impact

[in_extremis]

WHO: Anyone in the area!
WHERE: From the Forge to the Hangar, so clear across the whole right side of the map if you're nasty
WHAT: A race, an abrupt end, and the inevitable consequences
WHEN: Once the glitter has settled, mid-Feb
WARNINGS: Some people will probably get hurt, but I have no metric for how gory they're going to be about it. I'll let you know if it happens.
NOTES: I'll put some toplevels just to organize the sequence of events, but if they're in a weird order to you or you want a different one to do your thing and need me to reorganize, let me know. If you just want to put another one, feel free.
For any further plotting discussion of anything going on here, hit up the plotting post.


While the air was no longer swirling with it, the effect of the glitter gathered like a blanket on the ground was like that of freshly packed snow after a storm. It left Tony squinting in the glare of it with the sun revealed clearly in a cloudless sky, only to bounce viciously off of every coated surface. Even through his sunglasses and hand raised to shade his eyes as he peered down the corridor from the grassy edge of the forge toward where he knew the hangar was, Tony could only consider the path for so long before squeezing his eyes shut against the competing oases that the light threw up. It was going to feel a bit like skiing, he thought.

Returning to the site where his pit crew had been gathering throughout the development of the vehicle, he reported, "It's worth a try." The path up to the hangar was almost entirely a wide, straight road, the longest clear area they had to test the power of the speeder. As Tony mounted it experimentally to kick the power on, it flung a new rain of glitter in all directions, leaving anyone gathered doused once more and Tony snickering from the hovering vehicle. "I don't think there's going to be any problems."

It was a heavy, growling thing under the sleek body that Tony had found time to detail with pink and red glittering stars, inspired by the strange storm. Unlike the Iron Man's whispering repulsor power, the speeder purred even at rest, gnawing through the experimental fuel and whining faintly at the effort of holding itself up and in place, like it was straining against a bit. It felt more like a motorcycle that Tony would be familiar with, likely, than the speeder that Poe was expecting, or the sparrow that Cayde had tried to explain, and without having to rely on the repulsors, it could manage far more weight for longer periods than this model of Iron Man. A heavy Exo could easily take a passenger, or a haul of dinnerware, to start cutting down on the travel time around here.

Or Tommy could be given yet another thing to gloat about.

Comments

[plate_builder]

"I'll find someone who can let me onto this ship to make sure you haven't wandered," Reeve threatens as he goes to a knee in front of the other man. "You're lucky I don't have a sleep spell, or a stop."

He knocks the uninjured foot away, instead letting his own hand come to work the boot first loose, and then gently off. He immediately started to tut gently over what he found.

"Well, just a visual inspection says it's not broken. Do you mind if I test it?"

After the life he had lived, learning basic first aid was important. Even in a world with magic, you had to make sure the body was properly prepared for healing before you actually went and did it. Which often meant splinting joints before spells if you weren't in the rush of a battle.

[happybeeps]

"You can try." Though for all his teasing, Poe probably won't try to get too far.

He props himself up on his elbows, head stretched out in the bunk, head craned so he can watch, and his lips quirks pointedly. "Told you," he mutters with a smirk, but nods, "Go ahead."

[plate_builder]

"I'm stubborn enough to succeed," Reeve counters lightly as his fingers settle softly to pulling off the sock. Soon cold fingers are probing at the ankle, twisting it too.

"I'm sorry, I normally am not this much of a pain to someone until at least the third meeting where they're turning in work late."

[happybeeps]

"So am I," Poe returns, but the effect is lessened by the shiver that follows with those cold fingers. The probing and twisting earns the odd wince, and Poe bites at his lip to keep quiet after a particular turn makes his leg jerk.

"I tend to bring that out in people, I don't mind."

[plate_builder]

"You seem the type," Reeve agrees. Once he's certain there isn't a break, he takes the bandage and start to unwind it.

"Well, you don't have a report that you owe me, so I think we'll be fine," Reeve assures the other man. But he doesn't move from his place, now sitting on the floor, to carefully wrap. "If you need help while you're recovering, tell me. I'll bill Stark."

[happybeeps]

He chuckles, shifting to make it easier for Reeve, "You going to bring me a little bell?" he asks, arching an eyebrow with an intrigued look.

"Eh, split it between the three of them. And BB's parts too, look at him." Poe sighs, giving the droid a pat. "Flown how many fire fights, and this is how he gets banged up."

[plate_builder]

Reeve can't help the way he responds. It's just a knee jerk.

"I don't know that there's a collar that would fit you," Reeve countered without thinking. Oops.

"I'll do it, and insist that Stark make the parts personally," he answered moving through the wrapping process with careful speed.

"He deserved better."

[happybeeps]

Poe lifts his thumb to try and hide the surprised smile that slip brings, though it can't shield the way his brows jump. By the time he pulls his hand away again he's worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. "I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to find one."

His head tilted then, fixing Reeve with a look.

"Are you saying that as a fellow engineer, or this because of some...history?" Poe prompts. Stark built the thing, yes, but it could have been any of them that caused the crash.

[plate_builder]

Listen, belling a cat is a thing, geez. But there it is, the response, That means he's been caught in a horrible statement. Reeve just groans. How could he mess that up? At least the guy is amused.

"BB-8 didn't deserve hurt because of Stark being a fool," Reeve answered. But there might be history. And Stark wasn't considerate of others.

"That wasn't the sort of engineer I was."

[happybeeps]

It is, but Reeve's definitely given himself away with that groan, Poe's grin spreading wider. And hey, Poe's outed himself with his recognition of all these things.

"He did keep me from being flattened by the wreck," Poe notes.

[plate_builder]

Perhaps he'll stop feeling bad about it later For now, he's trying to pretend he hadn't done that.

"He was also the one that created the whole wreck situation," Reeve counters.

[happybeeps]

"I'm one of the people that asked for a speeder." Poe's head tilts curiously, "Tony and I have had our words, but I'm curious, why don't you blame Cayde for any of it? Or the Kid?"

[plate_builder]

Really? Reeve stares up at Poe and then, just because he feels everyone involved deserved their punishment, he pinched Poe's thigh.

"So the small group of you decided to put others at risk. If he wanted to play his games, if any of you did, you should have done so elsewhere."

As for Cayde, he had been punished with his own actions. The kid? Well, Reeve could do nothing about the little speed demon that hated him.

"One can only blame those they were aware of the responsibility of."

[happybeeps]

"Nnn- ahh-" Poe hisses and flinches away with a pout.

"Hey- outside of some much needed fun- they could have been useful," Poe argues, rubbing at his thigh.

[plate_builder]

"And he could have tested it in a path that doesn't put the ships at risk," Reeve countered, because yes, he will have this fight with anyone who will argue with him.

"I've been working for a while to get them repaired after the crash. Nor am I the only one. And in addition to putting people's bodies at risk, he risked things we can't easily repair. There are other places one could have taken it. Like the beach."

So there.

[happybeeps]

"To be fair, I don't think they were trying to race in the hangar." Poe had heard them a ways off, though he couldn't place the source at first. But point taken.

[plate_builder]

Reeve rolled his eyes. No, he wouldn't be surprised if the finish line had been in the hangar. This was Tony Stark, a man who could be highly inconsiderate.

"There," he said instead, anchoring the bandage around Poe's ankle. "That should help."

[happybeeps]

Flexing his foot, the bandage stayed in place, and Poe fixed Reeve with a grateful look. "You should be doing double time in the hospital," he complimented, "So when do I get my little bell to summon you?"

[plate_builder]

"I wanted to take the medical point," Reeve answered. That had been his intention, especially when one of his friends here had been ill. But... Well, he'd been convinced to do something else entirely, even though he hadn't wanted it.

He rose and offered a smile.

"Are you suggesting that you don't know how to work the communication device? A man with experience with technology such as you have? What a shame."

[happybeeps]

"Still could," Poe offered with a shrug.

He laughed, and tsked. "Well that's not nearly as fun. Are you really just going to leave? All business? No pillow talk?"

[plate_builder]

No, at this point engineering is what Reeve does. Which he would have pointed out had Poe not said that.

"There aren't any heads on pillows," he pointed out.

[happybeeps]

Poe glanced back at his pillow in consideration, before pointedly laying back down fully, getting comfortable.

[plate_builder]

See that? That was the sort of thing that was enough to set Reeve chuckling, a low rich thing that overtook him and definitely melted away some of the stress before he moved to lean back against a wall.

"You're one of those people, then."

[happybeeps]

"Those people?" he echoed, smirking and arching a brow. He liked the sound of that laugh, smiling easily and rolling carefully onto his side so he can keep a better eye on Reeve.

[plate_builder]

"Full of charm and sass," Reeve answered, shaking his head. "The sort of man that women say 'my mother warned me about men like you' about."

Reeve's mother hadn't known to warn him about men like Poe, or Tony, or more an a few others.