10815/Surviving Infinity: Poke, poke

Surviving Infinity: Poke, poke
Date of Scene:	21 January 2020
Location:	Khundian Empire
Synopsis:	Tony and Steve meet some fuzzy aliens on their adventure.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Captain America
Tinyplot:	Surviving Infinity

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Iron Man has posed:
Tony's on watch, which gives Steve some time to get some rest. Tony's spent all of it working: he's been fiddling around with his Iron Man guantlet, extracting pieces out of it to make an amplification for his mobile device. Using the sensor capability in the glove of the suit isn't enough alone, he needed to recalibrate it.

Also he got distracted by switching it back into a more standard repulsor mode, though he lacked the pieces to make it really efficient... and ended up adding an ability to spray a bit of fire. That'll help with their current campfire needs.

Something made a noise, though, and Tony gets to his feet, looking around. Suddenly, a few strange, leafy pinecones fall around them, two of them onto Steve's sleeping body. Tony crosses to him, nudging with a foot, and looking upwards in the darkness. "Sleeping beauty, wake up," Tony murmurs.

He suddenly wheels; there was motion in the bushes to his back. Are they all around them?!

Captain America has posed:
Bless Tony for allowing Steve some sleep. Their food sources have been questionable and with the serum eating through his energy stores and into his muscles in the lack of calories present, it's been harder to stay awake during his watches. Now his sleep cycle is almost entirely human! Curses!

The Captain, propped up against the cave entrance with his hands folded on his lap, has his head laid upon his own shoulder and his mouth peeks open in a quiet cycling of sleeping breathing. The pinecones make him twitch; Tony's nudging makes him awake with a sudden sharp snort and unsteady scramble to his feet. He clings to the rock wall behind him and looks around, still bringing his senses to full drive.

"What -- Tony, what?!" he hisses, staring then too at the bushes with the rustling leaves. Whatever he says in Gaelic isn't polite and he quickly looks back down into the gully of the cave, where his shield is laid against one of the wooden platforms that constitute a 'proper bed'.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony is aware he's a great person for letting Steve sleep. It's come up more than once. Tony isn't subtle about reminders about the great things he has done. Letting Steve sleep, building a fire, saving new york, saving the WORLD... he's a great person.

"Something's here investigating us," Tony says. Now that Steve's at least on guard, Tony bends to affix his gauntlet, pulling it on, and hooking the power back up to his arc reactor lead, then the lead back up under his shirt. It's hard to do in the dark: it would be harder if the arc reactor wasn't always a constant light source. "I'll cover you, grab your shield," Tony suggests, and moves forward, his gauntlet lighting up suddenly with a pulse of power, and he aims the palm around into the trees, searching...

Captain America has posed:
"Right." Quickly and quietly as he can manage in his dress shoes, now beat to hell, the super-soldier travels down into the cave. A snatch at the familiar spangled shield and once his forearm is slipped into the beltings, he's scrambling back up towards the cave entrance.

"Tony, what do you see? Don't get too close!" He tries pitching his voice to carry not overly far even with the cave's reverb, just on the off-chance that the curious otherworldly SOMETHING investigating them can understand Terran-English. "Back up a bit, closer to the cave. Don't want something dropping down from above," he reminds the genius-inventor as he crests the lip of the cave and appears fully in view of all.

Iron Man has posed:
"I am /not/ backing myself into that cave with no exits," Tony replies over his shoulder. He ignores Steve's request to back up, but does move laterally, along to one side, so that he still follows the suggestion to not get dropped on from above.

Just then... something drops from above with a squeal. Tony's weapon flares up, and he shoots near the creature, a warning shot.

It is a strange bipedal, furred creature, with a squashed face, like a pug, or a squished-face cat. It can't be more than about three feet tall, furry and with tawny gray cloth wrapped around it. It is armed: but just with sharp, ragged spear adorned with weird glossy black and yellow feathers. It has very large ears, and big black eyes, and it squeals in panic at the shot near it, rolling over. Chatter comes from the bushes that had been moving, some kind of odd language, as other aliens call to it and growl and hiss in concern.

Captain America has posed:
"<<MO DHIA!>>"

Steve takes a step back after the being lands on the ground before them, his shield upraised in reaction. The warning shot lights up the area briefly and leaves him with a clear eidetic memory of what the creature looked like even as it tries to flee from aforementioned energy display.

"Holy...god, what...on earth?" If the Captain's speaking ironically, he doesn't make a show of it. "It's...what the hell is it?" He peers at the little creature with familiar-enough features both feline and canine. "I dunno if Janet would take it home or try and make it go away. I can't tell."

His gaze rises to the bushes. "More of 'em are in there. Don't shoot again, they're spooked enough." He motions out towards Tony without touching him, a patting motion downwards.

Iron Man has posed:
"Yeah, all right, you make friends with Peeping Tom there," Tony agrees skeptically. "If it starts to chew your face, I'm going to shoot with a lot of prejudice," Tony adds, pointing a finger at the group in the bushes which promptly drop down with a chorus of worried squeaks.

Tony stays where he is, observing, though not with hostility, just with skepticism.

The creature that fell down grabs at its spear, still on its butt on the mossy forest floor, and aims it in fear at Steve. "Kkkkmmk-tuu," says the alien, voice trembling.

Captain America has posed:
"'m not gonna stop your prejudice if it's chewing on my face," agrees Steve in the usual calm presence he tends to project in times of stress and conflict. Rather than set the shield aside, he brings it to his side still on his arm before he crouches down. His free hand is offered out, palm up, in what he hazards could be a universal gesture of offering. It's devoid of weapony. He still squints at the being, not yet willing to smile.

"Can't speak that language, but we're not gonna hurt you as long as you play nice too," he says back to the cat-like creature with its spear. "Wish I had something to give it." Steve then frowns and pats at his ribs. Then reaching into his scuff-darkened dress-vest, he pulls out the last bit of dried fruit given to him so long ago by Tony.

He looks down at it, measuring risk verses reward, before offering it out towards the creature on the flat of his palm. "Used to feed the stray cats back in Brooklyn like this," he murmurs to Tony. "Sometimes they'd take scraps."

Iron Man has posed:
The creature is scared, and stab-stabs a little bit at Steve to show its displeasure. Then it stab-stabs at Tony, chattering more in its language. And then points at Tony, and then away. "Really?" Tony says, dryly. "It was stalking us in a tree, and I'm the one that's dangerous. I mean. It's not /wrong/..." Tony glances at Steve, and shakes his head. He's not going to back off. Nope.

The creature studies Tony, then Steve again, and stab-stabs once more, blustering, fur standing on end on its ears and face. From the bushes is a little worried sound, and then some spears poke out, nervously shaking. They're defending their buddy. Sort of.

Captain America has posed:
Steve sighs and extends his hand another inch towards the spear. He's more than close enough at this point to get his fingers much less his palm stabbed if the being felt it appropriate.

"We're not the friendliest-looking things right now, but 'm not taking off this shield. Not like you can dismantle that gauntlet in thirty seconds -- 'nd no, 'm not asking you to," he's sure to add with a quick glance over at Tony. "We need it. Things could get hairier."

Okay, that merited a little Rogers smirk.

"D'you think they want us to go somewhere else? This was their cave or something?" That fruit is still outheld all this time and the Captain remains crouched.

Iron Man has posed:
Suddenly the spear sticks forward while Steve does the quick glance over to Tony. Super fast little stabbing -- to spear the speck of food on the spear. The creature backshuffles backwards with it's legs, doing a butt-scoot. It pulls the spear in and sniff-sniffs at the item on the tip of the spear, then chatters to its cohorts. Then sniff-sniff again, and licks with a tiny catlike tongue to taste the offering. "Ninchu mikchu," says the alien, chittering. The little friends stand up and peek out of the bushes bravely.

"Now you've fed it, and it'll stay," Tony sighs. "I don't know, didn't bring my universal translator," Tony says, and starts to approach Steve.

"NEEEEEEEE," says the little alien, shaking spear at Tony.

Captain America has posed:
Slowly, the Captain closes his fingers after the piece of dried fruit disappears. He remains crouched and continues bringing his arm back close to his body, watching with his mouth slowly falling open in what has to be some form of amusement. It rounds out before he rolls it flat. No laughing, none, he coaches himself as he watches the foreign enjoyment.

"Think they're like the Gremlins? If we water 'em, they'll get bigger 'nd multiply?" He gives Tony a quick little flicker of a smile. "Or is that...tribbles?" When the creature clearly objects to the genius-inventor approaching, his teammate winces.

"No, c'mon, he's with me." Steve motions towards Tony and back at himself, spreading his palm across his chest. "Good. Tony good."

He turns his face to look up at Tony. "You completely out of fruit, Tony? Grab a leaf or something, offer it. It'll make a positive impression."

Iron Man has posed:
"Tony great," Tony helps when Steve identifies that he's good. "Tony dangerous, too, much boom from Tony's boomstick," Tony asserts. "Much fire." Tony gives Steve a 'look'. "I'm not going to give them a leaf. I'm going to stick with 'Bad cop'," Tony informs him.

Fingers move on the gauntlet, and a small plume of fire appears, curling up and out.

Their fuzzy friend screams and falls on it's face: quite a feat seeing as it was on its butt. "Neeee, nee neee," it whimpers, face-down.

"It's fine, I'm probably a god, Steve," Tony comments. "I'm not going to tell them they're /wrong/."

The other creatures hid again, but there are dark reflective eyes from the bushes. Tony saunters over towards Steve, to make a united front - of whatever it is they're being united in.

Captain America has posed:
"Tony..." groans the blond super-soldier before he sighs and rubs his free hand down his face. "Look, they could probably help if you'd stop parading around like you're some supreme overlord. Take it down a few pegs."

A sharp sigh and then reaches out to very carefully touch at the creature's foot -- paw? -- foot-paw. He's palmed the piece of fruit lost in the startlement and roll and he offers it out again. "He's nice when you get past that outer layer of his ego, I promise," he says to the being as if Tony weren't standing there, his tone one of long-standing ribbing.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony looks actually surprised and baffled by the statement that he needs to take it down a 'few pegs'. "...What?" Tony asks, clearly shameless about everything. "It's working, they aren't sticking us with spears, which was the goal here," Tony points out. He does lower the glove, though, and allows Steve to take point.

It works to some degree. The fuzzy alien on the ground returns to looking at Steve, and this time inches forward to come take the fruit in a hand. The aliens have three fingers and a stubby thumb. The other aliens venture out of the bushes to come over; there's three there. All of them differ in fur colors a little bit: different patterns of stripes in green and black, some of them brown and gray with bits of green. "Nik-chu, nee, nu-nu," says one of the other ones from the bushes, higher and squeakier. Possibly the leader. The alien with the fruit owlishly watches Steve, then begins to troop away. "nu-chu," it says, and waves at Steve to follow.

"See? Gods," Tony comments. "I'm on board. Maybe they'll feed us. Ideally, not feed us /to/ something, but I'm fairly confident we'll overpower whatever they might have in mind."

Captain America has posed:
Quietly grunting, Steve rises from his crouch and wipes off muck from the knee of his dress pants. Let's face it: at this point, that fine JVD creation is better off burnt than worn again. Ambient light gleams off the shield as he pauses to glance back at Tony, arching an eyebrow.

"They didn't wave at you, the mean god. They waved at me, the nice god." He's totally deadpan. "You wanna come along, you're gonna have to play nice. Don't want to watch you turn on a stick over a fire 'nd try to explain you'd stick in their craw." He flashes another flickering grin to communicate he's jesting. A tilt of his head towards the small grouping of creatures means he's not moving on until Tony's beside him.

"Think we'll be fine. If anything, they know what's safe to eat, like you said. That, 'nd you're right about being able to take any guff they throw at us. They're like..." As he walks behind the beings, he frowns, watching one of the aliens. "...living stuffed animals."

Iron Man has posed:
"...of Dooooooom," Tony adds with a wry smirk. "I dunno, their tech could cause nightmares for me," he says. He fetches his medkit of equipment, pulling it on over the makeshift strap he created out of bundled wire, but comes along. He falls in just to Steve's left, with a proud, easy stride, as if this were a normal Tuesday.

"Let's go; take us to your leader," Tony says confidently to the fuzzy creatures. He gets a few spears waggled at him, which he ignores. The aliens eye each other, talking in low voices, but one of them leads the way into the underbrush. If they are leading them into a trap, they aren't very good at it, because they mostly just seem like they're on a nature hike, climbing through the underbrush. They're silent, though, they don't disturb any of the forest around them as they pass.

Captain America has posed:
Tony's demand is enough to entice another flash of a smile and a quiet cough of what //had// to be a stifled laugh. Steve shakes his head and doesn't reply immediately. He seems more interested in surveying the terrain they pass over and through. His eyes mark the way certain trees have fallen, the angle of the ground beneath them, any bodies of moving or still water, and outcroppings of rock. For the most part, it's all brilliantly green in a way lacking in Earthly comparison within his life experience.

"You mentioned food 'nd now it feels like my stomach's eating a hole in my backbone," he finally offers quietly as they work their way across a short glen of ferns nearly waist-high to the men. "Miss a good meal. Coffee. Dry socks." Laughter is but a rueful huff. "Got used to dry socks." He glances over at Tony. "Bet they're sure we've been eaten by some gigantic space slug," he offers in magnificently dark humor.

Iron Man has posed:
"I'm trying not to think about what's going on back home. Maybe a little focus on /this/ situation right now, eh, Cap?" Tony asks dryly. "Figure out the sign language for that we're hungry? Since you're the nice god. I'll focus on wondering if they taste like chicken, as the bad god," Tony quips. He's not serious, of course, but the hunger IS real.

The journey through the forest continues on and on, though they do come to a small handmade bridge, which the furry aliens take one at a time, scampering across with confidence. "Nuk-a-loo," says one of them, stabbing across. Poke-poke.

"Allow me," Tony offers, cautiously heading out onto the bridge. "I didn't want to say it, but you weigh a lot, so let's start with me."

Captain America has posed:
"If they taste like chicken, I think we're gonna have worse problems. I couldn't un-know it." Steve smacks his lips in what has to be visceral disgust at the idea of eating one of the furry little hooligans, but...chicken! His stomach gurgles. It gets a sharp chin-tuck of a frown.

The bridge is enough to make the Captain balk based off the premise of its build alone. Until the genius-inventor mentions weight, he was simply wondering about architecture of it. Tony's first step has Steve sucking in a breath through his teeth.

"Stark, you don't have your suit," he warns very unnecessarily, though maybe to do a litmus test as to whether or not ego factored into the decision to go first. "You feel a bad spot, you slowly back up." Still, the Captain lingers at the start of the bridge as he watches his friend begin to cross it. "You might make it across just fine. Got enough hot air in you."

Nervous cracks it is.

Iron Man has posed:
"Yes, thanks mom," Tony replies, cautiously moving across, after testing one of the ropes with one hand. Tony's confident in appearance (as appropriate for a god), but there's a clear caution and calculation to his movement, he tests each slat before stepping on it. Still, there's also a lot of bravery on display: Tony's just going to do it and get it over with, and make it up as he goes along if something goes awry.

Fortunately, he makes it across. But he's met by about twelve of the fuzzy aliens that emerge from the bushes and stare at him. A bunch of conversation begins amidst the aliens while Tony looks on, glove down. The light from his chest is still apparent in the darkness, and there is a lot of pointing at it.

"Hey fellas," Tony greets, casually. No big deal.

Captain America has posed:
Unable to do anything but watch, Steve too tries to keep as cool as a cucumber. He licks his lips regardless and ends up pacing a few short steps left...and then right...never dropping his eyes from Tony. His heart is up in his throat. Memory attempts to encroach on this reality in knife-like flashes of someone else falling -- someone else he lost to gravity -- someone else more equipped to survive impact than Tony.

When the first step to solid ground is complete, he lets out a breath of air he didn't know he'd been holding. His throat moves and then he too begins to carefully work his way across the bridge, one slat at a time. "Play nice, Tony," he calls out, voice ironed flat in concentration, and in clear continued jest of being 'mom'.

A board goes out beneath his foot in a sudden fracture and the entire thing jounces after his white-knuckled grabs at the rope hand-guides. "God," he breathes as he brings his leg back up from empty space. The rest of his cautious travels earn him safety on the far side of the bridge. His temples are glossed with sweat.

"Might want to talk structural integrity with 'em," he quips before he rolls his shoulders. The shield remains stalwart on his arm.

Iron Man has posed:
"How come you didn't just jump? Out of curiosity," Tony wonders, thoughtfully. He's not certain of Steve's exact range of leaping off the top of his head, but even if it is too great, the playful ribbing was necessary. Particularly while surrounded by tons of alien furry hostiles with sharpened sticks.

They're getting closer, inching in, since there are a lot of them, and neither Tony nor Steve have shown aggression. "Hey, don't make me use my boomstick again," Tony warns them as they get in closer on his right flank, while he's offering a hand to yank Steve off the last of the rungs of the bridge.

Captain America has posed:
Not to proud to deny help, Steve does wrap his his rope-grimed fingers around the inventor's hand. A pull and grunt and they're both on terra firma, and for this, the Captain is greatly pleased. The amount of spears, however, is more perplexing to him given their relatively innocent travels.

"Ground was too crumbly at the edge of the canyon. Didn't want to risk falling short, not out here. Too deep, wouldn't have bounced even if I wanted to," he explains in curt sentences. He lifts his free hand palm-out and does his best to show his other palm from within the shadow of the spangled shield.

"Maybe not the boomstick, Tony, not when there's a free-fall behind us," he suggests drily. "What'd you say to 'em?" Tony gets a flat look.

Iron Man has posed:
"I told them I smelled Wookiee," Tony answers with an easy shrug, deadpan. The leader of their little expedition is still talking to the others, some sort of bargaining. It involves some chest thumping and stomping as well, and then some miming of shooting.

"I think he's doing a version of me," Tony smirks aside at Steve. "Nailed it. Pew pew," Tony adds, with a finger gun. The other furry aliens do a mimicry of it.

"Nee-nee," two of them say. Yep, they're gods. Or something. Two of them have crept up to try to poke Steve's shield, but the rest of the group seems to have been satisfied by the explanation, and they begin to continue into the trees, leading the way towards stubby dwellings. "I feel like the Hulk. That's rare for me," Tony admits. "Well, not so rare, Hulkbuster and all. Still. Rare for /lately/."

Captain America has posed:
Steve folds his arms loosely and continues giving Tony that vaguely unamused look. "He's not loud enough," he notes of the leader of the creatures mimicking the gauntlet's earlier use. Feeling the light tink of spears against his shield, the Captain glances over and down at the surface before back at the crude weapons.

"Not strong enough to scratch the paint, at least." The report pleases the shield's owner, at the very least. Falling into place to Tony's right again, he walks more carefully now towards the dwellings. Granted, his curiosity is piqued, and in light of Tony's earlier comment, he wonders to himself how their taller human frames are going to fit into any space they're directed to enter. Giving the genius-inventor a dimpled smirk, he shrugs.

"You're still too short to be the Hulk, sorry, Tony. Glad they don't look like they want to sacrifice us. Now we don't have to explain something like, 'The stars are not in position for this tribute.' Don't think that'd translate well."

Iron Man has posed:
"Yeah, 'it's tough to be a god'. So I've heard. Just follow my lead, I accel in perfection," Tony says to Steve with a sly smile, heading out to follow the merry band of strange aliens.

The group continues to lead them into the dwelling area, and a larger zone where more of the aliens gather to see the strange visitors. There's a scent of food: grilled fruit, and some kind of biscuits that are creating a dreamy scent not unalike some sort of pineapple and corn like substance.

After a bit of miming, of yum-yum gestures, food is brought, but with it comes a lot of friendliness and pawing that Tony isn't really okay with. Still, the food is a great start, and the lack of cave is something Tony is very on board with.