howmuchtrouble | for duderaider

Elijah raises an eyebrow, because what anyone means by "boost," Nathan.

"Provide a base of support as you examine a space far above your head." Obviously.

Elena just leans back to watch, because either way, this should be entertaining.

"I know what a boost is," Nathan shoots back, making a face at him. "I was more wondering if 'providing support' involved, like, trebuchet-ing me into the wall or whatever."

"No." Elijah does sound amused though. "I don't fling humans around for fun. They tend to be a bit too fragile for that."

Whether he means to or not, Nathan glances pointedly towards one of the corpses Elijah made of the men following them. When he returns his attentions to him, he frowns for a long moment before, "Okay, then maybe I can use a boost."

Elijah's mouth flickers up in the edges of what could have been a smirk at that glimpse, before clarifying. "They intended to do harm. It was more necessity than fun." Though it was a little fun.

But still, he moves to brace himself beneath the edge of the room and folds his hands, prepared to take Nate's weight.

"Right," Nathan answers, dryly. Despite that, though, he still crosses to meet Elijah, putting one hand on his shoulder to steady himself as he puts a foot on his cradled hands. "Ready?"

He is.

And with that, Elijah lifts him as easily as though Nate were a man half his size. The gesture is smooth and easy, and Nate very quickly finds himself face to face with the panels he wanted to observe.

"Do you need a better angle?"

While it's not necessarily a surprise, it is still a little unnerving how easy it is for Elijah to lift him. He looks down at him, briefly, frowning, that in mind, before he tries to force that little bit of discomfort out of mind and focus himself on the panels. Thankfully, it doesn't take much effort.

"Couldn't hurt?"

If only because he's not seeing anything, so far.

Elijah nods, before shifting, taking a step back and bringing him around the corner of the mechanism. As he gets closer, Nate will be able to see the markings, as well as the edges of the trigger that push and pull on the temple walls.

Nathan shifts a little with him, balancing as much as Elijah's working to keep him balanced. As they get closer to the mechanism that works the walls, however, Nathan straightens, ordering, "Hold on a second. I think I've got something."

His first thought is to wonder if he couldn't just jam something into the trigger, to keep it from moving. He doubts it would be that easy. There has to be a trick to it.

Elijah tips his head to the side, trying to get a look around the bulk of his body to see what Nate is looking at. "Is it possible for you to jam it somehow?"

"What do you need?" Elena asks, glancing around. "Like a stick or something?"

"Uh," he starts, effectually, "maybe something a little sturdier than a stick, if we have it?" He's pretty sure that rock beats stick, even if it loses to paper.

He's not wrong there. Elena goes out to snoop around, see what she can find, and in the end comes back with some options. "I've got bowie knives, I've got guns - how thick does it need to be?"

"Let's try one of the knives, first?" Nathan decides after a moment. He's not sure how well it will hold up, once things start moving, but it's definitely a narrow margin to shove something in that they have here. The knife, in that case, seems the more logical choice.

Elena nods, shuffling through her options until she passes up a bowie knife in it's sheath, handle first. "Be careful."

"Thanks," he murmurs, as he takes the knife from her.

He spends a moment fighting with the sheath and the knife and his balance. When he manages, he presses the tip of the knife into the groove between the wall and its moving parts and slides it down along it, feeling for a place where he can push deeper. When he thinks he's got something, he pushes deeper, looking to wedge it in place, now. He tugs on it, once it's set, and when he's sure it's not going to come out so easily, he glances back to Elena.

"Okay, try the pressure plate, now." Just to see what happens.

Elena nods, before making her way back in to room, tapping her foot along the floor until she finds the pressure plate again. Finn lifts his head to look at her, and she offers him a small smile in return.

"Sorry in advance, just in case."

And when she leans her weight down onto the plate, the moving pieces of the trap above start to move, but stop before more than a few beams of light squeak through. There is an uncomfortable grinding sound on Nate's end, however, indicating that it will only last for so long.

"Okay," Nathan calls, "let it go!"

And once Elena has removed herself from the pressure plate and returned to her and Elijah, he says, "Unless anyone's got a better plan, I'm gonna shove, like, however many knives we've got into this thing, and hope it'll hold long enough for you to go grab your brother."

He nods to Elijah, as if it's unclear who's supposed to do the rescuing, once the knives are in place. He might not have long to get his brother out, but he's the fastest.

"Works for me."

Elijah eyes the situation, before nodding. It seems to be a better option than anything else so far, though he doesn't trust the knives to hold that long. Fortunately, he is very fast.

He turns to Elena. "Gather as many as you can. I'm sure they're all armed to the teeth."

"On it." And she's going to quickly gather up as many machetes as possible.

"If it makes you feel any better," Nathan tells Elijah after a moment and in the interim, while Elena gathers the weapons, "this really isn't the stupidest plan we've ever had?"

They've done more ridiculous things than this and done them successfully.

Elijah glances up at him, the hints of an amused smirk ghosting across the corners of his lips. "In some ways, it's too simple to truly be considered stupid."

But that's just his humble opinion.

And a few minutes later, Elena returns with lots of knives and passes them up to her husband. "Here you go."

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be an insult or a compliment," Nathan tells him, frowning, either way. He continues to look sour for several seconds, in fact, before Elena brings the machetes to him. He looks away then to take them from here and start inserting them into the groove between the wall and its moving parts.

"Okay, that should do it," Nathan decides, when he runs out of machetes.

Now, it's up to Elijah to make a break for it. After he sets him down, anyway.

Elijah sets Nate down easily, before moving to the front of the room. With a deep breath, he dashes forward, unleashes his brother, and drags him back out again, depositing him near one of the bodies for a quick snack.

Once that's done, he adjusts his suit before turning back to the couple. "You have my thanks for your help. But I would understand if you'd like to leave now."

Elena glances to Nate, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Nathan meets her gaze and shrugs. He's really not sure whether they should stick around or not.

On one hand, he'd like to get a look at everything here, even if the Fountain of Youth, as it were, is gone. On the other, they should probably get away from the vampires. He's leaning towards the former, danger be damned, but he's never been known for his good decision-making skills, so Elena might want to take the reins on this one. He'll follow her lead.

For once, the building isn't collapsing around them, so ... that's at least a pro, considering some of the situations they get themselves in. And she does want to document all the non-vampire related stuff for her show.

"We're going to go back and have a look at some of the stone work out front. If you could let us know when your brother is done?"

Elijah nods. "Thank you, again, for your help. I'm in your debt."

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duderaider - 2022-01-25 03:19 (UTC) - Expand