pullmeoutalive | Ramey

[ He... should have seen that coming. If it were him getting pulled onto random rooftops by random strangers, he would have lashed out too. As it stands, the move catches him totally off-guard, and her elbow slams into his stomach, driving the wind from him. He doubles over with a gasp, releasing her wrist and stumbling back a step or two.

After a second he manages to wheeze, ] You're welcome.

[ He won't deny the strange tension in the air, and it does make some of the guests uneasy, but most are blissfully unaware or are too drunk to pay it much mind.

So he opts to play the part of unaware, casting her a strange look ]

Where are you getting that from?

[She's busy assessing whether or not this man is a threat before she responds. After all, where did he come from, materializing out of the air like that? Such a thing is not unheard of — and she's certainly witnessed it before — but to see it so unexpectedly and from a face she does not recognize is an immediate red flag. Another touched by the Void?

These thoughts are only slightly tempered by the sight of this person wheezing out a sarcastic "you're welcome", and she frowns, giving him a hard look.]

Who are you? What are you doing up here?

[ He takes another couple of seconds to catch his breath, quietly activating his defensive spells as he does. Thankfully his barrier spell doesn't have any visual cues to signal its casting, but if she attempts to strike him again, she'll meet with a solid, invisible wall instead. ]

I should be asking you the same thing. I mean, I was here first.

[She won't strike at him again, at least unless he gives her a reason to. But Emily remains wary, her demeanor reflected in her words.]

You appeared out of thin air; I think I have a right to be more suspicious of you than the other way around.

[Let's play the beat around the bush game.]

[ He narrows his eyes a little, his expression portraying more confusion than suspicion in spite of the fact that he's mentally kicking himself for letting her see that. ]

I... what? Are you crazy, lady? People just don't "appear out of thin air".

Yes, they do.

[It's said with such conviction that one can assume that Emily has either a) seen people do such things before (or at least possess a skill that makes it appear as such) or b) is straight-up calling him a liar.]

I know what I saw. Not to mention that men who loiter on rooftops are often up to no good.

[ He's taken aback by her sincerity, and for once the surprise and mild confusion that crosses his face is genuine. If she's magically-inclined, then perhaps he's not as in deep as he thought he was. Still, he'd rather not take the chance. ]

And what about women loitering on rooftops?

[ Attempt to change the subject is go! ] I feel like there's a double standard at work here.

[She bristles a little at his straightforward manner. She isn't exactly used to being talked to that way, and it would almost be refreshing if not for the fact that she wishes to know exactly what this man's deal is.

It's off-putting enough that the subject change actually does derail her for a rare moment.]

I am training. Nothing more.

[It was mostly true. Her escapes from aristocracy, taking the form of skittering across rooftops at night, was training enough. But this is just as much stress relief for her as it is practice.]

[ Flatly, ] You're training. By jumping across rooftops.

You're not exactly helping your case here.

[w o w she doesn't have to explain herself to you, okay. The quickest, stealthiest way to move across any city is via its rooftops, after all. But instead of saying this much, she turns the question around on him.]

I don't need to justify what I'm doing here. I'm more interested in why you're on the roof.

[ His eyebrows go up, and something insufferably smug makes its way into his expression ]

Well, that's way too bad. I'm a firm believer in fair trade, and if you're not going to justify yourself to me, why should I justify myself to you?

[She can't decide if she should be irritated or impressed by this man's doggedness.]

I told you the truth. I'm training. It's not my fault if you don't believe me.

[She presses her lips into a thin frown.]

And you should also consider justifying yourself or I'll call the authorities on you for trespassing.

[ This lady has guts, he'll give her that, but man, he really wishes she'd drop it. He spreads his hands. ]

Unless this is your house, you're trespassing too.

[She arches a brow at him.]

You're not from around here, are you?

What does that have to do with anything?

[ There's a part of him that has a sinking sensation that whatever the answer is isn't going to bode well for him ]

I guess it's just me then...

[And then she feels her phone vibrating in the pocket of her dress. She mouths a sorry to Alec, before looking at the screen at her texts, taking care to cover it up. Although Alec, might be able to catch a message from an unknown number that simply says:

"Inside, ASAP." Ai locks her phone and pockets it smiling at Alec apologetically.]

Looks like I'll have to take my leave! Thank you for talking with me by the way.

[Huh, looks like a few of the bodyguards are retreating from the party and heading towards the estate.]

[She actually scoffs at him. There's a twinge of amusement that threatens to leak out of her attempts at remaining composed and authoritative.

Definitely a foreigner. She makes a point of sounding stern; for all she knows this man could be a prospective robber, or worse.]

It means that you're going to remove yourself from the rooftop at once, or I'll drag you down and question you myself.

[Not exactly an answer to his question, but it gets her point across.]

[ Ah, well. He assumes by her not so subtle hint that he's come to the only city to have rooftop-hopping authorities. He backs away a step, then another, while he flips the mental switch to activate the Enhancement spells inked across his shoulders. Strength floods his limbs, and he offers her a curt bow. ]

As the lady wishes.

[ And then he takes one more step, over the edge, and falls off the roof. ]

[Her instincts had already told her that his man was unlikely to comply. He had been stubbornly avoiding her questions, so she had hoped that showing a bit more authority would make him more malleable to her suggestions.

Dashing forward to the lip of the roof, letting out a sharp hiss of a curse under her breath, it appears it didn't quite work out that way.

She leans over to look down below; frustration fights with concern, one unable to be more prevalent than the other. Suspicious individual or not, certainly he wouldn't have fallen to his death without so much a second thought? Her eyes flit around for any signs of him.]

[ He watches as subtly as he can as she takes her phone out, and he does indeed get a glimpse of that text. At first it seems odd, but as he notices that the obvious guard are also flitting away inside, he puts two and two together.

He has to wonder just what kind of Talent that girl must have in order to be working for his mark. That unknown factor is almost enough to make him call it, but he's got an awfully big check riding on this job, and the guy is a serious asshole anyway.

He gives her a little wave and a farewell as she leaves, lingering there for a moment afterwards. When it seems she's made her way into the crowd a decent distance, he slips off to a quiet corner and flips the mental switch that activates his camouflage spell. He practically vanishes, only a slight distortion of the air marks his presence, and the crowd and constant shuffle of people make it nearly impossible to see. He slinks along behind the girl and the contingent of security, slipping into the house when one of the men begrudgingly holds the door open for her.

For the moment, he lingers in the room to see what the commotion is, finding a nondescript patch of wall to stand in front of so as to not draw attention to his little ripple of air. ]

[ He hasn't gone far, considering she got to the edge of the roof only seconds after he dropped off it. He lands on the street below in a crouch, no worse for the wear thanks to the magic boosting his strength and durability. It's stupid and cocky and he knows it, but he can't deny himself a little fun now that his job has been so thoroughly botched, so he glances up and winks before dashing down the street. ]

[She watches him land as if it were nothing, and that settles it for certain: this was no ordinary individual. A normal man would have shattered the bones in his legs, not look up at her so smugly and dash down the street.

She has no frame of reference concerning how he's managed this, short of being marked by the Outsider himself. If this was the case, there was no situation in which Emily would allow this stranger to get away. And if it wasn't? Well, that cocky look would certainly encourage her to follow out of indignation alone.]

Stop! [She yells, watching him run. She stands, casting her gaze along the rooftops before bounding into a run. She's going to follow him one way or another, even if it has to be from above. She moves in the same direction has him, sprinting and leaping, trying to not lose line of sight.]

"Something wrong?"

[Ai Thao had paused and stared off into the distance (almost straight at the invisible presence near her), feeling as if something was a little off ever since she left the party and entered inside the building. When one of the guards grunted at her, she refocuses her attention again and shakes her head.]

No, it's...

"If it's nothing, get moving. Boss ain't paying for you to stand around to have your head in the clouds."

[She doesn't retort, or rather she doesn't know how. They don't have to wait long for said "Boss" to appear though, a 50s something silver haired gentleman, sharp eyes, sharp suit, followed by a single guard as well. He sees Ai Thao and opens his arms up with a wide smile.]

"Honey, you look wonderful. Doing a swell job too!"

[Ai rubs plays with her fingers, shaking her head.]

I'm not... Doing much-...

"I'll be out there in ten. Now, you're saying you got nothing to do? Don't worry. One of my guys, he ah... Caught a rat. You take him out back, put him to sleep, catch my drift?"

[The girl is silent and while her lips and expression is flat, she nods.

Thiiis doesn't sound foreboding, not at all.]

[ He could outrun her easily with his Enhancements active, but he would pay dearly for it later. It's much smarter to drop them now and save them for later if he needs, so he does just that. That slows his pace to that of a mere human- eve wit his slight head start, it's going to be difficult to lose her.

Alec moves erratically, skirting down alleys and side streets at random in the hopes of shaking her. Her position on the rooftops give her an advantage in both view and relatively unobstructed running space, and he's yet to find a street to wide for her to jump. Damn this place.

In the end, his unfamiliarity with the city is his undoing, when one of those alleys lead to a dead end. ]

Ah... fuck me.

Ramey > open rp

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i realized i have no idea what the setting is, vague city rooftops go?

haha sure. modern day or old timey times?

steampunkish industrialized city with a hint of old timey? idek. i'm flexible

that sounds good to me. steampunk wizards are my jam

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