revivalproject | Winter Blizzard Blues

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Winter Blizzard Blues

WHO: Reeve Tuesti, York Stark, You?
WHERE: The Temba Restoration Committee Building
WHAT: Trapped during The Storm
WHEN: During the Blizzard
WARNINGS: None expected

The message from the Agrii had actually missed Reeve. His whole life was such that he often rested at different hours than many others. Nor did he often keep his comm near him when he slept, because people might reach out at weird hours. So he awoke, rose and dressed in the dark of his bedroom, and then rose to his feet. As he stepped into the main room the comm went off and Reeve, not hearing it, was moving to the door to open it up.

Time to see the day. He grabbed his bangle from the hook by the door, ready to call for his magic to melt away the snow on the stoop except... Except the materia were all dun. And the sky was open and gray, and the winds were howling. And all he could do was sigh and close the door back up.

All of that had been hours ago now, and Reeve had huddled up in his warmth, curled up in his blanket. This was not the day he was expecting. Now he just looked up as he heard knocking on his door. Whoever was out there needed brought in, now.

"Quick," he says when he cracks the door open, trying to keep it as closed as possible to prevent too much snow from blowing in. "Inside."

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York had also, amazingly enough, missed the memo. He had been in sleep mode, recharging when it came through. So he learned what surprise was when he's out trying to find a warmer place to get to. Not the library, too many unseen eyes. Not the forge, though that'd be warm. By the time worst of it is starting to set in, York has no choice. He has to find somewhere else.

Thankfully he finds Reeve's place along his route back home. Snow swirls around him, coating his hair and clothes as he bangs a fist on the door. There's already warnings filling his vision - it's too cold for his system. It can stand cold for a certain period of time before he'll go offline. There's a timer indicating a shut-down, and there's frost creeping over the synthetic skin keeping him human.

He's about to bang again when the door opens enough for him to slip through and slams his hand against it so it shut. There's no shivering, no organic indicator of cold, but it radiates off of him. "Thanks," he breathes out with a puff of cold air. "Holy fuck that storm... shit. I don't think I can get back to where I've been living with that bullshit going on."

Ah, York. How interesting to see him here. And he didn't think that the young man would be as affected by the storm. How interesting.

"You're welcome here of course."

It felt nice in here at least, though with the comparison of the weather outside, of course it would. That was logical enough. York shakes the snow off of his shoulders and most of his hair (he misses a clump of it on the side), before heading further into the office. Then over to a window to peek back out. "Is it okay if I stay in here? By the time I get through the snow to the south, my system will freeze to the point of going offline."

He then turns to face Reeve. "At least I don't eat much and I have a sleep cycle."

It was nice in here for now. Over time the building would cool and that would be a problem.

"Yes, we'll move into my bedroom. It's smaller, it will stay warmer."

He eats at all? Color Reeve shocked.

"Yeah, can I just... defrost in there? And lucky for you, as an android I only eat cookies." He has no idea if Reeve will understand that joke. "Just kidding, I'm not that nosy."

He pulls his coat tighter around him, and does another brush through of his hair. This time it comes away wet, from the splotch of snow he missed that's melting.

"So you stay here? I've never really studied the map to learn where people live." Except Tony, so he can stay away.

"Sadly, cookies are not what I keep," he says with a smirk. No, he didn't get the joke. He wasn't that sort of programmer. "But please don't snoop. Can I get a privacy consideration here?"

Reeve gestures for them to head for the back room. He's only ever had one other person back here other than Mini, but it's fine.

"It is easier for me to live near my work. You should have seen the house I had in the Iteration. I had a whole sunroom dedicated to my work there."

"Uh, android joke I guess. Cookies just store information when linked through networks and stuff. But I know that's the same word for something humans eat." He frowns, then silently follows to the backroom that serves as Reeve's bedroom. "I won't snoop. I'm not that kind of android."

It almost sounds like he's offended. Almost.

"If you have an entire room for just your work where you're supposed to live, that sounds like a problem. Something about bad living conditions, it's unhealthy, all that stuff."

"Oh," Reeve said, a bit shocked. How interesting.

The bedroom isn't very interesting. A pair of mattresses on the floor with blankets and pillows, a small work desk clearly sized for Mini, and a closet with personal possessions. Reeve was a man of simple means.

"It does mean that I have a bed to go to nearby, better than just sleeping on a couch in my office."

York takes in Reeve's slightly shocked expression and looks away. Like he's not accustomed to making jokes like that for that sort of reaction. "Don't look at me like that, it was funny. We still need to get you a sense of humor."

He knows Reeve has one, somewhere. He has to, right? Humans should have them.

"It's your life, I can only make suggestions and ignore commands, not live it for you." York has his own to mess up and live after all. "And a mattress is far better for the human structure than a couch."

A frown. "Sounds like how my dad... my creator used to live until mom got onto him about it." He sits down next to the desk, not touching anything. He said he wasn't going to snoop, so he was going to live up to that.

"I have a perfectly sufficient sense of humor, but that doesn't mean I'll understand all jokes," Reeve answered with a shrug. Sorry about that.

Make suggestions and ignore commands? That gets a snicker from Reeve. "You sound like a Cait Sith unit then. And I survived fine on couches."

Reeve offers the young man a sad smile. Yes, Reeve knew there were a lot of parallels between himself and Tony. So it's not that shocking that York's own creator would have similarities as well.

"Mini tries to fuss at me about it," Reeve says as he sits on the mattress.

"Look, I'm just glad you have one at all. I recall you not having much of one when we first met." He also recalls how Reeve had to practically break up Mini and York if a near fight on their first meeting. Now look at them. Sharing a building during a winter storm together.

With no fighting so far! Progress.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing, that Cait Sith unit? Is that an android from your world?" It sounded like a strange model for a what was probably a strange place. Then he looks around for Mini, then stares at the door where he thought he saw a... white wisp of something. His chest glows golden, eyes focusing and refocusing after a few minutes.

Nothing there. Maybe he was short circuiting after his nap. "...You didn't see anything at the door just now, did you?" Just to be certain.

Well, it helps that Mini is hiding out in the front room organizing things.

"The Cait Sith units are like Mini. I have a number of them," he admits. "They are my eyes and sometimes my hands back home."

The commentary, though, draws his attention, and he looks around.

"No?"

York nods about the Cait Siths, though he's distracted. He stares over the door and finally looks away when nothing happens. Must be a trick of his programming or something. "Probably just a... glitch or something. Who knows what the Agrii are up to."

A glance back over and... still nothing. Maybe there was just a little glitch.

The android frowns, reviewing the last few minutes. There was something there. While he's doing that, that wisp he saw turns out to be a ghost of a man. A tall man in a plain long shirt, pants, and a pair of shoes, the only thing that connects him to York is the shape of the LED on his chest. His gaze is leveled at the smaller android.

The movement of his brother coming to the door catches York's attention. "...Duncan?" he whisperes, in awe that his brother of all people is here. York looks to Reeve and gestures. "...Am I hallucinating?" The ghost doesn't even seem to register that there's a human in the room. That apparition's gaze is set on his younger sibling.

"If you are seeing a semi-transparent man, then no, there's no junk data coming through," Reeve said, frowning. This is likely not good.

"Storm ghosts don't tend to be visible to multiple people. The ones that do are dangerous."

And so Reeve rises. It's foolish, but he rises and moves to put himself between the apparition and York.

"That's not just anyone," York tells Reeve, eyes still locked on that ghostly man. "That's my brother. Well, my middle-brother. His name is Duncan."

The ghost named Duncan didn't seem fazed by the bearded man going between himself and York. He keeps where he's at, steady and still before he speaks.

"You lie so much, York," comes the voice. There's something almost soothing about it. Duncan always knew how to talk to the most deviant of the three Stark androids. York's LED lights up yellow, with a flash of red for a quick second. "You lie with how much you hate humans. You say you hate them, distrust them, but you don't."

York doesn't seem able to say anything. How would Duncan know? The last time he and his brother spoke, it was in the aftermath of the attack in Bryant Park. Then he had left to join the revolution, finding his way to Jericho. "Y... you don't know what you're fucking talking about, Duncan!"

The apparition continues. "This place brought change to you. You hate being alone in that warehouse. You like hanging out with Reeve, with Richie. Even Dustin. There is no logic in lying, York."

Edited 2023-03-01 01:35 (UTC)

In all honesty, Reeve has to bite his lip to keep from smiling, and chuckling is even harder. This was the horror the storm was rising for York? It seemed like it was quite the dud. Of course, with his back to York, he can't see how the android is being affected.

"And so what if he does? There's no shame in learning and growing. None at all. Doubly so if the thing you have grown to hate is being alone. That has been my feeling too, even if I can't get out of the cycles that cause it."

Should Reeve look back, York actually looks both mortified and terrified. This was his closest relative. The one that had found him in that dark alleyway, that had put him back together with no questions asked. Didn't question his deviancy. He was a big brother to the youngest one. Far more than their eldest really ever was.

Duncan looks to Reeve, then to York. "Being with him proves it. You refused to be the presence of any human aside from Tony and Poppy and yet here you are. You swore all of them would rip you apart like those three did in the city and now—"

"Shut up!" York screams at last, finding his fury again. Reeve doesn't need to know, had been horrified when Tommy had seen what happened to him that time they were all locked away underground.

"There is none. But he denies it. He keeps himself isolated in a building that reminds him of the home he lost." Duncan's tone is even, far more soothing like an android is supposed to be by comparison of York, who's so much more human like. York swears, turning and pulling his hoodie tighter around him. This was a nightmare.

"Why is he betraying me like this?" he whispers softly, to himself rather than to Duncan or Reeve. "Duncan's not like this, it needs to stop—"

Really? Betraying? Reeve turns his attention to York.

"Friends and family tell you your truths when you need to hear them. That isn't betrayal. That's love and support."

Duncan stands there, the silence heavy between the two androids. The ghost waits for the inevitable lashing out, though doesn't know if it'll be towards himself or the human. He hasn't moved at all to get closer to Reeve or York. He simply stands in the door.

York rounds on Reeve with anger contorting his usually calmer looking face. How much he's progressed to be able to replicate this emotion, one that's been there since he deviated. "He wouldn't fucking tell anyone something like this! Duncan's not like this! THAT'S NOT HIM!" he finally shouts. "He wouldn't tell a human what happened without even consulting me first! Gervais would, but not Duncan!"

He recoils slightly from his own anger, stepping back and blinking. The LED, hidden mostly by his hoodie, glows out from the neck of the garment. It's red. It's a steady red. York doesn't understand, starting to loop in circles that it was and wasn't Duncan. It looks like his brother but wasn't acting like him. The LED keeps red. He pulls the hoodie tight again, dampening the light. Why was this happening?

Why was this happening now?

Well, now he has to deal with this.

"No it's not, not any more than any other storm ghost is," Reeve noted, stepping forward to lay a hand on York's shoulder. "And their aim is always to hurt us. I cannot say I particularly understand why this one hurts you so much, but I want you to know there is nothing to be ashamed of in this. Hating people who hurt you is reasonable. Fearing others will do the same is also reasonable. And learning that some people might, with time, be worthy of trust can be so hard."

And Reeve knew that perhaps better than many people did. He'd lost so much faith in other people for so long, and his trust had been restored with time.

"Don't let the storm win by hurting you. But also don't be scared of the truth that you are growing and changing. That is part of life, and you are very much alive."

Even through the hoodie, York is far warmer than he's supposed to be. Having the hoodie on isn't helping, but there's comfort in it (strange as that might be). He doesn't want to remove it. Not yet.

He doesn't pull away from that hand, either.

"Duncan wouldn't do this sort of shit," he whispers out. He finally turns to look up at the human. "He doesn't just blurt out people's information like that."

The ghost waits in the doorway still, not willing to come forward. There's a motion of the head, and York looks down. "He... found me. In the alley." A pause. "The night I deviated, which I know probably doesn't mean much to you. It means I'm off my programming track. I have my own thoughts and shitty actions. But he took me home, fixed me up as best he could from being attacked by humans."

"Because he loved you," Reeve said, hoping he understands this some. "But this world doesn't. It wants to break us down. And what we can do in light of that is try and accept what we are and stand strong."

He offers the android a smile.

"You're very strong, York."

It's a moment that York realizes if he had tear ducts installed, he probably would be crying. It's a stressful situation for him, evident from that red glow he's hiding. But it appears again from the collar as he lets go of his hoodie to shove his hands in his pockets.

He thinks of how the world here wants to break him and the others down, just like humans in his world. York shakes his head, frowning. "I'm not- Reeve I can't-- I don't want to get͝ hùrt̢ a͞gai͏n-̕" It was going to hurt again. The ghost disappears as York moves, not towards the white figure of his brother vanishing, but to Reeve, hands gripping around his sides and just trying to bury against him. It wasn't going to help the overheating problem with as much as he was trying to process, but York couldn't find a line of logic to care.

Well, there's an answer there, and Reeve is delayed from offering it by the hug. He wasn't expecting it, but he doesn't turn it away. He wraps his own arms around York and strokes his hair, wondering if the other one could feel it.

"Then we'll give you a means to protect yourself. And we'll teach people not to see you as a thing to hurt, save for if you try and hurt them first."

And Reeve found there was a purpose here beyond building.

"I will help you. I give you my word."

There's a motion, picked up by the fine mesh that works as his nervous system, from the top of his head. Maybe Reeve was putting a hand on his head. York holds his position for the equivalent of three moments before relaxing and taking one step back. "I...always thought that if humans figured out that I liked some of them, they would use that to hurt more. To take advantage of."

That didn't fall in line with how things worked here, but some codes were difficult to change when that's what you shielded yourself with back in Detroit. He looks up, eyes bright against dark hair and lashes. "How would you have me protect myself here?" The only thing this particular android had any experience with was a fire hatchet.

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