2012-11-20 A Walk In the Park

It was another lovely autumn afternoon, and Senri was out and about, fully intending to take advantage of it. Leaving her bike locked up safely at home, she had taken the high-speed rail to Upper Manhattan and now found herself once again in Central Park. She made regular trips there now since the events of the sabotaged rally, pummeling her brain for things she could have done differently. She had been out of the hospital for weeks, but was still on the mend. Now she drew her cell phone from her pocket and dashed off a quick text message to Marissa, asking if she was free to meet her here, then settled down to wait.
Escaping from StarkTech, Marissa responds to the text with a single word, 'Sure', then heads towards the park. She's wearing jeans and a black leather jacket that looks almost like something a fighter pilot might wear. Of course, anyone who knows her would not be surprised by this choice of fashion statement. She's in a better mood than she has been...mostly because there has been no embarrassing news about her father in a while.
Senri's cell phone buzzes in surprising short order. "(Well, that was fast.)" As she unlocks her phone, she soon finds out why, and can't help but grin. She wanders back toward the entrance until she stands in plain sight, typing as she walks, "Great! I'll be by the gates." "(Probably unnecessary, but it never hurts to make sure, right?)"
Marissa Sometimes approaches the gates. "Hey. I *just* escaped." She flickers a grin. "Which after the weekend, is a good thing." Why, yes, she worked way too much of Saturday, but it happens.
An enthusiastic grin lights Senri's face as she spots Marissa, and she gives a vigorous wave. "Hey! Glad you could bust out. Sorry I didn't get in touch sooner once I got discharged. You know how it is: 'What happened? Are you okay? Oh, good. Now you can get back to work'." She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue an odd mix of distaste and wry amusement. "The boss wasn't quite that bad, but still."
"Mine doesn't drive me nearly as hard as either I drive me or he drives himself," Marissa notes. "But...ugh. At least you *are* better, right?" She seems pretty cheerful about it. Seeing Senri NOT in a hospital helps her mood.
Senri nods firmly with an empathic expression. "There's that, too," she admits with a tinge of embarrassment, "I -hate- being stuck doing nothing, so I kinda made up for lost time once I got out. Carefully. I still have to watch my head, so no parkour for a while." Her face falls at this pronouncement, but she bounces back as she continues, "I am feeling a lot better, though, yeah! How's your arm doing?"
"Oh, that's fine." She has, it turns out, some advantages. "It's been a while and I heal well." Well, not really...but it's much harder to explain than that. "How long did they say before you can do a run?"
"Oh, good! Glad to hear it!" Her expression grows briefly pensive as she recalls the date, then brightens as she says, "Right around Thanksgiving, actually! Hard to believe it's been over a month, but I'll really have something to celebrate this year!" A thought strikes her, and she mulls it over for a few moments and says, "If you'd like, we can meet up again around then. Maybe we could do a bit of jogging and I can show you a few things while we're at it?"
Marissa Sometimes frowns. "I...don't have anything to celebrate at Thanksgiving." She didn't want to think about it, really. Nobody's likely to invite her home with them and she no longer has a family.
"What?! Aw, well then I insist! My family's going to be coming to visit for Thanksgiving dinner, and it's been a while since I've been able to invite friends. If nothing else, I'd love it if you could come!" As she speaks, Senri becomes progressively more animated, bouncing on the balls of her feet and practically buzzing with excitement by the time she winds down to take a breath. "So, how about it? If you don't mind, that is..?"
"..." A long pause. "...Sure." She grins. "It'll take my mind off of...I hope his latest floozie dumps him the day before." Because she's, yes, still that bitter and angry. And because he deserves it.
Senri stops bouncing and blinks, nonplussed for a few moments, but then smiles and, on impulse, gives Marissa a hug. "Alright, then. I'm looking forward to it!" Breaking the hug, she nibbles on her lower lip and hops from one foot to the other as she ponders what to do next. "Hm... If you'd like, we can take a bit of a jog now. Or a walk. It's a bit difficult to have a conversation when you're running," she says, cheerfully stating the obvious.
"Just a walk, I think." Marissa glances up at the sky. "And let's be careful. It's getting late." Even though they can both look after themselves.
Senri follows Marissa's glance and nods. "That works. And yeah, you're right; good point. A short walk, then." She suits actions to words, glancing back at Marissa and shortening her strides a bit.
Marissa Sometimes nods. "Yeah. I mean, I'm fine. I can take on most things, but Central Park at night can get nasty and *you* still aren't a hundred percent." More concerned for the other than herself, it seems, glancing around for a moment. Seeing no potential problems yet, though, she continues the walk.
Senri winces and nods with a wry twist of her lips. "Heh. Thanks for the reminder. I can still take care of myself, though, I think. For sure if I didn't have this to worry about," she says, touching her forehead. Something very much like an eager gleam enters her eyes as she grins and continues, "My eyes and ears work just fine, though. If you'd like, we can take sectors: You watch left and I watch right."
Marissa Sometimes laughs. "You really are frustrated about not being able to do runs, aren't you." Maybe she should buy her a helmet. If she had the money to spare to do it.
Senri's mouth turns down into a not-quite-pout. "Absolutely. I wouldn't be lying when I say that running is my life. Heck, it's what's helping pay my tuition, and coach was -mad-, let me tell you! You wouldn't be able to guess from looking, though. He's the type to go quieter the madder he gets, with the whole 'I'm so disappointed in you' face. That hurts, but not being able to cut loose on the streets? My legs might as well be cut off..." She trails off, sending a quick look of apology toward Marissa before turning her eyes back to her area of responsibility. "And I'm rambling. Sorry."
"I could explain to the coach JUST how much it wasn't your fault, but I doubt it would help." She glances into the trees...looking, as it happens, in entirely the wrong direction.
Senri's lips twitch back up with a soft chuckle as she says, "Probably not, but tha-" Her head snaps towards the undergrowth a little ways away and her entire body tenses, her danger instincts alerting her before she quite recognizes the small signs that drew her attention: The glint of shattered glass on the path from the broken lamps, a rustle of movement where there should be none, crouching shadows within the shadows. She reaches out and grips Marissa's arm and, her voice low and urgent, says, "Stop. Lights out. Movement right. Back up." Her hand remains firm on Marissa's arm as she suits actions to words.
Sure enough, a quiet, swiftly bitten-off snarl of frustration floats totheir ears, followed by the emergence of a group of heavy-set toughs, blue featuring prominently in their clothing. One of them, menace thick in his voice, speaks up with an unpleasant smile. "Hey, pretty ladies. Me and my boys, we're a bit hard up, so we was thinking of collecting a bit of charity, y'know? Nothin' personal." A chorus of nasty chuckles and the 'snick' of switchblades goes up from the toughs at this, and they begin advancing on Senri and Marissa.
While the leader was talking, Senri had continued to carefully back away, drawing Marissa with her. She took the opportunity to size up their attackers, and her face went very still. Her voice still quiet, but now calm, she says. "You take left, I take right. I'm going to try to blindside 'em."
Marissa would have said something, but Senri beat her to it. She tilts her head slightly, stepping slightly away from Senri. "Sorry, guys, but I happen to be flat broke," she informs them, her stance shifting into that of somebody who's had a fair bit of combat training. Will that warn them to back off or is she going to have to kick their butts?
These toughs move with the arrogant confidence of those used to getting what they want, especially by force. Marissa's stance doesn't phase them, and in fact sets them to laughing again. "Maybe, lady, but what about your Jap friend? We gotta ask her, too. How 'bout it, little miss?"
The casual slur jabbed at Senri, but served only to tighten her focus. Her jaw clenched, and she dropped her center of gravity. She took a deep breath, and -moved-. In the space of a moment, she had crossed the short distance to the tough on the far right. With adrenaline-fueled precision, she grabbed his wrist and squeezed, forcing him to drop his knife. She followed the motion through, converting her momentum into a throw that propelled him toward his 'cuzz' on the left, bringing them both down in a tangle of limbs. "(Two down. Two to go.)"
Marissa Sometimes rolls her eyes. "What, no insults for me?" One of them tries to grab her, but she's ready for him...she grabs him back and does a twist that actually looks like a krav maga move. Somebody's been hanging out with soldiers, it seems.
"(And then there was one...)" In under a minute, the leader suddenly found himself standing alone. His mouth worked in disbelief as the tables suddenly turned. After a few seconds of precious time wasted in fumbling, he produces a small piece in a sleight of hand feat learned from the school of hard knocks. No professional gunman and panicked besides, he fired off his entire magazine in a wild, unaimed burst. Senri pulled a face and zipped behind the nearest tree. "(Gah. I'm not 007. Gotta wait.)" When the gunfire stopped, she dashed from her cover, coming up at the last tough from behind. She grabbed his gunhand and levered it around to his back in a brutally efficient lock, disarming him at her leisure. She kept him this way, awaiting Marissa.
Marissa Sometimes can't dodge as fast as Senri can. She gets nailed...although it's not bad. And it doesn't slow her down at all...but the departure of the thugs does. "Grrr," she grumbles. It's no big deal...she already knows that, and if it scars, that'll fix itself next time she dies. She's not worried about it. "Shall I call the cops?"
Senri nods firmly. "If you would, please? Are you alright?" Her expression softens to one of concern mingled with respect as the adrenaline begins to wear off. To her great annoyance, it leaves her trembling.
"I've had worse. A lot worse." She tugs out her cellphone, calling the cops. Senri trembling? She'll fix that in a little bit.
"(Argh! Stupid body! Stupid adrenaline! Settle down!)" Regardless of Senri's scolding, of course, the trembling continues as she comes down from the fight or flight response. She manages a weak smile and says, "Well, that's something, at least," even as she makes sure of her armlock and elicits a cry of pain from the helpless tough.
"They're on their way. Want some help with the trash there?" The thug glares at Marissa for her characterization of him.
A hint of a quaver edges Senri's voice as she says, "I would love some help, thank you. It's been a long time since I've experienced fight or flight. It's -annoying-. Has me shaking and everything. Didn't get a chance to drop into the flow like last time." She walks the thug toward Marissa, not bothering to be gentle, but forgoing unnecessary roughness. Her expression is carefully controlled, but her face is noticeably more pale.
Marissa Sometimes does something surprising...she tugs a set of those plastic cuffs out of her backpack and moves to apply them to the mook. Her face dares either of them to ask why she's carrying them. Well, at least those aren't the kind you generally use for bondage. Right?
"Smart," is all Senri says, with a nod of approval. With the mook out of the way, she heaves a long sigh of relief and flops down where she stands. "Gonna be fun to talk to the police. Life sure has gotten exciting lately."
"Well. Next time, let's do lunch somewhere nice and well lit and mook free?" she offers, flickering the older girl a grin. "I can think of a few places."
Senri brightens at Marissa's offer, giving a genuine smile for the first time since they were attacked. "Sounds good to me!"
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