♤ 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

[in_extremis]

Jon's disapproval got Tony to deflate slightly, not exactly shamed but definitely not as jubilant as he had been, taking the steam out of the punch he had readied for Cayde's arm for wiping his guts on him. It was more of a shove before Tony crossed his arms and tried to combat Jon's unimpressed assessment with cool, looking nonplussed as grey goo sloughed off of his boot. He didn't have a great answer for 'what?'

"We found some bugs. Technically, it was a home invasion, we got off light, I think." He looked to Cayde, hoping for some backup, not sure if he could be trusted with that dubious honour when the price was Jon's wrath, even if he could be trusted with Tony's life, "Slap on the wrist." If they put up a unified front, maybe Jon would be willing to offer whatever was in that bag, because Tony really hoped it was water and painkillers.

[deal_me_in]

"Well the climbing part wasn't exactly fun," Cayde pointed out. "...and neither was getting almost swarmed, but we got out in one piece and with all our limbs. I call that a win."

He looked down at the mess, not really eager to clean up but at the same time wanting very much to do so before he found out how bad this stuff might stain. "Yeah. Yeah, it is," he nodded, finding no reason to disagree with Jon's blunt assessment. It was pretty disgusting. Catching Tony's look, he again gave a nod.

"Complete accident, they probably figured they sure showed us, chasing us out. Probably cutting their losses too." That goop didn't just magically appear, after all.

[beholding_archivist]

Ah, great. They are teaming up to defend their reckless decision making. The bugs, however... He doesn't like the sound of that. Especially given the amount of... well. Bug remains they are covered with. Those haven't been ladybugs.

Anger shifts into concern and the Archivist wordlessly steps past the duo, towards the edge of the hole, carefully peering down "And you are sure they won't follow..." The uncertainty of his tone suggests the question that isn't asked. The light tapping of his fingers against his bag however, gives away a certain apprehension to the idea of a horde of bugs streaming from this hole.

They can't possibly fill this thing with cement...?

He carefully sets that thought aside for later and casts a glance over his shoulder for another non-quite-question "Any wounds...?"

[in_extremis]

The unified front broke down slightly as Jon turned his back on them for Tony to mouth defensively, "The climbing was fun," then gave a flick of his wrist to splatter some of Cayde's guts back on him with a challenging grin. It was rapidly schooled back to an inquisitive pout as Jon's attention returned and Tony tucked his hands behind his back, which did look suspicious, now that he thought about it. "I don't think so. They're sensitive to light, I'd guess that's why we haven't seen them before," he offered, helpfully providing the knowledge of his important experience with the local wildlife. "Not their kind of party."

As for wounds, it was a little hard to tell under the dirt and grime, and Tony raised his arms with a grimace at the rotation of his wrenched shoulder, to try to give himself a cursory check. But he definitely wasn't the one who had borne the brunt of the attack. He was scraped and bruised from bouncing off of the tunnel walls, and his shoulder felt like it was going to keep him up for a few nights if Jon was only offering bandages, but nothing he would call wounds. "Did they get a hit on you?" he passed to Cayde with none of his own to report, not sure if bandages were the proper solution for his problems, either.

[deal_me_in]

It was not reckless, it was premeditated. Up until the part where they ran into giant bugs and all the legs. Then everything just went pear-shaped.

Cayde scowled at getting bug guts flicked back at him, although there was a brightening of his eyes as he exchanged a look with Tony. He scraped off the front of his leather armor, pausing only for a moment as both of them turned their attention to Jon. Well of course the Archivist would have such concerns. That was Jon for you.

"Anyway, we left a solid impression on them. They can go back to their bug lives and we'll make a note not to take that tunnel."

Clapping his slimy gloved hand against Tony's back, he shook his head as he considered his own status at Jon's inquiry. "Nah. Aside from being sticky and wanting to scrub my gear down, all green here." At least he could take a tumble and getting rushed by giant bugs, not that he wanted to press his luck against more than one at a time in a tight spot like that cave.

[beholding_archivist]

And somehow Jon knew they would do something like this again.

He doesn't miss the grimace on Tony's face as he moves his arms, but simple pain and soreness was something they used to take care with strange space magic. And as pain itself generally isn't something lethal, Tony will have to endure it. Not that the Archivist expects the man to learn anything from it.

"I'm more worried about the part where they outright attacked you." He admits, looking down at the scattered bug remains and instantly disliking the memories the sight brings back. He casts a short nod over at Cayde "I take it you want to clean yourself thoroughly to get rid of that. As for him-" He turns his attention and a deepening scowl towards Tony "I want you cleaned up as well and every bruise and every scrape on you cleaned again and disinfected. Don't argue or I will tell you in detail about Jane Prentiss, a woman who turned into a living flesh hive after encountering the wrong sort of bug." Yes, they were worms, but for the sake of getting under Tony's skin and mayyybe make the man think twice next time, those worms will now be bugs. "And I believe we all agree that alien bugs do count under the wrong sort of bugs."

Jon's expression softens before he adds one more little piece of promised unpleasantness: "She was more holes than woman when she attacked the Archives. And these-" He taps an area at the side of his face that he knows well enough to be covered by those pockmark-like scars "-these are from when dozens of her bugs buried into me. I would prefer to avoid a repetition."

It's almost a shame his little horror story might not do much for Cayde. Then again, chances are that the Exo himself is less prone to self-destructive actions.

[in_extremis]

The squelch against Tony's back and the drip he could feel down his shirt finally got Tony to cringe his shoulders up around his ears, groaning his distaste and clearly ready to inflict some wounds on Cayde himself for the assault. The playful flash was gone as soon as Jon seemed to single him out for this lecture, feeling all at once like he was responsible for the whole misadventure under that pointed scowl. It was certainly a scared straight type parental speech that effectively stopped his cavorting, and any other time Tony thought it would have been easy to tease Jon for taking on this position so naturally. It struck Tony in the gut with hot shame, though, an ember of anger at the tone reminding him enough of lectures from his dad about the wrong sort of bugs he was going to get for being such a nancy, to make him want to draw Cayde back away from Jon so he didn't have to keep standing there listening to this. The defensiveness remained but the anger was gone as Jon indicated his scars, but the cold lump of coal Tony was left with didn't make a very good apology.

He gave Cayde's arm a squeeze instead in farewell, gaze lingering on Jon a moment longer before flitting back to the Exo with a questioning expression, hoping that as the apparently less disappointing child he could find out for them what Jon was even doing here and make better amends for making Jon relive his disturbing bug encounter for them. For his own reparations, a rare display of obedience; he muttered, "I'll go find a hose," to promise he was on his way to do his thorough cleansing, not sure what he was meant to disinfect with but he must have had a replicator charge by now, and started back toward the city.

[deal_me_in]

Jon was a man who had seen Things, that was for sure. And yet Cayde found it strange that for how accurately the Archivist had gotten his personality down to a T, he still seemed surprised about this foray that Tony and the Exo had taken part in. It was only a matter of time before someone went down that hole, and for what they'd found, Cayde was glad that he'd found the company of a like mind.

Also, to him it didn't hurt none that he'd finally been able to shoot a few things. Would have been nicer not to have come out of it a mess, but he still felt that bug guts weren't the worst of it.

"Any bugs that big are the wrong sort in my opinion," he muttered, supposedly trying to be helpful.

The Exo Hunter's nod was but a tip of a few degrees, perhaps only made more perceptible for the point of his horn. He had no arguments about getting cleaned up, and the gesture and look on Tony's part gets a brief clamp of his less slimy hand in response. It was the feeling of being dismissed that didn't sit well with him. Maybe it was because they figured he didn't have the same things to worry about. Sure, he could live with that, he liked the two and all their weird quirks. He didn't much like feeling the part of a third wheel.

"Yeah, guess I'll just..." he waved his hands vaguely in a direction away from the scene of the crime, although with Tony already heading back to the city proper, he looks awkwardly back at Jon.

[beholding_archivist]

"A hose?!" Jon repeats in surprise "But we have showers at the-" -Hospital. Which is the direction he tries to point, but Tony is already withdrawing, putting a wince on the Archivist's face. Great. Now he feels guilty for scolding this man.

The Archivist's posture crumbles a little where he stands and he shifts his attention over to Cayde, pausing half a moment before stepping up to him before the Exo can run off as well, reaching into his bag to pull out a plain, unlabeled bottle to hand it to him along with an imploring look as whatever strong exterior he has pulled up moments before quickly falters away "...please. Tell him to use this on his wounds. I- I'll need the rest back. Only got two bottles."

There is no way he can possibly chase after Tony and not make things worse. And Cayde... He seems to wait for his permission to leave.

[deal_me_in]

There was a moment where Cayde looked about ready to leap-fly off as well before he thought better of it. He'd never run off after a sour talk with the Vanguard, not in so many words, and he wasn't going to cut and run now. He'd caught the look, and somehow he was supposed to patch things up or at least smooth things over.

He turned, straightening so he'd look less prone to take off running, head tilting as Jon brought out a bottle, too small to be booze. Ah well. At the explanation, the Exo accepted it with a nod, half-turning before hesitating to leave.

"...look, sorry we worried you," he said.

[beholding_archivist]

Cayde's words earn the Exo a tight smile and Jon just shakes his head "It's okay. I... I can handle a few more grey hairs as long as either of you stays okay."

He pats Cayde's arm once, a weak echo of Tony's parting gesture, then slowly wanders away himself, his own path one to take him back to the hospital.

[deal_me_in]

How he ended up being the one left behind was anyone's guess. Cayde watched as Jon departed, finger tapping against the bottle in his hand before he realized it was sticking slightly. He made a face, glancing over his shoulder at the hole.

Well, he supposed he should go catch up with Tony to pass off that bottle before going to get himself cleaned off.