riverviewlogs | [open] gimme fuel, gimme fire

Entry tags:

[open] gimme fuel, gimme fire

who: Tony Stark and Open
what: Tony and his bots making themselves at home
when: September 4 - 30
where: Tony's workshop, shared housing, and anywhere in between
warnings: None yet

To the surprise of absolutely no one who knew him, once Tony's workshop was even moderately livable he essentially disappeared into it. He could occasionally be found heading back and forth towards where he (technically) slept, but that was mostly to grab something he'd forgotten or on the extremely rare occasions where he decided seeing actual daylight might be a good idea. Or someone else decided it for him, and was quite happy to hold his work hostage until he went along with it.

But being able to actually work, having his own private space to get things done, settled him in a way he couldn't articulate. A slight tension to his shoulders had loosened, something that would have been hard to notice until it was suddenly gone. Tony smiled a little easier, seemed much more pleased with himself with his hands covered in grease and soot.

With Dum-E and JARVIS there, the armor tucked into a corner like a watchful sentinel, it was almost like the best parts of the last few years. Sure the lack of his usual resources made it hard to forget that he wasn't exactly at home, but all said, Tony was about as settled as he was likely to get.

At least while dealing with everything else that got thrown at him, anyway.

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"Normal? Hardly." And as nice as having the armor with him was, it did make it slightly difficult to hold things. He flexed his hand and the gauntlet unfolded itself again to fly back over to the main body of the armor. A little more clumsily, he noted with a wince. Something to work on later.

"But no. Just me, pretty much," he added, throwing a look in Rey's direction as he poured out two cups. One, he set down on the table and scooted it towards Rey, the other he cupped against his chest.

"So that's what your droids look like? Human shaped?"

Rey moved to him, carefully taking the cup of black coffee. The scent of it tickled her nose. The temperature was warm, but not enough to make her place the cup on his table. It wasn't searing hot, thank goodness. She blew on the coffee, hoping to cool it a little before taking a sip. The bitterness on her tongue was what she expected it to taste like.

"Some are human like, others..." well, droid shaped? But she couldn't exactly say that.

"Depending on the model, they're lower to the ground and roll around on wheels or, or roll around. Depending on what you need the droid to do, the size and shape of it will vary. Your armor..." she looked back to it for a moment.

"Resembles more of a protocol droid, able to assist with things around your home like dishes, or clean up."

Tony's face went through a few different expressions at that -- the idea of the armor playing maid was hilarious and bizarre and hard to imagine. Not that he'd never done anything stupider in the armor. But that was him.

"So these droids are pretty common where you come from?" It was an interesting idea. For the technology to be so commonplace that anyone could have a Rosie. Tony wondered, some times, if he shouldn't make his designs more available. Or at least he had. Ultron had put paid to a lot of that real quick.

He shrugged off the thought as he turned towards Rey. Dum-E, as if sensing that he was the topic of discussion, twisted around under Tony's hand to peer at her as well.

"On Jakku? No. They're worth more as scrapped parts," she began to explain, her gaze shifting to the robot. Her expression softened thinking of BB-8, wondering if the little droid was okay and if he would be trying to communicate with the bot.

"On other planets, other places, there are droids. You'll find them in different places--like a base where ships are taking off or landing." Repair ships, check different things, make repairs and the like.

"I take it, he can't talk?" Or make sounds? Was it bad she wanted to ask if he knew binary? No, this wasn't the same as the droid, but now Rey was starting to miss her friends. At least there was this small reminder of what was awaiting her when she could go home--assuming she could.

"How long did it take you to make the armor or him?"

"No voice protocols, no," Tony agreed, even as Dum-E made a strange little whirring sound. "He makes himself understood, though. And listens. When he feels like it." He gave the bot a little nudge, but the fondness in his expression belied any kind of condemnation.

The other question pulled his attention right back to Rey, though. He quirked an eyebrow at her with an almost thoughtful look. "Kind of complicated. Dum-E took a year or so, but in my defense I was seventeen. And I'd had the idea earlier, but it took me a while to be able to get to the point where I could actually build him.

"The armor..." he trailed off, glancing over at it. "The first version was...a month or so? Something like that?" He'd lost track of time pretty quickly. "And then I've redesigned and improved since then. So. A work in progress. Still."

There's a light chuckle from Rey, continuing to watch DUM-E and then take another sip of the cup of caf. The robot had a personality of his own, making him endearing in a way. Even more amusing was haring that the robot sometimes didn't listen.

"Droids have their own personalities too, and like your robot some don't always listen." Finn would greatly attest to that.

Rey listened attentively, hanging on every word of Tony's like he was telling gospel. He was very young then to create DUM-E, regardless of how long it took him, whereas the armor? That was truly impressive. Part of her wanted to ask what he needed to improve upon, but there was always something to improve--whether it be the wiring, the coding of the programming, or even the paint.

"The armor isn't something that I've seen before, more advanced." This coming from the girl who talked about droids like it was an every day thing.

"Not even Stormtooper armor can do what yours did." Having the gauntlet just float over to him, it was almost as though hew as using the Force.

"What, that?" He gestured with one hand, presumably meaning the way the gauntlet had flown to him. "That's just magnets." Well. Decidedly more complicated than that and partially involving magnets embedded into his skin, but that was besides the point. "It's not really something anyone else was working on. So I'm kind of just making it up as I go."

He gave Dum-E one last pat and let the robot scoot away towards whatever else had caught his attention. He was reasonably sure he didn't want to know. "What's a Stormtrooper, incidentally?" She'd compared his armor to it, so it had to be something interesting.

The brunette didn't look satisfied with that answer. There was more to it than simple magnets. Everything in that gauntlet locked into place, creating a tight lock. It became a second skin for Tony.

"Still, it's impressive." Which also begged the question as to why he created it, but she may have been getting a head of herself. It was time for Tony to ask a question that left her looking pensive. How does one describe a Stormtrooper other than just that?

"Soldiers who wear a very distinct armor--white armor, and who reported to the Empire." Best to keep things simple and just mention the Empire and not the First Order. "They use blasters and other weapons to terrorize people."

Okay, that sounded slightly less good. She didn't seem particularly worried about him and his armor, despite the comparison, so that was probably a good thing?

Still, couldn't hurt to make certain. "Well, I don't really do much terrorizing," he said with a shrug, and flicked Rey a slightly searching look. "I'm guessing you're not a fan of this Empire?"

Something that sounded like a ruling body with armored soldiers who terrorize. Yeah, he could put those dots together.

If Tony's armor had been pure white, if the helmet were shaped differently, Rey would've been more guarded. She wouldn't show her excitement or anything of the like. She would've pressed for more information and that would've taken them down the path of fighting...which she wanted to avoid.

"No, I'm not," she begins to say, her eyes looking up at him.

"The Empire wanted to rule the galaxy. They built horrible weapons and slaughtered countless lives." That much she knew. She heard tales of it on Jakku, those who still sympathized in one way or another with the Empire. The damn planet was littered with different Imperial ships, and Resistance ships, proof of a fight that broke out there... It was a bit of an unpleasant subject, perhaps it was time to change the subject.

"So what kind of 'terrorizing' do you do?"

One of Tony's eyebrows arched slightly at the sudden conversational swerve, but okay, message received. It didn't sound like that whole Empire thing was going to be going anywhere good anyway, and he hadn't actually been trying to bring up anything unpleasant.

So he folded his arms over his chest, leaned back against the edge of the worktable and crossed one ankle over the other as a faint smile flashed over his face.

"Mostly bad guys," he said, attempting to look serious about it and pretty much failing entirely. "Maybe the occasional person who annoys me. I'm trying out that whole saving the world thing."

It would've been impossible for Rey to miss the way Tony raised his eyebrow at her. Yes, she knew she was changing the subject. Could she have been a bit more subtle about it? yes, but she shared some things about her world, it was only fair she learned a little bit more about Tony.

It wasn't so much as unpleasant as something that was in the past, and it made her think of the First Order. Which, then reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing now, something she was trying to take her mind off.

"Bad guys?" now it was her turn to look at him questioning. So, he wanted to save the world, which she would take wasn't normal.

"Are you part of a group then? Or, is this something you're doing on your own?" Did he just decide one day to do it? It was none of her business, but she was curious. Is that why he built the robot, and the armor?

"Group. Ish. It's complicated," he said with a shrug that was as offhand as he could make it. He definitely wasn't going to get into the intricacies of the Avengers team now. Barely wanted to even think about it if he didn't have to.

"But we've managed to keep the whole thing from being blown up at least a couple of times, so I'd say we're doing alright." Tony flashed a quick grin her way. Just focus on the good parts.

"Uh-huh..." Okay, she can understand complicated, but it was clear he didn't want to press on with anything else.

"Well..." better get to the actual subject she originally wanted to discuss.

"Where have you been getting the metal or pieces for your lab? I didn't see a junk yard anywhere near here, and everyone I've asked says there isn't one." So was he basically taking different things and making them into his armor? Or was there a shop of sorts?

He gives her a slightly searching look at yet another subject change, though it's not one that Tony exactly minds talking about.

"There are stores. And there's a whole abandoned city you can scavenge out of, if you avoid the monsters and whatever else." He hasn't exactly started sourcing for any really big projects yet, but he's sure he'll be able to work it out when it comes to it.

Rey gives Tony a look of her own, silently asking why he was looking at her in that fashion. What? She couldn’t ask him different questions? Or, was she impeding in his time?

“There are?” Stores that sell types of parts? Interesting...something she would have to visit. Assuming she has money for such things. She was planning on figuring a way off this rock, but if not she’d have to find a job. Well, one step at a time... The whole ‘monster’ thing didn’t concern her as much as finding the right parts.

“I was a scavenger. I’m used to looking for parts. I’m hoping I might find something resembling a ship or parts of one. “ to build something and be able to find a way back home.

That gets a slightly more knowing expression, even as Tony shakes his head. "Doubtful. If anyone had managed to find a way to make a ship, we probably wouldn't still be stuck here. Besides, we don't even know what universe we're in. All the flying in the world won't help if your home isn't actually there"

Okay, maybe that's a little blunt. But Rey seems to want information more than she wants coddling, and that's something Tony can work with.

"But like I said, I'd look out there. There's a lot of weird stuff and I don't think anyone's really cataloged it all yet."

Bluntness is something Rey can work with. It's condescending attitudes that are more of a pain in the ass than anything. But, ti was a bit disheartening that no one had found a way to make a ship, not yet anyway. Maybe she could be the first one? Assuming, she could find the right parts, and a decent engine and fuel.... Her mind was running away from her, and she had to bring it back to the present.

"I would assume there would be at least a star map of this universe, or any map at all." Something to work with, something to pin point a direction or anything. Or maybe she was hoping for too much. At least she learned of the Abandoned City and to check things out there.

"Thank you for the advice...and for letting me see your dro--robot." Maybe it was best she take her leave now rather than over stay her welcome.

He wasn't completely sure about that assumption -- his universe sure as hell didn't have one, no telling if this one did. But he'd probably deflated the poor girl's hopes enough for one afternoon, so he could let that lie. She'd find whatever it was she needed or she wouldn't.

"Sure," he said with an easy shrug. "He needs to be socialized every so often. And if you decide you need a hand with things, let me know."

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[open] gimme fuel, gimme fire

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