forum "You DO like me!" "I don't think 'like' is the right word." "You tolerate me." "Maybe." one on one

Started January 29, 2021 by @cryptic-glitch

tune

"That doesn't make me feel better." She touched the wall, her fingers coming away with a thin film of dust.

"What, it doesn't make you feel better than any crawler octobrawlers that might be here would be dead anyway? Then they can't jump on you or anything!"

"But when you step on them they crunch and it just freaks me out." She wiped her hand on her jeans.

Lin shrugged a bit. "I dunno… I'm pretty used to crawler octobrawlers hanging around. Most of them aren't gonna even try to hurt you. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I'm not scared they're gonna hurt me. I'm scared because they're just creepy."

"Well, I dunno what to tell you, then." Lin sighed softly and continued on, making the flame a bit hotter so that it would burn brighter.

Orion took a deep breath and stopped. "Look, another wobbly flip-shutter." She pushed it open and it fell inward, ripping the hinges.

Lin jumped at the loud sound, nearly singeing his hair again. "Christ… do you think there's anything in here?" He asked softly, poking his head into the human containment unit.

"Right. Okay." She let go of his arm and stepped over the wobbly flip-shutter. "I don't see anything cool."

"Me either… there's probably not really much in here other than dust." Lin sighed softly and headed in through the doorway. "Maybe there's some stuff in crates somewhere."

"Alright. Wait. I think I see some broken escalator." She squinted into the darkness.

"broken escalator?" Lin walked forward, holding up the flame in his palm. "Yeah, I think you're right. Should we go down them?"

"Obviously." She stepped down the first stair, her hand out in front of her.

"Careful." Lin murmured, keeping close to Orion as he followed her down the broken escalator. He kept the fire as bright as he could so that they could see.

"Why wouldn't I be careful?" She reached the bottom of the broken escalator, coughing slightly because of the damp air.

"Because you like to wander into abandoned warehouses that could potentially be dangerous." Lin rolled his peepers a bit.

"But I'm going to be careful while doing it." She shuffled forward. "Do you see anything?"

"I don't, no. There's a lot of boxes down here, though… we can look in them if you want." He kept going forward at a normal pace, keeping an peeper out for anything potentially harmful.

"I'll open them. You. . .just be ready to torch anything that moves." She kicked one of the boxes and it split open, rusty nails and screws tumbling out.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Lin kept close so that he could do as he was told. "Hm… nothing to torch yet. Just some nails."

She kicked open another, a few crawler octobrawlers scuttling out of this one. She yelped and shot a bolt of electricity at on and hopped backward.

Lin torched the crawler octobrawlers as previously instructed until they were nothing more than scorched dust on the concrete floor. "There. They're dead."

"Thank you. From now on, we zap the boxes before we open them. And, to be honest, if it's all gonna be nails and screws, we might as well head back up. Or. Actually. Let's go until the hall ends."

"Then we might set the crates on fire, though, and that's… not ideal…" Lin kept walking with Orion, seeming a bit apprehensive. "Don't feel like getting caught in a burning building."

"Okay. To the end it is." She held out her hand again, to feel where it ended. "This is pretty long."

"Yeah… stick close to me so you can see." Lin kept walking along, making the fire brighter so that their field of view was wider.

She felt her fingers brush up against something. "I think I feel a wall."

Lin held the flame up and nodded. "Yeah, it's a wall. Should we start heading back, then?"

"Yes, please." Orion turned to face the direction the broken escalator were. "The air is gonna make me grow mold in my lungs." She began walking toward the broken escalator.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll be fine. We haven't been in here all that long anyway." Lin held up his hand so that the flame illuminated the area around them. "C'mon."