milliways_bar | (no subject)

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It's a quiet day in Central City. No dead bodies have dropped to call Barry into his day job, and a quick zip around the city yields only a mugger and one jaywalker who would've been pancaked by a garbage truck if 'The Streak' hadn't been there to rush him to the safety of the sidewalk.

(Seriously, he needs a better superhero name.)

With things so chill at home Barry is glad when he finds Milliways in his apartment. He was looking for something to eat, but the fridge and cupboards in his place are bare.

Obviously it's time for him to join Costco or something, but in the meantime...

"Hey, Bar," he greets the counter, sliding onto a stool wearing blue jeans and a sweatshirt. "Can I get a-- "

A platter appears with deli meats and cheeses all cut down to fit on the accompanying Ritz crackers. It's the type of tray usually made to feed small armies of party guests.

"--snack."

Barry grins and while he starts assembling cracker sandwiches, Bar produces a chocolate milkshake; which earns a wary glance from Barry, but he soon discovers this one isn't a protein ruse.

[ooc: Here all day, and this will be open through the weekend.]

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Baze chuckles, picking up a slice of cheddar cheese to try. He nibbles on it, and finds it delightful. "You can go on tangents. We don't mind. Millions of animal species? That's impressive. What's a crossing signal?"

Chirrut's stare is always a little blank, but that has nothing to do with Barry.

"You should hear this bantha when he starts in about his cannon." Chirrut agrees, long-suffering. "What is a crow?"

Barry smiles, encouraged by the two.

"Oh yeah, in the rain forests alone they're discovering hundreds of new species every year. And then there's the oceans which are almost less explored than space really. They're so vast and they could have countless creatures living down there."

Taking a break from babbling to have a drink of his milkshake, he tilts his head at their questions and tries to decide how best to explain.

"A crow is a bird, and they're pretty intelligent. Crossing signals are indicators for ground traffic. When cars and motor vehicles drive around through the city the traffic lights control the flow, telling which lanes to go and which to stop. Most intersections have crosswalks for pedestrians and the signal tells people when it's safe to cross."

His straw hits the bottom of the glass and sputters in the last bit of ice cream. By the time he's set down the finished milkshake a new one has appeared, which he takes up with a smile and thanks.

"There are even audio cues to help people who can't see the signals know when it's safe to walk across. Anyways, I'm not sure which the crows have cued in on, but what they do is, when they have a nut or something they can't crack open themselves, they wait for the lights. When it's safe, they fly down and put the nut in the road, let a car run it over, then go back and retrieve it when the light changes again."

Baze grins. Barry's explanations are so thorough!

Baze selects one of the turkey circles, examines it, and stuffs the meat into his mouth. He hasn't gotten around to assembling a cheese and meat tower, but he'll get there. "Right, because cars have wheels, and that flattens the nuts. I keep having to remind myself of that. There were no oceans on Jedha. What's a rain forest?"

Edited 2017-05-01 21:15 (UTC)

"So many people on your world, and so much space left to explore?" Chirrut asks, curiously. "If there is so much open area, why are your people so concentrated?" On Jedha it was for pure survival - you stayed where the water and the resources were. This Earth planet seems much less... severe, on the whole.

"Oh yeah, we don't have many flying vehicles beyond like planes and jets, but we're working on it," he says with a nod. "You really didn't have any oceans? So was it just lakes, and rivers?"

The questions are posed to either one, while he answers both of theirs. "Rainforests are jungles. They're um, forests that receive huge amounts of rain annually, so there's a lot of dense vegetation and trees, which makes habitat for countless species. The humidity is super high and they basically maintain the same climate all year round."

Chirrut's questions are a little trickier. Barry rubs the back of his neck, thinking about it and an answer.

"Well, part of it is population. There's like, seven Billion people on our planet. Humans are basically spread out all over the land masses, but concentrations happen in cities because of resources, jobs and opportunities, and other factors like that. We can't really live in or on the oceans, though, and those cover like seventy-percent of the Earth."

He's very animated when he speaks, gesturing with his hands and hoping he's providing enough detail for Chirrut.

"As for exploration, we kind of run into the same problem exploring the oceans as we do with venturing into space. The oceans are so vast, and so deep that they require special equipment and ships to navigate them, and we're still working up to the technology that'll allow us to do it. The pressures and environments just aren't something we've been equipped to deal with until the last maybe century or so, and only in the last few decades have we really been able to get down there and look around without, um, imploding."

Barry's explanation brings up more questions. But that's good! Keeps the conversation going. Baze answers his question first, of, rather, tries. "There were lakes and rivers, yes, but none near the holy city. That was situated on a mesa."

He sips his hot chocolate. "What's a jet? Or a plane? And why are the oceans pressurized?"

"And the oceans, they are barren?" That makes more sense to Chirrut, who grew up on tales of the desert-skimmers, nomad peoples who had to keep on the move in the trackless wastes of Jedha.

He keeps helping himself to Barry's spread, mapping out the piles by taste and touch in slow progression. So far the cheddar's bite is a favorite.

Barry draws himself up, taking a breath to give an explanation and what comes out is, "Buhhh... "

How best to explain?

Planes are easy, so he starts there. "Planes and jets are aircraft that fly within our atmosphere. Some can reach very high altitudes and speeds, but probably nothing like the spacecraft you would use to travel around your galaxy."

Explaining the oceans he doesn't want to get too technical, not because he thinks they won't understand, but because they've been so nice with letting him get his nerd on that he doesn't want to abuse that or risk boring them by going full on science dweeb at them.

"So think about air and water, one is obviously more dense than the other, right? I mean air, you hardly feel it, but if you go to the top of a mountain it's lighter, or thinner they say, than if you were at like sea level. Well with the ocean, the difference is even more noticeable. If you went the equivalent of a mountain down into the ocean that difference would be huge. Instead of three thousand meters of air above you, it would be three thousand meters of water. It could crush you, just like a rock or something that heavy would if you put it on your shoulders. And at its deepest the ocean is over ten thousand meters down, so... yeah."

He takes a drink from his milkshake, checking them to see if he's making any sense.

"But they're not exactly barren. I mean, you can probably get stretches at a time where there seems to be nothing, but really the oceans are teaming with life top to bottom. From microscopic phytoplankton to blue whales that can be thirty meters long and weigh upwards of a hundred and seventy tonnes."

"Ohhh," Baze says, cocking his head. He looks somewhat like a giant, lost puppy--not because Harry's explanations have thrown him, quite the opposite, but just because that's the impression he gives when he tilts his head. "I understand! You're really good at explaining things. Most people, when we ask about Earth, don't give us any context. We've learned that the outside here is like Scotland, but without knowing what Scotland is like, that doesn't give us much to go on."

"Other than being unlikely to grow tea, evidently, but that doesn't mean we can't try." Chirrut is full of hope - after all, this is heaven. Surely that means he can grow tea.

"I agree - you are very good at explaining things. Are you a teacher, where you are from?" It almost reminds Chirrut of the times Baze would be tasked to teach the initiates - Chirrut would often sit in to listen to Baze explain movments that had long become rote to him.

Barry is very noticeably relieved by their reactions, glad that he's making sense and hasn't bored them to tears.

"I'm glad I could help. But if I ever go overboard and talk too much you can totally tell me to dial back. I uh, I'm not a teacher, but I am a scientist and I've been told that I can nerdy and ramble too much."

And he can also get caught talking way too fast.

He chuckles and starts to put together another cracker sandwich when a thought strikes.

"Oh! There's a greenhouse," he supplies helpfully. "I've seen it when I was outside, um-- running."

The awkward pause before Barry says the word running makes Baze smile. He finally builds himself a cheese and cracker sandwich, going for the spicy pepperoni and Monterey jack.

"No, you're not talking too much at all," Baze says warmly. "How big is the greenhouse? Do you know if anyone can use it?"

"That would be very helpful, if we could use it - at least to get the plants started." Chirrut muses cheerfully. Who thought heaven could give him a whole new past-time?

"It's pretty big," he replies, then apologetically, "but I don't know whose it is. Everything else about the bar seems like it's pretty common and open to everyone, though, so I don't think there'd be a problem if you wanted to plant something in there."

He runs through the list of people he's met so far, trying to peg who might know.

"Maybe ask around? I've got some friends who've been coming here a long time, so if you like I could check with one of them."

"We can find out from someone, I'm sure," Baze says, grinning at Barry. "Or Bar could tell us."

Conveniently, Bar pops up a napkin. Baze reads it aloud to Chirrut and Barry. "She says to ask Dinah Lance. Do you know her?"

"This place is so organized, you'd never imagine there's a head gardener in heaven." Chirrut chuckles. His empty tea mug is replaced by a new one, and he pats the Bar in gratitude.

"Good idea," he says with a smile, glancing down at the napkin when it appears.

Hearing the name he shakes his head, "I don't. But I've been told that if you leave notes with Bar she'll pass them on to the person when they come in."

His smile at Chirrut has a small touch of concern in it, and Barry considers asking the pair how they died, but instead he asks, "What did you both do on your world? You mentioned a temple?"

If Baze knew that Barry considered asking how they died and held off, he'd have even more respect for the young man. As it is, Baze respects him immensely, for his knowledge and being willing to share in a way that makes sense. And for feeding Chirrut. The way to Baze's heart is to treat Chirrut kindly, and Barry has certainly done that.

"We used to be Guardians of the Whills, at the Temple of the Kyber," Base says, beaming at his new friend. "The Whills is another word for Force, which is an energy field that binds and surrounds all living things, and the kyber were crystals which were attuned to the Force."

"They were used by the Jedi - a brother order, those who could and did use the Force to their own ends. They used they kyber to power their weapons... but they were respectful, the kyber chose to go with them. There were others who were less kind, and the kyber was highly sought after." Chirrut explains, sipping his tea. Keeping his hands wrapped around the mug keeps them steady and occupied... both very good things.

Barry can't help it, his jaw drops. He recovers, but it's a scramble and the stuttered reply he gives isn't very coherent.

"What-- you-- seriously? The Force?" And JEDI?

There's a short circuit somewhere in his brain, and he's trying desperately to repair it.

Baze sits up straighter, eyeing the sputtering young man. "What, you recognize it?"

Chirrut is pleased as punch, his smile taking on decidedly smug overtones.

"Of course he has, the Force is strong and cannot be limited by galaxies."

Oh boy, how to explain this one?

"I... " Barry shakes his head and nods at the same time and ends up making a circular motion with his head instead.

"Yeah," he finally goes with, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Yeah. I--I've heard-- read about the Force and... Jedi. I uh, read a lot, like, all the time. It's kinda what I do."

He resists the urge to facepalm at himself and tries to get it together. On the inside Barry is floored even more than he's showing, but also Grinning. So. HARD.

"I just didn't realize that uh, they were real. And stuff." That's plausible, right? Not everyone believed in the Jedi, right?

Baze can't feel Barry's joy through the Force like Chirrut can, nor can Baze tell that the young man is lying. The larger man folds his arms. "Of course they're real," he says, clearly approving of a well-read Barry. "But it's true, not everyone has had dealings with the Jedi like the Guardians have, so they're largely seen as myths. Especially since their order was wiped out twenty years ago."