morally-gray-prospector

[morally-gray-prospector]

once she’s done a full scan of the inside of the tower, she makes her way down the ladder and out to recover the access panel door abandoned on the moss.*

*ezra’s busying himself with clearing up the detritus, but she’s not really certain why. don’t touch those things, she shivers, just let them be. maybe it’s just something to do. he doesn’t seem to have much to say; still a little shaken although he’s doing his best to shove it aside*

Looks like there were a lot of them, huh.

*the panel is heavy, but she manages to get it up the ladder and pop it back into place. it’s been a little bent on its fall to the ground, but the holds still click in. it will do for now*

I’ve got a diagnostic coming to the dome. I had to harvest wire from the beacon, so I suppose that will need to be repaired before we leave, but there’s no rush as long as we’re on the ground.

But by the looks of the inside, one of them got in there, set up camp and chewed through the wires. The troubling thing is…how they got past the signal in the first place. Diagnostic should tell us if there’s a murmur in the system.

*as her boots hit ground again, she scans the area looking for—*

Where did that egg sack land? We should probably torch it or something…

Yeah...

*his reply is uncharacteristically short as he heaves one of the severed limbs over his shoulder to drag it towards the makeshift pile he's creating. The leg still twitches unpleasantly once or twice before he drops it back onto the ground. The goo from whatever she's thrown from the tower is still splattered across his sleeve, giving off a slightly sour smell. Ezra's grateful he managed to get his arm up in time to block it from hitting his face. They would need to have a conversation later about the words "incoming" and "look out" in the midst of having been attacked*

*still, he's more annoyed with himself than with her. The panicked reaction was unfamiliar to him - usually, he kept a more level head in dangerous situations - and he didn't like whatever had brought it on*

*Turning back, he finds Adira putting the panel back in its place on the tower. Ezra watches her silently as long as her back is facing him. She seems mostly unphased by the whole ordeal, and Ezra isn't sure if it's due to habituating to dangerous situations or if she hadn't quite been able to fully grasp the absolute clusterfuck they had just narrowly escaped. A few more seconds and it would have been Ezra's carcass - and perhaps hers too - littering the ground*

*he picks up another limb when she climbs down the ladder and listens to her talk about diagnostics. Her voice soothes his temper slightly, but he still can't help the slight frown, directed away from her towards the treeline, when she brings up the egg*

*he drops the limb onto the pile and turns back to face her. He gestures to his suit*

I'd rather you refrained from torching it, little Dove, considering that I'm currently wearing it.

#oonajaeadira #adira

[morally-gray-prospector]

*chuckles and takes a piece of the fried food, trying it out*

Hmm. Not entirely sure what's in here, but it's good. *Shrugs, unconcerned*

I believe you mentioned you don't have a firm plan for how long you'll stay here, right? Are you currently looking for your next adventure, or just waiting to see what comes your way for now?

*takes another of the fried balls. They're kind of addicting, actually*

*watches her with silent intrigue as she starts in on the food, and takes in the reaction to the first bites of the assortment of treats in front of them. It takes him a few moments before he remembers that he's supposed to be eating as well*

*he picks up one of the fried pieces for himself and bites into it. Immediately, his expression shifts into one of approval, and he hums, very pleased with whatever it is they have just been served*

*he swallows down the food before replying to her question*

I'm not sure about adventure, but I do need to fill my pockets with more than dust to survive. So I suppose mostly, I'm just looking work. And at this point in my life, I'm happy to settle for something the opposite of adventurous, as long as it pays well.

*scoops some of the salad onto a green leaf and brings it to his mouth. It's another winner*

This is delicious!

#writeforfandoms

[morally-gray-prospector]

*smiles for the first time since the night before* I'd appreciate that, thank you Ezra.

It's give me time to sort the farm animals out.

That settles it then

*smiles and moves his body into another stretch before carefully rolling out of bed. He finds his discarded clothes and puts them on*

Anything in particular you fancy, gentle one?

*winks*

For breakfast, I mean

#castiel barnes

[morally-gray-prospector]

Squidolus [Day:1549 Hour:0]

[morally-gray-prospector]

*there’s an immediate din from outside the tower, a screech that sounds like heavy knives being dragged across steel pipes but feels like they’re being dragged down her spine. her hands itching at the thrower, she leans out of the tower in search of the sound, of Ezra, of what’s happening and is treated to the ghastly sight of several creatures flailing their twirling arms, falling over themselves to get back to the forest as they scream.*

*once they’re gone, she looks down to see Ezra at the foot of the ladder, clearly affected by the ordeal. she certainly can’t blame him. there’s a few dead creatures littering the ground between him and the forest and she’d seen many more retreating.*

*whether it was fear or negligence, she finds reason to be irritated at their predecessor, putting them at risk like this, and tries not to think about what might have happened if Ezra had come here alone. turning back to the control panel, she angrily dials up a diagnostic and programs it to send the results to the dome.*

*now that she has more time to breathe, she shines her portlight around the tower shaft again, following the line of the filaments up to a knobby black mass about the size of her fist on the underside of a conjunction box. obviously some kind of eggsack from one of those things. grabbing her laser scalpel, she cuts it free of the nest, tossing it out the access in an arc away from the tower—*

Look out below! Incoming!

*—before shining the light through the components to confirm that’s the only one.*

*Ezra keeps staring at the treeline, not quite daring to trust that the defenses will hold and that the critters are actually gone. What if it's just another trick, his mind warns him. He can still hear the faint screams of the creatures and they seem to be moving furhter and further away. Finally, they all fall silent and the only sounds left are the soft hum of the tower and the fast beating of his heart seeming to echo in his head*

*He's just dared to lower the rifle slightly when Adira's voice rings out from above*

Look out below! Incoming!

*Ezra's whole body tenses like he's been dunked in cold water and he whirls around. He sees no creatures advancing on foot but when his peripheral vision registers movement above him in the air, Ezra moves before having fully registered what it is*

*He fires, missing the first two shots before the third one hits its target. Black goo rains down and he raises an arm to shield his face. It's only when he slowly lowers it a couple of seconds later, that his mind catches up and it registers that whatever he just shot to smithereens might not have actually been an incoming source of danger. Just something incoming*

*The fear and adrenaline gives way for a spark of annoyance, as he attempts to brush black goo from his suit. With a huff of air, he slings the rifle onto his back and starts to gather up the creature limbs left behind*

#oonajaeadira #adira

[morally-gray-prospector]

Squidolus [Day:1701 Hour:0]

[morally-gray-prospector]

*pushing the panic down, she immediately sets to respinning the first of three of the wires, easily making the reconnection and reinforcing it with insulator clamps. the other two wires though… they’re chewed enough that they won’t meet anymore, and when she realizes she didn’t bring any conductor wire with her, her curse lays neatly on top of Ezra’s exclamation as she hears shots fired*

*forcing herself not to look and thinking quickly, she traces the wire to the tower beacon—unnecessary unless there was a ship landing anytime soon, and cuts a section away from it, harvesting it to bridge the gap of the final two wires.*

*it’s like wrangling a wild beast—her attention keeps skipping down to Ezra, wanting to know what’s happening, worrying, but reigning it back with her trust and confidence in him and just working her fingers as fast as she possibly can—trying not to burn herself when she causes a spark, doing her best not to drop the clamps down the shaft when she hears Ezra shout*

I’m almost there! I think—

*punching the reboot sequence in the keypad and saying a little prayer to Kevva, the few seconds of wait time feels like days until the column of lights fill up and the tower emits a low hum*

We’re up!

*Ezra takes a deep breath and raises his rifle to take aim when the leaves of the trees rustle again. Something definitely caused that. Something that he would prefer came no closer to them than it already has. He rests his finger lightly on the trigger, waiting for the creature to emerge enough from the trees to give him an actual target. But it doesn't, and he wonders what it's waiting for?*

*He gets his answer not even two minutes later, when another set of bushes move, followed by one, two, three, four, five more. Ezra's mouth feels dry. He can hear Adira move inside the tower above him to work on fixing it. Ezra can only pray that whatever it is that needs sorting out, she'll be able to do it quick. Hope sinks when he hears her curse, immediately followed by the first set of legs appearing from the treeline, and Ezra fires with a loud curse of his own*

*The legs retreat, but a second pair appear. He fires again. Are they testing him? Ezra mumbles a prayer to Kevva, begging for whatever good graces he held to be stretched enough to encompass them both or, should that prove impossible, to keep Adira safe in his stead*

*The next time the legs appear, it's three pairs at once. Ezra fires in quick succession but he can't aim at them all at the same time. When they retreat this time, Ezra hears a screech from one of them. He thinks it sounds triumphant. Perhaps they've reached the same conclusion that he has. That if they all attack at once, Ezra would be able to take some of them out before they reached the tower, but not all of them*

Little Dove, I don't doubt that you're working at utmost speed, but how's that tick coming along?

*His voice doesn't sound outright frightened when he calls to her, but it does ring a bit hollow and void of emotion. He thinks perhaps he should warn her. But her fixing that tower was their best hope right now, and fear made for a terrible work companion*

*It's just a couple of heartbeats later when the critters decide to make their move. They rush from cover all at once, like expected. Ezra fires and fires, landing most shots and slowing them down. A couple fall, immediately cramping up and rolling over onto their backs. More lose a leg or two, but keep moving forward. It's not enough, he has time to think, watching the attacking creatures, before a low hum suddenly fills his head and chest. It's almost immediately drowned out by the pained cries of the remaining creatures. The sound is deafening, something to haunt even the bravest man's dreams. Ezra watches in disbelief and fascination as the creatures throw themselves onto the ground before retreating, scrambling back towards the trees, still screaming*

*It's only when the last critter disappears from view, even if he can still hear them, that Ezra notices his hands shaking*

#oonajaeadira #adira

[morally-gray-prospector]

*looks up from the book* you can stay as long as you want.

It's nice have company.

*studies her to assess the amount of truth to that statement. She seems sincere enough*

In that case, I think breakfast might be in order. I could make a quick run into town and get us something. If that's something you'd appreciate

#castiel barnes

[morally-gray-prospector]

quickly digging a portolight out of her case and mounting the ladder, she knows there’s little time to waste in standing around*

The access panel is open. Cover’s on the ground.

*as she nears the opening, she slows. there’s some kind of strange black fillaments around the edges. giving a glance down at Ezra she wonders if she should let him scope this out first, but he’s concentrated on the forest, brow and jaw set in hard lines*

*jamming the portlight between her teeth and taking a deep breath as she takes the thrower off her belt, she stupidly draws up to the access and focuses both inside. wires, yes, but also black strings criss-crossing… *

What in the hells?

*it reminds her of the nests that the birds used to build in the comm towers— oh. OH. her heart races as she quickly scans the narrow insides of the tower. wires and component blocks and all this threading…and a lot of empty space. if there was anything living in here, it’s not here now. after a few breaths, she carefully replaces the thrower on her belt*

*other than that, she finds the problem right away—a few wires running up to the relay are severed and frayed. they’ve been… oh. a switch flips in her brain, a circuit breaker on her fears, and she punches into business mode, going immediately for her tool kit*

So uh. I can fix this, but it’s going to take a tick or two. Looks like something built a home in here and chewed at the wires. How you doing down there?

*Ezra remains at the foot of the tower while Adira climbs the ladder. He's slowly pacing back and forth -like a predator circling his prey - with his eyes and his rifle trained steady as ever towards the woods. He spins around every now and then just to make sure they're not being crept up on from behind, even in there's nothing but empty space in that direction, and he would see someone or something coming from a mile away*

"What in the hells?"

*Ezra quickly looks up at that, spotting his partner still on the ladder and seemingly in no greater danger than the one they're both already aware of*

Dove, as pleasant as your voice is to my ears, these cryptic comments of yours don't quite have the same soothing effect as previous conversation has held. Whatever you're seeing up there, is it something you'll be able to fix?

*he waits for her response, relaxes briefly when she tells him it's fixable, only for his hackles to raise again a second later, when he thinks he spots something moving behind the trees. He tightens his grip on the rifle*

If I may make a request, I would ask you do it in a tick, rather than two. I think we're about to have company...

#oonajaeadira #adira #ezra rp #prospect rp #ezra prospect rp

[morally-gray-prospector]

Squidolus [Day:1699 Hour:0]

[morally-gray-prospector]

*smiles and nods to the offer of water*

You certainly should be leaving here satisfied. If you're not, chef's not doing his job right.

*grins and investigates the two dishes. One is clearly a salad, albeit one with some local fruits tossed in. The other is golden fried crispy bites, although no idea of what*

Please tell me you use fingers at the table, otherwise you'll be giving me funny looks and I'll have to do something like kick you under the table and I'm sure nobody wants that. *Winks playfully*

*Ezra lets out a low chuckle*

I fully intend to follow your lead on this one, Jen. If you say fingers is the way to go then fingers it is! Especially with the added risk of violence if I object.

*winks right back before turning his attention to the food*

And from the looks of it the chef has gone above and beyond. This looks and smells amazing!

*gestures to the food and gives her a smile*

After you...

#writeforfandoms

[morally-gray-prospector]

*she flinches as he stops her, thinking for a moment there’s already danger. kevva she’s jumpy. there’s a moment of confusion as Ezra pulls a thrower from his belt. but when she realizes that he’s giving her means to protect herself, she calms a little, watching his face as he speaks.*

*funny, she’d been so intrigued to learn to handle a thrower before that she never thought about the fact that using one meant being in a possibly dangerous situation. she returns Ezra’s smile—perhaps a little unconvincingly—somewhat reassured to have a last resort, but counting on both him and fate to be able to leave it where it hangs.*

Okay. If you say so. After you, partner.

*”not there yet” “not there yet” seems to be the refrain in her head with every step, focused on the tower, moving swiftly but steadily forward. she can hear Ezra near her, keeping pace, breathing even. if she can just keep her eyes from wandering to the trees, she’ll be fine.*

*reaching the tower can’t come soon enough, and once it does, she can see without climbing the short ladder that something’s amiss*

Access cover panel’s already off. Where—

*looking around, she sees the panel laying a few lengths from the tower, its grey metal nearly blending in with the silvery moss of the terrain*

That’s…weird.

*Ezra moves across the open space towards the tower. He lets himself be guided by the sound of Adira's footsteps. trusting her to set the right course while his own eyes constantly sweep along the edge of the forest, looking for any kind of movement. There's nothing. It's a relief, but a relief he knows could shatter in less than a heartbeat if the creatures decide to show up*

*He forces his breathing to remain slow and steady - perhaps steadier than he feels - because he knows what will happen if he allows the nerves to get the better of him. He's been in worse situations than this, he reminds himself, and somehow he always manages to scrape by*

*It's only when they reach the tower and Adira stops, making him almost bump into her, that he's reminded of just what is different enough about this to make him feel unusually on edge. Her. Ezra is used to looking out for his own hide, but now she's placed hers in his hands as well, and the responsibility weighs heavy*

"That's...weird"

*Ezra doesn't dare to look away from the treeline but he doesn't like the tone of her voice. Weird meant not according to plan. And not according to plan had a high risk of resulting in trouble*

Weird in what way?

#oonajaeadira #adira

[morally-gray-prospector]

PROSPECT (2018) - Deleted Scene

What is your name? … Well, I have to call you something! Once, a long time ago there was a channel rat. Well, first there was an entire nest.

[morally-gray-prospector]

She shook her head “I haven’t. I do hear it’s a beautiful moon but deadly.” She chuckles.

“I have wits, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be here.” She teases.

With a sigh she placed her tools away and she looked at him with smile “Well that sounds great, perhaps snack on something and rest before we go to work?” She suggested.

“So, how many partners have you had?”

He smiles, in response to her comment about with.

"Oh, I can already tell. I'll have to watch myself around you, partner," he says, throwing her a wink before mimicking her and putting the tools away.

Ezra nods over his shoulder to the main computer on the far wall and gestures for her to follow him.

"Let me just start 'er up. Then, if fortune smiles favorably upon us, we shall have time for all three."

His boots scrape slightly against the metal grates of the floor as he crosses the engine room with her in tow, and his steps only falter for a moment at her next question.

"Are we talking for work or pleasure?"

#lovelylostminds #jas

[morally-gray-prospector]

Uh *closes the book slightly to look at the title* Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

J-just to let you know Ez, after a bad dream like that. I-i don't particularly talk much, the morning after.

A very good choice

*stretches again, then stills before rolling ove onto his side to look at her*

That's perfectly acceptable. Let me just get dressed and I'll be out of your hair. Thank you for letting me spend the night.

#castiel barnes

[morally-gray-prospector]

Hi ezra! How are you? Hope everything's been good :)

Elijah! Hello, my friend.

Life has been treating me no worse than I deserve. So I can't complain.

How've you been?

#goat monarch

[morally-gray-prospector]

The last person I brought here. *Smiles a little* someone I thought a friend, at the time. I haven't spoken to her in... A long time.

But! You're good company, and I'm happy to have you along.

*a server brings over a tray and two clean plates*

Help yourself to as much as you like - neither of us will be leaving here hungry, guaranteed.

*studies her face as she mentions the former friend. There's most likely more to it, judging by the purposeful vagueness. But Ezra is unsure if it's his place to pry for information, even if his curiosity is always stirred when sensing a story*

*he manages to keep himself in check and just returns her smile before the plates being brought over provides a bit of a distraction and some extra time before having to choose an appropriate reply. Ezra picks up the bottle of clear liquid that's already on the table and pops the seal open. He lifts the bottle to his face to take a quick whiff of its content*

Water?

*holds the bottle out to pour her some*

I have a feeling I will leave here feeling very satisfied

#writeforfandoms