revivalproject | Log // Catch-All for April

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Log // Catch-All for April - OTA

WHO: Cal Kestis, BD-1 and you!
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Exploring, fixing stuff, poking around and scavenging
WHEN: Catch-all for April
WARNINGS: N/A

Without the threat of a storm looming over them, Cal figures it's as good a time as any to try to get anything done. There seems to be plenty to see, and he's had his share of experiences when it comes to roaming ruins. The replicator project has been a success, and in no small part due to the help of Cipher Nine and Hux. What else needs fixing around here? Other than...well, everything.

Green
In the northwest part of the city he's begun clearing out one of the larger buildings. The space had seemed ample enough for a suitable work area, and the adjoining room suitable for storage. If not moving things around, Cal can be found bringing in some things, likely broken, very much salvaged, from wherever his wanderings have been.

...or you might catch him napping on a makeshift pallet in a corner while BD-1 plays around in a box of junk. Hey, even Jedi get exhausted! Who knew?

Blue
Running around some random ruins is probably training enough, but sometimes it's nice to know you're in a controlled space. The old theater looks sturdy enough, and given it's still standing as it is after so long, Cal hopes his trust in the architecture isn't unfounded.

If he's not found climbing along the sides of the highest raised rows or making impossible jumps (or heaven forbid, wall-running), he might be found at ground level at the theater's center, going through some exercises with a metal rod (probably a thin pipe) he'd found somewhere. It's far from a lightsaber and it makes him miss the one he's lost, but he goes through the forms fluidly and with as much care as if he still wields a blade of light.

Alternatively he can be found by the flood plain, looking very much like he's contemplating a swim as he wonders what the waters have swallowed up.

(OOC: Or choose your own adventure/wildcard! If you're up for doing anything else or have any ideas, tag away or PM/plurk/discord (Trilobite Punch#4073) me! :D And if action tags are more your thing over prose, I'll go with whatever your pref.)

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The delineation between heroes with weapons and superheroes who didn't need them was not that clear, and Tony sucked his teeth with a shake of his head, neither yes or no, to Cal's question. Cap and Thor might have been powerhouses on their own, but they definitely preferred to work with their shield and hammer. That was Tony's own idealism getting in the way of the explanation he gave; he had stopped producing weapons a long time ago for a good reason. He also kept the Iron Man.

It was the exact people with abilities that Cal wondered about that Tony would say he would trust with their own kind of lightsaber in a heartbeat, but they had only been vetted on Tony's Earth, and it was possible none of them were really the kind of people Tony thought-- both cosmically, they could have been from different enough universes that their morality could come to surprise him, and under this microscope they could react in the destructive way he was worried about. He didn't know any of them well enough, not even Steve, who his gut reaction was to trust implicitly, but this wasn't his Steve. That was the tension in this delicate discourse that made him feel the most sick.

He just wanted to see the cool sword. Tony took a deep breath, waving off the larger complexities to ask, "So, what, we put the question to the group? Just make a network post, hey guys, just wondering, how do we all feel about gun laws?" That would have been a dangerous question in any public forum where Tony was from, but maybe it didn't translate properly. "That's going to put everyone on edge, that'll be the spark that causes the explosion," he clarified.

"Making it a big, public discussion is a bad idea, I agree." Jon says with a soft sigh and a nod in Tony's direction before looking down at his feet.

"And don't get me wrong. I understand your reasoning and see the points. Right now everything still seems to work out fine and we don't seem to be in any acute danger at the moment, but of course that all can change in an instant. Most likely when we least expect it and knowing that is just as terrifying as the thought of having someone try to murder me with a blade of pure energy." And this is where he is slowly but surely drifting off into frustrated venting territory.

"Yes, I want us to be prepared when something happens. And I want there to be an us to be prepared. But I have seen these sorts of discussions on Earth and they rarely result in the required unity. And so far... There isn't even much of a unity to speak of in the first place! At best we might risk shattering even that."

"I wish I could simply know what awaits us. What our best course of action is. What the deal is with the storms and the Agrii and if what we try to achieve here even has any value to it." He pauses for a moment to exhale with a slight snarl, pressing his eyes shut into a scowl and taps his own temple with one of his knuckles "And I know the answers are all there. But thankfully not all of us have control over their abilities and instead of finding anything useful end up knowing what everyone's favorite cereal brand is."

And it's his own lack of proper answers that frustrates him the most. Because he knows they are there - Just out of reach, mocking him.

This is far from anything Cal had intended to spark with his simple habit. He hadn't even thought anything of needs for defense or danger existing within their own circle of fellow kidnappees. Should he have? Past the normal caution he's learned to exercise, he'd just not sure what else he's supposed to be doing aside from whatever the Agrii somehow expected of them.

Again he closes his eyes, distancing himself from the conversation, perhaps, but he's still listening, still very much aware of the flaring emotions, the concerns, the frustrations. In part he feels guilty that just having brought up his specific weapon has now given Jon a new idea of fear that he probably could have done without.

BD-1 ducks behind him, while not sensing things as Cal does, plenty able to determine emotion from the tone in which the Archivist takes and the expression that crosses his face. He makes no sound, but tips his head slightly when the padawan expels a sigh that comes out louder than he'd meant it to.

"...I'm sorry."

It seems almost a non-sequitur response following everything else that's been said. Cal half turns away from the two men, shaking his head before looking down at the pipe in his hand like it's suddenly to blame. He knows better.

"This has gotten more complicated than it should have been, maybe even than it should be. I'm sorry I brought it up. It's not going to happen anyway, either with my old one or in trying to make a new one." A note of frustration escapes in those words, the incident that had led to his damaging that lightsaber still fresh, still painful.

"Lightsabers and weapons won't do anything against storms that can dig into your head and summon ghosts only you see. They won't do anything for a storm that can cut you off from whatever abilities or powers you might have. I'd like to know too, what to expect, what to do, how to help, but I've got nothing."

An us, in Tony's experience, didn't always work best as a publicly known institution--part of protecting people, for most of Tony's career, meant doing plenty without them ever having to shoulder the burden of knowing what that took. And while he wouldn't wish that role on anyone, not with the headaches and inability to look oneself in the eye that came with it, Tony very much would do it again if that was the best solution. An us might have been what was necessary here, too. But Jon clearly needed to spool down for a moment before Tony made a suggestion like that, and before Tony thought it was time to fill the space again, Cal was...apologizing?

Tony realized he had been staring intently at Jon, fist pressed to his mouth again, when Cal's voice drew him out of the scrutiny and surprised Tony with the kid's posture. This place clearly wasn't meant to be the philosophical salon today, Tony had intruded on a much lighter schedule. He wouldn't have expected any of the Young Avengers back home to have this discussion with him, he would have been encouraging them not to worry about it, do their homework and get into a good college. Finally, Tony got up out of his seat, bouncing onto the stage with Cal and searching the area for something else long and pipe-like. "For the big problems like that, you can't take them all on yourself, you've got to trust your back up," he said with a clap to Cal's shoulder. From there, he spotted what could have been a fire iron wedged against a seat near Jon, and gestured for him to investigate and bring it over. "We're looking at this too close, we're in the weeds. Jon's right, unity is the problem. There can't be that many of us here, it's not nearly as monumental a task as it seems-- I've seen a whole football stadium unite in bloodlust for a stupid mascot. We've all already got a shared goal."

Cal's sudden apology has a much similar effect on Jon as it has on Tony, effectively pulling the Archivist of whatever mental venting ground his mind has started to bury itself in and leaving the man at a lack of words. Though after a moment, he opens his mouth as if to say something, only to notice the movement of Tony getting up and walking over to Cal. And when Tony speaks, Jon closes his mouth, listening.

He doesn't fully shed his frown of frustration, though. But he has pretty much laid bare most of what's on his mind in the matter by now and from the looks of it they are in agreement that there won't be any grand decisions happening this very day.

And that's fine, he supposes.

Tony's gesture for him is another thing Jon doesn't expect. Though the moment of stupor is short-lived and he does look in the indicated direction to locate the - Fire iron? Jon raises a brow at the item, then moves the same look over to Tony before bringing the wordlessly requested item over, unsure as to where this is supposed to lead. Is the other man planning to challenge the Jedi?

Is that what he's doing? Taking everything on himself? Maybe he hadn't meant it to sound so, but that feeling of helplessness isn't one that Cal's missed. His friends were depending on him back where he'd left them. His master died because he'd failed to do anything to help him. There was no back-up then. But this isn't then, nor there.

Cal draws in a careful breath, turning his head to glance over his shoulder at the hand that's been placed there before following it to its owner. Slowly, he nods. Tony's references make little sense to him, but in the rest of the context he can understand the points being made.

Turning about again, he glances over at Jon as the Archivist brings over whatever it was that had caught Tony's attention. Behind Cal, BD-1 perks, his antennae at either side of his head pointing upwards as he wonders the same as Jon.

Even Cal does so as he sees the long implement, brows lifting as he looks to Tony again.

Well, he had been planning on challenging Cal, but a) all three of them looking at him like that after Tony had just tried to lift the mood in here was very discouraging, terrible energy to bring into a spar, and b) Jon carrying that piece of metal over looking like he really was about to stoke a fire, his confusion reading listless like he had taken desperately ill in a Victorian drama, was an opportunity in the making. Tony curled a finger for BD-1 to follow him, out of the way of whatever they might discover Jon was capable of. "We're supposed to be practicing, right?" Tony reminded them. With a gesture between the pair, he suggested to Cal, "Why don't you show us what this is supposed to look like?"

And just as Jon is about to hand the fire iron over to Tony, the other man steps away, beckoning the little droid to come along to make room?

"P-Practicing?!" He echoes the word, his voice one of disbelief, finely laced with a rather particular brand of panic as he looks down at the metal in his hand and from that over to Cal and the pipe the younger man is still holding with such terrifyingly little effort.

Letting his attention jump back to Tony, Jon casts him a grimace and points the fire iron at him, getting an idea of what he has in mind - Aside from humiliating Jon again, of course. Somehow that little hobby still hasn't died out, it seems.

"This is not a good idea, Tony!"

On the contrary, Cal somewhat appreciates the attempt on Tony's part. He'd suspected as much, given the object Tony had requested. Another distraction? Perhaps. Except there's the fact that it's not Tony who's offering to do the sparring.

BD-1 beeps, looking between the two before scampering down the padawan, hesitantly peering over at Jon once on the ground.

Cal looks at the Archivist as well. "We don't have to if you don't want to. But maybe it couldn't hurt to give it a try, Jon. I'll take it easy with you, I promise."

"Au contraire, I've never had a bad idea in my life," Tony said with such confidence that it absolutely could not be true. Of course, the chance to watch Jon struggle with his balance was the shiny chrome finish, but his intentions weren't all trickery. Once he had put enough distance between himself and the odd couple to be reasonably sure he would come out of this with both eyes, Tony crouched and gestured to BD again to keep following; Tony was supposed to have a partner here, too, and he could take this chance to get a close look at the droid all while getting a better sense of Cal's swordplay skills. "Don't worry about them, sweetheart, your guy's got this under control. Right?" It was going to be easier to observe how Cal thought he should introduce the skill to someone else and what combat looked like, than trying to live it and parse it for himself.

"...goodness." Jon mutters more to himself as he looks after the retreating droid, feeling just a little helpless despite the weight of this improvised sparring equipment in his hand. Which he shifts to hold it in both his hands, then slowly turns towards Cal, steps and face doubtful.

He sighs, dropping his shoulders.

"Fine... I'll do it." He tips his head back a little to look up at Cal and decides to trust that the Jedi won't willingly hurt him. At least not this very day.

"How- How do we start?"

BD-1 sounds an affirmative, but the next inquiry of beeps is directed at Tony as he asks why the man himself isn't volunteering or joining in.

Cal glances over and laughs. "I can get him in next," he assures, perhaps trying to make Jon feel a little better. Directing his attention once again to the Archivist, he smiles a little, giving him a nod when Jon finally just goes with it.

"I'm no Master Yoda, but I'll do my best. We'll start with a proper stance, first off. Feet apart- not too much. Do you favor your right or left?" He'll stand beside Jon to demonstrate how to position himself, whatever the response. "Shoulders back, but not too tensed, double-grip the hilt and just hold it up like so."

Tony didn't quite catch that question, but Cal filled in some context for him and Tony nodded as he sank further down to sit with crossed legs with BD on the floor; yeah, definitely, that was totally part of the plan and they weren't going to be ending this whole production the moment they were inevitably ferrying Jon to the hospital. For this brief moment in time and space, Tony wasn't the least jacked on the sparring mat, and he was not above taking his chance to feel a fraction of the joy Thor clearly felt when Tony pulled a muscle while trying to keep a hold on Carol. He didn't think he would laugh quite as much, but that depended on Jon.

To the droid, Tony wanted to keep him talking to figure out that grammatical structure, and find out what he was supposed to be for if it wasn't playback equipment, so he asked, "What is it that you usually do for Cal?" The relationship had to be codependent in some way.

If Jon has one thing going in his favor at least, it's the part where his body heals disturbingly fast by now. Even if he had to find out that particular detail when he tried to cut off one of his fingers. Still that doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt to be hit by a metal pipe.

And to his credit, he does make an attempt to follow Cal's directions. Though it's painfully obvious that he has never done anything even remotely similar his entire life. His posture and stance are awkward and paired with a thoroughly doubtful expression on his face that only gets surpassed by the tension that may well be holding his entire body together.

"I feel ridiculous." He observes with a glance at the metal between his hands. Just please ignore those awkward little wave-y motions he's doing with the fire iron in what may be an uneducated attempt at gauging its weight when in motion.

The last thing Cal wants to do is hurt anyone. He can still tell how anxious Jon is, and he's not so sure that it's something that will just dissipate after a few swings.

The weight of the weapon in question is a matter he'd forgotten to take into account, so when he sees the man trying to get an idea of its weight, he nods. "It takes some getting used to, true. You have the general idea. Now...show me how you'd swing the weapon." It might be easier to see how to go from there.

BD-1 looks from the two to Tony, bouncing a bit before launching into some enthusiastic hoots and beeps that entail his usual tasks of scanning and ziplining and crate diving, adventuring besides.

The chances for the anxiety to go away? Pretty low. The chance that Jon will stubbornly press on regardless? Actually remarkably high. Especially now that he has agreed to get along with... Oh, whatever it is they are even doing here.

So once Cal tells him to swing his... Weapon, Jon casts the younger man a short glance before focusing his attention back on the fire iron which he then raises and swings downwards in a diagonal ark with about as much force as a twelve-year-old and the balance of a toddler, causing him to stumble forward with an undignified yelp.

It may be pure luck that he manages to catch himself before tripping entirely and to his credit he reassumes the stance Cal has set him into before and tries with a few even less forceful sideways swings, trying not to feel too flustered by his initial display.

"...I suppose I'm not bludgeoning anyone today." He muses with some reluctance.

Thankfully Jon manages to recover his balance before Cal can reach out to try steadying him. He steps back again to allow the man space enough that he'd feel comfortable with swinging again. There's a crooked smile for the thought presented thereafter.

"Well, the point isn't to bludgeon anyone anyway, not if this really were a blade," the padawan points out. He takes up a position beside the Archivist again, if perhaps with a few steps worth of space between them. "At least you're not stiff when you're swinging. It's good to follow through the motion with the rest of your body, but control's also important. As you saw. Let's try this."

He nods to the fire iron before he takes up his own stance and goes through a few basic swings, taking a step with each before looking to Jon.

"...Christ..." The Archivist mutters while watching these basic swings. Memorizing them isn't the issue he is about to face, however. He doesn't exactly forget anything anymore. But replicating those movements is trickier than one might think.

At least it is for him, who hardly ever tries to accurately coordinate the various parts of his body at the same time. Maybe he would have an easier time if he had ever learned to dance or done some sort of sport growing up. But neither is the case and therefore his version of Cal's demonstration looks a lot more uncoordinated and at various moments confused with which limb is supposed to be going where.

And though he may look a little like a lost pigeon waving around a piece of iron, Jon sort of manages to combine steps and swings without further tripping over his feet. Sorry, Cal. But he's trying.

After a while of this, Jon stops, however. He should be feeling out of breath by now, shouldn't he? Or at least be getting tired. But even though these thoughts cross his mind, they aren't what he turns to Cal to ask about.

"Is it okay to imagine hitting someone dreadful while doing this?" Or should he feel bad about imagining swinging his fire iron at his boss...?

Edited (html) 2020-04-24 21:44 (UTC)

It's not easy, and Cal doesn't expect anyone to get things on the first go. It's takes practice and has taken years to hone his skills. That Jon can remember the movements enough to try mimicking them is certainly something, and for all that they aren't the most graceful, Cal can tell enough from the attempts.

Jon doesn't seem like the sort to use a weapon, and honestly, the padawan would rather hope he never has to. But with so many unknowns, maybe a little bit of an introduction won't hurt.

And if nothing else, stress relief.

"Heh, it wouldn't be something my teachers would ever have us do, but you're not training to be a Jedi," Cal chuckles. "If you think it'll help." He gestures for the man to go ahead. Maybe it'll help Jon loosen up, or at least get rid of some pent up frustration.

Jon offers a short shrug in response "I believe it does? Though I suppose this would be easier if I were training to be a Jedi..." His words trail off into a swing that takes off an imagined Elias' head. Flawed, maybe, but even Jon won't deny there to be something cathartic about combining this unexpected exercise with a bit morbid imagery.

And he adds a few more, focusing less on what his feet are doing and the angle of his hands or the arc of his swing. It seems easier when he tries less to analyze his own movements and rather tries to find new angles to split the mental image of Elias Bouchard.

Needless to say, Jon does get a little lost in this new, nonverbal way of venting. At least he makes up what he lacks in strength, elegance or skill with a certain enthusiasm.

Though he is the first to agree that he'd rather not have to engage in an actual fight with actual weapons.

Between Cal's gentle instructions and the whistling fly of their makeshift swords, and the babbling of BD-1, this space didn't feel so massively empty for a moment and Tony realized his shoulders had relaxed in a way that they hadn't since he had woken up on Risa, like they would while he was watching someone like Quicksilver dart around the training room while Tony took copious scans and suggested new equipment that could be of use. He couldn't really tell how irritating BD found Tony asking him to repeat himself several times, but the little guy seemed enthusiastic enough to share until Tony felt reasonably confident that he had a general picture of what his life with Cal was like, wherever they came from. It didn't sound like he had a particularly stable environment where he was supposed to be, either. With a hand out to coax BD to offer his own, Tony asked, "Do you mind?" hoping to better investigate the articulation of his hands, feet, stabilizers, and what exactly those wires might be for. Meanwhile, he continued, "Do you know what that crystal is, for the lightsaber?"

BD-1 doesn't seem to mind at all, well understanding that not everyone understood Binary. That Tony's even attempting to try is something he can appreciate.

Together with Cal he's gone to explore various worlds, slicing- which would amount to hacking- his way into various locked things that might otherwise have hindered their progress while they tried to stay alive. It seems a lot of parties just have it out for the poor padawan. Hardly a stable environment at all.

The boxlike head tips as though studying the hand Tony offers before the little droid shifts his balance to one of his feet, extending the other. They're the only limbs he has, but it obviously hasn't stopped him from getting around or climbing up things and people.

The question about the crystal is given pause, the droid hooting his response, basically a reiteration of its name, a kyber crystal. However that translates in Binary.

Meanwhile Cal watches as Jon gets into things. There's a definite difference between his movements than from the practice swings he'd first attempted. Structure, lines and stances can get in the way, but Cal's early Temple days had been made up of repetition, meditation and training of various methods. And then came the war, and he'd had to really see how well his lessons had held up when put into actual practice.

His mind drifts for a moment, even as he looks on as Jon wails upon his invisible target before he remembers himself and their present location. Whoever the man is envisioning, Cal wonders just what sort of relationship there had been between them.

"Not bad," he says, amusement coloring his tone. He brings up his pipe again. "Now how about trying to hit something that's actually there?"

Cal's words reach Jon in the middle of yet another quite liberating downward swing that the Archivist dares to feel a little proud of.

Blinking, he dislodges himself from his mental happy place and turns to look at the Padawan and the way the young man raises his pipe as part of his suggestion. And to his own surprise, he simply nods "Right. Trying can't hurt."

It's not a confidence usual to the Archivist by any means. But he does feel a little bold after swinging around a makeshift weapon in a surprisingly freeing way. He has even set aside that Tony has dragged him into this originally against his will. Maybe this crazy, insufferable man isn't entirely filled up with bad ideas. Maybe.

"I assume you want me to try and hit your pipe." Jon says as he walks over, fire iron in one hand while the other points at Cal's weapon. And there is less doubt in the Archivist's voice for a change. Less tension.

Those little ambulators were lovely pieces of machinery, complex systems to balance how topheavy this droid was and still be able to climb confidently. The wires seemed to be for some kind of interface, maybe for what he meant when he said 'slicing', but more notably, this foot wasn't all one original piece. "He's taking good care of you, hm?" Tony murmured, assuming the mechanic's skills must have been more useful than putting replicators back together. Whatever BD-1 had to say about the crystal did not register, though, and Tony gave a helpless shrug, not sure how to translate two languages at once without some kind of rosetta stone. "Does it generate energy, something like vibranium?" he asked, hoping if they shared most minerals, this one was among them and they weren't just trading phrases neither of them understood. Tony didn't wait for an answer, though, because Cal was squaring up and Tony had to point out, "Oh, this is the good part," to the droid, stretching his legs out to cross at the ankle and propping himself up on his hands.

The little droid beeps an affirmative. Cal had fixed his busted scomp link and given him useful upgrades, and BD-1 tells Tony as much. The query about energy and the kyber crystal gets an uncertain hoot, followed by a question as vibranium's a new thing to him.

BD-1 spins about as Tony makes himself comfortable and points out that things are about to be stepped up between Cal and Jon.

Jon's response prompts a bit more of a smile and an encouraging nod. Cal had thought he might decline, after all. Looks like the Archivist has gained more confidence in the whole exercise. It's a distinct change from how the man had been acting earlier. He grins briefly in Tony and BD-1's direction.

"Yeah. I'll hold it up for you to hit. I might move it a little, but I won't be striking back. For now, just think of it as a target," he suggests, getting a firmer grip on the pipe as he holds it outward, a default at-ready stance.

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