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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"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."

"Who knows, stay around here long enough and you might meet one." Chirrut would advise staying away, but his relationship with that order is a complicated one. "But it's true, the Jedi were destroyed, and the memory of them is fading from our universe. It's good to hear they, and the Force, have been heard of in another."

It'd be even nicer to hear the Guardians got a mention as well, but one can't have everything. Alas.

"Oh yeah, no, of course. You guys knew them so obviously they're real, right? Totally." He's talking too fast. He should stop. He should probably stop talking all together, but definitely he shouldn't be talking so fast.

"Mmm-hmm." Barry stops talking, shutting his mouth and murmuring the reply through his sealed lips while nodding.

A moment later, though, it clicks, and he realizes that if part of the story is true, then the rest might have happened, too. His expression sobers, and he shakes his head, "That's awful, though, that they were destroyed."

And now he understands what happened to Baze and Chirrut's city, as well.

"It was," Baze says, sobering when Barry does. "The Empire will pay for its crimes. But who knows, maybe the order of the Jedi will see a resurrection. The Force is strong, like Chirrut says, and exists to be used by people who are sensitive to it. The Force cannot be tamed, just worked with."

His belief in the Force may have only recently seen a revival, but Baze used to be the most devoted Guardian of them all. Professing belief in the Force's strength is old hat.

"He says now." Chirrut's voice shouldn't be this jubilant when he's preparing to give Baze grief, but...

Well.

Things are good in heaven.

"You would not believe how much carping I've put up with. He thinks I'm just reckless."

...

He is reckless.

Just not only reckless.

"Sometimes that's how good friends are," he says to Chirrut with an amused chuckle.

Barry's taken flak and been called reckless by his own friends, too.

Barry looks at the two of them, the hope and humor and friendship between them is kind of amazing. It makes him admire them more than just knowing where they're from.

"Maybe the Jedi will come back," he says with a nod.

There's no way for him to know if things have happened, or will happen the same way as he's seen in his world, and that's not where the optimism comes from. Barry's just always been hopeful, too, and for these two he'd just like to see things turn out right.

"You are just reckless," Baze says, scoffing. He nudges Chirrut's shoulder, letting him know that Baze is there, and will always be there, regardless of whether Chirrut is reckless or not. Maybe especially when he is.

Baze turns a smile on Barry. "Maybe they will! You never know. The galaxy is large enough to have an Empire and the Jedi, though the Emperor would certainly disagree. Personally, I think they're still around, just in secret. They've been a long time about it, after all."

"They'll have some explaining to do, if they are." Chirrut is... slightly less charitable. He would have something to say about those tasked with safeguarding peace who abandoned their posts. "But it would be good to have them back in force."

"Maybe they have reason to lay low," Barry says with a short shrug. "I mean, if the rest of them were destroyed... "

He's just saying.

"It could be they're out there doing their thing, just in secret." Like some heroes do... sometimes.

"In force? Are you kidding me, Chirrut?" Baze says, prodding his friend none-too-gently in the shoulder. "That's terrible."

Then Baze laughs, shaking his head. He turns to Barry. "They can't really challenge the Empire as they are now, if our assumption is correct and there's only a few of them. But it sure would be nice for someone to cut the head off the snake, as it were."

"If they did manage to survive, they were extremely lucky. It was... not a good night, when they died. The Empire was efficient." After a moment, Chirrut shakes himself - that's not a good place to get lost. "If they are around, I wish them well - the galaxy needs them."

He smiles, trying to help keep things from going to that darker place.

Nodding to both of them, he says, "Well sure, the world-- galaxy needs heroes, right?"

Baze sees what Barry is doing, and appreciates him for it. The larger man smiles, too. "Well, I don't know if it needs heroes, so much as people doing the right thing. Why, does your world--Earth, right?--have designated heroes?"

"How very civilized." Chirrut nudges Baze with a grin, relieved to leave the topic of the disaster of his universe behind.

"Buhhh... " And there's another interesting question to answer.

Rubbing his hands on his jeans, he gives another one of his awkward nods.

"Well, we have first responders, their job is to save people. Cops, firefighters, and paramedics. Although my foster dad Joe is a cop and he'd say he wasn't a hero."

Joe is humble that way, but he's definitely saved lives in the line of duty.

"Then there's others who don't do it for a living, but because they want to help. They uh, kiiiind of work outside the law. In secret."

Baze considers this and nods. "We know all about working outside the law," he says, plucking up another one of those delectable crackers. "Do they work outside it because the current laws are unjust?"

"Or the current government." This, yes, they have quite a lot of experience with. "There's a lot of good a person like that can do."

"Oh no, nothing like that," he says quick. "It's more... there are some things that the law can't handle. For... various reasons."

He busies his hands with putting together another cracker with ham and cheddar.

"Like The Arrow, they call him a vigilante, but he's helped a lot of people. His city is kind of nuts, with crime and stuff, and he's out there taking care of the bad guys that maybe the police can't get."