milliways_bar | (no subject)

And just like that, Kanaya breezes in, decked out in her default wear, a jacket, and her strife specibus filled to the brim.

"Are You Ready To Go, Then?"

They're doing this.

They are taking their best shot at causing events to take place.

"YEAH, DO YOU NEED TO ALCHEMIZE ANYTHING IN THAT SWEET, NOT-AT-ALL TACKY FORGE YOU SET UP FOR ME BEFORE WE GO? IT MIGHT BE DANGEROUS, I THOUGHT OF SOMEPLACE WE CAN GO WHERE WE HAVE A SHOT AT GETTING A SERIOUSLY GOOD LEAVING."

"I've Equipped Everything I Had With Me When We Faced The Black King, I Believe That Should Be Sufficient."

"Unless You Had Something In Mind?"

"NO, THAT SHOULD BE GOOD. JEGUS, YOU ARE LOADED FOR CHOLERBEAR."

He stands, and equips his black corduroy jacket. "I HAVE A COUPLE NEW WEAPONS I WANT TO TRY OUT MYSELF." He steers towards the back door.

"There Are A Few I Never Got To Try Myself," she says as they move. "So This Will Be A Worthwhile Expedition For Both Of Us."

"AND FOR THE CAUSE OF EXPANDING MULTIFUCKINGCULTURAL HARMONY," he reminds her. "CAN'T FORGET THAT."

He charts a course that takes them up the mountain, towards Nepeta's hive. "HEY, CAN YOU PUT MY SIGN ON THIS JACKET? I AM WEARING IT A LOT MORE THAN I EXPECTED AND IT COVERS UP THE ONE ON MY SHIRT." Karkat asking a favor is awkward and off-balance.

"I'd Be Happy To Do That For You, Karkat."

Beat.

"Since You Are Only Wearing It Here...How Would You Feel About It Being Red?"

"WHAT? NO FUCKING WAY."

That is only the default Karkat response to an idea that he didn't come up with, though. "IT WOULD LOOK REALLY BRIGHT AND SPLASHY AGAINST THE BLACK."

She arches a brow at him in response.

"Do You Not Trust Me To Make It Tasteful? It Is, After All, What I Do"

Wisely, Karkat does not bring up the forge at this point. "I AM NOT SURE THERE IS A TASTEFUL WAY TO REFERENCE THE HEINOUS MUTANT SLUDGE IN MY VEINS."

He stops in front of a cave entrance, a crevice really, and studies the rock face.

Edited 2011-12-27 01:41 (UTC)

"I Would Have Thought That By Now You Would Have Realized We Don't Care About That."

They arrive at the rock face, and she regards it curiously.

"This Is Our Destination, Then?"

Edited 2011-12-27 01:45 (UTC)

"IT MIGHT BE, I WAS ONLY HERE ONCE BEFORE. IT LOOKED LIKE ANY OTHER FUCKING SLAB OF ROCK, BUT THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SIGN OVER THE ENTRANCE. I CAN'T SEE."

He is trying to get up on his toes to look closer without being noticed.

Following his gaze, Kanaya moves to look up at the top of the crevice.

"There Is A Triangular Symbol Up There. Is That What We're Looking For?"

"YEAH," he mutters. He will not acknowledge that he is short if she doesn't.

"THIS IS AN ENTRANCE TO SOMETHING CALLED THE LABYRINTH, A GUY I MET HERE TOOK ME HERE ONCE TO KILL MONSTERS TO LET OFF STEAM."

He moves forward, squeezing through the tight space.

"This Sounds Like A Promising Place To Find A Worthy Leaving, Then." She tell him as she follows him into the gap whist glowing softly. "It's Been A While Since We Had A Good Fight."

"YEAH IT DEFINITELY DOESN'T FEEL LIKE HOME WITHOUT SOMETHING TRYING TO KILL US."

The space widens rapidly, beyond the entrance, and the ground level dropping down a pebbly slope. Warm air is passing by them, like an exhalation. "MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE IN FRONT, SO WE CAN SEE BETTER," Karkat thinks aloud, although it is not wide enough to switch yet.

Kanaya rolls her eyes in response.

"We Can Switch Positions When There Is Space To Do So, If You Wish"

"LIKE THEY SAY, FLASHLIGHTS FIRS--WHOA!"

The downward slope intensifies sharply, and his feet shoot out from under him in a spray of pebbles as he slides down towards a hole at the bottom of the incline.

As quick as Rainbow Drinker abilities allow, Kanaya's hand snaps forward to seize the back of Karkat's jacket as he falls, bracing herself to heave him back up out of the hole.

"Are You Uninjured?"

Edited 2011-12-27 01:53 (UTC)

They skitter forward a little further, on the loose ground, before their combined efforts stop the slide. "YEAH, BUT I THINK WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DROP DOWN HERE TO GO ANY FURTHER," Karkat says. Now that he isn't blocking the light from Kanaya's skin, he can see that the crevice narrows down to nothing here; the hole is the only way forward.

"LET GO OF ME AND I WILL SLIDE DOWN THERE AND CHECK IT OUT."

Edited 2011-12-27 01:54 (UTC)

"Very Well," she says, releasing her hold on him. "Be Careful."

It is just like her to not say be careful until she has already dropped him into God knows what, Karkat thinks. He would definitely tell her that if he wasn't busy sliding down into a hole.

Oof. He lands on his nook at the bottom of a dark chamber; nothing is hurt but his dignity, which is in critical condition as ever. He gets out the Sonic Sica he alchemized from the megaphone and a sickle and shouts through curve of the blade, facing the flat.

"OKAY, I CAN SAFELY REPORT THAT IT IS DARK AS THE INSIDE OF A MUSCLEBEAST'S SPINAL CREVICE DOWN HERE, AND THAT'S ABOUT IT. WOULD YOU CARE TO JOIN ME?"

Edited 2011-12-27 01:59 (UTC)

At the top of the hole, Kanaya jumps.

Dear gog, somehow, he got something that made him even louder.

"I'll Be Right Down!" she calls down the hole, and sets to sliding down the gravelly pathway.

Soon enough, she's dropping from the ceiling, and landing at Karkat's side with whatever grace she can.

"FUCK!!" Karkat drops the megasickle with an ear-piercing shriek of static. His hands clap over his eyes.

"HOLY GOD, MARYAM, GIVE ME SOME GODDAMN WARNING. I SAW RIGHT UP YOUR TAINTCHAFING SKIRT. I THINK I'M BLIND NOW." He blinks cautiously between his fingers.

Once she arrives, and his eyes recover, it is easier to get a good look at the cavern they are in. It is a large, open space, too large to see to the edges of, even with troll nightvision and a glowing rainbow drinker. The ground is made of a black, glassy rock, with interweaving pathways painted on it in different colors; the ceiling is a distant darkness. The color lines pass through and under free-standing metal arches at irregular points, like giant croquet hoops.

Edited 2011-12-27 02:04 (UTC)

She just rolls her eyes as she lands. "I Told You I Was On My Way Down What More Do You Want?

Once they're on their way, Kanaya leads this time, retrieving a chainsaw from her strife portfolio with a long handle to prod at the ground ahead of them, just in case.

"This Place Is Amazing."