Following the Leader

Participants:

daphne_icon.gif monica_icon.gif

Scene Title Following the Leader
Synopsis Monica and Daphne play on the rooftops just because.
Date June 16, 2010

Somewhere in Manhattan


Old habits die hard. It isn't so much that Monica's out looking for bad guys to rough up, but that she's out hopping rooftops in her standard all-black outfit and hood just like the old days. But then, since the hallucinations, she's been… unsettled, and there's no better way to get settled than going out and doing something physical. Some people run. Monica ninjas. To each their own.

So it is that the young woman perches on the edge of a roof, peering down at the city below, mostly hidden in the dark… that is until she backs up some to run and jump across to an adjacent rooftop. And then to the next and so on.

Usually, people jumping rooftops don't expect company — so it's probably a bit of a surprise when a blur of off-white and black goes streaking by Monica mid-leap, rustling the fabric of the woman's clothing with the bit of wind that follows in its wake. The blur seems to land on the other side of the roof before it almost comes to a comical, cartoonish skid, sans the actual squeal of tires and burning rubber. This is not a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.

She shouldn't stop, she shouldn't stop, she shouldn't stop. She has a stolen baseball in her courier bag — an odd gig, but apparently it's signed by the entire Brooklyn Dodger team of 1947, including Jackie Robinson. It's worth thousands, apparently, and she definitely shouldn't stop to see who the hell is jumping the rooftops, but curiosity killed the cat and slowed the speedster.

The streak coalesces back into a form that can be identified — a short blonde woman, also in black, who crosses her arms as she appraises the other woman on the far side of the roof they share.

"You're not bad," Daphne says, with a little nod of approval.

Definitely not expecting company. Certainly not company that passes by in a blur. But then, the world is a crazy place right now. Monica lands on the nearer side of the rooftop and watches the blur coalesce into a person. Huh.

"Thanks," Monica says, a bit curious herself as she looks the other woman over. "From what I could see, you aren't either." There's a glance back toward the other roof, blinking a bit before she looks back to Daphne, "I'd offer a race, but something tells me I'd lose."

"Probably," Daphne says diplomatically, lips curling into a smirk. "But it's easier at fast speeds, so as far as not being bad, I have the advantage there, I admit. I can do it slow, but…" she glances down between the two buildings, some ten stories down to the alley below. She glances back, brows arching a bit. "Not that fond of heights, really. Or falling from them. You running from or to something?" she asks, jutting her chin toward the other, her hand coming down on her courier bag at her side.

Monica leans over to look over the edge, too, peering at it for a moment. "But you come up here anyway. Don't like the crowds down below?" She lifts an eyebrow at the question, pausing to consider. "Just… running, really. Seeing where it takes me. You?"

"It was the way out from where I came from!" Daphne says, as if that's obvious. Going out the front door a few blocks back wasn't going to work once she set off the alarm system. "I can handle them at the high speed, like I say. And I can do them normal speed, if I'm feeling ballsy." As for where she's going or coming from, she shrugs. "Had a job. On my way home. You work in this area?" She assumes — being that Monica is dressed in black and running around on the rooftops of New York — that Monica might be a thief, too.

"Not exactly… I'm just sort of… seeing the sights." Right. Monica smirks after a moment and asks, "How ballsy are you feeling tonight?" And that's all the warning she gets before Monica just straight hops off the side of the building. Her foot touches against the wall of the building next door and pushes off to do the same to the opposite wall a few feet lower. She basically ping-pongs downward between the two buildings, flipping here and there until her feet land on a windowsill and she uses it to backflip onto the opposite building's fire escape. And she seems to be fine. She looks back up, possibly to see if Daphne's following, before she jumps and flips her way down the fire escape, instead of just walking down it like a normal person.

To be honest — with herself, as she's not going to be honest with the stranger — Daphne hasn't felt all that ballsy since being downed by the flu and then the storm, not to mention the stint in 1945 between the two. But she's not going to admit that. She watches Monica drop down, and her lips curve upward into a smile — the gauntlet has been thrown!

Down she goes, more or less the same path, though she bounces once more to the fire escape first, rather than backflipping — she's not a gymnast. While she uses normal speed, she has the safety net of speeding up to make a jump if she needs to. Daphne jumps from the fire escape to the one adjacent and lower, zigzagging her way down the side of the building until her feet finally meet asphalt.

And when those feet hit, Daphne can see Monica running out of the alley between the buildings and toward the street. There's a parked car in the way, but instead of going around it or sliding over the hood, she flips over it, lands in a crouch and starts running across the street toward a building surrounded by scaffolding.

Following anyone is a novel idea these days for Daphne, but she grins. She can learn something, maybe, from playing Follow the Leader with this particular stranger, so she's off, not in a flash but at a reasonable speed — fast but not inhumanly so. The flip is avoided again, but with a hop, she finds a foothold on the passenger side door where metal meets glass, and then she's over the top and landing softly on the other side, following toward the building. She speeds up just enough so that she's right behind Monica now, but with enough time to think — after all, Monica is a complete stranger, and might try to lead her into trouble.

Such distrust! But Monica is blissfully unaware as she speeds up a bit to leap up onto that scaffolding, swinging a leg up to scramble up to the top. And then she runs along to the corner of the building, which she swings around to do her same ricochet trick, only upward this time. Which seems a bit more strenuous. (Just a bit. >.>) But, she ends up climbing her way up this shorter building until she gets up to the roof.

Using the top of a nearby fence like a vault, Daphne moves up to the scaffolding, scrambling up it and following Monica to the side. She's not as good but she makes up for it by being tireless. At one point, however, one foot slips on the side of the wall. Daphne grabs a pole to swing herself up to a balcony, then puts on the speed to get herself to the top. It's a little cheaty, but she doesn't usually climb up walls. "Nice moves. Where'd you learn?" Daphne asks cheerfully. "I ran with a guy back in Paris that taught me some," she adds.

Monica lets out a breath when they come to a stop, her hands on her knees for a few moments before she straightens up. "Whew! You're not so bad yourself. Uh, I learned from a guy down in New Orleans," she says, bringing her arm up to wipe her forehead. "It's handy for getting around the city."

"Frenchies and Nouveau Frenchies, hm? You're from New Orleans, huh?" Daphne reaches into her pocket to pull out a cell phone that she heard chiming as she clamored up the side of the building. She texts something into it, thumbs blurring a little. Unfortunately, she's hindered by the speed of the technology's ability to process her letters. She wrinkles her nose a little and slows, then hits send.

"Well. I have a delivery to make, and if I make it in the next three minutes, I get a bonus, sooo," Daphne says, slipping the cell phone back into her dark pants, "it was nice to kinda meet ya." She flashes a grin, not expecting the other to offer more information, though she is polite enough — for once — to wait for a reply.

"Oui!" Monica says in an over exaggerated French accent before she watches the speedster text lightning fast. Of course, when she has to slow down, there's a hint of a chuckle from the southerner. "Well, good luck," she says, her own smile a little crooked, "See you around." Because how many people roam the rooftops. And speaking of, with a wave goodbye, Monica takes off to leap over to a shorter roof, rolling a bit when she hits before she pops right back up to her feet to keep going.

For once, Daphne Millbrook not the first to run away — or the only one to literally run away. "See ya," she echoes, before she speeds, heading to the side of the building and taking the fire escapes down, heading off to hand off the ball to its new owner, and collect this month's rent in the process.


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