milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No one can prove that was me." Chirrut's smile has meandered back into the 'so much crap I put up with' range, but that has more to do with the holoprojector itself than any accusations of sabotage.

Kriffing straight he fried it. He only wishes he did it sooner.

Edited 2017-05-06 07:10 (UTC)

"It can be, some days," he admits, "But I'm proud to do it, because it is important." For many reasons.

Barry smiles and nods when Baze gets television, then laughs at Chirrut.

"Probably just some malfunction," he suggests with a knowing grin.

"Yeah, if you consider dropping it off the roof of the temple a malfunction," Baze says sourly, folding his arms. "I still don't know how you got up there. Or down."

Baze pats the bar gratefully when she replenishes his hot chocolate. "How did you get into forensics?"

"Well, maybe if you had Barry there, you'd know." Chirrut retorts, unrepentant after all these years.

That is both a difficult answer and story, and Barry's expression may betray that some.

He let's himself smile at Chirrut's reply to Baze, and finishes off his milkshake; declining another before Bar can produce one.

"In college I majored in physics and chemistry," he says, keeping his tone easy. "I pretty much always knew I wanted to be a scientist. I chose forensics because I wanted to learn and get good at putting together evidence and solving cases."

He rubs his hands together, taking a slow breath. "You see, when I was a kid my mother was murdered, and uh, the police they-- they never figured out who did it."

"Oh, Barry, I'm so sorry," Baze says, reaching out to clasp his shoulder companionably. The older man offers the younger one's shoulder a squeeze, and then releases him. "Our condolences for your loss. I hope you can find some closure for it."

Base takes a sip of his hot chocolate. "So you've known what you wanted to do since you were a child, eh? That's rare."

Chirrut's hand is a split second behind Baze's, his face creased in concern. He nods at Baze's condolences, seconding the sentiment.

Though his follow-up comment earns a snicker.

"Well, for some of us, temple brat."

Barry gives a stilted nod and small smile. "Thanks, I hope so, too."

After recent events he does feel closer than ever to bring able to solve what happened, so that helps.

Chirrut's comment and chuckle lighten things, and Barry nods to Baze's question.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I've always been a nerd." He smiles. "How did you guys get into what you did?"

Baze beams at Barry again, glad to see him lightening up. "Oh, I've always known I wanted to be a Guardian," he says, and reflects, not for the first time, that that may be a part of why his fall from grace hurt Chirrut so much. "My parents sent me to live at the Temple of the Kyber when I was six, hoping I was Force sensitive. I wasn't, but that didn't stop me from becoming a Guardian of the Whills."

"The Force chose me." Chirrut adds in his two cents primly, before relaxing into a grin. "I was overly obvious in my ability where one of the Temple masters could spot it. He thought it best that I do something other than be a street rat."

Barry has had to live with his mother's death for fourteen years, and while it still hurts more than he can say, he's able to talk about it easier, and recover from the subject better now.

Listening to the two of them he smiles and asks, "Have you two known each other since then?"

"We have," Baze says, passing Chirrut a turkey and Swiss cracker sandwich before making one for himself. "For four and a half decades. I keep trying to get rid of him--because he's rather useless, you see--but apparently I'm fated to spend my afterlife with him after a whole lifetime. Tsk."

"Don't listen to him. I keep trying to set him free into the galaxy but he just returns home in time for tea." Chirrut huffs in return, nibbling on the sandwich.

Barry laughs, amused by the two.

"Best friends are like that, inseparable."

"Best friends! He wishes," Baze says, laughing and nudging Chirrut. "Do you have a best friend, Barry?"

"And if you're in the market, I can list this fellow's many fine qualities." He pauses, and adds with a wry grin as he finishes the sandwich, "He made me learn them. It was arduous."

"I'm good, actually," he says to Chirrut, then adds to Baze with a chuckle, "No offense."

Smiling, he says, "I have a best friend. Her name's Iris. We've known each other forever, too."

"None taken," Baze says, and then laughs, after giving Chirrut a skeptical look. "I've got enough on my plate managing him and the trouble he gets into, after all."

He sips his hot chocolate with tang bark. "Iris, huh? What do you like about this Iris?"

Chirrut elbows Baze, laughing.

"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, Barry. Baze here was ever the gossip."

In truth it's been a long time since they weren't a danger to associate with thanks to the Empire - he knows why Baze is so curious about everyone around him. Chirrut would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same pull.

"Oh, we're just friends," he assures them both, the quick response automatic.

"She's fun, though, and funny. And, great to be around; she puts up with my nerding more than anyone else ever has." He could really go on, but that gets awkward so he refrains.

Baze cocks his head to the side, once again mimicking that giant, lost puppy. "Nerding?" he says. "What's that?"

Barry uses a lot of slang, which is understandable for his time and place, but Baze is grateful for his explanations.

"Something like herding?" Chirrut hazards, giving it his best shot. He resolutely does not snicker at Barry's enthusiastic telling of Iris' wonderful attributes.

The grin he can't help, that is beyond him.

Barry gives an embarrassed laugh, and an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's uh, basically what I was doing earlier. Y'know, talking all the science and tangents. I get excited about that kind of stuff, and most people don't, so that makes me a nerd."

There have been times when the label bothered him, and have even led to problems, but he's much better with it now. Especially since finding kindred spirits in his new friends at S.T.A.R. Labs.

(Being a superhero doesn't hurt, either.)

If he notices Chirrut's grin he pretends to be oblivious to it.

"Being passionate about science makes you a nerd?" Baze says, wrapping his mouth around the unfamiliar term. He folds his arms. "But you make it sound like it's a bad thing. I don't understand. Science is good, and so is following your passions, so why is being a nerd something someone has to put up with?"

Edited 2017-05-16 05:11 (UTC)

"That does sound... like a bizarre reaction to someone's passion." Chirrut agrees, sounding completely confused. "Everyone should be a nerd, by that standard."