ArchivedLogs:Be Our Guest

Be Our Guest
Dramatis Personae Dusk, Flicker, Kaylynn
In Absentia	2015-10-04 "It's a good feeling. Having someone there to catch you."
Location <WES> Croton Gorge Park - Westchester
Situated on the east bank of the Hudson, this large park offers events year-round and a plethora of activities for nature lovers. With playgrounds, facilities for camping and swimming, boating and fishing, plentiful trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, cliffs for rock climbing, grounds for winter sports, and ample ground to just sit and enjoy the weather, these park grounds are a great place to relax year-round. The grounds are well-tended, and with a host of avian and herpitological life, early mornings often find animal lovers scoping out the grounds in search of a glimpse of some rare bird or lizard hiding in the trees or rocks as well. There's been a break in the rain, a break in the chill; it's grey today still but warmer, milder. With fall fast rolling in and pleasant days growing scarcer the warmer weather has brought people out to the park in large numbers this weekend -- though it's a large enough park, at least, that it's still possible to find some quiet spots. At the moment, Dusk has found a section of trail that is not quite as crowded -- which means less staring and less harassment when he's clearly just out here to enjoy his Sunday. There's a cooler of picnic lunch tucked on a blanket at the bottom of a large stretch of rocky cliffside, and a pair of backpacks discarded there as well. Dusk himself is pretty easy to spot -- in black shorts and black and green climbing shoes, no shirt, huge sunglasses, he's halfway up the cliffside. A very /bright/ figure against the grey rocks, his gigantic wings are stretched outward -- painted up in a feathered pattern of brilliant blue fading to lighter blue to white, they stretch out (and out, and out) against the rocks, talons hooked inward to grip the stone and pull him up. Despite the wings, he still wears a harness, hooked into a toprop anchor. Down at the base of the cliff, the other side of the rope is held by Flicker. He's more dressed than Dusk -- long convertible cargo pants, a blue and white quick-dry tee shirt that does not hide his mechanical right arm. The arm itself makes no attempt to look organic -- today it is painted in a metallic black with a rainbow sheen, bright blue lightning patterns crackling down it. He wears sunglasses as well, scarred face tipped up to track Dusk's progress against the rocks. Kaylynn is a rather big wimp when it comes to chilly weather, though it's hardly any surprise considering she's from Texas. With a bit of a break from the cooler temperatures, the chocolatier has found herself at the park. "What I wouldn't give for a trail ride...." Her words are a soft mumble as she makes her way along a smaller path. The woman's hair is tied up in a pony tail and a small backpack rests on her back. Her outfit is rather unremarkable really, tennis shoes pale blue shorts and a t-shirt she must have gotten for free considering it's advertising a pen company. There's a slight pause in her step as she glances upwards and her eyebrows soon climb as well upon spotting that glittering figure amongst the rocks. Her mouth even pops open slightly as she watches and then a soft whistle is escaping. One of Dusk's wings lifts higher, thumbclaw hooking in against a small crack in the rock as he stretches his leg out. Reaching up for another foothold, pulling himself up higher -- stretching his other wing over to try and reach a more distant hold. This time as he's pulling himself up, his claws slip -- there's a faint shower of pebbles and dust as he loses his footing. His claws scrabble against the rock -- but without purchase this time, as he slips backwards and falls away from the cliff. Flicker looks over at the sound of someone approaching, his hands still curled around the rope as he feeds it through his ATC. His eyebrows lift slightly, a warm smile lighting his face. "You ride? I mean, around here? Fall's pretty much the best time for it." He tips his head back up, watching Dusk when Kaylynn whistles. His smile only grows a tick wider. "... is kind of an impressive reach." Though then there's skittering, and falling, and with half his attention on Kaylynn it takes a heartbeat longer before he catches the rope, pulls down with a soft huff of laugh, a quiet: "Ohsh..." Though his eyes are hidden behind sunglasses, the wrinkle of his forehead implies that one is scrunching up. "... though it doesn't always help." "I'd like to at least...I figured I might check out the area fi--" Kaylynn's reply is quickly cut off and her eyes go wide. There's a slight flinch as the pebbles shower down and her eyebrows knit together when Dusk begins to fall. "Oh no..." Her words are hardly more than a whisper that's soon followed by a sigh of relief when the rope is caught. "Rock climbing's always looked fun, but it's /that/ part that's terrifying. Is he gonna be ok up there?" The brief moment of falling makes the need for a winged man to /have/ the harness clear enough. Reflexively, Dusk's wings flare outward, instinct prompting them to try and spread, to catch his fall -- but enormous as his wingspan /is/ there's not nearly enough space for this, so close to the rock. His wingtips beat against the cliff, talons scratching there and ultimately failing to do much more than push him outward. His shoulders relax when Flicker catches the rope, wings hanging down behind him. For a moment he just hangs, swinging in midair, before reaching to grip the rock again. Try again with a /different/ hold, wings slowly creeping back out to continue bearing him towards the top of the cliff. /This/ time, without further falling. "Oh man it's /awesome/ fun. And the first few times you fall it /is/ pretty terrifying, but --" Flicker shrugs a shoulder, keeping his eyes on Dusk as the other man stabilizes, starts to move again. "It's actually way safer than things people do every day without thinking about it. Like driving. I mean, you've got someone on the other end of the rope looking out for you, right?" He gives a small quick grin to Kaylynn. "I think maybe I like it for that reason, too. How many things do you do in life with someone watching your back that close?" "I guess that's true...and it's good to have someone you can trust enough to do something like that with." Kaylynn juts her chin upwards, watching the cliff scaling once more. There's a tiny smile on her face at the lack of falling now before she's glancing back towards Flicker. "Aren't there those crazy climbers too though? The ones that go up by themselves and sleep in cots hanging off the mountain side and some such? The pictures on the internet look cool and I'm not exactly afraid of heights but man...." Once at the top of the cliff, Dusk heaves himself up. Stands up. One wing waves down to Flicker as he unhooks himself from his harness. Now only /holding/ the rope in one hand, he spreads his wings again -- this time taking off /properly/ to swoop downwards, taking the quick way back down to land on the ground beside the others. His backwinged landing comes with a strong gust of wind. He offers the other end of the rope to Flicker. Offers a wide (sharply fanged) smile and an outstretched hand to Kaylynn. "Heya. You climb?" One thumbclaw flicks back towards the cliff. "There's plenty of crazy everyone, I guess." Flicker grins, hair swept up in the gust of wind accompanying Dusk's descent. "But it's a good feeling. Having someone there to catch you. -- We were just," he explains to Dusk, "discussing that." He catches the other end of the rope, holding it up with a questioning lift of eyebrows. "Would you like to try? Could use my harness. I won't let you fall." Kaylynn grins, taking the hand and giving it a tiny shake, "Nice landing. And unless you count the kid's rock wall at the county fair...not so much." There's a slight chuckle before she dips her head slightly, "The name's Kaylynn by the way and...." And now her gaze is sliding to the harness that Flicker has in his hand, then up to the rocks, and then back down. "Will I be judged in a major way if I make it 5 feet up before falling?" She does follow with a more serious reply though, "I wouldn't mind trying...if it's really ok." There's a tiny bit of hesitation there still. "I'm Dusk," Dusk introduces himself, unstrapping his own harness to step out of it afterwards. "No judgements. I mean, come on, you probably just saw me totally bite it up there. The fun's just in getting up and doing it." "Kaylynn --" Flicker's brows furrow slightly. "Wait wait wait. Do you have a place -- uh. Chocolate, right?" There's a hint of pink creeping into his cheeks as he steps closer. "In the East Village? -- here, you just get strapped in like this --" His teeth catches briefly between his lips as he offers a hand to help get Kaylynn into the harness and get the rope tied in securely. "Nice to meet'cha!" There's the full brunt of her southern accent now. "Still, you got up pretty high, it was impressive." Kaylynn grins before she's snapping her fingers and nodding at Flicker. "I do! You've heard of it then? Au Petit Chocolatier." The chocolatier sounds excited and even gives a tiny clap before taking the offered hand. "Thanks!" She /nearly/ manages to trip over the straps while trying to step into them, but luckily it turns into a small stumble rather than a full on face plant. "Chocolate? You /have/ a chocolate -- place? Store? Bakery? ... I guess it's not called a /bakery/ is it." Dusk's smile is a little sheepish. "This sounds like something I need to know more about. You have dairy-free stuff?" As Flicker helps Kaylynn get tied in, he settles down on the edge of their blanket, opening up the cooler to retrieve a thermos from inside. "We -- we met," Flicker explains with a slightly deeper blush. "It was back during the -- there was no caffeine," this explanation comes with a small laugh. "I think a lot of people's brains weren't running on full so probably -- don't remember. In SoHo, though. A coffeeshop there. I have your card --" His arm lifts quickly when Kaylynn stumbles, mechanical hand bracing against her shoulder to steady her balance. His "{Sorry}," comes in reflexive Spanish. Hand lowering once she's back upright, to tie the rope in securely. "There's a lot of straps to get used to." It takes a moment for Kaylynn to get fully situated after that stumble, but with that bit of help it seems to work out. "Mhm, dairy free and everything under the rainbow you can imagine. I talked to one of my clients about blood chocolate too once...as creepy as that may sound. You should drop by some time...I'll dish out some discounts!" There's a brilliant smile for Dusk that's soon turned to Flicker. "I do remember that. There was that juice that tasted /amazing/ and I probably stared at your arm too long cause it looked cool. I forgot I'd given you my card though." There's a quiet chuckle before she's looking down at the straps once more. "You can say that again...it's like trying to untangle Christmas lights." Dusk smiles wider. His fangs bare again. He glances briefly down to the thermos he's just retrieved. "Oddly not that creepy to me." He pops the lid on his thermos to take a long sip. "Did you ever make it? Blood chocolate, I mean." His wings flex behind him, bracing back against the blanket. One knee crooks up and his arm drapes over it, face turned towards the others. "Oh man. That'd be neat, though, wouldn't it? String lights or -- EL wire. On a harness. Climb at night. Fun to watch." Flicker's arm stays curled against Kaylynn for a moment, until she is securely strapped in and on her feet. He takes a half-step back, warm smile still in place. "-- /You/ just like a spectacle." To Dusk, this sounds more affectionate than accusatory. His mechanical hand flexes, the color in his cheeks darkening; it throws the myriad scars into harsher pale relief where the blush doesn't touch them. "You think it looks -- thanks." For a moment he's quiet before -- quickly -- pulling in a breath, glancing up towards the cliff. "Oh. Oh, right, we're -- you're going to be --" His head bows, a little sheepishly. "Climbing, right. Um. There's not a lot of trick to it, really. Let me know before you start climbing. And if you need more or less slack in the rope. And it can help to use your legs more than your arms. And, uh --" Shrug. "Have fun. Just remember if you fall, I got you." "It took me a week but I finally did manage something that wasn't a complete desire. I've only sold a few though. Hopefully they taste alright." Kaylynn nods at Dusk then following up with a soft hm, "That /would/ be cool though. Maybe not a full string of lights but if you could kind of embed them along the edges of the straps...it would look awesome, especially with your wings hun." Her gaze slides over to Flicker again, studying those scars for a moment before she's smiling, "I'll refrain from acting on the insane urge I have to ruffle your hair right now." There's a quick wink for Flicker before she moves over to the cliff side. "Alright, up I go! Don't let me die y'all, there's chocolate at stake." "He's solid. He won't you down. I mean. Certainly not with chocolate on the line." Dusk's wings ripple and then settle again, weight leaning back comfortably to watch Kaylynn head for the rocks. "/I'll/ test out those blood chocolates. Sounds right up my alley. And you should ruffle. His hair is very ruffle-able. Plus it just makes the blushing worse, which is -- y'know, side bonus." It doesn't even take the actual ruffling; just the mention of it spreads the red up into Flicker's ears. His hand scuffs through his hair. Cheeks sucked slightly inward as he gnaws at their insides. He steps back to lean slightly against a tree, pulling at his end of the rope to re-settle around him, grasp the end again. "You're good," he says, once he's comfortably in place and ready. "No dying today. Chocolate or no." "How's it go...Be our guest be our guest, put our service to the test!" Kaylynn sings the bit from Beauty and the Beast before turning to glance at Dusk. "You can tell me if it's any good or not." As for the hair ruffling, there's a quiet laugh. "I'll test that once I get back down." And then she's off...kind of. One hand goes up and then the other before she kind of stands there for a seconds looking for good foot holds. It's slow going at first but she's gradually beginning to crawl upwards. She manages to make it to about 8 feet off the ground before her foot slips and she lets out a bit of a yelp. She's not down for the count quite yet though. "This is /hard/! But fun! Damn I need to work on strengthening up my noodle arms." Dusk picks up humming the song where Kaylynn lets off, too busy taking another gulp from his thermos to properly /sing/. There's a very small twitch of his wings when she falls -- but it relaxes soon enough when she continues to talk. "I had the advantage, too. It gets mad easier when you have proper shoes for it. You're doing great, though." "If you find good footholds, you don't need your arms nearly as much," Flicker suggests lightly. "I had to re-learn my whole technique, I used to depend on my arms way too hard before --" He trails off with a shrug, a small wave of his mechanical arm that likely Kaylynn can't /see/ from her position but is probably not too hard to guess at. "And they /make/ prosthetics special for climbing but I haven't tried them yet. Still manage mostly okay." His hand tightens against the rope, bracing it pre-emptively when Kaylynn's foot slips and relaxing again when she's caught herself. "I didn't even know they had special shoes for this!" Kaylynn lets out a little huff as she reaches for the next handhold area she can find. "Legs....legs...." The chocolatier scrunches up her nose and knits her eyebrows as she climbs higher, trying to remember not to let her arms take over. She gets another 5 feet before it looks like it's the end of the line. It seems like the Texan was focusing too much on using her feet and not /where/ she was putting her feet. Her left foot ends up on a rather wobbly rock that gives out beneath her and then she's off the cliff. She's lets out a tiny 'oh' before it converts to a high pitched squeak. "I don't know how other people do it," Dusk admits, with a quick laugh. "Extra limbs is probably /also/ cheating. -- Woah." He glances to Flicker when Kaylynn falls. Then back up to the cliff. "You good up there?" "It's a huge help if you're going to do it at all regularly. Bendier. Grippier. Whoops!" Flicker's hand is quick on the rope, braking after only a very short drop to catch Kaylynn in midair. "See? Safe. Chocolate-lovers in the city can rest easy." He's watching Kaylynn closely despite the lightness of his tone. "Y'aright?" There's a moment of silence from up there before there is...laughing? Yes indeed. It starts as a soft giggle before turning into a full on laugh. "All good! But um, I think I'm done for now. Probably pushed my luck enough for one day." She twists her head around to look at Dusk and Flicker before shooting them a thumbs up, "Y'all were right, this is pretty cool." Dusk exhales, quick and relieved when Kaylynn starts laughing. "Fantastic. You'll be spidering your way up the rocks with us in no time. But in the meantime --" His wing gestures towards the cooler. "Got a whole lunch packed here. It's not fancy chocolate, but you're welcome to share." Flicker smiles up at Kaylynn, wide. "Oh. Excellent. That was like three times as far as you /thought/ you'd get. -- You just relax, put your legs out so you don't thunk into the rock, I'll let you down." Once Kaylynn looks like she's ready he's slow and steady in lowering the rope again. He unhooks it from himself only once she is squarely back down on the ground, heading over to the cliffside to give Kaylynn a hand back /out/ of the harness. "You ever want to come back out, um --" There's a small flush in his cheeks again. "Should be a while left in the season before it's too cold." "Food sounds /amazing/. And hey, I might make some crazy chocolate but I have been known to fail at microwaving frozen food so you've got me beat there!" Kaylynn follows directions well and soon she's back in the ground and being helped out of the harness. "It was fun, I definitely want to try it again. Even the falling wasn't bad...it's like those drop rides at theme parks." Oh, and lest they thought she forgot, the chocolatier snakes a hand out in an attempt to ruffle Flicker's hair (though it could be pretty easily dodge). "Thank you muchly." And then she's oh so unsubtly inching over towards the cooler is. Dusk grins at the hair ruffling. Or maybe the blushing. Maybe both. His brows lift briefly, then settle back. He sits upright, opening up the cooler properly when Kaylynn approaches so that he can start unpacking food onto the blanket. "-- Tie a napkin 'round your neck, cherie, and we provide the rest." Light and amused, as he smoothes the blanket out for the others to join him.