eighteen | trip like I do

[strike_you_out]

Around
[On a fine Friday morning, Slugger stands at the top of his driveway overlooking the perfect yard and perfect street in this perfect 1950s "utopia", and knows that this reality was born of someone else's delusional madness. He yawns. Well, better find some way to kill the time. Not looking back at the house on Anderson Lane, he rolls down the driveway on golden rollerblades and into the street, carrying his warped baseball bat at his side. Some of the drones, recognizing him as their paperboy, smile and wave at him as he passes. He either ignores them or waves back in a ridiculous parody of cheer. He's pretty sure he's killed a few of them at least a dozen times.

Today, Slugger decides he may as well try and find a place in Mayfield he's never been to before and grace it with his deplorable presence. One may spot him skating aimlessly around downtown Mayfield for a short time until he seems to hit on a more specific destination...]


Jacques' Roller Rink 
[The worn, wooden floors make for a relatively smooth skating surface. Slugger can be seen skating forwards, backwards, and sideways on the rink with surprising dexterity. He can also be seen swerving in front of drones and causing "accidents" in the rink. For his amusement, he's made a game of seeing how many people he can trip and knock over at a time. Clearly, he's a menace to society.]

Comments

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[Looks over.]

Hello

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[He nods in greeting, gaze fixed on Ai's feet as she skates. He's definitely noticing the progress.]

You got better.

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[Lots of free time does wonders for practise.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

Is it fun now?

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[She nods.]

I like it.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[He'll just continue skating alongside her for a little while, until--]

Ai. Have you been there?

[pointing to Mayfield's only roller rink]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[Looks over.]

Once. I wasn't skating.

[Just exploring]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[gradually rolling to a stop]

Was it strange inside?

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

I'd never seen a place like it before.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[Slugger was curious before but now he's really curious.]

...I'm gonna check it out.

[And he heads toward the building.]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[Follows.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[If she keeps at it, she'll follow him straight through the wall and will find herself standing beside him between the rink and the booth for renting skates.

Slugger looks around. He could stand to do without the music and the bright lighting, but it isn't impossible to tune out. There's a number of drones skating in circles around the rink while others stand by watching or are seated on benches.

Venturing closer, he'll watch for a moment before looking at Ai and then stepping into the rink.]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[And there they are. She watches and then steps onto the rink herself.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[He starts rolling forward with the flow of the rink. There's something awkward and obscene about being in such a public place especially when outnumbered by drones. But by the third or fourth time around the rink, he'll come to ignore them and focus on Ai.]

How fast can you go?

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

Fairly fast.

[She fell the first few times she tried to go fast. But now she has her normal body back she doesn't even have any scratches from it.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

Show me?

[Curious.]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[Shrugs, sure. And she'll skate faster.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[He keeps pace, waiting to see what her top speed is. Of course, they may have to weave around some of the slower-moving drones.]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[Ai is actually good at weaving in and out around the drones, she's used to not being noticed.

And her top speed. Probably not as fast as he can go, but quite a bit faster then the speedier of the drones there.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[She's a lot faster than he imagined. He stays beside her when he can, sometimes following behind where traffic is thick. It isn't the most entertaining thing in the world, but it's sort of relaxing. At some point Slugger cuts off and trips a drone, mostly by accident. He glances over his shoulder once but pretends as though he had nothing to do with it...]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[It is rather relaxing. Ai watches the drone fall to the ground but doesn't say anything. Just continues to skate.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[And Slugger continues to follow. The next time the music changes, the lighting changes with it and the rink takes on a different hue. Red and blue spotlights from the ceiling shine down onto the floor in circular patches.

Slugger cuts off a second drone who then bumps into another causing both to fall. This time it was no accident.]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[Ai see's him doing it this time, the drones fall and she laughs. Just a quiet small laugh. But it's there.]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[There's a sound he hasn't heard before. Slugger grins. See how fun it is being evil, Ai? He won't trip anyone else for a while, at least not until the next opportunity he gets to make it look semi-accidental...]

[miss-enma-ai.livejournal.com]

[The best influence. She'll just continue to skate, she likes to weave in and out of the people.]