[RQ] and in the whistle of the wind

Koa

We're going down, down in an earlier round
And sugar, we're going down swinging

Look at me. I am the captain now.

This is absolutely what Koa would be saying, if only he had knowledge of modern day memes. Alas, without the internet to supply an endless parade of referential zingers, the young Dragoon will have rely on his own wit.

Luckily he has that in spades (or so he thinks, at least).

It's a beautiful Leafchange day, bright and crisp and comfortable enough for Koa to wear a tanktop and shorts. The little sailboat he's rented - scarcely more than a dinghy, if we're being honest - skims merrily across the ocean waves, skirting through the shallows of the Kuali'i isles as they progress toward the Maw. Three bags of handmines sit at the bottom of the boat, resting by the feet of his companions (and passengers), ready to be sunk. It's a beautiful day to say farewell to old traditions, Koa thinks.

They crest a wave and the little boat rises, Koa whooping in delight as it slides down the other side. "Gorgeous, isn't it?" the Dragoon calls from his place at the tiller, grinning beneath reflective glasses and a shock of wind-swept hair. "Does it look like we're getting close?" Perhaps Everest, as a certified pilot, would have been a better choice, but Koa is emboldened by his stint steering the Blessing, and honestly, he's so godsdamned pleased with himself - would you really take that away?

I mean, look at him. He is the captain now.

I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it

Everest

Hopefully someone else will supply the that's what she said that Koa's comment desperately demands, alas, it won't be Ever.

Gripping white-knuckled onto either side of the small boat, though the aviator would never dream of usurping the soldier as the captain of the vessel, he has been calculating and re-calculating their chances of survival with each wave that the little boat boldly crests. It isn't his life that flashes before his eyes, but all of the things he's left undone both at his office and with Mateo, and so it's with a quivery inhale that the aviator nods his head rapidly up and down.

"Y-y-es." He manages, gulping for air and casting a wide-eyed stare around the nothingness of the ocean around them. "I don't have any aquatic shifts to check the water beneath us, but...well, so long as we aren't over the mercity I think this should do."

I wish that I could find the words,
to tell you how much that it hurts
That I'm not who you wanted me to be

Anju

I met a girl who never looked so alone
Like sugar water in your mouth - lukewarm

Anju is too weathered and weary of boyish vigor to fear death even when she should, but one glance at Everest white-knuckling the sides of the boat tells her he's doing it enough for the both of them. Though she may not be the 'that's what she said' type, she won't let the aviator down on this day. "Do you normally have to ask that?" Though it's far more sardonic in tone, Koa will know her well enough to be aware of the fact that she's blatantly messing with him.

Glancing over the side fearlessly into depths that tell her exactly nothing, Anju hums in agreement with Everest's judgment and feigns having made some sort of conclusion driven by logic instead of gut feeling. "I think we're good." Though, as she grabs at one of the bags near her feet, she slows and tilts her head like a cat suddenly realizing there is mischief to be had. "Say...can these explode without the presence of an Abandoned you think?" Her eyes go to Everest, trusting his input more than Koa's (love you, kid) and seamlessly concealing her childish desire to set off the equivalent of TNT in the water.

She tied a cherry stem for me with her tongue
We fell in love and now we're both alone

Koa

We're going down, down in an earlier round
And sugar, we're going down swinging

It's as close to that's what she said as he's going to get, and Koa flashes a wicked grin to his Captain, even as the tips of his ears flare with heat. "It's important to get feedback from your partners," he replies, trying to sound serious and failing with aplomb.

The little ship slows as they reach the still waters of the Maw. Koa takes the sails in before moving to peer over the edge, into the fathomless depths. "The mercity is closer to Haulani, I think," he answers Everest, drawing on the memory of his visit to Hadama's realm. As for the prospect of explosion? Well. If Anju is a cat then Koa is a dog, ears pricked and eyes wide with mischief as he, too, turns to Everest, hoping his friend will have some way to make little rock do big kaboom.

I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it

Everest

Just in case anyone wondered if Ever's eyes could widen more than they already were, Anju's question provided the answer: yes, yes they absolutely could. "UH-" The aviator began, feeling sweat breaking out across his forehead and beneath his armpits.

"Well..they...they wouldn't ever really explode anyone, so much as they would just...grab, and.." Feeling as though there were fingers around his throat growing ever tighter, Everest gulped for breath as he imagined the landmines detonating down below and raining debris onto the aquatic life.

"..you know, maybe we should actually keep them." He suggests suddenly, sitting up and wiping at his forehead with the back of one arm. "I know we want toa allow the abandoned into the city, but...if you ever needed to detain one of them, these handmines would let you do that."

They couldn't inadvertently blow anything up if nothing was ever dropped, right?

I've done the math, checked the facts
And there's no changing that

Anju

I met a girl who never looked so alone
Like sugar water in your mouth - lukewarm

Anju's sharp eyes don't miss the color on Koa's ears, and her own grin is downright predatory. It's a shame he has his mother's quipiness, because it leaves her less of an opening for taunting. "You always struck me as more of a post-event star rating type of guy," she drawls, and envisions leaving Koa a one-star rating for her very unsatisfactory boat-Uber full of creepy marble hands. It helps boost her mood.

At least until she sees that her intrigue has upset Everest, which prompts her to relax her face - not even so much as smiling so that he won't misunderstand or question why she is. She's quite fond of the young man. Few in Stormbreak have as good a head on their shoulders as the Spyglass; Koa may be a fun victim to torment, but Everest can catch a break.

"Hm. Terrible decision to name them Hand Mines then," she mutters, and unceremoniously picks one up to drop it over the side of the boat, watching it sink into the ocean expediently. Damn, equally boring. "It is a shame to waste them, but if we keep them, Safrin may declare our quest unfinished." And Anju's neck may not be on the chopping block, but if she had to see Sohalia cry she might just get a migraine.

She tied a cherry stem for me with her tongue
We fell in love and now we're both alone

Koa

We're going down, down in an earlier round
And sugar, we're going down swinging

Alas poor Everest, stuck between a rock and a swole place. Koa's lips quirk in amusement and maybe a little pity as his friend starts to sweat, the shitty teen boy in him wanting very much to push some of those buttons a little more. But lucky for Ever, Anju is here to be A Good Adult, and Koa reluctantly follows her lead, schooling his expression from shit-eating-grin to mild smile, though not without some mischief still in his eyes. "I think it would be against the whole idea of equality if we keep something that targets Abandoned around," he replies to Everest, taking up a bag of his own.

"Maybe they ought to have called them 'handy-grabbies'," Koa quips as he drops the bag of mines overboard, watching them sink beneath the still water. "Ah well, too late now." Turning back to Everest, he gestures with his chin to the remaining bag. "Last one's all yours, Ever. Maybe they can grab the kraken they say lives down there."

I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it

Everest

Everest who is almost always upset about something, smiles weakly in Anju's direction. Watching as the dragoon lifted and then dropped one of the hands into the water, the aviator parts his lips as if to say something, but of course keeps silent. Who is he to question someone both older, wiser, and absolutely capable of snapping him in half like a twig? 'You're right. I should have thought of that.' Ever says apologetically.

"Mm..no thanks, all yours." He says uneasily, glancing at the last of the hand mines and recoiling slightly as if it might reach out and grab him. "I actually think that kraken is Mateo's dad more often than not." There was another kraken, the one who had been holding one of the fabled relics, but as far as Ever was aware, 99.9999% of kraken sightings were because of Remi.

I've done the math, checked the facts
And there's no changing that

Anju

I met a girl who never looked so alone
Like sugar water in your mouth - lukewarm

Everest's apologetic tone sounds very similar to his normal tone, but Anju isn't great at reading those in the first place. "It's a good idea for a replacement, though. Something activated on a different requirement?" Or by certain people? Maybe if she throws the kid the equivalent of a brain chew toy he'll brighten up a little. Or maybe if she just throws the rest of those hands he's cringing away from?

Snagging the bag, Anju stands slightly in the boat (and rocks it again) and hurls it in a two-handed grab that is entirely unnecessary but helps to drain some of her restlessness from having sat in it for so long. It soars an acceptable distance given the poor parameters, and she watches it plunge bag-and-all into the water. Much more satisfying.

"If I was a giant kraken I'd encourage legends about me too," she mutters, envisioning all the peace she'd have on all eight hands tentacles if she could keep people at bay with the force of rumor alone. Sitting with just enough militaristic grace to not reveal the fact it's a pouting huff at anti-climactic ending of their journey, Anju narrows her eyes in a smirk toward Koa and tilts her chin at the helm. "Think you can get us back faster than you got us here?" They might lose Everest's stomach contents in the process, but surely that would only make them faster to ditch excess cargo.

She tied a cherry stem for me with her tongue
We fell in love and now we're both alone

Koa

We're going down, down in an earlier round
And sugar, we're going down swinging

Koa's eyes widen in mock surprise at Everest's refusal. "Why Ever, are you going against directions?" the Dragoon asks, eyebrows rising above his grin. "What an act of rebellion! I'm so proud of you!" And though the boy's voice is teasing, there's sincerity in his words. Gods know the Spyglass needs more of a backbone, at least in Koa's mind.

The final bag of handmines disposed courtesy of Anju, Koa knocks his superior a playful salute. "Aye aye, Captain," the boy trills, despite the fact that theoretically he now outranks her, as captain of this ship. Tiller in hand and sails unfurled, the boy sets about taking them back toward Haulani, chattering about possible handmine replacements as they sail.

In part because it's genuinely interesting, and in part because he hopes to distract Ever from getting so sick he hurls on the dinghy floor.

{fin!}

I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it