_kingofthedead_ (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} _kingofthedead_) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2018-05-19 19:10:00 |
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When: Sometime in March
Where: Tony’s Lab
What: Tinkering on tech
Rating/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete
T'Challa's brown eyes studied the nanotechnology beneath the microscope, trying to puzzle out a problem he'd been having with getting some of the circuitry to connect properly. Wakandan technology was not like this world's technology and took an extra level of knowledge and discipline to master its facets. But he was limited to the tools of this world, and so everything took longer.
Still, it kept his mind off of the heartbreak that was trying to gnaw at his heart. He and Bast had broken up, parted ways amicably but with a hidden pain behind each word of goodbye. She had to go back home to take care of her father, who had taken a turn for the worse. Burned by the last long distance relationship he had tried to salvage, and having no desire to leave Ocean County, T'Challa made the hard choice to stay. He loved Bast very much, but he could not go through a long distance relationship again.
Blinking, he paused from his work and with a growl of frustration set his tools aside. He massaged his dark brow with tired fingers. “How are you doing?’ he called across the room to Tony. He turned in his chair, unsure if the man had stopped working to drink or not.
Tony was looking at things on the large-scale, rather than the microscale, like T’Challa was. He had three large, touch screens lit up in front of him, and he was swiping and bitching and moaning to his AI as T’Challa worked across the lab. There was a glass of scotch on the table nearby, nearly forgotten as Tony kept busy with about eight projects at once.
He gave a “Hmm?” When T’Challa called out to him, turning to glance at his friend. “What was that?”
A small smile appeared on his face. Tony, like he, could get so absorbed in his passion for science. “I asked how you were doing with your work.” He stood and stretched, muscles a bit sore from sitting for too long. “I cannot seem to get the nano synapses to properly connect. It would be so much easier if the dreams would send me some more Wakandan tools to work with. I can recreate only so many things before needing vibranium.”
He crossed the space between their work areas, pausing to grab a piece of Naan bread from the box where it sat under a lamp in a makeshift attempt to keep it warm. He dipped it in the barely warm curry and chewed thoughtfully on it before making his way around to Tony's work station.
There was a microwave. And a fridge. They could always put the Indian leftovers away and then heat it up later… but that would require thinking about something other than work. And Tony wasn’t sparing brain synapses for anything other than work and scotch. Oh, and T’Challa when he came over to talk.
“A bit distracted.” Tony replied, then turned to look at his friend and the food. “I can take a look, but I’m not sure how much I can do without the requisite technology.”
T'Challa smiled a little, the sort of small, personal smile he reserved for friends. “As am I.” He shook his head. “Trust me, even with the technology it is difficult to master. I suppose I just would rather lose myself in an impossible task than think of her.” Taking another nibble of the flour dusted bread he tipped his chin at the screens. “What is this?”
“My attempts to recreate the jet from my Dreams. I’ll have to get in and fine tune the smaller systems later, but here’s--” Tony zoomed in on some blueprints so that T’Challa could see them better, “--the basic outline of the thing. I’m worried about wind resistance here,” he motioned to one area, “and here. I figure if I shave it down, I can make it more streamlined. Because let’s face it, physics in our Dream world? Not exactly like physics in the real world.”
T'Challa chuckled. It was the truth. He leaned over and peered at the images. With his free hand he gestured and then typed some commands in. The structure altered slightly. “There. That is how my vessel is designed to counteract resistance.” He smiled at his friend. It was fun sometimes to upstage the man. They were two of the seven smartest people in their dream world, so competition and ego once in a while factored in.
Tony nodded. It was so simple, he’d been making it more complicated than it needed to be. Here T’Challa could simply come in and make small adjustments, and everything seemed to work out. “I wish I could call it beginner’s luck,” Tony teased, glancing over at T’Challa. “Sometimes your Dream knowledge and toys make me feel… what’s it called? Envy?”
T'Challa grinned widely at that. “Tony Stark jealous? I wish I had recorded that on video.” He placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “So when do you think it'll be ready?” He tilted his chin at the design rotating on the screen.
Tony’s brow furrowed just slightly. He shook his head. “Forget I said anything.” He said, and gave a little wipe of his hand. The image on the screen spun around until he brought a finger up to tap it and make it stop. “Hopefully soon. I don’t want to jump into things too early.”
“Hm,” T’Challa remarked thoughtfully, hand at his chin as his brow furrowed slightly, eyes studying the design further. “If you want, I could collaborate with you.” Two heads were always better than one. He glanced at his kimoyo beads, waving a hand over them. Holographic digits appeared showing the time. “Though perhaps we might wish to call it a night.” It was much later than he had realized.
“I could always use an extra set of eyes on these things.” Tony was, actually, jealous of all the amazing tech and knowledge that T’Challa got from his Dreams. Tony was doing the best with what he had--though the things that came through for him really helped. He was able to build all sorts of things in this world that wouldn’t have been possible without some Dream Tech Bleed-Through. “It’s getting late.” Tony swiped at the screen and the blueprint vanished. “I’ll call you a car to take you home if you want.”
“I would appreciate that.” T’Challa smiled, patting his friend on the shoulder. He’d walked to work that day seeing as the weather had been nice.