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Post by Street on May 3, 2013 18:02:41 GMT -5
Street didn't say a word, but smiled over at their waitress and her interaction with Kaye. She had served the rat several times before, and he found her to be a pretty solid girl in her own right. She, among others who worked at the Phantom put up with Street's occasional trouble making, and even gave him some extra mead or old stew on the house.
He turned left as directed and carried Kaye down the street. The couple continued to garner looks from passers by, and Street smiled back at them proudly. The direction they were headed would eventually lead towards the city gates and Street started silently running over the map in his mind, conceiving places he could bring the girl for things to do or places to see. He had to consider a multitude of factors between destination, potential run ins with riff raff, and mounting the terrain to reach any potential destination.
The polite thing to do would be to warn her – hold on, he should have said – but he felt it would be redundant as he was holding on to her.
With girl in hand, Street suddenly picked up pace for a couple steps before taking a short leap, then a hop. Landing on both feet, he squatted down and bounded again, higher that time and hit the ground running. After a few paces, Street strafed left with a strong thrust, and then right again on landing. Still moving with haste, the street rat carried Kaye towards the right side of the street. There was a small shed at the corner, roughly five feet tall and with a flat roof. Street ran at an angle to wards the wall, ran up the side of it, and turned around as he landed in a half squat on the roof of the shed holding Kaye tightly against his chest before bounding into a high arcing back flip onto the street.
Standing up straight and taking in a deep breath, Street nodded lightly to himself. He had to get a sample of what he could pull off while carrying Kaye. He had to consider the extra weight, the shift in balance, and the lack of arms to move on. “I've got some place to show you” he said smiling, “If you're up to it.”
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Post by Kaye on May 3, 2013 18:18:02 GMT -5
Kaye had been silently snuggled against his chest when they moved forward to the left just as she had directed. Even with her eyes closed she could feel him move that way. Suddenly he held her closer, tighter as if to be certain she wouldn't fall and soon after, she found out why.
Her eyes snapped open and then she smiled as she found herself flying through the air via Street's body. She didn't say anything, didn't tense up or object in any way. He had this, he had her and she was certain he wouldn't allow anything to happen to her and so, she just went with it.
With her eyes open, even from her diminished view tightly clutched to his chest now, she could see the world pass. She felt every time his muscles would bunch up and every move he made, she excitedly anticipated each second, never knowing quite what to expect and never once fearing for herself even once. The back flip was amazing to experience from her point of view. She'd done back flips on the grass as a kid and even now and again at home when she was goofing around, but never off a structure that tall.
She looked up at him as he started to speak Of wanting to show her something, if she was up to it. If she was up to it indeed. If Street had something he wanted to show her then she wanted to see it.
“Yes please.” She smiled up at him and then quickly afforded him a kiss on the shoulder.
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Post by Street on May 3, 2013 19:59:43 GMT -5
“Alright then.” Street was happy she accepted, though he was fairly apprehensive – he had never scaled the rooftops carrying someone before – but it would be a new challenge, and mostly a chance to show Kaye some of the nicer parts of his life. “This way.”
Street started walking down the alley next to them before picking up the pace again. This alley was a dead end, blocked by a solid stone wall standing ten feet high. The next streets past there were lower class than the one they just came from. Similar walls were place in many back alleys through the city to separate the classes and prevent unwitting upper class wanderers from strolling aimlessly into an encounter with lower class riff raff, and discourage the latter from wandering into better parts of town for fear they should sully the place.
Street ran up the side of a building again and landed on the top of a dumpster in the corner by the small wall. He took a couple quick steps towards it, then spun around as he thrust upwards with his back to the wall. He wasn't going to make a five foot leap to the top of the wall, so he leaned back and just got himself on the top of the wall, laying on his back and turned parallel to it. Pulling his feet in closer towards himself, Street planted them firmly on the wall and stood himself up. From the top of the small wall, Street ran further up the adjacent building and landed in a balcony on the second floor. From there he paced across it and with a leap he put two feet on the top of the far railing, bounded off of it and had his feet on the middle rung of a retracted ladder hanging from the fire escape. Immediately, Street kicked off from the ladder and landed on his back again on the third floor balcony. That side had no railing for access to the escape. All together, this process was moving far slower than his usual run about the buildings, but he was still sure he could get where he was going.
He had to turn himself around on his back, leaving his head and shoulders hanging well over the edge as his feet had before. Pulling his feet in again, Street stood up and hopped onto the far railing, headed back in the direction of the wall. He hopped onto a wide window ledge between that balcony and the first one on the wealthier side of the wall, then bounded onto the concrete patio wall of the wealthier apartment. Running along the top of the concrete railing, Street carried Kaye to the other side of the wide patio where there was a small concrete wall dividing that patio from the next. From the top of the railing, Street was able to turn and hop up onto the divider and land sitting on top of it. The third, fourth, and fifth floors of this particular building became more and more narrow, each one having a few feet of roofing behind the lower patio before the higher floors' patios started. Street turned on his seat and stood again, running up the bit of roof , hopping onto the railing and then the divider before repeating the process two more times to ultimately reach the fifth floor roof at the top of the building.
Once at the top, Street ran back across to the poorer side of the block where the floors were not tapered. In the poorer districts, the streets were narrower, allowing for more buildings and more people in smaller spaces. He ran at full speeds towards the first street on the poor side and leapt across, landing two feet just inside the fourth floor roof of the building on the other side. Upon landing, Street spun around immediately and fell on his ass, rolled onto his back, then turned onto one knee and stood. With Kaye in his arms, Street was forward weighted and would otherwise have fell forward, pushing her into the roof.
Once up again, Street turned left and started running again, this time leaping from roof to roof at even height but only over the much narrower alleys of the poor district. After bounding across three alleys, they were approaching the destination but the added effort was taking its toll, each bound landing closer and closer to the edge. Leaping the fourth expanse, Street realized he was going to narrowly miss the mark, so leaned forward to reduce their height and turned over so he struck the concrete roof top with Kaye in his arms on top of him. He slid on his back across concrete upon landing, winced and groaned far more than on any previous leap, but got up all the same, though slower than before.
He took his first few steps running apprehensively before cocking his head and going full speed again, or as close to it as he could through weight and fatigue. He would have to adjust his jump. At the edge of this roof, Street placed his last step a little later than usual, placing the middle of his right foot on the very edge, and took a slight longer to jump than before and thrust mostly off the side of the building instead of the top. This time Street leaned forward in the initial jump, removing the redundancy from the leap. They landed on Street's back again, just barely reaching the roof. The street rat's ass and legs were still over the edge when they landed, so he rolled on his shoulders to pull them across.
There were no more alleys to jump from there, they were only a few blocks from the city wall, and well into cheap side. There was a small tower at the far corner of that building's roof. It looked a lot like a light house and stood another two stories above the buildings. Street carried Kaye over to it, leaned into an open window on the side of the tower that faced the back of the building, and brought her inside. There was a circling set of stairs leading up and down from there but the way down had fallen apart it seemed, a few feet below that level. There were cobwebs in the corners and under the steps. Street carried Kaye to the top of the steps and sat on the concrete railing with the girl in his arms.
There was a roof on the tower held up by a series of thick support beams around the perimeter, but there was open wall from three feet high to the ceiling almost all the way around. From there the two were sixty feet over the streets below and could see well over the buildings all around them and the city wall only blocks away. There were lights from torches all over the city and along the wall where there were guards posted, but there were very few outside the city. From the tower, they could see the great plains outside Meerin and the edges of the woods, the graveyard past one side of the city gates and the lake some distance away, reflecting the light of the moon across its surface.
Street leaned his back against one of the pillars as he sat with Kaye and caught his breath.
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Post by Kaye on May 3, 2013 22:49:46 GMT -5
”This way.” He had said as if leading her. She laughed slightly at his words. “ok.” She said simply as he began moving 'this way'.
Once more she found herself being whisked about the city 'his way' and it was amazing. The simple fact that he would do these things unhindered by her weight was one thing. It was another for him to be able to do this while carrying her. ”Truly amazing.” was the only thing that came to her mind. She winced a few times when he would land on his back to protect her from any harm; knowing it must have hurt at least a little bit.
Towards the end she could feel he was loosing strength. To be honest, she wasn't surprised at all. She had figured he would have taken a break before they got to their destination. Of course he didn't. His determination to get here as quickly as possible was a show of his resolve if nothing else. She was a little concerned for him a few times with those last jumps but she wouldn't ask if he was alright as if he wasn't she was certain he would have stopped. Still, the nurse in her was a little concerned regardless.
After he'd settled them down on a ledge she looked up at him and smiled.
“Amazing.” She almost whispered as she looked at him for a few more moments before turning her gaze out and over the city.
“Beautiful” She said quietly. It seemed that if she spoke to loudly the world she was looking at would melt away from her and this moment would somehow end. She definitely didn't want that to happen.
It truly was beautiful up here above it all. She'd never seen the city like this before and then her eyes moved out over the Great Plains and she took in a deep breath. The lake was so beautiful it near took her breath away. She's always enjoyed looking at it, sitting at its edge at night just letting her feet soak in the cool water. Never in her life would she expect to see it like this. She suddenly felt very small. She could see so far. She could see the forest, the plains, the lake and if she turned her gaze she could see the city including the top of the great huge wall that surrounded it. It was an experience she'd never had before nor did she think she ever would if not for Street.
She repositioned herself slightly so that she was sitting up a slight bit more. She twisted hips around so that her entire body would be facing a bit more outward though allowed her legs to dangle off his right side and over the ledge.
She didn't know how long they had sat there just looking out over the sights and up at the stars and it really didn't matter. She sighed contentedly and then turned her head to look up at him and smiled.
“You truly are amazing.” She whispered.
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Post by Street on May 4, 2013 4:14:40 GMT -5
Street smiled at Kaye's words of admiration - It felt good to be praised. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the pillar. “I truly am exhausted.” he returned wryly. He wasn't tired in a sleepy manner, but physically he had just taken his moves to another level. He had been slower and more sluggish than usual in getting to the tower, but the challenge in carrying someone up there turned out to be a great one, as he should have expected.
I come here a lot.” he said while opening his eyes. He then wrapped his arms around her chest and held on to her loosely. “This used to be a guard tower during the war.” he stared to explain while looking out over the wall. “They could post watch here in the city after curfew when things were pretty rough in town. I guess even in Meerin, there was a lot of trouble back then. Anyways, they haven't used this thing in a hundred years so i do. It's pretty nice as long as the weather's nice, but it's no good in the winter or big storms.”
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Post by Kaye on May 4, 2013 13:54:14 GMT -5
She smiled at his 'exhausted' reply and even gave a bit of a half laugh and then she looked back out over the sights as he continued to talk.
“I bet you are.” She started after he'd finished speaking. “Probably gonna be soar tomorrow too.” She added as an after thought though quite honestly. “That's ok though, I'm in no hurry to leave, you can rest here as long as you want. I'm perfectly happy just sitting here.” She finished with a contented sigh.
“What a nice place to be able to come to whenever you feel like it.” She then stated. “Ya, I can see the problem with it during the winter or if the wind was blowing . Probably has a great habit of getting pretty slippery and cold up here at times.” She went on.
Her mind drifted back to when this was used, over a hundred years ago, or there abouts. Guards standing up here, watching out over the City during some battle. She didn't envy those people back then at all, but it was thanks to them that they have had peace for so long now. Well, them and people like them throughout the Kingdom of Karador in general. All this thought drug up a flash of a memory of her visit to the Capital when she was very young. She could never really remember much of their visit, but the image that floated to her mind was of a white haired and eyed lady. She remembered being frightened of her , but now when the image came trough, it seemed to sooth her. But that was all, nothing more, she was very young.
“Have you gone outside the walls of the city much?” She asked then. “Or anywhere aside from Meerin?” She put in a second question.
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Post by Street on May 4, 2013 18:50:55 GMT -5
The old tower was his favourite place in the city. Commoners paid the place no attention and few other street rats ever thought of it – fewer even could get there very easily. Mostly, Street had marked the place as his own.
“I go to the lake often enough.” Street answered her question while looking out over the lake in question. It was dark outside the city and for the most part, they could only see the water from the glimmer of the moon on it's surface. “It's good for a swim in the summer, and about the only place i can take a proper bath at all.” He paused then a moment and sniffed his own shoulder. “Sorry for that.” he continued with a little chuckle, remembering that he didn't smell very good in the first place. “I'm due for another trip to the lake i guess. But yeah, the lake's about it for me. How about you?”
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Post by Kaye on May 4, 2013 22:10:08 GMT -5
She hadn't thought of a place to bathe for him or the other street people for that matter. That was something she just simply hadn't considered among the rest of their lives that would be so much different then hers. She quite enjoyed the huge luxury bath house on their estate.
“Oh yes. I love swimming in the lake and even know of a few nook and crannies where the general populace doesn't get to when I just want to swim or float in quiet during the summer time when there are so many people about.” She told him and then moved on. “I've gone on trips with my Father along the trading rout a few times and so have been quite a few places actually.” She continued. “One of my favorite places to visit is the Port city of Grultz End. The Huge ships that dock there are so impressive; beautiful really.” She said with a sort of dreamy tone in her voice. “When I was little I used to play pirate with the fishers children...” She let it trail off and then sighed. “but that was just a childhood thing of mine I guess.” She gave a half laugh. “Kaye the Pirate.. arrrgh.” She laughed again.
She laughed but really she had never let the dream of sailing on one of those ships one day slip out of her mind. She really loved them. Of course she'd never sailed before so she wasn't even sure if she'd get seasick so she never really sought that dream out, probably never would but it was still fun to dream.
“...And if I was offended by you I certainly wouldn't be so close to you now would I.” She stated, definitely a statement and not a question.
She turned her eyes away from the view again to look up at him from her position on his shoulder and smiled.
“I like it up here. Thank you for bringing me.” She stated and then turned her gaze back out towards the lake and then up to the stars.
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Post by Street on May 6, 2013 0:40:28 GMT -5
Street listened intently, smiling as Kaye spoke of the spots she knew at the lake, and then of travelling to other cities and the ships at Grultz End. He hadn't known anyone before who'd seen so much and only ever got to hear of other lands from the stuffy people he met at the libraries. He usually found their stale manners worth the stories they told, but the way Kaye told of them was so much more interesting.
He chuckled a little at Kaye's response to his smell. “This place is the best I've got.” He looked away from Kaye to look over the expanse past the city walls again. “I wanted to bring you here to thank you, for everything, so far.” He appended the end of his grace awkwardly, noting that he hoped for more time together. In retrospect, he hoped it didn't sound like he wanted more from her.
“The view here is one of the good parts of my life,” He explained a little more confidently, “and I've learned to appreciate the good things. I wanted you to see it.”
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Post by Kaye on May 6, 2013 1:22:35 GMT -5
He wanted to thank her for everything she'd done for him so far... those words stuck in her mind and she smiled after he said them. She had hoped to get to know Street and it would seem he'd had the same conclusion with her. The fact that he wanted to share something so dear to him as this made Kaye happy and she brought her left hand up to rest over those hands of his wrapped about her. The other hand still held to the knives wrapped in that towel the waitress had given her.
Of all the things she'd seen in her life, of the great ships and the cities she'd visited, this was perhaps the most wonderful place she’d ever been. This little piece of the good things in his life. It was amazing how the things right in ones own backyard had a habit of being the best of the best; even when one had access to the world.
“Well I hope to stick around for a lot longer.” She then said and smiled. “I can show you my special swimming spot sometime.” She told him. “Though I truly doubt anything I would have to show you would match what you've shown me tonight.” She finished.
She honestly didn't know what she would have done to have him thank her but she was grateful that she did whatever it was. In a way if anyone should be thanked, it would have been those thieves back in the square. If not for them, Street and Kaye might never have met.
Once more, she twisted around slightly under his arms and looked up at him as he held her there and smiled up at him. Her eyes searched his face, taking in every little bit of his features. Her left hand moved up to touch his cheek lightly.
“I'll never forget tonight.” She told him in a half whisper as she continued to look up at him.
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Post by Street on May 6, 2013 1:56:42 GMT -5
“I'd like that.” Street responded to everything Kaye said all at once. He closed his eyes and shifted his position a little on the wall to get a little more comfortable as he held the girl, and then placed a soft kiss on her head. He wasn't entirely sure where the gesture had come from and he hoped it wasn't out of place, but didn't say a thing about it.
He felt maybe he was tired after all. The mead had worn quickly off in their climb to the tower, and it left his body weary, not to mention the even more tiring effect of the climb itself, followed by the relaxed state he then found himself in with the comfort of a pretty girl in his arms. It was a comfort he'd never known, and he found he quite liked it. Even rested in what would seem a precarious position on the edge of a wall more than sixty feet above the streets below, he slipped very near asleep.
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Post by Kaye on May 6, 2013 2:09:33 GMT -5
She smiled after he kissed her forehead and then tucked her head against his shudder as he laid back and closed his eyes. She wasn't quite as sleepy as him but didn’t mind if he snoozed for a little while. It truly didn’t matter, so long as he was there with her, all was safe and sound. Besides, she would wake him if she felt she'd fall asleep at all. That certainly wouldn't be a good thing to have happen.
She looked out over the quiet seeming city. She knew that down there it wasn't so quiet. She was certain there were drunks walking about by now and who knew what else. Up here though, all that was going on down there didn't seem to matter much if at all. Up here she felt untouchable.
She didn't know for how long she just half lay half sit there with Street holding her, but she did finally take note that the moon had moved positions in the sky. She looked up at eh snoozing Street and smiled.
“Hey sleepy.” She said to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Maybe we should get moving?” She suggested before she too fell to sleep. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, no that wasn't an issue, the issue was she didn't trust gravity all to greatly when she wasn't paying attention to it.
She honestly hated to move away from here and as honestly didn't want to part company either, she could spend the entire night with him. Sooner or later though, she'd get tired and want to sleep and figured this wasn't the place she'd choose to do that.
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Post by Street on May 7, 2013 3:45:11 GMT -5
Street inhaled deeply as he woke suddenly. “Oh yeah.” He began groggily, opening his eyes wide. He hesitated a moment and his breath caught as he tried to sort things out in his hazy head. “Should get you home.” He blinked hard as he concluded, then with another deep breath the young man turned to his right and stood, girl in hand again.
This time he put Kaye down on her feet ahead of the trip down to the ground. He was hesitant to say anything, not knowing how to approach seeing her again. He had known inevitably that she would go home, and that he would take her there, but still couldn't find the way to say he'd see her again. In his mind he couldn't ask; he simply had to make it so.
Before he could think too long on what to say, Street acted before he could start to think on what to do. He pressed his hands upon each of Kaye's shoulders and pushed her back against the central pillar, inhaling deeply as he pressed his lips against her own.
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Post by Kaye on May 7, 2013 5:47:40 GMT -5
It felt kind of good to stretch her legs for a moment. She hadn't realized how stiff they'd gotten in the hours she'd just laid there on his lap. She stretched her arms and was about to tell him that he didn't need to take her home straight away just now but the words didn't even have a second to think themselves through in the correct manner before she was suddenly pushed up against the wooden beam and he was kissing her.
It took her a few moments, her heart near jumped into her throat at his sudden movement, before she realized that he was actually kissing her. The tingle that moved from head to foot and everywhere in between was amazing to say the least and in just about the time it took for him to make his bold action, she returned it, her left hand moving up to his cheek, her right one letting go of the knives she'd held this entire time so securely in that towel. She didn't even notice, or if she did, she didn't care and her right hand move to greet the back of his neck and pull him in closer.
This was definitely not what she had planned. As a matter of fact, this would have been the first real kiss she'd been given. Not that she'd been thinking about it at this point and time but sure she'd been 'courted' by men and had a kiss stolen quickly by one or two, but that was really the extent of it. This was indeed something new and exciting all together. If she thought she'd be hard pressed to forget this night before, well now things had moved to a whole other lever.
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Post by Street on May 7, 2013 18:03:28 GMT -5
The kiss had been a thoughtless gamble, made before he knew the odds. Kaye responded better than Street could have hoped and that made the move even more exciting to him. As she gripped his face and pulled at his neck, Street quite willingly pushed forward as she seemed to will him. His hands slipped over the sides of her shoulders and down her arms before grabbing her sides.
Street still couldn't believe this kiss was going so favourably, and he wasn't about to stop. With his thumbs pressed under Kaye's ribs and his hands around her sides, Street lifted her an inch off the ground against the wall and he closed his eyes and pressed his lips harder against hers.
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