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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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."

Barry's expression turns a bit helpless, because if he knew those answers maybe he wouldn't have spent so much of his life classified as a weirdo.

"A lot of people don't-- get nerds," he says with a shrug. "It's okay and cool to be passionate about sports, or celebrities, or like parties, but science and other academics, or whatever isn't mainstream, is different. People don't know as much about physics as they do Kim Kardashian, so they don't know what your about and that kind of makes them less inclined to wanna hang out."

"But science is awesome," Baze says, his brow creased and his lips thin. "Without scientific achievements, life wouldn't be as"--easy? no, life is rarely easy, for anyone--"comfortable for most people. We could explore the stars due to science. We have bacta tanks and food and all manner of things. I don't understand why being passionate about that is a bad thing. I guess that makes me a nerd, too."

"Wear it as a badge of pride, if they insist on labeling you with it." Chirrut shrugs, the movement too big for his frame. "If they wish to be known as ignorant and foolish, there's very little that can be done to stop them."

"I sure wish I knew you guys in high school," he jokes, nodding to their assertions that science is awesome and he should be proud.

"I honestly haven't let the label bother me in awhile," he says. "And I have friends now, which is great, and they don't let it bother them, either."

Cisco is rather proud of his nerd-hood and Caitlin couldn't care less.

"Plus, none of those guys who used to give me hassles get to hang out in a Bar at the end of the universe, so I've definitely one-upped them." And then some, given the current status of his life.

"High school?" Baze says, cocking his head to the side and invoking that giant, lost puppy again. Barry sure comes from a strange place!

"And good. You shouldn't let it bother you, and you should have friends that understand where you're coming from," Baze says, folding his arms and offering a firm nod. "And you're right, you're in a far better place than they are."

"You get to visit heaven while alive. That's more than most get." Chirrut agrees, happily munching on yet another piece of cheese. "Do you have a favorite part of it? We are still exploring, and it seems there's something we haven't yet found or heard of every day.'

"Where I come from most kids go through different levels of schooling. It starts off with elementary, then middle school and finally high school," he says in explanation. "From there I went to college to further my education, but there are other ways to go; get a job, join the military, different choices since by that point you're an adult."

Technically, at least.

He returns Baze's nod, not necessarily needing the boost of confidence right now, but happy to take it. "My friends are awesome."

And it's great to have them.

He turns his attention to Chirrut and considers the question.

"I haven't actually done much wandering around yet, but I hear there's a library and I'd like to check that out. The forest it pretty cool, there's a nice path through it to run on."

"Huh, so this schooling of yours--it's not optional for most, right? Fascinating," Baze says, plucking up another turkey circle and stuffing it into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully for a moment, and swallows. "We haven't seen the forest yet, but the library is amazing. So many books! So much paper! Paper is really rare in our galaxy. We have holovids instead."

"There was a forest, on that moon the Rebels took us to..." Chirrut frowns, "It was very humid, not at all pleasant. I assume the forest here is not like that?" He can't imagine running through Yavin IV's forest, it was unpleasant enough walking past it.

"The first three levels aren't. There are laws in place to make sure kids get an education. After a certain age you can dropout of high school, but it's a pretty dumb thing to do." Barry is a kid who never even entertained the thought, and not just because Joe would have killed him if he did.

He grins as Baze describes the library. "That's awesome. There's a switch happening in my world now from paper books to digital, but we've still got plenty of paper."

Barry will take his books anyway he can get them, although these days paper copies are a little easier for him to blur through, e-reader pages don't flip nearly as fast.

"It's temperate," he replies to Chirrut. "Damp, but not exceptionally humid or muggy. It's cool, which makes a big difference if the forest you were in was hot."