|
|
Post by dray on Jan 16, 2008 16:35:08 GMT -5
It had been a long time since Fa had had a chance to take Kay out, even if that meant that they were just going outside. Not that the blonde resented Casey (or even for a second disliked the child,) but it was wonderful to have a chance to have the redhead to herself. Er, the senior of the redheads.
Dressed in winter garb, which included about as much grunge as it did clothing, Fa was testing the well-worn ropes between one building and another. Today they weren't going to stray too far from home: she wanted to make sure that Kay was accustomed to the strenuousness of building-hopping before they did any real work. Besides, this meant they had time to chat.
Adjusting the shoulder strap of her much-repaired pack, Fa cast a look over her shoulder at Kay. "Looks like she's safe enough. Hope you haven't developed a fear of heights after so long under ground!" Kay had spent a lot of time in the basement; whenever a horde or even the threat of a small group of shamblers popped up, it was the safest place to go... well, more the smaller storage room built into the basement, rather than the basement itself.
Fa hoped this would be a nice change of pace... and a light teasing never hurt anybody!
|
|
|
|
Post by Kat on Jan 16, 2008 17:07:59 GMT -5
The plain and simple of it was that Kay was happy to be out and about again. Of course, she had to put aside the freezing air already biting at her nose, the fact that so many near-sedentary months had left her in possibly the worst shape of her life, and the ropes that she didn't recall having looked quite so rickety last time she was up here. All in all it was still a net gain and a nice break from the trappings of cabin fever.
Kay shuffled to the edge of the Cosway's flat roof and peered over it, shrugged. Down there was snow, for the most part pristine snow, cut through by a rare swath of shamble-steps meandering in one direction or another. It was pretty. It was a side benefit of a city where most of the living folks walked on the rooftops.
"Believe you me, darlin'," she told Fa empathetically, "I've gone the opposite direction. After that d*mn pit all the time..." Kay hated the basement and she made no secret of it. The only saving grace of the concrete-and-metal dungeon was that she'd never met a zombie who'd be able to get into it.
|
|
|
|
Post by dray on Jan 16, 2008 17:24:54 GMT -5
"Well, my monkey," Fa continued to tease, "you want to take a shot at it? The snow down there's pretty deep and I'll be right down if you fall." She didn't seem to be particularly helpful, but the crinkle in her eyes told Kay that she was smiling, even if her muffled voice and hidden mouth were covered by a moth-eaten scarf at the moment.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kat on Jan 16, 2008 18:33:46 GMT -5
"You've got no faith in me!" Kay went to the reinforced set of boards secured to the inside lip of the roof's low edge, where the ropes were tied, knotted and even nailed on to leave as little slack as possible for crossways travellers to slip on. She rubbed her hands together, felt her fingers through the thin gloves.
A year of not doing this regularly wasn't enough to forget it all, was it? She eyed the distance with a practical eye and cracked her knuckles. These gloves were thin, too thin for the cold, really, but they would let her feel the rope through them. Thick mittens on a rope passage were just asking for trouble. "Alright," she said aloud and, firmly not thinking of the potential fall below, she grasped the two 'handrail' ropes.
Someone had had the good sense to turn this once-single-rope passage into a proper rope bridge -- well, proper being relative. A single foot-rope below, nailed a couple of feet down the side of the building so it was a step down, over which a passenger moved their feet made up the bulk of the bridge. Two ropes on either side, about waist-height, provided hand-rails -- it was precarious, but it was something at least. Ascertaining her grip on the handrail-ropes, Kay flexed her booted toes and stepped out onto the bridge.
She shuffled and inched along steadily, even as the bridge began to sway. Balance was a boon; it was nice to just have to worry about herself and a backpack again. She glanced downwards and grimaced, and from then on kept her eyes glued on the opposite building, knuckles tight around the hand-ropes.
The peculiar passage of time that stress-filled moments facilitates finally ended, Kay boosting herself eagerly up over the lip of the roof that she'd set out towards. Her heart was beating fast; she ignored it, and waved to Fa across the way, shouting jubilantly, "See?"
|
|
|
|
Post by dray on Jan 16, 2008 18:40:41 GMT -5
"Saw!" Fa shouted back, waving and laughing. She monkeyed across the bridge and joined the shorter woman, but resisted the urge to swoop in on her for a hug of congratulations. Fa never tried to be condescending or patronizing, it usually just slipped out.
"So, is that enough or do you want to try another one?" the woman asked, laughing some more, enjoying spending time with Kay without worrying about Casey.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kat on Jan 16, 2008 22:49:27 GMT -5
Kay kicked a hunk of snow and grinned as it skittered into a drift on the next-nearest side of the roof. "I dunno," she told the blonde jauntily, surveying the roof of the pub. "Where we headed?"
|
|
|
|
Post by dray on Jan 16, 2008 23:14:35 GMT -5
"We-ell," Fa crouched and looked out over the rooftops and the walls of the taller buildings. "Lately there's been a lot of activity in the good way at the hospital just that way. Mock's folks have roped in this doctor-type who's been kind of 'boosting moral'." Quote-gestures hung in the air, as muffled by fat gloves as her mouth was by her scarf. "We could see if anybody's feeling generous about food."
|
|
