Calibrations Waiting Room Mingle

[trpmods]

WHO: ALL HE ROWS
WHERE: The Secret Tunnel, which has become the Calibrations Waiting Room (or was it always...?)
WHAT: Mingle log for literally anything you'd like to take place in the waiting room between sleep cycles during the event
WHEN: June 3 - July 10
WARNINGS: Please mark individual threads with warnings

For those that have heeded Ga Re's warning, the door within the secret tunnel - which looks suspiciously like the hatch to one of your shuttles - is wide open, waiting for you. You walk through... and the door behind you disappears. You’re now standing in a cavernous, cold, white waiting room. There are hallways leading off the main corridor with names above each. One of them has your name and will draw you toward it, inevitably.

And on the wall, in pink, running letters is written this single greeting:

‘Welcome to Calibrations’.

The secret tunnel has become a large waiting room with chairs, tables, and the same food dispensers available in the shuttles. There are also communal bathrooms - one for each gender - with several toilet stalls and shower stalls in each, including basic shampoo and soap dispensers, like you might find in a hotel. The water isn’t hot, so hopefully you don’t mind lukewarm showers. Somehow, at least, it never goes cold.

Branching off the main waiting room room are the labeled hallways. At the end of each short hallway is a door, with the same character’s name written on them. Anyone can enter any room, regardless of the name written on it. Everyone has their own room, though of course people can share. Each room has a simple bed (approximately queen-sized) and a set of drawers.

You can opt to spend time in your room or in the larger, common waiting room. (And if you do, you can thread it out here!) But every 16 hours, you'll feel a compulsion: You need to sleep. Right now. You find yourself going into your room (or someone else's, if you really want). But you’re drawn to the bed. You can’t help but lie down. And then, you fall asleep.

Comments

[out_of_order]

The droid squats a little to keep himself balanced as Cloud rises, hooting in amusement.

"Yeah. An artificial intelligence. I've heard people refer to him as a robot. But most importantly, he's my best friend," the padawan smiles.

"What I don't understand is that the Agrii brought us here because they said we were able to survive the storms that are supposedly deadly to them. But then this announcement comes..." He shrugs.

Some of the exercises Cal likes to do required more room than they currently had accessible, but he nods. "It's something to do at least."

[backoff]

Cloud watches BD-1 realizing that the droid was moving with him. He looks back over to Cal.

"BeeDee would have been a robot to me until told otherwise. We're all from different worlds." It's being polite and made it more of a reality to him. Cloud knew this place felt real but he could add to the thought.

He shrugs while looking at Cal. "Yeah, but, there's only so much squats can offer. I need to do some hand to hand combat." Mostly to stay freshened up on it, but he would want to train with someone that could handle his kind of strength. He would hold back otherwise knowing that not too many others would be able to offer up that same strength.

[out_of_order]

Cal nods. "Yeah. I've learned that some things- a lot of things, really, are so different between the places people here are from." It's interesting to hear about them. Even being from a place where traveling to other worlds is so common a thing, the worlds these people who have never gone anywhere outside of their own are so unique.

BD-1 starts to walk along his arm then, all the way to Cloud's shoulder if allowed. It's only then that he'd make the transfer to the padawan, Cal grinning as he catches the little droid and helps him onto his own shoulder.

"I'm better with a weapon," he admits. "If this place were big enough, I'd offer to spar. Usually I'd go through exercises in the smaller amphitheater."

[backoff]

"Droid, Robot, Exo. They all have a different meaning in another's world. Some people even know about the rooms." Cloud had been surprised by that one never really knowing what to expect from this place. He could get information when it was needed. The thing about this world Cloud was starting to doubt the Agrii.

BD-1 is free to roam on Cloud, but he keeps an eye on him making sure that he doesn't hurt himself. He looks at Cal nodding in understanding.

"So am I but that doesn't mean you should let other kills go to waste. I'm not the best at hand to hand but it's easier to do in a somewhat smaller space." He gives a shrug. "How about rearranging a room and get rid of all the stuff in it?"

Cloud could easily shove everything out of his room without getting too winded. It might be a big enough space.

[out_of_order]

"Rooms?" Cal can only think of their strange dreaming episodes, but he's not sure if that's what Cloud was referring to.

His words regarding skills and training make the padawan smile ruefully. "That's true. Well..." He thinks. "It's not like there's much in our rooms to begin with. Want to give it a try?"

[backoff]

Cloud tilts his head at Cal while waiting for him to realize that they have bedrooms.

"It's a bed and a couple of drawers. Very easy stuff to move." There's a cocky smirk as he goes towards his room and inside. Cloud goes immediately to the bed, he crouches a bit grabbing hold of the end of it.

"If you want to get the drawers that would be good. I got the bed. I'll wait until you're inside to move it out."

[out_of_order]

BD-1 hangs out behind Cal as the padawan follows Cloud into the room. "You don't want help?" he asks, not that he doubts the man when he's saying he can get the bed, but he wants to at least offer.

Stepping over to the drawers, he gives it a tug away from the wall before going around to push it out into the hall and against the wall just beside Cloud's door.

[backoff]

Cloud looks over at Cal while shaking his head. "I got it, trust me." He lifts the bed up from the ground from one side and moves it with ease. The blond doesn't sweat or seem to struggle with it at all.

At the door Cloud takes off the mattress from the bed frame, turns it and slides it out the door with ease. He looks at the bed frame. Does he really care about it? Cloud picks it up and turns it doing the same thing but he doesn't really care if it breaks in the process.

He moves out of the way for Cal. "Do you need help with those drawers?"

[out_of_order]

Both brows lift at Cloud's display of strength. Cal exchanges a look with BD-1, who hoots, clearly impressed. Smiling crookedly, the padawan shrugs and gives Cloud room to move the bed out.

"No, I got it," he assures. It hadn't been too difficult to move, and for something like that, he doesn't need to use the Force. Lifting it in general just seems impractical.

He gives the drawers a pat as he stands out in the hall, looking at the furniture they've just moved. "Well, that's taken care of. Shall we?" he asks, gesturing back towards the now empty room.

[backoff]

Cloud knows that he can move just about anything if needed. That's not all he could do though. He let's Cal do what he needs with the drawers leaving him alone to it.

The drawers shouldn't be that hard to move around. He looks over at the padawan before stepping into the now empty room. Cloud looks around at the space that they do have with it being empty. It's doable for what they want to accomplish. He walks the rest of the way in heading towards the back of the room. He wanted to give Cal the chance to keep his back to the door so he could flee if he wanted.

Sometimes people get extra nervous with having their back against the wall. Cloud's used to having this kind of feeling.

"It doesn't look so bad in here now."

[out_of_order]

Cal doesn't seem anxious about what he's going into as he follows Cloud back into the room. He lets BD-1 off with almost a casual lift of his arm, the droid transferring from his back to arm and then hopping down to the ground in a practiced movement.

Looking between the two, BD skitters towards the doorway to stay out of their way.

"Yeah. This'll work." Cal gives another quick look at the space they've got to work with now before turning his attention to Cloud again with a nod.

[backoff]

Cloud's been watching Cal noticing that he's not as intimidated as others would have been. It's almost as if Cal truly was calm. Not a bad thing since he considers that a good trait to have.

He watches as BD seems to understand what is going on. Cloud smiles a bit at the droid before looking at Cal and nodding back to him.

The blond steps forward going more towards the center while going into a stance with his hands up but not in fists. "You punch, I'll block." It's the best short thing to say while Cloud wants to know Cal's strength to gauge how hard he should go.

Even if Cal manages to get in real punches, Cloud would be able to handle them. Hopefully Cal could take on some heat back.

[out_of_order]

The padawan's quite calm. There's no point in being anxious about a spar, and even in a real fight, one could still be cautious without being overwhelmed by nerves.

He steps closer towards Cloud, head tilting at his instructions. Punching isn't something he normally does, but he's no slacker for arm-strength. Nodding, he takes up his own stance, sliding a foot back, bringing his hands up in a loose mirror of Cloud's own position. His fingers curl into fists.

Well, here goes nothing. He swings with his right first, then his left, not going all out, partially because he doesn't want to hurt Cloud and partially because he really isn't used to attacking with bare hands.

[backoff]

Cloud takes notice to how calm the padawan is, most people are still intimidated. He knows no one here knows he's enhanced in a lot of ways. There had been no need to bring that up to anyone. If they asked, he would tell them.

This kind of training had been so long ago. Cloud remembered using batons and rifles during his time in the Infantry unit. All of those assignments would involve trying to defuse situations and keeping public safety. Sometimes you would get into physical combats and those were received better than out right shooting.

As Cal swung his fists, Cloud would counter with the opposite open faced palm to block him. He would push them back or shove them away to see how Cal's center of balance was all about. "You can swing harder and get more creative. If you want to throw in some kicks I won't mind."

[out_of_order]

Balance doesn't seem to be a problem for Cal. Even if his initial strikes are unpracticed, he's obviously working things out as he goes through the motions, adjusting his stance and with it his movement. With each counter-response made by Cloud, he recovers quickly.

"It'll be easier if you try striking back," he says, spinning with the redirected momentum back around to face Cloud.

[backoff]

Cal's getting cocky and Cloud tilts his head a bit wondering how quickly the other learned. Cloud is adjusting as he goes along with Cal. There's a smirk forming his lips at the striking back.

"Be careful. I might bite hard. I don't want to. Just giving a friendly warning." Cloud takes a small jump back to get away from the redirect. He makes his hands into fists. It's strange since it reminded him of Tifa. What did her move look like? He quickly dashes forward swinging his right fist out towards Cal's chest.

[out_of_order]

No, not necessarily cocky. Cal just felt better having something to respond to. Still, he can't help but smile a little as Cloud does. But when the other moves back in preparation, the padawan is ready.

As Cloud comes at him, Cal ducks down, not only to avoid the man's fist, but to sweep a foot out towards his as well.

[backoff]

Combat training does get a bit easier with something to respond to. Cloud can adjust to any fighter. Some were fast, others took in their precision and another could have a combined skillset. He's used to harder, better, faster, stronger hitting opponents.

Cloud's used to watching his opponent and trying to gauge on their next move. He pulls back his fist as Cal ducks and Cloud does a quick somersault over the sweeping leg. He lands on his feet with a hard tap on the ground, but he wastes no time and spins around to face Cal. Cloud puts up his fists going back into his fighting stance. He doesn't appear to be out of breath and the smile is more of a smirk now.

[out_of_order]

Cal isn't exactly strong, but then Jedi training never focused on physical strength. It also honed mind and spirit. There would always be opponents stronger or faster than you, so you had to learn how to be flexible, how to anticipate your opponent's movement and how to react best.

As soon as he realizes Cloud's caught on, the padawan's getting to his feet and driving himself forward as the man lands and turns to face him again. His own fist is already moving, just one as he sees Cloud's already getting his own into position, but if he can manage to get the man to move back from that strike, Cal will swing all the way around with a kick from his opposite leg.

[backoff]

Cloud caught on pretty well to what Cal had wanted. An actual sparring match that started to get creative. He did ask for it and Cloud would continue to be impressed by Cal. Maybe he seemed to be enjoying himself a bit too. Not that it was with the fighting but rather the company.

The match could end at any given point and he would probably talk to Cal about it. Cloud does back from away and watches the kick come. He quickly kicks out his own leg to hook it around Cal's. Cloud doesn't do anything but stays in that position debating if Cal could handle it or not. Plus he didn't really mean to find themselves in this position either. He could yank it down and see if Cal would ground it quick to keep him from getting pulled towards Cloud. Cal's going to find out he's not really going to be able to do it to Cloud unless he uses a trick up his sleeve.

[out_of_order]

The maneuver catches him by surprise, an unusual but Cal has to admit, effective counter. He can tell already that Cloud's solid, not that he hadn't ignored the hint of the man's strength when dealing with the bed situation on his own earlier.

Rather than try to exert force, the padawan lets his own leg go limp, dropping his hands to brace when he catches himself on the ground as he means to let himself fall partially. He hopes to get his leg extracted from the awkward lock against Cloud's, long enough to kick out both feet towards him.

[backoff]

He wasn't really sure what to do but he's glad that Cal figured out at way out of the grip. Cloud wasn't going to be the first one to go limp. That wouldn't be a challenge for the other and he wouldn't be able to help himself but try to trip him still.

The padawan then did something that he didn't really see coming. Cloud tries to jump up last second but takes Cal's feet full force. They hit his own tripping him up. Cloud hits the ground on his back, but he quickly recovers by putting his hands by the sides of his head and lifts his legs in a way to leap himself back up onto his feet.

"Not getting exhausted yet are you?" He has to ask since he's not even breaking out into a sweat. Cloud could keep going even after that little surprise.

[out_of_order]

It'd gotten him loose and given some space between them. Cal wastes no time in getting up on his own feet again, but he's grinning a little at Cloud as he's likewise up and ready to continue.

"Me? Just getting warmed up," he says. He doesn't mean to sound cocky, but they can have a little fun with this, right? He's also not entirely exaggerating. Working as a rigging crew on Bracca was not light activity, nor having to deal with the Empire nearly everywhere else you went after.

[backoff]

Cloud cocks his head to the side while looking over at Cal. As long as the other could continue on Cloud wasn't going to stop. He didn't know Cal's limits or how far he could go before he needed to rest. Cloud will have to trust that Cal would tell him but he could also stop if he saw or noticed signs of exhaustion.

"Alright, we'll keep going." They can have fun with sparring. Cloud could do half of his move or go full out if needed. He had been interested in where Cal learned his fighting moves. Cloud dashes forward but then quickly throws out his leg in a round house kick towards Cal.

[out_of_order]

Cal looks about as alert and steady as he had when they'd first began. With Cloud in agreement to continue, he's glad the man wastes no time in following through.

As Cloud charges, the padawan moves back. He has to keep mindful of the space they're in, and with the man coming at him fast he doesn't want to spare a glance to check how far the wall is behind him. He can at least be ready as he sees Cloud begin to turn in preparation for the kick that's quick to follow, and with that anticipation Cal launches himself over him in a flip.

Evasion seems a better strategy than testing to see how hard Cloud can kick. Landing and getting turned around in preparation for any follow-up is Cal's main priority then.