♤ Network || Log - Raise a Glass

[deal_me_in]

WHO: Cayde-6 and erryone
WHERE: The Deep End (Orange-13 on map)
WHAT: Cayde doesn't like dwelling on negative things so HEY Bar Grand Opening come drink away your sorrows and stress and enjoy company in general
WHEN: 'bout a couple of days after the storm's passed, time flexible thereafter
WARNINGS: N/A will change as necessary
NOTES: Use whatever format you want

[Network - Video]

[The image starts out crooked but the Exo's actively adjusting it before he steps back and gives someone a thumb's up off-screen.]

All right, so good news? Nothing sprung a leak despite prior circumstances, surrounding area's a little damp though, but all in all? Everything's pretty much how I left it. Even got some supposed cyanana booze that's been uh...going through this still since before we left for space. -okay I'm not exactly sure how that might taste? So in the meantime, I've got a backup plan.

[He seems to remember something then, coming up close to the communicator.]

But Cayde, you say, what's all this about anyway? Excellent question! I was so excited I forgot to say. Ahem. So, some of you- a good number, actually, might be aware that I have been in the process of putting together a bar-slash-common gathering area type of hangout...thing. It's pretty much been done, just not stocked- but now that we're finally back from...all that and then some, I've got a selection of fine drinks for your...uh... drinking pleasure. Also some non-alcoholic stuff for the non-drinkers and the under-aged. Oh, and there's tea and coffee too.

[Fishing around in his pocket, he holds up a map he's drawn up, the location circled.]

We're right down here, southeast sector, past the lake- I'm working on getting some kind of a landmark but this place is fresh out of neon signs. Anyway! I'll be around. Come as you please, even if I'm not- don't trip up the stairs, help yourself and uh, don't mind if the fish stare at you.

---

Making the network announcement had helped to fully kick his mood back into a semblance of normal. Truth be told, he just wanted to gather up people together, real people, and settle in with an ambiance of more pleasant times and warmer company.

The backdrop of the water-filled courtyard that made up the center of the nest of buildings had been something Cayde had at the time thought whimsical. During the daylight hours the light that filtered through the large window was a wavering green-blue, offset by the small sconces along the wall and a few individual lanterns at tables and flanking the bar area adjacent to the makeshift aquarium.

Cayde had set up the various bottles of drinks he'd acquired from their planetary pit-stop and scavenged from the cafe on a somewhat crooked shelf behind the bar itself. He'd been trying to go for rustic like those Old West saloons but in the middle gave up and just let things shape itself as he found them. The glassware is just as mismatched as the furniture, but everything's clean and ready to be made use of. If there's anything he really wishes he had, it would be an old-fashioned phonograph player or some kind of music source just to drive off the quiet that filled the space when no people did.

Comments

[on_repeat]

Cayde's optimism raises a brow under the bucket, but it doesn't bother the clone. But yes, Echo is more or less practical about where he leaves things; he would rather have something stashed and still within reach rather than trying to repel or climb either of those options in order to get it back.

He rests his hands on his hips, glancing down at whatever is left of the street. "At least that's a relief to know now that we're not in the middle of it. I won't lie, though – it really was awful experiencing the ghosts that weren't yours."

Back to what they're doing, though. "Yeah. Let's see...it wasn't too far in. I had enough distance between me and my shadows before they caught up." Echo turns, checking each side before taking a few more steps forward. "North of here, or 'round the northeastern side."

[deal_me_in]

"That storm was way too long. Someone must've really wanted to give us a welcome back home this time around," Cayde scowls. "Oh, but seein' other people's problems on top of ours? Yeah. Don't know what the point of it was, but I don't like it."

He swings around and gestures for Echo to lead the way then. After you! "We'll check north first, then."

[on_repeat]

Echo makes a noise that falls within the same range as Cayde's outward scowling. "Unless something was trying to teach us a lesson..."

From how he says that, it's highly doubtful. But he busies himself with heading north, slowing at times to get a better look at the places he might have passed earlier.

"...I fell somewhere over here." He doesn't stop as he points it out. "And then Jon showed up before we headed to the shelter."

[deal_me_in]

"Nah. I don't think they're thinking that deep. They just wanna see how we react."

Cayde looks around, and then holds a hand out, calling his Ghost. Sundance compiles before him in a sparkle of light. "Might need the extra eyes. Don't know if anything power-wise will register enough for a ping, but you're usually pretty good at picking out interesting things."

After exchanging a nod with Sundance, the Exo begins to look around again as he continues after Echo. "Jon found you? Good."

[on_repeat]

A beat. Then a nod. "That sounds more believable."

The ARC Trooper watches as Sundance appears, fascinated by the Ghost's appearance seemingly out of thin air while quietly agreeing that having an extra pair of eyes on the ground is a good idea.

"Although I've been wondering what he's been dealing with," he belatedly adds. "The company he was keeping when I saw them, they were...questionable." And downright creeptastic, but there are better words for it.

[deal_me_in]

"Company? What company? I might've been too preoccupied with my own but I'm sure I would've noticed if I'd seen 'em."

Cayde looks around again, wandering off here and there to take a peek between rocks or crumbled walls. Sundance doesn't drift too far from him, but she seems to be doing her own scans of their immediate surroundings, her vertices twitching every so often.

[on_repeat]

"You didn't miss too much." Echo's hands circle aimlessly in front of him, uncertain of how to explain what he saw. "They just...followed him around, watching us from the sidelines while making comments. An' thankfully, that's all they did."

Further up the road, he continues to survey the odds and ends of what used to be whole buildings and clear paths, stepping around one of the breaks in the wall to see if anything is there or if the shape of it is something he'd recognize.

"We might be close," the clone says after looking up and far away again. His head eventually swivels to wherever the Exo is, letting a few seconds pass before asking, "I don't mean to pry, but who did you see?"

[deal_me_in]

"Thankfully," the Exo murmurs with a nod in agreement. He'd seen Wanda's doppleganger and how rough she'd been, flinging her better half around.

Finding nothing of interest on his side of the street, Cayde quickly bounces back in Echo's direction as the clone seems to have recognized the area. If he had a tongue he would have stuck it out then with distaste for the question and the memory it dredged up. "...old friends, annoying enemies- the kind that doesn't stay dead."

[on_repeat]

Although his face is hidden, Echo appears to commiserate – less for the not-staying-dead part and more for seeing old friends and enemies like that. "Now that's a challenge," he says, concern tinging his words. "Sounds like the storm decided to mix it up for you."

In the meantime, he retraces his steps. He then lifts a gloved hand, two fingers dotting the air in the next direction he looks off to. "–There. It has to be over there. I'm sure of it."

[deal_me_in]

"'s one way of putting it," Cayde snorts, but he drops that line of conversation then, eagerly taking the distraction given as Echo points out a direction.

"Woo! Got anything, Sundance?" He bounds off, his Ghost almost seeming caught in his orbit for how she drifts so easily alongside of him. Her points turn and twitch, and she rotates to a precise degree towards a building whose front's mostly rubble, stating quite confidently, "There."

[on_repeat]

Echo wastes no time in running after Cayde and Sundance, catching up to them once they all get closer to whatever is left of said building. When the Ghost refines her search, he shows no sign of hesitation, picking his way through the debris.

Sure enough, she's right. Halfway into the building, the butt of the blaster is wedged between what used to be a stair and a wall, medium and large pieces haphazardly stacked over one another creating a space tight enough to keep it stowed away for a while. Looking away from the remains of the entrance and side wall, Echo sees it.

"Oh, she's good," he comments.

[deal_me_in]

The Hunter Vanguard springs towards the space that Sundance has pinpointed. "Of course she is. She's my partner," he quips with a grin.

He studies the rocky construction before settling himself to heft the topmost pieces of debris off and to the side until the blaster stock is within easy reach. "Ha-hah!" he laughs as he pulls it out of its hiding place, lifting it over his head.

[on_repeat]

Wandering over, Echo laughs under his breath at the Exo's antics. Normally he tries to keep a straight face, but this excursion is an exception after what they've been through.

"All right, you had your fun," he then says, crossing his arms loosely over his chest.

[deal_me_in]

"What, I thought we discussed my finder's fee?" Cayde says casually as he gives the gun a once-over. Just a little dusty, but it seems like everything's in order. He lifts it, siting a chunk of rock perched atop what remains of a wall, and squeezes the trigger in testing.

It may not be as satisfying as a bullet, but there's something to the 'pew!' and the scorched bits of rock flying that make it so. Grinning over at Echo, he finally tosses the blaster over. "Still works!"

[on_repeat]

Echo snorts, holding up a finger. "I never agreed to that." If it sounds like he's smirking as he says that, he most likely is.

But it's good to see it works, even if it means one bolt less than before. His arms unfold so that he can catch the blaster, the grab clean as he lifts and inspects it himself. "I'd be worried if it didn't." The helmet looks Cayde's way once he's finished. "Thanks for the help, the both of you."

[deal_me_in]

Strolling back over towards the clone, the Exo shrugs. "Never know. All that rain, the run-off and the dirt and stuff around here," he points out, like he's done a favor by testing the thing.

"Eh, no problem. Try not to lose it again, huh? Or next time I might just claim it if I find it." He grins. "I should get back to the bar before someone blows it up. You good or what?"

[on_repeat]

The helmet tilts slightly in thought. "...Yeah, that's true. But I'm gonna have to dig around for other items so that I can do maintenance work on it." Hopefully it's not too hard to come across things like that.

Echo huffs a sigh, resting the barrel of the blaster in the crook of his arm. "When you put it that way, I won't let this out of my sight now." A shrug. "But yeah. I'm good. You getting back to the bar would be a good idea."

[deal_me_in]

"Think that Cal kid has some kinda salvage place set up in the northwestern part of the city," Cayde suggests. "Might check there first."

Nodding, he motions to Sundance, the little Ghost vanishing in a sparkle of light. "All right then. See you around, soldier," the Exo says, giving Echo something of a salute as he turns and begins to head back in the direction they'd come.

[on_repeat]

Echo considers this. "Good to know. I'll try to stop by sometime." Maybe later on, when things aren't as awkward.

As Cayde turns, he salutes back out of habit; not as casual, yet not at rigid as it usually goes when he salutes his commanding officers, biting back the urge to add 'sir' to end the outing. Still, it's kind of nice to keep it in play, if just to maintain that normalcy for himself.

He'll come back to the bar another time.