revivalproject | Down Under

Entry tags:

Down Under - Men at Work

WHO: Hargrove, Shepherd, Stark, OTA
WHERE: Swimming through Temba
WHAT: Various posts
WHEN: It's Gonna Be MerMay
WARNINGS: Language, talks of injuries

Vegemite Sandwich - Open

As if the what, thirty-six hours or so weren't enough whiplash for Billy, imagine the surprise of waking up underwater. With fins. Either Kaplan was really trying to make up for what happened in some weird way, or the aliens were doing shit again. Swimming out of his hospital bed, everything still hurt, but it was bearable. His left arm is all wrapped up and splinted, and his torso is just as wrapped, as per Billy's request.

After giving himself some time to make sure all of his injuries and scars were wrapped up, he heads out. The blond isn't really... fast, per say. There's speed to his swimming compared to doing it as a human at least. Seems like the bruises from his fall transferred to his tail though. Damn aliens, they could've healed him up first before giving him a tail. Or Kaplan. Whoever it was that did this shit. Swimming out to the town center and hovering over the fountain, he decides he'd rather be closer to the ground.

"I guess this is to make up for trying to set the place on fire last year with the volcano?" he grumbles, looking around with a hand on his hip.

Fried-Out Kombi - Stark

His exploring of the water leads him down to the southern part of the city. Maybe the southwest? It's difficult for him to tell like this underwater. Whatever, it's not important. What is important is that somewhere here, where the lake is now really filled again, is Billy's lost axe. The one he had dropped during the rage bug thing had Kaplan attack him. It wasn't anywhere on the road, which was a shame.

His heart drops in his chest at the sight of that yawning opening below him. That bright red tail swishes to take him further from it. He breathes in and out steadily, staring down at it. Everything was underwater. There were no rats here to swarm him, nothing to snap out to snag him. To drag him down into darkness while whatever possessed him made his hands do unforgivable things. He swims in a circle above, trying to gather enough nerve to just swim in, to find his weapon.

"It's just a tunnel," he mutters under his breath. "There's no rats, no Vecna thing."

A Man in Brüssel - Shepherd

Later, when it's clear the sun is setting, Billy heads back to familiar territory. His swimming is a little stronger now, more familiar with the natural feeling motion of his fins and tail. There's a quick trip into the civic center to make sure his tape player is okay - it seems to be - and he swims down to the main level. A longing look at all the training gear he wouldn't be able to use for awhile, Billy heads back out to the town square. There's no lingering there, because now he can do something he wouldn't be able to as a human.

Bubbles stream in his wake when the Californian heads to the diner. Not to the doors though, going up around to a window he's more familiar with. Peering in, he knocks on Tommy's window with his good hand. "Shepherd! Open up!" he calls, lowering enough so he can lean against the windowsill with his good arm like he's some sort of fairytale prince or something.

"It's not every day I can meet you up at your window like this after all."

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Some people, for all their strength, for all their fancy hardware, are particularly susceptible to the mind fuckery. Not the sort of playing around, telling someone one thing now and something different later kind of mind fuckery, but the big stuff. Control, memory alteration, all those fun tricks that could have a person believing that the tentacles he currently had, had always been there.

Well, maybe not always as he doubted he'd been born with the metal, but those two probably came from the same place the metal arm did.

Regardless of origins they were useful, strong and durable. He took advantage of them now to help him pry up stones, looking for crabs or small fish to hunt. Hey, a guy has to eat! Though he's being relatively quiet he does send a rock or two flying before abandoning the search in this area; nothing seems to be around.

Allowing himself to drift up out of the rocks, he can see why: little prey animals are likely to lie low with one predator around, never mind two. "Billy," he greets. "Looking for something?"

He’s restless, wanting to get his weapon and yet not feeling brave enough to tackle the dark tunnel yawning open before him. Billy hates it and swishes his tail in irritation. The sound of rocks hitting the ground gets some of his attention, but Soldier gets it all with his greeting.

"Yeah. The… ordeal with Kaplan, I dropped my axe and it went down there," he explains with a pointed finger. "Trying to not be a chicken shit in going to get it."

But the tunnel looms with bad memories, which makes getting close difficult.

Yes, Kaplan had attacked Hargrove, he remembered that. Threw him up and tossed him down, hurt him all over — but the exact details were fuzzy to the Soldier. He'd fought Kaplan, incapacitated him, but those details are fuzzy too.

He knows he should be worried about his mind, how he can't remember things he should know, how it seems worse than normal. But he doesn't have time to dwell on those thoughts.

He pulls himself over to Billy on mismatched tentacles, to get a better angle for looking in the tunnel. It's dark, and hard to make out what could be inside. "Do you want someone to go with you?"

Billy wishes the details were fuzzy for him. It's difficult to forget, when your arm is still wrapped up along with your chest (though the latter is more for other reasons instead of just the breaks). He looks over the mismatched tentacles, and stiffens at the sight of them, but relaxes. It's only Soldier.

"I was hoping to get a light somewhere. Go in with it, find the axe and hurry back out. I won't say no to someone joining me."

Someone to come with him to help keep the nightmares at bay.

"I'll help you." It's an easy offer to make. Billy has already impressed him by being level headed; he'd even venture to say that he likes the guy, attitude and all.

"The light's gonna be the tricky part though." Finding one, because while he's seen some luminescent fish and mosses, none seem bright enough to really light the dark cave.

"The supply place maybe," he muses, though that feels weird too. He's gotten supplies, obviously, but he can't think of a single thing he picked up in the last few days. Why?

He's been through a lot that burned out the impatience he might've once had. Maybe being possessed and facing down death did it. Maybe dealing with Neil did it. "Good. I don't want to go down there by myself anyways."

He looks at the two of them, pondering the choices they had for light. "Yeah, neither of us are very bright, are we?" Smirks at the word play. "Supply place? Is that the welcome center or whatever the aliens call it? Whale combs or something?"

"Safety in numbers. Smart strategy." Fear, real or perceived, has nothing to do with it. It's pure, practical strategy.

He cracks half a smile at the little joke; some of the others had a luminescent glow, but neither he nor Billy possess that trait. "Yes, the whale combs. I think if we find anything useful, it'd be there."

"Learned my lesson the last time." Not that Billy thought there was any creature here that could possess him like the Mindflayer did, better safe than sorry. Again. He wouldn't be able to face himself if he let down Max or Tommy if something happened.

"Yeah, let's go look there then. Know where it's at? I can't make heads or tails of this place half the time."

"No repeat performances," the Soldier agreed. He didn't need details; it was enough to know that Billy wanted help.

"I can find it," he replied, sure of himself. Directions he could manage just fine, even if he didn't know why he got a weird feeling every time he saw something from above. "Follow me."

"Damn right. I’ve come too far to get possessed again," and it’s murmured with such vitriol. With a flick of his tail, he follows after Soldier.

"I hope wherever it dropped it wasn’t too far. Too deep. Whatever." His spines spread like he’s threatened, but then relax as they head to the Whale Comb Sent Her. No need to be on the defense as they go. "I think you mentioned your hidden stashes before."

The Soldier won't dive too deep into questioning; with words like possession it must be deeply personal. And if there's one thing he understands more intimately than a lot of people it's how violating it feels to be forced to act against one's will.

Billy's posturing causes a ripple of camouflaging color to wash through the Soldier's skin, but he reminds himself that Billy's not a threat. At least, not to him. A reaction to thoughts of what they may find in their excursion is only natural. And there was the very real possibility that the dark hole might not be so dark or so deep once it was lit up.

"Mm-hm. We'll check those next, if we can't find a light at the Sent Her. I'm still rebuilding them." He'd given up years of his own hoarded supplies in the wake of the volcano; it would take him some time to rebuild those stashes.

It was violating. Everyone from Hawkins always told him it wasn't his fault, but Billy still feels guilty for everyone that got hurt or died while he was possessed. While he was mentally tortured and his hands murdered all for the Mind Flayer.

If he notices Soldier's camo reaction to himself, Billy doesn't say anything and keeps going after the guy. "Did you lose some? Maybe someone found your stashes and helped themselves." Which would be a Billy move. He swirls under to get to Soldier's other side as they swim. He's polite enough to keep distance, so his spines don't brush against the guy's tentacles. At least Billy looks cool, which is what matters to him, even with his arm and midsection wrapped up in gauze.

"I gave a lot of them up. People needed them, after the volcano." Did a volcano make sense under water? Not really. But parts of Temba were destroyed, and the Soldier did plunder his hidden stashes to leave supplies at the Sent Her for people to take. Rebuilding his secret caches and hiding them again would take time.

"But if we can't find what we're looking for where we're going, we'll simply have to look elsewhere, right?" Practical as always. And taking the time to find a light was better than venturing into such a dark place where they couldn't see incoming threats.

Rebuilding after the volcano ordeal was still a work in progress. It would be for awhile. There were things physical still being fixed while there were other things intangible that Billy was working on fixing. Had fixed, sort of.

Bonds with other people were complicated.

Billy can't think about that right now.

Soldier's line of thinking was exactly what Billy was thinking of with the tunnel. There could be things waiting to snag and drag them down. It wasn't worth the risk. "We'll find a light." Billy sounds stubborn as he puts on a burst of speed to get to the center faster. "Where'd you hide shit in here anyways?"

They will find a light. Realistically it shouldn't be so rare a resource that they can't find one, so it's really just a matter of where.

"Are you trying to suss out all my secrets?" The Soldier kept his voice neutral; it might be hard to tell if the question was serious or teasing. Realistically it was a little of both. He liked to know where he stood with people, especially since he knew his attitude made him unpopular.

Billy flashes him a shit-eating-grin. "Maybe. Is it working?" He finally swims inside. It's dimly lit within, making it difficult to see, but that's why they were there, wasn't it? He swims around, trying to see if he can spot it himself.

"Figured the faster we found the flashlight at least here, the sooner we can go find the axe. Maybe after that, if you want to show me where your hiding spots are, you can do that."

"Maybe," he answered. Realistically speaking he doubted Billy truly wanted the Soldier's secrets outside the location of a few of those stashes of supplies. It was harmless enough to give him that much.

But first priority: a light and Billy's axe. Nothing mattered as much as those two things. Unfortunately they had very little in light to work with inside the building, but the Soldier knew where he'd left supplies. In a corner, looking neglected, sat the remains of what he'd left: a ruined pack, a now moth-eaten blanket. And a flashlight. The lens over the bulb was scratched up but the thing still turned on, which was good enough.

"Axe first," he agreed, offering the light to Billy with one dexterous tentacle. "After that, maybe I'll share a few hiding places."

Billy didn't, he was just kidding or maybe even testing if Soldier was willing, but he didn't push. Even if it was just getting a stuck door open, he's seen that arm in action and doesn't want to be on the angry receiving end of it.

He looks around before noticing how the older guy darts to a darker corner, then joins him. It's enough time that the flashlight is being offered when he gets to Soldier. "Axe first," he agrees. C'mon, I remember how to get there," and he swims over Soldier to make sure there's plenty of room to keep the guy safe from his spines, before heading back outside.

"I don't like being unarmed. I may not have a lot of training like you or Gladio, but having it helps me feel better."

Fortunately Billy has firmly planted himself on the Soldier's good side. She he could be an asshole but so could the Soldier. He appreciated the honesty in the teen's attitude more than anything else.

"Lead the way," he agreed, following Billy out of the building. Outside, they had plenty of room to swim without accidental encounters with Billy's spines.

"I feel uncomfortable unarmed as well. I don't think it's unusual." Regardless of skill level, this place was dangerous enough. Having a way to protect oneself was important.

It'll be a wonder later, when this is all over, that he's got so many people in his corner after being so long without anyone. He definitely has Tommy, and definitely Gladio, but now Soldier, too. Maybe even Rogers to go with the group. People that believed in him and had him on their good side.

Once they're outside, Billy swims up so he's above Soldier so there's less danger from his spines. He heads towards the deep tunnel on the other side of the city. There's a quick jerk as he remembers something else. Darkness of night. little creatures swarming a car - whatever that was - before he straightens out and swims a little faster. Just a dream. Some sort of daydream.

"An axe is better than nothing. Good for offense and defense." Billy had practiced holding it up like a shield - even though he could work on being better with that. "Here's hoping we find it soon. You got spare weapons in case we find something unsavory?"

People who not only believed in him, but would shelter him from harm. Billy might feel more strongly about one than the other, depending on the situation at a given time.

The swim passed pleasantly enough; they both had plenty of room outside to stretch out without accidentally brushing each other. And swimming felt good to the Soldier; a chance to stretch his muscles, to feel water flowing over his gills. A chance to twist and turn and stretch his tentacles as they made their way to the cave, knowing that Billy, with his prickly spines, also made a good deterrent. He wasn't a bad guy to have at one's back.

"Hmm..." He considered Billy's question carefully. The Soldier was always armed to the teeth. Even like this, eschewing clothes, he wore the belted holster holding his knives. After a moment he freed one, sheath and all, and passed it to Billy. "You'll need proper lessons after this. But we don't have time now."

Billy was both the best and worst to have around like this. The best to keep things away that would do them harm, but also one wrong slip and he could hurt an ally. The blond was trying to be better in not being a bully damn it.

As they swim through the water, eating up the distance between the Sent Her and the dark cavern, he glances down to Soldier for the answer. Nearly misses catching the knife but manages after its thrown to him. "Yeah? I guess something in closer combat than I get with an axe? Doesn't seem like a weapon you can defend much with," though he does it hold it in one hand for now. Just in case.

From what the Soldier had seen thus far, Billy managed his self-defined goal well.

Not that he stayed long on the thought. No, they were approaching the cavern, and it was time to focus.

"I don't give those away lightly," he warned. But Billy had been a good student so far, even if the Soldier couldn't focus now on the shape of their lessons. Surely they hadn't included anything of weapons training. "You've never really seen me fight. But that's for when you don't have your axe, or when your enemy is so close that the axe is rendered useless."

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Down Under - Men at Work

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