revivalproject | Keeping Busy

WHO: Dustin and Whoever
WHERE: Various locations around Temba
WHAT: Monthly Grab-Bag o' Prompts
WHEN: Throughout July, post-Calibrations
WARNINGS: Dustin swearing and sweating up a storm, might be some other unpleasant stuff depending on the conversations, will CW as needed.

1. Returning the Favor | Soon after Calibrations, Library | OTA

Dustin's had one particular project completed for some time now. Good thing, as it turns out - the Calibrations process was one hell of a speedbump, and this one one less thing to panic about because of it.

The real trick, then, is finding Omega to hand off the finished product. Could he message her to coordinate? Yes. Does he want to? No, that feels like an extra step of social interaction that Dustin absolutely does not have the energy for right now. Instead, Dustin is stalking mothkittens. Omega has a veritable army of them, and Dustin has seen (and therefore recognizes on sight) a few that she has interacted with directly, so it's just a matter of finding the highest concentration of them and letting them take him to her.

This is easier said than done - something Dustin realizes about two minutes in, when his cover is immediately blown and the little animals come swarming, bouncing curiously around his feet and chirping at him for food and attention. Dustin doesn't dare guess at what they eat, so he settles for the latter. He plops down in the shade of the Library's roof, strips off his coat for the kittens to play in, and waits.

2. Distraction 1: Skywatching | Nights throughout July, Amphitheater | OTA

Arriving out of the caves means that the weather aboveground has been kind of a rude awakening. It's sweltering, miserable, giving Dustin's pale-ass skin sunburn so fast that he can't even shed all his layers to pretend to stay comfortable in the heat. Too Damn Hot. This is somehow leagues worse than this past winter. Lump on top of that the situation he just came from, wanting nothing to do with his fellow multiverse captives or long periods of sleep, and suddenly Dustin has become a predominantly nocturnal animal.

Thankfully, he's got plenty of activities lined up that can be accomplished at night. The completed telescope in the upper rafters of the Amphitheater is an obvious candidate for further observations and improvements. Dustin's first task, soon after being released, is to check on it and make sure that a month of neglect hasn't resulted in any tampering or wear from the odd storm or two, and consequently fixing any damages he finds; the second is many long, sporadic evenings of skywatching. Dustin brings a couple of blankets and towels to camp out on at dusk, plus one or two smaller inventions to tinker with, does a few rounds of honing the telescope in and spotting for anything interesting, sets a target and lets it output to his tablet while it tracks various objects across the horizon.

3. Distraction 2: Hoverbike | Late July, Southeast Temba | OTA

Some projects simply can't wait until nightfall to test. Partly this is because Dustin is working with the sort of manic energy that only comes from a period of prolonged isolation and intense paranoia, multiplied by the sudden flood of information from the return of his abilities - a high that he's been chasing all month, frankly. Partly it's because this specific project is something Dustin has been excited about since winter. But mostly, he needs to be able to see what he's doing so he can steer.

Dustin is neither stupid nor reckless enough to drive the prototype hoverbike himself (especially knowing what happened to the first attempt at this in Temba, thanks Cayde). Instead, he's hooked the controls up to an app on his communicator, allowing him to pilot the skeleton of a hoverbike like some kind of oversized RC car. He takes it on slow, controlled circuits around the factory areas of southeastern Temba during the cooler hours of dusk and dawn, trotting after the disembodied machine wherever it goes. Dustin himself as an odd look to him: He's eager and excited, like a puppy chasing a stick, but he also hasn't showered in two months, he's got bags under his eyes so dark that they look like bruises, and the heat has finally driven away most of his usual layers of clothes, leaving behind an alarmingly rail-thin teenager in a ragged, unwashed long-sleeved shirt and the rolled-up pants from his Eorzean disguise. The combination is a little unhinged - even more apparent when someone crosses his path and he (and the hoverbike) freezes in place, looking ready to bolt.

4. Special Delivery | Early July, Dustin's Workshop | Closed to Link

This is another one of those projects that really should have been completed last month, but thanks to the Unforeseen Circumstances that both he and Link had been dragged into, implementing the final touches needed to be pushed back. Finishing the shield is one of the first things Dustin does when he staggers back into his workshop, though. Link had been surprisingly kind to him when they were stuck together in Calibrations. The least Dustin could do to repay that kindness was to complete the project he'd already promised him.

It only takes a couple of days of shaping, reinforcing, and testing the major functions of the shield for Dustin to feel like it is ready for a practical demonstration. He'll need Link for that. He could try to ping him on the Network, but that sounds like a lot of effort (and Calibrations has made him especially paranoid about using Agrii-provided technology on top of that), so instead Dustin decides to just park himself somewhere that Link will come to him.

Things Dustin knows Link likes: Food, exploring new places, Being Tall. So Dustin spends the heat of the day bolting together a ladder and, at dusk, parks himself on the roof of his own workshop, the shield on one side of him and a towel cradling a pile of fresh fruit from the Diner on the other. He's brought another project - a small handheld device of some sort with a long antenna - up with him, of course, to fiddle with in case Link doesn't show.

WILDCARD

[Have an idea for something? Ping me on Plurk or Discord and we can talk about it, or just make a starter that sounds fun and I'll roll with it probably!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah you know you liked that joke.

"I don't know. I feel fine. Except for the heat. Maybe I am immune. But yeah, um, which way to somewhere I can sleep?"

That's it? Directions? Dustin arcs a heavy eyebrow, but he can't deny that this, as a local walking mental map of the area, is something that he's especially good at providing.

"I mean..." He shrugs. "Technically anywhere, if it's not already taken. Not like there's formal deeds given out or anything. You'll probably have better luck at the Hotel."

More specific directions would probably be helpful. Dustin sighs, then points in front of him, arm slightly arced to the north.

"Across the central plaza, clockwise if you follow the road. Fourth path. If you find the 'Welcome Center,' you've gone too far."

"There's a welcome center? Does it have, like, tourist pamphlets?"

She's so very new and so very confused with this place. And this guy is clearly in the know.

"If fucking only," Dustin mutters with a flat glare, although his annoyance isn't directed at Robin, and the tone of their conversation so far doesn't let him stay that way for long. A moment's pause and he's chuffing a derisive laugh. "They have a box in the Center to ask them for things - you could probably request a stack of them, see what the Agrii come up with. I'm gonna guess something that involves crayon drawings and an inappropriate amount of glitter."

Wow man, that's a bit intense. Are you sure you're not just a grumpypants? Still, it's nice to have him not be so angry at her. She'd rather not get that glare constantly.

"Glitter? Why would there be glitter?"

It's a minor miracle that Dustin hasn't been more intense so far, frankly. Robin will surely have more opportunities to be weirded out by that part of him later; for the moment, his answer is lightly flippant, delivered with a shrug.

"Because they like being obnoxious, I guess," he huffs. "They're like toddlers. Anything shiny and loud, and they go for it. Part of their culture maybe."

Dustins are always intense. It's just like that. In the nature. Smart and intense. Apparently.

"So they would really like this guy from back home I know. Knew."

Dustin shrugs. "They seem to like a lot of people," he admits. "Or they try to, anyway. They're kind of..."

He frowns, twists a hand around his ear while he tries to conjure the right phrasing. The mothcat that has been grooming him flinches and looks over, distracted by the movement, head circling to track his fingers.

"...Clingy? Codependent. Frustratingly so. Like I said, toddlers."

Robin laughs.

"Yeah, that sounds like you're describing Dustin to a T," she says with a sigh. Strange how she missed the know it all brat.

The expression that crosses Dustin's face goes through several phases - immediate offense, quickly followed by baffled confusion. Then, annoyed realization.

"--Somebody else," he mutters to himself. His name isn't exactly a common one, but the fact that it's pinged two (Three? Dustin vaguely remembers a Calibrations dream about being in a car with Steve) separate people over the past few months is making him start to reassess. "They could keep each other company, then. Might be good for the Agrii to get a taste of their own medicine every once in a while."

"Yeah, he would really make the aliens regret the kidnapping."

And that would be nice. Maybe they would go home then.

Dustin can't help it - an image flashes through his mind of himself, pacing after an Agrii three times his size, barking obscenities at their heels while they wander away as quickly as possible. He huffs a laugh at his own private joke.

"If only it was that easy," he mumbles. The mental image fizzles and his expression sobers, eyes dropping down to the ground by his legs. The remaining mothcat on his shoulder hops into the nook made by his knee and sits in a delicate loaf. "You should, ah. Go find that place to sleep. I can see you burning from here."

Yeah, that would be a funny image. Too bad Robin can't share in it. She'd love it.

"Yeah, going to find a place to sleep might be wise," she agrees with a sigh. Even if it's not what she wants to hear. At all. "Wait, burning?"

Dustin's eyes flick back up, brows lifting. "--Yeah, ah. Sunburn. You're turning red."

Not that he's doing much better - several shades paler than Robin, even after all of his time outdoors on Agra-10, this especially brutal summer has left Dustin with a permanent gloss of pink on the bare tops of his forearms and face. The shade he's parked in right now is only delaying the inevitable.

Oh. Shit. Robin winces because ow that is going to hurt later.

"I should definitely get under cover then. For my own sake," she says, before pushing her bike forward. "You should find some shade too."

Dustin grunts dismissively, casting only a cursory glance behind him at the back wall of the Library. He could wait inside. He's not going to, though. Just looking at it makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end; he'll risk the burn while sitting in the Library's shadow instead, thank you.

"Don't get lost," Dustin mumbles at Robin's retreating back.

"I'll try not to!" she promises. Then, with a cheerful wave, she's off.

Keeping Busy

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