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When you’d asked Silco what he liked to do for fun, you had expected him to recommend a specific bar, or write poetry with you, or maybe teach you how to play a card game.
You hadn’t expected him to say roof-hopping.
“Are you sure about this?” You called after him as he scoped out a spot on the rooftops. “It seems…”
“Dangerous?” He finished the thought for you. “Of course it is. But that’s half the fun, isn’t it?”
When you finally caught up to him, he was staring out at a long slope of slanted roofs, grinning ear to ear.
“This looks fun.”
You looked down at the slope, already feeling your vertigo kicking in.
“Not the word I would use, but okay.”
“Come on,” he coaxed, holding out his hand, “I could do this one when I was seven. It’s not bad, I promise.”
You took a deep breath, before taking his hand and letting him pull you up onto the roof.
“You’re to blame if they have to scrape me off the pavement.” You warned playfully, and he chuckled.
“I accept those terms.”
This route was probably a walk in the park for native Zaunites. Silco had been taking it since he was seven, after all. But for you, a relative newcomer, it posed a considerable challenge.
You took long, wide steps across the roof, keeping your arms out and your knees bent to prevent yourself from losing your balance. In front of you, Silco was almost making the journey look easy, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with ease. You wanted to move faster to keep up with him, but your fear of falling kept you from doing so. It took you a moment once you reached the end of a roof to work up the courage to jump to the next.
“Silco?” You called, searching for him in order to keep yourself from looking down. Had he left you behind?
“Silco…”
You could see him now, but he was yards ahead of you. He had almost reached solid ground…
“Silco, slow down! Please!”
You felt your body wobbling as you struggled to keep your balance. Your breathing had grown ragged with the effort of staying upright, and you were practically paralyzed with fear.
Like a cat in a tree, you thought frustratedly to yourself. Janna, you must have looked pitiful.
As soon as he noticed your potential peril, Silco was bounding back over to you.
“Relax,” he instructed, taking your hand in one of his and wrapping his arm around your waist with the other, “breathe.”
You obeyed, taking a few deep breaths, allowing yourself to lean on him for support.
“I’m sorry.” You sighed, irritated with yourself.
“Don’t be.” He gave your hand a squeeze. “You can do this. I know you can.”
There was a look of both faith and affection in his eyes as you met his gaze, one that reignited your courage. If he believed you could do this, then you had to prove him right.
Silco jumped over to the next roof, turning back to watch you once he’d landed. Your own jump was far from graceful, but sure enough, you landed safe and sound next to him. The two of you repeated this process a few more times, with the act becoming a little easier with every repetition.
Soon enough, you were on solid ground again. Your breathing had grown ragged once more after so many running leaps. Although he appeared to be less exhausted than you were, you noticed Silco was panting as well.
“I can’t believe you could do that when you were a kid.” You laughed incredulously, and he smiled.
“All us fissure folk can.” He insisted, nudging you with his shoulder. “You’ve got a lot to learn, kid.”
You chuckled, nudging him back.
Good thing you had a good mentor.