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who: Neku and Riku
when: July 18th, afternoon
where: An abandoned playground somewhere
what: Neku's looking for a place to make art, Riku's practicing parkour. And then some weird things happen.

It had finally gotten to the point where the pent up frustration was too much, and sketching out graffiti designs wasn't enough for Neku anymore. He was sure someone would object, but as far as he's concerned? Good graffiti is not vandalism, it is art. So... screw everyone who thinks otherwise.

He's found a spot by an old playground, out of the way enough that he probably won't be spotted and maybe this as his first official graffiti mural won't be noticed if he has to come back at touch it up. He's hoping that won't be an issue. Neku was well aware he could be kind of a perfectionist, so he just tried to get it right the first time.

However, as he's starting the basics, he might not be entirely alone...

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Riku hadn't seen any repeats of the whole nightlight-swinging incident since the cabin with Van, but that didn't mean whatever it was was... gone, right? It had been really busy lately, but with the weekend, now was the best time to find a little used spot.

He'd been eyeing this particular playground for a while. It was all but abandoned, junk piled up along the corners and paint chipping away on the monkey bars and slides to show old heavy steel. It was perfect, really, for what he wanted to try out.

So jumping over the chain to ward off children from playing there, he headed for the swings and set his pack down in the broken down seat of one, stepping into the other. If he really wanted to do this, he supposed he was going to need momentum. The chains creaked under his weight, protesting noisily.

There's a moment where Neku hears the creak of the chains, head whipping towards the source of the noise. He's about ready to drop his stuff and run when he sees who it is. That's... Riku, right?

He relaxes a little, finishing up the bit he was doing with his paint before putting the can away and letting that layer dry. He could expand on it more, but he's honestly kind of curious as to what Riku's doing here, so he'll stash the paint over in a corner that he doesn't think anyone will pay attention to, pulling down the bandanna over his mouth that he'd been wearing to stop the fumes as he walks towards the playground. "Uh... hey."

"!" Riku tensed, nearly falling off the swing but for the tight grip of his hand around the chain. He leaned back to compensate for the shift in his body weight, the swing settling back into place underneath him.

He turned towards the source of the voice. "Who's-- you..." Riku turned, jumping back down from swing. "What are you doing here?"

This might have been a time where making more noise would have been helpful. "Sorry. I was just... painting-" Yea let's go with that, though he doubts this guy will care. "-and I heard someone over here and came to see."

"In here?" Because, Neku, what. Riku waved a hand around at the surrounding junk. "Fess up. What are you really doing?"

He folded his arms, leaning a little against the side of the swing set. Come to think, Neku looked like he came from that direction... What was behind there? There were pretty few reasons to be out and about in an abandoned playground.

"I didn't say what I was painting on." Seriously, Riku, there is a bandanna still around his neck. Guess. For his part, Neku glances around at the equipment. "What are you doing out here?"

"Practicing," Riku shrugged, indicating the vastness of the playground. "Let's see your 'painting' then." Riku straightened, looking at Neku expectantly to lead the way.

...Stop looking at his expectantly. "It's not done yet." Barely even started.

"Not done or 'not doing'?" Riku raised an eyebrow, but he let it go for now, looking at the rest of the playground. He had wanted to try out that weird thing that had happened but he wasn't so sure about doing it in front of a normal person.

Then again maybe he'd just imagined it. It wasn't like it had happened again since.

"Not done." He wouldn't lie about art. Still, it's not hard to tell that Riku's probably wanting to get back to... whatever it is he was doing. "I can go back to that, if you wanted to practice or something."

"That's..." Even if Neku did, the whole light show thing would get his attention real quick. Maybe he should forget practicing 'that' out in the open anyway.

He ran a hand through his hair a bit and shook his head. "You wanted to learn how to do this, right? I don't get shy." He walked back up onto the swing, one foot planted in the seat as he started to swing, mentally charting his course around the playground. The net first, sturdy, if worn, with bright red ceramic holds, then the heavy duty plastic pipe and the slide.

Oh. Well, that worked. Neku had seen parkour before, but... usually it attracted a lot of attention and there were other things to focus on. It's really cool, to watch Riku start off and clearly plotting out where he was going.

Riku leaped off the swing at the crest of the arc, hurtling towards the net and hands catching, pulling himself up and over the bars neatly onto the roof of the plastic tunnel below. The momentum was with him now, making adrenaline thrum in his veins, giving into the flow of motion and speed and exhilaration filling his lungs. This was why he'd taken up parkour. Few things could compare with the sheer speed and challenge of dancing with gravity and muscle instinct.

He skidded a little on the slick plastic, so he grabbed for the pole next to the slide instead. Pole pinned between his knees, he slid down in spinning circles, landing neatly at the bottom.

He laughed as he wiped flakes of paint off his hands. "Forgot how much fun that one was."

Neku watches, trying to memorize how he moves to get so smoothly from one obstacle to the next. Even when he skids a bit, he recovers quickly... Neku can imagine that takes more than a little practice, and more than a few falls. "It certainly looks like it."

Riku's been at this two years on a foundation of most of a lifetime of athletics, so Neku isn't wrong. He walks back up to Neku and gestures to the slide, though. "Want to give it a shot?"

"Sure." Trying very hard not to sound too excited, Neku moves over towards the slide before looking back at Riku. "...You're just gonna laugh when I fall on my ass, aren't you?"

"Just think of it as part of the learning experience." Riku called back, leaning against the swing set.

"Sure it is." Neku sighs, having to actually plot out... what he might be able to pull off. The list is not very long, and he's sure he's going to wipe out on the first obstacle. After a minute of getting himself together, he manages to pick up a decent amount of speed. He grabs onto a bar, swinging a little to gain more momentum before letting go and landing on the slide. That's about where it falls apart, since he ends up coming off the slide way too fast and doesn't have enough time to grab the pole securely, so his hands slip and he does, in fact, fall on his ass.

Neku was doing pretty well, actually, for his first time, up until he lost his balance on the slide, shooting out the end and nearly bouncing off the rubber mat that covered the playground.

Looking at his stunned face, Riku cab't help it. He laughs.

At least he makes an effort to walk up the final few steps to where Neku had landed, though, offering a hand. "How was the flight?"

Neku takes a moment to get his breath back, pushing his hair out of his face before taking his hand. "Fine, until the crash landing." The little bit he'd done was great- hopefully he could get it to last longer.

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Foooor reference.