♤ Bored of Being Bored Because Being Bored is Boring

[deal_me_in]

WHO: Cayde-6 and you!
WHERE: Around Temba and maybe its outskirts
WHAT: Catch-All for the rest of May, Cayde doing Cayde things
WHEN: From now until the end of the month
WARNINGS: N/A


Still Life (For Jon)
Although Cayde had given himself some wiggle room for the possibility of tardiness in his arrival due to distraction, there really isn't very much along the route to the library to do so, or around the city in general. Unless something was on fire (haha...who'd do that?) or there were some strange noises that begged investigation, nothing pulled the Exo off course as he wound his way to his destination.

"Jon?" In a building this big and this empty, his voice is much louder than intended, not that it seems to bother him terribly. He looks around for the Archivist and the still he'd come to help move, gaze sweeping the shelves as though in hopes of spotting anything new amongst the shelves. And when there proves none of the latter, not that he's terribly surprised, Cayde sets a book of his own in an innocuous spot, fancying it like a bit of a treasure hunt for the self-proclaimed librarian. No notes scrawled in this one yet, a collection of some several novels of The Lone Ranger.

The Exo innocently continues along towards the desk he'd seen last time. "Am I late?"




The Hole In the Ground
It's big. It's gaping. And Cayde really wants to know what's going on in there. Of course, he'd feel better about jumping down a dark, mysterious hole in the ground with a loaded gun and plenty of spare ammunition. Having Sundance along for the ride would be even better. Yet that hasn't completely stopped him from considering...

He's standing at the edge, as close as he can get without pitching over as he tries to spy...well, anything, really. And if he's not doing that, he's looking for some rocks to toss in, just to listen for how far it is to the bottom. ...there's a bottom to this thing, right?




AKA the Greenhouse
The Exo's figured he should have a look at what all the agricultural building has to offer. It'd be nice to know what can be potentially made into drinks, basic and fermented, because what's a bar without beverages? That Tommy kid seemed to know about the stuff that was in here, at least. At this rate Cayde's sure anyone would know more than him in this place as he just stares at the spread of greenery, and are those blue bananas?

Yeah, this isn't exactly his scene.




The Bar Project
Maybe you've seen him in passing as he makes his way to and from the nest of buildings (O-13) in the southeastern (orange) quadrant of the city. It's an interesting collection of structures for the fact that whatever had happened in however much time had passed while Agra 10 had lapsed into disrepair, water had completely filled the space in the center of the small fortress-like formation, enclosed by the walls that adjoined each of the six towers making up the complex.

Sometimes he goes through a door. Other times he decides to be weird and scale the wall or one of the towers. He doesn't seem terribly concerned with being seen or followed, and should the latter find him in someone's otherwise unexpected company, well, he'll roll with it.


((OOC: As always, will match format if you prefer action over prose, etc!))

Comments

[deal_me_in]

If he can't, at least Cayde makes the effort to point out things like potholes and rubble or an extra overgrowth of weeds as they progress. There unfortunately aren't many opportunities for shortcuts, not that most would consider a Guardian's shortcuts practical when they tended to leap over walls and up buildings and things to get around. The quickest way between two points is a straight line, after all.

"And that is exactly why I'm not volunteering to touch any of those data orb things. Maybe you should write up a tutorial on manners for them along with whatever other lessons you had planned."

Once they come to the main road, he nods towards the clocktower before turning his back on it to head onward. "That's where I hang out whenever I'm not everywhere else," he decides to mention. "Fair warning, there's no railing to the stairs and some of the steps have seen better days."

[beholding_archivist]

"I... Actually have written that one up already." Jon admits while making himself appear preoccupied with shifting through two larger pieces of a collapsed nearby building. Of course he has certain priorities for these lessons he has been planning "Though the data points aren't really that bad. In fact, I wouldn't mind working with a slightly altered version of them - Preferably one not so prone to breaking." Going by all the broken glass that had been in the library, there has once been a massive amount of knowledge in that building.

Knowledge that is now all gone.

Jon casts a look towards the clocktower once it is being pointed out and raises a brow "Can't say that isn't oddly fitting for you, actually. And don't worry, I'm not very likely to break into your chosen home. Agrii stairs are... Well. I find them a little troublesome to climb." As obviously the Agrii have much longer legs than your average human. And Jon can't claim to be a very tall human. "Please tell me the view from up there is at least worth the effort."

[deal_me_in]

That gets a laugh from the Exo. "Of course you do." He's amused, probably because his suggestion had been a partial jest. After all, he can't say that it wouldn't be practical...if the Agrii can manage to understand it.

"Kind of weird though, don't you think? The library's wiped out, but there's still certain points sitting around and functional. Either they managed to set those up or they're tougher than the standard ones. Or someone went and broke things on purpose."

Cayde grins over his shoulder, not that he really catches a look at Jon with the motion, but he continues towards the orange sector. "Now why would I tell you where I live, expecting you to break into it. The stairs ain't so bad though, although after that blackout I guess maybe I should consider some lanterns or something so no one goes killing themselves on 'em. But the view's great. Main reason I scoped it out."

[in_extremis]

Tony's response was a raised lip, not eager to lead the charge into the darker hole in the bigger dark hole, but he had already been a pansy about that particular fear in front of Cayde once and had something to prove, probably. Brandishing his glowstick and not moving too fast so he could duck behind Cayde if this turned out to be a cockroach den, he started them into the cave. If he started to hum the first few bars of Hot Stuff, it was because he was perfectly comfortable in this environment and not trying to distract himself from his anxiety at all.

If there was any discernible method to the caves construction, it was in the branching dead ends, the cave wall turning sharp an hard under Tony's testing fingers where the longer passages easily crumbled, confirming, he thought, his silt theory. This made him pause as the path began to slope downward, concerned that a wrong move could lead to a burial. Still, the part he said out loud was, "It's weirdly even. Like it was made," with a look up to the ceiling that hadn't closed in or opened up any notable amount as they moved. If this was a natural system, he thought, the space would be more chaotic.

[deal_me_in]

Cayde brought up the rear with the vaguest of shrugs. His hand drifted over the grip of his hand cannon, ready to draw in a hot second. At least he wasn't getting his hopes up too much for some kind of secret Agrii cache, but it was still there all the same.

Either he'd seen how soft the walls had been under Tony's touch or just figured it better to take extra care in his step, but as he felt the ground start to angle downwards, he slowed his pace just a touch. At Tony's observation, the Exo lifted his glowing gaze upwards, following the man's look and tracing it around the walls surrounding them.

"Which begs the question of who or what made this," he said lowly. His other hand had settled over the long knife at his left, a thumb teasing it out of its sheath but a sliver.

[beholding_archivist]

It's a small, abstruse noise Jon makes at Cayde's laugh and verbal commentary. Because it's not untrue.

"To be fair, the spheres at the library were a lot smaller. More delicate than the ones we can find outdoors. I'm not surprised to find them more breakable, to be honest." A rather simple observation. "Still. It's a shame not a single one survived. I... I think I would have liked to have access to some more of their knowledge." The idea that someone destroyed them on purpose.... Well. It's not one Jon likes. But vandalism is a thing.

...and so is war.

He takes his eyes off the tower and back on the road ahead, adjusting the weight in his arms "Well. Maybe one day I come to check out the views - If you promise not to throw me off your tower."

[in_extremis]

It hadn't occurred to Tony until this moment to actually be threatened by the Agrii. Sure, they had the kind of technology that could pluck people out of space and time to clean up their mess for them, but they had come across so dopey in how and what they decided to share with their He Rows that Tony hadn't stopped to think what an actual confrontation with them would be like. Recontextualizing them not as unreachable space-farers but a colony that had been burrowed underground with them this whole time definitely made them creepier, by a mile.

Because that's what would have made the most sense, that the Agrii were making tunnels to escape the storms on the surface this whole time instead of trying to salvage a planet they weren't even on, right? Tony opened his mouth to try to come up with a suitable reason for retreat despite the lack of evidence of any immediate threat, but only got as far as taking a breath when he heard the scratching sound. He held it, eyes locked on Cayde slowly widening. The sound was coming from deeper in the cave, and was getting closer.

[deal_me_in]

"Hey, you think maybe they might've lost all that knowledge as well? Packed up in a hurry, have been living off-site for how long... Although some things still don't add up."

It never fails, you go down one line of thought with the Agrii and branches of questions just sprout without you even trying. Cayde figures it's better to wait until they've got an opportunity to ask than to throw around assumptions. At least for now.

"Now what kind of person do you take me for?" he asks, turning on his heel to eye Jon before he smiles and whips around again to complete the twirl, his raggedy cloak trailing after him. "Anyway, I have no reason to be tossing anyone off my tower unless they came asking for it."

[deal_me_in]

Cayde wasn't completely convinced that the Agrii were harmless. Who could really trust anything that drew itself with such prominent fangs?

His line of thought however wasn't following along Tony's. He was thinking of worse things than their strange pink, three-eyed fangy wardens. His Ace of Spades was already in hand by the time Tony had trailed off, those glowing optics meeting the man's gaze, watching those eyes widen. Then slowly his own gaze ticked towards the side, past Tony and into the darkness beyond.

It was out of habit that he started towards and then stepped around Tony, the hand cannon already leveled in front of him, aiming at the unknown source of the noise. "Ain't nice sneaking up on people," he called out into the darkness. He would have liked to just skip the pleasantries and jump right to firing, but he only had so many bullets, and on the offhand that perhaps they had some alien neighbors after all, maybe shooting one accidentally might not go so well up top. "Come on out!"

[in_extremis]

That wouldn't have been Tony's tactic, and as soon as Cayde started making more noise to draw the attention of whoever was living down here, he cringed and hissed, "Wait, wait, quiet--!" Only one of them had come down here armed, they were not the home team, and their escape options if this got filthy were terrible and worse. Cayde, apparently, chose to deal with their problems in a more head on style. That left Tony rocking up on his toes behind him to hold the crystal rod up high, not about to abandon him just because his tactical planning was flawed. That would have left Tony with very few friends.

The light, absorbed by the dirt walls around them, bounced easily off of a smooth surface coming at them fast from down the tunnel. Tony squinted over Cayde's shoulder, not sure how to make out what shapes the crystal glow revealed; it seemed to take up the whole width of the cavern, but with an array of moving pieces spreading out around it scratching their way along the rocks. It did not have an answer for Cayde, it was Tony that announced, "Too many legs," and gave a tug to the back of his cloak, "Too many."

[beholding_archivist]

"Honestly, I don't know. I'd like to ask them directly. Get the chance to actually communicate with them. Or... Well. Anyone off this planet. Risa has been a chance, but..." Jon trails off, not daring to try and shrug in order to maintain his hold on the parts he's carrying. At least he's still holding up alright so far? Who would have thought...

He does, however, incline his head a little at the Exo "You?" Jon asks, his voice shifting slightly at the challenge. "I take you for a reckless person, if you really want an answer to that. Little to lose, few attachments. Set for a purpose where you are from, yet lacking it here, away from all you knew before. A little lost, like all of us. Trying to find something to hold on to - And willing to take risks others would not dare to take. Make sacrifices others wouldn't. Honest - For the most part. Someone willing to lend a hand where it's needed, but also a little on the negligent side." He pauses and turns his head in a way to hide his face behind the items he is carrying. "I... I take you for a person I can trust. One of... Few."

[deal_me_in]

In hindsight (as always) it probably wasn't the best maneuver, but all things considered, whatever it was back in that tunnel was already on its way towards them. Cayde gave a sharp look back as Tony hissed at him, his gun arm still held high and steady. Then he looked frontwards again, the sounds coming closer.

He squinted into the suddenly noisy dark as well, finally catching movement in the glow of Tony's crystal but still not having enough to make out what it was they were encountering. It began to occur to the Exo that it wasn't just a singular thing they might be up against, and for a brief moment he fancied the reflecting glow to be eyes and expected Thrall to be lurching forth out of the darkness in the swarming numbers that they tended to keep.

About the time Tony began tugging at him and yammering was about the time Cayde's concerns were simultaneously relieved and refueled. He gave an uncertain nod of agreement even as he started to step back, his free arm flanking Tony.

"Back, backbackback!" he blurted, half at the oncoming things of many legs, but mostly at the man behind him as he urged a tactical retreat, beginning to turn after him. And yet he kept his hand cannon out, and as soon as a form could be made out apart from the legs, Cayde squeezed off that trigger.

[deal_me_in]

At least they had the same idea when it came to figuring where they'd get any actual information. The main problem was that the opportunities were severely lacking.

The question had been more of a rhetorical one, a snappy comeback. An actual response is something Cayde hadn't expected, and he falls completely silent as the Archivist takes up the challenge. The Exo's steps slow in pace just a touch, the gravel crunching underfoot only seeming to emphasize the lack of anything said on his own part.

He continues to walk, continues to face forward, listening to every word said, every point listed. If Jon were firing a gun, he'd have punched a hole through the target, hitting the same mark with each subsequent shot.

The silence stretches on maybe a good few if perhaps uneasy seconds after Jon finally finishes with his confession. It's broken with a soft chuckle, one colored in genuine amusement.

"Remind me to never play poker with you," Cayde replies, stealing a glance over his shoulder with a shake of his head and the faintest suggestion of a smirk. "You'd have my tells all laid out before we played a second hand."

[in_extremis]

It only took one 'back' to convince Tony to bolt, sliding in the dirt and scrambling around the twists of the tunnels that they came upon suddenly in the too faint glow of the crystal rod, slowed even further every time he threw a look over his shoulder to make sure Cayde was still following and not in the mandible of some giant beetle. That was the image that shiny carapace and scratching, flailing legs had conjured, anyway, though the full reveal of the thing hadn't come yet, the flash of Cayde's gun only blinding Tony in the dark and leaving him with a hazy afterimage of goopy splatter against the cave wall and just as many legs as before as another of the things squeezed past the limping one to take its place. The creatures moved much faster in the tunnels than the clumsy bipeds, and Tony was trying to calculate the steps at this rate to reach even a reassuring sliver of the light from the flare they had left behind when it occurred to him to dig another one out of his pocket as he skipped around another corner, bouncing off of the wall. He struck the whole, pulpy mass off of the rocks as he ran, hoping blindly to hit the right angle to catch the fuse enough, then slid to a crouch to give an underhanded toss of the flare between Cayde's feet. It was sputtering as it went, and exploded in sparks and smoke as it disappeared under the churning mass barrelling toward them. The closest creature launched itself away from the flare and straight for Cayde.

[deal_me_in]

"-I think I prefer Thrall," Cayde concluded, apparently having been wrestling with the argument in his head during the retreat. "Much less legs, even if they all rush at you at once and try to claw off your face." He might change his mind if they ever had to fight swarms of Thrall because they were gross, nasty bastards, but for now, what was following them was the obvious choice.

He fired again into the milling mass, which wasn't at all his style, but he couldn't unload an entire round when he hadn't much more than spare change in the long run. Navigating the dark tunnels at speed weren't as easy as picking their way along with previous caution. He'd forgotten about the slope and only managed not to faceplant into the ground by keeping his feet moving, a hand helping to propel him in the right, and most importantly, an upright direction.

Again he turned to squeeze off another shot, sending its echo down the tunnel as it was punctuate by the satisfying squelch of the bullet finding its mark. A familiar flare of light went dancing past his feet, and while Cayde was glad Tony was trying to lend a hand, he wasn't quite sure how effective the flare was going to be in favor of a grenade. And boy did he miss his grenades. Not that there was much time to really express such sentiment when a leggy creature was leaping at you.

He misjudged the distance, and perhaps its speed as his hand cannon was brought up too late. Next thing he knew, his back was hitting the dirt hard, and there were way too many appendages on him than he was comfortable with. His other hand wrapped around his knife, its blade nearly as long as his forearm, and he yanked it clean of its sheath and deliberately with the creature in its path.

[in_extremis]

From his crouched position, Tony came flailing back down the tunnel as Cayde hit the dirt, practically on all fours, sliding into home with a hand for balance behind him to kick blindly into the general mass of the attacking beast. Another was clawing at the walls behind it, desperate to crush its way through and away from the burst of light, while the rest of the horde trampled over each other to run the other way away from the alien threat. The tunnel was quickly choked with smoke, diffusing the light from the flare and from the crystal rod that Tony hooked under Cayde's chin as he grabbed for any purchase that would let him haul Cayde out with his foot braced tenuously; the beetle was thrashing its head to try to get Tony's heel out of the squelching remains of its cracked eye socket, but the other one was still pressing it forward and its strength was leaking out of it down Cayde's knife. Belatedly, without any other context for the Thrall, Tony panted, "Orgies are never as fun as they sound."

[deal_me_in]

While this wasn't the worst experience he'd ever had, it still wasn't an enjoyable one. Just how big was this thing??? If he didn't get crushed by it he figured he'd be in danger of drowning if he needed to breathe.

"Agck-!" When you suddenly had someone grabbing at your scarf and near stuffing a glow rod between your jaws, you didn't make the most coherent of sounds. With Tony attempting to help haul him back, Cayde finally was able to free a leg enough to help kick the leaking thing back. He brought up his hand cannon and promptly fired another round into the creature behind the first.

Tony never failed with the non-sequiturs, and for all that everything was gross and the scratching of legs and crunching chitin, Cayde let out a laugh that might have classified him as having finally lost it. Thankfully that wasn't the case, and as though he felt it necessary to vindicate himself, once the two managed to get back firmly on their feet, he dispensed several more bullets with a quick fan of the hammer like a sharpshooting cowboy straight out of an old Western flick.

[in_extremis]

Cayde was going to lose it, and maybe a few limbs, Tony thought, if they stuck around for any further fancy gunplay, every shot a crack that echoed painfully down the tunnel and had to be rousing more creepy crawlies from their undisturbed depths. If they weren't at their own Door to Hell, Tony might have taken a second to be impressed, but he did not have that luxury without the Iron Man and dragged where he still had a hold on Cayde's clothes to get him to keep running while they had their chance. The beetles were making mushy, splattering death sounds, whole wet chunks blown out of their bodies, but parts of them were still crawling.

The original flare was soon in sight, sputtering weakly now with the last of the pulp down to embers, but Tony was pretty sure he could see the rope still silhouetted by it dangling in front of the mouth of the cave and slapped into it. He wound it quickly around his wrist as he doubled back to throw an end and an arm at Cayde to get a running start together, only warning, "Jumping!" to get him on board with the plan to get a healthy swing away from the mouth of the cave. One of the beetles had limped its way quickly enough, despite the damage, after them to not be completely overtaken by the part of the horde that had plucked up enough courage to brave the sparking and smoke for this fight, and Tony looked back long enough to watch it swing itself with ease up onto the sheer rock wall, climbing upward away from the cave and dripping its guts to fizzle rancidly on what remained of the flare.

[deal_me_in]

Cayde didn't like turning his back knowing that things were still coming after them. Tony's tugging him along didn't go ignored, the Hunter still moving, albeit slowly at first, if only until he was certain he'd at least slowed the bugs down some. He needed no further urging thereafter, hurrying after Tony, saving his shots but keeping his gun in hand until they'd made it back to the ledge. It was only when the man shouted his intentions with the toss of a rope and the extension of a hand that the Exo jammed his weapon back into its holster and made the leap alongside of him.

That solved one problem at least, but hanging awkwardly on a swinging rope hardly seemed ideal. So did seeing one of the injured creatures come on out of the cavern and decide that maybe it would take its final breath in fresh air and sunlight.

"Uh-oh," Cayde observed, casting a look towards the hole itself, hoping nothing further decided to come out. He glanced at Tony, and then the walls as they swung along, mentally running through their fastest options back up.

[in_extremis]

"Uh-oh," Tony agreed. As thrilling as the jump itself had been, leaving them swinging wide away from the cavern wall, their hang time was brief and Tony was feeling the wrench on his shoulder from holding his life in one hand before they came crashing back against the rocks, the long delay between the shift of the rope and the rain of debris pebbles and sand it rubbed from biting into the edge of the hole reminding him of the length of the climb ahead of them. In that time, he managed to kick the non-bug-gunked grips under one foot to try to get some traction on the wall and adjust into a more functional position that wasn't crowding Cayde on the rope, but he still clenched his unwrapped arm around Cayde's neck as the small shower seemed to be the last hit the beetle could take. It fell abruptly from wherever it was climbing, the meager connective tissue still holding it together squelching and snapping apart as the body hit the ledge and half of it continued its endless descent into the pit. "Oh, well, never mind," Tony muttered. Cayde had really blasted it apart.

Very aware of Cayde's generally sticky situation now, Tony curled his lip and tried to shake some of it off of his arm, admitting, "Sorry about the flare, it was supposed to work the opposite way." It had worked, Tony thought, that wasn't the flaw in his plan, but it did rather compromise their firepower. Tony still wasn't about to get his chance to compliment Cayde, though, as the scratching noise returned. He froze again, watching the what was left of the dim light at the cavern mouth catch briefly on a multitude of smooth, skittering legs.

[deal_me_in]

At least they could breathe a collective sigh of relief with the drop of that bug. Cayde took note of Tony's reaction and the gooey splatterings that liberally decorated his everything, his metal features adjusting into as close a proximity of a grimace as could be managed.

"Eh, it still did something. Might I suggest grenades next time? Grenades are a wonderful thing."

The noise drew his attention back to the opening of the cavern, and Cayde narrowed his optics at the thought of more of them pouring through. Several shots of flame and maybe that'd take care of that. Dangling from a rope with someone hanging around your neck however made things a lot more difficult. He looked up again, and then began to pump his legs to get them some momentum, making sure his feet would get the brunt of the walls once they got near enough so he could push back out.

"Hang on, we're getting out of here," he said, shifting the arm that wasn't hanging onto the rope around the man's torso. "On three, let go of the rope." Surely he hadn't just said that.

[beholding_archivist]

"To be fair, I doubt you would have a chance to win if we were to play poker, indeed. So... Good call." Jon replies casually, but not with a somewhat teasing hint of amusement in his voice. He may not have many extremely useful skills for their situation, but there are a few things he can do. Some of them extremely useless.

He flexes his hands while holding onto his share of the load, one hand a t a time, feeling a certain numbness creeping into his limbs.

"So... How much further down this road it is? We must have crossed most of the city by now." Don't quote him on this. He may be good at poker, but his sense of direction or feeling of distance is a disaster.

[deal_me_in]

That sounds like a good baiting to at least try once, just to see how disastrous a turn out that would be, but at least he'd know not to put down any money. Not that anyone probably had anything worthwhile to bet around here anyway.

Cayde jerks his head in a nod towards a clump of tall buildings connected by walls in the near distance. "Just down that way. We can follow the main roads right by it." And it is a fair walk, he'd have to admit. That seems to be true for getting just about anywhere though. "Having a sparrow would really come in handy. Or even a car, I guess. You use those? All the ones I've seen are rusted out back home."

[in_extremis]

"What? No!"

For once, Tony wasn't eager to get his hands all over Cayde again, put off for at least a few peaceful hours by the bug guts, but he didn't think they were so horrible to warrant suicide. He had scrambled as Cayde started swinging, trying to get a better hold on the rope like a rational person that didn't want to fling himself into an eternal pit, but he was realizing quickly that he didn't have a good plan for dealing with a bug infestation now that they had eliminated their one tactical advantage of the choke point, and were clinging to a free swinging rope like bait. What he had left was a blind trust in Cayde to do something reckless and half-baked, and despite the protest, grabbed him around the shoulders again as he slipped down enough to where he knew Cap was easiest to balance when Iron Man pulled him up off of the ground. They could workshop all of the ways this could have gone better in the debrief, and Cayde was going to take full responsibility for Tony releasing the lifeline to the surface.

[deal_me_in]

If he was feeling pressured about it, Cayde certainly knew how to hide it. He should have figured that would have been Tony's initial response, because from an outside perspective, yes, letting go of the rope only led to one direction. Thankfully Guardians defied plenty of laws just being Guardians.

He let whatever he'd been about to retort slip away as Tony readjusted himself, perhaps then feeling just a tiny bit pressured. Tony was trusting him here, so Cayde felt he'd better hold to.

"Three!" he said, without the expected preamble, but he saw his chance and didn't want to pass it up for a second shot while he rambled numbers. As soon as his other hand was free he scooped up Tony so the man wouldn't be trailing or getting tangled up for the ride. For a brief moment, they flew towards the wall. The Exo dug his heel in deep, and then pushed off, already looking in the other direction. In midair he gave another boost, and then another to get more height by the time he reached the other wall to rebound and repeat.