not_meatbuns | Rebel 21 [Action

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Rebel 21 [Action | Accidental Voice]

[After a couple days of absence, Litchi is back from her short trip home. And, as always with her, it's a bath tub that she's landed in. One Yellow Thirteen's bath tub, to be precise. And she's not in the best shape.

Resounding not only through the apartment, but over the journals, is the sound of the tub cracking as if under a tremendous amount of pressure. Litchi lets out a pained whimper, curling into a ball as best she can despite one arm being tangled in the shower curtain.

The Boundary has cut loose. And Litchi is absolutely terrified.

The journal picks up another quiet groan before she falls silent.]

[[ooc: Backdated to a couple hours before the earthquake! ~~Also, sorry for unannounced disappearance for the update ;;~~]]

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Don't worry. You just take it easy for now. Leave breakfast to me.

[He'll rise from his chair and begin gathering the food he has on hand to take to the floor's shared kitchen.]

...Hope you don't mind coffee. ...I usually don't keep tea on hand.

[Thirteen, you really are the best kind of friend.] Coffee is just fine. Thank you.

You're welcome. I'll be back in a bit. Make yourself at home in the meantime, if you'd like.

[And he'll be heading off to make breakfast, and he'll be back soon.]

[And she'll just wait patiently, trying to soothe the frazzled Lao Jiu while she waits. The poor little thing has worked really hard today.]

[It'll be a bit, but when he finally returns, he'll come in bringing two plates with pancakes and scrambled eggs. By this point, the coffee maker in his apartment should've finished brewing, so he'll pour two cups of that for them too.

He'll set down a plate in front of Litchi and at his spot as well, and take his seat.]

Nothing fancy, but hopefully it should be okay.

[Well, color her impressed. How Thirteen isn't tripping over women with his guitar playing and cooking and being an excellent listener, Litchi will never know.]

No, no, it looks wonderful. You're a man of many talents, David~

[Something of a small, amused smile follows that.]

I get by, I guess.

[She'll just take a piece of pancake here and try it. Wide smile.]

This really is fantas--

[And mid-sentence, the shaking starts. Litchi hasn't been in an earthquake ever since she was a child, but when the small rumble just continues to grow, she knows better than to stall. Thirteen lived on the fifth floor, didn't he? That's... that's way too high up. It'll take too long to get out...!

She's thinking as fast as she can, and she's reached a solution by the time the chairs are starting to rattle.]

I-I'm sorry for this, David! But please, just hold on tight!

[And without waiting for a response -- the ceiling is starting to crumble -- she puts a hand on his back and hauls him bodily underneath the table for cover. One arm across his shoulders for support and the other clamped firmly around a table leg, she just prays the floor won't drop out beneath them.]

[The sudden shaking comes as something of a shock for the fighter pilot. ...What was this, an earthquake? In Luceti?! He didn't get it... but then Litchi hauls him under the table, he doesn't give any resistance. But by now, his face hardens into a somewhat confused frown.

But he will hang onto Litchi and a different table leg as the rumbling grows steadily more intense. Right now they have to stay calm.]

This is one hell of a quake!

I... I never thought...!

[With the hot springs nearby, it's certainly possible there's always been a chance for this sort of thing, but for it to come out of absolutely nowhere?

Not that it's really important. What is is that it hasn't started to die down yet. And while this table is good enough cover from their own ceiling falling, she's really starting to worry that they'll be falling through the floor into the apartment below. Bracing herself for the worst, her hold on Thirteen tightens a bit.

Please, please let this stop...!]

[Thirteen grits his teeth as the shaking begins to produce loud groans in the building all around them. Adrenaline surges through his veins when the noises intensify. Fight or flight is beginning to take hold... and as chunks of plaster impact against the tabletop above them, that there's a very real chance they might not get out of this...

Of course, right about then, the floor beneath them shudders with a deafening roar. In a mere instant, the once solid ground beneath them crumbles and sends them tumbling down a floor.

Fortune smiled upon them, though; they managed to land on a couch in the apartment below rather than the floor which softened their impact considerably. Thirteen pushed himself up despite seeing stars and the tremors shaking the building to its very foundations.]

Litchi, are you alright? We have to get out of here, now!

[If Litchi had thought she was hurting before, it was nothing on the explosion of small popping spots that filled her vision after crashing down through the floor. Ignoring the spring that jabbed out of the couch and into her back, she staggered to her feet as well, Lao Jiu hurriedly clamoring up onto her head to hold her hair out of the way again.

Alright, pain was secondary. Getting out was priority. Getting David to safety... infinitely more important than anything else. She took just enough time to get a quick look around for a clear path and grabbed a hold of Thirteen's arm.]

This way! I think I see a way out!

[Well, if Litchi's leading the way, he'll move fast along with her as steadily as he can with all the shaking. Right now his brain is running solely on instinct and adrenaline and remains focused. Survival, for both of them, is the only thing that matters right now.]

[Litchi leads the way out of the apartment and out into the hall, where things are rapidly worsening. The entire building seems to be groaning as its foundations shift. A pile of debris has blocked off one end of the hallway, but the other is still a clear enough shot, so Litchi starts towards it--

...And the world is suddenly in black and white. They're reaching the end of the hall. The building creaks. There's a deafening crack, a panicked scream, a cry of pain...

-- And suddenly, the vision is gone, Litchi's head throbbing painfully. The building's groaning grows louder. The end of the hall is rapidly approaching. Litchi slides to a halt, making sure to keep her hold on Thirteen's arm so that he'll be pulled to a stop as well.]

Wait! The floor--!

[And just a few feet ahead, the floor bows and splits with a (very familiar) deafening crack. The echoes from the Boundary are going wild, and it's making it ridiculously hard to concentrate, but she can't help a small sigh of relief that it came in handy just this once.

Although now she's losing track of her train of thought from all the feedback.]

W-what now...?

We keep going down!

[Thirteen edges over to the hole that formed in the floor, and looked down quickly. Closer to the staircase at the end of the hall, the fall was sheer all the way down. The drop would've probably killed them if they fell there... it was a good thing they stopped when they did. But closer to the middle of the hallway? The third floor is still stable for the moment. But they have to move fast.]

Come on, we don't have much time. Down to the third floor!

[Thirteen beckons Litchi over and begins lowering himself down to negate most of the drop. He barely keeps his balance when he lands with the shaking. He'll turn to help Litchi land more softly and help her down.]

["--ird floor!" Shaking her head -- not the time for this...! -- she eases herself over the edge of the hole in the floor, grateful for his help in keeping steady. It's getting harder to keep her footing with all this shaking, but they have to keep going. And now they're not that far from a way out.]

There! We're almost there!

[The fire escape. Oh god, she's never been so happy to see one. Stumbling slightly, but with renewed determination, she heads right for it. Almost out...!]

[He follows right on her heels, now outside of the building on the steel scaffolding. He was covered with drywall dust and debris, and was relieved that pieces of ceiling falling on them was not as much of a fear.

But now, he's focused on getting down the steel ladders and helping Litchi along where he can.

Unfortunately, the bolts holding the fire escape in place are beginning to shake loose. The fire escape shudders violently and Thirteen struggles to hang on as it begins peeling away from the wall.]

Litchi, get ready to jump! It's not going to hold!

[Ohgodohgodohgod. As the fire escape starts to detach from the wall, the adrenaline rush kicks into overdrive. They're still far too far up. It's a little over two floors still... They'll need some kind of opposing force.

She's not even fully aware of what she's doing until she's halfway through it. With a "RETURN!", she calls Mantenbou. She's not sure where in the world it is, but it's going to be on its way any moment...

...And Lao Jiu is taking the liberty of amplifying the magic to shift the rapidly approaching bo staff into its Four Winds state, letting the flow of the Boundary's power continue to rise...

Every muscle in her body straining, but relieved when she can hear Mantenbou spinning wildly beneath them, kicking up a fairly strong updraft, Litchi glances over at Thirteen with a nod. She's not sure just how much help these wings are going to be with this drop, but she's getting ready to flap like hell.]

Ready?

[A sharp nod from Thirteen as his wings twitch in anticipation.]

You go first! I'll be right behind you!

[When Litchi jumps, he'll follow an instant later. Thirteen succeeds in jumping down into the vertical updraft, spreading his wings and flapping them as well as he can to slow his fall.]

[Litchi's wings, still very new and not quite up to speed with where they would have been before, don't do quite so well in slowing her fall as Thirteen's. But the updraft helps enough to at least keep the inevitable crash from being worse than just mildly painful. Even though she's landed in something of a heap.

Once Thirteen is safely to the ground, Lao Jiu gets to reining the Boundary in again. Mantenbou stops its spinning and drops abruptly to the ground. Litchi is seeing stars, both from falling so gracelessly and from the strain. But they're free, and that's the only thing that matters.]

A-are you alright, David?

[Thirteen's landing wasn't exactly graceful either. Even with the slowed fall, he found himself falling prone on landing. Ugh, this was nothing like parachute jumping, that's for damn sure.

Still, he pushes himself up and glances over to Litchi, and offers a hand to help her stand.]

Y-yeah. I'm fine. Are you? That was quite a fall.

[She takes his hand gratefully, staggering her way to her feet. Absolutely everything hurts right now, but they're alive, so she can't help a weak smile.]

Y-yes, thank you. I'm alright. Just a little sore, is all.

[He gives a nod, but then a very loud, familiar rumble behind them makes his eyes widen. He looks over his shoulder for a split second to see the building finally begin to collapse in on itself.]

Oh shit.

[And without any other hesitation, he pulls Litchi close to him and ducks his head. He immediately, rather forcefully, turns both of them away so only his back is exposed to the incoming wave of dust and debris.]

[Litchi just stands as still as possible, cringing with her face hidden against his shirt. Once the dust settles, she lets the worry flood in and pulls away enough to look up at him. She seems almost angry that he covered her like this; anybody getting hurt because of her just isn't cool.]

What were you-- Are you okay?!

Rebel 21 [Action | Accidental Voice]

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