011 ♐ it's easy living in the house of your dreams ♐ ᴏᴘᴇɴ

[geometry]

Characters: Equius Zahhak (AU) and YOU
Setting: Floor 70, the machine.
Format: Starting in action, but I'll do whatever.
Summary: Equius gets his geek on in the worst conceivable way.
Warnings: Possible crushing, burning, or acid corrosion. YAY SCIENCE!


[...Wow.]

[There was no telling how big this floor was. The walls and ceiling were nowhere in sight, because they were completely covered by a massive breathing machine. There was a faint tinge of rust in the air here, and the outer reaches were further obscured by smoke of various colours. Metal parts clunked and ground against one another, making extremely unattractive noises as they did so. A truly staggering amount of the mechanisms here were burned or dented (or maybe they were supposed to be that way, since they were unfamiliar), but they all seemed to be working together towards... something that wasn't immediately clear. There had to be a million different platforms all around the place, but most of them were conveyor belts, carrying scraps of some kind of metal into a huge boiling vat of liquid that sizzled when something dropped in.]

[It was beautiful.]

[Not much to see here, Tower; just a troll, standing next to the staircase, gawking in amazement at the monstrosity in front of him. Judging from the oil streaks that have long since dried on this particular pair of pants, he could feel perfectly at home here... if he got an opportunity to look around. Right now, it's all unfamiliar. And way too big. All Equius can do for quite a long time is stand there and gawk. What could this thing be for?]

[He seems to want to find out, as shortly afterward he's examining the closer and less dangerous metallic innards. And then the slightly further metallic innards. And eventually he's crawling and jumping all over the place, still in view of the staircase, but observing mechanisms that could crush a hand and balancing on things that really ought not to be balanced on, all in the interest of getting just a little closer to that peculiar piece of machinery. It's just so interesting. He seems to be doing pretty well now; one of Equius' few talents is coordination and nimble movement. But who knows how long that'll last if someone startles him...]

Comments

[xanthous]

[Psiioniic had been exploring. Or, well, okay, maybe exploring was a generous term for his aimless wandering. He was curious about all the floors, even if some set him on edge.

When he makes his way to the machine he doesn't intend to stay for long. It's one of the floors that makes him the most wary, with all the machinery and noise and ugh. He's about to make his way up the stair case when he spots the young troll. He's curious, and the glimpse he gets of the other's symbol makes him even more curious. Another yellowblood? He doesn't even know what to say to him, or how to approach the whole "oh hello fellow pissblood" problem, but he's floating over to Equius anyways.

He'll just. Stare for a little while in complete disbelief.]

[geometry]

[It does take him a few moments to notice the Psiioniic, because at the specific time he arrived, Equius was a little busy with jumping out of the path of a huge pendulum with more pointy edges than were absolutely practical. But once he's landed on the somewhat rickety catwalk on the opposite side, he looks down by chance at the stairs again, and catches sight of the staring yellowblood. Too far away to identify the symbol, horns, or anything other than that clearly yellow bodysuit, he just holds on to the railing and stares back.]

[xanthous]

[He floats closer, not quite recognizing the boy's sign. He crosses his arms, leaning forward. He's...probably a bit too close for Equius' to be comfortable, but he doesn't seemed too concerned with being so close.

He may or may not have a skewed view of personal bubbles.]

Who're you?

[geometry]

[Floating, yes, definitely yellow... and as soon as the Psiioniic moves forward, Equius moves back. Way back. Between Psiioniic's tendency to get too close and Equius' fifty-foot personal space bubble, it was just a matter of time before the latter began NOPEing away. He does have to look behind him so that he doesn't walk straight into a hole in the catwalk or something (that would be stupid), but he has no powers to save himself from a fall like that, so... whoops! Once he had gotten a sufficient distance away, he took a good look at the yellowblood again, and suddenly recognized him; this was the yellowblood Sollux's ancestor. Yes. They'd met briefly, but a long time ago...]

[wait fuck WORDS.]

E-Equius. Zahhak.

[iron_infidel]

[After finally getting some decent rest. He decides to go on a bit of an exploration, that was recently denied to him. As luck would have it he comes to Floor 70 and finds the rather familiar Equius from earlier. He can't help but smile at the enjoyment he sees the other partaking in. However such amusement is short lived once he realizes just what he is doing. Such jumps, twirls and balancing acts are not very safe. In fact his inner sense of danger begins to ring loud and true.

Watching him was defineitly making the older troll a bit un easy and yet...he didn't wish to bring himself to disturb him. But, if he didn't...what if something happened? He weighs the possibilities, finding that perhaps approaching him might be the best option. Slowly he advances on the younger troll...making sure to keep a watchful eye at all times.]

[geometry]

[Coincidentially, as Signless draws near, Equius is standing still for once. Only now did he realize that his extremely long hair was not tied back at all, and swooshing it all over the place was a surefire way to get one’s head caught in a turbine. The problem was, the last time he’d actually dealt with any machines (that weren’t made of sub-par Tower materials), his hair was almost too short to tie up. And after that was done, he turned around and set off again — almost straight into Signless.]

[He yelps in surprise and swerves out of the way, scrabbling for a handhold and very nearly falling into the darkness as he did, but fortunately he arrived. And once he stopped moving in a blur, clinging onto a pole like he was on a subway train, he stares at the Sufferer with the sort of expression one would expect to find on a deer in the headlights.]

[iron_infidel]

[Watching the scene unfold was terrifying and Signless held his breath as the younger troll grabbed a hold. He had been lucky to survive and if Signless had been in a place of parental power, surely he would have scolded the young one. However this was not the case.

Now the two stood at a stand still. Signless couldn't decide why the younger troll looked so surprise. He remembered him being quite jumpy...uncertain during their last meeting. As well as concerned for his well being, which showed he had a kind heart. Though the older troll could not repress such thoughts of expectation as he stared at the troll. Here was a descendent of Darkleer and one of his best friend, The Psiionic. The phenomena was quite strange. It wasn't intentional to analyze the other and he truly meant no judge or harm by it. Simply it was a matter of habit for him to decipher a situation before advancing.

A moment passes before he realizes he had been letting his thoughts get the better of him and letting the air of awkward uncertainty creep for to long. Clearing his throat and standing up tall, which wasn't much to be had. He offers a smile to break the silence.]

Hello, Equius wasn't it? Are you okay? Do you need help? Or perhaps maybe some sense might do you well. I don't think your choice of having fun is one of a safe nature.

[Not that he meant to get involved...hold habits die hard. Ya know?]

[geometry]

[...Why was the Signless looking at him.]

[Equius did nothing in all the time that the elder troll didn’t; rather, he just stood there, waiting for what would happen to happen. It was a sort of habit he had picked up in other dealings with adult trolls, since whenever they came around it usually meant that they would be able to out-muscle him anyway. He was no stranger to awkward silences, though, and had gotten to the point of thinking “maybe if this goes on for long enough I can leave and he won’t kill me” before Signless did something again. The smile, predictably, was totally ineffective at calming his nerves.]

T-this isn’t for fun...

[He just got. Excited. About arcane parts of an extremely dangerous killing machine. That’s all that happened, honest, it’s a Zahhak thing, pops up all the time. You know about the Zahhaks and their tinker tendencies, right, Sufferer? Don’t you?]

[papshooshing]

[ Karkat is just passing through, really. he hadn't really been all gun hoe about exploring the new floors right away. there had been many areas of the lab on the meteor that had been left untouched for a reason. the Tower is really no different, in that sense. what has gotten Karkat even remotely moving through the staircases and looking from afar is that chat with Strider of the poké variety. it probably is a good idea to at least have some inkling what's on them.

he's never MET this Equius, not really. obviously from knowing Eridan of the jade caste, he has some idea that this guy exists. so excuse him for not exactly realizing who it is hoping and doing some dungeon crawling through what is clearly not all that safe. Karkat snorts, ready to walk about but it's the flash of orange horns that causes him to pause and reconsider, if only for a moment. ]

You're going to get yourself killed by doing that, pail licker.

[geometry]

[See, that had been Equius’ intention too; filter quickly through the floors and get a simple view of each one before moving on to the next. It was a really good plan, of course, the best plan, because staying too long in one floor tends to trigger any number of time-based misery conditions — or just wandering too far from the staircase, enough that one can die in the clutch of the monsters without having to worry about being saved.]

[Equius looks over at Karkat; as luck would have it, they were more or less on the same level. He looked around a bit and found a niche where none of the mechanical parts could kill him, and from there, crouched down to have a nice conversation with Karkat. (He was looking a bit wary, but that’s only because his relationships with other such Cancertrolls have been... complicated.) Of course, he’s breathing a bit heavily from all this, but not enough to detract from speaking.]

It’s alright... I know what I’m doing.

[papshooshing]

[ welp. definitely the yellow blooded Zahhak. Karkat doesn't stray from his position on the stairs, but he doesn't move on either. ]

Until something shifts around, which is a distinct possibility, and you fall and break your neck.

Suit yourself.

[geometry]

[Equius has a remarkable tendency to listen to anything Karkat has to say, again because of a certain cerulean Cancer; his gaze falls from Karkat to the tangle of wires below both of them. It moved from its pile to the staircase, wrapping around the rods of the railing like so many artificial vines.]

...I want to know what this is here for.

[savedbyasong]

[Shion had been exploring the floors, resulting in many near death experiences, using all of Reno's training to stay alive.

Today he was looking around the machine, because he had promised himself he would come back and explore it properly.

Shion spotted Equius and attempted to make his way towards him, even a few months ago he would have probably fallen to his death but he was getting better even if his coordination is cringe worthy at best.]

[geometry]

[...Shion. Shion, water u doin.]

[Equius finds his way over much easier than Shion does; he may look like a noodly-limbed loser, and he is, but at the very least he knows how to climb and keep his arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. This guy, on the other hand... does not.]

C-careful!

[savedbyasong]

I'm trying... [Oops talking is counterproductive to not almost falling. He steadies himself and continues on.] This is amazing

[geometry]

[Equius nods, more eagerly than Shion's seen him... well, ever, but saves the talking until they're closer together. And once they are:]

Isn't it?

I just wonder what it's all for. There's no way that a machine this big could be for nothing!

[caliginous]

[How long will it take Equius to feel Karkat's eight eyes burning a hole in the back of his head? Because he's definitely standing there, one hand stuffed into a pocket at his hip, the other hanging at his side. He eventually leans against the doorframe and lets his expression drop to something resembling neutrality.

He didn't dislike Equius -- in fact, he appreciated his attitude most of the time, especially in regards to him. But for now, he was just interested in watching him...move like that.

He won't announce his presence -- that might end poorly, it might not.]

[geometry]

[It's strange, isn't it? His movements around Karkat and his movements around machinery are completely different, so for him to have never seen this before isn't exactly a surprise. Unfortunately, after a short while he does feel someone watching him, and when he realizes who it is he nearly falls off the beam.

Shit!

[Uh, fuck. Maybe it would be a better idea to get to somewhere he's less likely to fall? Yeah. That's a good idea. So let him just scuttle down with the same uneasy, stilted movements he generally uses around ceruleans.]

...H-hello.

[caliginous]

[Karkat just blinks for a second at Equius' freakout, but he can't hold down a fanged smirk once he's sure the other troll isn't going to die. Equius might hear him scoff as he moves more into the room, still grinning.]

Didn't startle you, did I?

[Of course you did Karkat.]

[disgracedvoid]

[Darkleer watches Equius move about somewhere between muted amusement and quiet envy. Mostly, though, he's quietly wondering if the boy is under some suicidal urge, given some of the mechanisms in the room. He was, admittedly, putting up a rather impressive display. He hangs back, simply observing like a creeper, waiting for a moment when Equius reaches a more or less stable perch before announcing his presence.]

...found anything interesting?

[geometry]

[ !!! ]

Uhm--

[Well, Equius doesn't start off with falling off the platform to his doom, mercifully. But as soon as he turns around and sees a Darkleer just standing there, watching him like the creeper he isn't, Equius suddenly feels much more compelled to get away from all these machines and go back over to where the blueblood is. Presumably to kowtow and beg for his life. But details. Once he arrives, he just kind of stands there in front of Darkleer for a second before actually responding.]

Yes. A lot of it is interesting. But I also can't identify many of the interesting parts, so... there's that.

[Equius. Equius, stahp.]

[disgracedvoid]

[The highblood is in a relatively mellow mood, noticeable because while his expression remains mostly closed off and stern, he's not actively glowering at everything around him. This is clearly improvement and Equius should be very grateful for this miraculous occurance.]

Is it the machine itself you cannot identify, or its function?

[Trust Dadleer to split hairs on stuff like this.]

[chronomancer]

[There's a jadeblood by the stairs, fidgeting a little but mostly just watching Equius move. It's very impressive, the way Equius moves, sure, but more than awe there's also a good deal of affection and yearning, in Eridan's stare. He's fidgeting because he can't decide, if he should stay and try to talk to him, or leave and avoid him. He doesn't really want to do either, so the matter boils down to which he he doesn't want to do less.

Which is fucked up enough, he supposes, but true enough.

The decision is made for him when Equius makes his way across a particularly dangerous looking stretch, and Eridan finds himself gasping in surprise, stomach somewhere around his knees and hands unconsciously reaching for him, even if he reached his destination without incident. Eridan dropped his arms and sort of just stared a bit harder, swallowing hard.]

...you're kind of terrifying, you know.

[geometry]

[Equius lands in a crouch; it's not exactly the easiest jump to make, that, and when the choice is between looking like an animal when you land and looking like the Cafeteria's mustard soup, deciding is suddenly not that hard. What does become hard is the bit directly afterward where the one guy watching from the stairs is suddenly extremely and vocally invested in your health and well-being and he looks exactly like Eridan Ampora. Oh fuck.]

[Give him a few seconds to just... stand there, kneeling because he turned around, and trying to figure out what to do about Eridan. He really didn't want to deal with Eridan right now, he really didn't want to deal with him ever after what had happened, and it just... could he run away? Into the wires? Equius looked up to check; yes, he could. He could disappear into this killer machine and Eridan would never be able to find him. (Not like he needed much practice for that, either. How different were they, after all -- mechanical monstrosities of death and chemical burns, and Alternian backstreets?) It was looking mighty tempting, and in fact when Equius stood up again he was backing up, looking like he actually planned to hide in the machine until it was safe to come out... and then Eridan spoke.]

[Well that stopped him in his tracks. The "What?" was clearly evident in his face and body language, even from Eridan's distance away.]

[chronomancer]

[Eridan let out a soft breath at that, shrugging almost delicately.]

You are. Just. Not for the usual reasons one would be.

[And also not because he remembers the loving feeling of a boot to the face, either. It's hard to put it into words, and the way Eridan just sort of makes vague motions with his hands tries to convey that with limited success.]