Participants:
| Scene Title | Freeze! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Holly is ambushed by Sable, but the tables quickly turn. |
| Date | April 15, 2010 |
The snowy streets.
The city continues to strain under the ever-increasing onslaught of a nightmarishly prolonged and augmented winter. Many businesses have simply closed up, their employees and owners equally unable to get to the site, which site would be forsaken by all by the most intrepid and loyal clientele. An endless snowday stretches on, but what with the unpredictable turns in the sometimes violent weather, the kids of the city aren't rarely allowed loose, their parents understandably protective.
But not everyone with child's enthusiasm for the snow /has/ parents to watch over them, and for such as these the great mounds of snow present more opportunity than obstacle. One such mound bears the signs of extensive modification. Its curves have been cut into flat planes and smoothed, it's top has been moulded to include what look like crenellations, and a pair of round windows peer out from its midst, the interior grey from the mix of pure white and enclosed shadow.
Slowly, a newsboy's hat peeks up from the bottom curve of one of these windows, followed by black bangs powdered with snow, then a pale-skinned brow, then startlingly yellow eyes that survey the area around this chilly bastion, the near-empty streets of the Upper West Side.
A more bundled up form can be seen out in the cold of the near abandoned city sidewalk, all but hidden under thick wool hat, scarf, and coat. There are however things that need doing, most importantly a restocking of groceries from one of the few shops able to keep running; it is days like this a girl would rather be driving but even had she a car it would likely be no good out here. The brown-eyed young woman treks on near the fortified wall of snow, a reusable courier bag stuffed overfull on one shoulder.
Target in sight… Those yellow eyes lock onto the bundled form making its slow and honest way along the sidewalk. They disappear for a moment, then return, joined by a nose made ruddy by the chill, then a pair of pursed lips, all comprising the face of a young woman. As the other woman moves further and further into range, those lips curl into a wicked smile. The moment the other woman passes, she ducks down, out of view, only emerging when her back is exposed. She squints, peering with one eye, then move to the side, bringing up a jacketed arm and a mittened hand, in which hand rests a well packed snowball. There is a moment of concentration, a drawn breath, an exhale and then /whoosh/, the snowball tumbles forth, heading for its target's shoulders. It's packed soft, designed to explode harmlessly and without discomfort, but she'll feel it, all the same.
And a fine target she makes, unwitting of the impending attack - the fortifications just another pile of white powder to the girl with the bag. There's only an inkling before the impact that she can hear the noise of the snowball in flight, enough to make her turn her head slightly in that direction. *SPLAT* The impact is caught mostly by the scarf pulled up around the sides of her head, but thanks to that slight resaction she exposes her cheek as well to the assault of the icey projectile. A nearly cartoonish stumbling of her feet as she's left off-guard and trying to balance on ice ends shortly after with a thump, and her wool-padded body stumbles down onto the sidewalk rump-first, thankfully not landing on her grocery bag.
There is a momentary grin of absolute triumph as the aggressor in this conflict witnesses her great success. Moments later, though, she sees what her love of battle has wrought: a young woman falling hard on her rear in the slippery streets. Ah, what terrors war brings.
"Jesus!" the yellow-eyed girl exclaims. With no answer forthcoming from the Lord Almighty, the attacker scrambles out of her defenses, one hand pressed to keep her hat in place, the other helping her navigate down a snowy slope, until she's at the fallen woman's side. "I'm sorry about that, honest I am!" she says, and the roundness of her words betray the slight trace of an accent from south of Mason-Dixon. She offers her hands to her erstwhile victim. "Dunno what possessed me, acting like a damned child."
The fallen woman is left breathless a few moments; the damage isn't too bad, just a sore touche and a momentary daze of confusion. Still she checks over herself, giving a sigh of relief that nothing seems really hurt and her grocery bag remain unspilled. When the girl from across the way approaches close enough, her eyes light up a bit and her un-burdened arm fiddles about in the nearest snow pile, hefting a weak throw in her direction with a vengeful gleam in her eyes. The aim is not great but she's satisfied with it none the less, and at this range she's not likely to miss
And yellow-eyed girl is a totally unwitting target. The snow thwaps Sable right in the face, causing the girl to freeze in place, hands still outstretched, eyes shut tight as what snow doesn't stick begins to slide from her face. Her lips part in a 'pah' sound, and she lifts an arm to brush her vision clear. She's even redder now, and her eyes are wide and surprised. Their gazes meet, then the attacker starts to beat a retreat, scrambling up a snow bank, trying to get to her fort, where there is doubtless a supply of snowy munitions.
"Oh no you don't!" Cries the woman as she scrambles back up onto her feet, clueing in on the very obvious goal of her attacker and hurrying to try to catch up without slipping and falling back to the ground. As she darts over the bank she lets her grocery bag settle into the snow lightly while she grabs up snow in either hand, giving chase and hurling hastily squished together masses of precipitation. It is on!
It is very much on, possibly even like Donkey Kong, as the proverb goes. The former attacker's exposed back is pelted with snow as she struggles up the snowbank. She grabs a handful of snow and tosses it over her shoulder, the projectile coming apart almost as soon as it leaves her hand, and barely hitting the tips of the other woman's toes. She gives a cry of alarm but finally vaults over the edge of the bank, rolling down the other side.
The one-girl infantry charge continues, scooping up more snow along the ground as she tries to get into range of the fort, past all those menacing snow defenses. She doesn't quite make it in time though, having been slown down to drop her baggage off and to prepare more rounds to fire off quickly, unfazed by the crumbling attack
he yellow-eyed girl is scrambling into the back door of her fort, keeping low as snowballs zip overhead, some landing much too close for comfort. There is a decent stockpile of snowballs in one corner, about twelve in all, and Sable takes one in each hand. They're lovingly crafted, as close to spheres as she could get them with mittened hands and patience. She tries to get a clean shot at the other woman, aiming first before sending the weapon forth, then ducking out of sight, not bothering to check the result of her throw. She has to take advantage of her fortified position before it's stormed.
The hastily thrown projectile meets the woman head on, impacting the front of her heavy coat enough to give her pause for only a moment or two, before she staggers forward with effort to crawl over the front wall. She hefts the last projectile she had carried over on her way past the defense, holding it up high and menacing as she declares without intention of pun: "Freeze."
Two hands go up, one with snow still clutched. Yellow eyes move up to this armament, back to the imposing figure of her conquerer… and her fingers loosen, letting the snowball fall. She gives a wide, goofy grin. "Truce?"
Long distance to Noriko: Bella lets go and smiles down at you, "Let's see how hot you are, hmmm?"
A victorious smile crosses the young woman's face, as she approaches her terrified prey. She extends a hand offering peace, and lets her own snowball tumble away, laughing lightly, "Sure. I think this war has caused enough casualties for a lifetime." A hand moves to rub her sore bottom where she fell for a moment, while the other stays offered.
The defeated aggressor takes her opponent's hand both in peace and in a desire to stand up. She teeters, rearing forward and almost bumping into the other woman, and for a second they're face to face. This, at least, affords them each a better look at the other. The yellow eyed woman smiles bashfully and tugs the hat off her head, revealing a wild head of short black hair. "Well damn if you ain't about the cutest thing to ever draw breath," she says, upon a moment's reflection, "And a damned good snow fighter too." The gripped hand becomes a firm shake. "I'm Sable. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
A faint moment has the girls cheeks a slightly redder shade than they already are from the effort and cold as she's complimented. She returns the handshake with her thick glove and grins, "Holly. You're not too bad yourself; I learned my technique way back in the 90s in Queens. Did a tour in Boston too."
"Holly? Jesus, you just couldn't get any more adorable, now could you?" Sable says. When their hands part she takes to twisting her hat between her hands. "See, there it is. I spent most of my best snowballing years in Georgia. Ain't much to throw 'cept Spanish moss. And those are full of chiggers, nasty." She makes a face to illustrate the point. "You grew up with snow. This all," she gestures around, "Must seem normal, eh?"
Nods agreeably at that, looking around, "Well maybe not quite like this, the weather's worse than it's been in a long time and all that. I'm pretty accustomed to the snow, though." She grins mischievously, "I hope you learned a valuable lesson here, I may look cute but I got it where it counts." She fiddles with her scarf a bit, adjusting it's fairly dishevelled shape to rest on shoulders for now.
"Trust me, I ain't gonna underestimate /you/ again, hon," Sable says, grinning back, "'course now I wonder, seeing as you've beaten me at my own game and all, what sorts of war reparations you'll be expecting. Mebbe the loser needs to buy the winner a drink? That only sounds fair."
"Sounds fair enough; something warm would probably be better, even with all this on I'm still a touch chilly. Think there's any places open right now, what with the storm and all? I know I wouldn't be braving this if I didn't need more food." That last bit reminds her, and she turns to leap back over the fortified wall, heading over to scoop up her bag of things quickly.
Sable gives chase, scampering over the wall and skidding down to where Holly picks up her bag. Sable sticks out a hand, "Here, lemme," she says, "Least I can do after making your land on your poor rear, to which I would intend no kind of harm."
A quick nod of agreement from Holly, smiling as she offers her heavy grocery satchel up to the other girl. She gives a bit of a laugh at that comment, and then adds, "It is the least you can do, as a freshly conquered Vassal."
"Vassal, am I?" Sabel says with a chuckle, shouldering the messenger bag, and making a theatrical face, "Jesus, you're strong as an ox /and/ cute as a button. What're bringing home, gold bricks?"
Another grin at that, the girl's hands folding behind her back, rubbing her bruised bottom again briefly as she murmurs, "Oh you baby, it's only a few groceries to keep me going a few more days. Can't go starving just because of a little snow."
Despite the offer of a drink, no bars seem to be open, none visible at least, and if they're hidden under the snow, chances are they're /also/ not open. Sable doesn't complain further about the bag, just keeps pace with Holly, who is effectively leading the way. "So what are you, then? An arctic explorer? An intrepid, like, ice-studying scientist? Cuz you must work at the North Pole or somethin' if /this/," she sweeps her arm, "Is 'a little snow'."
The girl chuckles as she wanders more or less aimlessly out in the cold, keeping her eyes perked open for any sign of an open facility. She murmurs, "So many secrets we must unlock still about snow. Who makes it? Where does it go?" Holly grins wide and casually brushes her bangs back up under her hat, answering more seriously, "I do uhm, internet stuff. I have a pretty popular blog and all that."
"I was still kind of, like, a vagrant when all that internet stuff really went down. Didn't have much, like, computer access. So please, forgive me if you're, like, famous, and I don't know," Sable says, dipping her head apologetically, "I really only know famous /musicians/. I play, y'see. Guitar. Sing a little, too. Trying to get a band up and running. 'course… not a lot of work lately." Weather again. She sidles a bit closer to Holly and offers her an arm, "Dunno if there's gonna be a bar open. I may have to owe you that drink for another time. But I'm good for it, honest!" She lifts a brow, "And, if you've got something at your place, I could mix something up. So as not to disappoint."
Stops for a moment, trying to think of what she's got back home. She hums and considers, "I don't know if I have much as far as alcohol content goes. Unless you like the nail polish remover stuff. It's a bit strong for my tastes. Don't normally do a whole lot of drinking there." She graciously takes the politely offered arm, "What kind of stuff do you play?"
"Rock. Prog rock, concept rock, classic rock, a little acid rock. Some country. Some punk…" Sable begins to list. She catches herself though, offering Holly a grin as she takes her arm, "Y'know… lots of stuff. I'm working on a rock opera." She wrinkles her nose, "But Jesus, enough about me. I know you're name, and that you do internet stuff. Tell me more! Trust me, hon, you'll be hard pressed to find someone more interested in you right about now."
"Well I uhm..I guess most people have seen me in the interview I did, with the Phoenix leader. Got spread a round a lot. I like to do small news stories and all that kinds of stuff, videos and sorta written articles and all that. I dunno if I'm actually all that good at it but it's fun."
"Okay, well, now I've got to get me a whatever, an internet uplink or whatever," Sable says, "So as I can see a bit more of y-" And then the sound of the opening strains of 'Baba O'Reilly' start to float out of her jacket pocket. "Son of a…" Sable mutters, tugging off a mitten and pulling a phone free. She examines the caller ID, scowls, flips it open. "Hey. Yes. Really? Like… /right/ now? I'm…" she glances to Holly, "Kind of… fuck it, arright. I'm coming. Later." She flicks the phone closed, scowls at it again, then puts it in her pocket. She swings the bag from her shoulder, and gives Holly a /deeply/ regretful look. "Friend needs me. Like, needs me needs me. Cuz otherwise… I'd blow them off, swear to God." She bites her lip, "Look, if I, like… promised to both buy you a drink /and/ help you with your groceries, would you let me give you my number, so you could call me to make good on it?"
Holly looks more than understanding of the situation, reaching into a deep coat pocket for her old black flip phone and bringing up the address book on it, "Hopefully we'll get some better weather real soon, I doubt we'd find a place anywhere tonight anyway." With one gloved hand still ready on the phone, she gives a nod, "Shoot." The other reaches over, readying to have the big cloth bag hung back on it.
Sable rattles off her number, fast the first time, then backing up and reciting it again, more slowly. When it's confirmed that Holly has it, Sable slides the bag over to her. There is a momentary pause. "Yeah… so… gimme a ring whenever you want to call those favors in. Consider me at your disposal," Sable says, rocking back and forth a bit on her feet. "'t was nice to meet you. Real nice."
The phone slaps shut when it's all securely entered, and she nods, "Sure thing. It was nice meeting you. I'll be sure to call you once a few more places are opened up." She shifts the bag up on her shoulder, ensuring it's nice and secure - luckily the cold has stopped her delay from spoiling anything - and she turns to head back in her original direction, "You take care, don't want to keep you from whatever it is you gotta do. Later!"
Sable nods, "Right! Yes!" she says, if she had half forgotten that she is /needed/ somewhere. "Uh… okay. Later. Um…" there is a moment's hesitation and then, quite suddenly, she leans forward to place a light kiss on Holly's cheek. It's followed by the flash of a grin, and then Sable begins to trot backwards, waving farewell. "See you!" she calls, all cheer and just a bit of mischief.
The still rosy cheeks of the girl glow redder again at that, and she barely manages to return the wave in surprise at that. She stands quietly for a moment, and then resumes her trek through the mighty tundra of New York City, tucking her scarf close around her once more for the journey home.