"I know that," Byrne replied with a hint of rudeness in his tone, not even looking up at Badd when he spoke. He probably would have followed that up with a pouting expression if he weren't so used to this sort of thing. (Haha, 'used to it'. That was an understatement.)

His not looking back at his partner would be the reason why he was now testing the ladder's strength with one foot instead of noticing whatever Badd was staring at right now. Steady--steady. Hm. The rung didn't feel like it would snap in half from his weight. That was a good sign. Feeling a little more confident, he put his other foot on the rung even more carefully than he did the first, as he was now almost completely relying on the ladder to support him. Aaand it...still held him.

Well.

Not that far to the first level of this pit then, especially if he hurried. Without informing Badd beforehand (he can see what Byrne's doing, can't he?), he climbed all the way down to the first level of the pit and got off the ladder as quickly as he could. Even if it held him, that didn't mean it would hold him forever. Or, more importantly - would it hold Badd? Guess they would find out. (Though Byrne was now looking around rather than looking up at his partner...)