[MINGLE] One-Man Show

[sixthiteration]

WHERE: Inari Shrine and elsewhere
WHEN: 25 January 2019 through ?
OPEN TO: All opted in characters
WARNINGS: Please warn in the subject line of your comment as needed, and remember to move anything turning adult to a new post.
IMPORTANT NOTES: Final reminders and informational links are here. Please label all top-levels clearly so that there is no confusion who they are open to and what they are for, and DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR TAG!
Have fun and ask questions here!

Comments

[youcantkillme]

When Altair stands, Connor expects him to wander into the darkness to relieve himself. Altair does go to the trees, but--he doesn't go far, and when he gets there he goes up, not around. Connor cranes his neck as the pale robes disappear through the branches, losing themselves in the murk of night.

Connor flips his coin back to the other hand, then flicks, balancing it on a fingertip. Then he passes it back. Then again.

...

A few minutes pass, and the man doesn't sound like he's coming down soon. The moon is out, but there's not a lot to see even from above the canopy at night, and Connor eventually rises to his feet, going to the foot of the tree.

He can't hear anything. Sound all around is muffled by the presence of snow drifts and foliage, but that shouldn't be enough to cover anything important from him. A faint line appears between his eyebrows and he rolls the coin over his knuckles. Should he climb...?

[eaglesonofnone]

It's the highest he's climbed in months now. The buildings at the village are frustratingly short, their viewpoints nonexistent. The watchtowers are slightly better, but only slightly. When he compares them to the towers of Masyaf or the domes of Damascus and Jerusalem, they fall woefully short. Even this tree doesn't quite measure up - but for a few moments, he feels something unwind in him that has been taut for quite a long while.

Were they all truly drawn to high places, his Brothers and Sisters? Did they all take comfort in the constant wind at such altitudes? Did it ease their mind to be able to see so far, as it did his?

He thought he could see the village. He doubted it, but for a moment, he took hold of that notion and held it dear, estimating what time they would spend walking before they reached it. Before he saw Malik and Jacob with his own eyes and knew them to be safe. And then, knowing he could delay it no longer, he looked down the length of the tree, spotting the patch of fallen branches and snow he had identified mid-climb.

And then, Altaïr jumped. A little push with one foot and he was sailing downward, arms spread wide to give the air more to push against. At a height that felt right, he turned, splayed, put his back toward that pile of branches. And he fell into it with a surprisingly soft puff, snow exploding into the air and then falling back down onto him where he laid in the branches' softness.

Yes, he thought. He did feel better now.

[youcantkillme]

The fall is a silent one, almost unreal in the darkness. Connor's thirium pump jackknifes in his chest, and his thirium lines turn to ice: Connor knows what it's like to fall, wind rushing around him and no way to stop except a hard, crushing impact on the street seventy stories below. He can almost feel the wind now, feel the world pitch and tilt as he staggers forward without thinking, reaching out senselessly to stop a landing he couldn't reach, let alone cushion--

"Altair!"

The man lands, powdery snow sent flying. Connor stumbles to the snowdrift and lands on his knees, immediately setting to work digging him out.

"Don't move," he calls, words tight and crisp with control. "If your spine has been injured, then further movement could complicate the issue. Can you hear me?" They may have to fashion a stretcher. He'll wake the others, and potentially travel ahead with him in hopes of saving his life. Will it be enough?

[eaglesonofnone]

Altaïr propped himself onto his elbows, hood still in place as he looked at Connor with confusion. Confusion that slowly became realisation.

He bit his lips. And then he reached out to place a hand on the android's shoulder. "My apologies, Connor - I am fine. I have been highly trained in how to take such leaps without harm. I forgot that it may distress anyone seeing it for the first time."

It had been some time since he'd taken one, though, it was true. Years, in fact, and he had been much physically older at the time. But now, he felt fine - perfectly fine. The snowbank and fallen pine-like branches had been more than enough to cushion his fall. Which is why he squeezed Connor's shoulder. "I should not have surprised you in such a way."