Apriltober 2020 23 Hey Buddy

a/n: The Christophs on a mission, with caves and excitement. Too much excitement for Frye already.

Two OCs, but they'll be left behind. Swears, because I just can't not.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft. Prompt by guest, thank you.

Panic had gripped Frye the moment he couldn't spot his brother at the campsite. Dr. Karen hadn't noticed, but it seemed to Frye that she didn't notice much, being cut from the same cloth as Phog. Rocks meant more to her than people. They'd escorted her to the top of sickle ridge so she could measure something or other gravity blah blah blah. Honestly, Frye had tuned her out, only checking to see if his brother was okay with having yet another stranger on the team. Bringing Veena had been bad enough, but somebody had to be in charge of the map. There was an added reason for bringing her along. Frye trusted his former division mate, now a freshly minted Pathfinder, to remember how to shoot crap to hell and back if needed. But that was supposed to be his job, keeping everyone safe. Now his brother was missing.

He waved politely to the good doctor after she shrugged at his question. He'd leave her to the samples and try to find Veena before he really lost it. He spotted the other BLADE's dark head on the edge of the curving meadow, where the ground disappeared and left only a sheer drop to the Primordia plains. She turned at his sharp whistle and waved frantically. He couldn't tell what she shouted, but he'd find out soon enough, the speed he was running towards her.

"I tried to stop him, but he just jumped" were the first words he heard, and Frye just about launched himself off the edge himself. He screeched to a halt and looked wildly at Veena instead. She wouldn't still be standing here if it was as simple as that.

"He had a line on, and it's still taut," she continued, and Frye knelt down in a crouch. Maybe Veena would think he was examining the the rope attached to a metal loop on the lip of the cliff. The anchor had been freshly placed, the cut in the rock still bright. Frye kept his head down as Veena explained, double checking the knots, flicking a few fresh rock chips, trying not to hurl. "He said he needed to check something and the next thing I knew he just..." Veena lifted her palms helplessly into the empty air.

Frye stood up very slowly and carefully. "Did you try to contact his comm device?" His brother had done this kind of stunt before. He'd be fine. Frye would kill him when he came back.

"I didn't want to bug him! He was swinging over towards the north leg of the arch. He said he saw a cave entrance."

"Of all the ... okay, this is what we're gonna do. You're gonna get me another length of rope, and then I'm going to bring the idiot back. I'll try to contact him. Run!"

Veena ran.

Frye pulled out his comm device, but his hands were shaking too hard for him to activate it. He pressed it tight to his chest for a moment, then with a clumsy fist managed to beat it open and get the screen to flash bright. "Phog!" he barked. The comm device bleeped its lack of comprehension. Frye repeated the name with the careful enunciation of a man with long experience at hiding his blood alcohol levels. He wished it was alcohol that was making him lose control. He waited for it to ring and ignored the urge to hug the phone again.

"..." His brother's face floated like a ghost in, yes, what looked like a fucking cave.

"Hey, buddy," Frye crooned softly into the phone. "Wanted to see how you were getting on."

"... ... ..." Phog's smile was sunny. "It's really neat here, Frye."

"Great, great." Frye smiled back and gave a thumbs up to Veena, racing back to him with rope flapping behind her. "Look, you remember the drill. You take a buddy. That's me, buddy."

"We're not kids, Frye," Phog replied. "I'll be back up in less than an hour."

"And I'll be down there in 10 minutes." Frye watched as Veena started laying out coils in smooth and even batches. "I promised that I was going by the books from now on."

The look that Phog gave him almost made him laugh. True to his word, five minutes later Frye was knotted in, triple checked by Veena, and sailing through the air towards a dark spot on the underside of the rock arch.

a/n: I think there may be a second story to this. "Hey Brother" on loop. Suggestion by Guest, oh no twist my arm I'm writing about Frye...

Veena was briefly in "Secret Santa with Frye and H.B." and more recently in Hourly Challenge/2/Exploration. Dr. Karen was in Inktober 2019/13/Ash and still needs a last name.

Next up: Look, it has to end by the 28th because one of my OC's has a date for that prompt.