Armitage Hux wants order (acursweakness) wrote in angellogs, @ 2019-12-30 12:33:00 |
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Current mood: | curious |
Who: Yvette Moore, Steve Royama, Armitage Hux, Illya Kuryakin
When: Current
Where: A Japanese lunch spot near Steve's tea shop
What: Yvette's pretty sure the new guy's not exactly from a safe society, or working in an ethical group. Newcomers though, deserve a meal and some safety though, and a chance to pick their choices. Still, she grew up in Lorena, and she's not walking in this alone.
Rating/Warnings: Casual discussion of Nazis / people who are victims, Casual Space racism you’d associate with The First Order/Empire in general, Hux is NOT a nice guy and he’s been drinking the kool-aid since he was about five, according to the comics backstory, so... Spoilers for the new trilogy, and especially Rise Of Skywalker. Mild Spoiler for Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Notes: Steve speaks the truth about ice-brewing Genmaicha. It works for most regular greens, but seriously children. DO NOT ICE BREW GENMAICHA. Which is sad because regular iced genmaicha is nice when it’s hot. And...digression. Onto the space nazis.
Status: Complete
The lunch spot does lunch specials and rice bowls, but it's comfortable and Yvette knows the owners.
Look, she grew up in Lorena. She knew how to keep herself safe.
Steve had witnessed some of the exchange online, and seeing as he didn’t really need to stick around the shop given the holiday lull when it came to tea purchasing, he arranged for a longer lunch than usual and to be around, just in case stuff got...well. He was getting definite Galactic Empire vibes off of things, even though he hadn’t watched any of the last couple Star Wars movies. So, he was here, on hand, to keep an eye on stuff if needed, you know, just in case.
Yvette waves at him. "Hello. What should I have for tea? They have a bunch of new ones, and if I don't have advice, I'll keep doing the genmaicha over and over. Or are you planning on just hanging out and I can wave hand signs at you?"
Steve laughs at that last part. “Good question. I was, admittedly, a little curious about the new guy. It’s...I do know HYDRA, at least, and regular Nazis a little. Not as MUCH actually, but...same root, right? One just has superhuman possibilities but the same levels of evil at the top and people who get suckered in and then change to accept that evil willingly. I’m kind of...I wanted to be around in case the new guy turns out to be one of those who’s completely problematic. And the genmaicha IS always nice. It does get weird when you try to use the ice brewing method. I experimented once, when we were low on sencha. That was….weird.”
"I'm glad you came by. I've done the matcha version, shaken, in a water bottle? When it was disgustingly hot. Court rooms that are blood temperature inside and worse outside are misery when you're trying to look professional." Yvette smiles at him. "And I was guessing more - well - basically as you did. A place where you couldn't say no. But he's got a right to a full meal and a choice as to what he wants. No filling a jail by denying the bread sort of cruelty if I can help it. I'm glad to not be alone."
“Ooouuch I bet.” Steve winces.
“And that’s definitely a better approach. With the people who mean it because they actually believe things, it IS different, but sometimes, well it depends on the extent of something. Adults who were following orders, I don’t have much sympathy for at all, but if we’re talking something like what happened to Balthier and he absorbed it, there’s a little leeway. I wouldn’t take him home with me or anything, but for every Red Skull, there’s one of those poor bastards that they made into the other Winter Soldiers, or a girl from the Red Room trained to be a Black Widow before she knows what it entirely means. There’s still SOME culpability but people deserve a chance to do better when they have the option.”
"Isn't . . . Clint kind of the same story? He ended up in some rough circles because he was vulnerable?" Yvette frowns. "I'm totally bringing work into this, aren't I? Let me go order some tea."
“Yeah, actually.” Steve nods. “Admittedly, running drugs is a little different from space nazi, but you never know when you have someone like this, do you? And, well. There’s Noah. And Shay Cormac. NOT that I suspect this is about redeeming anything, but people usually have reasons and you can’t tell someone they need to be better without letting them try. Hans.” he adds, thinking of that, too.
“And definitely. You’ll probably need that.”
Yvette returns, in a while, with a complimentary plate of cookies (for the nice kid at the tea shop), and a plate she actually bought. "I think they think you're being brotherly with me," she says with a smile as she sits down. The little cups are deftly set up, and she slides in to sit. "I'm so glad to have the cast off."
Steve laughs at that part. “I do try to do what I can for my friends and people I know who I could know better. And Oh I BET. It must be freeing. It was always exciting when I got better after being sick when I was a kid.”
"Admittedly, at home it would've been worse, since the boats were cast friendly, but climbing steps or getting up on rooftops? That would've been miserable. I would've likely just stuck to the neighborhood and lived off of whatever I could get at the corner shop." Yvette fills up her cup. "Do you want to get food? I was going to wait a little to see if our guy shows up, and either getting the ginger chicken special or the rice and egg bowl."
“Sounds like a good idea.” Steve is glancing at the menu. “Any idea what you’d recommend? We didn’t go for traditional Japanese style stuff when I was a kid. Americanizing and I think a lot of the styles of cooking have probably changed anyway, with getting over here.”
"Anything you know you like? The fried rice is nice, and tempura'd anything is nice. The noodles that you dip in the sauce - all these can be a bit mushy if you don't eat them fast." Yvette's leaning to tap the menu options. "The katsu thing is well fried."
“Fried rice is always fantastic. And I did have chicken and veggie tempura that was good, well, aside from the eggplant they included. That was kind of weird with the batter.” Steve grins and glances over. “Any idea if the shrimp here is good?”
"I've been here a couple times. First time was with Illya. It's near your shop, and it's - pleasant? I've had the shrimp curry, and the tempura ones on rice? Both were nice. The second's a special today." Yvette hms. "It comes with edamame. Is soybeans an issue? I love them."
“They aren’t, actually.” Steve grins. “I’ll give that a try, then. If I’m not into them, you’re welcome to snag some.”
The bell jangles and there’s two people coming in relatively close together. Illya’s definitely a few heads smaller than the red haired man walking in behind him and looks a LOT more at ease.
“Ah there your person is.” he says to the newcomer now, leading him over. “Ms Moore is a good friend. And Steve, you’re here too.”
Good. This will be less awkward with a few of them here. Hux reminds him a LOT of the days before he left the Soviet Union. You’d see men, and sometimes women, but more men than not, who fell into some ideals so easily that they were lost. He has no problem with the idea of communism on paper, but as it turned out at home, it was not so easy a prospect and the rules involved were frankly bewildering and terrifying sometimes. He’s always glad that he managed to get out when he did, even though he misses home. It’s a conversation he’s had many times with Dmitry, actually, while they’re relishing in the fact that they’re back in a Saint Petersburg that is not nearly so hostile as either of their homes and...anyway. From what he’s seen of Hux so far, he’s reminded of home. In unpleasant ways.
“So, this is General Hux.” Illya adds.
Hux, definitely a bit ill at ease, but more from the new place than any other reason, steps forward, keeping his posture straight and looking, for all the world, like he’s just come from some sort of parade or inspection. NOT actually the case, but best feet forward, right?
“My thanks for the coordinates.” he says, giving Yvette a firm nod of appreciation. “And the recommendation. I managed to meet the agent on the way here, too. And before you ask, I’m no longer a general here, so just Hux is fine. I have a first name but no one uses that.” And it’s a bit of a mouthful.
“You’re sure it isn’t General?” Steve quips. “There were times I forgot that mine wasn’t Captain.”
"This is Citoyen Royama, who's someone I met when I was recently here. I can use Hux, if you'd prefer. I'm Yvette Moore." Yvette offers her hand. "Would you like to look over the menu? I was about to order, but I could wait. There's tea, and sweets, if you'd like some."
“I’ve actually got very little idea of what food is like here.” Hux scans the menu, looking confused. “We seem to have FAR different names for things where I’m from. Or species entirely.”
“Okay.” Steve’s holding up a hand. “I think I’ve got this. Chickens are a sort of poultry, Beef is like...uh...banthas, fish are...I THINK your universe has fish.”
“How would you…” Hux’s eyes widen. “You’ve heard about banthas, obviously, but you won’t have...Are you a sort of mind reader?” He’s searching about for a way to protect himself from that possibility. It was never quite possible to do that with Kylo Ren, but…
"Another dimension, remember? Your world, if Steve's right, is fictional here. So Steve's in a comic, and movies, but the fictional one isn't the same as the one here. Some times, people are similar, but earlier, or similar but something major happened, or in my case, some of the people I knew are echoed here, just differently, but there's no analog to home. Or even my country." Yvette nudges a cup toward him. "Illya's got a TV version who's a lot like him, and a Movie version who's - isn't he huge?"
Hux blinks again, and he’s definitely reaching for the item nearest to him, just to have something in his hands. It turns out to be a spoon of some sort as he absorbs this little fact. “Fictional I had not realized yet. This is…” He could start over, he realizes slowly. Perhaps not completely but as his bridges at home are all burnt anyway, and there is literally nothing for him in that universe now, as he already gave THAT up…
Perhaps there will be chances to find power here, ways that are civilized instead of brutal. He’s always used whatever methods were available, from the time he was a small child and presented with the child soldiers that were going to be his responsibility and protectors, but knowing that there ARE better ways…
It does feel almost like a trap.
“He IS much bigger.” Illya is saying, and he’s watching the new guy’s face as they go on. He seems a little pale to Illya, but that might be the complexion. Redheads, after all.
"Citoyen Hux?" Yvette asks gently. "I know some of us here don't try to look each other up. Since well - different backgrounds. But I've heard of - banthas, vaguely. They have blueish milk, and that's about it. Would you like to sit? You're looking like you're feeling a bit overwhelmed."
“That seems like a reasonable policy.” he manages, and does sit, trying to maintain some sense of dignity. He’s not sure how well he is doing, but…
“This is all a bit strange, I’ll confess. And I suppose that when it comes to fiction about where I am from, I’m hardly the focus of any story. The villains of the pieces never are, and there’s clearly heroes of the narrative we have been following lately.”
He’d helped them, just before...But Hux isn’t going to focus on what happened after he’d taken an active step from passing information to actually freeing prisoners. He wasn’t in it to do good after all, so far as he believes. Sure, he helped, but he did it so Kylo Ren would lose. He was tired of what he had been left to do, of a life filled with work and ambition that had led to being treated like a dog, and not a capable leader in his own right. If he is going to be a killing machine for someone, Hux would prefer it to be someone he respects who respects him as well. And while he’d admit to choosing those actions many times, he wants something, anything, that he can call his own decision. Aiding the resistance, and then dying for it, had at least, been *A* choice.
“There’s...actually quite a few stories.” That’s Illya stepping in. “The story of Luke Skywalker, the story of Darth Vader, and some new ones. None of us has seen those yet, but people occasionally screen the films...the ah...holo films I think you would call them.”
“The stories are about the JEDI?” Hux seems fairly stunned by that. Not as much as by the fictional admission, but… “That ancient religion Supreme Leader Ren insists is real and prances around playing dress up in a helmet because of?” And he laughs. It’s not a particularly nice laugh, short and rather like a bark, but, still.
“Can he DO things with it though?” Illya continues. “Just because a thing is not explainable...we have all seen strange ones ourselves. Especially here. If you dismiss all possible types of magic or power, this will be a LOT harder of a world to survive in.”
Yvette slides a cup of tea to Hux. "From what he said, the . . . leader isn't a very charming person."
Hux nods his thanks to her, gratefully accepting the cup, and using the spoon he’s still clutching to add half a spoonful of sugar before sipping. And this one is different, and perhaps didn’t need the sugar after all, from what he’s used to. Ah well, it might help a little with the processing all of this.
“He is not.” Hux frowns. “He reminds me quite a lot of a young child, given power but no instruction in how to use it, or how to not lash out when things don’t go his way. It makes working with him difficult. Made, I suppose. I doubt very much that I would be continuing in my...in any career were I brought home. But, jedi and sith? That was so LONG ago. People really are fascinated by this sort of thing enough for films?”
“Nine of them and a few programs for watching at home, games…” Steve waves a hand. “Taste is subjective. But so...I take it he was not a good commander?”
“We were….two sides of our order.” Hux manages. “We tolerated each other, considered sabotaging and assassinating the other many times, I suspect. He presumed to command my army when the last supreme leader was killed, among other things. Used that religion to bully others. Not often in my own case, at least, but…”
“But obviously at least once.” Illya frowns. There’s something about Hux that makes him think that is hardly the first time. There’s so much defensiveness written all over him isn’t there? It suggests a pattern, probably starting a very long time ago.
"It was wrong, even if it wasn't often. How about I get some food, and you can try a little and see what you like." Yvette gets up. "I won't be long. Want to come with me, Steve, so you can get yours too? Then we can send our other half of the table."
“I’d like that.” Hux is standing too. “And I need to learn how this system of credits works, so I ought to observe if that’s all right.”
“Feel free to go along.” Illya nods. “I don’t mind that. OR…” In case Yvette wants to grab Steve alone, he’s thinking fast. “I can show you too. There are chips and accounts now and...actually.” He’s pulling up a document with more details on how credit card machines work. It’s more detailed than the one with the arrival information but obviously someone from STAR WARS of all things is going to be able to understand that.
“Good idea,” Steve says, giving them both a nod. “You can uh...practice after you learn a little more.”
And he’s waiting until he and Yvette are out of earshot, and letting out a breath.
“Well. That was less terrifying than I thought and more than a little depressing. It reminds me of Bucky. The Bucky from home.”
"He seems really . . . scared." Yvette gets her order. "Was it just me, or did it seem like he seem like he got in the military or whatever too young? Something in the focus on using the full title and emphasizing that the 'religion' didn't touch him that often?"
“Definitely that.” Steve says. “And given the universe, that this is a place where they used to take babies to be trained as jedi and you had to get them before they were old enough to be attached to their parents, and that there’s a history of twelve year old queens in some planets…I really wouldn’t be shocked. It’s not something I LIKE but...I’m not surprised by it. And the religion has to be the force, which...if you’ve got a sith lord using that...Vader used to choke people out. Like that one...the imperial leader...Tarkin.”
Yvette nods and adds a sampler of little dumplings on a plate. Just to see if Hux likes it. "No wonder he looked tense. Let's get back."
She leaned to set down what she got. "Dumplings, which you might like. These have no meat. Ginger chicken and rice. If you'd like to try some, to see what you think?"
Hux gives her a grateful look. “I appreciate this.” In the absence of the natural order of his own world, he’s resorting to relying on his manners to see him through, since those seem to hold in this society too. It’s a touchstone anyway.
This is the point where Steve looks over at him.
“Whatever happened to you at home, whatever you chose or think you chose, what you do here...it’s up to you.”
“I…” Hux settles on trying a dumpling. “Ah these ARE nice. “ He does feel a bit odd, that people here seem to think there’s some chance at...redemption...for him. Hux isn’t sure he wants that, but he also knows he in no way has earned that, so the point is totally moot.
"There's people here who came from some pretty rough places. I was getting blackmailed into - well - I suppose it was mostly ethical people, other than the blackmail, but they were threatening someone innocent, so six one - half a dozen the other." Yvette leans to nibble some rice. "Balthier's working in theater here, but from what he said he was pretty injured in prison before he got here. I think only his siblings got here in all right shape. Noah was from the same world and was some kind of spy master. He works at a bakery here. The sort of man - you know that really grave type? But he's friendly enough."
Hux nods slowly. He doesn’t have the benefit of things being mostly ethical, but he did, in his way, at least try to keep his army functioning decently. He doesn’t think that he was especially terrible in anything he did in that regard. Those atrocities came at other people and, in retrospect, were not the best decisions to be made, considering.
“Those sound less like those who had choices.” he muses. “I did have more freedom than that. But, really grave...that’s not quite a problem.”
"If you asked Noah, he did, but - well - from what I heard, he was far too young when he started making them." Yvette smiles at him. "Try the chicken? Or do you not like poultry in general? I could help you order, if you'd like. I just think if you haven't eaten much that food would help a lot."
“Ah right.” Hux HAS been a bit distracted but he does try now. “Oh that IS quite good. I...don’t suppose there is anyone from where I am that’s been here long enough to explain some of these things in terms I’d have an easier time with?”
“Well….” Steve takes that one. “There’s actually...and you’re going to think this is even stranger...a droid from there. Who is now human. A few other people but from before the republic fell, I think. Or just after. “
“A...that happens then?” That’s...weird. Hux doesn’t quite have problems with people from other species if they’re able to communicate intelligibly, though he’ll confess that wookiees freak him out. A lot, but the idea that everyone’s just...human. It sounds a lot like the old empire and like what the first order was shaping up to be, and he’s...not sure how to take it.
“I...think I need to eat a bit more first. I’d appreciate help ordering, before I learn anymore about...some of this.”
It’s possible he isn’t really dead and having some weird near death experience while unconscious, isn’t it? Okay, probably NOT.
Yvette offers him her hand. "Then let's go do that. If this all feels a bit like I'm going to suddenly toss you in the water, think of it like - everyone here suddenly is starting from nothing? People deserve a chance to feel safe before you start judging them on how they act when they don't."
“I appreciate that.” And he does, actually. It’s strange to be in the position of starting things completely over, but Hux is willing to give this place a chance, and to see what comes of it, so why not begin again, right? As far as feeling safe...that seems a loaded concept.
“Safe…” he muses, out loud. “Would it be odd to say I’m not entirely certain what that looks like? Natural, I suppose, since I was a soldier.” That’s putting it mildly.
"Steve might know kind of what it's like? There's groups for ex-soldiers, talking about it." Yvette gently aims him toward the counter. She can let him look at the options a bit before prodding him to make choices. "I don't think Noah goes to it, or his brother, but they're from a very different world. I know they're talking to a therapist though. Noah says it works for him, because he suffers from a sort of blindness to some of his issues."
Hux’s experiences with psychology mostly extend so far as training programs for the stormtrooper program are concerned. He knows about conditioning a group and how to do it effectively, and a bit about how to draw some back, though the fact that one escaped and ended up in the resistance is proof that those methods don’t ALWAYS work, but therapy’s a concept he’s not really thought of in response to psychological problems before.
“That may be a place to meet others, then, too.” He looks more thoughtful than anything else. “Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate my convictions a bit, now that I’ve got the luxury. I did not...it was not my choice, initially. I was told, rather than made the decision, but there were plenty of soldiers my age who were already being trained. I will admit, being told I was to be in charge of them felt...powerful, but then, I’d not experienced much of it in my life. My father...did not care for me, and knowing he was training them to help in finding something to do with me...it did make me want to seize the power. To prove what I could do. Not to earn something from him, but just...to prove it to myself, perhaps. “
They’re close to the front now, so he’s turning back to other thoughts. “What was the tea from earlier? I quite liked it.”
"Green tea with brown rice? It's - this one." She indicates it on the menu. "It reminds me of a barley tea at home. And it makes sense to me. If you've grown up being told how things should be and are, it can be a shock to suddenly have options. That's one thing that people do here. You've got enough starting - what's your term, credits? Starting credits to keep going a while, but people will help you get jobs where people don't mind if you don't know what you think of - oh - steaks because you never ate one."
“THAT is a good thing. We do have steaks.” Hux says, smiling a bit. “Not the same animals, but Banthas produce those along with milk. The steer sort anyway, but, point taken. I take it the cards are more like our credit chips. Loaded with an amount and such.” He’d followed the instructions to activate it with the old fashioned style com unit when he arrived, so he has a passcode set up already.
“It’s good to know about those particulars.”
"Exactly. There's also money you can carry, but that varies depending on where you are." Yvette points out. "This is what I ordered. But feel free to look a bit if you'd like? And then I can help. If it's any consolation, technology was completely different at home. We had - basically a local field that made our tech need heavy insulation, so everything I have feels like I'm carrying something too thin and light."
“THAT must be incredibly odd. You’d feel half the time as if you had to check and be certain things were still THERE.” Hux makes a decision after glancing at some of the pictures. And not everything is unfamiliar. Rice is common enough, and he’s intrigued by the sort that’s soaked in tea and has a few side topping options to consider, though he’s veering away from spicy things at the moment. He’d noticed, the last few months, that they tended to bother him the evening after he eats those, with some side pains and vaguely uncomfortable stomach ones, and, though it had had nothing to do with food, some odd blood he’d coughed up a bit ago. It was nothing he’d mention to anyone he worked with, thinking it could wait until the war, and then stalemate were over, but now that he’s here it may be worth glancing at.
Yvette clearly notices his curiosity. "I'll get a cup of the ochazuke, if you're curious? Want it non-spicy? The kimchi version is good, but it's definitely a higher heat level."
“That would be good, actually. I need to avoid TOO spicy for the moment.” Hux pauses. “I suppose it’s been enough time since my last medical evaluation, I should arrange for one.”
"You want to talk to Stephen, Combeferre, or, in a pinch, Sebastian Vael about that. I know when I got in, the first two were doctors who checked out my ankle, and the last was someone who's got a bunch of contacts for doctors for various people. Sebastian's more familiar with people who are used to having sort of the - lack of medical care available?" Yvette waves a hand. "Stephen, on the other hand, would probably fit in for your era, but not using the same tech. Combeferre handled me being very tired and having to basically do a full medical history thing really well."
“I can do that then, easily.” Hux nods. “I’ll keep an eye out for their contacts on the networks. Those, at least, are familiar enough to navigate. I suppose the rest I’ll pick up fairly quickly. Having a guide is useful for the rest of this place.”
Yvette takes her bowl of rice and toppings, and her cup of tea. "Shall we head back? You can always contact people too. I work overseas, so I vary when I'm up. I'm active helping kids in trouble - basically doing legal paperwork and being polite while waiting in lines for the guy with the formal degrees."
“That seems like good work to end up in.” Hux nods at her and follows back. “And of course, given the information I wouldn’t mind making the approach. I’ve sent things on to strange places to me before. To a fool who I despise, in fact. Strange bedfellows, sometimes.”
"Aye. But I'd sooner you not feel that you've got to hit the ground running. Food is - simple. Kind of." Yvette slides in. "How have you been, Illya?" She sets up the rice and the tea so Hux can try it and starts on her food.