of them and he nods. "I am Groot."
*
A bit of leaf rustling probably goes a long way. Hope cannot help but laugh aloud at the rumbled response, her hand covering her mouth. "I'm not a vegetarian, but I cannot decide if that would offend you or win me points. After all, if I eat the animals who eat the plants, is that a case of friend of my enemy is my friend? Either way, I don't want to offend." The rows of round windows, inlaid with cracked glass and a few bars, aren't in the best condition. Twin fingertips skim over her lips and she tests the direction of the breeze, a habit without fail. Her bunched up ponytail is conveniently placed, anyways. A shake of her head and she chuckles. "Well, thank you. Doubtful anyone is going to bother you. It's more the girlish voice up here. Figure they don't see many women this far out." Her grin widens. "Have you found what you were looking for around here? New York, that is. Figure you've been here around a fortnight, right? Central Park is still in shabby shape, and they're building a skyscraper over there. Foolish, far as I can tell."
*
For the fact that Groot is a tree, and currently a rather disconcertingly large tree, he is quite expressive with his branches. There's a flutter of those branches and twigs at her commentary about not being a vegetarian, and an easy shrug about his level of offense or not. He certainly doesn't /look/ offended, nor is there a woody hand of doom coming down upon her. Seems like a good sign, all in all. The question about if he's found what he was looking for is what is met with a furrow of his already creased brow into a frown. "I am .. groot." It has the tone of a confession perhaps, or simply weary. "I am groot." He turns towards where they are building the skyscraper, watching it a moment and then back to her. "I am Groot."
*
The redhead looks over to the buildings and deduces what she might by tone and gesture, incapable of otherwise relying on experience that doesn't line up to what she knows. "Are you tired of the buildings and all the people? You wouldn't be alone if that's the case. I find it draining, the noise and the pollution and the sound. Where I come from, things tend to be quieter. More sparse I guess, too." Her lips form a bit of a line. "Or is that more of a 'this is a really big place and I have a lot of work to do?' Seeing that sprawl is… something else. And I'm sure you've seen crazier things than I have. Maybe a smidgen crazier."
*
Groot tries to pick through her guesses and reaches a spindly branch out to tap the cannon she sits on as she mentions people, and pollution. Pollution is the bane of a tree's world. Almost as much as axes. He gives a shrug at the mention of 'big place' and work to do with a shake of his head and a mimed yawn. "I am groot." He explains. The mention of crazier comes with a grin. "I AM Groot."
*
"Too much technology." A chuckle permeates the air. Hope clarifies, "A bad amount of tech that's hopelessly out of date and offensive. Cannons are sort of bothersome, really, and very silly." A big place, and then… "Oh, of course. How are you keeping yourself entertained? People here are coming along but they're afraid of just about everything. Anything alien or foreign is cause to legitimately freak out." Her expression pinches slightly and she rubs the back of her head. "My luck to get caught here in this particular phase. Oh well, growing pains come out sooner or later. I'm trying to be good. But honestly, they keep talking nonsense in the news."