pullmeoutalive | Ramey

[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 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.]

[ 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.

[Unlike Alec, Emily knows these streets all too well. The twists and turns of the alleys are nigh memorized, and even if she loses sight for a precious second, she can safely assume where she can catch sight of him again, following her mental map.

She knows, then, when he's made a wrong turn before he does. When he chooses the path of a dead end, she takes the opportunity to descend to the street, borrowing balconies and verandas to aid in her descent.

So when Alec comes to a halt, he may hear the sound of her boots hitting the pavement behind him. She isn't winded, but her breathing is harder.]

I'll ask you this once more -- who are you? And why did you run?

[ Alec turns to face her, calm as you please, hands in his pockets. ]

I ran because you threatened to arrest me.

[ He does not deign to answer her first question. ]

[She moves closer, unwavering in the face of his flippancy.]

I threatened to arrest you because you kept avoiding my questions. Which you continue to do even now.

If you were reasonable, maybe I wouldn't have to threaten you at all.

[ This was getting him nowhere, aside from dangerously close to actually being arrested, so he switches gears. ]

You remember I saved your bacon back there, right? How about you cut me some slack for helping you out?

[She stops where she's at, though it doesn't look like his words are truly giving her pause.]

Answer my questions and I might consider it.

[She considers that fair. Because despite everything, what he says is true; but if she allows even the smallest leniency, she has to make sure it's not something she'd regret.]

And if I tell you I was trying to break into that building, are you gonna arrest me?

[She frowns.] That wholly depends on what you were planning to do once you broke in.

[ He quirks a brow ] So it's not the breaking and entering that's the arrest-able offense, it's the... whatever I do after that? You people have some interesting laws.

Then let me be clear: breaking and entering is a crime in this city. But I'm willing to show a certain amount of lenience since you did... help me on the roof previously.

But that lenience only goes so far. [She's not going to let some grand terrible scheme go unnoticed, after all. Not that she trusts this man to tell her the truth, but she might be kind enough to let him off with a warning for now.

That also depends on how much he's willing to indulge her curiosity, selfishly enough as it is.]

Then I guess we’re at kind of an impasse. I was hired to break into that building, but I have this sort of client confidentiality… thing. My lips are sealed.

[ He shrugs, as if to say “sorry, not sorry”. ]

[She narrows her eyes, with both concern and disapproval.]

Breaking in to do what? What were you after?

[ Another shrug, though this one seems to say “eh” more than anything overtly cocky or flippant. ]

Anything, really. The guy who runs that place has been blackmailing my client for years. I’m here to level the playing field.

[Blackmail? That seems to give Emily pause, and the way she sets her jaw in consideration reveals at least that much.

She's torn between her duties as Empress; to not turn a blind eye to any wrongdoing in her city, or to further investigate allegations of blackmail.

Well. She did say she'd provide lenience. But she might add a stipulation or two.]

What does your client have on this individual, exactly?

[ He watches her carefully as she takes in what he has to tell her. He’s honestly not sure if the fact that his mention of the nature of the job seems to give her pause is a good thing or not. The last thing he needs is a cop (or who he assumes to be a cop) hanging around while he’s trying to work. ]

That’s getting into “do not discuss” territory.

[She's not quite the City Watch, though she has a vested interest in this city such as much as they do.]

You should consider discussing it if you want me to help you.

[ He can’t help the short little “ha!” that escapes him at her words. This lady was sure assuming an awful lot. ]

Here’s the thing, though: I don’t want you to help me.

[And now she can't help look indignant. The nerve of this man.]

You are treading upon the boundary of not having a choice. Unless you want to be taken into custody by the City Watch. I promise I can make life much more difficult for you here if you don't cooperate with me right now.

[ He gives her another considering look. Sure, he could be a total jackass about it- all he’s gotten out of this exchange so far has been a decent chase and an extremely annoying conversation- but he won’t deny that, for the moment, she has him cornered. Even with all his tricks, it’s going to be difficult getting out of here, and he’d still rather not wave magic in her face if he can help it. If playing along will get him out of this dead end, then so be it.

At length, he sighs, something resigned in his expression. ]

Fine, fine. I’m Jack, by the way. And you are?

[Some tension in her shoulders release -- barely noticeable, but there regardless. She realizes that despite his words, he may turn tail at any moment, but it's enough to make that crease in her brow not so stark.]

Emily. Emily Kaldwin.

[She hesitates. She should probably not even reveal that much, given that her nighttime excursions would give the court itself a fit if they knew what she was doing. But this man did save her from a treacherous fall, and he's seen her face as clear as day. It's not as if saying more would be any riskier than it already is.]

Empress Emily Kaldwin.

[ For once, he’s well and truly surprised, and mentally he’s caught between oh shit and yeah right. He settles on the latter- not because he doubts her, there’s something fiercely straightforward about her that doesn’t really suggest she’s one for outlandish lies, but because it’s easier to roll with. ]

Right. And I’m the king of France.

So, your Empress-ness, just how are you planning to help out, here?

Are you asking how, or are you really asking why? [She looks at him skeptically, not perturbed by his sarcasm. If he didn't believe her, then all the better. Still, she answers:] When I said I was training before, I wasn't lying. I've been doing so for years in both stealth and espionage. I can approach a situation like this with a subtle hand.

[And if she goes along, she gets to keep an eye on this stranger, while foiling a plot for potential blackmail, and all the complications that entails for both parties.]

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i'm alive i swear

welcome back <3

thank you!

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