"Okay." Rachel moves around to the side of the ladder Bruce just vacated, her feet on the very last rung before the drop.
There's a light shining down from somewhere above, blue, as much for setting the festive-yet-relaxed mood around the hotel as it is for any kind of security. Her hands are on another rung, at about her chest level. She opens her right hand, studying it for a long moment; he probably can't see from below, but she's inspecting the shadow it casts on the steel. It's not much since the light source is neither strong nor crisp enough for this to work perfectly, but maybe it's just enough.
She leans back slightly, concentrating on her right hand. And then she releases her grip on the ladder, left hand opening as she steps off that last rung. She drops... but only halfway to the ground, downward momentum suddenly arrested.
She hangs there for the space of a few breaths, right arm stretched up as if it's holding to something, as if she's hanging from it. But it's not her hand, it's her shadow, stretched up from the hand open in mid-air, existing where it should not, until it reaches the spot where it is legitimately being cast.
It's just enough--but only just enough to keep her from hitting the ground directly from letting go, not enough for the cautious lowering-herself-to-the-ground she'd hoped to pull off. She hovers there, flailing slightly as her shadow fades, and then she drops the remaining distance.
It's just enough that, should he actually be somewhere near or under her trying to break her fall, Rachel hopefully won't crash into him with enough force to do him any harm.
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There's a light shining down from somewhere above, blue, as much for setting the festive-yet-relaxed mood around the hotel as it is for any kind of security. Her hands are on another rung, at about her chest level. She opens her right hand, studying it for a long moment; he probably can't see from below, but she's inspecting the shadow it casts on the steel. It's not much since the light source is neither strong nor crisp enough for this to work perfectly, but maybe it's just enough.
She leans back slightly, concentrating on her right hand. And then she releases her grip on the ladder, left hand opening as she steps off that last rung. She drops... but only halfway to the ground, downward momentum suddenly arrested.
She hangs there for the space of a few breaths, right arm stretched up as if it's holding to something, as if she's hanging from it. But it's not her hand, it's her shadow, stretched up from the hand open in mid-air, existing where it should not, until it reaches the spot where it is legitimately being cast.
It's just enough--but only just enough to keep her from hitting the ground directly from letting go, not enough for the cautious lowering-herself-to-the-ground she'd hoped to pull off. She hovers there, flailing slightly as her shadow fades, and then she drops the remaining distance.
It's just enough that, should he actually be somewhere near or under her trying to break her fall, Rachel hopefully won't crash into him with enough force to do him any harm.