Station Square- An Uneventful Morning

[Chronomentrophobia]

Station Square thrummed with activity at any particular time, people crowding the streets from dawn to dusk, sunset to sunrise. The morning- though it was not quite new enough to be called an early morning- brought with it a slight hush to the usual bustle, a subtle silence that asserted itself, just enough that a casual observer might look over the city and think that, considering the place's reputation, it was really just a normal city full of normal people.

Flick tilted his head, studying a balcony railing a few stories up, conveniently placed just above the level of two adjacent buildings. The office wasn't scheduled to open for some time now and he'd already squared away his morning chores, leaving him time to scout new routes through the city.

He'd been branching out, lately; after all, he'd get better business if he could bolster his efficiency. That, and given the scaffolding had finally come off most of the skyscrapers, he was going to have to find something else to use as a springboard.

Tilting his head the other way, the dragonfly stepped back to try and get a better view- and proceeded to back right into someone.

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna was hungry. The last few days had not gone well, thieving wise, and her belly was empty as a result. She'd taken refuge at the top of one of the city's buildings to get her weary body as much rest as she could. But now she was awake and on the prowl. She was just looking down at the waking city, when-

*Thump*

"Hey, watch where you're goin'!" She said sharply, glaring at whoever had bumped into her. How the heck did she pick the one building in the city with someone already on it?

[Chronomentrophobia]

His wings instinctively jerked up at the impact, stepping away from the other party of the collision and turning to face her. "Yeah, sorry," he said dismissively, most of his mind still on the view.

Gray eyes met black, and one of Flick's eyebrows crept in the direction of his goggles. The cat was... 'grungy' could fit. He imagined she hadn't taken the stairs; the doorman at this particular set of apartments had made him late for a delivery once because his shoes weren't clean enough, no way he would've let her in.

The dragonfly pulled a decent impression of folding his arms, crossing the one he had loosely across the front of his chest. It was natural enough that, at a glance, one could imagine he had both. "What are you even doing here?"

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

"Sleeping." Luna muttered, her black eyes staring down the dragonfly. "Like it's any of your freakin' business." She also folded her arms across her chest in an imitation of the male's pose. "The heck are you doing here? This is my rooftop." Well, not hers in any sense of the word. But it was best to establish territory and dominance whenever possible.

Then again, he didn't look like a street person. Too clean, and his clothes looked fresh. He was skinny like one, but that was about it.

[Chronomentrophobia]

Flick's other eyebrow joined the first one, but other than that, his face didn't betray his thoughts. "...Sleeping." Well, that explained a couple of things. The dragonfly sighed, tucking his hand into his pocket to take the combative edge off his appearance. He really wasn't in the mood to argue with anyone today... well, he never was, but it happened anyway.

...Of course, I was debating jumping off. Being a flying creature made it somewhat less weird, but not by much. The reassurance of 'no, it's okay, even if I miss my jump I can still catch myself on that third floor window' didn't seem to help.

"Do you make a habit of sleeping on rooftops?" Okay, maybe a little insensitive, especially with the none-too-sincere tone, but it was a valid concern. If he was in a hurry, he didn't want to have to worry about tripping over someone. Heck, the whole appeal of roof-hopping was getting away from people...

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@
"Yeah, I do." Luna said, still staring him down. She was still drawn up to her full height, (Which wasn't very impressive) and had her fur fluffed out. "Do you make a habit of asking #%*@ stupid questions?"

She was agitated and hungry. Very hungry. There were actually little gray spots creeping into the edge of her vision, a clear sign that she was in trouble. She hadn't seen Axe around in a little while, so there was no one to help her snatch rings.

"Why don't you just..." She wobbled on her bare feet, trying to shake away the gray. "Go away."

[Chronomentrophobia]

"As a matter of fact, I have a specific quota of stupid questions that I have to meet before lunch." Ah, sarcasm. What ever would he do without it?

He hesitated , watching her unsteady movement. "...Are you okay..?" ...Because I really don't think you are, the dragonfly's tone helpfully supplied. She really didn't look well- it probably had something to do with sleeping on a building roof... he surreptitiously shot a look around to try and spot any kind of bedding, maybe even a tent. Anything to imply she hadn't simply curled up on the concrete and sacked out, which was, unfortunately, what certain things seemed to be implying.

Something twisted uncomfortably in his stomach at the thought, and he could hazard a guess it had nothing to do with the contents of his breakfast. (which, admittedly, had mostly consisted of cold pizza)

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna blinked a few times, trying to focus her eyes. The guy in front of her was starting to multiply. Soon she was seeing two fuzzy green images. Usually she would have fired back against his sarcastic response, but her brain and her mouth didn't seem to be in working order at the moment.

"Stop moving." She muttered under her breath. "An' I'm fine. What's it to you, anyway?" She glared her best at him, even as her eyes slid out of focus.

[Chronomentrophobia]

"Riiiiiiiiight...." Flick surveyed her a moment, then, quite abruptly, stepped forwards and raised his right arm, pointing it so that she could get a good look. "Right then, miss "I'm fine": How many fingers am I holding up?"

The utterly fingerless expanse of the stunted appendage sat there, as innocently as a limb can, nestled comfortably in its bed of patched jacket. The fact that it was only one measure of politeness away from being shoved in her face helped.

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna squinted, trying to focus the increasingly blurry images in front of her. "Ha." She grinned in an almost drunken fashion, wobbling on her feet. "You can't fool me, jerk. The answer is zero!"

And with that, gravity and unconsciousness kicked in all at once. She started to slump forward in a dead faint.

[Chronomentrophobia]

It took a moment for Flick to fully comprehend what had just happened.

It might have taken longer, but he was suddenly scrambling with the one arm he did have and a sudden dead weight, and it was only a certain ammount of parkour-worthy reflexes and desperately flapping his wings to counterbalance that he managed to not unceremoniously drop her face-first on the ground.

"H-hey! Stay with me, here!" He sputtered, it being the first thing that came to mind, and, as soon as he said it, realized it was a really stupidly generic thing to say. He didn't even know this girl's name...

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna was swimming in darkness. There was roaring in her ears, and her limbs felt like chocolate pudding.

Stay with me, here!

She was leaning on something relatively solid- not as solid as the brick she'd slept on last night, but solid enough, and she desperately tried to get her weakened body to obey her. All she managed was to open her eyes, to stare into a pair of compound gray eyes.

And she managed to mumble one word.

"Help."

[Chronomentrophobia]

Flick's brain clicked into high gear with the approximate efficiency of a computer being powered by a taser- quickly, but without much regard for internal content.

There was a fairly well-established hospital near here; not too far away, but a bit of a run, especially when carrying someone who was only shy of his own height by five inches. No matter how small and light she was, she was a lot bigger- and a good deal more fragile than the assorted foodstuffs and holiday souvenirs he typically plied his trade on.

Not to mention a lot more meaningful.

"Listen," he said, addressing the all-but inert bundle of brown fur. "I can get you help. But you need to hold on. And things are going to be more than a little bumpy. Logically, I should really just call an ambulance. This way's... well, it's faster. How well can you hang on?"

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna willed herself to answer through the fog in her head. "Mm... learned... hanging on." It made sense in her own mind, but it probably came out a little disjointed.

What she meant to say is that she'd learned to hop rooftops by hanging onto Axe's back, while he leapt and soared and swung through the city. She could cling like a bear trap if she needed to, but did she have the physical strength at the moment?

"Weak..." She murmured, hating herself at the moment. She wrapped her very thin arms around the dragonfly's neck, holding on tight.

[Chronomentrophobia]

There were certain times in his life where Flick reflected on the fact that he really, really could've used another hand. This was definitely one of those times.

He shifted Luna slightly, so that he could brace her against what he had of his right arm. With his left, he held onto the cat as best he could, and backed up, gauging his distance to the nearest rooftop.

He gave himself some extra space, calculating for Luna's weight. He broke into a run, vaulting into the open air the moment his feet touched the edge of the roof.

For a moment, the two of them seemed to hang in empty space. The illusion was preserved by the rapid glitter of the dragonfly's moving wings, the extra lift that allowed them a freezeframe in freefall.

Then they hit the next building; feet-first, Flick caught it and was off running again, changing trajectory to aim for another, lower roof. Another leap; another weightless moment in the air...

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna felt herself moving, and did her best to hold on. She felt the ground drop out from underneath her, and the familiar flutter in her stomach of sheer airtime, when she was making a long jump. She clung to what consciousness she could. She couldn't stay asleep like this. This guy could be anyone... sure, he was helping her now, but everything and everyone had a price.

So what was his?

[Chronomentrophobia]

As his body fell into the familiar rhythm of jumps and short flights, Flick's mind found itself drifting, wandering down avenues that it hadn't had time to earlier.

This was stupid.

This was, in fact, one stupid thing in a long line of stupid things that had apparently completely failed to teach him anything. End summation? He was an idiot. And he'd love to stop being an idiot right this instant and go on to a normal life if he could get his conscience to shut up for ten seconds...

Oh who was he kidding? That'd never happen. The best he could manage was damage control.

"Hey," he asked, springboarding off a fire escape and the nearby wall with two well-placed kicks. "You still hanging in there?" Only a little while now...

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

For a while, Luna's mind and consciousness had drifted into a happier place, where she was being toted around by Axe while she learned the finer points of traveling the city's rooftops.

But then Flick spoke and her dream burst like a balloon in a pin factory. That was definitely not Axe.

"Mmgh." She said, her tongue feeling fat and dry in her mouth. She tried again. "...hurts." There, that was sufficient enough. And true, too, it did hurt. All over. Her neck was stiff from the concrete bed she'd laid on, her limbs ached with phantom pain. The burn in her stomach had never stopped, but she was used to that feeling.

[Chronomentrophobia]

He let out a breath, more exaggerated than the usual. Whether he was sighing with relief that she was still aware or concern at what she was telling him, even he wasn't completely sure.

"Think you can hang on long enough to tell them your name? I kind of don't know you, and that's gonna be a problem if you pass out on me." He caught himself on the rooftop's edge, caught his breath to make one more jump; taking him down to street level. Across the road, there was Station Square Central Hospital: a boxy structure just as sterilized white as the facilities it contained. "You know how much governments love their paperwork. Have to wade through three miles of the stuff to get anything done..."

It was all meaningless, nothing with real depth behind it. He was just keeping it running, trying to keep her awake, focused on something...

"If you're gonna faint anyway, you might as well tell me your name before you do."

[mistressdizzy]

@seluna@

Luna was half aware that they'd reached the street. She could hear cars and the distant sounds of people. She was clinging to consciousness with everything she had.

"Mm..." She had to think about the question, desperately summoning her brain to kick into gear.

"Luna..." And she started to fade all over again.

[Chronomentrophobia]

The faint answer and loosening grip on his neck propelled Flick through the automatic doors and into the climate-controlled atmosphere of the hospital.

For a moment, his eyes fell on the mundane settings- carpet and wallpaper in diluted colors, a few elderly individuals startled from their magazines and gaping at him. Their faces reminded him of so many fish, staring vacantly through aquarium glass.

...Yeah, he probably did look more than a little weird. He cleared his throat, half self-consciously, but urgency still pushing him forwards. "Umm, look," he began, and then, stronger, "I kind of need a hand here. She needs a hand." WAY TO STATE THE OBVIOUS YOU'RE AN IDIOT HURRY UP GO GO GO his mind screamed at him, along with several less polite epithets that he wasn't sure he was willing to repeat even in his own head.