Apriltober 2022 05 Blank (H.B., Frye)

a/n: Frye has something to share with H.B., but first they gotta climb a thing.

Beer. Editing? That is not a thing that I have to offer.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft.

"I thought," H.B. said with precise dismay while following his friend into a small break in an otherwise smooth cliff, "that this was a beach adjacent mission."

"Well, I had to tell BLADE something. Couldn't leave the destination field blank," Frye replied. "Here, lemme give you a boost."

"I can manage on my own," H.B. replied. He leapt nimbly, grabbing the obvious handhold, and pulled himself up to a narrow ledge. He looked down at Frye. "And when they realize that the thallus population has not been reduced?"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I did an extermination run earlier this morning. Even grabbed some materials to cover industrial requests." Frye didn't need to jump, stretching on tiptoe and then pulling himself up from a dead start. He joined H.B. with a minimum of fuss.

H.B. looked up the narrow shaft that rose into what he had only a moment before believed was a completely solid mesa. "So you just wanted a friend for an outing?"

"Not exactly. Solo cave climbing is more my brother's thing. I'm not too proud to take a partner."

"What made you choose me instead of Phog?"

"I'll let you know when we get there. Plus, way faster to find the starting point when you're driving, way faster."

Frye was irritatingly uninformative as to what "there" would be. H.B. had pointed out they could have flown to the (outside) top of the mesa in seconds with the skell. He had pointed out that BLADE wasn't interested (yet) in every nook and cranny of Mira. He had noted that there were a few lesser tyrants that still needed clearing in Oblivia, including one that was the target species on Frye's falsified mission ticket. Frye responded with cheerful suggestions about beer, music, and how to get indigen dung off of boots with the least possible effort.

The last portion of the climb was difficult enough that H.B. willing to let such unproductive discussion drop. Frye had passed him, picking his way along cracks and invisible footholds. H.B. followed the path that Frye had clearly scouted on some earlier trip.

Frye had just flipped himself over what seemed to be a cliff edge when his light went out. H.B. moved with less elegance and more speed to scramble to reach his friend. Large hands clamped down over his skull, snapping his head lamp off as well.

"Shhh," Frye whispered loudly. "We don't want to spook them."

The darkness should have been absolute, but as H.B.'s eyes adjusted, he realized that they were in the entrance of a cavern, with low glowing fungi clustered along the edges of the walls. As the air stilled after their arrival, curious insects fluttered overhead, adding their own glow.

Frye's smiled spectrally and knelt down. "Okay, you can come out. Brought you something too." The flaps on his pockets rustled and he set several bottles down on the ground with a clink. H.B. could just see him gesture to sit down next to him.

There was movement deeper in the cave. H.B. leaned toward Frye and hissed, "So help me, if you've acquired more pets..."

"Not pets. These guys are friends. Probably some kind of sentient life. They sure like beer."

"So do slugs."

"Slugs can't do this." Frye lifted a bottle, opened it with a flourish and took a healthy swig. Then he blew across the top, making a light high whistle.

Several small figures scuttled toward them, whistling in return. Frye's hand was hard on H.B.'s wrist, preventing him from drawing a weapon. They were small beings, walking on scrawny legs with long splayed claws. They were feathered and large eyed and they gingerly lifted the beer bottles to their beaks as Frye opened one for each.

"Saltat? Look, Frye, nothing has ever come of BLADE sparing juvenile indigen."

"Naw, these are grown. And intelligent. Watch." He blew on his now-empty bottle. The creatures chorused back with their own bottles, mixed with natural honks and hoos.

"Why bring me instead of Phog?"

"You don't shoot things out of curiosity. I love my brother, but I never know what to expect out of him when I shove him in a new situation."

a/n: H.B. and Frye are terrible and good friends. H.B. needs to take Frye to see a certain cave in Noctilum now, as seen in Apriltober 2021/14/Glue Stick.

Next up: Drop me a suggestion or prompt and see what happens, otherwise: Twaddle.