[Milliways: Field Trip to Haddyn, 2293]

[slayer_fray]

Bar had given them all back packs. It's kind of cute, really, in Mel's opinion. small little things, containing only the essentials - a zapper pistol for each of them, a cross, a stake, a round of PB&J with the crusts cut off, a flask of milky tea, and lunch money (about 20 coi each).

Mel herself just has her own gun and scythe sheathed on her back, as she climbs through the window into her small, beaten up apartment, and holds the door open for them.

Comments

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

There's a grimace as Makita gets her feet under her. She sort of shuffles over and jumps as hard as she can toward the roof. But her footing is bad, and she slips, so instead of landing on the roof, her fingers miss grabbing the edge by inches.

She's too scared to scream.

[slayer_fray]

Trusting Steph to be able to get herself to safety, Mel has launched herself of the vehicle the instant she knew Makita was going to miss. The strength which which she kicks herself off if enough to disturb the van's inertia an jerk away, but she's not interested.

She dives to intercept 'Kita's fall, not concerned with anything except reaching out and grabbing the girl's wrist, pulling her into a one-armed embrace. Then they're falling together through the crowded flyway.

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita feels the impact as Mel slams into her and wraps her arms tightly around Mel's body. Her eyes are wide and she seems torn between grinning gratefully or being angry.

Mel's going to get herself killed!

At least Makita won't die alone.

[slayer_fray]

From the way Mel smirks at her from this close, one might be forgiven for thinking she was looking forward to their joint imminent death.

But her spare hand shoots out and they jerk violently as she grabs a convenient drainpipe and arrests their fall sharply.

As the pipe begins to crack against the wall, Mel looks to 'Kita, an eyebrow raised and her smirk still in place.

"Hold on tight," she says. "I need to get something out of my pocket."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, the order is redundant. Despite Makita's small size, if Mel weren't a Slayer there's a good chance that there'd be a cracked rib in there somewhere.

Makita nods and tries to remember how to breathe again.

[slayer_fray]

Mel leans her face against Makita's head just long enough to fish around the back and pull her skaterug out of her pocket, just as the pole she's hanging on to cracks.

They fall for another foot or so before she can flick the rug out straight and curls her feet under it.

So Slayer and soldier are then standing on a small skate-board sized wollen mat in the middle of a busy street.

"How you doing?"

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita opens her mouth to answer, but nothing comes out.

Oh, right, breathing. You need to do that before you can talk.

She gasps in a shuddering breath, then another. Then she swallows, nods shakily, and manages: "I'm... okay." Mostly.

[slayer_fray]

Mel smiles easily and adjusts first her grip on Makita, then her weight. Then they're flying upwards and rising speed.

"Quite the buzz, huh? Let's see how the others are doing."

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph jumps to her feet - but Mel's faster, so she just heads over to the edge of the building to lean on the parapet and look down, watching them with no sign of alarm.

"Ten bucks it takes less than a minute," she says over her shoulder, grinning at Jet.

[atanycost.livejournal.com]

Hell, JET was nearly over the edge when ... Mel was down there. Huh.

"...she... do this a lot?" he asks, peering down with a perplexed look on his face. "I mean."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"She's Mel," Steph says, because that totally explains it. "I think jumping around from building to building is just how she travels."

It makes perfect sense to Steph, who does the same. Just, y'know, Steph uses grapples. And doesn't have Slayer speed.

"They'll be fine."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita manages to pry her face away from Mel's shirt and look up (certainly not down!). She calls out, "We're fine." Though it doesn't sound like she's entirely convinced herself.

[slayer_fray]

Mel, on the other hand, grins easily up at them as she rises on the rug, carrying 'Kita.

"You guys weren't worried, were you?" Surely not!

As they draw level with the roof, she steps off and lets Makita feel her feet on something solid again.

[alwaysroomforhope]

"We panicked," Steph says gravely. "We knew you were doomed, and we were about to make a pact to throw ourselves after you. After all, it's just not going to be the same without you two around."

[atanycost.livejournal.com]

"She speaks for herself. I already got a pretty girl waitin' on me. Damned if I'm not goin' home to her," Jet laughs, shaking his head. "...but if you want to think I was, you can go ahead and delude yourself."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita finally lets go of Mel to stand on the roof. "Can we not do that again?" The falling part. She might be willing to ride another vehicle as long as she's got some sort of guarantee that the falling part won't happen again.

[slayer_fray]

"Anything you say,'Keet."

Mel uses the heel of her boot to flip the board up and roll it up, before depositing it in her back pocket again.

"So we wanna walk a ways, then? Not a whole lot to see unless you like grime and flying cars and toy."

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph grins into her collar. She loves grime and toy, and flying cars are just a bonus.

"Walking suits us. Right, J?" She elbows him, in a way that really doesn't pass for subtle at all.

[atanycost.livejournal.com]

Jet elbows back -- not too rough, though. "Sure thing."

Not everybody can climb and leap like a hogmonkey.

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

The breath Makita lets out is not a sigh of relief. Not at all. Really.

"Thanks. We... don't do a lot of jumping around back home." It's too exposed, and you never know when a building might just decide that now is a good time to collapse.

[slayer_fray]

"My bad," Mel says easily. "It's the best way getting around back home. Com'on, we'll head back this way."

The way she leads them is little more than a series of very high rooftops, some of which need to be climbed on to, others a drop down. And buildings of various heights create a tiered pattern and false alleys, littered with shadows.

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph feels right at home. She's sticking a bit close to Makita, just in case, but that doesn't stop her taking the more dangerous routes and throwing in a few somersaults just for pure glee.

"We eat soon, right?"

[atanycost.livejournal.com]

Jet's not as sure as Steph and Mel, but he's not as nervous as Makita; he's more at home in the woods then among these towers of stone and steel. Still, he can leap and cavort with the best of them, and is soon following after Stephanie--

--and turning it into a sort of 'who is more spry' competition. (Stephanie is winning, but Jet would never admit that.)

"What do you eat here, anyway? There's nothin' growin' -- and no animals." At least, none that Jet has seen that's edible. Legs is obviously off-limits.

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

It doesn't occur to Makita to be jealous of all the cavorting antics. She doesn't really see the need for all those acrobatics. But she grins a bit, now that she's not terrified that she's going to die at any second she takes a chance to look around. It's... nice to see a city full of life.

[slayer_fray]

Mel's much the same as Makita , almost. Acrobatics are just to be done when bored, and there's no competition in them. Mostly because Mel taking part would be unfair.

"What d'you want?" she asks, looking over her shoulder. "There's a noodle place a few levels down. They know me there, give us a discount. Or we could just steal something."