Network | Video

[plate_builder]

[From the first moment the video is on, it's clear Reeve hasn't had NEARLY enough sleep. But isn't that just his way? Still, he looks positively exhausted today, and the video includes Mini-C pushing a cup of something steaming to Reeve's hand. The man doesn't even seem to notice as he lifts it and takes a hearty sip before starting.]

Good afternoon all. I would like to let everyone know that through the diligent work of several individuals here, power has been restored to a larger portion of the city. Please extend your thanks to Tony, Echo, and Cal for all their hard work.

[Reeve himself does not wish thanks. He just wishes to keep working.]

There have been some issues, of course. There are, as always, issues with breaks in the power supply network. Therefore we ask for your help and feedback. If there are buildings you are finding have issues with power supply, please advise me, or drop a physical message at the Restoration Committee building, just south east of the fountain. There are likely areas we still need to work on power lines to, and it will take time for us to survey to figure out where they are.

Also, I would like to offer myself as assistance to anyone whose ship currently lacks an engineer. I've been trying to do what I can for the damage in our crash landing, however I've only been able to deal with external issues on the ships I cannot access.

[Another long sip of his water.]

Of course, with water and power in a better place now than it was when we arrived, my question becomes what projects of comfort we might turn to here in Temba. Yes, I know our greater goal of returning home, but I find myself in need of projects.

Comments

[plate_builder]

Sleep and I are rarely friends, Tony.

[in_extremis]

You should try putting yourself out there. You're much more charming than you give yourself credit for.

[plate_builder]

Tony, I am perfectly aware of how charming I can be. However, there is work to be done, and nothing to dally over.

[in_extremis]

You're dallying right now.

[plate_builder]

[Reeve laughs.]

Thanks, Tifa. And I'll have you know I have coffee. I'm not going to sleep when I have a cup.

[in_extremis]

I don't know how I'm supposed to take 'Tifa', but I'll assume it's a compliment.

[Why do these guys keep calling him other people's names?]

So, you put on a pot not because you had something going on, but in case you could scrounge something up. I'm still wondering what the actual problem is.

[plate_builder]

She's a mother hen.

[Tony, if people are callig you by other people's names, that's concerning.]

I'm not sleeping well, Tony. The coffee helps.

[in_extremis]

[That does not help Tony decide how he feels, but]

Hey.

We both know it doesn't, but okay, if you don't care, I don't care.

Have you been having nightmares?

[Look how much he doesn't care.]

[plate_builder]

[Reeve sighs and looks away from the screen. Dammit, Tony, he'd been dodging it]

Yes.

[in_extremis]

[Tony is smarter than he looks. And that's pretty smart.

He's also pretty sure Jon can give people nightmares, so this has to be a careful inquiry.]

What else is new?

[Nailed it.]

Mini can chaperone, if you need someone to cuddle. If that's your thing. I can even do all of the talking, if you don't want to talk about it. I'm willing to make that sacrifice. There's some new shit in the place every day, you know, that's a lot for the processors to get through, if you're sleeping easy you're not paying attention.

[plate_builder]

[Oh Tony, Mini can't chaperone, because Jon won't trust that. It could cause him even more trouble.]

Mini is a rather talented cuddler in his own right, you know. He is very cuddly and warm. Alas, I do not find that company often drives away these particular memories. Memories of Midgar. Of the end of things.

[in_extremis]

Yeah? Where did he learn that from?

[Okay, it's fine, he gets it, he'll stop.]

It didn't end, though, so... [He also knows this is a bad argument.]

You know, I only dream about the end of the world when it hasn't happened yet. Do you get that one? It's not premonitions or anything like that, I'm not crazy, I just

[Get to the point.]

When I know how to fix it, I don't dream about it so much.

[plate_builder]

He'll a doll, Tony. Some of his personality is shaped by the form I use the magic on. So he's always going to be good at cuddling.

[Interesting dreams. Reeve is silent for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer him.]

I dream with an eye to the past, not to the future, sadly. It is not so easily dealt with.

[in_extremis]

[Yeah, Tony didn't think it was going to be that easy.]

Did these ones start before you came here?

[plate_builder]

[Nothing is ever easy, Tony. That's the sad truth.]

They occur, on and off, through the years. Have for a few years now. I suspect it is something akin to PSTD.

[in_extremis]

I might have heard of it.

I've told you about the Mansion right? With the Avengers?

[plate_builder]

[Mansion guy? Reeve has to pause and consider.]

I don't quite remember. Was there something relevant?

[in_extremis]

No, I just didn't want to talk about your thing anymore.

Yes, it's relevant, just give me a second, geez.

[It's not like Reeve has to wait that long for Tony to type.]

We all lived there. It was my house, I mean, and I invited the Avengers to use it, for the team stuff obviously, but also to crash there whenever they didn't have a place of their own. That wasn't really that often, most of them weren't there long, off and on, rarely all at the same time.

Most of them

All of them have seen the world end, too.

So, the relevant part, I guess, I'm trying to tell you, I know how cold the kitchen can feel in the middle of the night, when the house is empty.

But when one or two of them were around, it was a lot warmer, even if we were all there for the same reason.

[plate_builder]

[Didn't want to talk about his thing anymore? Well, he supposed he could understand. But then Tony finishes with his message and Reeve's heart aches.]

Want a cup of coffee?

[in_extremis]

Only very badly.

[plate_builder]

Come on over. I'll make another cup. Because kitchen floors are cold.

[in_extremis]

Okay, but you better put it on now, I'm not that far and I'm used to a certain standard of service.

[plate_builder]

I'm not here to service you.

[Which sounds horrible. Reeve is too flustered, and drops his phone as he goes to start hot water.]

--> I assume this is what you wanted

[in_extremis]

That didn't read flustered as much as irritated to Tony, giving him pause before he sent into what turned out to be an unforgiving void:

I didn't mean it like that.

I'm sorry.

I can get someone else to go over. I don't have to tell them why.

Reeve?

So he found himself pacing restlessly outside of the Restoration office, revising the messages that hadn't warranted a response and chiding himself for so many 'I' statements in what sounded a lot like Pepper's voice. He hadn't even managed to come up with a less self-centred apology by the time he was knocking on the door, then letting himself in without waiting for an answer, brow furrowed in focus until he was blurting what tended to work best in lieu of greeting, "You're right." It wasn't like he could just leave this scale outside the door and hope Reeve found it, but that left him staring at the metal as though that was what he was talking to and realizing he could have just taken it back to the forge.

[plate_builder]

Reeve had no idea that Tony was going to take so long. And he had been so expecting jokes that grilled him for the easily taken for sexual comment he had given, so he hadn't bothered to look. Instead he'd made coffee. And waited. At last when Tony knocked he rose to his feet, quick to go and open the door, only needing to dodge aside before it hit him.

The words left him staring.

"Uh. I am? About what?"