revivalproject | carriage

Entry tags:

carriage

WHO: Tony and open!
WHERE: Around Temba (hangar, fountain, ???)
WHAT: Doing some personal cleanup since the storm, and running into a floral distraction
WHEN: End of November/beginning of December
WARNINGS: It's a Tony post, we all should have expected it would get horny. It did.

a.The city had felt imposingly massive since the storm. Then, it was because of its depths and shadows, harbouring fears that only gave way to complex secrets as the clouds cleared, but today it was purely a problem of traversal. The hangar, looking slightly battered from the weather itself but not nearly as poorly treated as the ships finally returned inside, most of them still caked with mud and brought limping to roost, was approximately eight lightyears from the forge.

At least it was a fairly straight shot, but Tony felt half crazy by the time he came shuffling into the echoing space, the wheels of his cart dragged through the cracked roads rattling with a cohort of pebbles caught in their works, and abandoned the thing which felt like it had grown steadily heavier on this trek with a drop of his good arm and heave of a sigh. Gathering his energy again, he straightened to hug is arm cradled under the other, still wrapped and immobile against his chest, leaving his sleeve hanging empty, and headed for the Bloodsport to collect what remained of his onboard from their journey. There were tools there that had been sorely missed at the forge, and a variety of acquisitions from the Agrii cargo bay under Sundance's guidance, and a silky quilt that had Tony sitting in the doorway of the ship with it pulled up over his head, eyes closed and legs kicking idly, looking bruised and exhausted and trying not to look at the cart for just a minute while he meditated on his next move and definitely wasn't just stalling.

b. Most of the D.A.T.A. points had gone dark some time during their venture out to space, or, more likely, the storm that had seeped into all of their works. With the forge back to working order, it was time for Tony to address this problem, which it turned out he had made a rather large one for himself. The closest camera was installed near the fountain, though, and might have been the most important, to alert Tony to any new arrivals, so that would have to be his first stop to see what damage was done. They were all going to have to be upgraded; Tony wasn't going to be able to spread himself across the city to repair every one of them every time one of those storms hit. With his cartload of tools from the hangar, he would have to investigate the generator, surely flooded from the rain, and likely dismantle the watchful orb to find out what exactly had been burnt out in the overload from the storm's energy.

c. It definitely wasn't only the storm that had changed the charge of the city, though. As the skies cleared, it became obvious that the air had grown colder and crisper, and in the days that followed, the chill seemed to settle and harden the ground. Tony would have said it felt like autumn, but the alien plants didn't quite change the way they would have on Earth, growing brittle in the cold but without the warm oranges and yellows of a fall in New York. Instead, new plantlife seemed to have sprung up for him to notice on his long haul with his cart, giving him the good excuse to abandon it occasionally to crouch carefully at the side of the road, stiff in his bandages, and pluck up the young, frosty cyan buds that had started growing there. A few had flowered already, their petals petite but vibrantly blue, and smelling sharply spicy like cloves. He kept stopping to collect another, telling himself to deliver them to someone like Tommy to confirm that the smell didn't mean they were poisonous, maybe they were edible, and maybe this new growth meant that feeling that creep of ice on the air wasn't as much to worry about as Tony was starting to think. A winter couldn't be too harsh if these flowers were flourishing here.

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There was already a generous bouquet of the wintry flowers piled in the cart Tony hauled, but this one was almost white, with ice-coloured buds dotting all the way down its slim stem. They were plucked easily, but Tony was slow to crouch and slower still to draw himself back up again, so by the time he was standing with the flower hanging limply from his one hand, the woman was very close and very...tall. He had to clear his throat before he nodded down to the patch he had been foraging in, clearly as enchanted by them, and approached to offer his latest acquisition and greet with a disarming smile, "They must have come out for you."

Lauri-Ell, while aware of human courtship rituals, was not yet proficient at the language of flirtation. That, mixed with the fact that this was an unknown alien planet meant she took the comment at face value as she accepted the flower Tony offered with a smile.

“Thank you, Mister Stark. I was not aware this world had flora that was reactive to others. Is it a reaction perhaps to body heat?”

This literal acceptance of his declaration, unclear if it was genuine or her way of tempering his approach, combined with casually knowing his name almost had Tony speechless again, eyebrows shooting up but with a well worn, "Tony, please," to fall into. It couldn't be that she was reading his mind (though, body heat might have made for a well evidenced hypothesis in that case), so the most reasonable conclusion Tony came to was, "You're from Earth."

After being continuously frustrated by not being able to fall back on his public persona here, Tony suddenly found he felt rather exposed by it now that he might have been confronted by it again, and hugged under his arm protectively. It had been kind of nice, he realized, navigating who he was without it.

“Oh, yes, Tony,” she agrees, still smiling. He gave her a flower. She will happily call him what he wishes.

“Of course I am not from Earth. Few Kree are. Dorrek, of course. And my sister.”

Kree made sense, Tony could see that; having a sister from a different planet, slightly more outlandish. He looked clearly thrown by this, but didn't immediately pursue it, explaining, "No, sure, of course not, I meant--you know who I am. So." That most likely meant Earth, but he wasn't about to argue about how far flung his reputation was. "That's new for around here. You're new around here. Has anyone shown you around yet? There's a place to eat, not far, just down the road there, and if you like flowers there's...a whole greenhouse, there's probably more in there, I don't know, we'd be experiencing something new together. It would be my pleasure."

Of course Kree made sense, what else could she be?

"You are Tony Stark, yes? You look like him. I met him at the wedding of the Emperor and his Prince-Consort," she asks. If she is wrong, she supposes it makes sense. He could be a Skrull. Or other things like that.

"I have not been shown around much. I have seen the ships, and the bar. And I have found a place to live."

Food she's handled from the ship, so she had not been moved to seek out other food.

"I would be pleased to be made more aware of the layout of the city. Thank you."

"Got it in one," Tony confirmed, but twirled a finger, twisting his mouth to the side, because it wasn't exactly that simple, either. It sounded like other hims were getting plenty of wedding invitations, and actually going, which was very generous of them. "We'll talk it over," he promised. "But we haven't met. At least, I haven't met you. Yet. Which is criminal, I know. Come on, we're going this way." He indicated with a tilt of his head as he gathered his cart again to start wheeling it toward the fountain to help the Kree orient herself in the city.

"I was not formally introduced to him either. So I suppose 'met' is an inaccuracy. He mostly kept to himself, or in the company of Captain America and a man called Thor."

She did not know of Asgardians very much, but of them, even she knew of Thor. However that was beyond the point. The point at this moment was to provide assistance to Tony. She moved to the cart with him and cleared her throat.

"Please, allow me to help. I can pull the cart if you will guide me. You can even ride."

His weight would be a negligible addition to her.

"I do not believe there are any laws against you having not met a Kree Accuser."

"That sounds like the right guy..." Tony started to say, but found he had to wave off the offer to pull the cart, then experience a brief malfunction at her very straight faced suggestion to hop in. Either she had no sense of humour at all, or one Tony was having a very difficult time reading, but either one had him touching a delicate hand to his chest to defend, "I got it, I can...walk." She would have to body him out of the way to take charge of the thing now, which Tony, admittedly, did not want to haul around, but now it was a matter of principle.

The other Kree Tony knew had trouble reading him, too, so he wasn't entirely surprised that he had to explain as they went, "It was a joke, don't worry about it. You don't, uh, look like an Accuser. Is that rude? They're usually, you know, doing a lot. I see the big hammer, don't get me wrong, it's a powerful message, loud and clear. Do you not have a name?"

Yes, he can walk. But that does not mean she should not provide assistance. But with his assurance she nods and walks with him, though clearly the slow pace meant to match his stride is less than comfortable for her.

"I assure you, I am an Accuser, though it is not rude to observe that I am not in the garments of my office. I do not find them... suitable to my presence here. They are very martial, and this is not the image I wish to project."

They are not in Alliance territory here. She has no jurisdiction here.

"I am Lauri-Ell."

It wasn't exactly comfortable for Tony, either, but eventually his shoulder would heal, and pride, in his experience, was a one time use kind of product. They made their slow way through decaying streets toward the fountain and the welcoming datapoint. "And what image are you trying to project, Lauri-Ell? I didn't realize an Accuser had options, or that there was an obvious strategy to this place," Tony said, glancing up at the sky as though he may have missed some piece of the puzzle that would have made clear how he should have been behaving in this situation.

Of course an Accuser has options. Look at her. She's all calm looking, except for the Universal Weapon. But she had that because, well, she had been told there were dangerous things here by Cayde.

"I do not believe there is an obvious strategy, but there have been those that have expressed concern that the main hand of justice of an alien race might try to force their ideals and laws upon this place. I do not believe that Emper-"

No, he told her not to address him as such.

"I do not believe that Teddy would wish such things of me or of this place. So I am attempting to be... less threatening in appearance."

As Tony interpreted that, he wasn't all that surprised that it was Teddy she had connected to first, they must have had plenty to talk about, but was slightly surprised that he had any political opinions about the fledgling society of Temba and whether or not anyone's ideals had a place here. "I mean, we're all just making it up as we go here, but I guess that's, uh, idealistic of him," Tony allowed as he shoved his cart up against the wall of the Agricultural building. So far, the general ideals and laws of this place had led to minimal theft of his stuff, but he still considered briefly, then tugged the blanket over the collection he had gathered before welcoming Lauri-Ell through the doors of the building. "I think this is where some of the others have been growing most of the food used in town. It's not really my area," he explained as he peered up and around as they stepped inside. "If you're into plants, or whatever, they could probably use the help. Big job."

"It's not idealistic. We are not an Alliance territory. Therefore our laws should not apply," Lauri-Ell points out. "And there are only three Alliance citizens here, in myself, Teddy, and William."

So she can't even argue that her laws would apply to others here.

If only it were that simple. But she liked to think so. With the movement toward the greenhouse she smiled, especially when they came through the doors. She can smell the life.

"I am not certain I am qualified to grow things. I am engineered to be a soldier."

'William' took Tony a second, and he had to clarify, "Billy?," because the context really wasn't clear. "Not to burst your bubble or anything, and maybe they told you this to make you feel more comfortable, I get it, this place is weird and everyone's far from home, but those kids are from Earth. Terran. Earth is very much not part of the Empire, never will be, lady." It was sweet that Lauri-Ell seemed to want to respect whatever ownership there was over this planet, unlike whatever it was they were up against here, but Tony did not appreciate the implication that his Earth would ever give up in the tug of war the Kree and Skrulls insisted they were part of.

Yes, Billy. While she could accept orders from her Emperor to call him Teddy, she could not accept calling Prince-Consort William by such a name. Still, she looks amused at Tony's insistence.

"I assure you, Mister Stark, I am quite aware of the status of the citizenship of the Emperor and his Prince-Consort, the Court Wizard. I attended their wedding personally."

One of their weddings.

Before Lauri-Ell had fully finished saying it, Tony was correcting over her again, "Tony, please," but his frown was definitely more for most of the other words she was trying to offer him. Frown, and then a snicker that he quickly tried to cover with a respectfully thoughtful scratch at his beard, because 'Court Wizard' sounded like something he would call Billy when he was irritated with the kid, and 'Prince-Consort' when Billy was being actively annoying.

"The wedding I was at," he said. He was piecing it together now. The dimension Lauri-Ell was from had more crossover with Tony's than someone like Jon, but still was shaping up to be pretty wild. "Teddy, the Kree Emperor. Cool. Yeah. He's not really that...here, so--so do your own thing, you know, but so far it doesn't sound like you're doing too bad. A lot of people here, they've been in the shit, they know how to throw a punch, but the energy is more like..." He looked up again at the plants, opening his hand to the humid air and smiled, "More like this, where we can make it. So, if you're looking for a career change, this might be the place."

Oh, Billy seemed to like the title.

"Emperor Dorrek is always my emperor, whether here or elsewhere. My duty is to protect him and the throne and the Alliance."

She really doesn't know how to take this 'but we aren't that here'. Because she believes in the Great Uniter. The son of Mar-Vell.

"I do not seek to change my career. I was trusted with my duty by the Emperor and by my sister Carol."

"Mea culpa. I thought with the, not suitable, and the--laws don't apply thing, you know--I mean, that's great, I'm sure he appreciates that," Tony tried to put together, hand twisting and not actually completely convinced Teddy wanted this lady following him around in the name of the Empire. Or 'Alliance', whatever that meant. Maybe Tony could ask Billy about it. Now, though, Tony didn't really know what else they could be doing here and slowly drew his lip between his teeth as he considered the nearest flowering vine. "So, uh, right, the greenhouse. Those flowers outside, I hadn't seen them before, I think they're seasonal and it's been getting cold, but maybe there's more like them in here."

An interesting way to react, and Lauri-Ell looks down at Tony with an intrigued tilt of her head. How strange. He does not seem comfortable around her. Well, she can live with that. Few people are comfortable around Kree soldiers.

"Wait, if you had not seen them before, you are not certain if their blooming has to do with body heat?"

Confusion, go!

"I--what?" It has been just long enough since the first weird time Lauri-Ell had suggested that, that Tony was having trouble connecting those dots with her, and the connection had been tenuous in the first place. "I mean, I guess that's--that's a possibility. I'm not a botanist. Do plants do that? That doesn't seem productive." Curiously and cautiously, he reached toward another flower he was pretty sure he had never seen around town before, tucked into a mulchy row, petite and honey-yellow, expecting it to perhaps react to the proximity of his finger. Nothing happened, except Tony was poking an inert flower and frowning at it.

"I do not know. It was what you implied, was it not?"

She's still holding the flower in hand, and does seem very pleased. But with his poking she squats down to inspect the new one. So pretty.

"I like this shade. It is very becoming. Makes me think of Earth flowers."

Very quietly, Tony went, "Did I?," but entirely unable to recount what might have actually come out of his mouth within any period of time and what might have just been a very loud thought. Less to himself, he continued, "I didn't realize we had particularly remarkable flowers on Earth," mostly because the flora of other planets was always so massively alien to Tony that a delicate bloom like that couldn't really compare. He gladly plucked it up out of the garden for Lauri-Ell, finding its root long and rigid and close to the surface a few inches along the mulch, bringing up a few more of the flowers that Tony hadn't realized were so intimately connected like a mushroom. "They're a good match," he observed with the yellow held up next to the pale blue she carried. "Maybe there's more."

"There are not many flowers on the planets I have been stationed on," Lauri-Ell admits.

The flower is pulled up and she can't help but make a very pained noise at what he's done. The poor plant, the whole complex of them, hurt for her.

"Thank you for believing so. May I replant them? I can take one bloom, but the rest should not suffer for it."

What was this? A Kree with such delicate care for life? And truly she cherished the little things. Plants like these, they knew no violence. They just... were.

"I feared I could never look at such things again in my life without pain after the Cotati. It is nice to know I can."

The noise Lauri-Ell made was so unexpected that Tony wasn't even sure it was the right move when he tried, "Sorry?," outside of feeling guilty in general. "I mean...yes, you may," he replied, still sounding a lot like a question and not feeling like that was the sort of thing that needed his permission, nor that her reasoning was particularly sound. Mar-Vell had been incredibly sensitive as well, but Tony was pretty sure he understood that flowers didn't really mind being stepped on. "You know they're not actually suffering, right, sweetheart?," he had to make sure, because it was possible that Lauri-Ell's lack of flower experience had led to some bugs in the code. "They're just plants. If they had brains, we'd probably call them animals."

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