[closed] vault hunters work best in teams of four ; zombones

[cachemoney]

CHARACTERS: Fi, Li, Rhy, and Vaughn ; caravan trio
DATE: Woodhurst weeks 3 and 4 probs
WARNINGS: literally this log is all borderlands, what do you think
SUMMARY: Two logs for the price of one

i warned u

Comments

SCHOOL DAZE [bounty]

[cachemoney]

[Fiona is excited to be working this bounty with a Real Live Vault Hunter, keeping close to Lilith as they creep around the school looking for a way in. Vaughn and Rhys are there, too. I guess. But really, this is gonna be the Vault Hunter Show starring Fiona and Lilith, and woe betide anyone who gets in their way.

Except right now, a sealed window is in their way. That's more of an anything rather than an anyone.

Fiona stands below it, frowning with her hands on her hips.] Okay, if we can... open it somehow. Without breaking it. That would be ideal. [She doesn't particularly want to alert anyone to their presence, especially not the infected creeping around the halls.]

[cashlin]

[New Vault Hunter or not, it's still comfortable to be working with people from her own world: Rhys and Vaughn are clearly not quite Pandora, but it helps to have the same general outlook on the state of the world.

...but yeah, let's be real, this is Fiona and Lilith's thing, not Nerd and Nerdier over there. Lilith is eyeing the window thoughtfully too, arms crossed in front of her chest, and just as she's whipping her gun out--]

Oh, we're doing stealth? Thought we were doing the guns blazing thing.

[pulls gun... away from windowpane...]

Cool with me, then.

[Lilith hangs back to give Rhys and Vaughn a nod, as if she's calling on them.]

You got any ideas? I could try to melt the glass-- [hey ho look glowy phasefist! lilith, put that shit away] --but that'll probably be even louder than busting it open would be.

[moneyman]

Hmm, maybe we could—

[ nope, whatever idea he just had is now gone, because he's staring at Lilith's glowing fist like it's the coolest fucking thing he's ever seen. god damn, Sirens are awesome. ]

...Oh, my god, you can just melt it? [ ugh, why does this have to be stealthy?? he knows why, of course, but still. ] Can you just, like... make it explode quietly?

[ he just wants to see her melt a window. he's a simple man. ]

[dbag]

Oh, my god, yes, do the thing, make it explode.

[ SORRY, FIONA, you're out-voted, explosions are so much cooler. He elbows Vaughn in the ribs incessantly, loudly whispering, ] She's gonna make it explode!!

im about to make this that much stupider

[cashlin]

[Sorry for your strategy again Fiona, because on top of being outvoted, the two losers have thoroughly petted Lilith's big honking ego, which means she's totally gonna do it regardless of what Fiona says. Her eyes are bright with an intense, fiery will th-- no never mind they're actually bright, those are freaky Siren eyes.]

Actually? I lied, I have noooo idea what this is gonna sound like. Or look like!

[she says, with near-manic glee. let her do the thing. let her make it explode.]

It's kinda high up, though. I could shoot at it or smack it with a gun with a longer barrel, but I'd probably have to actually be closer to do any phasey crap to it. Might need a boost here.

[shame]

[cachemoney]

[Oh my god, there's three of them now. Fiona opens her mouth to protest, to insist!!!! that stealth is the way to go in this situation, but then just sighs loudly instead, rubbing at her face. It is gonna be freakin' cool, she can't deny that.]

Right... [Rhys has the strength of ten noodles and Vaughn is approximately a foot tall, so SHE'LL JUST HAVE TO sacrifice herself and be a stepladder. She moves closer to the window and crouches down, cupping her hands low so Lilith can get her precious boost.] Let's get this explodey show on the road.

[moneyman]

[ uh, wow, he was totally going to offer to give Lilith a boost. she could have just climbed him? geez. but okay, that works, too. whatever makes the good part come faster, honestly.

he grins excitedly at Rhys and claps his hands together. quietly. like it matters at this point. ]

Yes. Let's.

[dbag]

Aaaahh, yes, this is the greatest thing that has ever happened here. We're making a window explode.

[ Okay, this isn't exactly true. Lilith is making a window explode and Fiona is helping. Rhys and Vaughn are just... kind of there. But still. ]

...Well, we're explosion-adjacent, anyway.

[cashlin]

[SHE'S SO EXCITED YOU GUYS.

With a short 'hup', she takes Fiona's boost and hooks her fingers on the edge of the window, deftly pulling herself up to crouch on the tiny bit of sill.]

You might wanna back up for this.

[enjoy this visual accompaniment i googled in 5 minutes

Lilith raises her tattooed hand once more, the aura of blue-purple energy centering in her palm and radiating out to her fingers. With one last glance over her shoulder to make sure that they're watching the fledgling Vault Hunter(s) have moved away, she punches out the window with full force, grunting with the effort. The sound of the glass shattering is dulled somewhat-- the phase energy, white-hot, has actually created unnatural-looking molten edges in some places-- by the otherworldly echoing of the energy rippling through the window itself. Mission sort of accomplished.

And yeah, it did look fucking cool.]

We're in business. [Lilith sticks her hand through the hole she's made in the window and unlocks it, slipping inside the building.] C'mon, let's get to it.

[cachemoney]

[Yeah, okay, Fiona definitely steers clear of that. Sirens are cool as hell, but she doesn't trust that she won't (accidentally) get caught in some kind of brain-melty explosion. She likes her brain unmelted, thanks.

Trying very hard to seem unfazed by this awesome display of awesomeness, she crouches back down to give the boys a boost, jerking her head toward the window.] Move it.

[moneyman]

[ this one, on the other hand, is the opposite of unfazed. for just a moment, the bounty is forgotten; hell, the mission is forgotten. there are only molten fists flying through unsuspecting windows. all is right with the world. ]

Holy shit. Awesome.

[ buuut again, it's only a moment. he knows they have a job to do. which doesn't mean he'll be wiping the stupid smile off his face when he rushes over for a boost, but that's okay, right? enthusiasm is good. plus, like the mission itself, this bounty is probably going to get really shitty really fast. he'll take the joy of a cool explosion while he can get it.

he's pretty good at climbing things now, so between that and Fiona's boost he's up and through the window in no time. time for the aforementioned shitty part. ]

[dbag]

Oh, my god, she did it, Fiona, did you see it.

[ A job to do??? WHAT job. Fiona's clearly just hanging out, crouching, waiting for him to get through the fucking window for no reason, he has all the time in the world to start the Lilith Cashlin Official Fanclub. He'll print business cards! ]

She just— with her bare fist— oh, my god, she's the coolest person ever.

[ After an inexcusably long moment, he does finally remember they're there to do something, though, and deflates a little. ] Oh. Right. [ Carefully, he starts to climb through the window, although he's kind of way too big and ends up landing with a thud and an, ] Oof.

[cachemoney]

[Oh, my god, these children. Children!! This entire bounty is going to be them being insufferably moony about Lilith, she can already tell. Not that Lilith isn't cool as hell, but goddammit, they have shit to do!

Once they're all through the window, a new problem presents itself: she can't give herself a boost.] Sooo... little help out here? Maybe there's a door nearby?

I LEFT MY HEART IN ZOMBIEFRISCO

[cachemoney]

[Woodhurst is going badly. Fiona is used to a general atmosphere of violence and rioting, sure, but the rampant infections are something new. It was easy to pretend not to be bothered at first, to just barrel through things with little regard for safety as per uszhe, but as the days go by, it's become impossible to keep doing that.

Things are going badly. Still, she tries to be super casual as she sends a psychic brain text over to Vaughn.] Sooo... hey. Can you stop by our house real quick? No reason.

[moneyman]

[ oh, that doesn't sound suspicious at all. might as well wait and ask in person, though. it's not like he's gonna say no. ]

Sure. I'll be right over.

[ aaand some appropriate amount of time later he's on their doorstep, knocking kind of warily. hopefully this isn't something horrible or anything!! ]

[cachemoney]

[the door opens and FIONA JUMPS OUT AND BITES HIS FACE except she doesn't, she just opens the door normally. There's a tenseness in her face and her posture even as she smiles at him and opens the door wider so he can come inside, retreating back into the house.]

Soooo... I lied, there is a reason.

[moneyman]

Yyyeah, I kinda figured.

[ they're friends, sure, but Fiona doesn't tend to just... randomly invite him over. he weakly returns a smile before following her inside, anxiety starting to well up in earnest. ]

...So, what's up?

[dbag]

[ Rhys is just sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips, all caszhj, playin' it cool, u know how he do. ]

Oh, hey.

[cachemoney]

[She stops a little ways away from Rhys, folding her arms and glancing over at him all like Hm, like they got in a fight or something. Which, while statistically likely, is thankfully not the reason she invited Vaughn over.]

So. Rhys -- you know Rhys, [she says to Vaughn, all fake casual and polite like they're at a country club she's about to tell a funny story about an acquaintance,] he's the one who can't stop eating -- might have a small problem. Might. It's, like, minuscule, it barely even matters. [She's stalling.]

[moneyman]

[ oh, cool, Rhys can't stop eating. that's not worrisome.

except yes, yes it is. he's read the mission dossier a hundred times. his eyes flick back and forth between the two of them, trying to fend off the dread that's beginning to creep in. ]

What are you talking about?

[ Rhys is just a little bit stoned, right? that's why he can't stop eating. everything's fine. just say it's fine. ]

[dbag]

[ He's been smoking one of Olivia's joints, obviously. Vaughn already looks like a terrified little mouse and it's awful; he scowls at Fiona, because it's clearly all her fault for freaking him out like this, then smiles at Vaughn, laughing awkwardly. ]

Haha. It's not a big deal.

[cachemoney]

[She automatically scowls back at Rhys, a half-second away from doing/saying something mean and terrible, but quickly deflates and scrubs at her face instead. Her nerves are just brittle right now; she doesn't want to be mean and terrible in this situation.]

It's a moderate deal. [She lowers her hands from her face, then looks at Vaughn again, quiet for a second.] I mean, you know what I'm going to say.

[moneyman]

[ yeah, he knows.

that much is probably evident as the rest of the color drains from his face, leaving only fear and panic. he likes to pretend he's fearless sometimes, but that's not exactly true. he likes this whole "going on missions to other worlds" thing. it's exciting. but there was something unsettling about this one that he felt from the moment he learned the details, and he'd confessed to Rhys that the thought of certain people getting sick scared the shit out of him.

and now here he is, with a couple of those certain people, and one of them is sick.

he stares at Fiona for another moment or two after she finishes speaking, and then shifts his attention to Rhys. his idiot best friend who he loves to death nonetheless, sitting there eating chips like it's "no big deal" that he's contracted a horrific virus with no known cure. the look he gives Rhys practically begs him to take that back. it's a big deal to him. he opens his mouth to ask something—how, why, where—but it doesn't matter, because nothing comes out. for once in his life, there are no words. just... blanched, frightened looks.

god damn it, Rhys. ]

[dbag]

[ Rhys wants to curl up and die, or at least disappear; he can't stand having Vaughn looking at him like that, it's too awful to bear. Vaughn being sad makes him sad, stop it. He looks at Fiona, just sort of willing her to say something that will make Vaughn stop looking so pathetic, then looks back to Vaughn and frowns. ]

Please don't make that face? [ Such comfort, very emotional intelligence. ]

[cachemoney]

[Lord. This could have gone better, though she doesn't really know how. Just that it could have, because this is truly awful. She slips her arm around Vaughn's shoulders because these stupid boys need someone to keep it together, and that's the role that often falls to her anyway.]

Look, it'll be okay. I know people are working on a cure along with a vaccine, so. All we have to do is... just trust that they know what they're doing. [And wait, which is the worst part. She hates feeling useless, and she's pretty useless here.]