asgardmeridiem | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Alastair Stara and YOU
What: Sitting on the roof and being introspective! HOW EXCITING.
When: Day 189
Where: On a roof somewhere in the Sigyn district.
Rating: Oh, G probably. I'll make a note if it gets scandalous somehow.

[Alastair is not terribly accustomed to heights. He's climbed trees before, but the idea of running across rooftops as a way to travel quickly and easily completely escapes him. But he was told that this is what he must learn, so he might as well get used to it.

Alastair has made his way up to the roof of a building in the Sigyn district. He didn't climb up there, he's not that good yet. No, instead he found a building with roof access and did the sensible thing and climbed the stairs.

So now here he is, sitting on the edge of the roof and looking around the city.

This really doesn't seem like a safe thing to do.

Who came up with this idea anyway?

He sighs.]

What am I even doing?

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[He raises his eyebrows at the last bit.]

Really? Risking a fall is the best way to get around?

[...it's a question he's been worrying about actually. That it happens to be a convenient question for the moment is a wonderful coincidence.]

It's no worse than tripping over a cat. You get used to it, or you get good enough so that you don't fall.

[She shifts her weight, glancing out towards the ledge she had been headed towards, and the one after that, and the next.]

All it takes is a keen eye, and confidence in every step. Then it is hardly different than running on the ground.

[He listens carefully, taking note of what she says. She may not realize she's giving him a mini-lesson, but she is, and it's actually pretty helpful.

He nods.]

How long did it take you to learn?

[She actually laughs at that; it's become second-nature, and to think of a time when she wasn't climbing... well.]

It took four years until I became effective at it, and to train my body. I prefer trees, but you don't find many of those in the city.

Curious, are we?

[...that's a lot longer than he was hoping.

He shrugs.]

It's not every day you see someone skipping around on rooftops like it was as easy as breathing.

[...it's mostly accidental flattery, he's not trying to butter her up.]

Why, thank you.

[Shit-eating smirk? That's definitely one. But she's also looking him up and down.]

It's not exactly common where I'm from, either, which is why it works so well. It wouldn't be too difficult to achieve for someone like you, if you're that interested. I only took so long because of... circumstances.

[He's curious, but he knows a "do not breach" subject when he hears one. Balance knows he has a lot of them.]

What do you mean someone like me?

Well, because you're...

[A man. Maybe he was closer to a boy. The word sticks to her tongue, though; that alone didn't mean he would be capable. Her mind goes to Geráld - and just as quickly leaves.]

Actually, I take that back. You need to get past climbing all the way up here just to look at the buildings.

[He raises an eyebrow. He doesn't know what she was going for, and he's not sure what to think about her cutting it off.

Still.]

I took the stairs.

[The blankest stare:]

You're terrible at this.

[Oh come on.]

Terrible at what? I haven't even done anything yet!

Precisely my point! You took the stairs? What's the point in being up here? Don't ask me questions if you're just going to take the easy way!

I don't even know who you are, and you're already judging me because I took the stairs to get up here? I was asking questions because I was curious, what's wrong with that?

What's wrong is that you're not even applying yourself and you're wasting my time.

[Oh my god Aveline you are pissing him off so badly right now. He just stares at her in disbelief, closes his eyes, and shakes his head, trying to calm himself down because oh my god fuck you.]

I'm sorry, but how could I apply myself to something I didn't even know about until you ran into a wall to demand why was up here in the first place? You approached me, so if anything, it's you who's wasting my time.

You distracted me and you don't belong up here!

[Blame it on the stress. Because Chichen Itza is still fresh on her mind. Because she gained possession of something that caused for the enslavement of too many and no one even knows what it is. Because she finally found her mother, only to be too much of a monster to keep her. Because even after everything, it felt like little had changed except for her losing more and there was still so much work to do.

Then she found herself here and her world completely flipped.

Her hands are clenching, unclenching. It's hard not to pull out a weapon and make him shut up no one speaks to me that way.]

I'm wasting your time? You do enough of that on your own, what with sitting here doing nothing when there's a war going on.

I have as much a right to be up here as you do!

[The war? She's bringing up the war? He just... laughs, a slightly hysterical laugh that goes on for just a moment too long.]

You know I fought every day of that battle? Every day and I had never killed anyone in my life before. Now I have! But that's probably not good enough for you because I'm not out there training to kill more people right now! Because that's all anyone's good for in war, is killing people, right?

[oh hell he needs to stop he needs to calm down what is he even doing what is he saying. He clenches his hands into fists and rubs them against his temples and lets out a growl of frustration that's cut short as he struggles to pull himself back together.]

If I'm such a waste of your precious time and so worthless to you and everyone else, why don't you just leave. There is nothing stopping you.

So your hands are stained. Congratulations.

[Welcome to the real world. There would be no sympathy, no words of comfort from her. The fire is still there, though mostly out of Aveline's hands; it's concentrated in her eyes instead, focused. Unforgiving.]

Actually...

[She reaches inside her coat - and pulls out the Scottish flintlock pistol, as loaned to her by Connor.]

I think you'll be the one leaving.

[Another way to get effective at running freely. Because you had no choice when being chased or threatened by someone with the intent to kill.

He did say he was curious.]

[Well it's certainly an effective way to shock Alastair right out of his anger. He stares at the gun, for a moment unable to comprehend what it means.

But it slowly falls together.

Too slowly, really.]

...what are you doing.

You were curious about how I learned, non?

[She's being ~~cray~~ unrelenting.

It's her life.]

I suggest you start running.

Edited 2012-12-19 05:58 (UTC)

[The last piece clicks into place.

And then, for a moment, everything just stops.

His breath, his heart, his brain, for a moment it all just stops in a second of pure, unadulterated panic.

A small part of him wants to hold his ground and call her bluff, because she's got to be bluffing, right? She has to be. She has to be.

But when everything starts up again there is no holding his ground. There is no part of him left to try to reason with her because he knows she's serious. He doesn't know how he knows, he just does.

So he takes her advice, and starts running.

He's not at all graceful as he bolts away, across the roof and on to the next, but his fear gives him speed, and even if he slips and skids on the landing, there is enough adrenaline crashing through his veins that he recovers and flees.

He does not look back.]

[She considers not actually firing for half a heartbeat. But on the off-chance she ran into this guy again (yeah, right), she wasn't going to be called on a bluff.

So Aveline fires her single shot, rather impressed that he did what any smart man would do and ran like his life depended on it. That's the kind of reaction she prefers to see. There may be hope for him yet in learning to navigate the higher road, and maybe learn to stay out of her way next time.

Out of reflex, she moves to reload the pistol - and realizes she doesn't have the means to do so.

Son of a bitch.]

[The shot, while it doesn't hit him, still rocks through him almost as if it did. He stumbles close to the edge of the roof in shock, trips, and rolls over the edge only to grab it just in time through some miracle of adrenaline.

He hangs for a few seconds, completely amazed that he's still alive, then realizes that he can't hang like this forever. He either has to pull himself back up or climb down, and he has to do it soon.

He looks around. There's a fire escape on the next building over, about eight feet away. All he has to do is... jump over to it somehow...

Alastair closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening his eyes again and hoisting himself up, bracing his feet against the wall, and pushing off as hard as he can. He crashes into it with a loud clatter, grasping at the railings and pulling himself over it to flop onto the stair, gasping for breath.

Who the fuck was that?]

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