anothercontinuity | (no subject)

This way.

[ He hardly bats an eye, snorting softly instead and moving ahead into the lead. Past several stone columns lining a balcony, and across a wooden plank that only seems barely big enough for one person to work their way across, and they arrive at the zipline: a wooden structure with gears and pulleys, and two thick cables bridging the gap between this rooftop and the next. ]

[ tony crosses the plank with confident, long strides and only a minor wrinkle of concentration in his brow. balance is something he has little problem with--decades of practice walking in straight lines (while drunk).

tony inspects the system at a glance. it's about what he expected: rudimentary but functional. thedas seems technologically stuck in the middle ages from what he's seen, by earth standards. he brushes aside the way his mind automatically reworks the whole thing, brings it into a future already possible with thedas's resources. the crows want routine maintenance; he'll give them routine maintenance. nothing more.

after flipping open the metal box fastened to the main beam, he pulls out and sets on top what appears to be tools and supplies for maintenance. good. he won't have to lug things around while scaling walls.

then, tony peers up into the gears, braces his hands atop the box and supporting beam, and lifts one foot. without looking over, he says, ] Gimme a boost, [ clearly expecting lucanis to obey. ]

[ There's no hesitation there, a gloved hand cupping beneath Tony's foot and hoisting up, like he's done a thousand times before. He's not too proud to lend an assist, if needed. As if this busywork he's providing Tony isn't proof enough of that.

Smells like...whiskey and soap. ]

Stop that.

[ Lucanis's eyes dart to the side, to apparently...nothing? Nothing visible, at least. ]

[ tony wedges his other foot onto the supporting beam, his weight heavily favoring the side lucanis supports. he feels around the gears, wiggles them, checks for fit and rust. at lucanis's words, tony stoically glances down, then--right back to it. ]

Not fired already, am I?

What?

[ Lucanis actually sounds puzzled for a moment, before letting out a quiet sigh. ]

No, you're doing fine.

[ just a low hum as tony carries on. a couple times he steps heavier into lucanis's hand, crouching to reach for the supplies atop the box. a quick twist here, some lubricant added there. efficient. fast. then, without warning, he shifts all his weight onto lucanis, grabs the closest bit of hanging cable, and yanks down on it with both hands, checking the tension. ]

[ It holds taut under the weight of him, calibrated to bear men and women around his size and build. Lucanis chuckles slightly under his breath. ]

We'll need to get you a stepladder, won't we?

[ He's fine with helping on this one, but he'll have business elsewhere, and Tony will more or less be left to his own devices then. ]

[ while performing a final check, tony mutters, ] You mean you won't always be at my beck and call? [ and then climbs back down, a hand on lucanis's shoulder for balance. ]

[ He lets him drop down with his support, a faint smirk curving across his lips as one brow lifts. ]

You couldn't afford me.

[ tony stills. ] Not anymore, I guess, [ he murmurs to himself, then with a shake of his head, reanimates and slips past to the platform's edge, where the zipline handlebars await. (he can't call them pulleys--no wheels.) ]

Gonna check the anchor points, [ he explains before he backs up, runs forward three steps, and leaps to grab onto the handlebars, propelling himself down the zipline. the initial warbling shout breaks into breathless laughter. ]

[ He's seen Tony smile plenty, a sardonic thing with no warmth, no joy. This? Might be the first show of something genuine he's seen from the man. How about that?

With a small huff to himself, Lucanis takes hold of a second set of handlebars to glide down after him, releasing just short of the landing point and hopping down effortlessly. ]

To your exacting standards, then?

[ less graceful in comparison again, tony stumbled forward several steps from inertia upon landing, but managed to keep on his feet. now, he spares lucanis a glance over his shoulder, still half-smiling, eyes alight--boyish, almost. ]

Complete lack of basic safety measures aside? I'll admit, [ he says, quietening his joy and moving to the mirrored gear system of this side, ] you Crows know how to travel.

Edited 2024-11-08 02:59 (UTC)

[ It's a good look for him, he can't help but notice. ]

It does the job. Before, it used to a matter of simply being good enough to leap the gaps.

[ He chuckles quietly. ]

Most of us prefer the new system. Fewer fledglings dropping out of the sky.

[ supplies removed from the metal box (forgot to put them back at the previous one--should be fine), tony looks to the gears. there's no supporting beam to prop himself up on here. ]

Gets a bit of blood-pumping before any blood-spilling, too, right?

[ his face and tone have already returned to cool nonchalance, an easy indifference. he motions for lucanis to play the stepladder again. his hands brace on the column and his foot raises. ]

[ Before he can lift his foot, the hands are already cupped to hoist him up again. Thankfully, it's not as if Tony weighs much at all.

And oh yes. This. Again. ]

A very odd topic to pick at this particular point in time.

[ What with Lucanis literally keeping him balanced on a rooftop with a generous distance to the ground. ]

[ tony steps up onto them and balances there single-footed with ease, one hand staying on the column while the other performs the checks. ] Right, the dark of the night's more your time frame.

Naturally.

[ Matter-of-fact, head tilting slightly as he watches Tony work. The way he picks things up, orchestrates the mechanisms with familiarity, it speaks perhaps to who and what Tony was before.

The more he learns, the better the chances he can find him a place in this world. A temporary one at least, while they search for other options to return him to where he came from. ]

[ tony must catch something, because he stops and slathers rust solution onto the rag. ] So how many of these are there? [ with two fingers he feeds it into a hole of the smaller gear. ]

They lay across the city in a network. The Crow's Road. They run from the edge of the Drowned District all the way through the heart of the city.

Enough to keep you busy, I'd wager.

Well, unless you plan on giving me the grand tour, I'm gonna need a map. [ brow furrowed, tony works the rag in the tiny space behind the gear best he can, around the shaft. ]

Easy enough. You've been learning the city by the streets below. There's an overlay that should help.

[ Other, secret routes too, but Tony doesn't need to know about those. At least not yet. ]

[ tony squints and leans closer to the gear. ] Square deal. [ with a pursed mouth, he straightens, grabs the gear in both hands, and tries yanking it off the post, wobbling on the one foot. ]

Easy, easy--

[ The sharp tug might well throw him off balance, and Lucanis grunts before stabilizing, shifting his feet. ]

Careful with that.

[ the gear slides off with a final wiggle and yank, a final wobble. tony steadies himself against the post one-handed and raises an eyebrow at lucanis. ] You worried about me or the zipline more?

The zipline, we can replace.