Not Temba But Pretty Close

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommmy Shepherd and People
WHERE: Not-Temba Agricultural Center, Quarry, Forest
WHAT: Explorations and Investigations, Maybe Even a Little Getting saved.
WHEN: First day to end of July
WARNINGS: Possible violence, Possible arguments with his brother, definite flirting with Kyle, fear of dogs and reactions caused by this.

1. Plants for the Plant Guy OTA
Tommy had been working the greenhouse in Temba since about day two or three. Every planet they went to he tried to find more food options. The few times he used the replicator, it was always to make things that would make the work easier, or allow him to manage plants out of the glass encased walls of the agricultural center in Temba. While he'd started the work because of an awareness that they needed food, he'd kept at it over a growing love for the work. So really, was it any surprise that Tommy was here?

The first day in Not-Temba he had raced off of the first train, eager to see if there was something like this, and his first day would be filled with Tommy slowly moving through the wildly overgrown greenhouse. No work yet, just Tommy moving slowly through the space, hands reaching out to touch overgrown tangles here, runners for beans there, and always pausing to marvel over the towering fruit trees that dominated this space in a way that even the Temba greenhouse might envy.

"This place is beautiful," he found himself saying as he moved through the different areas of the green house.

Starting from the second day on Tommy moved through the area with purpose. He'd brought a collection of pots and hand trowels and the like. A lot of these he left in the entrance with a sign

Tommy's gone exploring for plants. Grab a pot and join me up on level three if you're interested. Just harvesting? Check the fruit trees on five, I think they're mangos.

Any who might go seeking him out would find Tommy elbow deep in a bed of what looked like short grasses with feathery tops, trying to dig some out with his fingers. Or maybe they might find him further along in two, frowning as he tried to juggle a pot filled with dirt, a watering can, and a pungent smelling vine that seemed to actively be trying to curl around him.

"Will you please stop growing on me? I'm trying to get you to a new home!"

[OOC: Please also feel free to find Tommy anywhere else in the greenhouse, or your character somewhere for him to stumble over]


2. Quarry Queries: Line One OTA
There was a lot of the city to be seen. And, not just the agricultural center. Just north of it, back in Temba, there would be the massive hole down into the mines, something Tommy had never wanted to look at because fuck that mine was a massive hole. But here there was a serious difference. Tommy moved to the top edge of it, frowning. At last he shifted, sitting on the edge of the quarry rim, looking at the stone scooped out of this area.

"This is wrong," he said, frowning as he looked at the stone. He didn't know why it was, it just... It felt wrong. "Aren't quarries supposed to be away from where people live? Don't they get noisy or some shit?"


3. Forest Giant Closed to Ronan
There are adventures to be had here. Tommy definitely intended to have them. And, given his experience with the Agriculture database, his entire attempt to explore was really having a lot to do with plants. In this case the forest. There was something... familiar. No, not really familiar, but it still felt interesting. As he moved through the area he found himself pausing when he caught sight of a tree that was a bit pushed over.

"Shit, what did that?" Tommy found himself saying aloud, his hand settling on the tree trunk. The one with gouges worn into it.


4. Brother Where Art Thou? Closed to Billy
See, the problem with being Tommy and exploring places was that, well, trouble was BOUND to happen. sooner or later. This, apparently, was the sooner. Or was it later? Honestly, it didn't matter. What mattered in this moment was that there was absolutely a bit of a problem now, and one that Tommy hadn't been able to help.

The problem? Tommy had caught sight of the brother, and still upset he'd tried to avoid Billy.

Super speed and unstable rubble didn't go together well. Tommy tried to duck behind a wall. Too much speed, too little structural stability, or something else. Either way even he didn't have to react before an unstable wall was coming down over him, pinning Tommy down under rubble. And shit, that was not good. He immediately started to vibrate to get loose. Except... No. Tommy cried out in pain as a large piece of stone started to press down on his leg.


[OOC: More custom starters can be made if anyone wants, just PM me here for easiest talk, or hit me up on discord or plurk.]

Comments

[doubled_speed]

"I mean, it doesn't have any dinosaurs," Tommy countered. Was a place really weird without dinosaurs?

No one can destroy a planet? Tommy just stares at the man, absolutely deadpan. Like he doesn't like being doubted.

"You're wrong. And be glad you have no reason to believe it's possible."

[hadthehighground]

“You’re right it doesn’t!” Obi-Wan stares at Tommy as if those words were earth shattering themselves. “I have a dinosaur though.” Because Boga is totally a dinosaur.

Obi-Wan then frowns at Tommy. “So you literally mean she can just destroy a planet?” Sounds fake but even in his loopy state Obi-Wan can see that he’s serious. Can sense that he’s not lying. It’s simply unfathomable from his point in time. “And you’re comparing me to this person?” Because he would never destroy a planet!

[doubled_speed]

Boga is completely not a dinosaur, man.

"I mean literally," Tommy agreed. "And I compare you because you're a Space Monk. You're all telekinetic, right? Move things with your mind? Caliente never showed that off around me, so I hadn't seen any of your kind doing it. Now you're just one in a bushel. Maybe I should call you Keller."

[hadthehighground]

Boga is totally a dinosaur! She's a giant lizard isn't she? Even has feathers. Definitely a dinosaur.

"Yes, but there's more to it than that you know. That's only a part of how we use the Force. ... Who is Keller now?"

[doubled_speed]

Boga is a lizard, not a dinosaur. There's a difference, man. A big one. But he doesn't even know the difference.

"It's a nickname man," Tommy rolled his eyes. It didn't matter how the powers work or anything. It's just a thing. And Keller's a telekinetic."

[hadthehighground]

"Well if you're going to call me something I would like to know why," he says back.

"By your reasoning I could be called Tommy you know. I can use the Force to move fast too."

So there.

[doubled_speed]

"I told you. Telekinetic," Tommy said. Come on, he's explained himself. "And no you can't. Because have you broken the sound barrier?"

Because Tommy has. Does on the regular when there's enough food. Come on, Gene Grey, tell him.

[hadthehighground]

"I'm certain there's a great many things your Keller and Gene Gray haven't done that I have," Obi-Wan points out.

So your point Tommy? You're just being a snob.

[doubled_speed]

Really? This is what they're doing now? He frowns at the other man. He's quickly losing 'positive' nickname rights.

"Uh huh, and there are a great many things they've done that you haven't. Failing to see your point."

Like Tommy was pretty sure that Jean had, you know, a sense of humor.

[hadthehighground]

Obi-Wan just waves his hand dismissively. Deciding not to bother with it if he doesn't see the point he was trying to make. He's not the only one without a sense of humor in his opinion.

"Anyway, if you're going to be giving out nicknames. Perhaps it's only fair I think of one for you."

[doubled_speed]

"Yea, it completely is," Tommy agreed. Really, he had no problem with that idea at all.

ONe shouldn't give if they couldn't take after all.

[hadthehighground]

Obi-Wan strokes his beard for a few moments.

"Let's see," he ponders aloud. Speed does seem to be Tommy's most defining feature. Or at least the one he's most proud of. Though he's not going to name him after a person. He chuckles a bit at a few things that come to mind. Such as Purrgil, but he wouldn't name Tommy after a space whale despite them being able to move at sublight speeds in hyperspace. It seems a bit degrading. And he's pretty sure Tommy can't move THAT fast either.

Varactyl and Blurrg won't work either since they have both animals here. Maybe animals are the wrong idea too.

"Ah, I know," Obi-Wan says triumphantly as an acceptable idea comes to mind. "How about, Swoop?"

[doubled_speed]

Of course Speed is his defining feature. Hell, Speed is his name too. Tommy, who has long since returned to digging while Obi-Wan works on nicknames, barely looks up when the man says he knows. But he definitely stops for the name.

"Swooping is what birds do."

[hadthehighground]

“Oh come now, at least hear me out.”

For someone who was so offended at being criticized for his nickname choices Tommy sure was being critical himself!

“A swoop is a speeder bike where I’m from. As fast as you can get and extremely difficult to handle. They’re quite dangerous as a result. I thought that would suit you rather well!”

[doubled_speed]

Oh, he's hearing. He just goes back to digging.

"Call me whatever you want, man. That's just how life works sometimes. But man, extremely difficult to handle, sounds like you've got an issue over my personality."

Which is fair. He's not for everyone.

[hadthehighground]

That actually makes Obi-Wan laugh a little.

“Maybe. But I had an issue with many aspects of my first apprentice’s personality too. He was stubborn, didn’t like to listen, and disobeyed orders often. But I loved him all the same.”

He looks at Tommy in consideration. “In some ways you remind me of him. And believe it or not, I would like to be your friend.”

[doubled_speed]

"I'm not your apprentice," Tommy reminds him once he has another three shovelfuls of dirt aside in several seconds. "I may be stubborn, but I listen to everything said to me, even if I don't take all of it to heart. I find that older people telling people they decide to see as kids tend to be insulting."

And he isn't going to touch orders. He doesn't take them unless he chooses to.

"But we can work together. Don't know you enough to be friends."

[hadthehighground]

“Oh believe me I know, and frankly I don’t need another. I’ve got three at the moment. But I don’t see you as a child, Tommy. Far from it.”

A young man with a troubled past perhaps, but not a child.

“When my apprentice became a knight. He was no longer my charge. Instead he became my brother, and we did work well together. I miss him, actually.”

It was like a part of him was missing. Filling that void was taking time. But slowly, it was healing.

“So, if you like, I invite you to get to know me. Ask my anything you like. Or you can hand me the shovel.”

[doubled_speed]

What a strange old man. Tommy tosses the shovel over.

"See no reason I can't do both. Dig it."

Tommy goes to sit a few feet away.

"You got one of those glowy swords?"

[hadthehighground]

Catching the shovel easily in one hand, Obi-Wan stands up, feeling the bubble olive’s effects starting to pass.

“Of course,” he says, and pulls his cloak aside to show the hilt hanging at his hip. “A Jedi isn’t complete without one.”

[doubled_speed]

Space Monks are probably perfectly complete without one. But oh man the number of jokes he could make about that.

"I don't know. I think there are a lot of more vital things."

[hadthehighground]

Always so argumentative this one is.

“We don’t need it to survive that much is true. But it is essential to being a Jedi. So essential that every young Jedi makes a journey to build theirs. A sort of coming of age.”

With that, Obi-Wan then begins digging. Being careful to be mindful of the tree’s roots. He can feel the thriving life of the plant, and any pain it feels. It’s his goal to keep that to a minimum.

[doubled_speed]

Of course he is. It's in his nature, especially with those older than him. That wasn't something new. To know Tommy is to put up with the harshness he offered from time to time.

"So basically yours is a martial order."

[hadthehighground]

“Martial? Because we can fight and value defending ourselves and others? Certainly not, that’s not what Jedi were ever meant to be.”

Were he not a patient man he might be offended. But also…

“Though we were drawn into a war, it’s true. One that destroyed us.”

[doubled_speed]

"Dude, my species values defending ourselves and others. Martial because you just stressed that giving weapons and having them is important," Tommy pointed out. So yeah, martial is definitely a suitable term."

War. One destroying a people. Yes. That was absolutely a thing. Never stopped being a thing. Hell, his people had that. And all he could do was nod. Because he understood.