How I Didn't Meet Your Mummy [Peace, Miklos, Vimes]

[pace_tua]

 The first few times Peace had gone to Egypt, she had complained. Loudly. Her skin had burnt and peeled, the small smattering of freckles across her cheeks became a little more defined, and she found sand in places sand should never be. It had also put her off traditional Egyptian food for a while. Still! She was glad that the briefing she’d been given was with familiar names and no one who would drive her crazy by not being announced.

Sadly, despite her hopes, she was not going to Egypt, where it would not be chilly except at night. No, her debriefing had been very clear – wait for her teammates at the Agartha portal on the Savage Coast.  Peace rested her head against a rock face. The town was more or less abandoned now, and really, if they wanted to be honest, all the factions were waiting for people to die out. It would make cleanup easier, really.

Oooh, she thought, pulling her hood over her head to keep her ears warm in the chilly September night air, “Not nice thoughts.” She supposed that the higher ups had decided to send her out before she was rendered more or less useless the entire month of October. She really couldn’t blame them, in that regard and tapped at her phone’s screen, growing bored. Somewhere, a wendigo shrieked its displeasure with something. 

Comments

[psycelliums]

Her phone screen acted up a moment or two before displaying the words 'What thoughts might those be?' without so much as a text alert. That wouldn't be necessary, of course, given that she was already looking at it. Miklos had no qualms whatsoever about tampering with her or anyone else's devices, really. That was as always his own personal solution to boredom. Or a need to be passive aggressive, though in this instance it was the former. He'd only just gotten there and was already anticipating not being there any longer. There was plenty in the city he could be doing.

[pace_tua]

“Nothing, Miklos,” Peace replied calmly. After years of working together, it wasn’t a super surprise anymore when he just… overrode her game. “But you owe me a level in Fruit Ninja now.” She put her phone away and peered into the throbbing golden light that marked the entry to Agartha just as much as the flowering plants and the constant buzzing of bees did. Honeyed light, someone had called it once, and Peace was inclined to agree.

“I don’t remember seeing your name on my mission parameters. Are you here for me, or for someone else?” The girl raised an eyebrow and pulled her hood down. Once deep red hair was now deep blue instead, lighter in places than others, and rolled into a massive side bun. Somehow the color just made her look pale as ever. She felt cute, almost. In a weird way. Strange what a little bit of dye did for one’s confidence.

[psycelliums]

"Your mission parameters tend to go through me, you know. Meaning sometimes it's nice to get out of the office. Not a problem, is it?" 'Getting out of the office' also meant getting a chance to see things with his own eyes. Like an unofficial performance review.

Also, maybe, an excuse to shoot at things. That was always relaxing.

"That blue is still odd. Not.. bad. Just.. unusual. It is everything opposite the norm."

[pace_tua]

"Well, I would have made a really horrible blonde," she said cheerfully. "And Mika picked pink, so let's just imagine that for a second - magenta/pink hair on me."

Peace stretched her arms over her head and was rewarded with the pop-pop-pop! of vertebrae. "I'm not worried if you come along, since I'm always honest when I write up my reports. It's not a problem, though." It never was! She liked it when Miklos unhooked himself from his desk and spent time with her. While Peace personally preferred punching things, some of the aspects of the mission needed stealth and non-melee damage. So, under her coat were her gifted pistols from a friend.

[crypto_princess]

(we'll see if this posts correctly bwuh)

Vimes crinkled his nose as he stumbled out of the Agartha portal, adjusting his pistols as he found his footing. The coast was not his favorite place in the world-as a matter of fact some could say [his sister agreed] that it was their twin-voted least favorite place on the face of the planet. Maybe once it was a place they could call home, but that ended with the deaths of all the Innsmouth Academy teachers, their teachers, and the even more recent draug'r-and-other-supernatural-murderous-phenomena problem.

Checking his phone once more he perked up somewhat visibly at the sight of Peace [Pyramidion bless, a familiar adorable face], and his eyebrows rose as he noticed Miklos. This was an unexpected field team. "..Hi?"

[psycelliums]

"... I would hope so. What could you possibly need to be dishonest about?"

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Miklos gave Vimes the sort of long, studying look that had a tendency to make most people uncomfortable. Half of that was likely intentional (and the rest more directly related to his need to always be gathering information). He finally acknowledged him properly with a short nod.

"And now it seems we're all present."

[pace_tua]

"Adventures?" Peace asked innocently enough, a faded glow of her usual troublemaking charm lighting her smile.

Peace turned when Vimes did, but her expression changed instantly into something shy, but excited to see him. (A familiar face was the best face to see, right?) "Vimes!" The monitoring program on Miklos's phone beeped a warning. Peace paused, reddened and the program chirped placidly - heartbeat within regular parameters. "I am all ready when you are, though I'm not sure why they'd need a medium and a necromancer. Maybe in case whatever we're looking for is just.. a bodypart?"

[psycelliums]

Miklos looked aside at Peace as the alert went off, not muffled much by the pocket he carried it in.

Was that a smirk? It was definitely a smirk.

It was then that Peace's phone would go off as well, the screen reading plainly:

[Now I wonder how many alerts were you in danger and how many because your little friend made your heart flutter..]

"You are correct. Preparation is key. Is that a complaint? You could be on morgue duty today, right?"

[crypto_princess]

Raising his eyebrows at Miklos' expression, he addressed them both rather plainly.

"I can't imagine what they'd need us both for? I need the head if I'm supposed to be useful- can't raise the dead and ask them questions if they can't talk."

Smiling somewhat grimly he adjusted the strap of his shotgun and nodded. "So, shall we go then?"

[pace_tua]

"If they're Morninglight, maybe? We've had some..." Peace trailed off and waved a dismissive hand. "Issues with them."

Nasty issues.

Stomach flipping issues.

"I suppose if I can't read what's happened, that's what you're for. And if we get split up--" Peace pulled out her phone to check her screen and gave Miklos a look. "Rude, Miklos."

A pause, "But if we get split off from Miklos, I can read some of the objects around to cheat and find a solution." Or open a safe. Whatev. "I'm ready!"

[psycelliums]

"You both ask quite a lot of questions, don't you..?" He paused, mulled that one over a bit and frowned a little. He expected as much from Peace and he was actually rather used to their banter but Vimes was a bit more of a mystery. All he had was all he could manage access to via the databases. The records were detailed but not all of them available even with his ability to conveniently find ways of dealing with encryption and the like.

If anyone questioned it, they would always get the same answer: Information dominance is my job description. Do I need to remind you of the definition of dominance?

That was his usual excuse should anyone bat an eye. He never went digging through things that were too far above his pay grade, of course. Everything he needed fell well within the purview of his mission parameters. According to him, Lord of All, apparently.

Peace's comment was acknowledged by a twitch of his lips in a sort of half-smirk. As if to say 'And? Where is the lie?'. But he would never say that because that was for children and internet trolls. Example #1218 of why having the Internet on a constant data stream in and out all day was a chore.

Miklos need only do a subtle and quick check of his own weapons. He was very much in tune with the pistols he loved so much with their ornate (see: overkill) etching and not-quite-subtle symbolism in their appearance. A brush of his fingers was enough to tell him all was well and in place and the elementalism focus he carried almost for decoration more than anything else he already knew was there. In his back pocket. Under his coat. Where no one could see it (because honestly, would it kill someone to make one that didn't look like some sort of strange voodoo doll made out of extension cords?).

"In the event whatever we're looking for happens to be surrounded by more hostiles than we might have anticipated, you couldn't possibly argue with having a third. And should we run across any abandoned tech in the area.. even better.." He adjusted the way his jacket lay on his shoulders and looked around at both of them.

[crypto_princess]

((Two months ain't too bad right? //sweats))

"Better to ask questions then go in blind, right?"

Raising a somewhat dubious eyebrow at the other man's comment, Vimes couldn't help but nod in agreement. Three was an ideal amount of people in a field mission team, and while he knew the New England are like the back of his hand wendigos were still wendigos.

Stepping closer to Peace the New Yorker adjusted his own coat and slid his hands easily into his pockets. He'd follow the lead of whomever was in charge without question- that was easy enough, but not knowing anything about Miklos didn't sit well with him, and he made a note to send an inquiry to his sister about the man later.

[pace_tua]

"He isn't big on me asking constant questions about things," Peace murmured as she started off, skipping over the tiny spring and heading up the little trail. "But I'm really good at it. Something something natural talents, something something."