Just a Normal Day in the Neighborhood

On many days, Lincoln would enjoy running around rooftops. Just this once, he was more rushing than enjoying the run. He had a reap order to be executed in half an hour, and given the nature of the orders, he had a lot of ground to cover and a barely visible thread to locate. Jumping off a ledge to land on another, he curses internally at his lack of thread-seeing talent. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if the thread presented itself on a silver platter.

He drop-rolls into a long empty room, bare of flooring with patches of plaster flaking off its cement walls. He fished his watch out of his pouch. Another 20 minutes. Lincoln supposed he could break into a slow walk. Energetic as he can be, it was better to not tire too early. As he saunters around the bare floor, he notices a shadow moving near the windows. Frowning slightly, he peers at it. "Hello?"

It was a small figure, if he had to make a wild guess the person was well under 18 years of age. The pose the other held was defensive, and so Lincoln hung back from approaching. "Uhhhhh...," he started, slowly holding his gloved hands up. He couldn't tell if the person was dead or alive, barely able to make out threads, and now wasn't the time to focus on finding something so fine. He did, however, spot the blade in their hand, sunlight glinting off its blade.

"I don't mean any harm...," he continued, mustering a smile at the figure. It was not necessary, but if the kid decided to attack, he could parry.

Ah, the young lady was an Apprentice like him as well. He breathed a sigh if relief, putting a hand to his chest and lowering the other to his side as Sarnai relaxed. "It's okay," he reassured her, "I'm sorry I startled you...kinda forget about other people on runs," he continued, scratching his cheek. He chuckled lightly at her recognizing him from HQ. 

"You're good with faces, huh? I'm glad I'm not a Hunter...," his voice trailed away as he momentarily thought of how bad that would be, being in a quiet and abandoned place like this...where people would, indeed, dump bodies. Tossing the idea away with a deep sigh, he acknowledged her bow with a slight bow himself. "Lincoln, Team 18," he responded with a habitual wink. Formalities done and confusion cleared, he peers at the window from where Sarnai had been watching the world go by. 

"I'm here on reap order duty, just looking for them blasted threads," he explained with a light chuckle. Hard work did not mean there should be no play, so he laughs off the hardships instead. "I haven't been very successful, but they'll show up." Lincoln shrugs, returning his gaze back to the girl. "Watching streets hm...?" he continued quietly, before piping up again, curious. "So you had their pancakes?"

Lincoln joined the girl in peering over the ledge to see the aforementioned awning. "Pancakes as big as a bear's head? Wowwww!" he uttered as his expression lifted, impressed. "Liquid sugar though, makes everything better," he added with a chuckle. The streets were busy and there were light glimmers of white, as if the sky was raining but not actually raining. He squints at the shimmering beams that he came to learn to be the 'threads'.

"I think it's been...2 years? I have a friend who keeps reminding me about it, but sometimes I forget...," he pondered, propping his chin on his hand as he sets his elbow on the ledge. "One of these days, I should bring a magnifying glass. Maybe it'll help see things clearer," Lincoln reaches out with an open palm, and moves it sideways as if painting a line with the palm.

He pulls his arm back onto the ledge and sighs. "I have nineteen minutes...and I'm going alone," he answered, waving a hand dismissively, "I can handle it. Those threads always appear when I need them," he added, grinning lightly. He looks at Sarnai, raising a brow in curiosity. "What are the birds like?" he asked. It was pointless for him to keep running around in circles for the time being. Most reaps had a sequence of events leading to the death, and he was in the vicinity where the death was supposed to happen. His paired teammate had something up and trusted him to complete this reap on his own. How hard was it to locate a single red thread? Quite difficult, he answered himself internally.

Maybe he'd find a shimmering pulsing bit of red in this shiny white rain. He diverts his attention to the girl instead.

Lincoln laughed with her when she mentioned how odd it would be to use a magnifying glass in his situation. "You have a point there, miss. I wonder if there's a special camera to pick up threads, yet," he wondered aloud, putting a hand to his chin in thought. He peered at the ground below, where the shimmering rain concentrated into a bright, hazy clump. "Or...maybe a higher vantage point is good..," he mumbled to himself in thought. In that hazy clump, it would be easier to spot a red dot...wouldn't it? Lincoln turned to Sarnai when she mentioned the birds' temperaments.

"...sassy lot, eh?" Lincoln responded, smiling slightly. Animals were unpredictable, half of the time, but they always worked on the principle of 'be nice to me and I'll be nice to you'. "Glad that they show you hospitality after all these years...," he added, craning his neck out the window to see if there were birds around. There were the usual pigeons, if that counted. A few sparrows flying around near the isolated trees. He nods to Sarnai's question as he returned to his position behind the window ledge.

"The century of the hip and now! When tech goes so fast humans don't even know what to do with them," he grinned and shrugged. "I suppose it's just normal to me. Sure, the way they speak and how they dress kinda needs some research before approaching, but overall it's like this city," he looks at Sarnai, "the people pretty much just mix around with whomever that shares their interests. I think it's great." He chuckled, turning back to the cityscape, "It sure is fun now, isn't it? I bet a bunch of us embrace it as much as you do." After a moment of silence, he turned to her again with a curious expression. "What do you guys play, actually?"