milliways_bar | (no subject)

Guppy, having attempted to chop a bread roll with his hands and failed, eventually turns his attention to watching Ray. Even though there are some pretty significant differences, any type of fighting might have footwork techniques and such to learn from. He settles under a tree and watches.

Ray's not so hot at deflecting those blaster bolts- the machine is just faster than him and that's all there is to it- but he's used to scrambling around after things that bobble and move. Or away from things that bobble and move. Once you've spent two years hauling forty pounds of nuclear accelerator after ghosts, you get a little experience at these things. He's pretty good at finding the safe spots to put his weight, and at jumping out of the way- not that he's successful at that every time either. Just that while he manages the occasional deflection, he's more likely to avoid being hit by a bolt because he just wasn't there to get hit.

And, well, a lot of the time he grits his teeth and looks as if he wants to swear. But he keeps going anyway.

*Mun hits LJ for not pinging her*

The fact that he isn't brilliant at it makes it all the more impressive. Guppy continues to watch, not really feeling the crisp coldness of the snow, but instead concentrating and paying attention to what the ghostbuster is doing.

~~It hasn't pinged Ray's mun either. Hasn't for days. Bleh.~~

At one point the thing fires directly for Ray's head. He doesn't even try to block that; he switches off the 'sabre and drops straight to the ground, rolling sideways in a very good simulation of those bugs that you find under rocks in wet soil. As the drone bobbles, scanning for target again, he hops to his feet and switches the blade back on.

It fires. He just barely catches that one, but the next stings the fingers of his right hand quite badly. "Fsck!"

Guppy frowns slightly, hoping his assumption is correct that Ray can turn the thing off remotely if needs be. He certainly hopes intervention won't be necessary, given he's armed only with a bread roll.
Not that that would stop him if Ray really needed it.

Ray shakes his right hand out, glares at the drone, and continues. With his right hand behind his back.

Guppy may or may not have noticed in the past, but if he hasn't it becomes quite clear that Ray is not, in fact, right-handed.

~~No, seriously, it's in the movie. When the 'Busters are eating Chinese food just before their first call, Ray uses his left hand to control the chopsticks.~~

It's not all that good an idea to use the 'sabre single-handed, given that you could lose an arm that way, but Ray's keeping his hand out of sight. And he's not that bad with only one hand, either.

~~Wow, that's observant.~~

Guppy has to admit that one-handed combat is impressive. However he also has to admit that it looks bloody dangerous, and is hoping Ray's right hand isn't too badly hurt.
Having no idea of the capabilities of the remote gives him some disadvantage of judgement. But hey, if Ray chops anything off, there's plenty of ice.

~~Wish I could claim credit, but someone else pointed it out to me. They were an RL lefty themselves.~~

True. However, all of Ray's body parts remain firmly attached, and he completes the drill with less stinging than before. At the end of it the sphere switches off and falls to the ground. Ray switches off the blade, stashes the handle in a pocket, and scoops the ball up. His right hand doesn't appear permanently damaged, just painful to use.

At this point Guppy gets up and approaches, now that his presence being known no longer puts Ray at risk of loss of limb.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh-" Ray looks up. "Hi, Guppy. I'm fine. That happens all the time." He shakes out his hand again. "Damn thing's getting vicious."

"What does it shoot? Nice defence by the way."

Guppy gently takes Ray's hand and has a look, unable to see anything nasty. He frowns slightly.

"Didn't you use to have scars on this hand?"

"Blaster bolts. Miniaturized ones that don't incinerate on contact, just hurt like hell. A real Jedi would be able to rely on the Force to warn him when shots were about to be fired and have the 'sabre in place to deflect the incoming bolt. All I've got is reflexes."

He nods. "I did. On both hands. And much more complicated fingerprints owing to numerous small injuries." The pads of his fingers look pretty well pristine. "There was this alternate universe..."

"Well it looks okay, can you move it all right?"

A slight raise of the eyebrows.

"Is this the fifth one?"

Ray flexes the fingers and thumb, wincing a little, before nodding. "Yeah..." He flops it back and forth, then makes a circle from the wrist. "Yeah, all systems normal. Um... hm. Let's see. Animated continuum, eighties continuum, animated continuum again, Bizarro World, this world... that's four alternates I've personally visited, five alternates if you count Peter's, so including my home continuum that's five visited, six total. Anyway, uh... Are you at all familiar with a group of people most commonly referred to as the Men in Black?"

Guppy lets go of Ray's hand, satisfied that there's nothing nasty going on.

"Er... yes, but I suspect we're thinking of different ones. Unless you happen to have been to some of Holby's seedier bars."

"Rather different, yes. I believe the British equivalent is the Alien Social Worker, at least if I recall my Fortean Times correctly. They're the people who appear after mysterious incidents and suspected UFO activity, bearing reassurances and explanations for everything that happened. And then when they're gone there's no more evidence of what happened and only extremely strange stories and memories of peculiar behavior, if anything at all, remains in the minds of the people who met them. Nobody ever gets full identification out of them, they act peculiarly, and no government agency ever takes responsibility for their actions- any of this sound familiar?"

Guppy nods.

"Yes, we have things like that, although I don't know if we have a ministry of aliens."

[ooc: Mun has been invited out to dinner. Not sure when back. Sorry]

"You don't," Ray says. "At least, not if these guys exist in your world, which they may or may not do. The Men in Black aren't affiliated with any government, although originally they were assembled in the States. They license, monitor, and police alien activity on the planet Earth, and one of the security measures they take is to remove any and all identifying marks from their members. It keeps them from sticking in the mind too much. That includes dental records, freckles, fingerprints- and scars."

The pieces click into place. Guppy nods.

"So you were a man in black for a little while? Is that what Rho does?"

"Yep," Ray says. "Apparently he never met Peter Venkman, or Michael Draverhaven, for that matter. Not that it mattered, because there's no evidence of the supernatural being real in his world. They have space aliens instead. He joined them straight out of college, when his parents died. When I arrived I got badly injured by an alien that excreted a skin burning acid, so they thought I was him and patched me up- and thus, no scars. They at least gave me back my fingerprints when they sent me back here, but they couldn't redo the scars."

Guppy smiles. "Useful bit of technology."

He glances down at Ray's hand.

"Have you been stung by one of these machines before? I'm just wondering how it works for future reference."

"All the time," Ray says. "I've been practicing with that thing for weeks. I'm not fast enough to see the bolt coming and I'm not a precog so I can't sense it coming, but I'm getting used to analyzing its patterns of fire. It's just a very painful process to learn."

"Certainly looks like a good incentive. You sure it's not doing you any long term damage? Might be worthwhile wearing gloves or something."

"Eh." Ray waves a hand. "Happens to Jedi padawans all the time back in their galaxy, until they get the hang of the Force. At the level the training remotes use it doesn't damage anything but your pride. And I've never been hit on the hand before- usually it zaps the torso or limbs. This is new." He looks down at the hand. "I'll get a topical painkiller and anti-inflammatory for it, I think. This isn't worth ibuprofen."

Guppy nods. "Yeah, I'd agree with you on that one. If it swells up you might want to put some ice on it. Bit of rest might not go amiss either but I know what your schedule is like."

He smiles. "I'm figuring you'll come and find me or Hank if you need it."

[ooc: Apols, mun must sleep before falling on keyboard. Goodnight. Nice RPing with you as always]

A few yards away Amanda is also working with her remote. She too is wearing thermo's though less beslimed then Rays.

She is focused but aware enough of her surroundings to notice Ray. She even gives him a glance and a smile hello.

Ray doesn't really notice. He's concentrating on threats to his immediate vicinity, most notably the one that's trying to fry him.

She doesn't disturb him. After all they both need the practice. Continuing her exercises until she sees Ray take a break.

Every once in a while when she sees him get a beautiful block or redirect she quircks her mouth in a small smile. Her form is far from perfect.

Ray eventually looks up, shaking out his right hand. "Afternoon, Amanda..."

A WORD and the remote that she is paired off with stops firing. Lowerng he lightsaber she turns it off. "Hello Ray"

Ray watches the other blade vanish. "Different model, huh?" he asks, indicating the remote. "Where'd you get yours?"

"From Master Windu."

He may note that Amanda was practicing with a blue lighsaber, not the training model. Or Ray could have been oblivious, you never know.

"You've certainaly improved." having noted his progress.

Ray's middle name would be 'Oblivious', if it weren't actually Joseph.

"Thanks. Master Qui-Gon's been pushing me on that. And, well-" He indicates his drone. "I set it for 'extra nasty' a few days ago and forgot how to change it back."

"They do that." she smiles, "What does Master Qui-Gon look like? I think I would like to meet him someday."

she eyes his remote, "Don't suppose you have a manual."

"Manual? No. Had to figure it out myself." Ray shrugs. "Master Qui-Gon's a little taller than me. Same skin tone. Blue eyes, light brown hair, got a beard, wears robes. Really nice guy. He, uh... he's not like Master Windu."

"How so?" she asks, interested in the differences between the two men.

"Well, he makes facial expressions, for one thing," Ray says. "They're from the same generation of Jedi or close to it, but Master Windu is much more old-school; he's the sort to put emotion aside where possible and only turn to it where necessary, from what I remember. Master Qui-Gon believes feelings and emotions are much more important than that, and not necessarily a barrier to contemplative practice or a door to the Dark Side..."

"Hmmm. Interesting. Most of my experience with Jedi have been with Master Windu." We all seem to be the sum of our experiences, the same is true for the Jedi.

"Do you know when Master Qui-Gon is around?" Always up for meeting someone new.

"I've met Master Windu a couple of times. He helped Peter when Peter badly needed help, but there's still something about him that ... well, I know he's a good Jedi and a formidable individual, but dealing with him is kind of like dealing with the high priest of somebody else's religion. I know I ought to be impressed and reverent, but there's no particular click there, if you know what I'm saying."

He shrugs. "Master Qui-Gon doesn't keep a set schedule that I know of. He tends to pop up when I've done something potentially embarrassing, or something shiny and new with my tech-toys, but that's only a marginally statistically significant predictor of his presence or absence. If that."

Amanda is fond of Master Windu and understands him to an extent, "It certainaly takes time to get to know him. He is a good man and one of the best teachers I'e ever had."

Shrugs, "I guess I'll just have to keep my eye out for him."

"Are you ready?" she asks, figuring he'll know what she's talking about.

"Good for you," says Ray sincerely. "I'm glad for that. For both of you, since it kind of sucks to be a Jedi without a purpose."

He looks off over the lake.

"I hope so. I really do."

This catches her alittle off guard. She never thought that she was becoming a Jedi, she had just been looking to learn new techniques. "Jedi, How can I become a Jedi when I have no sensitivity to the Force?"

In fact Mace and Amanda have hardly spoken of it at all.

"Well, you might not necessarily be," Ray says. "You'd better ask him. I asked for permission before I started constructing my lightsabre; they consider these things a sacred trust, you know." He pats his pocket gently. "Anakin Skywalker said that if I succeeded, I had better be prepared to uphold the same goals and ideals and dreams as the Jedi Order, because it was their weapon and symbol. All of the Jedi here know I have the Force sensitivity of a cantaloupe, but..." He looks down at his stung, reddened hand. "I know what they believe in, and what they stand for. For all that I'm a scientist and something of a comedic figure in my own world, I have to admit- I've admired them since I was just a sprog in Mineola, and I spent years as a kid wishing I could be one. Force or no. And now I have the chance to do that, to some degree- so I had to try, you know?"

Then he catches himself. "I'm sorry, that was a tangent- um, when Master Qui-Gon saw that I had successfully constructed a 'sabre and it turned on and worked and all, he accepted me as his padawan- his apprentice learner. I don't think you have anything to worry about if Master Windu hasn't called you that."

She smiles, Master Windu doeesn't say much even when having a conversation. Though this is something she doesn't mind. "Master Windu reminds me of the Shoalin Monks of China."

Looking at the lightsaber that Master Windu had presented her with, "He is letting me use this in the up coming battle." her tone and the look in her eyes reflect the reverence that she has for the weapon and how touched she is by the gesture.

Realizing that she has never been a part of something or group. THat she has never stood for anything before she realizes that she has simething newto meditate on.

"No appologies needed" she state sincerely.