revivalproject | treasure

Entry tags:

treasure

WHO: Tony and...I don't know, there's some predetermined stuff, and some ambiguously open stuff in here. Check in at the Shenanigans plotting post if you're feeling unsure and need a formal invitation.
WHERE: The forge, the not-library
WHAT: Tony has a gift for Jon, and is trying to make a much more misguided gift for Poe. Some early speeder bike development catch all, if you like.
WHEN: Early February, Agrii Valentines Celebration
WARNINGS: Glitter?

a. The forge [OTA! If you just want to bring your own project, this is a good place]
The first shimmering fleck that caught Tony's eye fell onto his cheek, making him wink with his face twisted in surprise before carefully retrieving it with a finger pressed to the...plastic? It stuck easily to his skin, but Tony could only frown at it, baffled, and glance back toward the forge curiously, expecting the chimney to be pouring out some foreign element among the plume of dark smoke. He was on his back under the body of the vehicle that Cayde had called a sparrow, Poe had called a speeder, and was probably neither of them, really, as Tony slowly brought it together, the Iron Man kneeling in the grass next to him to Jack up the whole assembly for Tony to rework the fuel array again. Eventually, he would get this thing working.

As more of the strange precipitation began to flurry through the sky, clumping together against the seams of the Iron Man and through the bricks of the forge, Tony had to sit up and consider very seriously that this was...glitter. As he stared at the armor, he could see some of the more fanciful details--the heart shapes, the stars, making him raise a lip in confusion, then glance around again, seeking a source. It just seemed to be, warm and shimmery and catching the early light in a dancing array over the skyline.

By the time the sun had properly risen, he had disturbed Catra trying to sleep by the fire by clattering around in the forge, searching for empty vessels to collect as much of the strange glitter as possible. Impulsively, he had snatched at the bouquet of flowers he found by her head, only to have them burst in his hand and make him yelp, dancing away from the glitter bomb with his hand coated now in pink and red. He was much slower to pick up the card that had been with the bouquet, pinched carefully between two fingers until it didn't seem to be a bomb as well, the Agrii's pictures making him snort. Of course. It went up with the notes from Cayde and Jon that were clipped over his workbench, slouching against Cayde's map and funnelling more of the glitter throughout the day to gather in the folds of Jon's still designs.

By the time he was back to working on the bike, there were bowls and jars arranged against the walls and among the grass, incrementally measuring the shimmering downpour. This was going to be wreaking havoc on any meal production, Tony realized, so Tommy wasn't as likely to show up today, leaving him to grumble at the pile of tools and components that had been left around the weedy patch where he worked without the kid to find anything for him in this mess.

b. The library? [For Jon, but feel free to crash this party]
If Tony was going to try to understand the Agrii, and he would rather not, he hazarded a guess that whatever this glitter storm and gifting was about, it was something of an apology for the storm that they had come crashing into, or the giant pest problem that the Agrii had neglected to warn them about. Maybe that was just where Tony's head was, though, because he had plenty of his own apologies to make, and a misguided gift was historically how he dealt with that. Did he have something in common with the Agrii? Jesus.

Trying not to think too hard about that possibility, he came gliding slowly into the library on the Iron Man's skates, leaving rivulets in the dusting of glitter on the floor behind him. He carried what would have been a familiar shape to Jon, despite being wrapped as it was in what looked like a scrap of leather, against his armored chest; an acquisition from the replicator that he had impulsively requested just after replacing his sunglasses, then finding himself very overwhelmed with the amount of stuff he could really use at the forge. Taking the stairs down into the basement wasn't quite as smooth, producing a strange, very heavy thunk-thunk-thunk as he rolled carelessly down each step, the momentum depositing him against the desk that rattled with the lurch. He didn't really intend to stay, but had a quick look around for the Countess, hoping maybe she would display a tiny bit less annoyance upon seeing him so he could pretend Jon wasn't as annoyed with him as well. Yeah, that would totally work, Tony would feel great about that and all of his problems would be solved. He sighed into the mask when he didn't spot the animal, leaving the book on the desk and pushing himself back toward the stairs. It would be pretty obvious who it could have been from, Tony thought, even if Jon had no context for the author 'Reed Richards'--only a few pages into the forward of this physics text- cum-autobiography and it was already colourful with the caped heroes of Tony's world, and how they shaped the natural laws around them. And the library had just expanded exponentially, even if Jon wasn't particularly keen on the gesture and couldn't be convinced that Billy was clearly being very thoughtful.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With the helmet closing over his face, Tony's voice took on the slightly robotic modulation of Iron Man, flattening Tony's familiar flippant, "Of course." He waved a hand then, though, because that wasn't quite the whole code and he had to admit, "You're not that heavy. We should be able to make the round trip without a recharge." Tony had a vague idea of where the caves were, anyway. There was a small margin of error.

Barrelling on before Jon could think too much about that, he insisted, "Come on," waving Jon on to head for the doors and open air where Iron Man could properly demonstrate his abilities. Once outside, he was going to have to directly confront actually encouraging Jon to touch the suit if he did mean to carry him. Putting that off as long as possible, Tony gestured to his boots where Jon could stand and mimed the curl of his arm so Jon knew what to expect from this ride before he finally hesitated long enough to ask, "You're okay with this?"

No, Jon certainly isn't heavy, and the small gesture of exasperation he makes at the comment may or may not transmit his feelings on the matter as he steps outside, following the instructions with just a single slightly raised brow.

Once outside, Jon takes a moment to consider the suit with Tony in it in its entirety once more, one hand on his hip and head inclined a tiny bit while Tony basically instructs him to step onto his toes. "Well," He says at last. "I can't promise you I won't scream, but- I trust you. I trust you not to drop me and take us to the beach in one piece." Which also implies at least some trust in Tony's constructed armor, even though Jon doesn't outright say it.

The step he takes forward to close the gap between them is accompanied by a bit of a quizzical look however, with Jon carefully watching whether or not Tony backs away from the approach.

That wasn't much, just don't drop him, but it still made Tony feel hot and slightly sick in the armor because don't let him get brained by a spider didn't sound like a very tall order, either. He had some basics to prove, evidently, making him flinch once Jon was close enough, but he didn't draw away entirely this time. His metal toes could handle being stepped on, and with deliberate care he secured Jon against his chest with one arm, every press of it against Jon fluttering with minute adjustments as Tony calculated every curve to not press too hard or let him go. "It's going to be great, like a roller coaster," he said, smile in his voice. Plenty of screaming happened on roller coasters, and only a few people died.

The only further warning Jon got was Iron Man lifting his face to the sky, plotting his path before the repulsors whined and launched them straight up, into the air. They shot upward, where Jon could keep on his toes if he wanted to for now, rocketing rapidly past the full height of the library, and beyond several stories before Iron Man slowed enough to hover over the city, face tilted back down toward Jon inquisitively. The shimmer of the glitter at this height was like a soft glow along the skyline, and it reflected staggeringly off of the water.

Jon will make a valid effort to hold on to- Well, wherever he can get some purchase on the armor. But he is certainly glad for the strong hold provided by Tony's arm. He still closes his eyes initially at the take off, not used to this sort of acceleration. The only time he has felt something similar was when Mike Crew has made him experience a long fall to prevent him from asking any questions. But that had been a fall, while this takes him in the exact opposite direction. At least he doesn't scream, keeping his jaw clenched shut as best as he can.

He opens his eyes and relaxes his jaw again once the movement stops and after blinking twice Jon realizes that they have moved past the fall of the glitter. So he dares to take a look around, at the sparkling city beneath them. It's not a view he has had before, even when they left the planet with the little ships.

"Tony, this- It's beautiful." Jon manages while trying to turn his head further and take in even more of the view, temporarily setting aside the entire reason they have even ventured this high into the sky.

Having expected the screaming, yelping or at least grouching that Jon was so practiced at, Tony was watching him carefully and trying to sense as much as he could through the suit--heart rate, tension, temperature to get a gauge on Jon's reaction. And while all of those readings were accompanied by their own warnings for what the Iron Man recognized as stable, the flush of Jon's cheeks and curious squirming read much more clearly as exhilarated, making Tony breathe a fond laugh. Yeah, the view was pretty exceptional.

"Hey," he whispered, not feeling entirely optimistic about winning Jon's attention when he had so much to be taking in, especially not as he slowly tipped them back to take more of Jon's weight against his chest for him to acclimate for the rest of the flight that was going to be a lot more horizontal. Having Iron Man between him and the ground for a little while might make it easier to deal with. Tony didn't really mind if Jon was distracted, anyway, because he was mumbling behind the security of his mask a very belated, "I love you, too, you know."

The Iron Man didn't seem to have a slow and steady option, kicking from idling over the library into a dart across the city, aimed toward the ocean and the delicate glow of the caves.

That shift from upright to practically lying on the hard body carrying him does catch some of Jon’s attention, at least. Though it’s just a small exclamation of surprise and a quick glance to Tony to make sure this is an intended maneuver and not the beginning of them plummeting down to the ground. But seeing that they aren’t falling, Jon settles back against the armor and allows himself to keep drinking in the sight before him while he can.

He does catch those words, though, spoken in that familiar, yet slightly distorted voice that is Tony as well as the suit. And while he remains unsure as of what to feel about the suit, Jon still smiles.

Suddenly darting across the city is worth a flinch and another short noise of surprise and Jon looks up himself and past Tony’s head to see where they are going despite knowing their destination.

“Oh...” He mutters at the sight of the approaching beach and the caves, his words in all likelihood lost in their momentum, but nonetheless ones of awe. Just as the city before, seeing the beach from the sky is breathtaking. Maybe terrifying due to the height they are at and the speed they are moving with, yet still undoubtedly beautiful.

Jon was only briefly welcome to get comfortable in this position before Iron Man was rolling and pitching down closer to the treetops to better navigate around the caves. He circled the area curiously before he was pulling them upright again where he was pretty sure he spotted a reasonable entrance, and it was debatable how much of their descent was a controlled landing or a drop out of the sky. Iron Man hit the ground on his feet, but it was a heavy impact that sent a noticeable shudder through the metal before he was easing his hold on Jon.

This place was suddenly a lot more familiar to Tony, now that he was standing at the cave entrance. Maybe not covered and glitter and while the sun was still up, but he had definitely been here before and then not thought too hard about the strange glowing of the rocks. After all, plenty of things seemed to glow around this place. "Is this what Cal meant?" he asked dubiously. There were also plenty of weird, underground networks around this place.

And as it turns out going up isn't the bad part at all. It's going down and seeing trees and the ground come closer that makes Jon scream at last. Or at least yelp and whimper while clinging to the armor and hoping for an impact that doesn't kill them. Which it didn't. But it does shake him and has him unsteady on his feet even after stepping off of Tony's feet.

"-it... this is--" Jon tries at first, looking around to orient himself for a couple of moments before spotting the nearby beach, connected to their current location with a simple path. Turning his back to the beach, Jon inspects the cave entrance next. Still struggling a little with standing on solid ground, he takes a step towards the cave and gives a wobbly nod. "Ah-- y-yeah. I think- I believe this is-- The cave."

He doesn't entire just yet. Instead, he shakes his head and takes a steadying breath, which certainly helps. "...we know we're at the right place if we find supplies. A-apparently the Agrii tried to hide in these caves from the storms. It... It didn't safe them. Many died. Cal... I believe he saw what happened to some of them."

Iron Man confirmed that he had heard some of this story with a slow nod, following Jon closely to keep a hand near his back while he wobbled around and found his feet again. "He didn't tell me that there was anything left behind. That's weird, right?," he asked, not quite able to put a finger on why that felt out of place, only vaguely concluding, "Evidence." How effective any evidence they found really was remained inconclusive; it was difficult to know what they were being allowed to see anymore. Too much of the narrative had been deliberately constructed.

While Tony considered the rocks, waiting for Jon to gather his faculties, he proposed, "What if you had him just tell you about it, all of the gory details? Would that still be his fear--what would he even have nightmares about, telling you a story? Would it not work because it's second hand?"

"Oh, that- That works as well, yes." Jon nods, pausing in his step to consider the question further. "I have listened to recordings of statements read by other people and recordings of second-hand accords made by Gertrude's assistants. They... work. Can feel rather... Well. Stale, though." There is a clear difference to fresh terror. Even the statements he has had to read back in his archive weren't as satisfying as an actual directly given or taken one.

His attention hasn't quite left the cave entrance, however. "I can ask Cal if he wants to record some of what he has seen, but-- I still want to see what's in there."

"I'm not thrilled about the food we have here, either," Tony pointed out. They weren't exactly in a great position to be picky, and Jon was already being overly cautious to Tony. Iron Man tilted his head, but the question he had didn't quite read, concealed behind the armor, wondering if it really was caution or a deliberate deprivation. Instead of trying to ask, he let his hand creep up Jon's back to press between his shoulders.

"Maybe he missed something," he agreed. "It sounded like he wasn't really, uh, present. Come on." The glow was emanating from deeper in the cave, but Iron Man tapped the circle of light at the centre of his chest reassuringly. They weren't going to be left completely blind as they stepped out of the sun.

Now this? Gets a little chuckle from Jon and he turns his head enough to glance up at Tony's helmet-covered face. "Alright, I won't tell Tommy what you think about his cooking skills." He lets this linger for a moment before returning his attention back forward, maintaining some of this moment of bemusement as he starts walking into the cave at last. "Though I agree that the protein paste is dreadful. I gave it one try and still wish I hadn't."

Jon's own steps are light compared to the heavy ones of Tony's armor, but that's not what grabs his attention once they are a few meters inside and already mostly out of sunlight's reach. There is the distant glow they are inevitably heading towards, but the air in the cave itself just feels heavy to Jon and he tenses slightly with his own steps. "I... I think I know what Cal may have stumbled over." He comments with a forming frown. "It's still... Faint. Here at least."

As unforgiving as the armor was, the way Iron Man raised his hands and gave a panicked shudder was still a clear enough statement on his opinion of being so exposed to Tommy's ire. He'd managed to create a delicate balance with the Young Avenger where Tony could spend a comfortable ten minutes with him before he said something to make Tommy sour, and he hadn't even worked out the calculation for that yet. "Very predictable, though," he did counter, of the protein paste. There hadn't been a lot of instances in his time here that Tony had been prepared for something he had put in his mouth.

To Tony, the cave was...a cave. Damp and echoing with the waves off of the beach on one side, and a drip echoing from the depths on the other, and a generally unpleasant experience being both enclosed and creeping with the oppressive dark. The glow was an intriguing lure that he wandered toward, but he mostly kept his watch on Jon and the temperature, ready for it to get too cold and to gently turn them back. He wasn't expecting what they were looking for to be in question.

"What, 'what'?" he tried. "He said the Agrii thought there would be shelter here from the storm." There wasn't something here as much as there was storm out there.

"Fear, Tony." Jon answers softly as they stepped deeper into the cave, approaching the glow further within. "There is... A lot of it here. Old fear. Lingering..." He casts a frown over to the armored man. "Cal is a lot more attuned to sensing emotions - And other things I can't quite understand myself. But I can feel it quite clearly even here. Stronger even than on the Agrii ship when we found it empty." Which isn't necessarily something Jon has told Tony about his stay on the ship. That lingering feeling of dread the Archivist had picked up while his group was searching through empty hallways and rooms.

The frown on Jon's face twitches and he turns his attention back forward when around a rocky bend in their path the first glowing crystals come into view. The sight comes with a sudden jab of pain exploding within Jon's skull and he flinches once, yet refuses to pause. At least until Tony's armor begins to glow again, not unlike what it has done when Cal turned on his weapon. "....oh."

That was exactly what they were hoping for, wasn't it? Tony supposed it was reasonable that Jon didn't enjoy that, the feeling or the reminder that he was here to find a meal, but it sounded like a step in the right direction to Tony so while Jon frowned, Tony brightened behind his mask. If it was new fear, they might have something of a problem. "That's great," he offered, with his hands up to balance the myriad of caveats he did recognize. "Not that a whole bunch of people were suffering, but that's long over and already the problem we were working on, in the long run, so, great, there's a bunch of free fear here, we just have to, uh, get it." Could Jon do that while he was on the ship? Plenty of what happened to him while they were up there was still a mystery to Tony, and it wasn't really a wound he wanted to reopen.

He missed Jon's flinch, even as the armor registered it with a flicker at the corner of his eye, because at the same time his whole HUD treated him to a blinding overload that made him squint around the light and put his hands up like he could block it out. That was at least familiar, and Tony wasn't surprised when he tore the helmet off to escape the static to find the metal glowing. "Oh," he agreed, holding the helmet like a fishbowl between them as it continued to throw up its own light from the inside, unwilling to shut down and playing a myriad of frantic colours across the stones around them like a broken projector. "Maybe we make this quick," he proposed.

If there is one part of this that Jon doesn't enjoy, then it's that he actually likes walking into this growing sensation of past dread and how willing he is to soak it all up. If it tells him one thing, then that there is a part of him quite willing to seek out and draw out what terror surrounds him.

But he puts that realization aside for now, instead focusing on the upturned helmet once it's taken off, wincing sympathetically up at Tony in response to the lightshow the man just has had to endure. He looks back over to the first set of crystals they can actually see. "These also serve as power sources in the city, don't they." Jon ponders aloud, but resumes moving further into the cave itself. "There must be some use for them. Do you think you could work with them? You made Cal's weapon..."

The weapon that has one of these crystals in it. Which isn't something anyone has actually told Jon, however.

What Jon did or didn't already know about the lightsaber wasn't obvious to Tony, so he wasn't surprised in any way by the question, only pondering the crystals as he trailed after Jon with his strobing helmet cradled in front of him. "That's the working theory, that the rods from the power station are some kind of refined version of these," he agreed. "But the refinement process is still a mystery. If the theory is correct, then clearly the process manages some of the wilder output, because I've got one of those powering the suit without the lightshow."

He didn't think it was entirely correct that he got any credit for Cal's weapon, though. "Cal was the one that found the crystals, and figured they could do they same thing his old sword used to do, or whatever. I just made the thing a case. If anyone has the best hope of understanding these things and making use of them, it's probably Reeve. He gets the power systems here, and he had something similar where he came from--he had a couple of different names for it. I thought he was talking about oil or natural gas at first, but he said it was more..." Tony waved a hand, generally, around them, trying to come up with how Reeve had described his power source, and landed on, "Primal."

"Mako." Jon answers automatically, his eyes tracing another set of crystals as they pass. "The lifestream of their planet. The souls and memories of all living beings turned into energy... Might as well turn human bodies into fuel and call it renewable energy." There is a scowl in his voice. Not an accusatory, but a pensive one. "Reeve, Cloud and their friends made the right call to put a stop to it. Didn't appear to have been easy, but- Worth it. And I heard things are improving for their planet and their people." Cloud has told him quite a few things. About what happened and his disease. A disease Reeve has by now confirmed he has been cured from in the end. Which Jon remains glad about.

"The Agrii didn't seem very spiritual. Neither does anything in Temba hint at any sort of spiritual tendencies. These crystals are natural resources, yes, but... That appears to be about it." And at last he turns his attention back to Tony to declare comparably cheerful: "I don't believe your suit is powered by the soul of an ancient alien, and neither is Temba." As for figuring out how to refine these raw crystals... Now that may be a mystery left to those more adept in the matter.

Jon's attention is still with Tony when he casts out another random question. "...do you think the weapons they gave us use these as well?" He manages to finish his question before stopping short and freezing in place, eyes moving ahead and into the large cavern they have just set foot in. It's spacious and suspiciously empty.

The lightsaber made sense for Jon to know something about, but knowing so much about Reeve's planet did some as a small surprise. Reeve could be tight and awkward talking to Tony about his regrettable past, and Cloud, while soulful and easy to bait, wasn't very good at...talking. "Have you been talking to Reeve...?" Tony muttered toward Jon's back, not sure how else to account for his confident recollection but sure one of them would have told him if they were getting along finally. Wouldn't they? Maybe he didn't deserve an answer to that question.

Jon's cheerful confidence about the source of the crystals' power was more surprising still, thought Tony was sure Reeve would be happy to know Jon thought so. It hadn't occurred to Tony to look for any evidence of spirituality in the Agrii culture, and he pouted curiously at the concept and how that might have been factoring in to the puzzle thus far. More immediately, he countered, "Do you think the faith is what makes it real?" Just because the Agrii didn't believe or worship it or whatever, didn't mean a system like the life stream wasn't also present on this planet.

Tony almost bumped into Jon as he abruptly stopped, letting the helmet swing down by his side in one hand to wrap the other over Jon's shoulder, peering up to the opening ceiling. He wasn't sure how much Jon actually cared about the weapons thing now, but he did absently murmur, "I never looked that close at them." Tony had been trying to keep his distance, after Reeve reminded him that any other version of him had managed much better self-control and moral rigour about their stance on weapons development.

"...calibrations." Jon answers absentmindedly as he steps forward and further into the cavern, his eyes trailing along the crystal-encrusted ceiling and from there down to where the big cave splits up into further smaller ones. Yes, he has learned a few things while getting to see Reeve's spacious office. Very much a direct counterpart to his own little basement-dwelling. He keeps talking while slowly stepping through the cavern, hesitating here and there as if taking something in. "...also helped him do those measurements... When you let me use--" The gauntlet, yes. They had made good progress with that one. "But Cloud... He told me a lot. Wanted me to understand his disease." And Jon has his ways to make people talk. That the Archivist's presence alone can be quite helpful to add coherence and and eloquence to someone having a hard time expressing themselves is not exactly a secret to him at this point.

He stops in his traipsing and shudders involuntarily at an all too familiar sensation crawling up his back and his eyes fixate onto one of the smaller caves, a deep scowl settling on his features. "Oh, shit, this is--" Jon chokes and his eyes travel back up to stare at the crystals above. before his world explodes into everything and he doesn't even notice that he's falling backwards, eyes wide and expression mortified.

Jon had been far more effective at taking advantage of Calibrations than Tony had been, he was figuring out, which was a little unsettling. Tony thought he had been very carelessly invasive while he had the chance. So he was still watching Jon closely as the Archivist appeared to be cataloguing something that he couldn't see throughout the cave, making him more prepared for the next sudden stop, hand already tentatively up like last time and turning to try to follow Jon's gaze and see what he was seeing. "What...?" Tony tried, because he was still just getting 'atmospheric cave' and, at best, 'there might be water that way', which wasn't particularly remarkable.

He was looking back to Jon just in time to see him overbalance. The helmet rang and clattered as Tony dropped it and it bounced off of the rocks, skipping away down the slope of the cave and throwing its lights erratically over the walls. Meanwhile, Tony had flung both arms around Jon before his head could do the same, letting him sag back like Tony held him in a deep dip where Tony could watch his face, equally wide-eyed with panic. "Boss? You still with me?" he urged, touching Jon's cheek then the pulse in his neck as he glanced rapidly around the cave once more for what could have been the cause of whatever this was.

Jon's drive to gather knowledge hasn't left him while they were all locked in the tunnels.And those dreams made it very easy and convenient to learn and experience new things.

That he isn't plain hitting the floor is a little blessing Jon is very willing to accept, even as he keeps staring up, his expression twitching with growing distress while literally everything there is to know tries to force its way into his head at once. It's not merely knowledge, though. It's also everything terrible that has transpired in this cave the Agrii had hoped to find shelter in. All the old suffering, the pain and terror they had hoped to find tries to wedge itself among it all resulting in a pulsing, twisting knot Jon can't even point a finger at since all it appears to do is try to burst through his skull.

Tony still receives a reaction. It's little more than a strained gargle and a tentatively raised hand with no clear goal aside from providing a sign of life. Too much. It's just too much at once.

Externally, the experience of suddenly not knowing anything, as it felt to Tony, was not much better. To him, it looked as though Jon was having some kind of seizure or stroke, leaving him very torn on how to handle it. "Okay," he accepted, breathless and rushed and his best attempt at sounding less panicked than he felt, "that's good, keep, uh, talking." If that was how anyone could take that sound that had clawed its way out of Jon.

Whatever it was, staying in this cave and hoping it stopped didn't seem like a viable option. As carefully as Tony could manage in his anxious hurry, he bowed to gather Jon up and cradled against his chestplate, trying to keep his head steady against an unforgiving shoulder. "Keep talking," he said again, trying to fill the space, "I shouldn't have to tell you that, that shouldn't be a problem, you're always talking, come one, when do you have nothing to say?" The rocks under his feet didn't feel nearly as unsteady, shifting and sliding under every step as they had made their way into the cave. It left echoes of metal scraping against the stone as he retreated from the glow and the static projected from the abandoned helmet.

While the armor doesn't offer the same warmth and comfort and covers a lot of that familiar scent of the man wearing it, Jon still leans instinctively against the cool support and after half a dozen steps even manages to squeeze his eyes shut with a wince. The next and more notable sign of life is Jon's hand reaching up to Tony's opposite shoulder and try to cling to the smooth material while turning the rest of his body to press his face against the cold surface with a half swallowed whimper.

They have exited the large cavern at that point and the pressure on Jon's mind has eased enough to allow him to actually breathe again. Which he at least tries to honor by attempting to form actual words, as requested. "....kkkgnngh...-it... t-Tony... it-a-hnn... hurts--"

And it does. Not only the sudden onslaught of it all, but almost more so to lose it all again so abruptly, leaving Jon dizzy and nauseous.

Closing his eyes was at least slightly less disturbing, and Tony was happy to take that as a good sign. The whimper, however, had him muttering, "No, no, it's okay, you're okay...", then trying to gingerly hitch Jon up closer to his ear as he realized the man was trying to tell him something. Was it a good sign?

It was a development. So Tony hurried on, pulling Jon away from the cave and toward the orange light of the setting sun and the whisper of the ocean across the sand, the small window of it at the mouth of the cave looking shockingly bright and lively after the close air of the damp stones. "We're just going to warm you up," Tony decided frantically, like that might do something, "And relax, take a deep breath." Not that he was confident that this would solve the problem, which was clear enough in the way he cautiously shifted to shade a hand over Jon's face and ear to ease the transition into the light.

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