out_of_order: (heard that before)
Cal Kestis ([personal profile] out_of_order) wrote in [community profile] revivalproject2020-07-10 09:24 pm

A Diving Expedition

WHO: Cal Kestis, Jonathan Sims and Tony Stark
WHERE: The Flood Plain
WHAT: When one has rebreathers, one does underwater exploration
WHEN: A few days after being freed of Calibration hell
WARNINGS: N/A, will update as necessary


It was decided rather unanimously, and perhaps unsurprising given the time that had been spent in confinement. After being cooped up indoors with little place else to go, the opportunity to finally go elsewhere is a welcome one, and there seems no point in waiting. Besides, Cal can use the distraction. While he's not certain of exactly how many of their number have been sent away, it's difficult to miss at least one presence, strong in the Force as Altair was. Hopefully he would be back where he was meant to be.

Cal's looking forward to the outing, however, eager to be about and exploring with friends. Given the chosen venue, one might never guess from the way he's prepared. He's dressed as he usually is, BD-1 perched on a broken bit of wall, both beside the shallows of the eastern-most inner curve of the large lake that's taken up a good portion of the southwestern corner of the city.

It's a lot of area to cover, and the more he looks at it, the more he wonders just how deep it can be. The couple of times he's gone in probably haven't even covered very much of anything, and with so many places to look, he'd been practical and stuck to where he could make out the remnants of buildings. That seemed to be the most ideal place to find anything, anyway.

Glancing at his droid friend, he tilts his head. "They should be here soon. You ready, BeeDee?" The little droid borbles, wiggling eagerly, making the padawan laugh. "Yeah, it'll be a nice change of pace after all that." He turns, looking out towards the main road again for any signs of Jon and Tony.
beholding_archivist: (Trying hard to ignore this mess)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-16 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Tony’s reply only gets a displeased little frown from Jon, but he does look over to Cal at his words and adds a small nod of understanding. “Right... Right.” It’s true. They couldn’t have known.

“Cal is right, though.” Jon then adds and fishes another dead fish-thing out of the water, waving it slightly in the direction of the other men. “Can’t leave these bites untreated. I... ah.... I was in their heads.” And he casts Tony an almost apologetic look. “I know how they work. What they are, how they... Communicate. Larger groups of them can take down some of the much larger predators down there. We were... A snack.” He pauses, now turning his attention to the fish and prying back its head to reveal the tendrils underneath. “But I also know which part of them serves as an antidote to their venom. Should we go down there again.... We can be better prepared.”

Because why wouldn’t they?
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-16 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Jon's frown only made Tony grin back, and he gave Cal another pat of thanks for saying what he meant more clearly for Jon, not about to accept an apology for what a bunch of alien fish did when they went invading the fish-territory. Besides, if they had just gone down and found some sand and came back up without a scratch, that would have been disappointing.

"Looked like a chop shop to me," he answered, but he wasn't sure if that was any better to designate the site than 'wreck', because there were a lot of parts but not much of the shop. It wasn't like the architecture hadn't survived, plenty of those buildings were still standing down there around the junkyard. He plucked up the one find that any of them appeared to have managed to bring back with them, tipping the water out of Cal's disc-thing as he flipped it around to try to get a read on it or at least how it was made, and came up with 'alien'. Sliding down the gravel, he shifted in front of Cal and gestured silently for him to climb on over his shoulder as he continued, "There's factories down near the forge, I go through them a lot to find stuff to melt, and none of it looks like the stuff down there, but there was definitely some machining--vices and mounts, you know?" He didn't have a better way of explaining that yet, just that it looked like he could use it, and wanted it. Of course they had to go back.

Grimacing again at Jon waving a fish at them now, Tony at least titled his head in appreciation for a partial explanation for what was happening to the creatures down there. "We're always a snack," he smirked, chin up with far too much pride than that warranted, especially with the angry red mark creeping up to his ear, and eyeing Jon pointedly until the expression was entirely gone for a scowl at Jon's fishhandling. "Do that in private at least, geez," he muttered, as though he didn't completely appreciate the quick solution. There was just far too much communing with nature happening today, it was not Tony's style.
beholding_archivist: (I disagree)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-17 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
“Lots of fear. Old fear.” Jon chimes in while ignoring Tony’s protest against his handling of the dead fish as he wraps the body’s long tails around his hand to give them a quick tug, basically turning the body inside out with a curious expression.

“But we’re they building weapons, or is that down there a battlefield?” He tosses in further, not yet bothering to try and stand himself. Instead, he plucks a roughly olive-sized black organ from the dead fish and hold it up towards Tony, who seems very eager to leave. The Archivist’s single raised brow may say it all. “You don’t want it to spread to your heart, chew this.”
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-17 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
While Cal was still sorting his balance, he was easy to grab by the weak leg to haul up onto Tony's back, where he could let Tony take his weight or throw them both over back into the water. Cal seemed sensible. They weren't going to get to the hospital very fast if they were dragging half of Cal, and apparently a fishing haul. "You keep doing things," Tony said to him, putting the puzzle together enough to figure Cal's weird reaction to the triggered object Tony found might have been something like an 'echo', but he was also moving things with his mind and hunting down Jon with unsettling accuracy. He could start to explain any time now, they had a walk to keep entertaining, but Tony only prompted him with, "You better not be reading my mind, you need a parent's permission for that show."

Meanwhile, he wasn't nearly steady enough on his feet with his load of Cal for Jon to start thrusting fish guts at him. Tony went, "Eugh," flatly, tongue out for a beat, feeling like he was being punished for not being more encouraging about Jon's weird scavenging. "Don't take this the wrong way, and not to be dramatic, but I would rather die," he responded to the offer lightly, but did bow enough to bring Cal's head closer to Jon's lovely gift, suggesting he could be the guinea pig for Jon's awful experiment.
beholding_archivist: (Mighty Frown)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-17 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Jon takes a while to simply look up at the other two from where he’s still sitting on the ground, holding up whatever piece of the fish’s inner working the Lamellen thing is. After receiving similar reactions from both, he glances over to the small droid. Then he sighs, dropping his shoulders along his his hand and turning his head forward again.

“Fine. Go ahead, then. I’ll... find you in the hospital in a few hours.” Only to offer them the very same thing squished into a mushy paste on a spoon.
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-17 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
They had stuff to talk about, a whole debrief that included explaining Cal to Tony and how they could keep Jon from being so appetizing to the locals, but Jon was severely derailing them. Turning his head slightly to suggest eye contact with Cal, hoping maybe he understood what Jon was trying to tell them, with his lip raised in confusion, Tony went, "Do you work at the hospital now?" It wasn't clear what they were supposed to be doing at the hospital for a few hours without the doctor, the guy who seemed to understand what attacked them on a primal level, and the third necessary element to the debrief cocktail that Tony didn't think was that complicated. "Hey, tell me this," Tony continued, "You found Jon with the Force down there, how do you know this is really him? Does he smell right? Did the fish replace his brain?" At the same time, he waved a hand Jon's way-- not for his gross snack, but to pick up Jon from the ground, too. Tony would carry them both if he had to. It wouldn't go great, but he would try.
beholding_archivist: (What the hell)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-17 01:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, I was bitten." Jon acknowledges with an exasperated tone to his voice and holds up the hand that hasn't been actively picking apart the fish, clearly showing the by now almost purple bite mark at the center of its palm along with a notable swelling of the individual fingers. His still functional hand, the one still carefully holding on to the small piece of fish guts, unzips the front of his suit to pull it down enough to show the very first sting he has received to his neck and how it has come to spread down his arm and back in a purplish hue.

"I can feel it paralyzing my lungs." Jon clarifies quietly without turning his head back to them. Instead he gestures for BD-1 to bring his catch over. "It hurts."

"Of course I was planning to take one of these myself! I-I-I... I would be an idiot not to! But you're in such a rush to- To reach a place that isn't even marginally equipped to deal with poisonings simply because we haven't encountered any venomous creatures on this planet yet and bandages and painkillers and disinfectants are what we primarily keep around." Jon keeps on, slowly working himself up. This is just another point on the list why Jon doesn't want to work at the hospital, he just doesn't have the patience to deal with difficult patients. "That's why I wanted to at least stabilize you. Stop the spread of the venom long enough to not have you die a perfectly preventable death until I can be functional enough to do my fucking job!"

It's with those last two words that Jon pulls his good arm back sharply and flings the small organ back into the waters of its origin before finally snapping his head around to glare at Tony specifically. "I already watched you die once, Tony. Do you really think I want that to happen again? Don't you trust me enough to have your well being in mind? Yes, I could compel you to eat it, but I don't want to do that. I want you to trust me!"
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-17 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Don't encourage him," Tony was muttering to the droid with the fish collection until Jon showed off the worst of his bites and made Tony grimace again, head tilted to try to see how far the damage had spread. To Tony, that looked like a fine argument to get to the hospital instead of whatever else Jon was planning to do in the interim, both he and Cal were on a clock here, because he hadn't really considered the facts that Jon was starting to lecture them about. Tony wasn't the biologist, he didn't really want anything to do with the hospital if he could help it, he just assumed that was where Jon was capable of dealing with, well, anything, like knitting Tony's whole chest cavity back together after it got fried. That seemed more complicated to him than a few nibbles from misadventure.

Carrying Cal was starting to feel like clowning around despite Tony's best intentions by the time Jon was throwing things, making Tony slink down to try to carefully tip Cal off again onto his good leg to help him down to sit next to Jon. He still had his hands on the kid when Jon rounded on him, making him raise his eyebrows, really not sure what it was about him and the innards of the animals around here that kept getting Jon on his case. "I don't...not trust you," was a terrible argument, but so was, "I'm not dying," as he straightened, hand out with nothing to show to prove that because at this point he wasn't sure. Still searching for something that would stick, Tony abandoned both attempts to continue, "You know what, why don't we all have a drink, calm down, the stress level is off the charts. Hulking out isn't part of the plan to get you functional, I don't think, I don't know, I'm not the expert, we'll follow your lead." Not terribly well, so far, but Tony was trying here. Step one, get Jon functional, he was listening.
beholding_archivist: (Mighty Frown)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-17 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Jon casts a tiny, yet still irritated enough smile in Cal’s direction, kind of wishing the boy wouldn’t make promises for him to keep that wholly depend on how stubborn everyone turns out to be. He still accepts BD-1’s fishy delivery with a ‘thanks’ for the droid before gesturing towards his bag “Can you.... Get this over here, please?” There isn’t anything heavy in it at this point, which means the droid should well be able to drag it these few meters.

But he isn’t entirely done with Tony either. “They got you as well, Tony. It’s creeping up your neck and- Christ! Of the three of us?” He gestures from himself to Cal and up to Tony, not outright phrasing it, but Tony May get the hint. He’s the one with the weakest heart.

“I’m worried, okay? Worried. I know we can stop it. Temporarily. And I should still have the stuff at the library to make a proper antidote within..... A reasonable amount of time.” He pauses there to take a deep, rather painful breath and turn his attention to one of the fish BD brought to him, lodge this one under his useless hand as before and perform the same quick procedure on this fish as the previous one, deflating slowly now that his agitation starts to fade and he’s just starting to feel drained. “It’s poison, Tony. It’s meant so make your body break down slowly. Please take this seriously.”
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-17 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The hint, at first, was lost on Tony, responding to the gesture with his own questioning one at himself because he was the only one of the three that was still mobile, apparently, distinctly upright, and that might have been entirely because it didn't matter if he was numb from the neck down with the nanoweb keeping him functional, but it wasn't like Jon knew that--and Tony wasn't eager to find out and have any more of his bites oxidize and start itching like the exposed one on his neck. He had to assume that unique problem was Extremis trying to fight the poison, which was a good thing, but wasn't interested in what that might feel like literally anywhere else. He really didn't appreciate Jon's implication that he had some particular weakness, like-- okay, maybe he did, but Jon didn't have to acknowledge it. Tony wrinkled his nose, dropping his gesturing of silent argument listlessly to his sides before flopping onto the ground in defeat with the other two. They were all dying, wasn't everybody?

"I'm serious, I can be serious," he insisted, not very convincingly in that tone, especially when he continued, "But you need to stop it, stop worrying, we're fine. I mean, you two look like hell, but we got out of the worst of it and you're already on it. We should be celebrating. Hey! Look! What the hell is this thing? Isn't that great?" It didn't stop sounding sarcastic, but he was waving the scrap Cal brought up with him and genuinely was excited to figure out what they had found. That was fun, they had a puzzle to solve.
beholding_archivist: (I disagree)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-18 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
“I will worry and you will have to accept that.” Jon reminds Tony in a tone that is surprisingly gentle given his earlier snapping. He also nods a ‘Thanks’ to Cal this time as he accepts his bag and leaves the others to wonder about their little souvenir while he sets his bag to Th e side for now and focuses on the fish BD has brought him.

The small organ is easily enough removed, but rather than offering it over to the others like the previous one, Jon places it between his own teeth, deliberately far back and tries to tell himself he is biting down on an oddly textured grape. A remarkably odd textured grape...

At least Cal’s giving him something new to listen and learn about the Force as he swallows and hopefully distract from his unhappy expression regarding the taste of that thing. But being determined to be a good example, Jon spares them any commentary and picks up another fish only to cast a raised brow about. A wordless question for the next volunteer.
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-18 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Cal going for that dive on his own had Tony nodding solemnly, agreeing quietly to him, "We would have found you floating like that," with a point to the sickly bodies they had littered the lake with. "Couldn't even have a proper funeral, can you imagine? Jon would have been eating your kidneys. Come on everybody, good for the iron, shouldn't go to waste." It wasn't quite under his breath enough for Jon not to catch the teasing at this distance, but Tony wouldn't meet his eye over Cal's head, smirking toward the lake instead.

The memories Cal could sense, echoes he called them before--like a callback, Tony could get it-- still weren't super clear to Tony, but he pouted thoughtfully for the explanation. "Like--contamination?" he tried to contextualize for himself, figuring this had to be some kind of energy transfer. "That could mean there's decay. Don't know how old this stuff is," he offered, gesturing with the object again. To be fair, he didn't know how old most of the stuff Cal was going around touching was. Why it's down there, that was a good point, and Tony was glad Cal had picked up on how out of place it seemed, but Tony didn't have any hints to contribute.

And until he did...Tony was distracted watching Jon put that thing in his mouth with enthralled horror, his own mouth open with shock when Jon just went for it, and lip raising as he bit down, vividly imagining that experience just by the visual. Tony wouldn't go so far as to say he was happy to eat one himself now, for many reasons he was even more put off, but it was slightly reassuring that Jon was willing to eat one, too, and wasn't just over there finding out what he could make the pair of them do for him. So, it wasn't an enthusiastic reaction, but he accepted the next bit of fish innards, partially so he wouldn't have to watch Cal do it, too, and entirely lose his nerve. Honestly, Tony'd had worse things in his mouth. "Do I have to chew it, is that, like, part of the...?" he started to ask, shaking his head, never mind, they weren't talking about this and they were never going to talk about it again. This was between them.
beholding_archivist: (u sure.)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-18 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
There is a brief moment in which Jon wants to snap back at the teasing, but ultimately settles with an indignant huff. A slightly amused indignant huff, at least.

Seeing Tony offering to go next is a surprise, but also a relief. A visible one. Jon’s entire posture relaxes notably as he places the next of the little treats in Tony’s hand, offering some simple instructions with it. “Just... bite down and swallow.” There is a small gesture accompanying his words and Jon continues to prepare the third piece for the final member of their little party, less tense now that they have agreed to make sure neither of them wanted to die from this. And he’s having a bit more of an ear for the conversation going on at last.

“They at least say Temba has been abandoned for centuries. I still don’t think the city looks as if it’s been left to decay for that long. Decades, at best.” That’s just a little detail Jon has been wondering about for some time now.
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-18 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
In an obvious display of procrastination, Tony started to raise it to his mouth only to abort and ask, "Is it working? Do you feel...?" with a vague gesture kind of everywhere at Jon, only to accept that he was delaying himself before either of them had to call him out and bit the bullet. Or, gallbladder. Whatever the thing was. The squelch of it in his mouth had him going, "Eugh," again, and looking to Jon with a new level of horror and some perverse admiration for downing his as gracefully as he appeared to, and shuddered with his arms out like he would prefer to exit his body now.

While his expression didn't really recover from the experience, he tried to continue as though everything was perfectly normal and not disgusting, asking Cal, "Can you tell when a memory is from? That would solve that mystery," with a nod to Jon's point. He would argue that the alien city level of decay was difficult to map due to the whole alien factor, materials, construction methods, atmosphere, but not many of the materials were alien enough that Tony couldn't identify and use them, and the atmosphere was notably Terran. Decay rate should have been fairly straightforward.
beholding_archivist: (u sure.)

[personal profile] beholding_archivist 2020-07-18 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
The tension that leaves Jon upon seeing both men following his example is a palpable one. They will be okay for now. They will be okay. All of them. He gives BD-1 a pat for good measure and finally picks up his bag to retrieve a neatly folded up plastic bag from it. Another leftover from their little trip to Risa. It will work to gather up a decent amount of dead fish. He also pulls out his lighter and a small metal box, which he opens to reveal a small amount of cigarettes of which he picks one before offering it to the other two. "We may also consider a drink now for the... Taste." Anything, really. Some licorice would be great to have right now.

He turns his attention more towards Cal now "You said you got a sense of... Hopelessness down there. Anything else?" Hopelessness, fear, weird weapons- Or whatever those things were. If only he hadn't dropped them.
in_extremis: (Default)

[personal profile] in_extremis 2020-07-18 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounded fairly vivid to Tony, who had been thinking this memory was more of a feeling, but if Cal could pinpoint specific people in it then there had to be a good level of detail involved that definitely sounded useful. The scrutinizing stare he was treating Cal to was only broken by a brief chuckle at Jon as Tony said, "Is that your professional, medical advice, boss?," and gladly took this offer without a bunch of complaining to overcome the fishy experience.

Not to inundate Cal with questions, but he had just told them he could experience past events and they had a lot of questions about past events, Tony didn't even wait for him to answer Jon before tacking on his own, "Did you see any of the Agrii? Down there, or..." Anywhere, really. If Cal could even tell them that the Agrii had actually lived in Temba, that would be hugely informative.

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