( video - un: blacksquadron ) all the stars are laying at our feet

[xwings]

[ the video clicks on to a soft beep that ends in a worried trill, the sound mechanical and still managing to seem hushed. for a moment, the camera swings around, then it steadies, showing poe dameron in workout gear, hands and ankles taped, pummeling a punching bag. it's clear he knows what he's doing. it's equally clear that he's unhappy about something.

poe is clearly unaware of the video; this is bb-8's way of trying to get poe some company and comfort. there's a series of beeps that indicates as much, to anyone who understands binary.

eventually, poe stops, steadying the bag (and himself) and then glances at bb-8 -- and the comms device bb-8 is still pointing at him. poe runs a hand through his hair. ]

What're you doing that for, BB?

[ another series of noises from bb, i'm worried and maybe you shouldn't be alone right now. poe shakes his head, crossing the distance to bb-8 and holds out a hand. ] I'm all right, buddy. Give that here.

[ when bb-8 does, the video cuts off. ]

Comments

voice | un: carter

[revlon]

[ She can read that something's the matter but she doesn't know this man well enough to ask. If anything, they've passed each other by once in a while on the station or perhaps in town. That said — ]

You can understand that?

[xwings]

[ well, if nothing else, the question from someone who's essentially a stranger and doesn't press the point bb-8 was trying to make is a welcome distraction.

poe still sounds a little out of breath, but not too much so. ]

Yeah. It's called binary. Or droidspeak, 'cause it's what droids speak.

[revlon]

[ She can only parse that because she found out over a month ago that one of the ringleaders for the marketplace attack was... an android. She's familiar to a degree, but she's aware her temporal point in history (never mind different worlds) makes everything beyond 1947 a new experience. ]

And you, clearly. [ A pause. ] I apologise for the intrusion — it's just remarkable. I don't suppose it's something one can simply pick up and learn.

VOICE | un: beaker

[webdesigned]

( in better circumstances, Peter would want to lose his mind about how cool BB-8 is and ask a million questions. still, he and the droid agree on something, and it's that Poe doesn't seem that okay, actually. that is more important, he can nerd out later. )

Hey, man. What are you up to? Need some help with it?

[xwings]

[ this would be easier if peter did nerd out over bb-8. poe loves bb-8, he can talk about bb-8 or translate bb-8 talking about himself, that's fine. it would be a distraction from knowing that rey's back in stasis.

but no.

he sighs. ] I think I'm done for the night, actually. BB-8 seems to think I'm overdoing the exercise.

[ he may have a point. unseen, poe's arms shake from exertion. ]

[webdesigned]

( if only he knew... but Poe had been the one to slow him down when he'd been pushing himself too hard during the VIOLET scare. maybe it's his turn? )

Okay. Fair enough. What's on the agenda next, have you eaten yet? I'd offer to feed your friend too but I'm guessing he doesn't eat. Right?

( NO. STOP NERDING. ABORT. )

text | un: fairchild

[obstinance]

[ the droid is difficult to miss, but not the center of her focus, as easy as it is to tell even his mechanical friend knows he needs to slow down. there are a number of comments she could make, some similar to what that beeping and chiming must amount to, but testing the waters — working her way up to probing, but not prying — strikes her as the better strategy.

she considers switching to video or voice for all of a moment, but — well, she's never had the easiest time hiding her expressions, so text it is. ]

that looks like a pretty unfair fight to me.

[xwings]

unfair to me, or the punching bag? because i think the punching bag is winning

[ a joke. an attempt at a joke, anyway. he didn't want her (or anyone) to see this. ]

hi

[obstinance]

[ she'd been avoiding making an onslaught of jokes, but it's nice to know that — at the very least — his sense of humor hasn't disappeared due to his current dilemma. ]

that's usually what happens when you fight against inanimate objects. speaking from personal experience and all.

[ 'training', some would say, but the force he's exerting surpasses that. ]

hey. you might want to slow down a little before you really regret it.

video | un: archangel

[centurian]

[ Garrus is looking very curious right about now. maybe he should be focusing on something else, but... ]

You can speak robot?

[ that's... new. ]

[xwings]

[ poe runs a (sweaty) hand through his (somewhat sweaty) hair. the distraction is welcome, actually. ]

We call it binary, but yeah.

[atwo]

Is it okay?

[ not asking about poe, but bb-8 instead because #robobros ]

[xwings]

[ poe doesn't mind talking about bb-8 all day. ]

Yeah, he's good. [ meddling little shit that he is. ] Feeling far too pleased with himself, too.

video; un: s.rogers

[america]

[ Mildly: ]

I feel sorry for that bag.

[ Never mind the droid or anything else. (That's more Tony's department anyway.)

Steve gets punching things when you need a moment to think, to vent out complicated emotions and pent up stress. ]

[xwings]

Honestly?

[ poe lifts a hand to wipe his forehead. a little wryly: ] I think the bag was winning.

video | un: swan

[sheriffing]

[ look, the robot's trying to tell them something. even Emma gets that, and she's still trying to wrap her mind around the robot trying to tell them something.

it's hearing how he responds to it that clues her in, and with similar coping mechanisms already in place, she gets it.]

No one who says they're all right actually means it.

[ Emma would know, she's done it herself plenty of times.]

[xwings]

[ he doesn't know her. she's right, of course: he's not all right right now. but he doesn't particularly want to talk about it, much less with a stranger. (sometimes, talking to strangers is the best thing, but right now, with this whole thing bb-8's idea more than poe's, it doesn't feel that way.) ]

I will be. [ he finally amends. ]

[inaurare]

What is BB?

[he hasn't seen BB-8 - so far as he can tell, Poe is just talking to his device which...]

...your device moves?

[xwings]

Not by itself.

[ in lieu of a verbal explanation, poe just swings the device around so it's on bb-8 who rolls in place, head bobbing as he whistles a greeting. ]

Meet BB-8.

text, un: bowtiesaresupercool

[mmiab]

[ there's a lot of response to this post, so the Doctor leaves it for a while. better to give him some space - or, at least, him and the many other people he's having to reply to now some space. later, though, directly through to his personal inbox, ]

Fancy some Tubby custard?

[xwings]

[ ah. his hug buddy. ]

some what?

username: rm.

[fitted]

[ roxy may not know this man at all, but she'd like to believe she's fairly decent at reading subtle facial expressions and body language, and it's quite clear by the set of his brow that something's troubling him.

or maybe she's wrong. maybe he just has one of those... resting faces, though something tells her that's not true. perhaps it's the oddly-somber beeps and trills that clue her in (and also make her wonder, briefly, how mechanical beeps can manage to portray a sense of concern), and also, pique her curiosity. whatever the sound, it seems to be a language, and one that he understands.

interesting. noted.

person first, source of the beeps after. ]

I was almost expecting the bag to give in well before you.

[ which is either to say, politely speaking you seem like you're very well-practised, or, forgive me if i'm wrong, but you don't seem all right in not so many words.

either way. hello. ]

[xwings]

[ she's not wrong about any of those things. the beeps portray a sense of concern; poe does not just have one of those resting faces and he's not all right. not right now, at least. he will be, he knows that much. but right now, rey is gone and with her not just a friend, someone he'd shared his space with, but also the most immediate link to the resistance and his galaxy and time.

it's enough to drive anyone to the punching bag, isn't it? ]

in my defense, i was rudely distracted [ he can't blame bb-8 for being worried. unseen, his hands are shaking, muscles in his arms trembling from exertion. ]

video || un: IAMNEDSTARK

[learned_to_die]

[First, Ned flew through the sky and amongst the stars in something called a "spaceship." Now it seems there are .. creatures, creatures that speak in whirring and beeping sounds Ned has never heard before, that are .. companions? He wonders whether this is a feature of this world in which he finds himself or if it's something the stranger's brought with him.

Both are wholly unsettling, but Ned can't help but be curious.

When the video starts, Ned is staring into the camera, brows stitched together, tension around the lips.]

Part of me wonders whether it smart to ask at all, but - what was it that was filming the video of you?

[xwings]

[ poe isn’t happy right now, not by any stretch of the imagination because rey is gone, but he’s always happy to talk about bb-8, at least. so he grins before swinging the camera around to face the droid. ]

Say hi to BB-8. [ bb whistles cheerfully, head bobbing in greeting. the droid is feeling pleased with himself. ]