Humanity First RP

Skye
Skye turned the corner. "Ah. Here." They had reached a small apartment building with a fire escape to one side. A few small lights were visible through the curtained windows. Not many people would be here at this hour. "Right this way," she said, starting up the metal stairs.

Ashwin
Not exactly what I was expecting. Ash followed her to the fire escape and started climbing the stairs after her. "So what exactly are we doing here?" 

Skye
"You'll see. It's the best place for this," Skye replied. "And don't worry about disturbing anyone. They're all good friends of mine here, and heavy sleepers to boot."

Last edited on 2018-10-30 at 21:06:17 by ♪ Bandit ♪

Ashwin
Does she really need to be so secretive about it? He continued to follow her up the stairs. "Okay, so is what we're doing particularly loud?" 

Last edited on 2018-10-30 at 21:06:53 by Oswin

Skye 
Skye reached the top and crossed to the edge of the roof, peeking down at the street below. "Any moment now," she said to herself. Right on cue, lights all around the city turned on, making the ground below look like the night sky she'd only heard about as a kid, visible in all directions. It was mesmerizing.

Last edited on 2018-10-30 at 21:09:57 by ♪ Bandit ♪

Ashwin
He followed her, deciding not to comment on how unsafe it was to be so close to the edge of the roof. A few moments later, however, that was the last thing on his mind. The night lights of the city, which he'd only ever seen from the streets while on shifts, flickered on. "Wow," Ash said quietly.

Skye 
Skye glanced at Ash and smiled. The look on his face was priceless. She grabbed his arm and moved to the center. "You can see it in every direction from here."

Ashwin
He turned his head to get a panoramic view of the city from where he now stood in the center of the roof (having been dragged there by Skye). "I've only ever seen the lights from the street. I didn't realize they looked like this from up here." They look like I imagined the stars my grandma told me about would have.

Skye 
"This is one of the reasons why I haven't left," Skye said quietly. "Every night around this time you can see it if you're high up enough."

Ashwin
Ash was speechless. Out of all things, he hadn't expected anything of this sort. "Do you think," he started to ask, hesitantly, "this is what the stars would have looked like?" He wasn't sure about the other branches of Head jobs, but in law enforcement, talking about things as they used to be was a taboo. People who did were regarded with suspicion, and one officer years ago had not only been fired but had been arrested on suspicion of rebel activities (though Ash never did find any solid proof that he had been; in fact, he was pretty sure many claims were fabricated). 

Skye 
Skye nodded. "... I've seen pictures," she said, somewhat hesitantly. It was strange to talk to someone about things as they used to be. "There were a lot more stars and sometimes there were colors in the sky, too."

Ashwin
He tilted his head back and looked at the dull, lifeless sky that hovered above them. Even though at night you couldn't see the tepid smog that always lingered, you could almost feel its presence. During the day the sun's rays had to go through it first, leaving life below with just a washed out light and a gray sky. At night it was a blank black slate. Ash looked back out at the city pensively, wondering if there was a time when the view would have been switched - lights above and black below. I'm sure the stars would have been much prettier than artificial lights. This unwanted thought had come because Ash had once found that fake plants were no match for real ones, no matter how close they came (he had a little plant in his kitchen). It was just too hard to replicate the intricacies of nature. The thought was unwanted, however, because it was such lines of thinking that often led to exactly what came next in his mind. How did the world become like this? The thought jarred him, and he blinked. He refused to oblige such thoughts that could only lead toward ones of worse nature. It had been drilled into Ash that things would be much worse without the Head, and he would not allow himself to question that. From what he'd seen, it seemed true. After he had blinked that blink that had pulled him from the unasked for thoughts, Ash spoke. "How did you find out about this?" He gestured to the city lights, indicating the view from above.

Skye 
Skye glanced at the scene below them before responding. "I um... I used to come here when I, uh, wasn't feeling like being arrested for potential crimes that I most likely didn't commit?"

Ashwin
That was mildly suspicious. But not surprising, considering what happened earlier. "Do you read at all?" 

Skye 
"Yeah. Unfortunately, most of the writing about the old things is pretty much gone. I have a collection that I took with me when I moved here, but I haven't found anything else anywhere."