anothercontinuity | (no subject)

[ 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.

[ the gear flipped and held in the crook of his arm, tony scrubs harder at the offending rust with the rag. ] But one less problem, [ he argues distractedly, ] you could have.

Are you trying to convince me?

[ There's a quiet snort of amusement. ]

No, but I am still trying to figure out your angle in all this. [ despite just accusing lucanis of ulterior motives, tony focuses on scratching the rag around the rim of the gear's bore. ]

You could just ask. I'd tell you.

Okay.

[ tony stops and looks down, the corner of his mouth pinched. ]

Spill it.

You are a stranger to this world. There could be more like you. There could also be consequences for your arrival here. You do not seem to know any more than I do.

But that is not something you simply walk away from, hoping it sorts itself out.

[ after a long moment of silent assessment, tony casts his eyes aside. by the time he returns to scrubbing, his shoulders are a little tighter, a little more drawn in. ] Well...thanks, anyway.

This is not altruism, if that was your fear.

[ His lips quirk faintly. ]

Assassins are not known for such things, after all.

Yup.

[ nothing else, just tony wetting the rag with more solution and then scrubbing and wiping off the remaining rust. any attempt at further conversation gets only short, noncommittal answers. after he's done with the gear, he rubs the rag around the shaft and cleans it before he jimmies and pushes the gear back into its place. ]

Not the answer you were hoping for.

[ That much seems obvious, as Tony finishes slotting the gear back into place. Just in time. He's starting to feel a faint twinge in his lower back from holding him aloft like this. ]