ArchivedLogs:Slippery

Slippery
Dramatis Personae Old-Echo, Micah	6 December 2014 '
Location <NYC> Lower East Side
Historically characterized by crime and immigrant families crammed into cramped tenement buildings, the Lower East Side is often identified with its working-class roots. Today, it plays host to many of New York's mutant poor, although even here they are still often forced into hiding. Though decidedly gloomy, the weather is manageable enough for life to go on. From under a see-through poncho of thin plastic, Echo hoists her small form up onto the top of an alleyway dumpster. Flashy galoshes with cartoon characters adorn her child-sized feet. They kick in the air as she climbs atop the trash bin. Only a few storefronts down from the coffeeshop and visible from the street, the little Morlock woman goes about inspecting the chain and lock that hold the dumpster lid shut tight. She uses both hands to rattle it, half hoping the solution might just be that easy. It isn't. Soon enough, a line cook comes out shouting and waving an oversized spatula at her. Quick as a cat, she flies back out onto the sidewalk. She turns to look over her shoulder as she runs, her poncho floating around her like the membrane of a jellyfish. Gloomy, indeed, and predicted to be nothing but rain all day. But at least it is warmer out than it has been in some time! Micah is dressed a bit more reasonably for all that: Batsignal hoodie zipped up tight with the hood over his head to ward off the wet, faded-patchy bluejeans and boots sticking out underneath. Green gradient fingerless gloves keep his hands a bit warmer as one grips the handle of a Bladerunner style light-up umbrella. Being daytime, the light itself is off. He is hurrying from his curbside parked TARDIS van to the front entrance of Evolve at an asymmetrical lope that is as close as he is getting to running with his everyday-wear prosthetic foot on. As it is, he nearly collides with the fast-moving plastic-wrapped form heading his way. He pulls the umbrella back to avoid whacking the other person, not really so great at course correction or stopping on demand. The umbrella fumbles to the ground as he stumbles and might very well follow suit. "Oh!" Echo lets out a girlish gasp, whipping her head around too late to see where she's going. She throws both webbed hands out to try and firmly stop herself against the other person. The momentum she's built up in just a few seconds doesn't make putting on the brakes very easy for her. In the wind created by all of the movement, her poncho rises up to join Micah's umbrella in complicating the situation. Yeah, that's gonna be a tangle. The umbrella is off on its own, catching up in the poncho. And now the light /is/ on, probably only helping the jellyfish effect. Micah manages to avoid making contact with woman, poncho, or umbrella. Not that one could really tell, because he ends up slamming onto the concrete rear end first, then sprawling flat on his back with the force of over-correcting. "/Ughmf/!" It's an eloquent sort of greeting. Echo spins on the ball of her foot, achieving a mock-pirouette as she tries to follow Micah's movements. Upon recognizing him, the look of practiced look innocent surprise she'd put on sinks into a cat-like smile. "You." She announces, albeit in her always just-audible tone. It isn't the voice of someone disappointed. Bending forward, she offers the man a hand. In the commotion, her hair broke free from her hood and as she bends, it hangs out over Micah. For a moment, it forms a tunnel between their faces. "Are you okay?" “Mmn. Yeah. I'm just. Wet now.” Micah worries first about getting himself up off the ground and second about identifying the person kind of above him. He takes the hand to pull up, a little awkwardly through kneeling half in a puddle. “I'll be fine. I should just. Go change my... All of it.” He gives a self-deprecating chuckle once he recognizes the woman. “You be safe out here, okay? If y'need a place t'sit for a bit Evolve, the coffee place we went to? They'll let y'take up some table space for a little whether you're buyin' or not.” There is a visible shiver here. “But. Yeah. I should clothes.” He gestures back to his van. Echo offers a closed-mouth smile, stepping back to give the man some room. Not quite as awkwardly, she reaches for his umbrella. Holding it up over his head, she offers it to him, "Aw. I don't really belong up here in that kinda place," she says said good-naturedly, ready to step away the moment he takes back his umbrella, "I am sorry fer gettin' you all wet, though, sir." She winks, back-pedalling her clear, jelly-fish plastic form into one of the alleys. Micah reaches up to take the umbrella, offering a small smile in return. “Thanks, sugar. But...that's one of the few kinda places that was /made/ specifically for. Folks kinda like you. Just somethin' t'keep in mind.” He waves with his free hand before limping a little back to his van.