Keeping Busy

[quark_assassin]

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!]

Comments

[quark_assassin]

It's difficult to meet Omega's eyes back. On the one hand, Dustin is pleased to have made something that she likes and will definitely use; on the other, her implicit praise makes him feel like he's being scrutinized, almost to the point of mockery given how simple the invention was for him to make. He's only doing what she did for him to begin with - why is that deserving of so much admiration? Is it really that easy?

Thankfully for both of them, Dustin remembers how their conversation near his birthday went, so he can predict how this argument will end if he tries to broach it. He keeps the thought to himself, almost physically swallowing it back with a furrowed, kind of baffled expression stuck on his face, staring at one of the mothcats still hovering at Omega's side.

"Uh--right," Dustin shakes his head to clear it. "I can get more water myself, it--it's no big deal. Um--"

His gaze flicks to the edifice of the Library towering over them. A sense of dread settles in his stomach, accompanied by the paling of his face.

"--M-Maybe not here," Dustin suggests. It's not just that he and Jon are on kind of awkward terms, but also, getting much closer to the Library than they are now induces a consistent, tangible feeling of malaise in him, which he's starting to think is deliberate. "There's a building with working pipes two blocks south. I'll stop there."

[small_compromise]

It's not simple at all. Omega certainly would have never thought of it. Even as Dustin starts overthinking things, the girl's gone back to looking over the tag press, fingers tracing over each part of the mechanism as she tries to work out how it all operates together.

"Oh," she says as she glances back at him, head tilting. "All right." The look of unease that's touched upon Dustin's face doesn't go unnoticed. She can't help but look concerned, but she doubts Dustin would want to explain. She can kind of guess though. Jon's always been an interesting person to interact with, and things have changed a little in the library, even though the mothcats don't seem to mind.

"Do you want some company?" Omega asks instead. It's not like she needs to go to the library, it had just been a suggestion since it's right there.

[quark_assassin]

Does he want some company? Dustin's initial surprise at this offer comes through in a lift of his eyebrow, but he can't be too shocked, not after getting to know Omega as he has. It's not because she needs something from him, or is trying to get something for herself - she just likes spending time with him for some completely inexplicable reason. Whatever. He'll humor her.

"Sure," Dustin murmurs with a shrug. The remainder of the scrap metal he scavenged goes into his satchel before he stands up, brushes off his legs. "I wouldn't mind it."

[small_compromise]

It's called friendship, Dustin. But the fact that he doesn't outright shoot down the offer (which to be fair, she'd braced herself for) is definitely progress.

Omega smiles brightly, nodding before she moves to gather up the tag press to try slipping into her own bag along with the little case of letters. Then she gathers up Tumble before getting to her feet. All set and ready for an adventure! Even if it's just a trip to find some water.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin pauses while Omega gets herself situated, shooting one last skeptical frown at the back of her head after she flashes him that smile. Why is she so excited? It's just...walking...well, whatever.

Then they're off. Dustin is very tacit company, but Omega is probably expecting as much; at least he's not complaining about something or actively shooing her away.