(no subject)

[goty]

WHO: ellie goty & yuuto salaryman.
WHAT: magic lessons with a real life wizard.
WHEN: some time in the first week of oct.
WHERE: lincoln center.

The lobby of the Lincoln Center is in some places well lit, and in others, shadowed enough for an archer to stand unseen. Maybe the entire place shined brightly when it had electricity, but now, between the patches of rotting carpet, the dust, and some of the boarded windows, it's an ideal place for an ambush.

Ellie doesn't want to kill anyone. If Abby isn't here-- a possibility she dreams of nightly-- there's nobody in Manhattan worth the time to track and hunt, to wear down and exhaust, to torture, to destroy. But none of that means anything if she gets caught off guard. Lying in the shadows of the second floor, Ellie stands with her bow and arrow, and she waits for Yuuto to arrive.

Comments

[salaryman]

Yuuto hums to himself as he heads to the Lincoln Center. The melody he chose is one that One sings; he finds the song slips inside his head and plays itself somberly. It would be a shame not to honor the earworm by not humming along.

Still, the overall gloom of his walk over has been interesting. He has often wondered how he would survive at the end of the world, and it seems he'll be able to get his answer here. Lightly papping his mouth, he does agree that he shouldn't think of this as a vacation, but maybe, it'll be all right to think of it as a training exercise?

When he draws close, he does as he was instructed. Tilting his head up, he attempts to reach out to her through the Murmur. Ellie, I'm almost there. Really - this method of communication is invasive but handy. It's far more useful than landlines and payphones.

Yet, as he steps into the area, he pauses as he doesn't see anyone else. Lightly scratching the side of his face, he takes a swirling step to look about.

"Huh? Hello?"

[goty]

Up in the dark rafters, Ellie draws her bow. She gets a good look at him, from one storey above-- he's a normal guy, nothing aberrant, no sign of infection. He doesn't give her a bad feeling, either. It's unscientific, but Ellie has learned the value of trusting her gut. She puts the arrow away, back in the makeshift quiver of her backpack, and calls out to him. "Hey!"

She slides down the long metal handrail, an inelegant maneuver powered less by inertia than her own enthusiasm for it. Her dirty sneakers hit the musky carpet on the first floor.

"'Sup." She holds out her hand, and tries to keep it steady when she gets a good look at him. There are scars just under the cloth of his shirt, or maybe tattoos? Well, that could be anything. She sticks with her gut feeling: she isn't in danger yet.

[salaryman]

As she comes to greet him, he smiles wide and friendly. The changes are starting to take hold of his body -- amber eyes shifting to a deep red that seems to softly glow; scars tracing up and peeking out from underneath his suit.

Yet Yuuto himself does not seem overly bothered by the changes affecting him.

He steps forward to take her hand and give it a shake. "Hello! I was worried that I didn't follow your instructions well." A laugh dances itself around each word. "It'd be embarrassing to send a message and end up being somewhere completely wrong."

A quick pause before he clarifies and lets go of her hand. "I would've felt terrible for troubling you."

[goty]

It's almost overwhelming, how immediately he tries to reassure her. Does he think she'll hit him? The idea seems preposterous, until she remembers the arrow pointed at him moments ago. No, he's wrong because she isn't that obvious.

"Don't worry so much," she says, leading him back through the main lobby, into a massive space, now filled with the scent of rotted wood. She steps over a long thin twine decorated with empty cans-- an auditory alarm in case of intruders. The sound bounces brilliantly off even the moldering walls-- this room was designed for acoustics.

"This room's all damp," she says by way of explanation, "so it'll probably be okay if I set something on fire."

[salaryman]

"I'm a natural worrier."

Is that true? No, it isn't. He has to say that he's a natural image of a person. He'd show up early to ensure he didn't make anyone wait; he'd buy expensive treats to earn goodwill of those around him. Yet he can't say he feels deeply about doing these things even if it is a mild inconvenience to him.

Yuuto continues to smile as he follows after Ellie. He steps into the lobby and glances around at the space. His eyes drift around before following her steps over the twine. The tip of his shoe still hits it - and it makes the same sort of sound.

"I think that sounds right." At the very least, he thinks he could try to smother it with his blood -- which he hopes would be the same idea of doing the same with water. "I take it that means that you're a fire starter, hm?"