fablelands | [Closed] Day 8 || The Depths

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[Closed] Day 8 || The Depths

Who: Keith and Lance
What: Making plans for Lance to go explore the lake.
Where: Outside the house they're staying at, next to the porch.
When: Day 8
Warnings: None, currently

It's almost noon.

Lance has been out for most of the morning, swimming around the lake, and Keith has been keeping himself busy doing things around the house. The windows are secured and so are the doors. Nails from stuff they didn't need, together with a makeshift hammer, helped, and it allowed him to fix the step on the porch that was a bit of a menace.

There are still no news from anyone, and they still don't have any answers, but keeping his head occupied with things that need doing so they can better assure their survival (in a not too terrible way) helps him not start to lose his mind.

Food is now in a pot, on the firewood stove, slowly boiling, and Keith is finishing cutting some more wood outside when he hears Lance approaching.

Good timing. He needs help, taking all this inside.

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So Lance has had a bit of a weird start today. He couldn't stop thinking about going for a swim, so after fetching water and some other chores, he's been at the lake. The weird thing is... well, there's a lot of weird things. But diving is so easy, he almost can't believe it. He's a good swimmer, but even he is second guessing how long he can stay underwater at the moment-- is it weird? He thinks it's weird.

Still. He finds a wrench down there, which, by some miracle, hasn't been integrated into the lakebed. He also spots some mussles - didn't even know freshwater ones existed - but thinks he should probably ask Keith if he even eats those before he tries to pry and loose. ... and also bring a bucket.

More than anything, though, he can't shake the feeling that there's more to explore in this lake, not to mention that island with the castle that's been bugging him since he first saw it.

Time to head back for now, though. He dries off with the sheet he brought - no proper towels to be had so far, but anything else is just too freaking cold. Then he heads back.

And there's Keith, chopping wood outside. He really does look different from before he left. Taller, wider shoulders too.

... Anyway. "Hey! Found something. Sorry about the algae, but we can get that off and it still works just fine." He gestures with the wrench. Also, that's kind of a lot of wood. "... Do you need a hand with that?"

He brings the axe down on the last piece of wood just as Lance gets close enough to talk. He's changed into his normal clothes ever since they decided to settle on the new place - nothing weird has happened so far - the boots and gloves making it easier to do the work and the lack of armor making it easier to move. He has his t-shirt around his neck and over his shoulders, as if it was a towel, having taken it off sometime in the middle of wood-cutting. It's all dirty and sweaty and he wants to go wash it at the lake and leave it to dry before lunch. His back and arms are visibly better, too.

Turning around, as Lance greets him, Keith wipes the sweat off his forehead with his forearm, reaching out after to take the wrench from him, so he can look at it better. "Nice find." And it is-- They can clean it up and it could come in handy in the future. At the question, he looks at the cut wood on the floor, before looking back at Lance with a snort. "I need more than a hand." A small smirk. "Two would be ideal."

Before that, though-- "How's the lake?" Anything new? "Good swim?" It sure took him a while.

That's definitely a view. ... Not that Lance thinks he has any reason to be jealous of it.

... Also, the sunburn is better, so that's definitely good.

He huffs at the request. "I can do two." Now if he started asking for three or more, things would get tricky. "The lake's pretty good! I found out there's shellfish in there that we can eat, too." Let's see if Keith makes a face about it - some people do.

"Also, though... I keep thinking about that island out in the lake. I mean, we've been most of the way around the lake now and still haven't seen a single boat. But I wonder if I could swim there."

He snorts at the reply. Good. Because he can only do one-- At least, on a first trip. Normally, he would leave the axe outside, but given where they are, he'd rather take it inside with them, where it won't disappear.

The mention of shellfish makes Keith's eyebrows rise. He... can't really remember eating those before. He might have? Either way, he is usually not picky with food and generally pretty open to try all sorts of things. "Uh. ... Sure?" If Lance knows they can eat them, it should be safe, right? "No idea how to cook those, though." You just throw them in a pot or something? That usually works with everything, in last case scenarios.

But then, Lance is talking about the island in the lake. Keith looks away from him towards the water until he spots what Lance is referring to. That place is definitely weird. But it also pretty far away. And who knows how deep the lake even goes.

"... You sure about that?"

Yeah, in this place, Lance would agree. If there's anyone else out there, they're scavenging too, after all.

He flashes a grin at the reply, glad Keith isn't refusing. "Yeah don't worry, I've got it handled. It'd be better if we had some other ingredients, but it'll still be fine." He definitely misses garlic, though that might actually grow here. He wouldn't know. He also misses beans and rice-- and a lot of things from home.

Looking at Keith now, not with his back turned, shows off a lot more scars than he thought. There's not just the one on his face, which is still new - he has an idea where it came from, who gave it to him, but he never actually... couldn't bring himself to ask. There's others, too. His shoulder, his side...

But, uhm, topic at hand. "I mean... sorta sure? I can definitely make it out that far. And it's not the ocean, so it isn't like I'd have to worry about waves or currents that much either."

He nods at Lance's first reply. There are many things from Earth that he misses eating, too. None of it is really found in space. But this place is different. It has a lot of things he recognizes. So, who knows, right? Maybe it will have garlic. Maybe it will have a lot of other things, too. There's a fence, all around the kitchen's exit, that probably separates what was once fertile ground. Perhaps he can fix that fence at some point and they can try to grow things in there, if they find seeds or other things they can use. "As long as it doesn't kill us." He eventually answers, more as a tease than anything else.

But then, it's back at Lance's idea of going to explore that island. He makes good points, of course. But-- "... We don't know what's under there." The lake, he means. And given what they've seen of this place so far... he can't say that he trusts it. Not even a little.

Not even at all.

Well, bamboo seems to grow here, he thinks he even saw some weirdly shaped tomatoes in the overgrown mess that was probably supposed to be a vegetable garden. Why not garlic? He just doesn't actually know how to recognize it.

Lance huffs in fake indignation, placing his hands on his hips. "Tch! Hey, I can handle some shellfish, it's not like this is weird alien ingredients." He's gonna leave those to Hunk, always and forever. And never ask about them.

Serious talk, though. "We don't. But we're not gonna find out if there's anything important on that island or in the lake itself by staying out of the water, either."

It's easy, the back and forth. And Keith could just as easily keep it going. But the conversation is quickly getting into territory that's a bit too serious to stray from. So Keith leaves it at that - he knows Lance knows how to handle shellfish, being from Cuba and everything - instead focusing on what he says next.

And once he finishes talking, he just looks at him, for a moment. He is right, of course. Besides, so far, the place hasn't been dangerous per se. Nothing life-threatening has happened yet. At the same time, however (and again), this place isn't normal. Who knows what that lake might be hiding... or do.

Eventually, though, he does answer, looking to the lake and away from Lance, arms crossing over his chest. "... What if you find trouble?"

It's actually comfortable, the teasing. It's kind of a sesne of normalcy, except Lance isn't sure when exactly this became normal... there was a point, he's sure, when bickering and loud arguments and insults turned into this instead, but now he can't tell when it happened.

They're weighing the options here, he knows it too. But he holds Keith's gaze, waiting for some kind of answer. He's not just gonna run off and do stuff, even if there's no team to be the leader of. Lance shrugs at the mention of trouble. "Run, hide, and run some more. I mean... I'm gonna probably take something pointy but fighting underwater isn't ever a great idea. I could wear my suit for protection." Though he doesn't know how well it'll hold up while he's trying to stay closer to the surface of the water... it should be fine.

Keith knows exactly what that point was. He knows exactly when one thing turned into another, for him. More obviously so, anyway. But it's also something he doesn't dwell on much these days. It's just better not to. Walls are hard to build, after all. And it's been two long years for him.

Lance's answer actually makes him snort a little, though. He shakes his head, stares at the lake a little bit more and then looks back at Lance again. "Alright." He nods. "The suit is a good idea." It has the shield too, after all. "... And something pointy." He curves the right side of his mouth up, at that.

In all seriousness, though... what could he take? The axe is too heavy, and his dagger-- Well, if they are not in close vicinity of each other, it would be wise for both of them to stay armed, right? Still, he will offer it, if they can't think of anything else.

And Lance doesn't even know exactly what he did. Part of it, sure. But the rest... he just knows Keith came back and he walked face first into one of those walls. One day he'll figure out how that happened, perhaps.

Lance looks over to the lake as Keith does, scanning it. It's like it's calling to him... which should worry him, maybe. It does a bit. If there was a Baku down there, it's not like they have anything big enough to fight it. ... He's just gonna have to trust himself to swim the other way.

Keith's assessment has him nodding. That was his thinking too - the shield will only do so much, but it's something. He huffs at Keith repeating the pointy thing back at him, mouth tugging into a lopsided grin. "Yeah. The axe isn't... it wouldn't really work well, and I'm not taking your dagger anywhere I'm not sure I can find it again if I drop it. I mean obviously I'd try not to, but... you know." Things happen. Accidents happen. He's not taking that risk, not with something that's important to Keith, not if he has another option. "But I'm pretty sure I saw an ice pick in one of the kitchen drawers, so that'd work."

Perhaps.

That thing Lance and Hunk found underwater, it could... control their mind, right? What if--...

The grin he gets back at his reply brings a sense of ease, distracting him from his (less optimistic) thoughts. He isn't exactly comfortable with this - there's just a lot going on, namely a lot of weird going on - but this is familiar in a way that makes things easier to accept. They've seen weird before, right? A Hell of a lot of weird. And they made it. Of course he still doesn't love the idea, but. He trusts Lance. If he says he can do this... He can do this.

He listens to him, and before he can really answer, Lance comes up with a solution. That's right, he had forgotten about that. Sounds pretty good to him. "Alright." He nods. "You should take the mirror, too." So he can get back to him, when he's on the island.

What if-- well... he doesn't get the same Safe And Warm sort of vibe from the lake. He can only hope it's not that.

It's true - they've seen weird. Lots of weird. But they got through it, even the seemingly impossible space magic kinds of weird. So why not this, right? They have to do something. He keeps his smile as Keith accepts his suggestion... it's nice how easy their teamwork has become. Nods at the suggestion about the mirror though. "Yeah. And I can probably even show you stuff underwater if I find anything, even if we won't be able to talk." Reduced to basic gesturing would make life a little difficult. "The water's pretty clear, so it shouldn't be too dark."

It's calling for him too, though, isn't it? But well, it's like Lance said. They have to do something. And he--... ... Well, it's better if someone stays outside, just to make sure nothing weird happens here, either.

As for showing him stuff underwater... That sounds like a good idea, too. He looks at the lake again and, finally, nods. "Okay." ... And then smirks, that teasing sort of smirk, looking back at Lance from the corner of his eyes, without facing away from the lake. "Yeah." Great idea, not talking. Since, you know. His smirk widens. "Try not to drown."

Lance, meanwhile, mostly thinks that he doesn't know how well Keith swims, and it's better to coordinate their efforts like this, so he can show Keith his findings. There's a reason not everyone goes on recon, right? He thinks so. Keith has to make sure the house is still standing when he gets back. And maybe... maybe if there really is something bad out there, something so big or bad they don't really stand a chance, then at least it's only one of them out there.

Lance nods back - all set, then. Now they just have to put away the firewood and then he can grab his stuff. But then Keith smirks and tosses him that line, and Lance gets indignant. "Excuse you, I will have you know I am mermaid certified."

... Yeah. Yeah, lets go with that. It's better for someone to keep an eye on things out here, yes. Of course, that will no longer even come into discussion when they get to explore outside the lake, because then the house will have to stay standing on its own, but that's not something that really needs to be discussed now, is it? Definitely not. As for there being something big or bad out there--... Lets not go there, either. It's easier to think that there could just as easily be something big or bad coming here while Lance is out there.

And then, well. Then comes that reply. Keith turns his head to face him properly, the smirk still wide on his face and his arms still crossed over his chest. "Oh yeah?"

Obviously if they go explore outside the lake, they uh... will have more supplies between the two of them if they both go. Yup. There. All set. And maybe let's not think about bad things trying to kill them. There's already enough of those, even if right now the list is oddly shorter than it has been lately.

You know what's a better topic than that?

Mermaids.

"Uhm, duh!" Openly gesturing. "I went to a mermaid planet and swam with them myself and everything!"

Yeah-- Yeah, definitely. That. And the list really is short, isn't it? Too short. In fact... They haven't found anything or anyone trying to kill them ever since they got here. The weather, maybe, in certain areas, and the fact that they need to scavenge for food, but that aside, it's eerily calm.

But, uh. Yeah. Sure. That's... a better topic. He guesses.

"So I've heard." The reply is easy and Keith is still smirking, though his expression is a bit hard to read. He isn't giving anything else away. So much so that he starts moving, after, picking up as many logs as he can carry on one arm off the ground.

It's definitely weirdly short. Weather, climate. The snow and the sun depending on where you go. ... Starvation? He somehow still hasn't run into any natural predators out here. So far, anyway. Thankfully.

He didn't think he could get used to war, but that's exactly what it seems he did. Another thing he doesn't really want to think about. Meanwhile here Keith is, smirking at him.

"And what's that supposed to mean? Did Hunk gossip about me behind my back..." He does that. Like he picks through people's stuff and looks at their diaries. But, well, the plan is set now and he guesses it's time to get to work, so he picks up as much firewood as he's able before they head inside.

Time in space really did change them, didn't it? In various ways.

As for the question, Keith doesn't answer, just keeping the smirk as, once he's picked everything he can, he starts making his way inside, bringing the axe with him.

Lunch should be about ready.

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[Closed] Day 8 || The Depths

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