Open | Getting all parkour in here

[everysecond]

Who: Riley and ANYONE
What: Riley is getting back into the swing of things and that means roof running.
When: D460
Where: Various districts...feel free to pick one.
Rating: PG for her mouth

Riley had been out of touch for a couple of weeks. Honestly, it had sucked because it had kept her from finding away to save Ellie or going down with her. It was a fucked up situation, especially with what her girlfriend knew about what her future was like. She hated that she couldn't be there for her back home but that was kind of the price of being, well, dead.

That really did come up a lot in her mind. Here she could do things for Ellie and be there for her but in the end they'd have to part ways because Ellie lived and she died. Perhaps she should have hated her for that, hated her for all the love she got from everyone too. It would have been fair really. Though it didn't seem like it, Ellie had it going on. People loved her and cared about her. They'd always put her first. Hell, Riley put her first too.

She was jealous. Who had actually given that much of a shit about her since her parents died? Well, besides Ellie.

Not a damn person.

Today, she just needed to clear her head. Then she could go back and be all smiles and laughter for Ellie again since that was what she needed. She needed her to be awesome as fuck and she had to make sure she had her head in the game for that. Which meant she was now running along rooftops, swinging along ledges. It wasn't anything anyone had taught her to do, she'd figured it out on her own and had the guts to bother to try. Practice had made her pretty damn good at it too.

Landing on another rooftop, she took a breath of air and planted her gloved hands on her hips. It was nice being alive. It really was.

Comments

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

He stares at her for a moment, before chuckling.

"Okay, okay. Can't fault you for your enthusiasm."

[everysecond]

"Course not."

Planting her hands on her hips, she leaned forward a little. "Sooooo, what do I learn first?"

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

"Okay, how about we work on your footwork, first? It's always a good place to start."

[everysecond]

"Sure." Riley looked down at her feet. They were...normal. "How should I move them?"

Making up martial arts bs in 3..2.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

"Well, you've got to move them like you're moving in a triangle. So you're harder to track."

[everysecond]

That...made no sense to her. At all. "Okay. You do it and I'll watch."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Bunny is the best worst teacher. He nods, before quickly moving his feet, shifting forwards, then back and to the right, then to the left side, then forward again.

"Look, like you're making a triangle with your feet."

[everysecond]

He was quick but Riley still picked up on it. Being able to see something was always more useful to her than anything else.

When that was done, she went and tried it out for herself. Slower but still not terrible.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Bunny settled on his haunches to watch her.

"That's it, you're getting into this like a pro."

[everysecond]

Riley kept doing it so she could get a good feel for it. It was a little weird but not too hard. She could see how it would help with balance too.

"I'm pretty good at doing something if I see someone else do it."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

"It's a good skill to have, especially in a place where you've got to learn quickly," a pause. "Even more so nowadays, war's looming sooner."

[everysecond]

"War doesn't scare me. I've been through worse." The saddest part was just that...she wasn't wrong. War at least meant something was going on.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

He watched her quietly for a moment, almost gauging her in his own way.

"Yeah?" not probing her to go further, but offering her the chance, should she wish to.

[everysecond]

"Where I grew up, you could get shot if you pissed off a police officer or if you just stared at something they were doing for too long. And then there was always the risk you'd get Infected."

Riley fell still and shrugged a bit. "War is just fighting someone. It's surviving that's worse."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

"Trying to live in the wreckage is much worse, the rules change."

He watches her for a moment, so many questions racing around in his mind. What did she mean by infected? What sort of war happened, to make the world turn in such a way. He doesn't ask, though, instead, he drops his head slightly.

"I'm sorry you've got to go through that."

[everysecond]

"Every kid where I'm from does. People usually die of starvation, the Infected, or getting shot."

Riley put her hands in her pockets and kicked the ground. "Usually the Infected though. There's no point in starting big time wars when everyone is trying to keep from being ripped apart or bitten."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

"They sound like monsters."

This is the sort of thing he always fears, the world being torn apart. It's always had such close calls, throughout the span of human history, being the self-destructive race that they are, but hearing it actually happen...it's deeply worrying.

"This place is probably a break, compared to that."

[everysecond]

"People here worry about being short on food, on the upcoming war... They don't know that they have it easy."

It was kind of a harsh reality but Riley wasn't really one to pull punches on anything.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Bunny lets out a sigh.

"They don't, most of them haven't got any experience with what can really happen, after a war is over. They've never seen the mess it leaves behind, so they've got no concept of what it can be like to live in it."

[everysecond]

"Bunny, they're scared and they talk about food being short and..."

Riley frowned as she tried to put it into words. "And it pisses me off. Even if they had to go through what I did, it would still piss me off. It's like they don't want to see any hope left in a fucked up world. Oh look darkness. Guess there's no light."

She looked up toward the rooftops. "You wanna know why I run? Because it feels like I'm flying. I get to see everything that's still good that people want to ignore. At least someone is appreciating it when I run."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

And here it was, yet another reason for him to feel connected to this girl. She understood hope, even in the most dark of times, she fought for it, and tried to keep it alive. It's what he tries to bring out in all children, but as years pass, less and less tend to indulge in hope. It's a cynical age, to be certain. He offers her the smallest hint of a smile.

"You and me could be cut from the same cloth. Looking for the light in the dark is a difficult and usually thankless task. But it's an important one, and one that has to be done, no matter how hard."

[everysecond]

She looked up at him, eyes actually hoping that was true. He was a cool guy and to think that she could be like someone as awesome...

"It's okay if it's thankless. I mean, I don't do it for that shit. I just wanted to see people smile again."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Bunny smiles at that, giving a firm nod.

"You know, you'd make a right fine Guardian."

Bunny really doesn't say that about a lot of people. He didn't even say it to jack who was chosen for the task, until he'd proven himself. It's high praise, indeed.

[everysecond]

"A Guardian? What's that?"

Riley thought it sounded...pretty awesome. A Guardian. Except...

She smiled a bit and rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually, nevermind. Pretty sure a...a dead girl can't be some awesome Guardian."

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Bunny's smile softens, and he shakes his head gently.

"Of course she can be. A poor dead boy became one not that long ago, and he just about saved us all," he tilts his head. "I can tell you about them...us, if you like?"