if at first you don't succeed

[15minuteslate]

Who: Mamoru Nakamura and anyone who finds him
What: He's trying to practice with his air-walking powers somewhere no one can find him, so of course he's going to get found.
Where: Several secluded places around LCU, the outskirts of the Dead District, the warehouse-o'-parkour Riku mentioned. Basically, as soon as someone finds him in one place, he's going to move to another.
When: June 24 and 25, early afternoon and late at night.



Mamoru stood on top of a picnic table. He glared down at the ground, which seemed unreasonably far off for it just being a goddamn table. He takes a deep breath, steps out into empty air --

-- and hits the ground with a thud, kicking up a small cloud of dry dirt.

Oh well, at least he landed on his feet, he thought, climbing back up again.

No luck the second time, either. Mamoru scratched the back of his neck. What am I doing wrong?

He stood atop the picnic table like the most self-conscious king-of-the-mountain ever and huffed out a breath, hands on his hips.

Okay. Gotta focus. Gotta think back -- what did I do, when I fell out the window? How was it different from every other time I've fallen out of something?

I saw a snake monster, for one thing. But that's not gonna help me here. Uhh...

He shut his eyes.

I was in real danger of falling. It was a knee-jerk thing, a reflex.

God, I hope no one sees me doing this. I must look like a real idiot, jumping off of a freaking picnic table.

Okay, okay, so maybe if I jump off and don't try to catch myself...? he wondered. God, I hope that triggers it, or I'm going to feel REALLY dumb.

Mamoru opened his eyes. The ground seemed even further away, so he shut them again, tight.

Don't catch yourself. You're falling for real.

He stepped out.

Comments

Outside the Dead District | June 24

[icy_heavens]

[It's pretty much one of the dumbest things he's seen in a while. (Though at this point, nothing out-stupids Arthur's song.) A guy just . . . jumping off things. Repeatedly. For no apparent reason.

[... Wait. Could it be that guy from the network who was making all the really annoying ice puns at him?

[Toushirou can be remarkably unobtrusive without even trying. He's small and quiet, so he doesn't generally garner the most notice. He's standing a little ways behind the guy when he makes another presumably failed jump.]

Trying to walk on air, or is there some stupider reason you have for doing this?

[15minuteslate]

Nggghk!

[Mamoru didn't hear a thing, and when Toushirou speaks, he just about jumps out of his skin. This is rather difficult, since when Toshirou spoke, Mamoru had just jumped off the low brick wall at the back of the alley he'd been using as a platform.

The moment of panic is enough: for a moment, he does indeed catch himself in midair. Mamoru stares at Toushiro, eyes wide, for a long moment --

-- and then hits the ground. Not on his feet, no, that would be too dignified. Mamoru falls on his ass.]

Holy shit, where did you come from?!

[icy_heavens]

[Eyebrows went up for a second. Yep, definitely the network guy; the standing in the air confirmed it.

[And even if he'd looked mildly impressed a second ago, that look shifted into distinctly unimpressed when the guy fell on his ass.]

I was just walking. It's not like I teleported. [That movement skill still made him feel sick as hell when he tried it.]

[15minuteslate]

All the way out here? What's a kid like you doing so close to the Dead District?

[There's a lot of questions on Mamoru's mind right now. He'll get to the big one -- did you see that -- soon, after the panic recedes. Maybe I can convince him he was imagining things...]

[icy_heavens]

Where I go isn't any of your business. [He's pretty much just glad to have free rein again, after Granny watching him so closely since the mine. That, and he wants to see if there's anything going on in this area these days. He likes to be on top of things.]

[15minuteslate]

[Mamoru's eyes narrow. What's with this kid?]

Jeez, fine! You don't talk to strangers, I get it.

[Maybe if he didn't bring up the fact that he stood in the air for a second, the kid will think he imagined it?]

[icy_heavens]

[Yep, eyes narrowing here, too. "Don't talk to strangers"? What is he? Five? But he's not going to keep arguing about that because it's dumb and not what he wants to talk about anyway.]

Gotten any better at that yet?

[visionarykitten]

It was LCU that Gomez was currently investigating, after hours now that the worst of the festival thing was over with for the night. He was nosing into dropped bits of trash, looking for food, when the guy on the table caught his attention. A bit of fried fish still clinging to his whiskers and his tail held high, he padded over to investigate.

And stopped and stared when the boy hovered.

[15minuteslate]

Yes! Yes yes yes he was doing it, it was working --! A big, goofy grin spread across Mamoru's face as he stood there, arms outspread, reflexively ready to catch himself.

He could only maintain it a few seconds longer; Mamoru dropped to the ground, landing neatly on his feet, immensely pleased with himself. He stretched his arms out in front of him, cracking his knuckles, taking a moment to enjoy his success before giving it another go.

sorry about the late, I was waiting on an echo :)

[visionarykitten]

Gomez's tail lashed in surprise, and that same heartbeat-overwhelming feeling came back-- along with a flash of some other cat, also walking on the air.

Even the air will listen to the Speech, she was saying. You just have to use the right words to remind it of when it used to be solid. Like this. And in his memory, she stepped off the roof of a huge building, and into the air.

"Whoah," he said out loud, in said Speech, and understandable to anybody who happened to be listening. Like one black-haired young man who'd just been air-walking.

no prob!!

[15minuteslate]

Mamoru's head whipped around, looking around for the source of that. He didn't automatically assume it was the cat talking (who would?). No, Mamoru had jumped to a worse conclusion.

"Hello?" he asked, eyes narrowed. "Is anyone here?"

If anyone saw me...

[visionarykitten]

For a beat, Gomez was embarrassed. He didn't usually just talk to people, but... something about what he just "saw" seemed to make it appropriate.

And besides, he thought, someone walking on the air had to be a network someone, right?

Still, his voice was kind of sheepish when he spoke up again, a couple seconds later. "Uh, sorry. That's me." And he sat his rump down on the grass, ears skewed embarrassedly and eyes on Mamoru.

[15minuteslate]

He was able to pinpoint the direction the voice was coming from this time, and his eyes came to rest on Gomez just in time to see the cat's mouth move.

Which....really only surprised him a little.

Oh yeah, didn't Regina say there was another talking cat around here? What was his name again? Gunther? Garcia?

"Oh," Mamoru said with a blink. He crouched down, lowering his voice. "You're another talking cat? I think Regina mentioned you. You're from the numbers club, right? Or are there talking cats who aren't involved in this whole network business and humans just don't know about them?"

[doomedtheworld]

After all that talk of alien invaders, magic notepads and mysterious networks Vanessa was glad to get back to doing what she knew. Late afternoon was one of the best times to get some money, around the time when the work day ended and the downtown streets were flooded by business types too tired and frustrated by their day or preoccupied with their cell phones to pay any mind to the tiny girl bumping into them with a meek apology before hurrying away. Only a few of them had even noticed that their wallet was missing before she had made it out of earshot altogether.

Now she was back in the less busy areas near the Dead District, hurriedly pulling the cash from her prizes and discarding the wallets themselves into a garbage bin. It wasn't a bad take, enough to keep her fed for the next few days while the money from her legitimate job as Vivian went to paying off her debt with whatever she could spare going into her fund to get her out of town. Especially after all that business with the network. Whatever that was all about, it wasn't her problem, and was just another reason to run as soon as she could.

The last wallet went into the trash and she pocketed her ill-gotten money, turning to go about her way when she caught sight of somebody else. Apparently, the spot she'd chosen wasn't as secluded as she'd hoped and she frowned when she realized who it was.

Starbucks Guy. Just what she needed. What the hell was he doing out here anyway?

[15minuteslate]

There were a few garbage bins in this back alley and Mamoru was standing on top of one, facing away from Vin. He took a deep breath, then made a running jump off of it.

He very clearly runs in midair, making it about thirty feet before his power gave out and he dropped to the ground with an undignified thump.

"Ow!" he yelped as he hit the asphalt, scraping up his hands and forearms in the process. "Shit..." He took a moment before getting up again, pulling himself into a one-knee kneel and examining the shallow but ugly scratches on his forearms.

Yup, oblivious.

[doomedtheworld]

What the hell.

She did not need this, at all. For a moment, her brain scrambled to come up with an explanation for what she'd just seen before simple realization set in: he was one of them, he was one of those people from that network.

She had to go, now, she decided. Nobody knew who she was and she wanted to keep it that way, no way was she going to run the risk of the Starbucks Guy (who she thought was way too dedicated to protecting a few damned baked goods) recognizing her.

She turned to go quickly, but distracted by seeing somebody fly and in a rush, she ended up bumping one of the trash cans, knocking it into a few others with a loud clatter.

Damnit!

[15minuteslate]

Mamoru's head whipped around when he heard the crash. His jaw dropped -- he hadn't recognized her yet, but the fact that she probably just saw him fly was definitely cause for concern.

"Hey -- wait!" he called, leaping to his feet, scrapes forgotten. Her collision with the trash cans looked nasty, though, and without thinking, Mamoru shouts, "You okay?" It was reflexive, since any other questions would have taken more thought. He started to move towards her at a fast walk.

[doomedtheworld]

Damnit.

Vanessa cursed quietly when he called out after her, and again when she realized he was coming toward her. He hadn't recognized her yet, by the looks of things, if he remembered her face at all. Maybe she could still get out of this without being spotted.

"I'm fine," she called back, turning away and keeping her head down already beginning to move away, "I just tripped."

Come on, just turn around and go somewhere else....

[15minuteslate]

Wait.

"....hey, you're--" Mamoru began, looking at her with narrowed eyes. "You're that goddamn pickpocket!"

Oh, this just got better and better.

"H-how much of that did you see?!" he demanded, stopping short about twenty feet away from her.

[scramasax]

Nearly anywhere further into the Dead District was "safe" to inconspicuously make one's way through even in daylight. Anthony ordinarily opted not to - both for further assurance's sake, and for the fact that he still could not seem to get "used" to the degree of irritation of the sun in his eyes. However less time required for sleep expanded the stretch in which to grow restless and further refreshment seemed appropriate. Hanging mix of thoughts from yesterday to air out - Mr. Lyall, as well - who had in fact made some point to ask if he was getting about, just as well.

Anthony, as usual, eased the stiffness out of his muscles when the sun started to lower, scanned the street around and scanned it well, and dragged himself on out - hood up, head low as usual, and with less mind on vigilance. He scanned further occasionally. He didn't keep so many inches close to walls. He turned on any sound he might've heard without jumping - starting, occasionally.

He found a spot to rest on the now-expected aches setting in, and when he leaned against a wall, he even dropped his hood. Quickly scratched and ran fingers through his hair, took the biggest pleasant, slow breath of evening air his lungs seemed willing to hold.

No thought to look up while sliding and settling into the spot for a person stepping off a ledge overhead.

[15minuteslate]

And Mamoru was growing confident -- perhaps too confident. He didn't look down until after he'd stepped off the ledge.

"Oh my god!" he shouted, backpedaling in midair, arms flung out. Mamoru stumbled on nothing, losing his concentration -- and falling flat on his ass right in front of Anthony.

He stared up at the zombie-kid, face full of several different kinds of horror.

"Aaagh!"

[scramasax]

Anthony looked up at the shout, and his eyes went wide, and he dragged in a high, skipping gasp.

Someone was up there!

And he stumbled back despondently - couldn't run, couldn't turn, couldn't even move his eyes away - as the man in the air reeled weightlessly, arms outflung, and fell back - and hit the ground right in front of him.

A heartbeat hit, low, hollow, forebodingly like the ring of a supernatural pulse, with a chill below the cold.

The man shouted. And Anthony wrung out a helpless "Hnghh!, and felt his back sharp into the wall, staring still huge-eyed at the horrified look straight at his and still hearing the shout and was mortified, his teeth gritting together, voice locked, everything locked - coherency with which to salvage humming insensible.

But no - running would be worse, besides - if he could say anything -- "I -- !"

His heart jumped again, and any thought he'd poised was dusted to disarray again.

[15minuteslate]

"Y-you --!"

-- was about all Mamoru could get out. He scrambled backward a few feet, eyes still wide.

"Oh my god. Oh my god."

His breaths came in short, sharp bursts as his brain slowly began to process exactly how horrible this situation was.

item 1: He saw you flying.

item 2: He's a zombie.

Am I going to die? Mamoru wondered. Am I seriously going to die because of a brain-eating homeless zombie?

What a lame way to go, he desperately thinks. But not as lame as falling out a window, so I guess there's that.

[scramasax]

"I-I'll go!" he tore out at last all hoarse and abrupt and ripped his (dry, dead!) eyes from the man's face and scraped his back further along the side of the wall - and froze again, and thought don't run, don't run, what did he see, what'll he say?

His brain slammed him to move! again all the same, he took a stumble back and his momentum destabilized and he fell back too, side of his jacket scratching with the wall.

It was subconscious. It was rendering himself harmless and a frantic apology. He looked back at the man with another ineffectual gasp, desperately hoping.

[15minuteslate]

A wide-eyed stare followed Anthony's every movement.

Wait, came a thought through the haze of horror and disgust and what the hell and fear. Why is HE freaking out?

Maybe zombies are like wild animals, Mamoru thought, like wolves or bears or whatever, more afraid of me than I am of it.

He swallowed hard.

He DOES look pretty miserable.

"Listen," Mamoru said, keeping his voice as steady as possible, "I'm not gonna hurt you, if you don't hurt me. Okay?"

It seemed like a decent ground rule to set.