revivalproject | [Open] The Daring, Dashing, And Dating

Entry tags:

[Open] The Daring, Dashing, And Dating

WHO: Gladiolus, Noctis, Any Starduck Crew (or visitors), Open
WHERE: Starduck, Ul'Dah, Limsa Lominsa, Gold Saucer, Costa del Sol Dungeon
WHAT: Shipboard Times, Questions, Gladitorial Work, Dungeon Crawl, and Dating
WHEN: During Event, from June 17th - August 10th
WARNINGS: Violence/Injuries Possible in the Dungeon Crawl
NOTES: Unless otherwise noted, assume Gladio is dressed Like This on the planet

1A - A New Star | Starduck | [Crewmates Only]

Turned out that flying a ship in atmo and in space were not quite the same. Gladio may have had some practice at the former, but fuck, the latter wasn't easy. He grit his teeth as he focused on the whole thing. After a thought he flips a switch and speaks, hoping the PA system really does work.

"This is your Captain. Feel free to come on up to get a fucking view of a glowing hole in space. And some planet with it I guess. Anyone got any Ifrit-Damned clue what's going on here? Come up to the cockpit and explain shit."

1B - Captain With The Ship | Starduck | [OTA, visitors from other ships welcome to fly over]

No one could be on the planet all of the time. Okay, maybe they could, and go and spend their money on nice restaurants or plush inns, but not Gladio. No, he had other things he should be doing, and honestly, he felt safer bunking down on the Starduck. So in the evenings it was always a touch to a crystal and being whisked back onto his ship. Once there Gladio groaned and started to shed his gear right there in the hold. Simple enough to tuck it all back into his chest and then dress in his normal gear.

"Nice place, like to visit. Fuck I wouldn't wanna stay."

He wasn't used to people being that much larger and stronger than him. The Hrothgar were getting to him.

"Time to chill.

2 - King of the Ring | Ul'Dah Coliseum | [OTA]

They had him at 'battle monsters for a purse of money'. Gladio was a monster hunting machine back home, and he was more than happy to prove it here. Granted he wouldn't be able to change his weapons on the fly in the battle, but he still didn't mind. He's doing great.

It's easy to run into him here. Gladio's often in the back prep areas, stretching and doing warm up exercises, eyes sparkling with excitement. Any might approach him then as he warmed up for a nice round of monster fighting. Of course there was always the chance that someone might want to set up a nice little spot of one on one competition, may the winner take the spoils. All it would take is someone approaching him to start a conversation for that.

But a guy couldn't be fighting all the time. And after fights even Gladio found himself up in the stands, stretched out and catching his breath as he watched the action. Maybe he might not linger as long, but hey, it was nice to see who all was a good fighter, right?

3 - Stocking Up For Later | Limsa Lominsa Markets | [OTA]

It felt it had been so damn long since Gladio had been in a bustling port down, since he could see the sun on the water and in the sky and on the beach and not see ruins along with it all. It was... Fuck, it was one of the most beautiful things ever. And so he didn't mind coming back here time and time again. First he kept stopping in to check up on Noctis (fishing, predictably). Then he moved on to gather quests for the day, intending to head out to do what he could to build up gold, earn rumors, and go seeking the secrets the Agrii needed.

He spent a lot of time moving between shops to pick up potions and other supplies, and of course he popped in and out of other ones to look over weapons and armor. But in the end the thing that gave him the most pause was any time he caught sight of someone he recognized from Temba.

"Hey! Over here!" he shouted, waving. Better to let them know he was around, and swap intel. Had to know what was going on, right? They were all in this together.

4 - Old Hand At Dungeons | Costa del Sol Dungeon | [One Thread Tony & Jon, OTA one on one otherwise]

Seek Rats, huh? Well, if Gladio knew anything, rats and all that sorta shit were in underground caves. Sure, they were other places too, but who was he to judge? Besides, they probably meant secrets, and from Gladio's experience, some of the deepest and most important secrets of his own world were in fucking caves. Sure there were daemons there too, but they'd found answers to stop the will of Bahamut in caves like this.

So, once he'd heard the cave was a thing, that it was new, well, it seemed like a place to go searching. Gladio's earlier meeting with Tony had brought him to the decision of working with others for this, and once he was pretty sure they were sufficiently geared up, he'd boarded a boat, and gone with Tony to find the entrance to the cave.

"Alright," he said, eyes casting about to make sure there was no one around before using Tony and Jon as cover to summon his sword to his hand. Better safe than sorry. "Time to go in. Your job is to stay back and be my eyes, and solve any puzzles. Keep a mental map of where we're going. And if you feel confident fighting, join in. Just make sure you get back if I order you to, okay?"

He was the experienced on in this after all.

Of course Tony and Jon weren't the only ones he went in with either. Gladio was always happy to go through places extra times, because honestly it was easier to do a thing multiple times. And hey, he was making good money from hunting these monster parts. So he didn't mind clearing the beach while he waited for additional partners to go dungeoning with. In fact, he thought he had caught sight of someone right now. Gladio stood a little taller, leaning his giant sword against his shoulder, and he nodded.

"Yo. You looking to head in? Could use another set of hands."

5 - Charm Goes Arm In Arm | Gold Saucer | [Closed to Noctis]

It had taken a week and a half before Gladio had finished the plan. He'd told Noctis he had an idea, that he'd let the guy know when it was ready. Seeing as they shared a ship, he could keep Noctis appraised at night if Noctis came back to the ship to sleep. Six knew that Gladio sure slept on the ship, liking how safe and secure it felt. And the night before Gladio had asked Noctis to make sure to reserve the day for him.

All the time had been investing in building up the Gil for this. With a heavy pouch filled with the money he'd need for the planned evening, he had awoken, dressed in an outfit he'd gotten expressly for the day, and then he had awoken Noctis. Once he had his King up and moving he guided Noctis to the crystal, and then through it, dropping them in the entrance of the Gold Saucer.

"Alright," he said, smiling as he held his hand to Noctis, "today is for us. I've got a lot of ideas, and some set plans. But you're welcome to overrule stuff."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Gladio resists grumbling that Tony deserves to be on thin ice for what he said in front of his boyfriend. What a rude person. But hey, there are more important things going on. Like trying to survive. At least he's glad to hear that Jon's demanding a date. Good choice, nerd man. He stans you for that.

"You're not going to be careful. Fuck I just have to run into people like me in that way, don't I? Guess I can't really chide you for doing what I'd do."

Which is fail to promise to be careful.

And then Jon is moving, and holy fuck his voice sounds impossible. In fact, he feels like his hair is standing on end. That it wasn't was a fucking shock. Holy shit.

"Shit, man, he's powerful," Gladio says in awe as he takes his weapons and moves out. "Stay on his good side, he's a keeper."

And then he's throwing himself out there to lunge for groupings of bugs that aren't caught up with other bugs. Let Tony figure out how to deal with the rest of the mass while Gladio kept it all off of Jon.

Great, that promise for explosions was going to be a little harder to meet without fire already in hand, though Tony's concerned pout was brief between quickly trying to look confident and unflappable, and glancing up to catch Jon's scowl. He didn't even know what he was defending himself against when he opened his mouth, and was entirely unprepared for it to be his lack of dating initiative. If he wanted to earn his pocket privileges, maybe he did have to ask Gladio for help.

Gladio didn't even make it sound like it would be a tough ask, and in the wake of Jon's electrifying compulsion, Tony still couldn't help the proud, wry smile and short nod, watching Jon's back. It was only after Gladio had charged out after him that Tony muttered, "Hasn't got a bad one," and let his shoulders drop, worrying his lip and tucking that guilty pang into his toolbelt. It might be useful later, when someone had to make a hard call.

Moments later, he came darting out between them in the cavern, the glow in his palms and winking at his heels practically a flare and a building whine of power that drew the attention of the increasingly frantic creatures. Tony didn't get much further as they surged after him, falling into a fray of them as several leapt toward the noise and his growled, "Come on!" The next sound was familiar; a hiss of released pressure, this time enough to send a jet of steam up above the press of bodies.

The first beetle that burst was already under the scuttling feet of the others, making them surge upward before they were collapsing into the splattered hollow that remained. The next was closer to the top of the pile, its exoskeleton exploding abruptly into shrapnel that shredded through the three creatures behind it.

It wasn't exactly fire, but it still wasn't ice. As the roil of beetles was scattered in bursts that shoved them in masses, Tony lurched up from his crouch, looking drenched and blinded with his dark goggles back on and dripping with more of the bugs than he wanted to think about, and holding the mandibles of one that still gnawed on his armour. He swung around, trying to listen for that concentration of them that Jon had revealed around the queen, to direct the grenade that chewed on him.

Jon's share of this assignment may be finished for the most part, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have anything to do. He has to make sure he isn't in the way of the other two taking care of the remaining bugs - Or that he becomes a liability to them. But further even: He can offer them support in the form of information. He can still see what every single eye in this cave sees after all.

So whenever either Tony or Gladio are about to be attacked by one of the remaining beetles in a way they may not catch in time, the Archivist proceeds sends that knowledge to either of them. It may not be as detailed information as Tony would receive from his suit, but it's what Jon can do to assist.

It's also how he knows when he has to move himself, of course.

Damn but it is intense, fighting with them like this. It makes Gladio long for the boys, because they definitely had things in a good system. Which wasn’t to say that they would be more useful here. Ignis? Totally. Noctis? Maybe. Prompto… Well, Prompto would totally be like Stark, dealing with big flashy tech to help them out. But in the moment the team’s he’s got is more than enough for him.

Especially with how Tony was lighting this place up. So damn cool. It meant Gladio was making a note that if Prompto ever did show up, he’d drag the kid over to meet Stark and nerd out. For now, though, his main attention was bashing things aside with the shield and slashing with his sword.

Though the sensation that he’s almost got eyes in the back of his head is a mess. It’s a strange sort of distracting that is both good and bad all at once. More than one time Jon’s warnings means he cuts a bug out of the sky without thinking as he continues forward toward the queen.

“Tony,” he calls out, “be noisy!”

He just needs another step or two toward the queen, and that means he needs another step free. Come on, just let him get that one step.

That wasn't a command that Tony was capable of stubbornly resisting. A bubble of a laugh escaped him for even having to be told after Jon and Gladio had dragged him back, cut short as another bug slammed into his shoulder. Making noise might have been all he was capable of doing, effectively blindfolded behind his tinted glasses smeared with bug guts, if it wasn't for the signal Jon was sending him that felt like some kind of precognition--real futurism shit. Only, he didn't take the warnings as his chance to move, just not take a beetle directly to the face, letting them crash into him where they made the metal of his armour ring, then whine in protest as it twisted under their stronger bites, or thump into the leather and make him double over again.

More of them went blasting away as he went down in a clatter of hard shells, the unluckiest of them bursting into a deadly rain of exoskeleton that sliced through anything nearby to lodge themselves into the cavern floor in percussive rings. Some of the wet warmth on Tony's face was definitely blood as he drew himself up this time, one of his lenses shattered, but he gave another manic giggle at the sound and was ready to grab the next creature that flew at his face by the horns to apparently start chanting hoarsely at it through the next wave clamouring to bury him; "I've got cyco vision! I use cyco vision!"

If Gladio wanted actual eyes at the back of his head, Jon may have been able to provide those as well, but as a matter of fact... No.

Instead, Jon keeps an eye out for the other two, with the amount of eyes he has to monitor quickly decreasing while both Tony and Gladio reduce the number of bugs on their way to the queen. The queen shrieks and hisses angrily at both the intruders as well as her remaining underlings, long feelers and claw-adorned appendages flailing about around an oversized and mostly immobile body.

The fighting styles of Gladio and Tony couldn't have been more different, with Gladio being much more focused on keeping everyone, including himself, in one piece while Tony was willing to take hits as long as he'd make it out alive at the end of the day.

Well, the best way that Gladio could help protect Tony and his destructive self was to rush forward, now wasn’t it? He finally broke free enough of his own mob to get close to the queen. A quick and sure strike with his sword sheared one clawed appendage off, leaving him a free side to attack from.

Needless to say, he wasn’t shocked when some of the angry bug attention returned to him. It was just something he’d have to deal with later, and for now he was going to instead ram his blade toward what passed for the queen’s face.

Between the noise of the queen and the angry tide in Gladio's wake, Tony had a direction to work himself toward while catching more of the beetles in punishing clamps of their jaws around his armour. It protested, as his very limbs were beginning to protest his movement between the weight and the tender bruising every new bite added to the web of them, and quickly he had to collapse to pop each of the rapidly diminishing pressure releases again. The resultant bursting of the bugs with their mouths around the vents cleared enough room for him to struggle back up, dragging a remaining beetle with him to swing around and launch like a shotput up at the ceiling, where its goopy explosion cracked the straining cavern wall and rained a shower of rock down on the mass throwing themselves toward Gladio.

"Almost there, Tony," Gladio insisted as his blade bit true. She wasn't done moving of course, and he tried not to be too aware of what Tony was doing to protect him.

Too many eyes, too many bits of knowledge to process, and he had to focus on the here and now. Another strike with his sword, and another still after that. He moves quickly for his size, or at least for someone his size with a weapon as large as his. And at last he cleaves through the thorax of the queen, and it goes still.

"Shit," he curses as the thing goes still and he whirls on the other bugs. "Hopefully they flee."

They didn't really seem to know what to do. Those that had survived the swath cut through them went from frenzy to doddering, like the ones that Jon had drugged, tasting the air and struggling to determine what was supposed to happen next. Two that were in front of Tony walked right into each other, bouncing back and continuing in whatever direction that had been knocked into. He slowly drew himself up from his readied crouch, and peeled the broken goggles off to toss carelessly aside into the viscera and mud, raising the other hand automatically to wipe more from his face only to reconsider at the glint of the metal, and wrap his arm around his ribs instead. "Good swinging, big guy, nicely done," he eventually accepted, eyebrows raised a little incredulously as he turned a smile on Gladio, then twisted around to find Jon. "Boss? Well spotted, couldn't have done it without you. Unfair advantage, really, very sexy when you play dirty." Despite the slight sway where he stood and chemical burn up his neck, Tony spoke quickly, excited and breathless.

"Cute," Gladio said, panting as he looked at Tony. 'Good swinging' indeed. Though the focused on cleaning his blade for now. Thought even he has to chuckle at the flirting Tony was doing with his boyfriend.

"Down some potions. I'll go scout ahead."

Jon is rather glad not to be in the middle of messy bug-innards while both Tony and Gladio are massacring their way to the queen before taking her out in a doubtlessly effective way. That taking her out would affect the rest has been a guess, but apparently a correct one and Jon lets out a relieved breath while finally catching up to the other two only to find Gladio already moving on and Tony quite literally shaking with what may or may not be an adrenaline high.

"You two did the actual work. All I did was- Well. Watch." And that's just what he does. He comes to a halt at Tony's side and places a hand on his arm while the other offers one of the potions Gladio has mentioned. "Here. I saw some of these gnawing on you." A nod towards a pair of aimlessly wandering bugs nearby, still being closely observed by their altered brethren, neither ever having had a mind of their own.

Not sure what to make of 'cute', Tony decided to take it as a compliment with a wrinkle of his nose that didn't quite make a wink, then settled more into a frown at the suggestion of 'potions'. That didn't sound very scientific. He greeted Jon with a smile, though, and a cautious raise of his arm as Jon reached for the hot metal or what caustic mixture might still be on it, and purred, "And you do it so well. You're okay? Do you need that?" It was possible that he was only asking so he didn't have to drink the witch's brew, because he was more eagerly gesturing for them to follow after Gladio before he got too far ahead.

Hopefully Tony takes the potion Jon's offering. Gladio's producing his own from a reinforced pocket, popping the cork out, and downing it in a long draw. Damn that feels familiar and welcome.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Jon. Thanks."

And hey, he can do all of that while he's busy finding another corridor leading on.

"This way, when you're ready."

Jon simply shakes his head at the question. "I'm alright. Now take your medicine so we can move on and leave this place." Yes, he's giving the bottle a little shake, swirling the bright blue mixture within. He has looked into these potions and remains surprised how simply they are made while being incredibly potent for healing wounds. Maybe he can pick up some material later to try making these back in Temba...

His attention is pulled to where Gladio has called for them. "Did you find something?" He won't leave Tony standing there just yet. Not until the man accepts and drinks the potion.

The last thing Tony wanted was for Jon to start pleading with him again, so he primly accepted the bottle despite his expression making it very clear how much he appreciated the instructions, and urged Jon on ahead toward Gladio so he could consider the liquid as he trailed after them. It did kind of look like a cocktail, from the most annoying bar in Bushwick. How much did he trust Jon to have considered all of the variables?

"Oh, good, another ominous hole in the wall," he acknowledged as they approached, irritated enough that it was effectively the threshold at which he had to act. He sipped at the potion more like a wine tasting to Gladio's enthusiastic shotgunning, looking personally wounded about doing what he was told so much.

"Hardly ominous," Gladio said as he started down it, shield in hand again. Better to be prepared to protect the other two.

That said, he doesn't get very far down it before he stops and sighs.

"Dead end. Just some wall blocking it. Some sorta scratching on it. Maybe they were trying to tunnel this way?"

But there was no debris to indicate that.

Letting Tony sip his potion, Jon steps into the tunnel after Gladio, peering past the taller man at the wall in front of them.

"These are carvings, not the marks of something digging a path." He notes with a soft frown and pushes past Gladio to inspect the marks closer, running his fingers over them to the very edges of where the wall in front of them meets the walls of the tunnel. There is the faintest gap he can feel, causing his frown to deepen.

"It's a door." Are the words he speaks while looking back. This discovery alone brings up several new questions, with Jon voicing the currently most important one first: "Who wants to be the one to open it?"

With a last, cautious look over his shoulder at the beetles still milling around, eyes narrowed with some suspicion that they weren't as brainless as they seemed and were just waiting for the trio to do something stupid like trap themselves in a dead-end tunnel, Tony went shuffling in as well after the sound of Jon's voice. The walls might have been too close, but they were nice to lean on as Jon worked through his problem, letting Tony close his eyes and try to vent some heat of his own while everything felt a little bit weird, either from being chewed on by mutant bugs or from the magic. That didn't stop him from rebooting at Jon's prompting, blindly handing off the potion bottle as he took his turn squeezing through and feeling the wall for any hint of its construction. Not that it mattered. If it was a door, it couldn't be that thick, and Tony reached down his thigh to pull at the handle that induced that whining whir of his engines again. With his hands braced on either side of the tunnel, he raised that leg to balance, then try to burst through the problem with a charged kick.

A door? Hardly seems like one. Where's the handle? He's about to say as much when Tony kicks the thing. And... nothing happens. At all. The thing seemed completely unbothered by Tony's attempt.

And damn it's hard for Gladio not to snicker at that. He manages to hold it back, remaining with only a smirk he couldn't fight down.

"If it's a door that was meant to be disguised, it would probably have some sort of special mechanism, right?"

He's not going to say that his conclusion comes from reading fantasy novels. They probably wouldn't take that seriously.

Of course there are more tricks in Tony's improvised armor. There are always more tricks and Jon remains intrigued to learn about them all. And what he learns right now is that he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of that kick that still sounds through the tunnel even if the door doesn't budge.

Jon mutters a small curse under his breath, his attention on the door again as Gladio speaks his suspicion. "Special mechanism, magical seal, could require a special key..." Jon mutters some suspicions of his own. "Nothing I can necessarily see, unless-" He looks back at the carvings, then turns back around without a word and walks back out of the tunnel, back to where Gladio and Tony have slaughtered dozens of bugs along with their queen.

The sound seems to be going through Tony's bones while the other two make their very academic assessment of the attempt, Tony's jaw on edge to keep his teeth from rattling and leg still aloft even as he swayed dangerously. Stupid magic door. He might have collapsed there, just for a second, until his bones stopped vibrating, except Jon was walking away and Tony had to blink hazily after him to try to process if they still cared about the door at all. Was this a test? He limped closer to the stubborn wall, briefly brushing a hand over the markings and dismissing them, moving to try to find how exactly this door was seated again to make a more targeted attempt at breaking the whole thing, all the while one eye squinted against the ringing in his ears. The second try would definitely go better.

The carvings, were one to look long enough, would have held the answer for it all, well, if it were bright enough to easily read it all at once. The strange characters were impossible for Gladio, being the one present without Communications, and completely strange since he had never entered the Blinking Tower or the Mines Control Room. But the words were still there, still read The key is in the palm of your hand.

And then Tony lets his hand brush over the thing, and there was a rumble. The wall started to pull back to the sound of stone grating on stone.

"Well that was unexpected," Gladio noted as it started moving. "Anyone got a light before we go in?"

Because he could already see through the crack that it was very dark in there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open] The Daring, Dashing, And Dating

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry for the delay, i missed Zet's message completely

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject