nysalogs | this ship is taking me away (mostly open!)

Entry tags:

this ship is taking me away (mostly open!)

Who: Peter Nureyev (

rosebyanyother) & you
What: Memories, time discrepancies, and quests
When: Mid to late April
Where: Around/In Olympia, Edrathe Ruins
Warning(s): None yet!

forgetting is so long, a (closed to Ocelot)
[The memory that envelops them - from the streets of Olympia - coalesces into a large, well-lit and well-appointed room. There are jewels and statues and all sorts of pieces of art scattered around it. A wealthy-looking woman is standing by the door, and as the memory begins, Peter sweeps in to the room. He's dressed very much like a stereotypical noir detective, although the heels and lipstick are still there.

...Also apparently he's not really Peter. Or Alexander. He's...someone else.

The Peter of now also happens to be in the room, brows furrowed. It's a strange occurrence, this. And it doesn't really help matters when he realizes that Ocelot has gotten swept up in all of this too. Not that this runs any danger of revealing his name but...well. It certainly does put paid to his little fib about his name and his past profession. Or at the very least puts it into question.

...Though perhaps he doesn't mind Ocelot seeing this particular heist. He's very proud of it. It was very good.]

Well, this is very different. [He walks to the door that he - the other he - just came through....only to find that it literally opens onto another room where the same memory is playing out. It's disconcerting enough to have the one (two?) Peter(s), so he closes that door and turns around.] I think we may have to find a less conventional way out.

forgetting is so long, b (closed to Isabela)
[A small, messy apartment is the setting for this memory. It's late, the room is dimly lit. Peter (or at least a version of him) is stretched out languidly on a small and beat up couch while another man - shorter, stockier, scarred and rough around the edges - stands some distance away, with a glass in his hand. It seems like they're in the middle of a conversation (38:24-43:50) about...something.

And on the other side of the room? Also Peter. The one on the couch has a pair of sunglasses dangling from his hand, and he's dressed in a long dark coat and a dark suit. The one across the room, the here and now Peter, has his eyes fixed on the man his doppelganger is speaking to. He...doesn't really notice anyone else in the memory with him immediately. The look on his face is almost like longing.]

the truth is out there
[Time is looping. It's not the most pleasant situation. But you wouldn't think Peter was disconcerted at all, from the way he sits on a bench, watching the activity of a market bustle in front of him. His eyes track a young couple. They're having an argument, and after a few harsh words, the girl shoves her partner back and then storms off in a huff.]

It's a shame. Drama is much less interesting when it's this predictable.

[He speaks without looking, because he knows he has company. Someone standing to his left. He...might have already made this dry observation to them before. It feels like he probably has said something similar. Oh well.]

Actual Pillars (the quest one)
[Given the opportunity, it seems only natural for Peter to agree to trek to these ruins. After all, he's supposed to be an explorer. That's what he's said. It'd be a poor explorer who didn't leap at the chance to see some ancient ruins and to go exploring for hidden treasure.

...It's the treasure that really calls to him. But he'll do the more benign research work as well. Besides, he can't say he's completely disinterested in the history of El Nysa. He's just a little more drawn to the promise of shiny things.

At least for now, he's above ground. Dressed in sensible clothing (for him, anyway) with a backpack slung over his shoulder, Peter is using his phone to document the ruins. He's not alone, however. After a few revolutions of the stone circle - looking mildly curious about all the carvings - he eventually gravitates towards the one other person nearby.]

It's all very...inscrutable, isn't it? I wonder what the purpose could possibly have been.

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You can see it, too?

[Linneus' hand is resting lightly on the back of the bench - half for somewhere to put it, half to check it's even real. The scene looping in front of him might just be in his head but if someone else is seeing it, it must be really happening - right?]

Why is it repeating like this?

Edited 2018-04-20 14:45 (UTC)

[Peter finally tips his head back and sideways a bit, to get a better look at the person beside him. There's a faint, unruffled smile on his face.]

You know, I'm not sure. Perhaps it had something to do with that beam of light yesterday?

[What he means to say, is that it's probably something to do with the Natha. A bad reaction? Or perhaps it isn't. This world is annoyingly inscrutable sometimes. Anything seems possible, which is very interesting but makes predictions and planning...difficult.

But he's still very calm about it all.]

What do you think?

Perhaps. I'm not the best person to ask about such matters...

[which woould be why he asked in the first place. He steps around, settling carefully on the edge of the bench]

I would imagine that any number of things could be the cause, of course. But I've never seen... this.

[ever. He hasn't even encountered video, footage looping there, never mind in real life.]

Have you lived here very long?

[He scoots over incrementally to give Linneus a little more room on the bench.

The question is an open-ended one. He's still not absolutely sure he's talking to a native rather than a refugee and he'll be cautious until he finds out.]

Just over half a year. Almost eight months, I think.

[watching as the scene plays out again - a polite glance at the space offered him, though he doesn't really take it; he's happy to perch]

But times like this it half-feels like I have just arrived.

That is quite a while.

[His attention flickers between Linneus and the market scene in front of him. Instead of focusing on the couple, he's now occasionally looking off to the side, where a young boy is sneaking very slowly up to a fruit stall.

He...really makes no attempt to warn the vendor, even though he knows how it all plays out.]

Is it very different where you're from?

[Again, it's a slightly cautious prodding, although the tone of it is nonchalant.]

There are some similarities...

[the market, that feels a little like the markets of Ivore, though he's more wary of the crowds these days the hubbub is still a nice reminder.]

Some differences - the technology and the like, especially... upstairs. Enough to keep me on my toes, for sure.

[There it is. Peter looks over at Linneus a little more solidly with a smile.]

I'm the opposite. All of this [He gestures out towards the square.] seems like something out of a story. Now more than ever.

[Because, you know, the loop of time. He's fairly certain that could never happen back in his own world. Here it could be...magic?]

I suppose we should figure out if this is localized. You wouldn't have happened to notice if it was happening outside the market?

That seems common, for this place to be a step back, for some.

[there are people he has met who travelled in space - regularly. Linneus hadn't even known that was a possibility before]

I did not, no. It actually wasn't until I came to join you I noticed something might be amiss...

Hm.

[Peter takes one more sweeping look at the square around them, and then gracefully rises to his feet. He vaguely wonders if they've done this part before. As much as he appears to be calm, the idea of being stuck in a timeloop is at least mildly unsettling. What if they can't free themselves? He does think it must be localized, though. He hadn't noticed this when he woke up, and the loop doesn't seem to be longer than 10 minutes.]

Well, I think it might be time to find out. I'm getting a little tired of the show.

[Even if he is concerned, that doesn't mean like he has to sound like it.]

Do you want to join me?

[Trek aside, it's not too hard a job, even for a city boy.

Boxer's not much for the purposes of identification or translation, himself. But he's a thorough enough snoop to be good at passing the footwork over to the professionals. His survey of the ruins is unhurried and mostly pretty casually curious. And while Voss is the one doing the eventual paying, he's already sending sample snaps off to Red for a second opinion and getting the odd note of commentary or direction back regarding the carvings—make sure to get a wider shot of that panel, a closer look at that symbol to compare it to another from the texts— (Punctuated with a maybe you should have Selected Film, that he promptly ignores.) Should have just asked her along, really. What with her Selections and her help translating the texts in the library that had led Voss to expand his interest in the first place.

But he's been going this one alone, a while, the long, gently glowing blade of the Transistor propped up on a ruin wall beside him while he scrolls through his accumulated work checking for gaps. So he takes the conversational bait easily enough as Peter happens by. Amiably—]

Search me. Starting to think I should've done some more reading up.

[There's a definite wry tilt in it. He'd listened to the fragments of text people had turned up, a while back, but— Y'know. Magic.]

[Oh good, Peter likes when people are chatty. He smiles at Boxer, slipping his own phone into his pocket and then crossing his arms over his chest while looking up at a pillar.]

Yes, that might have been the wisest course. I'm regretting not doing the research myself.

[Peter's tone is blithe and relatively unconcerned. Though in reality, he is curious. He'd also heard about those text fragments and their contents were...unique. It would be nice to know if those had anything to do with this place.

His gaze drifts down, takes in Boxer and then the sword at his side.]

Expecting trouble?

[It's a look he gets a lot, so he's used to it. His smile slants, and, briefly—]

Great minds.

[Wry, equal parts self effacing and gently ribbing. (Because great minds think alike but also, yknow. Think to do their research beforehand. One out of two ain't bad.) Still, too late, now. So, it's quick, and he passes right on past the could've/should've/would've to Peter's question.

Trouble?]

Sure hope not.

[The answer comes in a measured way. He's a fighter, but not a solider. (More bodyguard than brute, happier diffusing things when they get tense and before they escalate than he is jumping right to getting his hands dirty.) Not to mention more comfortable with his fists than a crazy weapon like this one. But, y'know. Not like he's got a choice than to haul the Transistor around like an albatross, right now.

(Still, better than the alternative.)]

I'm just here to take a look around. Figure I'm not the only one.

[Clearly.]

With the pay they're offering? Hardly.

[Boxer's speaking style is clipped, but seemingly not unfriendly. In fact, opposite of that. The gentle ribbing just makes Peter smile a little bit more.

(It hasn't completely escaped him that there's a certain something about Boxer that makes him feel...well. Feelings. He's choosing to feel them as a sort of partiality, although it could easily swing a different way if he let it. Which he refuses to.)

Boxer's denial gets him to tilt his head a little though. He looks for a moment outside of the stone circle, off to where he knows there's a more interesting quarry.]

I thought maybe you'd come prepared for deeper mysteries.

[The caves! And the promised hidden goods.]

[He shrugs, loose, and pockets his phone.]

Don't know if I'd consider it an either/or.

[There's being prepared and then there's hoping for trouble. Two very different things, technically. Some people prefer to be nosy with their heads down. Still, he catches Peter looking off toward the labyrinth, and he catches his drift.]

Planning on going above and beyond?

[Just curious. Getting this far will net them some silver, officially, but Voss's secondary offer is still on the table. Unfortunately, it's not a jaunt he can really risk on his lonesome. (Not when he's an overload away from being stranded down there in the dark for a while. We all have our shortcomings.)]

[Peter's attention swings back to Boxer, and technically what he gives him is a grin more than it is a smile. Chasing the dangerous thing has always been a habit of his, and he's not particularly ashamed of it. Why should he be? It always seemed like a shame to him to live your life safely.

Though he knows there are plenty of people who would disagree with him. Which was their right. Peter supposes.]

It did seem like leaving the job half-done to only come out and take pictures. If one is capable of doing more, that is.

[It's not really meant to be a jab at Boxer, if his plans are otherwise. Peter's grin is as friendly as anything. But seeing how he takes it will be interesting.]

[Two kinds of people.

He's an even keeled man by nature, and not at all a proud one. (For better and for worse.) Hard to rile with a casual jab or to shake too easy. (Not to mention the longtime long-suffering partner to a woman with a lot of pride and a firey disposition, and thus well-acquainted with handling the other side of the spectrum.) So he doesn't take offense, apparently. But his expression tips to wry at the definition of a job half done, brow raised and smile slanting. Dryly, observationally—]

Industrious of you.

[Sure the extra payday in the mix doesn't have anything to do with it. But hey, Voss did offer. Helpfully, and a little more seriously—]

If it's anything like the last place I went spelunking, I wouldn't suggest going it alone.

[That one had been plenty dangerous. Some expansive old tomb. Winding, trapped...and haunted. No knowing what things will be like down there in this particular labyrinth of caves, but—better safe.

(Again...two kinds of people.)]

[Absolutely two kinds of people. And you need to have a bit of diversity to make the world interesting, don't you? If everyone was Peter, the world would be a mess. And there'd be no one to quietly (or not so quietly) tolerate his antics. It would be boring for him, honestly.

Peter likes Boxer's response, if the way his smile grows broader is any indication. When he offers that little bit of helpful advice, Peter tilts his head.]

You know, you're probably right. I don't suppose you'd like to come along? Since you already have your sword and all.

[He's not sure what kind of trouble he - they? - might encounter. Although Peter himself isn't without means of self-defense. He's very handy with knives.]

[Well, when you put it that way. There's an obliging little beat while he weighs the offer. Peter's not the only one who might be interested in being industrious for a payout, and Red's been taking interest in putting her Selection to use translating the odd things they find around here. (In the absence of her voice. He's more than happy to facilitate it.) Besides—sounds like Peter's set on going either way. Might as well follow his own advice.]

Hate to leave a job half done.

[Hah. He shifts to heft the broad blade of the Transistor onto a shoulder and extend his freeer hand Peter's way. (Broad and solid, for all it's all scifi smoke and mirrors. Wrapped around the wrists and the knuckles like his moniker suggests.) If they're going to be treasure hunting together—]

Don't think we've met.

Glad to hear it.

[Peter reaches out to take that hand, shaking it briskly. He certainly doesn't miss the wrappings, cataloging that. It suggests a certain kind of physicality that he can absolutely appreciate.]

I'm fairly sure we haven't. Alexander Noble. It's a pleasure.

[Just wait til you find out he's secretly a ghost in a sword, Pete. (Hah.) By way of a polite pleasure's mine, as they shake on it and turn to duck through the mouth of the cave—]

Boxer.

[Not his name, but it serves the purpose. And already, the air around them chills as they step out of the sun and into the underground and the stone beneath them starts feeling colder and slicker for it. Not icy—but clearly getting there fast the further inside they go. And the daylight leaves with it. On the (literally) brighter side, the long flat of the Transistor casts a constant cool blue-green light from its place on his shoulder. Enough to see by—if not exactly doing the job a good flashlight would.]

Watch your step.

[Here goes nothing.]

[When that day comes, Peter will undoubtedly be very intrigued!

For now, he follows a pace behind Boxer. For this kind of thing, he's elected to wear proper shoes with good grip (sometimes you have to sacrifice fashion for function) and a close fitting jacket. Even still, Peter shivers a little as they enter the cave.

The Transistor's light is helpful. Peter's prepared for the trek, though, and takes a moment while the going is still relatively easy to pull a lantern out of his bag. Low-tech compared to Boxer's sword and what Peter is used to utilizing. But it functions. It's even electrical, though the charge is built by a handcrank. Peter turns that now.]

Oh, I'm light on my feet, don't worry.

[Much better.]

Nice place. [It's not, really.] Looks like you came prepared.

[Good shoes, good light. Maybe he's done this sort of thing before. Peter pulls out the light, and the going gets just that much easier as their field of view expands. Still, most of the scenery is more of the same. Rock, rock. More rock. And darkness. At the back of his attention, he's vaguely aware of the Transistor scanning the nearby tunnels for anything of note, but little seems to ping as notable, to it, not yet. So he huffs an acknowledgement, as the pick their way through the dark and winding tunnels. If nothing else, he's pretty confident in his sense of direction, so they won't be getting lost. But that isn't to say it'll be a walk in the park.

Figured they'd pick through forks through educated guessing, mostly, until—a little white >come closer renders in, on the edge of his attention. He hesitates, then—]

This way, I think.

[Call it...a hunch. So to speak.]

[Ironically, Peter has not done this before. It's ironic because his cover - even if he hasn't explicitly told Boxer yet - is very specifically "interplanetary explorer" and while that doesn't necessarily have to encompass traversing deep caves...Peter imagines it might.

But not having done it before doesn't mean that he can't think logically about what he might need. It is the very least he can do.

The actual execution of the exploration, he's fine with leaving to Boxer. At least until he proves inept, which he hasn't done yet.

As they pick their way further in and further down, Peter pulls out another item from his pocket. Without knowing about Boxer's good sense of direction or the help that he's getting from the Transistor, he begins to mark each tunnel they take with a bit of chalk. It's always small and somewhat faint, but if they lose their way, it's something to fall back on.

Mostly Peter keeps his attention on the various tunnels and their surroundings, but shortly after Boxer points them specifically into one tunnel, his general curiosity gets the best of him.]

That's quite a weapon you've got. Seems like there must be some sort of story there.

[Because it's just...very distinctive. Peter imagines a weapon like that isn't run of the mill, even if he doesn't know what Boxer's world is like.]

[It's not a question he likes to get—if not one that's easy to avoid, given the size and spectacle the Transistor makes and the way he drags it around like a ball and chain, even after the recent relative upgrade in his freedom. It's a fair one, though, and he weathers it patiently. Since Peter doesn't put up a fight, he keeps pacing down through the tunnel. But—]

Could say that, sure. [Gently evasive, if easy enough on the surface.] True for most of us, I guess. Not sure I'd be the right one to tell it.

[Not much of a wordsmith, honestly. And it's not entirely his story to tell. (Or, he figures, most anyone's business. And given the liabilities involved...safer to play certain things close to the chest, if he can.)]

[Oh, that evasiveness does not go unnoticed at all. What a spectacular non-answer. Which of course only makes Peter more curious about it. But he'll play polite and not pry too much. Yet.]

In that case, I'd love to meet the person who is. If that person exists.

[Agreeably, as they come up to a bit of wall that he seems to be looking past rather than at—]

Yeah, you and me both.

[Not just because he doesn't want to tell it himself for privacy's sake, or because it's Red's story to share as much as (even more than) his. To be honest, there's a whole lot they don't know. And no one really left to give them the answers. If anyone had them in the first place.

But since Peter's giving him the space for it, he brushes on past it. Leans the Transistor against the wall to free his hands, finds part of the shifting loose. Like a door, almost. If it would budge.]

Stuck. [Figures.] Think you can get that side?

Edited (that was definitely the wrong icon) 2018-07-01 04:29 (UTC)

Of course.

[It also does not go unnoticed that Boxer seems to have a very keen instinct regarding their surroundings. Peter watches him look at one section of wall particularly closely and then begin to press against it.

He complies easily with the request, curling his fingers around the edge that's been exposed and trying to pry it free. But his attention is on Boxer.]

You haven't been down here before, have you?

[It's light, almost amused. Not exactly an accusation, not really. But maybe.]

[He hums an affirmative thanks as they set to shifting the obstruction away. Shakes his head to answer the question, (yeah nope, he sure hasn't been here before,) but takes his time in explaining himself. He can guess what Peter's really asking. Explaining is just...complicated.

Slowly—]

Kind of out of the way. Just...got a feeling.

[Y'know. In a matter of speaking. With the two of them leveraging it, the stone shifts enough to reveal the dark passage beyond. But, rather than keep on going—]

Don't have to take my word for it, though.

[Turning back is always an option. Following a near-stranger's hunches into the depths of the earth isn't exactly everyone's idea of a good time.]

Edited (words.) 2018-07-14 02:55 (UTC)

[Peter lifts the lantern up to illuminate the passage a bit, to try and see what they can before they step foot inside.]

Your feeling is surprisingly accurate!

[But then, he just shrugs, smiles, and shakes his head at the offer to back out. Oh no, he's come this far. And Boxer is interesting. Who knows what mystery he'll unveil next.]

I'm willing to continue to trust it. [All the same, he sweeps his free hand towards the passage] After you.

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this ship is taking me away (mostly open!)

the truth is out there

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actual pillars. lets two-birds-one-stone this, yolo.

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oh no....that scar....

it's very charming ok

IT IS....his PI has the same one.....

its an #aesthetic.

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hiatus delays, thanks for your patience!!!

np!!

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