revivalproject | delivery

Entry tags:

delivery

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.

[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.]

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.]

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.]

[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.

Listen-- we could use a scout, he knows that. Sending him up a building is safer than anyone with meat on their bones.

[Or bones to break if the structure collapsed, but that's a little dark.

The space isn't massive, much taller than it is wide, and not exactly equipped for hosting, leaving Tony lingering for a beat where he was most comfortable next to his workbench, and still feeling awkward. It's a round room, with only three things really of note: the chimney cutting all the way up through several stories drawing the eye the most with the fire always burning, a heap of what looked like loose fabrics, and the monster that was Tony's workbench incrementally dominating the space as it grew outward and upward with surfaces and scaffolding to hang or brace his projects. Most of those looked like armor, like a small battalion of knights had been pulled apart and strung across the forge from the catwalk above.

Abruptly, Tony solves his hosting problem with a curl of his finger for Reeve to follow.]

I do have something for you.

[And...leaves. There's obviously an upstairs to this building, but Tony rounds the chimney to a door beyond it; an even less inviting bathroom, just a box with a toilet on one side and sink on the other, and a drain in the floor between them under a swinging shower head rigged up on a hose.]

[The scout idea has Mini bouncing quite happily. Clearly this was something he liked the idea of, and would be happy to offer himself up for. Bouncing and waving his arms to show his approval.]

I think you have a volunteer.

[Still, he's very itngued by everything, especially the strangeness of the armor pieces. How strange, that Tony should have such a thing. But is it his to judge? He's seen armor before, just not such... covering forms. And then, before he can move closer to inspect, Tony is summoning him away, leaving Reeve with little choice but to follow.]

Tony, am I supposed to stay behind?

[He presumed not, from the crook of that finger.]

[Does Tony have to go back out and collect him? Apparently. His glasses have been pushed up onto his head by then, and his blistered hands unwrapped to gesture maybe more clearly for Reeve to follow, yes, of course, then wash by the time Reeve joins him. He pushes himself up onto the counter to give Reeve the room if that's what his problem is, slinging the threadbare rag he's used to dry over his shoulder.]

I don't know what you've been doing, but I figured this out pretty early.

[On his counter, he has a brass bowl that looks like he's roughly hammered, that he takes the lid off of to reveal some grassy smelling, translucent...goop.]

There are these...they look like sea cucumbers, I guess, growing in really sunny places. I started eating them, because... [Shrug. He's not a culinary mastermind.] Not great, don't recommend it. But, they're full of this, kind of like, aloe.

[He dips a finger into the bowl to show that it wasn't immediately poisonous, first of all, but that it did slip easily rubbed against his thumb, before handing it to Reeve.]

So.

[He also has a straight razor, that he picks up with a not subtle smirk of certain pride, because it really seems like he has gotten away with something now that Cloud couldn't handle putting an order in for a bat. That kid had done something really wrong, clearly.]

[Reeve does follow after a moment and when he sees the goop his brow scrunches because he can't fathom why Tony would be showing him this. but once he sees how easily the stuff allows Tony's fingers to slip past each other his eyes flash to the other man's face, moving over the line of his jaw. Does Tony, perhaps, look smoother? Oh, he does and Reeve is smiling with some measure of excitement.]

Tony, have you made a straight razor? Are you offering me the chance to shave?

The chance of a lifetime.

[Because it does feel like a lifetime at this point, he was going native, he was going to forget what it was like to have a proper shave by a professional and this is about as good as it gets around Temba.]

I didn't make it, you can thank the Lady Replicator for this gift, before Cloud got her all depressed. He's lucky he's cute, isn't he?

[The chance of a life time indeed. Reeve put much care into his facial hair and yes, one of his few acquisitions on Risa had been an electric razor. But there was just a difference in the quality of a shave one could have with a proper straight edge, and frankly? He longed for it.

But it could wait until after his snort of amusement.]

Is he, now? I suppose his looks might appeal to some. I understand he was quiet the source of attention from a few ladies on our team. But I hadn't noticed.

[He knew too much of the younger man's traumas, and mako-eyes often unsettled him.]

[That's not really a surprise, but still manages to make Tony laugh and nod appreciatively for the information as he turns to stop the sink and run the water for Reeve.]

Sure. You appreciate him for the titillating conversation. Your team, the World--Rebuilding--thing, that's your recruitment strategy, send him to knock on the door. They'll want to make sure he gets back safely.

Conversation? Strife?

[Yeah, even has to laugh. If Tony had asked it of any of their team save Vincent or Nanaki, he would have had even more uproarious laughter. Well, maybe Tifa would have tried to hide her amusement behind her hand.]

While Cloud may be a personal friend, and a balm against some of the world's ills, he is not actually a member of the WRO. Better to say he retired to his own business. And really, it's a useful one. Without Shinra and it's standing military, some things are hard to deliver thanks to monsters. And Cloud can handle himself.

[Few people in the world could handle themselves with quite the same skill as Cloud possessed. That said, his mind was moving to the flowing water, a thing to be appreciated. That, he understood, had not been the easiest to get back up to running, but that had been before his arrival.]

Should I treat your all-natural facial care product as if it were a real lather, or go thinner?

You don't need much...

[He starts to try a gesture, but abandons, didn't matter, he would show Reeve, and indicates with a tug at his own collar as he drops the rag over his shoulder into the warm water then wrings it out. Beckoning Reeve closer again, he wraps the cloth over his beard, holding it with his hands curled under Reeve's ears and a taunting smirk. It isn't like Reeve can't talk like this, but he's at a disadvantage and looks like the most polite bandit.]

He deserves the break in his old age. You're not working with Shinra or your merc buddies then, where'd this team come from? You get around, you know that?

[Not needing much was good to hear. He'd have to inquire as to exactly where Tony found the plants he made the gel of for himself. Not that he could ask now, but there is something important to be done. He loosens his collar enough to make sure it won't be in the way, then leans forward, allowing Tony's quick hands to take charge for the moment. At least he has an excuse for considering his words carefully.]

There as only one who could be considered a mercenary among Avalanche, and that was Cloud. Tifa and Barret were the surviving members of their troupe of the eco-terrorist band. The rest, Yuffie and Nanaki, Cid and Vincent and myself, had other backgrounds. And Aerith, of course.

[His voice is... softer with her name. But he soldiers on.]

I established the WRO after Meteorfall, with funding and support from some old friends. Starting with some who had a reason to dislike Shinra, then moving outwards to find money and political support. Helped that some had come to see me as a hero.

Of course. [Doesn't everyone know who Aerith is?]

You didn't tell me what you did.

[Tony didn't mean it to sound that accusatory, but he doesn't apologize for it either, just snaps his mouth shut and offers a shrug. How else was he supposed to say it?]

To be the hero, I mean, not the part where you destroyed the planet to make a bunch of money.

I suppose I have not. Forgive me, that night I more needed to share my failings than my successes.

[His own hands come up to cover Tony's on the warm, wet towel. For a moment he let his fingers stroke over skin, skin desperately in need of moisturizer he thought, before taking a deep breath.]

It's a long story that I could tell you in full if you like. Or I could give you the bullet-points version. The latter makes me sound more dashing and intriguing.

I would never deny you the chance to sex it up. Save the boring version for the library, he'll get a kick out of that.

[Does he want Mini's servos or does he want soft hands? Both isn't an option.]

[Rough hands are far more interesting than smooth. Smooth meant you didn't ply yourself at anything Reeve easily understood. But he lowers his hands from Tony's and shrugs.]

The boys you saw at the board meeting in my memories play a role. The blonde is Rufus Shinra, the heir to the company. The one with silver hair, blue-green glowing eyes, and a glare that could cut steel? Sephiroth. The latter, after he grew up and was theoretically killed by Cloud the first time, proved to be alive and have pawns. Which killed the father of the former, Rufus, while Avalanche was attacking Shinra tower to break out a kidnapped young woman. Rufus, taking the seat of power, decided they needed to be monitored. And since his normal tools were not working, he got creative.

[Reeve sighed here, shaking his head.]

He knew about Cait Sith. Secrets don't last long in Shinra, and it was my own fault. He decided my little friend, and thus myself, would be a mole planted in Avalanche. I was a spy in cat's clothing. In time, though, we found that Sephiroth was seeking to destroy the planet, and when I realized Shinra wasn't truly seeking to stop him, but to use him to their own ends, my loyalties shifted. I tried to slow Shinra's progress while aiding Avalanche. I would feed information to them... Even saved a member from a very public execution. Ultimately, though, I was caught as having become a double agent, shortly after Rufus died. Just like that I was in jail. But with Cait Sith being sentient and not remote controlled like everyone thought, I was able to still work through him. And contact other allies I had, just in time to be broken out of jail in the hours before meteor fell.

In the end, I helped coordinate the evacuation process. Helped pull people out of buildings myself. Moved everyone to the slums for what meager safety it might provide. And, in the end, I somehow survived. Somehow the story got out of my involvement with Avalanche, and Cait Sith's role in helping defeat Sephiroth. Very few people know he isn't just a toy I control, so I'm given the title of hero, for that and for my actions in Midgar. After all, I could have just taken a corporate helicopter and fled the city, leaving people to die. And instead, I tried.

[How sad was it that trying was so rare? So easy to celebrate? But it had not been without cost.]

[It's about when Reeve sighs that Tony is taking the cloth away, feeling bad for muzzling him while he was apparently laying out his life story, not nearly done and Tony already had plenty of questions. With the rag back over his shoulder, he searches for his bowl of Agra-aloe to warm a dollop in his hands and cup Reeve's cheeks. Is he still paying attention? Debatable. He doesn't only squish Reeve's face while he's trying to talk, tongue between his teeth to stop from laughing outright like he isn't already being disruptive, but does pat the goo onto Reeve's skin helpfully.]

Some notes. One, that was the sexy version? Dashing, yes, I'll give you that one. We could tighten it up, more of the double agent part, that's the good bit. Two, you just skimmed over a couple of deaths that I feel like were big deals, like you just threw that out there and moved on like you didn't think I would notice. I did. Hey, why is Cloud killing Sephiroth the, uh, first time? And Rufus just dies, he's the guy running the show you're taking down and I'm not supposed to notice the timing there?

And to think, I skipped over most of the deaths.

[Those last words get a bit smooshy word-wise because of those hands. What a silly man.]

It was hardly glamorous. Cait posed as a fortune teller. And... somehow got the prediction right. But, not important. Sephiroth was killed the first time for burning down a village. As for Rufus... My planet apparently coalesced its own power to create what we call Weapons. Massive bio-organic weapons, towering over even Midgar, to destroy what threatens the planet. Sephiroth's plans awoke them. Rufus... just angered one. Which led to it firing an energy beam at the top of Shinra Tower, which to our knowledge, several floors down, had killed him.

[It should be hard to take Reeve seriously through the puckered lips, but Tony has to shrug and nod, okay, burning down a village could be a good argument for capital punishment, he is willing to explore the options. It's the whole planet getting itself together to fry someone pissing it off that's more profound, though.]

Shit.

[That's all Tony has for that one. He really did expect an answer with a lot more skullduggery. He wipes his hands clean of the last of the gel and picks up the razor again to offer with a question in his expression, holding it out with the other hand staying Reeve in the front of his shirt. It was nice being allowed to take care of him so far, but they haven't exactly agreed to that, and Tony couldn't promise he wouldn't start messing around again if Reeve was going to do something like touch his hands again.]

So--wait, back up. Avalanche didn't kill the dad, they just happened to be there for noble reasons, but they're the ones that took the heat for it, and you know where they are but no one's putting them on trial...And Shinra also knows all about Sephiroth, because, obviously, but they're letting that go because-- they also want to destroy the planet?

[Well, it had been Cloud's home town, and the man had slaughtered all but four people first. Plus Sephiroth had been talking about conquering the world.]

I trust you.

[Surely that's all he needs to say. He trusts Tony not to hurt him. And if Tony was willing, he'd be very pleased.]

Avalanche no doubt would have taken President Shinra captive in an attempt to get an agreement to shut down the reactors. But earlier that day the man had what was effectively his personal shady murder squad kidnap a girl to basically experiment on her. They did rescue her, and Nanaki, who is one of the last of his species and who Hojo wanted to breed with Aerith. Clearly not possible.

[He sighs and closes his eyes. The rest of it is hard to explain.]

Shinra created Sephiroth through genetic experimentation. So yes, they knew all about him. They wanted to follow him to something called the 'Promised Land' where they could get to more mako easier. Money, Tony. They were going to let the world be destroyed for money. Toward the end Rufus did try, some, to stop Sephiroth, but always while trying to stop Avalanche.

My world is... a mess.

[Tony shifts closer to the edge of the counter, shortening the distance to Reeve, and tilts his head the demonstrate Reeve turning in to the light for him so Tony can work as Reeve explains.]

Breed...?

[He still has his commentary of course, nose wrinkled at that choice of phrase because it spoke volumes. That makes the first swipe of the razor less satisfying than Tony was looking forward to.]

The more you tell me about these guys, the more I'm wondering about your, uh...naivete.

[This is the nice way Tony has to phrase this. Reeve was sitting at that table, too.]

[Ah, lighting. Reeve tilts his head and leans closer, going very still. He knows how to do that.]

Nanaki, I should point out, looks like a mix between a cat and a dog, crimson fur, fire on the tip of his tail, and is as tall as me if he stands on his hind legs. He's also older than me and can talk. So yes, breeding two very different species, fully sentient, against their will.

[Naivete. Yes, there's a truth.]

Very naive. And honestly, at some point a captive in my own way. Welfare programs, infrastructure spending, all of that? If I behaved I might get funding to help people. But I should have left.

[Action]

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cw: referenced death and near apocalypse?

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