commanderforehead | continued from bakerstreet due to captcha

[ he doesn't know why he's so weirdly touched when ryan shifts closer to him, but he definitely is. sleepily, he lifts one hand to card gently through the other man's hair, nails blunt against his scalp and that same, pleased half-smile on his face.

akmazian is good to lie like that for a while, sleepily watching the other man's face and crossing his fingers that things won't be too weird in the light of morning for them. his hand drops to sort of smooth against ryan's waist through the sheets, before he's eventually out himself. ]

[In the morning? Maybe, maybe not. When they eventually have a conversation about this? Definitely.

Right now Ryan's kind of planning on leaving that for the trip back, though. When they're safe and sound and don't have anything else pressing to think about. Right now just enjoying the moment seems like the right course of action.

Ryan is a cuddler, on that note. He's pretty well snuggled up with Akmazian by the time the alarm goes off, set to early enough that they can check out the ruins before they open.

Really, Ryan would love to sleep longer, but they did put it off to today and only have another night before needing to head back to Eos 10 the day after that, and two other sites to potentially check. So it's with very great reluctance that Ryan wakes, blindly reaching out to hit the snooze button even if he's dragging himself out of bed.]

Mmh -

[ he'd woken up a few times in the night - as he tended to do, just in general - a little surprised every time he continued to find ryan there, cuddled up against him. he's got no problems with that, of course, and takes a few moments to feel a little warmth and smugness before snuggling down and dozing back off.

when the alarm starts to go off, though, and ryan starts to get out of bed, he'll just whine softly, resisting. it's so early, and while he'll manage - he'll get up, they've got work to do - he doesn't have to pretend to love it. ]

Five more minutes, mom.

Do I want to ask about your relationship with your mother?

[Ryan runs his hand through his hair. He never rinsed off after that jog, and if Akmazian is still going to stay in bed for another five minutes...]

I'm going to hog the bathroom first, then. Don't sleep in too late, the alarm's only on snooze.

[He can take a quick two minute cold shower to wake up and get all the morning shit done with before Akmazian needs to small space.]

Mm, no. Probably not.

[ but he's groaning less about waking up and more about ryan leaving, which is where the physical resistance came from at all. he rolls out of bed with a whine when the bathroom door shuts, stretching and stumbling over to his bag.

he's got about thirty seconds to decide whether or not he's going to crash ryan's cold shower. it's not an easy choice here. ]

[If Ryan knew crashing was an option he'd probably try to either shower with warmer water or... or make it more attractive somehow?

He's mostly just looking to rinse off, to get the blood flowing, to try to visualize what the artifact on the Orchid looked like as clearly as possible - any markings they can match, that kind of thing.

Of course, his mind keeps drifting back to Akmazian's face, how good he looked relaxed with sleep and the sounds get made last night when Ryan took him in his hand like that.

'Hey last night was fun, want to go for round two later?' no, What I was trying to say before I got sidetracked was that I want to try to have a relationship with you if you're willing,' no, 'So I kinda had a fling with a guy when I was on shore leave and I spent a lot of time thinking about you when he had his hands on me and I realized I kinda got it bad for you,' NO...

Ugh. Ryan lets his head thud against the wall. This shouldn't be this complicated.]

[ meanwhile, akmazian is trying to tell himself that he needs to back off, to give them both space, to put this on hold until things have calmed down. if they calm down. the big problem here is that he's never been great with the whole 'delayed gratification' thing when it comes to himself. hell - he'd been fond enough of ryan right off the bat to sneak back onto eos 10 to warn him about levi, of all goddamn people.

he puffs his cheeks out, an expression of sleepy frustration with himself, before he gives up and drops his bag. nope. shower is way more appealing.

- or, well, it definitely is until he actually slips into the stream behind ryan and yelps, startled by the temperature. ]

Are you a penguin?

[ sputtered in alarm. ]

[Shower being on and Ryan preoccupied with his own quandaries and all, he doesn't realize Akmazian's snuck in until he yelps.

He absolutely would have had warmer water if he anticipated this being a sexy kind of shower.

Ryan twists the knob for the shower apologetically, quickly turning off the spray because that's easier than finding the right setting for warm that won't boil them both alive.]

Multiple studies have shown that cold showers are actually beneficial to your health and they wake me up in the morning also I didn't realize you'd be joining me.

[ okay, he's already freezing, just from that - he'd stepped right into that jet of cold water. fuuuuck. but at least all of the residual sleepiness had been shocked right out of him, and he gives ryan an uncharacteristically owlish look.

finally, he manages: ]

I don't trust those studies.

[ HUFFED. and then he just stares expectantly at ryan, as if waiting for him to turn the water back on. ]

Anyway, I thought we might conserve water. Do our best to keep the environment safe and all that.

[Ryan can't possibly stay offended to that face. Not when he wants to kiss it so bad.

Well, okay, he totally still could because Ryan is a goddamn master at self denial in most cases, but he doesn't really have a pressing reason right now. So, clearly trying not to laugh, he gets the shower going again. Warmer this time.]

Oh, is that what we're doing? Here I thought you just wanted to see me wet and naked, now I'm disappointed.

[ akmazian rolls his eyes as aggressively as he can manage, before he reaches forward to grab at ryan. for a moment, it looks like he's going in for an embrace - but he doesn't quite make it that far. instead, he's just playfully attempting to deposit ryan away from the spray of warmer water so that he can hog all of it to himself. ]

Mmhh. That too.

[W O W okay then see if Ryan ever mistakes you for romantic again buster.]

No it's fine you don't have to spare my feelings.

[He even manages to keep a straight face when he says that. You want water? Fine then, Ryan manages to angle his hands to get some of the spray that gets past Akmazian to bounce back into his face.]

[ shut UP he's plenty romantic... when he wants to be ...

which definitely isn't right now, when he's sputtering again and swatting at his face, trying to keep the spray out of his eyes. ]

Oh, come on, now you're just being childish.

[ as if he isn't. and he will up the ante by trying to nudge ryan back up against the wall, to shield him from the water entirely. ]

[Ryan laughs as he's backed against the wall, though this means he needs to hold on to Akmazian's shoulders to keep himself steady.]

I'm being childish, sure - and you're what, twelve?

Dunno. Thirteen or fourteen, at least.

[ but his shoulders are shaking with laughter again. he hates how easy this is, how natural it feels to fall into a situation like this, and he leans down to kiss ryan soundly. ]

[Ryan kisses back, and it's no less a wonder to him. How comfortable it is to be with Akmazian like this, like they've been doing it for years instead of a few hours. He expected something to be jarring, if only because Akmazian's only the second man that Ryan feels necessary to count. It should give him pause to have to lean up to kiss rather than down, to feel the stubble of another face against his own, if only because like it or not all sentient species end up being creatures of habit.

It just feels good, though. Ryan didn't consider himself a romantic, but it does kind of fuel this idea he has that they could make something work, that it's the right decision.]

Mmm. Hey, we do have an elsewhere to be. If we make good time and don't find anything we could probably make it back in time for breakfast.

Yeah, yeah. [ akmazian grumbles it out huskily, reluctantly, one hand already up to hold the side of ryan's face. as if he needs to gently guide it, to keep it in place, even if in reality it's just an excuse to touch him. he will never get sick of the feeling of the other man's skin beneath his fingertips.

he steals one final kiss, before backing up and rinsing his own hair. ]

Let's get to work.

[Reluctance to leave the shower or not, Ryan does manage it after that final (for now) kiss. He's an aggressively efficient morning person when he needs to be, and in no time at all Ryan is dressed and ready for shenangins.

The pants he's wearing now aren't quite as clingy as the others, not that it ultimately matters much with an ass like his.]

Okay, map says it should only be a thirty minutes or so walk out taking the main path. It looks like there are some ways around back if the map is accurate, but obviously they aren't exactly marked. We'll have to see if we get closer.

I'll defer to you on this one.

[ akmazian is a little slower, but he's still pretty quick about it. he's used to needing to get things done in a rush, and while he leans forward to double check the map, he seems pretty content to just trust ryan on this one.

so he'll nod at him, lifting his arm to yawn into the crook of it. ]

Lead the way, doc.

[It takes an amazing amount of self restraint to not pull Akmazian down for another kiss before anything else, but somehow Ryan manages. He tucks the provided map into his pocket just in case, then heads out into the pre-dawn morning.

The avians of this planet are still asleep even, in the time where 'last night' and 'this morning' are a little blurry. Hopefully they'll be able to fit a midday nap in later since that seems to be the hours they'll be working in this weekend.

No one else is out at this hour, though Ryan sticks close to Akmazian just in case.

There are sign posts to keep them from getting lost along the trail, hastily constructed and marked, others with additions added onto already existing ones. The ruins seem to be in a place called Chiral Caverns. The caverns themselves partially open out into a lake. It's pretty but not breathtaking, crystal making up most of the rock. Except for a segment of the cavern wall that has been broken off - landslide, earthquake, some other geographical phenomenon. The wreckage is only partially cleared, and a positively ancient structure is visible underneath it. Walkways have been erected in the interim, most of it looking slapdash but secure.

The building looks a little similar in architecture to the design of the mind control beacon the Orchid had used. But much like similar pyramid structure being found worldwide during the bronze age, that might just be a coincidence. There's only so many ways to pile rocks and have them not fall down in this combination of gravity and minerals to use as building materials. They'll need to get closer.

There's not a whole lot of hiding places along the path to there, since a good portion of it hugs the cave wall itself between that and the lake.]

... I don't see any lights inside that might say morning staff, do you?

Nope. And that could mean a few things.

[ it could mean that there's nothing here worth protecting, or simply something here that no one realizes is worth protecting. it could also mean that there's something here worth protecting subtly, which might be the worst possibly thing to stumble upon here.

akmazian masks another yawn, his gait lazy and casual, as if he really doesn't care much for his surroundings. ryan will likely be able to detect the alertness in his step, though; neither does he want to be obvious about what they're doing, if the latter really is the case. ]

Anything ringin' any bells for you, Doc?

[ since he'd been crawling around ducts with levi when everything else had happened. ]

Could be something, but could also be nothing. I'd need to get closer to be sure.

[Ryan is aware how disappointing that is, giving Akmazian an apologetic look. A little observation of the area and discussion shows that there probably is a back way, over and around, if they get to the part of the hill over where the cave opens up. But then they'd need a way of getting down, and while it looks terribly sheer from this distance it might not actually be.

But it would take a good half a day to get there, and if it isn't climbable downward they just lost a whole day to get back.

So the catwalks it is. They have the cover of darkness for the first half of the walk, and blessedly as the sun begins to start alighting things they appear to be in the shadow cast by the cliff edge. Long enough to see that at the mouth of the cave and the entrance to the ruins they have trusted that signs in several alliance languages expressing that this area is currently closed and several human-height barriers made of the same pearl-like mineral will keep people out.

Moving equipment or stronger beings put them in place, the things are too heavy for Akmazian and Ryan to move them together, but there's enough sturdy debris not nailed down that they can make a makeshift staircase up high enough to vault over. Downside: they'll have to figure out a way to get back over on the way out.

It's dark, inside the cave and the ancient ruins... and they are deep. Crystals have overtaken more than half of the city this used to contain, and that's only guessing based on what can be seen through their translucent bodies. It could go for much farther back, miles even, past where there's enough to have turned opaque. What's left that looks explorable is still easily the size of what would be considered a very large alliance settlement.

Ryan flicks on the two flashlights he brought and hands one to Akmazian. The water just outside makes a soft echoing sound of tides that should cover most of their walking if they're careful. Unfortunately it'll do that for anyone else here, too. So far their lights are the only ones.]

... Guess we start looking.

[ akmazian is admittedly a little dubious as they continue their trek into the cave, but he doesn't voice any of these concerns. not yet. he and ryan were there for a reason, and this was far from the most dangerous thing he'd done in his life. hell, it wasn't even the most dangerous thing he'd done this week. still: having ryan here to protect complicated the situation more than he was happy to admit.

he takes the flashlight, testing the brightness. when he speaks, it's in a quiet murmur, as if the lights themselves wouldn't alone be enough to give them away entirely. ]

Be careful. Yell if you run into - well. Anything.

[ because the thought of sticking together is nice, but there's no way they can, not with the absurd amount of ground that they're needing to cover in the time they have to do it in. he hesitates before he moves, and then adds: ]

Awful pretty here, though, ain't it.

[Ryan smiles a bit, and in the privacy and darkness there's no hiding the fondness there. Not that Ryan would even if he could, not now.

He's glad to be here with Akmazian. Both as a backup and to see the sights. It's sad that this probably is the closest thing they'll get to a vacation together for a long time.]

I see why it's popular with honeymooners. You call if you run into danger too.

[If there's another mind control device here and Akmazian runs into it without Ryan around... He'll deal with it. He has to. Setting off into the darkness on the eastern side of the ruins, Ryan begins his own careful exploration all the while wishing he had thought to bring actual caving equipment with them.

He does uncover a few things - part of the lake has spilled into the ruins and totally flooded a lower level, causing the crystal to grow even more in the sinkhole which glitters like it's filled with diamonds thanks to the light of several faintly blue glowing jellyfish that appear to have made their home there.

There's some pottery too, mosaics on walls that stretch for the length of what must have been a city block. Beautiful, but up close showing the similarity in detail work to the artifact on the Orchid is superficial at best. Consecutive circles rather than angular lines here and there. Enough to make you stop and doubletake, but the more you take in the clearer it is by a different hand.

He sighs, annoyed at himself for having wasted both their time on this, before he finally heads back to meet up with Akmazian.]

[ honestly? it's one of the prettiest things akmazian has seen in a long time. he's never really been in a position where he's had a lot of free time to just take in the sights, to really get his tourist hat on. even now, the two of them very much have an ongoing mission, but part of that involves getting up close and personal with these crystals.

he likes them. it'd be relaxing, if he weren't so impossibly on edge at the moment, hyperaware of any other light or noise that he might encounter. but nothing happens: they're not caught, and he doesn't really find anything particularly useful, so when he heads back to their rendezvous point, it's with a little disappointment, even if he tries to mask it.

yeah, he knows it's not going to be easy, but can he be blamed if he wishes that it were? he just wants this over with. ]

Any luck, doc?

continued from bakerstreet due to captcha

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