Log

[plate_builder]

WHO: Reeve Tuesti, OTA
WHERE: Around Agrii Ship
WHAT: The Trip Home, Planning for Temba, and the Adventures of Mini-C (Early Sept Catch All)
WHEN: Journey back to Agra 10
WARNINGS: N/A I hope


A. Peanut Butter Jelly Time | Mess Hall | OTA

Reeve had a dirty little secret, one that had him returning to the Mess Hall with a strange regularity for a man who often forgot meal times. He was a man of expensive restaurants, Wutain and Mideelese takeout, and aged bourbons. He was a man who had once grown up on a farm, so most of his food was so fresh that it had been on the plant the day before. He was a man who stayed up late and lived by the liter of coffee.

Reeve Tuesti's dirty little secret?

He loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Judge him all you would, but while others might find the sandwiches jarringly discordant, looking like one thing and tasting like another, Reeve loved it. Currently he was seated at a mess table while Mini-C played with Agrii another table over, halfway through his second sandwich. The first one had looked like a grilled cheese. This one looked like and had the consistency of a chocobo salad sandwich. And damn if he doesn't look half blissed out as he takes another bite.

"I need to ask the Agrii to leave us a supply of whatever they make these sandwiches from," he mused aloud. Damn, now if only he could have a milk shake of this!


B. Engineering Marvels | Engine Room | OTA

The engine was beautiful. Reeve had been staring at it for an hour now, looking at the data that was darting over a number of screens, wishing he could read it. But mostly, he was marveling. If there was technology like this on his world, Mako never would have been a thing. If there was energy like this readily available in Temba, they could all live more comfortably. If there were engines like this on their ships, they could probably go a bit faster.

None of which mattered now, he supposed. What mattered was understanding it. And in the moment, he supposed he had to act. With a sigh he pushed off of the wall that he'd been watching the Agrii from, and almost immediately one of them approached him and offered over a belt with tools like they had. Of course they would do that.

The people were strangely considerate for beings that had kidnapped them and put them into a lot of trouble.

"Thank you," he said, knowing they would understand. He gestured for Mini to stay back, worried that the doll would get himself into trouble, before advancing on the engine core. Not the one they had before, from his understanding. Of course, his attention wasn't on the core itself just yet. Instead he opened a panel near it and lowered himself into the recessed space filled with all sorts of cables, wires, junction boxes, and the like.

"Cid would be so jealous of me right now. I wish I would remember the story to tell him," he laughed, shaking his head.

And then, of the room in general, he posed a question. "Anyone got a flash light? The backup light in the space that should come on when the panel is off seems busted. Guess we should start with replacing that."


C. Adventure Time | Halls near the Green Room | OTA

There is a downside to being a inanimate object given a soul by someone with weird magic. The downside was that humans had to sleep. Living beings had to sleep. Mini-C? Just a doll with a soul. He didn't have to sleep. So when his companion had fallen asleep in a corner of the green room with a bench, not even bothered by the Agrii that kept slipping in to look at him, well, Mini had to find something to do. Sure, it was nice sometimes to be there when Reeve needed him, snuggling in to keep his maker from being trapped in his nightmares, but that wasn't needed on naps.

Which was why Mini had toddled out of the Green room. The Agrii were of course interested in the doll, how could they not be? But they learned quick, Mini was learning. All he had to do was hop and point toward door controls and they would chatter happily amongst themselves before opening the door for him. It was really easy.

That, of course, was how Mini came to be wandering in the halls outside of the Green room, poking around and exploring. And, in this moment, trying to force open a panel. Which was hard, when his little paws had no leverage.

Comments

c

[beholding_archivist]

Reeve's doll isn't the only one that doesn't sleep. Though in Jon's case this is hardly caused by him being an inanimate object. And to say he doesn't sleep at all may be a little exaggerated at least. It still remains true that the Archivist is awake a lot more than any regular human being should be. And at times he blindly wanders the long hallways of the ship. Though, again, to call it blindly wouldn't be true. He has spent a lot of time looking at and memorizing the ship's map that by now Jon knows precisely where he is going.

Though his steps stop short at the sight of the cat-inspired doll and the Archivist gives a little grimace. He knows that doll, of course. And whom it belongs to. Who is yet a person Jon has to bring himself to talk to again. Yes, they all have to work with one another to some degree and it is the sensible thing to talk, but as of now Jon just can't say he trusts Reeve enough to feel comfortable speaking to or even working with him.

And so he doesn't move closer to the doll, instead watches for a short while and at a distance. Waiting for whether or not the doll's owner suddenly shows up...

[plate_builder]

Still Mini keeps tugging, not bothering to look at whoever was walking by. After a while the doll sighs and kicks at the panel. Rude thing not opening up.

Only then does he turn around and see Jon. His face isn't expressive enough to show his distrust of the man there. His lack of comfort. He can't even really comment. Just looks up at Jon for a long moment.

[beholding_archivist]

Well, the distrust is mutual. Inanimate objects coming to life and wandering about, that's still the Stranger's domain after all. Even if in this case the inanimate object is a cat-shaped animatronic and therefore a robot potentially equipped with an AI.

Which still leaves Jon questioning why this thing is wandering about by itself. It probably isn't. It's master must be nearby, keeping a semblance of control over it.

Muttering a small curse, Jon casts a quick look around, not the least bit inclined to interact with a machine like he would with a living creature. So he steps forward, intending to simply move past it and leave it to whatever task it has been given.

[plate_builder]

It's hardly animatronic. Yet.

Still, Jon is something that isn't an Agrii, and Mini can't get into where he's going so... When Jon moves, the doll follows.

Is it weird that a doll has fears? Because this one does. Perhaps Jon can feel them, when he's moving away. A fear of being alone. How could a doll fear that?

[beholding_archivist]

It looks enough like an animatronic to Jon to be mildly unsettled by it. The fact that it is not an animatronic? Doesn't exactly make it any better as far as he is concerned.

Especially not now that it is following him? Which Jon tries to ignore at first.

And then tries to ignore it harder.

Then focuses on ignoring that odd fear he senses coming off of it. A clear strain of the Lonely, but of course that's ridiculous. Robots, dolls, plush animals, they don't. Feel. Unless they're possessed, but that would much rather result in a certain glee drawn from the terror of their victims. That's what the scientifically inclined part of Jon's mind points out hard to Jon. But his actual experience has ridiculed science repeatedly for several years now so what all this is resulting in is basically just Jon's mind turning in circles and clinging to explanations and excuses.

Until he has enough and stops abruptly, turning around harshly to glare at the doll. "What?!"

[plate_builder]

The glare offered makes Mini jump back a step. It raises an arm before itself, as to ward Jon's ire off. Then it drops it's arm and tilts it's head at Jon for a bit.

Mini wraps his arms around himself to mime a hug. Please?

[beholding_archivist]

The gesture gets a scowl in return and the Archivist crosses his arms. There's no way he is going to willingly hug that thing.

"You have an owner." Jon points out sharply. "Go bother him." Considering they both seem to be needy for physical contact, Jon can't help but deem these two fitting for one another. Then again, the doll is Reeve's creation. So that may just show itself in a way that only leaves Jon with more questions.

[plate_builder]

Well that won't work at all. Mini folds his paws under his head and tilts himself to the side a bit to mime sleeping. Which of course upsets the balance of the toy and it falls over. Poor thing.

[beholding_archivist]

It's the falling over rather than the sleeping gesture that has Jon raise an eyebrow at the doll before letting out a resigning exhale, muttering to himself. "...Jesus Christ."

Uncrossing his arms, he takes a reluctant step closer, yet doesn't reach to pick his pursuer back up.

"Is he controlling you in his sleep? Is that how this works?" And he frowns as another possibility pops into his mind. "Reeve? Are you following me with this thing?"

A since everyone else is a coward

[in_extremis]

This felt like Tony was intruding on something intimate between Reeve and the sandwich that he was talking to, which was exactly the kind of moment Tony would enjoy inserting himself into if that wasn't a sandwich and Tony found he actually did not want to know this one thing about Reeve. From the door to the kitchen where he emerged into the mess hall, he glanced around to find Mini first, sure the doll couldn't have been far, and raised his eyebrows when he caught Mini's eye, knowing he wasn't the type to give Tony's judgmental energy back especially while he seemed to have found some kindred spirits in the childlike Agrii, but with Mini's limited expressive range Tony was free to imagine that he obviously agreed that Reeve was deeply troubled. Even if Mini wasn't really happy with him after how short he had been with the little guy during the crisis, which Tony suspected. He deserved that, anyway.

Tony announced his approach with a hand on Reeve's shoulder before he slid into a seat next to him, pushing a glass onto the table in front of them as he did that looked to be somewhere between a parfait and a cocktail. There were sliced rounds of fruit tucked into it, and a dripping rim of what would have been chocolate in any other room clinging along the inside edge and streaking through alternating tiers of liquid that were shockingly coloured and lightly carbonated. "Some people," was Tony's greeting, voice low and on the edge of raspy like this wasn't the first thing he had to say to Reeve, but the drawling middle of a last call conversation at the bar, "have a relationship with food that I have never understood." He sat with his arms folded on the table to hold himself up, one hand up to gesture loosely, his whole demeanour a tired bruise if not for the relaxed tilt of his head and easy, wry smile. He dropped his hand to trace along the rim of his glass as he continued, "Ours, mine and food, the relationship, I mean, is very utilitarian, in'n'out, you know, fuel. Don't get me wrong, I don't not enjoy eating, but it is not my indulgence of choice."

oh come now, Jon spoke with Mini

[plate_builder]

The hand on his shoulder, even briefly, makes Reeve jump a bit. The touch is... he's lost familiarity with touch in a lot of ways, and doesn't anticipate reacquiring it. For a moment his expression is soft and sad. And then it's replaced with the welcoming smile of a friend.

No more sad. Just friends. After all, he enjoys Tony's friendship and intellectual conversation.

"Tony, if you have a treat like that too often, one will have to worry about your figure. Still, it's good to see you indulging. But he smiles back at the observation.

"Normally I am the same as you, of course. But peanut butter was a very rare treat when I was a child. We couldn't grow peanuts on the far. I was introduced to it in college, and Midgar... Well, a man of my stature eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the cafeteria would cause the strangest looks. So I indulge when I can. And I haven't been able to in so many years."

but no one is brave enough to take on the peanut butter chicken salad

[in_extremis]

As uniquely kind as Reeve was to Tony, he did have a talent for being shockingly caustic when he wanted to, making Tony narrow his eyes then turn his gaze pointedly away and down at the assortment on the table with a pout, not that he cared, his figure was fine, it wasn't like he could be counting calories under these conditions, there was probably a scale in the cargo bay he could use. The irritation couldn't last, overtaken easily by a surprised chuckle to bring back Tony's lopsided grin at Reeve's, the same as you, of course, sure he hadn't intended to imply that it should always be assumed that their tastes and habits were similar, but still muttering, "Oh, of course," as Reeve continued.

"Just to clarify," Tony said once he had absorbed this excuse for Reeve's intimacy with his sandwich, and leaned back in his seat away from the table, his question too important to be slouched over for, "where you're from, back home, are you rich enough to be considered 'eccentric', or are you just a regular weirdo?" With a brief laugh at his own teasing, Tony elaborated, "That is such a weird thing to be worried about being seen doing, but, you know what, if you look like you did every time you have a PB'n'J, that's fair, you were really communing with God there. What else do you not do in public? Is it just sandwiches you draw the line at?" There wasn't much left for Tony to do outside of his house that didn't incur strange looks, it felt like, strange looks were part of his every day life, and he had done far worse things to deserve them than a choice of lunch.

Perhaps they are sensible

[plate_builder]

Caustic was, of course, not the goal. So apparently he can manage it even when he wasn't trying.

"What a complicated question to answer. When I was your age, just weird. These days? Eccentric. I mean, how many men have talking robotic cats, frequently talk to the Fire-Hounds of Cosmo Canyon, and have helped save the world? I think I earned my eccentricity. In Midgar, with Shinra it was more... I was seen as weird because I was soft and so very different from other execs."

Communing with God in a PB&J? Reeve laughs, delighted at the very concept of it.

"Was that really what I looked like? Oh goodness. Maybe I earned some stares back in my day."

Was he playing up the old man thing now that they were only friends? Perhaps. Perhaps indeed. But... His eyes do flicker briefly to the sweet Tony brought over, presumably for Tony's own consumption. No. That is where he draws the line.

"Ice cream. Which I can't trust that the Agrii actually managed right there. It's the facial hair and my love of chocolate sauce. Surely you've had to deal with the issue of it getting into your beard and moustache. And poor country boy me doesn't always remember to go for a napkin. I try and lick it out. Oh the stares. I basically stopped accepting any frozen treats outside of the privacy of my own home. And as I was rarely ever home..."

[in_extremis]

The way Reeve spoke sounded like he was trying to goad Tony into call him 'old man' again, making Tony narrow his eyes suspiciously over his slanted smirk, not sure what that game was. The pet names were still off the table, he was pretty sure. It was almost a distraction from 'Fire-Hounds of Cosmo Canyon', which made Tony's eyebrows jump with surprise, thinking this made Reeve sound like some kind of Star Trek B-story. "So weird," he concluded in a mutter, his smile suggesting that he was really agreeing that Reeve was soft. How easy it was to make Reeve laugh when everyone else generally found Tony annoying did not help the pet name thing, and made Tony relax with an arm along the back of Reeve's chair as he leaned closer to nudge the confection across the table, next to Reeve's lunch.

"That's the kind of stare you're supposed to encourage," Tony said, starting to laugh already at the image of Reeve struggling with chocolate sauce and turning red from the attention. "I'm sure anyone who got to witness it have been missing the performance. But no, you shouldn't trust the Agrii, not ice cream, not chocolate." He gave the base of the glass a tap, and explained, "Trying to make something that feels like coffee. Here's the thing, don't laugh, I know what it looks like, but it's close, I mean, full disclosure, it's got a kick, but it's more like a Monster than a--it's an energy drink, forget about it, the short version is I'm not sure it's worth it yet." Not sacrificing his figure for, anyway, and certainly not sacrificing the chance to watch Reeve struggle with his chocolate-in-public anxiety.

[plate_builder]

One of these days Tony was going to ask about one of the things Reeve floated in front of him as a distraction, and spend hours falling down the hole of differences between their worlds.

“You’re a horrid man for encouraging,” Reeve says as he sets his sandwich aside and pulls the not-sundae over to take the first bite. Yep, the noise he makes is definitely a pleased on, evocative of some noises only Tony knows Reeve makes.

“I’m not going to laugh if you manage to make something like coffee so I don’t have to go through my supply of it too fast.”

[in_extremis]

Tony should have probably taken that bait sooner, because it was definitely safer than encouraging that kind of lascivious noise in public. Obviously, Reeve's reservations should have been taken more seriously, and Tony let out a startled chuckle before trying to bite any further response away around his tongue, then clearing his throat, inching slightly away and nodding, sure, he wouldn't be so dismissive of Reeve's very real concerns in the future. Fist still tight behind Reeve's back, Tony filled the space liberally, "Based on the name, personally speaking, I don't think I'd do much talking to Fire-Hounds, either, whatever Canyon they're from. That's either a kinky arsonists club which, you know what, now that I've said that, might be a bit of fun, whole fire thing aside, but I can't really knock something before I've tried it, maybe that's great, or a bike club, or actual dogs on fire. Every option, squarely eccentric territory, for a suit'n'tie guy."

[plate_builder]

Reeve takes another bite and is soon licking his lips. Don’t mind him, he’s very pleased. Still, he’s got a conversation to be engaged in, and his eyes dance with amusement because Tony is so not ready for this and Reeve knows it.

“Oh, I think you would if you had a chance. There are only two of them left in the world, though I’ve only met one. His name is Nanaki, he’s older than me, and he’s very wise, even if he’s young for his kind. Also, he bluffs rather well, if you’re playing poker with him. Partially because it’s hard to read the reactions of a creature like him. He is also one of the eminent scholars on celestial phenomenon in the world.”

b

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve was just waiting at this point. Bucky was in the hospital wing and unconscious so all he could really do was wait, worry, and wander. After nearly a solid day of the first two, he decided to take a break and go for the third. It ended up being pretty soothing, honestly.

The Green Room was pretty enough. The cafeteria...confusing. And then the engine room. The engine room with all of its sleekness and confusing buttons. As he looked around and navigated around the Agrii, he heard someone yell out for a flashlight. Reeve. Steve looked around and grabbed a power cell that was glowing pretty bright.

"Here," he offered, holding it steady. "This help? Need another?"

[plate_builder]

Glowing very brightly. Brightly enough that Reeve doesn't even bother reaching up for it for a second in the area he's lowered himself into. Or he doesn't for a moment until it needs moved and then he makes an annoyed noise and looks up. He needs to get the light in a better angle. Which is why he looks up. And pauses.

And then looks up and up and up. Ah. Ah. Very, uh...

"Oh my. Uh... Yes. Please."

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve nods and goes to grab another glowing rod before holding both of them into the space so Reeve can see better. He smiles as he does so, glad to be of use to someone instead of just aimlessly wandering from place to place for hours.

Curious, he peers into what Reeve is examining. "Is something broken? I gotta admit, I can't make heads or tails of all this, here. That's always Tony's role."

[plate_builder]

Reeve takes the offerings with a smile. A smile that fades a little at the mention of Tony's name.

"He's not the only tech-specialist," Reeve observes as he takes and tucks one energy rod somewhere away from conductors to give him light. The other goes into a holder on his work belt. "And yes, there are things not operating the best they can thanks to the Graq attack. I am repairing the issues."

[brooklyn_boy]

"I actually think he's in Communications," Steve says before realizing that probably wasn't the point. "But yeah. You're right."

He leans over a little more and gives a low whistle. "It's pretty amazing you can make heads or tails out of all that. I don't even know if the Agrii understand it." He knows the look of confused but awed appreciation. He's seen it in the mirror a lot and now he sees it on them, too.

"Is this gonna make it...fly better?"

[plate_builder]

Yes, he's VERY aware. If only the datapoint made the person that had them actually COMMUNICATE. But Reeve doesn't bother saying that.

"PErhaps it will, perhaps it won't," Reeve muses, looking up at the other man and he smiles just a touch. "I'd offer to have you down here to join me so you can see how I'm improving it, but that would put us in such close quarters."

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve laughs and shrugs one shoulder. "I'll just get in your way, I know it. I just about got the hang of using my phone to check the internet before I got dragged off to be on a spaceship. This whole thing? I'd as soon break it as do something helpful."

Still, he crouches down and smiles back at Reeve. "I can hand you things if you need, though? I'm looking for a distraction so if I can be helpful, I'd love to lend a hand."

[plate_builder]

"But fixing the things you break might be interesting," Reeve mumbles to himself. Man, he looks GOOD. Especially the way his muscles bulge as he crouches. Fuck.

"Well, you sure look distracting, but I am certain I can make use of you if you want."