[Kyna just sends him a selfie of herself flipping him off. She arrives about fifteen minutes later, and then, just to be extra annoying, phases through his front door and calls out:]
[ It's not like he's never seen her do that before, but it doesn't make it any less startling when it's a surprise. Only lucky thing is that he wasn't actually in the middle of anything interesting or dangerous--he's just walking toward the little kitchen area of the apartment.
A moment after that point, though, he's giving her his usual lopsided smile. ]
[ She even thought to wear appropriate footwear for the adventure? See, she's perfect. Sam gives them a serious look, like he's really thinking it over, then flashes her a grin. ]
Yeah, they'll be okay. How're you with heights? Real ones, not dream ones.
[ He's already heading out the door, c'mon Kyna. ]
[ Said as if that's a completely normal thing to ask, along the lines of do you drink regular coffee or decaf? Time to go upstairs--so to speak, anyway. More of an elevator ride, considering. ]
[ His smile broadens, genuine satisfaction at the answer she gives. ]
Taught Nathan how to jump rooftops when he was a kid. You'll be fine.
[ When the elevator dings and the doors whoosh open again, they're a little lobby area, a small, neatish garden outside. It's not a bad rooftop hangout, if not particular standout. ]
Of course, if you don't wanna, we can stick around up here.
[ There's some kind of...he has no idea what it is, frankly, but on the rooftop, in addition to the little garden-y stuff, there's some greenery-covered...something. Big metal cases, he'd guess, about as tall as he is, housing stuff that makes the the building work. The top of them is grown over with a plant he doesn't recognize, the long tendrils and leaves drooping down like a lacy curtain to disguise the fact that there's something ugly and urban behind them. ]
Now, you wanna avoid climbing too much on things with leaves or vines in the way. Never know what's underneath 'em. But this one's an exception. [ Mostly because he'd really, really wanted to climb it, and if you can reach the top edge, the sides don't make much of a difference. ] You want a boost?
[ He makes a cup of his hands, bends enough that she can use his palms as an extra step. What's easy for him to reach might be tougher for her. ]
[It's cool as hell, and it doesn't seem too</> bad. Maybe this will be easy.]
Thanks.
[Kyna's definitely going to need that boost, considering he's got a foot on her easy. She steps into his hands, reaching for the top when he pushes her up.]
[ By Sam's metric, this is gonna be simple--so easy that he'd never have suggested it to Nathan, who undoubtedly figured it out on his own. They're halfway there already, once she gets up there and he scrambles up next to her.
Back in the garden proper, there's a good-sized wall keeping people from falling to their deaths, for obvious reasons. Up here, the wall's no longer chest-height--for Sam, anyway--but below their feet, and it's easy to see a chunk of the city at large. Some of the buildings are taller than this one, but plenty are around the same height. ]
See that garden? Right over there. [ Believe it or not, it's the building nearest them, the space between the two eminently jumpable (at least by Sam's metric). It's a little across, a little down, from where they are, and it's clearly fancier than the building Sam lives in, if not by a huge amount. Jump from this metal casing to the cement wall across the way, scramble over it, and you're in with bigger, slightly wilder-looking plants, huge blooming flowers that spend all day soaking up the summer sun. ] Gotta live there to get access to it. Unless you got a different way in.
[ And as long as you don't worry about how far down the ground is, doing this stuff is easy. ]
[Well, it's not like she can back down now, but she's frowning down at the next building. She's not used to doing this, and so where he sees a path, she sees nothing.]
[ He's not really sure how to explain it--that, he never really did with Nathan. What he did do, though... ]
Watch me, okay? Do what I do.
[ Here, Sam doesn't take a running start. Great way, under the circumstances, to trip or slip or otherwise get his ass handed to him by a goddamn plant. Instead, he goes to the edge of the casing and leaps.
Maybe it helps that he's tall, but it also helps that it's close, and that he's aiming down rather than up. A little more room for error, though he doesn't err. In a moment, he's scrambled over the wall, so there's room for her to land. ]
[Jumping down is certainly less scary, it's the whole landing on the wall thing she's not a huge fan of. But again, her pride precludes her from backing out, so she takes a deep breath. Suck it up, Kyna.
And then she leaps. For one terrifying, weightless instant, she's certain she's not going to make it, but then she does. It's not at all graceful—in fact, instead of landing on the wall, her stomach hits it, and the breath is knocked out of her, but she scrambles up and shoves herself over, landing on her ass on the roof.]
[ Watching her jump is a lot of things: kind of funny, kind of brave, kind of scary? More than he remembers it being with Nathan, back when they were kids--but he was a stupid teenager then, convinced he was gonna live forever.
And there's nothing to worry about, anyway, because she makes it without any trouble. Sure, the landing's something they gotta work on, but for the most part? She did good. ]
Hey, hey, you're okay. Walk it off, right? [ He's holding out a hand to her as he says it, trying to help her up and make sure she didn't take any real damage all at once. ] Lookit this place.
[ The only flowers he recognizes are the roses, but they all smell incredible to him. It's a small space, made strangely cozy by all the plants--there's even a little table and chairs under a pergola that's all grown over with greenery. ]
[Her stomach hurts a bit, and her pride is wounded, but otherwise she's fine. When she takes his hand, he gets a rush of adrenaline and fading fear, and she beams at him.]
Holy shit, that was awesome.
[It's only then that she looks around at the flowers and plants crowding the rooftop. There's so many that they nearly hide the safety wall, making the whole thing look like some kind of tiny jungle in the sky.]
[ And he's all pride, grinning down at her and coming through the palm of his hand: atta girl, Kyna, now look at this. She seems happy enough that he'd be tempted to keep holding on, if he didn't think it'd get weird. ]
Do that a couple hundred more times, you'll be an expert. C'mon.
[ And now that they're here, they can enjoy themselves a little. He walks over to the patio set, under the shade of hundreds of leaves, and makes himself at home. ]
There's so many people living in these buildings that everyone figures I'm just from another floor. Long as they don't see me jumping over, no one catches on.
Started sneaking outta the orphanage when I was twelve. [ He plucks a little green leaf from one of the plants and twirls between his fingers idly. Months without smoking, God help him, and he still needs shit to do with his hands. ] Tougher than it sounds--they were trying to keep us in, y'know.
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if i die i'm totally going to haunt you
i'll be there in a sec
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Hey, nerd.
[The answer: There's no difference.]
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[ It's not like he's never seen her do that before, but it doesn't make it any less startling when it's a surprise. Only lucky thing is that he wasn't actually in the middle of anything interesting or dangerous--he's just walking toward the little kitchen area of the apartment.
A moment after that point, though, he's giving her his usual lopsided smile. ]
So that, uh, that's you as a ghost, huh.
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Yep. Boo.
[Then she sticks a leg out so he can see her boots.]
Are these okay?
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Yeah, they'll be okay. How're you with heights? Real ones, not dream ones.
[ He's already heading out the door, c'mon Kyna. ]
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[She mulls that over as she follows.]
Okay, I guess?
[Usually, she's kind of an adrenaline junkie, but she's not sure how she'll fare actually climbing.]
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[ Said as if that's a completely normal thing to ask, along the lines of do you drink regular coffee or decaf? Time to go upstairs--so to speak, anyway. More of an elevator ride, considering. ]
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[Less good with that.]
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[ He gives her a sidelong grin. ]
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No. I can handle it.
[Maybe. Probably. But she won't admit otherwise.]
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Taught Nathan how to jump rooftops when he was a kid. You'll be fine.
[ When the elevator dings and the doors whoosh open again, they're a little lobby area, a small, neatish garden outside. It's not a bad rooftop hangout, if not particular standout. ]
Of course, if you don't wanna, we can stick around up here.
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No, no, show me the place you were talking about.
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[ There's some kind of...he has no idea what it is, frankly, but on the rooftop, in addition to the little garden-y stuff, there's some greenery-covered...something. Big metal cases, he'd guess, about as tall as he is, housing stuff that makes the the building work. The top of them is grown over with a plant he doesn't recognize, the long tendrils and leaves drooping down like a lacy curtain to disguise the fact that there's something ugly and urban behind them. ]
Now, you wanna avoid climbing too much on things with leaves or vines in the way. Never know what's underneath 'em. But this one's an exception. [ Mostly because he'd really, really wanted to climb it, and if you can reach the top edge, the sides don't make much of a difference. ] You want a boost?
[ He makes a cup of his hands, bends enough that she can use his palms as an extra step. What's easy for him to reach might be tougher for her. ]
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Thanks.
[Kyna's definitely going to need that boost, considering he's got a foot on her easy. She steps into his hands, reaching for the top when he pushes her up.]
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Back in the garden proper, there's a good-sized wall keeping people from falling to their deaths, for obvious reasons. Up here, the wall's no longer chest-height--for Sam, anyway--but below their feet, and it's easy to see a chunk of the city at large. Some of the buildings are taller than this one, but plenty are around the same height. ]
See that garden? Right over there. [ Believe it or not, it's the building nearest them, the space between the two eminently jumpable (at least by Sam's metric). It's a little across, a little down, from where they are, and it's clearly fancier than the building Sam lives in, if not by a huge amount. Jump from this metal casing to the cement wall across the way, scramble over it, and you're in with bigger, slightly wilder-looking plants, huge blooming flowers that spend all day soaking up the summer sun. ] Gotta live there to get access to it. Unless you got a different way in.
[ And as long as you don't worry about how far down the ground is, doing this stuff is easy. ]
You wanna give it a try?
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[Well, it's not like she can back down now, but she's frowning down at the next building. She's not used to doing this, and so where he sees a path, she sees nothing.]
How?
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[ He's not really sure how to explain it--that, he never really did with Nathan. What he did do, though... ]
Watch me, okay? Do what I do.
[ Here, Sam doesn't take a running start. Great way, under the circumstances, to trip or slip or otherwise get his ass handed to him by a goddamn plant. Instead, he goes to the edge of the casing and leaps.
Maybe it helps that he's tall, but it also helps that it's close, and that he's aiming down rather than up. A little more room for error, though he doesn't err. In a moment, he's scrambled over the wall, so there's room for her to land. ]
Now you!
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And then she leaps. For one terrifying, weightless instant, she's certain she's not going to make it, but then she does. It's not at all graceful—in fact, instead of landing on the wall, her stomach hits it, and the breath is knocked out of her, but she scrambles up and shoves herself over, landing on her ass on the roof.]
Ow, Jesus.
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And there's nothing to worry about, anyway, because she makes it without any trouble. Sure, the landing's something they gotta work on, but for the most part? She did good. ]
Hey, hey, you're okay. Walk it off, right? [ He's holding out a hand to her as he says it, trying to help her up and make sure she didn't take any real damage all at once. ] Lookit this place.
[ The only flowers he recognizes are the roses, but they all smell incredible to him. It's a small space, made strangely cozy by all the plants--there's even a little table and chairs under a pergola that's all grown over with greenery. ]
Whaddaya think? Worthy of a few pics?
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Holy shit, that was awesome.
[It's only then that she looks around at the flowers and plants crowding the rooftop. There's so many that they nearly hide the safety wall, making the whole thing look like some kind of tiny jungle in the sky.]
This is amazing.
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Do that a couple hundred more times, you'll be an expert. C'mon.
[ And now that they're here, they can enjoy themselves a little. He walks over to the patio set, under the shade of hundreds of leaves, and makes himself at home. ]
There's so many people living in these buildings that everyone figures I'm just from another floor. Long as they don't see me jumping over, no one catches on.
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Wow, sneaky. You're an expert, huh?
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