Nobody Fears the Height, You All Just Fear the Fall [Open]

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

When Howard was younger, before the FAYZ, he and Orc would occasionally hang out at the edge of the cliffs, throwing things off the edge. It was typical teenage destructivity, layered on top of the thrill of doing something their parents had warned them against. "Those cliffs are unstable! The edge could crumble off right under your feet!" And of course, all the teenagers knew that the edge of the cliffs were fine, and that the rumors of rockslides were horror stories based less in fact than in scare tactics.

Howard sits on the edge of one of the cliffs, dangling his feet over the edge, flicking his pocketknife open and closed. It's weird that here on Stacy, the cliffs overlook the City, rather than the ocean. It makes everything look wrong.

He gathered an armful of small stones before taking a seat here. They sit next to him now, and between clicks of the knife, he occasionally tosses one over the edge. It's far enough down that he can see, but not hear, the impact when each rock hits the bottom.

He's not alone from the FAYZ anymore. That should make him glad, that there are other refugees besides him and Albert. And that's what they are, really. Not Stacy's abducted crew, but practically unintentional stowaways, freeloaders running away from the nightmare of their home. But he can't find it in himself to be happy about it. Instead he just feels frustrated and tired, like there's a cloud between his brain and his face, holding him back from really experiencing anything.

He just misses Orc, he tells himself, before flinging another rock in the City's general direction. It falls short, just like all the others.

Comments

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

"Standing up usually gives you further distance." came the girl's timid voice from behind Howard, a good distance as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, usual attire of hoodie and baggy pants were worn along her usual long ponytails.

She had never been to this particular side of the City, but she was always exploring on her free time, looking to discover more areas and maybe find something useful.

This time, it wasn't something, but someone she had met on previous occasions, not all of them pleasant but she had gotten used to Howard's unique personality. And truth be told, she didn't mind it at all.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I'm not trying to get them to go far," he says, turning his head only just enough to recognize that it's Ronnae. It's been a while since he saw her at the Tavern. "I'm just throwing 'em."

He leans back and kicks his feet against, letting the tips of his undone shoelaces clack against the rubber of his sneakers. "What's up, Sleighbells?"

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

That one was new. She was beginning to think that the creativity of his nicknames for her would never cease, and she didn't know if that was good or bad.

She made her way and settled on the edge as well, not too close, but enough to keep a conversation. Placing her hands in her hoodie's pockets, she looked out into the City.

"Not much, exploring as per usual when I have my days off. Had never seen this before so decided to check it out. Didn't really expect anyone here..."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He shrugs. "It's a nice view, I guess. It's from my hometown. The resident babysitter went nuts and killed herself jumping off this cliff. Almost took all the little kids with her."

He tosses another rock off. "I don't think most people explore this far out of the City. I didn't know you went exploring. I'd think I'da run into you by now."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"First you tear up the City, then you throw rocks at it? What did it ever do to you?" Zouichi glanced at the pocketknife briefly before looking over the cliff.

"I'm surprised no one ever put a cordon up here."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"It looked at me funny." Over the edge goes another rock. "Besides, I can't hit it from here. You can, maybe."

He hands Zouichi a rock. "People did, back home, but kids ripped it out so often that eventually Perdido kind of forgot to put it back up."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi took the rock, rolling it around in his palm instead of throwing it. "Aha. And now you're free to throw rocks off it as you please. Victory."

He could wait for Howard to get around to what was really bothering him. He had a feeling it was the FAYZ, anyway. "I met quite a few people during the last pod release," he offered.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Close," Jr. said, getting a good enough view of where the rock landed as he made his way closer and along the edge of the cliff. Honestly, he had come up to the cliff because he had been walking down below, and saw a couple of the tossed stones his the ground nearby. Looking up, he made out a figure though he couldn't tell who it was, so decided to head up and get a better look.

"Working on your aim?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Oh, it's Jr. Howard figures he should probably try and stay friendly, given that Zouichi and Jr. like each other and given that Jr.'s living in the Inn now, but at the moment he's finding it hard to stay cordial when he just wants to sulk and throw things. Because that solves problems.

"If I was working on my aim I wouldn't be throwing rocks at an entire freaking city, would I?"

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Hey, you could have been aiming for a specific building for all I know."

It looked like Howard was planning on staying up there for a while at least, given the number of collected stones still sitting beside him. "At least you stocked up on the ammo." And then he looked around. "Have you ever been up here before? This is the first time I've ever bothered." Another quick glance to the rocks. "'Course, that's because when I was down there," he jerked a thumb in the direction of the city, "I noticed the small drizzle of rocks."

[oh-itsasnake.livejournal.com]

"From the look on your face, I might almost believe that life on this ship isn't all smiles, happiness, and delights from morning to night."

Orochimaru smirked casually at the boy, arms crossed in lazy disdain for practically everything around him. Perhaps he could get information from this 'fellow crewmate', about the true nature of what he had awoken to.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Did you somehow miss waking up covered in snot? I think most people's reaction to that is closer to The Scream than it is to a smile." Normally Howard might appreciate Orochimaru's sarcasm, and as such he doesn't start off hostile, but he does give Orochimaru an exaggerated eyeroll (patented by teenagers the world over).

[oh-itsasnake.livejournal.com]

"And yet that isn't the line they tried to sell us, is it? Welcome to the most glorious struggle, and be honored to join it. Everything is happy and well here."

No one had even tried to sell Orochimaru that line, though. He was guessing some people had at some point, and assuming that some people here might have, simply because people were like that.

[thewunderkind]

"Hey!" A voice behind him called out, before a ton of hair passed close by and Lash stood next to him, arms on her hips. "You need something better than just your arms to throw rocks around here."

She shoves a hand inside her hair and quickly pulls out a slingshot made out of what looks to be elastic bands and stuff she stole from her trip to Galilee.

"It's a crude instrument, but it does pretty well!"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He smiles a bit when she pulls the slingshot out. How totally Little Rascals. He should have figured.

"I've actually been thinking of trying to build a catapult and get it up here. Maybe if I ever need to send a brick with a note through someone's window it'll come in handy."

[thewunderkind]

And just think! If she had access to actual supplies it would be much more dangerous and terrible to look at.

"Why attach a note to it?" she ponders, as she looks at the view of the city from here. "I'd just throw a brick!" She would. Lash grew quiet at the last part, stroking her chin before answering. "Well if you build it, just tell me and I'll get it up here no problem."

[teethofneedles.livejournal.com]

"Don't hurt yourself, Howie," Karis drawled. About the same time she gave him just the tiniest mock shove, although she had a pretty good fistful of his clothes. She wasn't actually going to toss him over the edge. After a moment of laughter (at his expense), Karis settled herself down next to him, staring out over the cliff edge.

"Throwin' rocks is an age old tradition, huh?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He gives a little yelp when Karis play shoves him, then playfully smacks her in the shoulder. He knew she wouldn't actually push him. Mostly.

"Better than most videogames these days. How you been?"

[teethofneedles.livejournal.com]

Karis shrugged with her usual careless ease, although there was a tightness in her shoulders and a slightly defensive tone to her voice that belied her answer, "I'm fine. Same old, same old. Ship, people. Get punched by someone who thinks I'm an evil zommmmbie. You know how it is."

Well, she was a zombie. And probably evil. But those were mere details.

[alastirra.livejournal.com]

"Interesting view you have here. I am not certain I've ever climbed up here before, but rock rain usually does not happen without an avalanche, after all," Alastirra mused, hoofs grating slightly on the gravel as she stepped up behind him. She had a basket tucked beneath one arm; presumably, she'd been gardening.

"I trust you have been well?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard treats Alastirra with a bit of wariness, if only because hey, it's his buddy's ex-girlfriend. All the sitcoms he's ever seen said that this should be awkward.

"I've been okay. What's in the basket?"

[alastirra.livejournal.com]

Well...it may still be awkward, but she doesn't seem to be a burgeoning thundercloud of teardom. Unlike one of the last times you saw her, Howard.

"Glad to hear it. Pumpkin spice bread, from the first of the pumpkins. I took a detour. There are a few people I was planning to visit to pass it out to, but you happen to be the first one I saw."

No, Howard, there's no Ex-lax in there, even assuming Alastirra knew what it was. She brought out a pair of miniature loaves from the basket, and offered him the pair of them.

"I just...there isn't any hard feelings anywhere. We're still friends, he and I, and I wanted us to still be so as well."

She toed the ground with a hoof, cheeks faintly purpling.

[battorch]

For Tim to be in the city isn't exactly a strange thing-- though he still isn't that used to frequenting as himself, all the same. Still, with him spending a lot of time there (when he wasn't working with one of the departments), exploration and scouting things out never hurt. Besides, he sometimes could learn more about the crew, if nothing else, or else discover something useful in the city.

Heading up the cliffs (maybe he could get a good view, decide where to go from there), he notes Howard with some mild curiosity, watching him for a moment, silently, throwing rocks off the edge, before he steps forward slightly, to announced his presence instead of creeping in the background.

"Hey," he greets, though he keeps his distance. He'll let Howard show if he's welcome or not. "Killing time?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard twists around to look at Tim - he hasn't heard the voice often enough to be able to recognize Tim just by sound. "I did a late shift at Medical last night, so I'm free for the next ten-ish hours. Might as well spend that time throwing rocks. Totally productive."

He turns back to the scenery and chucks another rock, body language casual enough to tell Tim that he doesn't mind having the other kid around right now. "Saved any troubled youth lately?"

[battorch]

Tim smiles a little, moving to sit on the edge-- close enough to talk comfortably, but no closer. "Sounds like a good use of time to me," he says. "Everyone deserves time off occasionally, anyway."

He leans back a bit, palms resting on the ground as support. He's still pretty preoccupied with everything going on, but he's letting himself mull it over for a while. "Not lately, no," he said, with a clipped laugh. "I don't get that many people want to come open up like that. Who'd have thought?"