delivery

[in_extremis]

WHO: Tony Stark, Cloud Strife, technically open if you want to hang
WHERE: The forge? I don't know the structure of this post eludes me, it might be just network, I might just be setting up a bunch of interactions for Cloud to have with everyone else like a benevolent god
WHAT: Tony's been making things and has packages for Reeve, Tommy, Sansa and Jon, and he's not doing all of that walking himself.
WARNINGS: It is genuinely not my fault that all of Tony's posts are horny and you should just expect it now.

a text to Cloud

hey

where are you?

you want a job, right?

Come to the forge.

Outside of the forge, sitting in front of the closed door very pointedly, were five lumpy bundles, the wrapping of these clearly not Tony's strong suit. One of them seemed to be just in a big leaf. They were all labled with thin tags of impressed aluminum tied or just placed on top for Cloud to figure out where they were supposed to go with just a name-- the rest, like who any of these people were and where to find them, was Cloud's job to figure out, apparently.

At least one of them should have been pretty easy.

C L O U D
It was...a chocobo? Or how Tony remembered a chocobo looking from the glance at it in Reeve's memory. Small, grey and surprisingly heavy, it wound up to go bouncing away on weirdly articulated legs. Did Tony think he was paying Cloud?

R E E V E
It's a head.
This might be what Tony thought a cat skull looked like. It wasn't much like the design he had left for Mini-C's skeletal structure in Reeve's sketchbook, he obviously had some time, and the obsessive insomnia turned to 11 after the sleep glut and nowhere to pour his creative energy, to take a more detailed turn, and he would have used the energy to make more of the structure but they were still tight on materials. What he did make was a few servos, dangling from the skull shape like a disembodied nerve system, and a prototype pair of hands tucked safely into the dome, too delicate to be very useful to Mini, but responding to their programming housed in the skull. The systems were done, was the point.

T O M M Y
Was this what he meant by hydroponics? It wasn't like Tony had managed to miss that bit of drama on the network. It wasn't assembled, a bunch of disparate pieces that didn't come with instructions, but a note that only read 'you need a tube'.

S A N S A
This bundle had a pair of brass combs in it, stamped, much like the labels on the packages, with roses. If Sansa hadn't figured out how to keep her hair from being a mess, maybe this would be a reminder.

J O N
A very tiny little knot of a rag, about as big as the label that sat under it, and felt light enough to be empty.
It seemed to only contain a gold chain.

Comments

un: himbo

[backoff]

[ It may take several hours for a reply to come in. But hey, one actually shows up. Also, he's going to be questioning what the fuck a himbo even is after replying. And how?? ]

Before you give me the location of where the forge is.

What am I doing for this job?

[in_extremis]

[you're welcome, it's a royal title]

you do deliveries.

[backoff]

[ He's going to try to spend some time trying to figure out a way to edit it. But he's going to send this text as well, it might be a few minutes later. ]

Someone else took the calls for me.

[in_extremis]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to address you directly. How do I get in touch with your mom?

[backoff]

You can't get in touch with someone whose gone.

What do you need?

[ video ]

[beholding_archivist]

[ Yeah, Jon usually is an audio-person, but audio doesn’t quite convey his confused look as he holds up the little gold chain and tilts his head. The verbal question is a lot more limited than the visual one. ]

....Tony?

[in_extremis]

[Tony is just as impressed by video as he is audio. Why does Jon insist on being so cruel to him?]

Yeah.

[Does he see the question? Maybe. His eyes might be closed behind his sunglasses. He's not even outside, that looks like his bed.]

[beholding_archivist]

[ Because Jon hates typing text messages. And the visual he gets in return only adds more questions. ]

...what.

Why...?

[ Just what is he supposed to do with this? Aside from locking it away. ]

[in_extremis]

I thought you could use it...?

[What does he mean why, what kind of question is that, is Tony not supposed to give Jon stuff, either? He looks troubled by this, but then is looking at the fire blankly again.]

So you don't lose your glasses.

[beholding_archivist]

That...

[ Okay. That's... Unexpected. He's never really been at risk of losing his glasses and they aren't reading glasses either, so Jon's never even considered getting a chain for them. And now here he is, inspecting the ends of the chain and feeling a little like an old man as he pulls off his glasses to try and figure out how to attach the chain to them. ]

...it's not real gold, is it...?

[ Yes, that's a concern. Aside from the lighter sent to him by the Web, Jon has never owned anything made of gold. Or anything actually valuable. His laptop may have been the most expensive possession he's owned, and even that one had been a cheap model from the supermarket. ]

I... I mean.... Thanks.

[ Beat. ]

Thank you.

[Text]

[doubled_speed]

Any estimation on the size of the tube? I can find something.

[It's as close as he's ready to come to a 'thank you'.]

[in_extremis]

Anywhere between 1/8" and 1/2" will fit, but it has to be long. The water system will cycle the power before it's distributed, you'll have better luck with a bigger one to hook it up.

[You're welcome.]

[doubled_speed]

Cool. I'll find something and get this installed in the Twin-Roses hold, and see if I can't start some smaller plants in there from cuttings. I've got KNOWLEDGE of how to grow things hydroponically, but not the whole how to make the system thing.

Tony. Thanks.

[And all of that comes to Tony only a second after Tony's message. Speedster fingers, they're pro level strats]

[in_extremis]

[Why'd he have to go and ruin it?]

Now you do. If you need more parts, bring me the materials. Is the whole agriculture building not hydroponic?

[doubled_speed]

[There's no ruining it to saying thanks. Especially since the thanks actually means 'I'm sorry, maybe you aren't all bad.']

I mean, there are a FEW things in the greenhouse that are, but it's not much. It's a whole on functional greenhouse, with an irrigation system. But hydroponics requires other things, and just ripping out the structure for a single ship is not cool. But we need more than just nutrient paste on longer ship trips. And our lack of recent trips has me worried.

Another's coming soon, mark my words. Best make your ship comfy.

[Action]

[plate_builder]

[It takes a while for Reeve to peel himself away from his work turning a building into a work center for himself, but he had come to the forge to find Tony. Mini was of course at his side, but the doll was still there, waiting outside to keep itself safe from heat and soot and burning things.

And Reeve? He arrives looking somewhere between confused and grateful.]

I do believe I owe you a thank you.

[in_extremis]

[It has to be Catra's fault that people are just showing up in Tony's neighbourhood. This hadn't been happening until she started the trend. Tony's response to Reeve's confused and grateful at this door is irritated and baffled, leaning on the frame like he means to bar any further invasion of his space and squinting searchingly over the rim of his glasses before abruptly pushing them up and sauntering away back to his work, the open door a tacit invitation.]

No, you don't. He does. You didn't say programming was part of your academic career, someone had to do it.

[Tony is not giving Reeve any more things for them to get weird about, obviously, and this has nothing to do with an apology for making the last thing Tony gave him weird, it was a gift for Mini and there is nothing to talk about.]

[plate_builder]

My programming skills are merely passable. If that. Yours are top notch. He's going to appreciate this in time, but for now, I still have to be his voice.

[He steps further into the forge, but not very much further, looking around and nodding to himself.]

Still, he feels that he owes you a thank you, so I've come to ask if there is anything Mini can do for you. He wants you to know that before he has a metal frame, he is very small and good at getting into spaces, and can help you get behind or under small things if you want. Not as good as his droid friends, but he wants to help anyway.

[Reeve is just quietly grateful. The structure had proven to be, at the initial inspection, vastly more advanced than anything Reeve had ever managed with Cait Sith.]

[in_extremis]

I dabble.

[Does Tony look a little proud? Maybe. Mostly, he doesn't really want to talk about Mini's voice anymore, because he's wondering now if Reeve chooses what it sounds like, or if it just happens, and both options are still freaking him out a little bit. BD-1 suddenly talking like a human man would be equally unsettling, and he already had a voice.]

Of course not. I mean, he can, if he wants--he doesn't have to. Isn't that dangerous?

[This is not an offer Tony knows how to feel about. Saving the smaller Mini from the hole he fell into got him worked up enough, but Tony could see how a small, soft body would come in handy while scouting the untouched buildings.]

[plate_builder]

[Reeve lets his eyes rove over the work space, trying not to seem too invested. Their balance is out of whack, and he knows he can't offer Tony the heartfelt thanks he truly felt. Instead he was best set to speak for Mini. It was easier.]

I don't think it's that dangerous provided you're both thoughtful about his limitations. And he wants to help you, Tony.

video

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa receives the combs and is utterly delighted. She's still grieving even if it gets better day by day but yet the gift makes her happy all the same. She brushes her hair until it's gleaming and affixes the combs, making sure they're clearly visible when she turns on her camera. )

They're absolutely lovely, Tony. Thank you!

[in_extremis]

[You people and video.
At least Sansa is responding the way Tony intended with this gift, glad in this case to see her smile after the black cloud of her that had filled Tyrion's absence. He's grinning back, slouching in his nest with his head in his hand and squinting at the glint of metal that blended in to her hair.]

You would have made anything look lovely, mama. Tell me you have somewhere to be today to show that off.

[theladyofwinterfell]

( How else are you going to see it if it isn't video, Tony. Honestly. Sansa is all smiles anyway, though. )

Well, nowhere to be exactly but I could come visit you with the baby if you'd like to see him. Then you could see them in person for yourself.

[in_extremis]

[Tony is going to stop making stuff for people if they keep on assuming that's some kind of invitation to his house. Tommy is the only one that doesn't seem to think like this; maybe it's a cultural thing and he and Tony are the real aliens.]

That's not what I would call 'somewhere', that's not really showing off, just to me, I mean, I don't need to be reminded to admire you. There's not a lot of 'somewhere' in this place yet, though, huh? Hey-- there's that place Tommy found, very exclusive, everyone's who's anyone in Temba says it's the hottest.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Oh, Tommy found a place? Well, I suppose I could meet you there. If you don't want to admire me, well. That's your loss in the end. I was going to let you hold James and everything while you saw how lovely these combs looked.

( It's playful and teasing, even if Sansa would certainly go to the Forge to show off how happy she is about her gift. )