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 look on Jon's face was a familiar one. Not only had Tony been in something like Cal's position enough times to know when Tony Stark was the symbol of all of the ills of the world for a desperate guy in a stilt-suit he had rigged himself in a basement, but he had seen friends and team members like Steve enter a similar fugue state after a tough loss and pour all of that aggression into the nearest punching bag. It wasn't any more healthy than finding the bottom of a bottle.

With his gaze darting between the two other men, Tony had barely dipped his shoulder to help BD-1 find a place, bringing a hand up to hold over his feet and impart at least some of the thrill that trust had given him, under the circumstances. It might have been misplaced, though, because Tony was shortly on his feet, trying to catch Cal's eye, knowing full well that this would have been the worse move if Jon had been someone with the brute strength or stubborn temper of Steve, but not about to let Cal suffer the full brunt of this when he knew he could easily pin Jon if he had to, and grow back a finger if it came to it. "Oo-oh-kay," Tony concluded for them, making his move just as Jon made another feral swing and shot out to halt the more laborious upswing with a hand spread over the tense knot of Jon's wrists, just a little pressure to make lifting the iron that much more difficult, then followed his arms up to bar his across Jon's chest, holding him back from Cal and patting his far shoulder to bring him back to the present. "An impressive display from the new kid," he played off for them so no one had to feel self-conscious. "That's one for the record books, folks, incredible sportsmanship."

Whatever's going through Jon's mind, Cal only feels the growing emotions. The Archivist has been holding back a lot, he realizes, and what was meant to be a simple exercise of stress relief, maybe a little introduction into swordplay, has turned into pure venting of aggression.

Cal's changed his stance completely, remaining completely on the defensive as he meets each blow now, purposely blocking each wild, desperate swing by Jon's fire iron. That the man's so bent on trying to strike something, or maybe someone gives no real thought to tactics, thankfully, but on the other hand his giving into his emotions like this makes him all the more unpredictable for where he might aim.

He steals but a glance in Tony's direction, all at once getting an idea of what the man intends to do and knowing somehow that despite his headshake Tony would make his move anyway. Drawing in a sharp breath between his teeth, Cal prepares to reach through the Force if he has to.

On Tony's shoulder, BD-1 clings to his shirt, hunkering down a little once the man gets to his feet and moves to intervene. The droid squeals, slipping back behind Tony so he won't be in the way when the man interposes himself to stop Jon.

The Archivist for his part is too wound up mentally beating a cackling woman made of wax that he is entirely oblivious to the man approaching his back. So when his last swing is being halted before he can even bring up up, Jon pauses - And finds himself being pulled back from his intended forward-movement. Not harshly by any means, given that Jon's movements are rather blocked than anything else as he is being trapped between an arm and the owner of said arm.

It's a rather effective trap for the Archivist, though.

Reality comes crumbling back around him as the pat on his shoulder draws Jon's attention and that oh-so-familiar voice finally makes itself be heard pretty much right above his own ear, sending a shiver down his spine with its closeness. He tries not to shudder even though the words make little sense to him at this point. Though he does look down at Tony's hand against his own shoulder and the man's arm across his chest and he can feel the warmth of a body behind him and that's about when he finally picks up the fear.

It's not exactly fear in the sense of someone fearing for their life. It's more of a worry. The creeping sense that something isn't right, one aspect of I Do Not Know You - The Stranger. Fear of the unknown.

And looking up from Tony's hand and arm, Jon can see it clearly around Cal, directed at him.

And it feels right.

"...Jesus."

That's all the Archivist mutters as he lets go of the fire iron and the makeshift training weapon clatters loudly to the floor while Jon takes an instinctive step backwards. Or tries to do so, at least. Tony is still right behind him after all, meaning that Jon plain backs right into the taller man and tenses up instantly at the realization that, yes. He is indeed trapped.

Is he about to panic? Of course he is.

"That was fun, huh?" It's a question directed at Cal again, but the hard line of Tony's mouth didn't say fun and the quirk of his brow pressed a very different question. Cal was in a better position to read Jon's expression now, and while Tony could tell how tightly wound he was, he had no idea where that pressure might release and isn't eager to pull his steadying arm back without Cal's signal.

Cal lowers his pipe, still cautious, but grateful that Tony's intervention proves to work, and seeing Jon finally come to his senses is an additional relief. It's the hint of what will follow that keeps the padawan on edge.

He looks at Tony, understanding the implications, his eyes flicking back towards Jon as he slowly stoops down to set the pipe down on the ground rather than let it drop and create more of a ruckus. Then slowly, he approaches the two, directing a nod at Tony to let Jon go.

"It's...it's okay. You're okay. It's just us," he says, softly in attempts to calm the Archivist, even as he tries to modulate his own pulse and breathing from the abrupt exertion.

It's hard for Jon to ignore the fear. His eyes find Cal when the Padawan moves and the caution he sees... That's not a good sign. And while Tony's voice just remains too close to his ear as to not have the hair in his neck stand on edge, Jon finds himself paying more attention to Cal. His voice, words, the way he moves...

All too cautious.

It's then that the Archivist finally starts breathing again. Or rather: He takes one deep breathe to have air in his lungs to slowly exhale through his teeth while clenching them into a bit of a grimace that is a mix of irritation and his very own fear. One of his hands comes up for him to lightly place it around Tony's wrist, not really trying to remove the hand but more a wordless sign on his own.

"You know I'm- I'm not some wild animal, right?"

Coherence. Just letting them know he has it.

It might not have been a great idea for Cal to approach, Tony had no way of knowing if Cal had been part of Jon's trigger mechanism, but with a signal from both of them he had no good reason to keep hovering over Jon. Cal knew what he was doing, right? BD-1 was pretty clear (insistently clear, it was Tony that was having a hard time keeping up) that Cal would have every reason and experience to be keyed in to someone's intentions. Reluctantly, lingering enough to give Jon's heart a grounding press of his palm as it passed, Tony withdrew his arm and stepped away enough that he was confident he wasn't putting BD directly into any fray as he twisted and tried to coax him to come on out under Tony's arm, where Tony could hold him up to see that Cal was doing okay. "Yeah, well, you smell like one, boss," he said, which could have easily just been light teasing for the sweat he had worked up just swinging a fire iron for a few minutes, but something wild had been evident to a few more senses in the room.

BD-1 maneuvers around clinging to Tony's shirt, lacking in the extra layers and protective gear that Cal has to provide him a better grip. He hoots inquiringly as he makes his way back up Tony's shoulder, checking if things are okay now.

Cal grimaces a little at Jon's response, but it serves to allow him to shed the rest of his own tension with a shrug as he lowers his hand. Getting a response at all is a good thing.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel that way. Just that...you were...somewhere else, earlier." Or some-when. He not quite winces at Tony's own remark, but the twitch of a somewhat lopsided, albeit faint smile tries its best to stick in place.

"You all right?" he asks Jon. "Got a little carried away there. I think that's why we're not usually encouraged to put faces to targets."

While it's good to be released again - and Jon does take notice of the almost soothing increase of pressure of Tony's hand over his heart - the Archivist does turn halfway around to give the other man a quick, feisty retort for his comment. Though he gets interrupted by Cal's apology and swallows his remark, looking over to the Padawan.

"No- Please. Don't apologize. I-" A pause, then a resigning sigh.

"I am sorry. Goodness. I just... This was a mistake. I'm sorry." During the last part, Jon has effectively turned his attention away from the other two. So much for not feeling self-conscious.

"I... Will go back to the library. Getting some work done." The library, yes. Not the hospital. Because the chance to meet another person there are significantly lower.

Tony didn't have a good answer for the droid, so he offered a cautious shrug while he didn't think he had Jon's attention, but that was something of a mistake-- that look Jon shot him clearly said he was not interested in pursuing Tony's oblique suggestion to address what just happened. That was fine, Tony wasn't going to approach it any more directly; as far as he knew, this was an unhealthy coping mechanism, not the start of a downward spiral, and Tony definitely was not the guy to try to talk anyone through their psychological problems. He had his own suggestions, but AA steps didn't apply in every situation. His next signal to Cal was palms out, fingers spread, telling him Tony was disengaging. If Cal was pursuing it, he was on his own. "Great, we're all apologizing, powerful stuff," Tony said, hoping that would put an end to that behaviour and they both realized it was ridiculous for either of them to have gone there.

He doesn't directly look a Tony but he does catch the man's gesture out of his peripheral. Distancing from the situation isn't a bad idea at all. Cal just doesn't want to do so too abruptly. It's only when Tony speaks up that he does glance at the man, his head canting in the subtlest of a nod in acknowledgment of the unspoken.

"Hey. We're all good. Okay?" Cal tries to meet Jon's gaze as he speaks. "Anyway, it was something." It wasn't quite the workout he'd expected to get out, but he's not sure it helped the Archivist get over any qualms about knowing how to arm himself.

Slowly the padawan offers a nod as Jon volunteers to return to the library. "If you want," he says, not wanting to outright stop the man, but wanting to leave the option there so he'd know he's still welcome company. But if Jon wants to retreat, Cal can understand the need for some space.

As much as he likes to admit it, but Tony is right. Maybe not in his literal spoken words, but the underlying message carried within the tone. This sort of behavior is exactly what got Tim killed. It's this entire refusal to talk about stuff that Jon himself has been trying to press Martin to leave behind. To stop drifting away into the distance and talk to those that care.

And now it's him doing that very same thing.

Jon shakes his head, only half daring to look at the Padawan.

"No, Cal. It's not good. It's not okay. He's right, you know?" He gestures towards Tony. "He's right! I talk about hoping for there to be an us and now I just want to run and hide and- Shit." A rare expletive for the Archivist and it's then that he fully looks up to Cal again "I tried to split your skull with a fire iron! Yes, realistically I wouldn't have succeeded, but I still tried! And that's not okay. If it weren't you or if Tony weren't around - The thought alone scares me!"

As much as Tony liked to hear about how right he was, it felt so accusatory from Jon that Tony looked between him and Cal with a wide-eyed shake of his head, trying to figure out if he should defend himself somehow from this outrageous defamation. That was an interesting interpretation of 'us' that Tony hadn't really factored in to the social health of Temba; he had meant more of a shared moral compass, a general agreement on boundaries and goals and how to manage elements working against those, not emotional openness. If that was the credit Jon was trying to bestow on him, maybe he really should have been defending himself.

From what Tony could tell, Jon wasn't any more in control of what was happening now than he had been over his practice sword, but those wild swings sure did connect-- just like Tony couldn't very well slink away from this conversation now that running and hiding was explicitly in the 'shit' territory. He was going to have to take some more cues from Cal here, because the kid had had proven so far to be overwhelmingly both nice and gentle, much more qualified for the job. Tony went for a more familiar physical tactic and slid an arm over Jon's shoulders again, a mirror of the cautionary hold he had over him before, leaning his weight carelessly into Jon to force him out of his head. "What d'you think?" he said to Cal, the victim deserving of reparations, "We send him to the brig?"

As much as he might agree with Jon, with the sentiments silently echoed by Tony, Cal doesn't say as much. For a while, he doesn't say anything, letting the Archivist do the talking. At least Jon can admit to things. It doesn't mean a quick fix, but there are never quick fixes to anything like this.

Although he doesn't mean to be, it seems like he's been made out to be the mediator in all of this. It's a Jedi role if ever there was one, and while he doesn't necessarily think these things, it comes naturally for all that he's never actively played the part. Looking at Tony, the flicker of a half-smile appears in appreciation of having an offset to the heavy emotion rolling off of Jon and the wake of his words.

"If it weren't for me or Tony, you wouldn't have been pushed into the position you were in. We're to blame as much as anyone, but rather than point fingers or claim faults, we can all say we had no idea what would have happened. But right now, we're past that point. What's happened has happened. So..."

He trails off, feeling that knot in his gut. This is wrong. He shakes his head. "I'm..." His brow furrows as he looks aside. "...I'm hardly the person to be suggesting what should be done, not without being hypocritical." He can't say to move on, he can't say to accept and learn, not when he hasn't.

That sudden weight leaning on him? Certainly distracting. Especially combined with that nonsensical question.

It was a nonsensical question, right?

At any rate, Jon is trying to focus on Cal's words and for a moment he wants to argue that something like this might have been happened under somewhat different circumstances with different parties involved as well and- and- and....

Okay, Tony. You're getting heavy. And sorry, Cal, but it's hard to think while slowly being pushed to the ground. Jon will have to put this entire argument on hold to deal with a literally more pressing matter. Which means to direct a simple, pointedly non-compelling question at Tony.

"...d-didn't you have your share of physical contact for today?"

Tony didn't mean to imply that anything should be done, just put Jon's crisis into perspective, so he doesn't know what to with with Cal's vague allusion. Did Cal mean to tell them that he had bashed some kid's head in with a piece of metal, too? He didn't come off as the type to Tony, but he had seen some real transformations in his life.

Cal is briefly rescued from Tony's probing by Jon's ever reliable grace under pressure, earning him a dangerous smirk. Tony had no idea where Jon could have got that idea, unless he was feeling more sore about how Tony had intervened than he had let on, because Tony answered quite honestly, "Are you kidding?" and dragged Jon up closer to purr into his ear, "I'm starving." That would keep him occupied for a little while. Tony did him the favour of shifting his weight back, but he was going to have to suffer the indignity of trying to escape Tony's arm if he could face it, because the tactic had proven fruitful. Very casually, Tony's attention went back to Cal, "You can't just say things and expect me to let them go. Is this coming from the same place as that ambiguous stance on letting people arm themselves?" He seemed to have a firmer opinion in this case.

And in his own way, Tony provides equilibrium. By...casually threatening to tip over Jon. The farther they lean, BD-1 tries his best to act as counterbalance, but given his size the little droid probably doesn't do much. After a while he shimmies down the man's leg and back to ground level where he can better look on.

The scene is so ridiculous that a laugh escapes Cal in spite of himself. He shakes his head, a rueful look on his face as he runs a hand through his hair before setting his arms stance akimbo.

Cal's not so sure a distraction is the best solution either, but right now he can't help but feel that Tony's accomplishing more than either of them just by acting like he probably always does. At least that's been the feel Cal's gotten from him, ever since the man had traipsed on in.

The padawan stoops down to pick up BD-1 as the droid wanders back over to him. He pauses, not quite frowning as Tony turns his attention and questions to him. No, he supposes he couldn't have expected it to be let go. He's not sure he wants to delve that deep, either.

"No, it's..." He gestures vaguely. "It doesn't feel right just letting it go like that, but neither is forcing confrontation. And I don't want to start a fight about it."

Enjoy this small noise of exasperated indignation from the Archivist as a result of being pulled into a whole different physical trap than before. And he isn't entirely sure which one is worse. Before, Jon has been worried, even a little scared. But he can handle being scared fairly well.

This? Is aimed to embarrass him. Especially with Cal being there to witness Jon's brain plain shutting off while the man tries very hard not to appear entirely flustered by that horrible combination of Tony's words and tone.

This is punishment, right? This is what he gets to endure now and trying to squirm out of this hold isn't something he can possibly do without humiliating himself even further. And there is a conversation going on and he should probably try to keep track of that as well? But...

Right. Jon will have to settle to scrape his brain back together enough to cast a disapproving glare up at Tony and muttering something through clenched teeth "Tony... please."

"Who said we were fighting?" Tony asked as Jon fought for his dignity. Cal wasn't giving him much, but at least that tiny data point suggested the hypocrisy he had put on the table had less to do with his own violent streak than the fallout here. It was entirely possible, after that performance, that Jon was the emotionally healthy one here. It clicked for Tony-- of course Cal had a complicated relationship with expressing his weaknesses, he had basically said the army raised him. Tony cocked his head, locking Cal into a scrutinizing stare that promised Tony was reading his hard drive, then all at once released both him an Jon with a final pat to Jon's back and swung back around to the bag he had left over by the seats. They weren't going to get anywhere like this, not with everyone on edge now. Cal was going to have to be unsuspecting for Tony to tease the details out of him.

"Listen, Jon wants to talk about it, he freaked himself out," he pointed out, letting Jon decide if he still wanted the confrontation now that he had someone to be more frustrated with than himself. To neither of them in particular, Tony added, "I'll say this, though: I've seen guys do way worse shit when they get like that, so don't get yourself too worked up over what you did. That's wasting time."

It's kind of amazing how Jon's feelings have shifted completely off one track and onto another. Cal's not sure it's any better, and he's not sure if gaining Tony's attention instead is any improvement for the situation.

Sooner or later... he tells himself, knowing that being so physically distanced from the problems he'd been forcibly pulled away from don't give him an excuse to pretend nothing happened. Not that that's something so easily done anyway.

He meets Tony's look as calmly as he can, having at least managed to get a handle on his own breathing and heart rate by now. His eyes shift towards Jon then, and then back to the former. "If he wants, he can talk about it. If not now, maybe another time." He tilts his head in Jon's direction as once again he looks at the Archivist, but he's already said earlier, he's not going about forcing anyone and he hopes that translates.

"...I agree though. It's a waste of time. But sometimes it's difficult to let go, because of the things that might have lead up to it."

Cal turns away from them, and with hardly a glance in the direction of the abandoned pipe on the ground, the thing flies to his hand as though attracted magnetically. This session's as good as over, and he's of the same opinion anything more might get done today, so he's willing to bow out. Running away from things doesn't solve matters, but he understands a need for space and time to think as well.

Despite originally having been the first ready to walk away, Jon finds himself to be the last left behind. And seeing how first Tony and then Cal turn away from him in a very literal way feels oddly appropriate - In an unpleasant way.

He isn't going to stop either of them, even now that he's been released and flustered embarrassment crumbles away in favor of a certain brand of guilt and regret. At least he is quite used at carrying the blame and regrets... Well. He has a long list of those as well. But it wouldn't be fair to hold either of the others back. It doesn't feel right. They made it clear enough that they have no interest in wasting any more time and it's hard to argue with that.

It's as the others take their leave that he picks up the familiar whirring noise of a tape recorder. And he spots the device shortly after as well. Still recording.

Right.

Jon will harvest the tape before taking his own leave. And maybe he will listen to this entire conversation again one day. Maybe. If he feels like wasting some time.

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Log // Catch-All for April - OTA

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