Crash! Hundred Ice Cream Dash!

[mithrarin]

Who: Dust and OPEN
When: Early September
Where: The Near Shore
What: Dust has some downtime, and spends it wisely(????).



A.

[Down the road sprints Dust, his cloak and tail trailing behind him and purpose written in the set of his jaw. The sidewalk isn't empty, but he dodges past the people walking on it as if he isn't there -- which, being of the Far Shore, he might as well not be. No eyebrows raise in his wake, no one stumbles back in shock. He's just a passing breeze, one they find pleasant.]

[The light is against him as he reaches a side street -- no matter. He vaults over the two lanes of traffic as if it's nothing, landing lightly on the other side to resume his run. A truck juts out across the sidewalk, poorly parked in a driveway -- he barely breaks stride as he kicks one foot forward, dropping his body so his momentum slides him clean under it. And again, on the other side, he springs back to his feet and resumes his charge.]

[At the end of the block, Dust comes to a sudden halt right at the corner -- just in time for an ice cream truck to slow to a stop right in front of him, so that he has to lean all of an inch to the side to place his order.] A dipped cone, please.

[As the ice cream man turns to the soft serve machine, Dust scoops his phone out of his pocket to tag his thumb against it, his smile a little smug.] And that's number 57. 43 to go.

B.

[When he isn't chasing ice cream trucks around -- or intercepting them -- or, well, don't ask about that one truck with a slightly dented roof -- Dust spends his time on the roof of a neighborhood school, sitting on the edge of the roof with his arms folded on his legs. Something in the air makes him uneasy, in a way he associates with danger and trouble, but he hasn't seen anything yet.]

[Still, his senses are on overdrive trying to pick up any hint of an ayakashi.]

Wildcard.

[Hit me up.]

Comments

[nopixiedust]

Hmmmmm, I dunno... [She pokes a finger into her own cheek, making a show of her own thought.] Do I have to walk?

[mithrarin]

[His smirk practically radiates in his voice.]

That really depends on how well you can hold onto me when I get moving, doesn't it?

[nopixiedust]

Don't blame me if you go so fast that your cloak tears!

[Now excuse her as she adjusts herself. Have fun with your new child backpack, Dust.]

[mithrarin]

If it's between my cloak and you... well, don't make me choose.

[Wendy's in for a ride. Dust bursts into his typical lope down the street, just far enough to reach a street he has to clear in one powerful doulbe-jump. It'll only get wilder from here.]

[nopixiedust]

[Clinging with all of her might, Wendy giggles as they go rushing down the street, a sound which turns into an excited whoop once they leap over it. Fortunately, she has a pretty good grip- that of a trapeze artist although she doesn't know it. So she keeps holding on and just waits with a wide grin even as the wind stings at her face.]

[mithrarin]

[The ride honestly isn't too much stress -- Dust has a very even, almost gentle pace even at a run, and he isn't doing anything crazy like dodge-rolling across traffic or using the Dust Storm as a spinning aerial shortcut over a fence.]

[And he's legitimately enjoying himself. Maybe this is what having a kid sister is like.]

[nopixiedust]

[There are probably horses that can't run this smooth, Wendy reflects, although her mind isn't sure how much she really knows about horses. It doesn't matter. What does is going fast as they go across the city, and sometimes Wendy dares to push herself a little further up to see ahead.]

How close are we now?

[mithrarin]

Two blocks, if I remember the map -- [And if he takes this shortcut through an alley, leaping up onto a fire escape, then kicking off from it in a soaring double-jump that launches them clear across both a highway and a train track... before they drop out of the sky like rocks, once gravity reasserts itself.]

[Luckily, Dust is beneath Wendy to absorb the impact into his muscles and joints more comfortably than pavement. How he lands on the ground from that height and takes her weight as well is anyone's guess. It's just what he does.]

[nopixiedust]

[Any other child might be horrified when they rise so high up, cars like toys beneath them, but there's no fear in Wendy. As gravity seems momentarily inconsequential, everything feels... normal. Natural. As much so as when she'd thought to sprig from bar to bar during one of the first performances Hibiki took her to.]

[And then they start plummeting to the ground, which is a little more worrying.]

[Tightly, she squeezes her limbs around him, but there's no need to worry. While she has no idea how...]

You did it!

[mithrarin]

[Dust expects so much more than fear from Wendy, especially when he's the one carrying her. And he's glad to be right, though he doesn't even think of that consciously.]

'I made it'? I was barely trying. [With a low laugh, Dust rises from his crouch to pace up to the truck just visible around the corner ahead.]

[nopixiedust]

[The truck might be close, but Wendy isn't bothering to get off anytime soon.]

Oh, so what's trying look like for you, huh?

[mithrarin]

[Dust isn't asking her to. Her weight is nothing to him, really.]

In this case, it'd look like you getting flung off or hit with a sword.

[nopixiedust]

Hey! [Her chin digs into his shoulder.] I wouldn't get flung off!

[mithrarin]

Sorry, Wendy, but you probably would. Maybe you wouldn't, but I'm not going to risk you getting hurt on a maybe.

[All in good cheer, but he really isn't.]

[nopixiedust]

Spoilsport. [But she won't really complain as they arrive at the van.] So what's the flavor for this one?

[mithrarin]

Lychee and pomegranate. [Enjoy the slight ride of a shrug, because he doesn't know what the former is anyway.]

[nopixiedust]

Licky and pomegranate... Huh. [That's a new one, in more ways than one.] If you like one, I'll eat it too.

[mithrarin]

Sounds fair, but I haven't not liked anything yet.

[Lucky for the Far Shore veil of indifference -- the ice cream man pays no special attention at all to the furry with a small child on his shoulder as he places the order.]

[nopixiedust]

Yeah, but you'll like anything, I bet.

[Don't mind her leaning forward a little more to see just what color this ice cream takes.]

[mithrarin]

[Green and purple, actually, which doesn't slow Dust down in the slightest as he takes a lick of it. Like a connoisseur, he lets the taste swirl around his mouth.]

I still don't know what a lychee is, but I like this. I'm sure we're both very surprised.

[nopixiedust]

Only the most surprised.

[Now excuse her as she tries to clamber over to get a lick herself.]

It's weird how something sweet is green, in my opinion.

[mithrarin]

Why's that? Isn't mint chocolate chip ice cream a common one? [He doesn't deny her; he even shifts the cone over for her benefit.]

[nopixiedust]

Yeah, but is mint really sweet...?

[Still, she takes a list and shifts back a little in surprise.]

Oh... That's kind of tart!

[mithrarin]

But not bad, right? [Why he cares is a little silly, but... Well, he'd like Wendy to like what he likes. Simple as that.]

[nopixiedust]

Yeah, it's pretty okay. I don't think I could a whole lot of it all at once, 'tho.

[Just bit by bit, savoring the little pieces.]