Dylan shook his head, "This is all well and great, but we still have something to do here. Kaz?"
Dylan gave him an expecting look. Go on, He thought, We're here for the stone. Let's do that part.
Superhero Roleplay [Closed]
Kaz had been busy poking at things, but he got the hint after a moment. "Oh, uh, I know you like giving tours and everything, but we need that stone," he told Xerces. The cyborg gave him a look akin to a pout.
"But…I haven't finished my research. And I've already put so much into it…" he said as he clutched his tablet
Dylan tugged the corners of his mouth down and turned to face the cyborg directly, "Would you like to see what that stone does to people? Maybe that would advance your research? Just a warning," his eyes began to glow yellow, "It isn't fun."
"Is that a threat?" Xerces squeaked out, clutching his tablet tighter as he took a few steps backwards. "D-Don't test me, I'm armed!" he exclaimed. Kaz gave Dylan a look before turning to the cyborg.
"Hey, hey, calm down. It's not a threat–" he tried to say, but Xerces cut him off.
"Don't lie to me! I'm a weapons provider for a reason, don't think I'm not armed!" he squeaked out
"It isn't a threat, pest. Look at me!" Dylan growled through clenched teeth. He had seen Kaz's look, but he wanted to push a very specific point, "I really hope it doesn't look like I enjoy this. This is what those stones do. Ask Kaz."
group
Shoot. Gosh, these guys really need to learn how to negotiate… Avery thought with a quiet groan.
She stepped over to Dylan and set her hand on his arm, giving him a look and shaking her head as if to say, Not here, and not now.
"Look. We just need the stone, okay? You don't know what that thing can do. It's a mess," she explained to Xerces, her voice soft but hard in a way that said she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
"Kaz..? What is he talking about?" Xerces asked slowly, turning to Kaz now.
"Those stones change people. Both Dylan and I have them, and though they give you a lot of power, they mess you up bad. I almost got trapped in my own head. Just imagine what it'd do to the machines once they're fully online," Kaz explained. Xerces looked scared, but he nodded
Dylan locked eyes with Avery, and his fury began to subside. Without another word, he began to form a cage around the stone in its cradle, removing it as carefully as he could. Once out, he formed a case around it and held the case in his hands. Nothing happened.
group
Avery gave Dylan a slow nod and a small, almost imperceptible smile. Thank you and good job it seemed to say.
“Well… Thank you for your time, but I’m afraid we have to leave, now,” she said, turning back to the half-man, half-machine before them. “Are you ready, guys?”
"W-Wait!" Xerces stammered, though he looked a little embarrassed. "Can I…Can I have it back when you're done with it? I won't put it in any machines, I just want to study it," he said softly. Kaz looked to the others, giving them a slightly sad expression, almost as if he was trying to get them to say yes
"Don't look at me," Dylan shrugged, "I'm the moron who decided it'd be a good idea to walk right up to one of these and touch it after it had fallen from the sky. So far, she is the most informed about these things." Dylan indicated Avery, then turned to ask her himself, "What do you think?"
pets
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Vaughn mumbled and shook his head. “We need to keep it somewhere safe, even after all of this.”
Xerces seemed to deflate at that. "I've got a higher security lab… I could keep it there?" he suggested hopefully. Kaz was giving Vaughn puppy dog eyes now, trying to see if it would help his case
group
"I agree with Vaughn, that sounds like a bad idea. I'm sorry, but I can't let you have it," Avery said, holding her hand out to Dylan for the box. "Again, are we ready to go?"
Xerces drooped, a little pout on his face now. Kaz just sighed, giving him a small hug before walking over to the others. "Yeah, I'm ready to go," he said
Dylan held off for a moment, "Are we sure we don't want to understand these things better? I know he's weird, but guys like him might just be able to figure out more about these things than we ever could." Dylan eyed Kaz, then looked back to Avery and handed her the case, "I'm not going to say you're wrong, but I still think we should think about it while we're out. Just in case."
"See, now someone's making sense," Kaz said, grinning now. He cast a quick glance at Xerces, who was dejectedly unhooking cables and unplugging machines with the help of a few small, drone-like robots flitting about
group
Avery sighed and looked between the guys she was working with and the man with the machines. Maybe it would be a good idea, but she did still think they should hold onto them for now.
"All right. I'll think about it. But we should still hold onto it for now," she said, glancing around one more time.
"Agreed," Dylan nodded, thankful that his slight disagreement hadn't turned into a full on argument with Avery. "In that case, I'm good to go. The supplies are already in the truck, and we can work out which stone that actually is on the way up to the dig site we picked out on the map (remember that, anyone?)."
group
(Lol. I do now! XD)
Avery nodded and shot him a quick smile. “Sounds good. Kaz? Vaughn? You two ready?”
"Yeah, we're ready," Kaz said, giving Xerces a small wave goodbye as he took Vaughn's hand, gently tugging him after the others
"Then off we go," Dylan chirped, "I'll prep the truck. Ya'll meet me outside when you're ready." As he left, he thought he felt the cyborg's eyes burning into him, but decided to chalk it up to his own paranoia about robot-people and ignore it.
Once up the elevator, he ran up to his room, took the laptop and truck keys from under the bed, then went outside. Once he started up the truck, he pulled up their map on the laptop, then propped it up on the dash and waited for the others.
(
group
Avery nodded at Dylan before he left, then turned to the others. “C’mon, lets go pack up our things and go. Kaz, you can get the elevator working again, right?”
"On it," Kaz said, taking Vaughn's hand and gently tugging him with him towards the elevator, humming softly as he did so
pets
Vaughn had given a reluctant huff, mumbling to himself for a moment. He still allowed Kaz to tug him away, throwing a quick look at Xerces. “I don’t like this. I know he’s your friend Kaz, but as far as we can assume, the stone is dangerous. We cannot let him just keep it,” he murmured to Kaz.
group
Avery glanced at the two men, eyes narrowed slightly. She was just curious about what they were saying to each other, but she wouldn’t eavesdrop. Not on the people she considered her team. And possibly her friends.
"Yeah, I know…But it's better that he would have it than someone else. I know tons of people who would want to get their hands on it, and they're all way worse than a jumpy scientist. And I know all his major contacts, so if they start passing the stone around there's really only one guy I'd be a little worried about…" Kaz tried to say
pets
“Yes, but can he protect it is the thing?” Vaughn asked Kaz, brows raised as he leaned against one of the elevator walls. “And who is the contact? Anyone that I would know?”
"No, not really. There's this demon on the second floor of the apartment, and his brother is kind of like…crazy demon jesus? He eats people and gets off on it. He's weird as hell and Xerces gives him…uh, torture weapons, from what I can tell. But he wouldn't steal from Xerces, even if he was told about the stone. I don't think. I only met the guy once and his pickup lines all involved eating me in some way," Kaz said with a small, awkward smile
pets
Vaughn gave a slightly disgusted noise. “I don’t want you talking to him if we see him again,” he mumbled and pressed a quick kiss to the side of Kaz’s head. “I still feel bad about the idea. Xerces could get hurt if something is triggered in that stone.”