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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"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."

"Ah, like rules about violence?" Baze says, stuffing his cracker in his mouth. "What makes Arrow so special? Is he just a better shot than the police of his city?"

"Oh, do the criminals own part of the city?" That'd be like the Hutts, he supposes, having their own defended sectors of space.

The easy answer about what makes Oliver special is that he's awesome, but that's not really a very good explanation so Barry tries to work it out.

The good news is, he's always down for talking about Arrow, even before he knew the man beneath the mask.

"Well, it's like this, Starling City is nuts. Like, from what I've read and seen on the news the place isn't the nicest. They've got a high crime rate, possibly some corruption, and awhile back a group of crazy people tried to destroy the city with an earthquake machine. It's just kind of insane."

While Barry's okay to visit Starling he certainly wouldn't want to live there.

"I don't know about the organized crime there, but it's probably safe to assume that there's some gangs running some places. Or they did. But then the Arrow shows up and he just basically starts cleaning up the city, because the police can't handle it all. He's like this crazy cool archer ninja guy, running around rooftops in a hood and doing the whole, striking fear into the hearts of criminals and saving people thing. It's boss."

Barry is very obviously a big fan.

"Boss?" Baze says, cocking his head to the side. He thinks he can pick up what that means from context. But the other word... "What's a ninja?"

"Why was he cold?" Chirrut frowns, confused. He may have been reckless in his time, but keeping yourself warm was... a basic concern. This illegal hero wasn't going to last long with frostbite.

Whoops, slang confusion, but it's okay, as a young man he's used to translating, usually for the older generation, and usually for Joe.

"Boss is like really great, and cool isn't in reference to temperature, it's like a state of being. When you're cool, you can handle whatever comes your way, with style."

Barry does his best impression of cool, trailing his voice and slicking back the sides of his hair with his hands. It's for the two others to decide if he actually pulls it off and gets the point across.

"And ninjas, they're like... warriors with mad, that uh means really good, stealth and fighting skills. They can attack from nowhere and disappear. Take out any opponent, and supposedly have no fear."

Technically they are of an older generation than Barry, so translating makes sense for more reason than one.

Baze brightens with an easy smile. "Chirrut is cool, then," Baze says, glancing at his friend. "And by that definition, he's also a ninja."

Chirrut acknowledges that he is, indeed, a cool ninja with a wave of a buttery cracker.

"Likewise, or almost - you'll be there again before too long." Chirrut is a stubborn man. He will get Baze back up to the standard the temple held them to, no matter what. "Are there not many ninjas in your world, Barry?"

"You two are definitely both cool," Barry assures them.

"You guys fight and disappear?" he asks with a smile. Baze fighting is easy to see, but even Chirrut has an air about him like he could do something. They did say they were guardians, and that staff looks like it's more than just a cane or walking stick.

"Mostly only in the movies," he says with a chuckle about the ninjas, not aware just how often Oliver has had to, and will continue to, deal with them.

"Thanks, Barry. If we're doing our job right, we melt--well, we melted--back into the crowd," Baze says, with a hearty chuckle. "Chirrut here often disguised himself as a beggar. 'May the Force of others be with you!' he'd call out, pandering for credits--but mostly keeping an ear to the ground for information."

Baze is inordinately fond of his friend, and proud, too. It shows in every line he speaks, in every gesture he makes, in the way his hand easily falls upon Chirrut's shoulder for a squeeze.

"No one would spot Baze until he moved - and if you were a stormtrooper, that would be the last thing you'd see." Chirrut shoots Baze a (slightly off-target) exasperated look, a 'do you hear the ridiculousness I have to put up with from this man' expression that has had a lot of practice over the years. "Of course, after that things became very exciting, what with the explosions."

"Sounds like you guys got into a lot of action and exciting stuff," Barry says with a grin.

And the friendship and admiration between them is the best. Total BF goals.

"On occasion," Baze says, tapping the side of his nose. "What about you, Barry? Do you ever see action?"

"I've never seen action, myself." Chirrut offers innocently. "In case you are worried it's a competition."

Barry chuckles, feeling it's okay since Chirrut is the one who made the crack.

So, he's been practicing this, mostly in conversations with Iris, and now he's going to try his hand at denial, something he's not exactly great at.

"Not so much," he replies, and managing to suppress his usual trademark awkward shrug. "I work for the police department, but as a civilian forensics assistant. Usually the action is done by the time I get there."

Barry chuckles, and Baze appreciates that. Few people seem to get Chirrut's sense of humor in heaven, which is strange to Baze because he thinks his friend is hilarious, and refuses to admit to any biases.

"Civilian forensics assistant?" Baze says, cocking his head to the side. "I have no idea what that is."