revivalproject | Black Market

They definitely weren't supposed to be here. After the door had closed behind them and the echo had died, the loudest sound in the narrow hall they had slipped into was the slow hiss of a cracked, exposed pipe, hazing the air as Tony tried to get his bearings. It was either a very good sign, or a very bad one; of course an illegal sale wasn't supposed to be easy to find, but nor were the dead bodies if they had just come all this way to get jumped. Tony only glanced to Cayde with widened eyes for his impression, and raised a hand to his mouth to zip it closed.

The impulse might have saved them some bruises, he thought, as they were only a few feet down the dripping hall when Tony heard the voices, and he instinctively stepped more softly to creep toward them. When they sounded like they were around the next corner, Tony pressed up to the wall to listen, eyes narrowing with concern, and turning an anxious look on Cayde. Was that Eddie? Cayde was probably well equipped to assess the situation, plan a tactical extraction, military stuff. Unfortunately, Tony was already moving.

"Gentlemen," Tony greeted, startling the aliens out of reaching hungrily for Eddie to swing around and goggle at this expensively dressed human smiling invitingly as he sauntered toward them. In their language, he suggested very warmly, "You can't beat my offer, so you might as well walk away. I'm doubling it, whatever you're paying."

At that glance, Cayde looked relatively unsurprised. This sort of setting seemed about right for shady dealings and/or a stab in the back. But that was why he was along, right? To make sure there was less of the latter. To Tony's wide-eyed look, the Hunter merely gave him his usual crooked grin, even when he was preemptively silenced.

For all that Exos were pretty weighty, being all metal, Cayde hardly made a sound as he followed after Tony. Voices could mean a good thing or a bad thing, but he realized he could make out some of the words, and once they got closer, the Exo raised a brow before he caught Tony looking at him again. He helpfully gave him a shrug.

Eyew, tactical, military stuff? What kind of person did Tony take him for?? Zavala? Cayde at least made no move to stop Tony. He couldn't make out whatever was coming out of his mouth either- which was weird when you were so used to hearing things come out from most anyone in a language you understood. Well, whatever the case, Cayde supposed he should have a backup plan. He ducked back against the wall, sneaking a look as Tony babbled and Sundance kept her radar hot.

The sudden arrival had weapons drawn and Eddie's brows creased in confused betrayal as best as he could figure- Tony had just shown up out of the blue to outbid him. Maybe. That initial fire thankfully dimmed before he tried to argue. He wasn't sure what exactly Tony had said, and none of them seemed keen on translating for him, but Tony hadn't done him wrong before now, right?

The aliens also looked confused, and they lowered their weapons cautiously. The buyer's nose scrunched, and he looked Eddie over. "For this??" he asked skeptically, clearly not about to raise his own bid by that much, and the seller smacked at him to try and push his luck. "...triple," he countered.

"For this?" Tony echoed, delicate hand raised to tip a knuckle toward Eddie like he would hardly extend any further. In English, he addressed the source of the problem, "Sweetheart, how much do you think you're worth?," which made the already tense group even more restless, not appreciating being unable to understand the language, and suddenly Tony had a very clear impression of how this machine worked. His focus was on the seller then, with the briefest glance down at where he had aimed his smack, and Tony tipped his head and twisted his brow to affect a similar familiarity while he continued in English and a very accusatory tone, "What are you doing for dinner after this?" It didn't really matter what he said, as long as the body language was convincing enough that the buying party thought this whole encounter had been organized to push up the price. Then again, maybe amping up the tension while these guys already had guns out was risky.

Maybe this wasn't meant to be a show, but Cayde was enjoying it, even if it didn't include subtitles.

Not that he wasn't paying attention to what was going on right in front of him. He'd been slightly petulant about having to leave his beloved hand cannon back on the ship, along with the myriad of knives he usually had about his person. The latter at least was a quick fix. While he knew nothing would replace his Ace of Spades, he saw a quick solution for at least a loaner while he was hanging around here.

The Hunter slipped one of his newly acquired knives out. It wasn't that great, the weight was all in the pommel but he could make it work. You could throw anything if you worked it out right. Still, he held off, waiting as Tony started looping Eddie into this weird conversation.

With only half the context, Eddie blinked, and his gaze flicked briefly to the alien who'd apparently meant to double cross him. Oh? Oh.

"Dude." But there were the guns to consider. "Probably less than whatever you're offering," he scoffed finally with a smirk, "Depends how this goes."

The buyer didn't like all that talk he couldn't understand, gun aggressively switching to point at the seller while he spat out accusatory curses.

"We can work it out later," Tony suggested with a wink and tip of his head back toward Cayde, for Eddie to find his moment and make a quick retreat toward the guy who could take a bullet without bleeding out while all of the guns were distracted. Tony's hands were already up, still noncommittally at his waist but palms out in surrender or to placate the angry human trafficking gang, and in their language he cautioned, "Maybe we can all calm down and circle back to this when we've slept on it." He didn't want one of them being shot, either, after all.

Cayde idly twirled the knife as he looked out again. If he caught Eddie's eye, he'd give him a grin and a wave. Whatever the kid got himself into, it probably wasn't worth him sticking around.

Whether Eddie made his move or not, Cayde's attention went back to Tony and his new pals, watching the fingers on those twitching weapons.

If Eddie hadn't literally met Tony while he was in a flying suit of armor he might have worried a little more about ducking out prematurely. Normally he saved his acts of cowardice for when the shit had all ready hit the fan. But yup, he can take a hint.

He quickly and quietly bolted back to Cayde and out of sight, offering a sheepish grin. "...hey, Boss."

The guns very quickly found themselves back on Tony, one out a squishy meatbag and the other out payment. "You best be paying for that-"

This had never been part of the plan, so Tony only had to feel reasonably guilty that he hadn't better anticipated a smooth extraction and had to let his mouth move for him, hearing at the same time the gathered men of business did, "Me? You're the one that let it get away. Are you going to catch it, or...?" It did effectively surprise and confuse all parties enough for Tony to grab the nearest gun and point it toward the floor for a less gushy result when it discharged. It did leave his ears ringing, deafened to the clamour of shouts that followed as he yanked the arm holding that gun toward him and in front of all of the other muzzles pointed his way.

The Exo smirked. "Hey kid, you attending parties without getting us invites?" For shame! "Although speaking of parties..."

His head jerked back over where they'd left Tony at the sound of the gun going off. "Okay, you stay put. I'll be right back." With a wink, Cayde turned then, jumping- and vanishing from sight in a brief shimmer.

He wasn't gone long, his reappearance not a second later as he ended up somehow over by the group, dropping down behind Eddie's former business associates, smacking some heads together before those trigger fingers got too itchy.

"Be my guest-" Eddie welcomed, wincing at the sound of the gun going off. His back hit the wall with an anxious nod, and he fought the urge to run with a tight chest. Jesus- Steve could never hear about this. He wasn't trying to put himself in any real danger.

The shouts got louder and then all at once cut out. Eddie waited a few long breaths before chancing to peek around the corner and see that Cayde and Tony were still standing, the aliens knocked out (?) or dead in an uncomfortable looking heap.

"...hey," he greeted belatedly.

By then, Tony was offering the gun he had executively acquired to Cayde, with a pat to his shoulder in appreciation and to make sure he was still in one piece, which was much more generosity than he offered to Eddie. To him, Ton cast a sharp look and instructed, "Don't tell anyone about this. You're coming with us." Clearly, they couldn't leave him to wander this empty hall and into the machinations of some body farm.

Cayde was already looking the weapon over like he'd just been handed over a Christmas present. It wasn't the fanciest thing, but it felt better having something other than a knife on hand. He slipped it into his belt, giving Tony a thumbs-up.

"Right, we were never here- aaaand we should probably mosey on to underline that point before these guys come to," he suggested as he made sure said guys weren't going to prove him wrong right then.

"No, yeah- lips are sealed-" Eddie promised with a distracted air as he craned his neck to assess whether the attempted body snatcher were out cold. He quickly ducked over and riffled through the one's jacket for a baggie that he shoved inside his own pocket, giving a casual shrug.

"Where are we going?"

That enterprising move was assessed through narrow eyes while Tony held his tongue between his teeth, evidently determining that there were more important problems before them and leaving Eddie for now only with the weight of that judgmental stare. "Nowhere," he answered, and hooked a finger to bring Eddie to heel as he started with great conviction for someone with nowhere to go. They couldn't have been far, and if they lingered any longer, that gunshot could have scared their own questionable business associate out of tracking range.

The strange, little shop that they had been pointed toward was not far down the hall, as instructed, and the door still stood open, suggesting someone must have at least been nearby. Tony raised his eyebrows and gave a glance up and down the empty passage, then toward Cayde inquisitively. It didn't seem like a trap to him, but he wasn't exactly the expert. He expected to leave most stores a few thousand dollars poorer.

And here Cayde had been behaving himself in not going through belongings! He did have to arch a brow as Eddie slipped something away that decidedly looked very un-weaponlike, glancing over at Tony, but he supposed they were already wasting enough time here.

He brought up the rear as they continued on their way, giving their destination an appraising look. His head cocked to the side before he gave Tony a nod. "Only one- no, several? Three? Inside," he said as he relayed his Ghost's radar scans. "We're the only ones within the area, otherwise."

There was a muttered and more sincere 'thanks' offered as the group moved along, Eddie ducking his head under that look from Tony.

He didn't fully understand the look he had for Cayde until the Exo reported back, Eddie's head turning around to try and gauge how he'd figured that out. "This doesn't seem like nowhere," he noted, arching a brow. He took a few steps towards that open door. "We're good, then, right?"

Being armed with knowledge seemed to make Cayde (and Eddie) more confident, but Tony did not like that the potential thief savant they had come to meet was suddenly a threesome, giving Cayde a frown of concern in return. At least there was three of them now, too, which could have made for a fair fight. Or, "If things go sideways, remember to mention that extra treat in his pocket when you try to make the sale." He gave Eddie's back a robust pat of encouragement with an innocent smile, and ducked his way into the place.

The smell of it was bracingly familiar, bitter with smoke and solder, under a poor mask of potpourri or incense. The whole ceiling was hung with gently tinkling wind chimes, which struck Tony as a poor business plan for a space station with a carefully managed environment. Also odd, unless they were up there among the chimes, there only seemed to be a single figure waiting for them inside. They wore a lumpy coat, and gave an incredibly poorly coordinated bow that had Tony worried they would break in half and sprawl across the floor as they greeted the group.

Cayde only grinned at Tony's suggestion. He gestured for Eddie to head on in after Tony before he followed, hanging back so as not to make it seem like they were trying to gang up on their apparent contact. Also, to keep an eye on things outside in case this turned out to be a trap after all.

Whatever he was expecting at the other end of the doorway, this wasn't it. Still, the Exo looked more amused than suspicious, more so at the...bow? Or some serious case of indigestion- that they were greeted with.

There had been some strange aliens in this place but this one(?) really took the cake. Eddie's head turned in confusion at...whoever it was they were greeted with, still unsure what they were here for, whether this was a contact they wanted to befriend or fight?

"...are we bowing?" he muttered uncertainly, giving a sort of half duck of his head.

"Nice to uh...meet you?"

The truth of that strange reading that Cayde was getting outside was rapidly revealed under the coat as Tony found himself suddenly considering three identical, furry faces, all stacked on top of each other like a totem, and all looking slightly perplexed at Eddie's responding bow. As unusual as their arrangement was, the alien(s?) that greeted them had Tony's shoulders relaxing somewhat, less prepared to be surrounded, and better able to produce a convincing grin. Even figuring out how to address them didn't seem so complicated once Tony had picked a Smoool to focus on (the middle one, who had a somewhat familiar restlessness in their little, ratlike hands and peacocking pride when finally convinced to produce the artifact of interest).

The Ultimate Breaking and Entering Tool. It didn't look particularly remarkable, and so far Smoool's insistence on remaining a stack had made them seem like the least graceful thief that Tony knew, so he snuck another look Cayde's way to check if he was buying any of this himself.

"Pff." Cayde was not bowing, but he was getting a kick out of Eddie's attempt to be civil. Even more so was the revelation of Smoool? -was that what the name was? He had no idea but three guys in a trench coat? Hilarious.

Not so funny, the apparent device they'd been hearing about. "Did we get a translation error about this thing?" he muttered Tony-wards, looking rather dubious of the product in question. "Can we get a demonstration?"

"...is that- is that a magic wand?" Eddie couldn't help himself once Smoool, or one of Smoool pulled the thing out. But no. Obviously not. Wrong genre entirely.

And after the demonstration/description he looked a little disappointed honestly. Eddie hadn't played much of a roll in exploring the cause and effect of the explosion, he wasn't sure what exactly they would need with a device that could get them past any force field.

"I mean, I guess that'd be useful?"

An actual demonstration seemed like it was out of the question; the device had limited charges, and it wasn't like there was a factory pumping these things out. Well. Smoool did a suspicious little shuffling then, earning a suspicious eyeing from Tony, but for now he said to Eddie and Cayde, "It could get us through to the locked areas of the ship. And open some doors back in Temba. Like in the tunnel." They had all thrown themselves at that cruelly impassive wall during Calibrations, surely. "And if it doesn't, we're no worse off than when we came in here."

Well.

There was a price, and it wasn't going to be found in Tony's pockets.

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