Entry tags:

active: tony stark, inactive: cal kestis

Tony & Cal
WHO: Tony & Cal (2-DUM & BD)
WHAT: Job talk
WHERE: Stark Industries
WHEN: Friday afternoon
STATUS: Complete
WARNINGS: Some mention of killing/death.

Stark Industries was an impressive building and Cal wasn't ashamed to admit his heart raced a little when he walked inside. BD trilled softly in his ear and the young Jedi only nodded. Yeah, this wasn't a place that was suddenly going to be swarming with Purge Troopers that wanted him dead. This was Tony's business. He was fine. This was fine.

He walked up to the receptionist and flashed a grin. "I'm here to see Tony… Stark." He tried to keep his stance relaxed, but he knew he was on edge. Jaina arriving and blurting out she was a Jedi had put him on high alert. His kind, correction- their kind, was hunted down in an attempt to kill them all. There had been no signs of the Empire here, but there was always time… "He said to meet him."

“I got him!” Tony called as he exited an elevator. He knew Cal would have BD with him so he made sure to grab 2-Dum, who now trailed behind him, before he left his office. “Thanks,” he said to the receptionist. “Looking lovely as always, Marie.” He grinned before turning his attention to Cal and his droid. “Cal, BD, hello, welcome to our little home here.” He stuck his hand out in greeting.

Cal's shoulders tensed slightly at the yell and he gave Marie a sheepish smile. "Thanks." He turned to Tony, BD letting out a happy greeting to both Tony and 2-Dum. "Tony," he said as way of greeting as he reached out to shake the offered hand with his one gloved hand. Some people probably thought the look was weird, him wearing only one glove, but it was easy to explain as something he did while scrapping. "I gotta say, what little I've seen is impressive." He managed to bite back a remark about the fact he wasn't on level with a place like this. "You sure you want me wandering around?" Well, he tried, but his normal self deprecation jumped forward.

Tony couldn’t help laughing at the cute little droid’s excited greeting before turning more serious. “Thank you,” he said, showing obvious pride in his business. He gestured around. “Yes, of course, where should we start? The mechanic area, maybe? We build, we tear apart, we rebuild…” He remembered what Cal mentioned about disassembling parts so he made sure to relate the work to skills Cal seemingly felt comfortable with.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Cal was a little out of his element, but that wasn't surprising. He had grown up in a scrapyard before going against the Empire. There had never been such a structured, clean place in his life after the purge. "Tearing apart and rebuilding are up my alley," he hazarded with a faint grin. BD stretched up on his shoulder and leaned his head against Cal's cheek. A faint snort escaped him as he tried to relax. "Calm down, buddy. I'm sure Tony will be happy to let you walk next to 2-Dum."

Tony chuckled. “Yeah, of course, c’mon.” He placed a hand on 2-Dum’s head. “Your friend wants to say hello.” He turned then, heading back toward the elevator. “This way. You’ll love it.”

BD jumped off Cal's shoulder and promptly went straight to 2-Dum, beeping away with a story that had the Jedi smirking. Droid gossip. He followed Tony as he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his pants. The lightsaber hilts were securely against this back, hidden by the hoodie he wore. Francis's remark about Tony loving the light swords popped into his head and he began to roll that idea around. Jaina wasn't keeping things a secret, did he need to? "Can't wait," he tapped his droid with the toe of his boot and BD trilled a rather rude remark at him. Cal couldn't help laughing.

“Interrupting them, tsk,” Tony teased as he held the elevator door so that Cal and the droids could enter first. “It’s just down another floor so we’ll be right there,” he added. “Then you can really see how we manage our technology around here.”

"My bad," Cal grinned before stepping into the elevator. He moved to a corner and rocked back on his heels slightly as he tried not to act to antsy. "Uh, thanks for doing this. ...I wasn't exactly sure what to do in this place." That was the truth, he felt lost without a cause. He spent five years hiding and now he didn't exactly know how to fully go back to that. "Besides hang out in the scrapyard."

“Did you work for one back home?” Tony asked as the elevator beeped and opened onto their intended floor. Again, he gestured for Cal and the drones to leave first. “Or just a hobby?” He asked as they exited.

"Worked at one since I was thirteen." Crash landing on Bracca had been a faint blessing. He had been able to blend into the background as a scrapper, he had survived. Cal stepped out onto the new floor and raised an eyebrow. The Empire could use decorating tips from Stark Industries. "Member of a guild. I like working with my hands."

“Young,” Tony remarked. Granted, he was a kid who went to MIT and inherited a business in his early 20s, but, still, even he knew things like that were different by most standards. “Well, you can do that here,” he went on, “we focus on technology, especially nanotechnology, but all sorts really. I like to be ready for anything.” He stopped in front of a lab with a large glass window so they could look inside. Multiple workers were focused on a project; pieces were strewn about their table with something that looked like the inside of a computer taking center stage. “They are trying to put together a solar panel.” He frowned. “Looks like they are having some trouble, but we can deal with that later. They’ll get it.”

"No other choice," he muttered as he glanced down at BD. The droid was vibrating with excitement, but didn't rush off to scan things because 2-Dum was there. Cal smiled down at the droid before turning his attention to the window. "Solar panel? As in looking to harness solar energy to convert it to power?" He had seen things like that before on other planets during his travels, but he had never actually toyed around with such a thing before. He shifted enough to run a hand through his hair as he studied the lab on the other side of the window. He could faintly see his own reflection in the window and he couldn't help the faint frown as he saw the blaster bolt scar on his face. "Looking to run this building off the sun?"

“Why stop with this building?” Tony asked. He noticed the small frown and hoped he hadn’t done anything to make Cal (or BD) uncomfortable. “Conserving energy is important even in a pocket dimension.” He said the last jokingly, but he meant it. Tony Stark was forever trying to save the world in various ways. “We offer extensive training too so, really, there is nothing to worry about. You’d shadow these guys for a while and once you feel ready, you’d get projects of your own.” He glanced down at 2-Dum. “And, as you can see, we are droid friendly.”

“Fair point,” Cal agreed easily enough. Powering this dimension was probably a good idea considering the fact the Entity could change things up without warning. They might find themselves in a place that didn’t have electricity, something he wasn’t looking forward to experiencing. He scraped his teeth over his lower lip before he glanced at Tony with a faintly concerned look on his face. His sabacc face was awful and he wore a lot of emotions on his face like an open book. “I don’t usually work well with others. A lot of time on my own. I…” He struggled with what he wanted to say and forced himself to center. Calm, he was calm. “I can try.”

Tony clamped his hand on Cal’s shoulder. “Neither do I,” he replied. “If you need to work alone at some point, we’ll manage. Really, it is all about finding what’s best for the individual employee here. That’s how you get the most productivity.”

There were a few remarks Cal wanted to make, but they were being drowned out by the need to tell Tony some things about his past. The man had been nothing, but nice. What came out of his mouth was not quite what he planned on saying. "I don't get why you'd take a chance on me," he shoved his hands into his pockets as he gave a shrug. "I'm not worth all this." Cere would have been scolding him for that remark, Greez would have sighed, and Merrin would have just stared. Cal, despite being a Jedi Knight, didn't have the greatest view of himself.

Tony wasn’t expecting that so he took a moment to compose his words. He could be blunt, but his work persona was different. He sometimes tried to curb himself there. Sometimes. Besides, he liked Cal. “Call it a hunch,” Tony said. “I don’t know much about where you are from, but everyone should get a chance here. Whatever happened at home, whether you tell me or not, has no bearing on what goes on here as far as I am concerned. “ He looked down at the droids. “Besides 2-Dum is an excellent judge of character.”

Cal pursed his lips together as he thought that over. Francis had told him Tony adopted people, cared about them, and he had balked at the idea. Attachments like that were dangerous back home and he had resisted the small family he had made for himself at first. “Second chances,” he muttered as his mind drifted to how many times he had preached people deserved another chance. Anyone could walk away from the Dark Side if they tried… “I think maybe we should talk some,” he finally said. “Stuff is going to come out in the open with Jaina here now anyway.” BD chirped as he rushed back over to Cal to headbutt him in the shin.

The little droid was protective of his human; Tony saw that clearly. “This way,” he said gently, “There is an empty office. No one will bother us there.” He inclined his head toward a nearby door, which marked their destination.

“Thanks.” Cal gave a quick nod before moving towards the door Tony had pointed out. BD took the chance to scale his Jedi easily enough and take up his usual perch. The small droid rested against Cal’s head and vibrated faintly to give some comfort. This wasn’t exactly a conversation he wanted to have or even knew how to really start. Tony knew nothing about his life, about the war or any of that. He felt like he needed to tell some truths though and it was leaving him feeling exposed.

Tony indicated Cal could sit on the small, leather couch in the office once they were inside before taking his own seat there. 2-Dum obediently followed and settled against the sofa’s arm. “What’s going on, kid? You can tell me.”

He sat, but he was clearly not comfortable, shifting a few times before he settled on resting his elbows on his knees. “I haven’t been honest with you,” he finally started out softly. “With anyone.” BD let out a faint sound of encouragement to keep the Jedi going. “I was part of a war, to save the Galaxy. I was a peace keeper, something called a Jedi- except the people we were protecting turned on us. The people I was stationed with turned their weapons on me and my master-” He wrung his hands together as he glanced down at his boots. “My master didn’t survive, I did. Then I hid for five years as a scrapper.” He could hear Cere telling him that he survived and that was what mattered.

“That isn’t as important. Listen, not that long ago I came out of hiding and started basically a one man war against the Empire. They slaughter innocents, enslave even. I didn’t tell anyone here because I have this fear they are going to show up- that he is going to show up.” He absently reached up to press a hand over the spot where Darth Vader had impaled him with his own lightsaber. “Jaina is open about being a Jedi, so I figure… I should at least try to tell the one person here who has been nice for no reason.”

Tony listened carefully. Some of the words were familiar thanks to Han Solo, but the events were new. “Sounds like you are a hero,” Tony replied. “Protecting innocents. That is a big deal, Cal.” He watched him caress his scar. His story answered that question. “Listen, you aren’t alone here. Even if this Empire shows up…” Tony’s eyes hardened. “We won’t let them touch you here.”

A sad laugh escaped him. “The Empire uses the Dark Side. I am lucky I even lived against Darth Vader… I used my powers to break glass to flood a tunnel and nearly killed myself and Cere. I didn’t set out to fight the Empire to be a hero, Tony. I did it because they are wrong.” He looked up at the older man, the signs of war and youth all over his face. “I went on this mission, to find a list of Force Sensitive children. I wanted to rebuild the Order, rebuild my people, I was selfish. I realized if I pulled those kids out into the open then they would be hunted like I am.” BD let out a faint beep and nuzzled the boy. “It isn’t a way to live. Running, hiding, waiting for the final death blow. I destroyed the list. I destroyed my chance at bringing us back- but Jaina. She is from the future…”

“Jania is proof of a better world then,” Tony surmised. He exhaled a deep breath. “You know, Cal, we all do things we regret. Back in my world, I’m Iron Man, a superhero, but that didn’t come without cost. Casualties. People I couldn’t save.” He reached out and patted Cal’s knee. “Doing the right thing doesn’t always make us heroes, you are right there. But what is the cost of leaving it to the bad guys, hmm? This Darth Vader? Hiding can only last so long, you know?”

He blinked faintly and let out a sigh that turned into a rough laugh. Cal reached up so he could run his hands over his hair, messing it up. “...you sound like Greez or Cere.” It was like ripping open a wound by talking to Tony, but it was more to air it out and let it heal ever so slightly. “I don’t- I mean I do regret slightly, but I did what I had to to save them all. And...yeah. Hiding can only last so long. I just don’t think I’m ready to announce to the whole Villa that I’m a Jedi. If you want me to work here then I wanted to tell you. Let you decide how much trouble I am actually worth.”

“Then Greez and Cere must be smart too,” Tony said. “And I want you to work here. I think you are smart and I think you’ll like it, but it is up to you, okay? I’m not trying to pressure you.” He let out a wry laugh. “I’m told I’m stubborn, you know.”

“I don’t want to bring things done on your head,” Cal admitted. “This place changes and it might bring someone that wants me dead here. They will go after anyone I care about.” His cheeks flushed as he realized he admitted he might consider Tony someone he cared about. “If you are sure I won’t say no to finally having something to do… I have been bored out of my mind.”

Honestly, what was someone else wanting Tony dead? He was used to it, even if he felt safer in Goodland than he had in his own reality. “And we can’t have that, can we, 2-Dum?” He patted his robot’s arm. “He agrees.”

“Well, if 2-Dum agrees…” Cal smirked faintly before shaking out his hands as if releasing energy. “I can give it a try. Nothing to lose, right?” There was no point in hiding now, no point in just waiting for the blade to drop. He relaxed finally and gave Tony an honest smile. “Thank you.”