I think we should definitely ally with Cybil, but I don't think she should be a go-into-combat companion for us.
Dustin couldn't help himself. As Chloe gave her badass speech, he freed his mighty blade, raising it with her. When she spoke to him and Ulf, he belted out a response.
"We'll make warriors of all of you, and let the Jotun beware the sons and daughters of the Aesir!"
Dustin would feel a bit sheepish after that, having gotten caught up in the moment, but assuming the comment is meant with enthusiasm, he'll just go with it.
Dustin will offer to help the Dwarves with any food or drink tasks that need doing. He will also talk extensively to Cybil; he, at least, was thrust into this life and given friends and allies. It seemed like Cybil may have had to make a go of it alone, and Dustin would be extremely sympathetic.
He is also an incorrigible flirt, so he will absolutely flirt with Cybil.
Dustin will glower at the titanspawn, happily playing the role of bad cop. Any of his companions, however, might catch on to the fact that he is not playing; his knuckles are white on the hilt of Dainsleif, and the veins of his arms stand out sharply from the tense muscles. There is real anger and hatred in his eyes, but he controls himself.
It also looks like I forgot to add in my auto successes from Epic Dexterity last time; oh well!
Dustin should have been scared, probably. Three Giants and a weird motorcycle-man? Hell, he'd just gotten shot at...twice, technically, and once by his new ally Ulf! There had been a moment, where he had been off the ground, suspended, and time seemed to slow; he actually saw that iridescent shell coming towards him.
But there was no fear. There was trust. And boy had it been rewarded!
So instead of any nervousness or fear, as he set himself to attack again, Dustin couldn't keep a grin off of his face.
This is rad as hell!
Dustin did a quick leap backwards, partially somersaulting as he jumped. He was horizontal with the ground, facing down, when his feet found the closed door of the Escalade. He seemed to pause there for just a moment, defying gravity, then jumped forward once more towards the Giants in front of them. Since they had yet to move, his plan was the same; Two Jotuns, One Cut.
Dustin waits for Nick to move, then springs into action himself. Knowing that the car could likely move very fast, and being unaware of the capabilities of the monstrosity accompanying the Giants, Dustin knew he needed speed and power.
Dustin leaps forward, somersaulting in the air with a grace that his bulk would not suggest. He leaps between two of the giants and times his leap so that as he is inverted, head pointing towards the ground, he twists, facing the Giants, and the terrible blade of Dainsleif is capable of hitting them both with one slash. Dustin swipes with all the might in his thick arms.
Dustin completes his flip, landing and actually skidding back a few feet from the force of his leap before setting himself up against the Giants once more.
Dustin moves, far more quickly than a man of his size should be able to. He runs to the front door, drawing Dainsleif and his shield in preparation for any trouble.
Dustin shrugs.
”Yeah, I pretty much live there. Don’t worry, once we gave some down time, I’ll be sure to help you train and pack on some muscle. Assuming, of course, you wouldn’t mind a bit of...personal attention,” and Dustin smirked, voice heavy with amusement and innuendo. He couldn’t help it...he was a tease.
He then responded to the group at large.
”I’m all for not risking turning Ola into stone. Let’s wait a bit.”
Dustin notices Chase noticing him, and grins at the young man.
”My eyes are up here, handsome,” he says with a wink, the tone of his voice as flirtatious with Chase as it was with Cybil. He then addresses the group.
“As far as I can tell, we won’t find anything else out here. We have a company to look into and some new friends to see safe. I say we head back to SoCal and link up with Ola’s people. They may have more resources that could aid us.”
Dustin grins.
”Always good to meer a fan,” he says, and he calmly lifts up his shirt and vest, revealing a simply ludicrously contoured sixpack, complete with the “v” disappearing down below the waistline of his pants.
”More familiar now? Dustin Reinhard, in case you forgot,” he said, laughter bubbling in his voice.
Dustin was clearly not body conscious, or in any way shy. In his private life he had been ethically non-monogamous and was an outrageous flirt; he didn’t see any reason to stop.
”Anyway, I can’t speak for everyone, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at an oracle! What do you say, guys!”
Dustin spreads his hands and grins, looking as harmless as possible for someone big enough to play pro football and who had just proclaimed to teair mythological giants in half.
”Don’t worry on my account! Live and let live, yeah? I’d rather have Loki or his family as allies than enemies, personally. I’ve never really, uh, smote before, so I’m not likely to stary now.”
Dustin considered a moment.
”What can you do with thay bowl?”
Dustin brushes past Chase, making his way over to the captives. He sheathes Dainsleif as he does so, talking in a low, calm voice.
"Don't worry, it's just an illusion. We're the good guys."
He moves over to the captives and begins removing their bonds. He begins with their gags before moving to their limbs.
Dustin breathes deeply, permitting the ministrations of his body rather than mastering them. He felt...good. He had been worried that he would be scared or something, but he was calm, cool, exultant in what the had all done.
He brushed a splatter of gore from from his face, then began to do what he had done in every video game and tabletop he had ever played.
He looted the bodies.
Bad guys should have treasure, right?
After that, Dustin high fives Chase and convenes with the rest of the group.
”Well, if you’re all ready, I’ll open the door so we can check it out. If I wasn’t catching a pass, I was blocking a rusher for my QB, so I’m no stranger to taking a hit.”
Dustin withdraws Dainsleif, one of the trolls falling to the ground dead and the other bleeding profusely.
Dustin knew dozens techniques that he could have employed, and in this battle, with his adrenaline pumping, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He ran through the hundred fancy moves he could employ, but at that moment, a battle-lust like none he'd ever felt was on him.
There was no art. Dustin simply grabbed his blade in two hands and cleaved straight down, aiming for the center of the troll's head.
On his turn, Dustin will maneuver so that two of the trolls are in a line. Once they are, he dashes forward, dipping his shoulder low and tackling the both of them into the wall. Once he has them stunned, Dustin will thrust forward, attempting to spit them both on Dainsleif.
All of the doubt that he had confessed to Nick wasn't even remotely near his thoughts. Dustin knew that right now, he had only one job, and that was to protect his new friends.
Bellowing a wordless roar, he beat his sword upon his shield thrice, then rushed forward. A couple of the trolls tried to stop his charge, but he was too strong, too quick. They may as well have tried to stop the sun from rising and setting.
As Dustin drew near the Jotun, he dragged Dáinsleif along the ground. The mighty blade screamed as it rent the ground. Two yards ahead of the giant, he flicked all the gravel, muck and grime that Dáinsleif had accumulated towards the Jotun's face, hoping to distract it. Not hesitating, he stepped in after his projectile, bringing his sword around in a vicious arc and attempting to bisect the Jotun.
He had never done anything like this before...but everything in his blood was screaming at him. He was a creature of pure instinct...a force of nature, meant to destroy the foe in front of him.
Dustin beamed at the compliment. Then considered.
"We could, I guess. I don't know how safe that will be in darkness, though."
Dustin glanced over at Chloe.
"Some of that season was iffy, but man, Jon Bernthal just killed it."
Sighing, Dustin then steps onto the elevator. As he did so, he reached into his backpack, retrieving the head lamp he'd gotten at Big 5 and placing it on his head.
"Of course we're heading into the bowels of the earth to retrieve a lost treasure. I'm just surprised we didn't start out in a tavern where a stout Dwarf told us of the cursed relics of the demogoron."
Wow. Referencing D&D AND Stranger Things in the same sentence? You are nervous, dork.
Dustin shrugged, then took hold of his sword.
”Not exactly the most heroic of first uses,” he muttered to himself. Still, he brought the blade down hard, swinging at the padlock.
Dustin grimaced. He wasn't used to people being bigger than him...if it was in fact a person.
"I say we investigate. First order of business is this fence. Anyone feel like trying to pick the lock at the gate? If not...I mean, we can just jump over it. I can jump pretty high these days."
I think we'll have a good mesh. Like Dustin said in-game, I think it's good to have a wide variety of bases covered as opposed to everyone being able to throw trucks. I think this team will be pretty damn good
On the ride over, you will learn that Dustin is far less copacetic than he seems. He's okay when he's doing something; he's been an athlete all his life, and on the biggest stages. He's had high pressure moments, and when he's actually in them, he deals with the pressure like a champion. In between, though, he's far less sure of himself. He confides to you his fears that he won't be adequate; that he won't be strong or tough enough to help protect the rest of you, that he'll choke when needed most.
All of that, though, seems to wash away the moment he puts on his relics and girds himself for battle.
Dustin frowned, somewhat disappointed in himself.
Really man? Tabletop games once a week with your friends and you don't think to check for tracks first? You really must be freaked out.
Dustin will pick up a combat knife, as well as several sports javelins and a quiver for them. He'll also pick up a Remington and a Mossberg from Big 5 along with plenty of ammo. He might not have any Marskmanship, but better to have it and not need it, right? He'll also pick up a large backpack and a set of basic camping survival tools. He'll buy more jerky and some non-perishable food for the trip as well as getting a large cooler with ice and plastic cups.
During the car ride, Dustin asks basic questions to his companions. What they were doing with their lives before this. Who they were. If they were close to their families. If they had anyone special.
For himself, Dustin is fairly open, and responds to any similar questions in kind; he is an open book.
All players may know everything written in Dustin's background as well as his sexuality.
Once they get to Bodie, Dustin gets out of his car and moves the sawhorse to the side. After he does that, he opens his trunk and changes.
His pants are the same, but his muscles bunch and ripple as he switches shirts. He removes his button up (and is thankful he showered before he left), and puts on a plain white tee shirt that leaves very little to the imagination. Over it, he puts on a black vest that makes it seem like Dustin should have been riding a motorcycle rather than the Elon Musk version of a soccer mom car. He also switched his belt, with the clasp now in the shape of Mjolnir. As he did so, he attached the scabbard of his blade Dainsleaf to the belt. He patted his vest's pocket, ensuring the God-nail was where it should be. It was.
Next Dustin strapped a Viking round shield to his arm and put on his backpack, which was loaded with camping and survival supplies. He left the firearms he'd purchased in his car; if someone wanted them, they could take them, but he didn't trust himself with them yet. Finally, he slung his javelins over his shoulder.
And he just knew that he looked utterly ridiculous.
Trying to keep embarrassment off his face, he turned to the others.
"So, where should we start looking?"
"Sorry about all this, Nick...we sort of rushed through that and didn't really have time for introductions. Want to ride up with me? That'll give us a chance to get acquainted."
”Seems like tonight’s our lucky night! Okay, let’s get together some shopping lists and get going.”
Dustin turned to Chase.
”It’s a football video game. I was actually the cover athlete a few years back. And yeah. Even in one of the most quote unquote gun control heavy states in the country, you can basically just walk into a sporting goods store and buy a shotgun. Insane, right?”
Dustin chewed his lip, thinking.
"They're probably closed now, but Cold Steel is near here. They'll probably have some stuff you could use. Let me pull up their info and give them a ring."
"I'm already in video games. Madden is sort of a big franchise, after all! Yeah, the Target" Dustin pronounced it tar-jay"would be good. As far as weapons, there's a Big 5 near here. It won't be military grade, but it should do for a rifle or a shotgun and some knives. I don't think you can buy a pistol right away, but the others are considered sporting goods."
Dustin grinned.
"All of the above. I've got a few bags of chips and some jerky. Couple of pallets of bottled water I can throw in the back of my car. There's a Ralph's over on Ventura that should still be open; they don't close until 11. I have plenty of bags, either suitcases, garments or gym bags; whatever you need."
"Seems like we're about all good to go, then. If you guys want to drive your own cars, you're free to, of course. Might not be a bad idea to bring at least one other; we don't know what we'll run into up there."
Dustin had no other questions, really. It was all pretty surreal, but he was sort of getting used to it.
He turned to the others, giving Chase an apologetic smile.
"Looks like Zuma will have to wait. If you want, I've had some...uh...friends stay over. They left some clothes that should be your size. Nothing much, but should at least be a hoodie or something.
If you guys have questions, shoot...but I'm ready to go. I really haven't had to sleep much ever since...you know. I can drive. I have a Model X in my garage; it seats seven, so we should all fit, if you guys want. If you need to sleep, you could sleep on the way. Or we can spend the night here, if anyone really prefers. I have space if needed."
Dustin felt a smile quirk at the edges of his mouth.
"Dunno how many cheerleaders we'll find out there, Chase. Once you get near Vegas, it's sort of a bunch of empty desert. Even the more relatively populated areas...let's just say, don't stop in Victorville unless you reeeeeeally want to buy some meth. I'd definitely be up for a victory lap in Sin City afterwards, though!"
