thebastion | Day 124 - Action || I'm going to the hardware store

Entry tags:

Day 124 - Action || I'm going to the hardware store

Who: Colin and Rin
Open: Closed
When: Day 124
Where: The Scrapyard
What: Colin gathers more salvage and tries keep mending fences
Format Action
Warnings: Two derps with malfunctioning social filters? What kind of warning could that possibly need?

[The other day had come and gone, and Colin had needed more rest than he thought. As a result, he'd failed to make the salvage run that he'd so desperately wanted.

He'd also missed the psychic meltdown near the monument, which was a plus.

Still, he'd promised Rin that he's let her know the next time he was going out. He didn't imagine that she'd accept his invitation to join him, so when she did, it was a pleasant surprise. So after a short delay for her to get her things, they'd set off.

The trip itself was uneventful. Squirts were leaving them alone, and there were no peckers around. Paarth must have been thinning their numbers, or at least dissuading them from flying high during prime hunting time. The scrap yard was probably going to have some nesting critters of some sort, but that was why he brought Rin. Now all they needed was a simple plan.]

All right. I'm going to need to dismantle the consoles on those transports. They're the best source of salvage by far. After that, I'm going to need lots of wiring and screws, bolts, and anything else we can use as fasteners.

What about you? You want anything out here?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's a difference between being too dumb to understand something, and not being educated enough to understand it. Even I don't know everything about what I'm saying here. If I did, I'd already be home, writing my report on this whole incident.

Heck, dad doesn't want me knowing that stuff on the level where I could manipulate things. Can't say I blame him, really. It's fragile stuff. Lots of room to abuse things.

[Rin frowned at that, not going full blown scowl at him but still irritated enough to show it.]

All we've known for months is that this is what's left, that there is no home to go back to, yet you keep talkin' like for you it's gonna be a hop and a skip outta here with the right stuff in your hands.

Which if you can, fine, go. But even if our worlds are still out there somewhere you do realize that for the Caeldonians it ain't like that... don'tcha?

And if it was?

[Colin looks back at Rin with a level, calm gaze]

This is their life now.

[Come on, Colin. If she's got enough intuition to see what's wrong with that, sure you've gotta catch on eventually.]

Even if the rest of us can walk away eventually... are you really okay with just leaving 'em to that?

Let me ask you this, Rin.

The monument "remembers" the world as it was, right? I think that's how it was explained?

And it can create... well... ANYTHING if it's given enough shards and cores?

Are you telling me you can't see the potential of something like that?

[Colin is an eternal optimist, and an engineer to boot. He breaks the laws of the natural world on a daily basis, and he likes to challenge reality itself... This is not even a question to him. He'd probably feel this way WITHOUT the monument, but that's another matter entirely.]

[But that's when it gets to where the two of the differ greatly. For Colin it's about the practical, the physical, the logical and the tangible. For Rin it's about life; hearts and souls and pain and sorrow and grief.

Which is why when she speaks next it comes out far rougher than her previous tones.]

Those are things! Not people! Not lives! That won't bring back the ones that were lost! That won't bring back an entire... city full of people! You're just rebuildin' on top of the old and broken without lookin' at the ones that have to live with that!

When we came here, even though there was only a couple of us we still gave those people hope! Not hope that they could get back what's already gone, but hope that we could help them start over!

Yes, I wanna go home! I want my sister back, my friends back! But not if it means leavin' behind the friends I've made here! Friends that might not even be able to start over because there's so few of them!

And you're...

Hold on.

[You know, all loud accusation, all that blatant aggression in territory that isn't their own probably ISN'T the best idea. There's some clattering from the scrap behind Colin.]

Riveting, and WRONG, as your assessment is... we've got company.

[Yep, there's an irritated Gasfella cresting the scrap heap, and it seems to have several Squirts in tow. Colin gives Rin a wary look, and he reaches his hand for his rapier.]

Don't suppose you speak the language of these things? "We come in peace" does not translate as well as it should...

I'm wrong? ! You're--

[that would of course be the moment they were interrupted. And that irritated Rin even more than her disagreement with Colin. She wheeled around to see the Gasfella and instantly glared at it.

God she hated those bastards.

Her hand went to her own blade at her back, and as the metal scraped against the sheath blue flames errupted around the girl.]

This is the only language I need with these bastards! Let's go, you bloated wind bag!

[There was a trick to settling a conflict with something whose territory you intruded on. Rin's behavior was NOT how it was done. With the drawing of Rin's sword and the appearance of the flames, the Gasfella shrieks and lifts its hammer in challenge. The squirts, on the other hand... scatter all around them.]

Well, keep the big one busy. I'll try to play with the little guys a bit!

[Colin draws his own blade, but he holds it back in a defensive stance and he moves to keep the squirts from surrounding him.]

Come on, guys... we're not here to hurt you. It's not too late to back off and go about your business.

[this is Rin we're talking about. She's as subtle as a... well. A hammer. Being threatened at all almost always resulted in the threat being returned in kind. Plus it didn't help at all that Rin and the Gasfellas seems to have an unspoken hatred of one another.

Her and the Gasfella currently in front of them started to circle one another, both of them waiting for an opening on each other.

Colin trying to speak to the Squirts was just distracting enough for Rin though.]

Stop tryin' to reason with 'em! They see you as an enemy and nothin' else!

And if I treat them as an enemy, then an enemy we shall always remain.

[Colin doesn't particularly like fighting or killing. He's decent at the former, and dangerously good at the latter, but that doesn't mean he LIKES it. That doesn't mean he's stupid, though. If he can't dissuade the squirts from attacking, he probably will have to kill them... But he'll be damned if he doesn't try to settle things with a somewhat less final method.]

How about you pay attention to your dance partner over there, and I'll scream in agony if I need a hand here?

[The squirts start to rush Colin en masse, having grown frustrated with trying to surround him. Colin responds by swaying aside from the rush and spinning to avoid the horde, striking out at the back of one of the squirts with the flat his blade. Oh, it'll sting, but it should deliver a nice message too. He doesn't want this fight, and he's decent enough at dodging. Leave, little guys.]

That's stupid!

[Pot, kettle, etc.

But he's got a point about focusing on their individual opponents, given that not a second after he says that Rin is having to roll out of the way of a hammer that just narrowly misses her face.

She skids to a halt wheeling around and swiping her sword out in a wide arc from side to side, hurling a mass of blue flames at the Gasfella.

Unfortunately it only serves to piss the damn thing off.]

. . . shit.

[Colin is more nimble than any man of his bulk has a right to be. The squirts are fast and numerous, but they're relatively weak, and subtle doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary.]

What do these guys eat? Do they take any of the food I've brought?

[He's hopping, and jumping, and generally looking more like an excitable flea than a fighter. He still has no intention of killing these things if he can send them away otherwise. There's still a couple of close calls, though. If he weren't so tough, a couple of these squirts might actually have knocked him down with their charges. For those, Colin responds with a swift smack with the flat of his blade on their backs. It's not endearing him to them in the slightest, but it's nowhere near fatal either...

He's also a little worried about Rin, the girl seems far too aggressive and angry for her own good...]

I don't even know if they eat! They're just made outta tar and gross shit!

[Seriously Colin do you see mouths on those things? That's a pretty dumb thing for a smart guy to ask.

But he's right about Rin - she really is, and if anything has given her trouble in her months here it's the damn Gasfellas. As mentioned before, there really seems to be an unspoken hatred between her and that particular strain of Skyway creatures.

Taking her other, non-enchanted blade out from her hip, she decides to go the untrained but very determined dual-wielding method, launching herself at the Gasfella before it has a chance to rush her, practically bouncing like a rubber ball all over it while slashing wildly wherever she could get a hit in.

It almost seemed to be a good plan for all of her tactlessness, except for when it roared in anger and grabbed her foot, hurling her so hard that she actually dented the thick piece of metal that she wound up striking.

Almost thirty feet away.]

[Well. That's not good at ALL...]

Hey!

Sorry, little guys... Papa's gotta go play elsewhere for a sec.

[He reaches out with his bare hand and CATCHES a charging squirt. A little tar-like, yes. But not sticky, or else they'd have stuck to him on prior impacts... Good, this means what he does next won't put him in hideous danger. Well... any more than his usual behavior. He tosses the squirt gently aside, and turns to the Gasfella.

Rin's right, it was kind of a dumb question for a smart guy. But Colin's expertise isn't in Xenobiology. It's in Physics... And INERTICS. He charges the Gasfella from behind. The thing floats, it's probably used to getting whipped around in the air by wind... but this? This is probably going to take it by surprise. He ducks his shoulder and jumps, plowing his shoulder into the back of the Gasfella's dominant shoulder, aiming to disarm it.]

Knock it off, big guy! We're not here to fight!

[Now he'll have the Gasfella's attention, hopefully. ... and the squirts. That may not have been the best plan.]

[The last thing either of them would have seen was Rin slumping to the ground under the dented metal, blood trickling down the corner of her mouth and eyes closed as though she was unconscious.

And for about five seconds she was.

Colin's tactic worked. The hammer that the Gasfella had raised to deliver a final blow to the girl was knocked from it's hands and sent flying a few feet away. Unfortunately for his troubles, Colin was going to get a nice backhand to the face for it as the creature wasn't entirely disabled, just stunned momentarily.

It turned after that, going for it's hammer with every intention of destroying both of them with a few swift blows, only to find that a certain flaming demon was standing between it and it's weapon. Both swords in either hand, something about her flames was a lot less wild and out of control. When she spoke, her voice was distorted, not quite human but also not carrying the same fury and rage that she had been earlier.

Last warning. Leave now.

Better listen big guy, I think she's upset.

[Yeah, the backhand hurt. And managed to send Colin crashing into his own scrap heap. But compared to sparring with Amber, it was a walk in the park.

Colin turns and gives the squirts a little warning wave, and then made a shooing motion with his hand before he recovered his rapier. The squirts seemed paused for the moment, and if Colin had to guess, they were waiting on the Gasfella's lead.]

[The Gasfella hesitated then made a move towards the hammer, but a flaming blade was jerked up before it could make it even an inch closer.

It's hands curled in to fists, obviously angered about this turn of events, but with an animal-like snort it turned and floated away from the area. The Squirts followed not a second after.

Rin waited until they were well away from the scrap yard before finally replacing her swords, the plain one first and then the Kurikara, dousing her flames with it.

She let out a wary sigh, shoulders slumping and body sagging a bit. It had never made her tired to use her flames before coming to the Bastion, and yet here she always felt like it was taking something out of her. More so in those moments when she actually clamped control over her normally wild power.]

Heck of a job, you okay?

[Colin sheaths his blade and he jogs over to her.]

That was a heck of a hit you took.

[You didn't exactly come away unscathed yourself, Colin.

I know that, but I don't care to let anyone know just how shitty I feel until I've taken care of it.

Just saying!]

I'm... I'm fine.

[A little tired, but she'd live. Her wounds were already in the process of healing.

It was Colin she was more concerned about, once she finally shook her head clear.]

What about you? That was a pretty nasty backhand he gave you.

We train tough on the Super Nova. It hurt, but my sister's given me worse.

Did NOT do good things for my headache, but it's already a five. I can take a six for a little while.

I can work up to an eight, and the longer these parts sit out here, the more likely something's going to decay or get damaged by wildlife.

[Well, you can't say he isn't honest...]

[That makes Rin frown, but not in irritation. In worry. She nudges the hilt of the sword at her hip, head craning to look at the hazy horizon.]

... then get movin'. Load up whatever we both can carry and hurry up. I'unno what it is about this place but it fucks with my powers and I've got... two, three more goes at it before I can't get anythin' out.

If you're in bad shape and I'm not able to defend you then we're both screwed and I'd rather not have that happen.

I've been in bad shape for a week. I'll probably be in bad shape for two more days on top of this.

[He pauses, and shakes his head.]

Sorry, that came out harsher than it needed to. The end of the world will not wait for a headache, or a broken bone, or anything else. If I'm not dead or in traction, I can work, and I can fight.

But... thank you.

[At this point she's not even worried about how harsh either of them sound towards one another. It's kind of how they work.]

I'd just feel better if I was able to cover you, y'know? If it makes you feel any better-- just say you owe me.

Definitely fair enough. Whatever the case, those guys will probably be a little while before they come back. This is probably our territory, and we came stomping in.

Clearing out a transport fast will be the best thing we can do.

... Next time, we should probably ask Paarth to come along. There's something to be said for coming in with a living tank.

[Colin turns and heads in the direction they were originally walking without further prompting. Yeah, he can act like he ignores the pain, but thinking about it certainly does NOT help...]

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