[OPEN]

[loyal_soldier]

WHO: TK-622 and whoever!
WHERE: Places!
WHEN: Post-Groundhog Day!
WHAT: Open threaaaads!
WARNINGS: A house fire, I guess?

1. Action!

He was getting twitchy again. The seven-day time loop had thrown him back into thinking like he was on Ralltiir. Couldn't trust anything right now. So when he smelled smoke and heard something crash, he was instantly suited up and heading toward the rising column of ash at a dead run.

It was almost a relief that it was just a house fire. But something was still wrong, someone was still screaming in the street, looking up at a fourth floor window. There was a man there, up above the flames and a twisted, fallen fire escape leaning drunkenly away from the building. Trapped. Off in the distance he could see emergency lights, but the fire crews probably weren't going to get there in time.

He pulled one of the grappling hooks from his belt, affixed it to the launcher on his rifle, sighted up through the smoke at the next window over from the man, and fired. The cord played out with a hiss as the hook flew through the window, smashing the glass and coming to rest embedded in what he hoped was a sturdy enough ceiling timber to hold.

He thought the man would take the way out, but he dithered. He was holding a bundle that looked like-- Dammit.

2. Café! 

Tired. He was usually better at dealing with an adrenaline crash than this, but all the stuff that had happened recently was... well, it wasn't doing great things for his efficiency. Coming down off a rush was usually fairly smooth, but today it had given him a pounding headache.

That was why he gravitated toward a café, still smelling slightly of smoke despite being back in civilian clothes. Apparently when the armor vanished, it didn't take all the soot with it. He queued up and stared blearily up at the menu, failing to make sense of any of it.

"Excuse me," he said to the next person in the queue, "Which one of those has the most caffeine in it?"

3. Sneezing!

A day later he was washed and clean, but some of the ash had apparently gotten up his nose. It itched, and he'd been trying to ignore it.

It wasn't agreeing with that idea. Just as he was passing someone on the street, his nose went from ticklish to imminent sneeze in half a second, and he couldn't get his arm up in time. He was going to sneeze on the stranger.

Until at the last moment, his helmet popped into existence, muffling the sneeze--but nearly deafening him in the process--and shielding the passerby.

nguhhh. "Sorry about that."

4. Everything else!

[Insert your prompt here!]

Comments

1

[kanyounot]

Kanan, in a way, has been feeling a little lost, too, since the time loop was fixed. In his case, though, it's mostly because Hera is still gone. So he's been throwing himself into whatever he can find - however he can help people. It's sheer coincidence that he happened to be nearby when the smelled the fire, heard the sirens.

He appears in the room behind the trapped man, his face and mask already covered in soot, and points to himself to indicate the man should hand the baby over to him. There's a moment where it's unsure if the man will do so - does he trust this blind stranger in a mask to get the infant to safety while he saves himself?

But then, a crash is heard further in, and without any other options, the guy hands the baby over and goes for the rope. Kanan gently secures the infant, and then - he jumps from the window, landing easily two stories below on his own two feet, none the worse for wear, the infant still safely tucked into the crook of his arm.

Coughing a bit from all the smoke, Kanan quickly gives the infant a once-over to make sure it's still breathing, still conscious.

"You should both get checked out by a doctor," he says when the man safely hits the ground.

[loyal_soldier]

He was just about to activate the winch on the line and climb up, when he sees the man lean out the window and start grabbing onto the line, without the bundle. Not enough time to think about that, he unhooks from the line and stands close by, in case the man falls. What was that bundle, then? Did he just leave--

A shadow passes overhead, and he instinctively ducks out of the way, assuming more of the building's about to give way. He sees for a fraction of a second the silhouette of a man plummeting to the pavement, and then he just... lands. No crunch, no broken bones, it's like he dropped one meter instead of ten. And he has the bundle.

Not questioning it. "Are there any others still in there?" He takes the other escapee by the arm once he hits the ground, double-timing him away from the building. The man shakes his head, then nearly crumples when one of the onlookers rushes over to embrace him. They're still all too close to this thing. You never know what might be about to cook off or collapse in a burning building. "Keep going," he urges them, pushing them back further, towards the gathered crowd.

Once they're far enough away to make him feel a little less on edge, he finally has time to look around and determine who the karking hells just jumped out that window.

Oh. "Thank you for your help." This was a complication that he'd have to report, but at present he had no reason to believe the man had anything to do with the fire itself.

[kanyounot]

Kanan is laser-focused - first on the infant, on getting the child whatever medical attention is necessary. A paramedic approaches and he hands the baby over, waving off an offer of assistance for himself.

"Don't thank me yet," is all he can say in passing to the voice he recognizes - he knows the different signatures well enough now to know that this isn't Rex, it's the other one. The Imp. He'll have to deal with that issue soon, one way or another, but right now -

"Hold," he says, and "HOLD!" there are firefighters creeping up on the building, and Kanan rushes forward, putting out his hands in a gesture - just as a chunk of the front edifice of the building crumbles away. Before it can fall on the heads of the firefighters, it's stopped, midair, and Kanan waves his hands to send it off to land harmlessly in the grass several meters away.

[loyal_soldier]

More of the building's starting to go, just like he'd been afraid of. No one should be close to that, but for some damn reason, they are. They're going to get crushed, and there's nothing that can be d--

The debris float. It's the blind man's doing again, just like the night of the swear-in. But now, with everything else that's happened, he finally has the sense to be suspicious about it. He'd thought the gravity-defying stuff had just been another power, but Jedi could already do stuff like that, couldn't they? It was hard not to think about it when you were watching a few hundred kilos of smoldering building drift eerily to the ground. While the man's distracted, he makes the call on his helmet comlink.

He was told to extract. He didn't want to leave civilians here when a hostile jedi was right in the middle of them, but orders were orders. And there wouldn't be a chance to get a clear shot in the middle of them all, if the jedi broke the truce. His aim is 99% on-target, but that last 1% is mostly the doing of this man in particular. He can't risk it.

He turns and starts walking away from the scene.

[kanyounot]

After that feat, Kanan starts coughing and has to be helped by one of the firefighters to get away from the burning house. He pulls off his mask and wipes at his face with a cloth someone handed to him, waving off other offers of assistance.

"I thought you were helping, Imp," his voice cuts through the darkness, sharp and sure, and he may be blind but that doesn't mean he's unaware of what's going on.

And then he coughs some more. Who knows what kind of smoke inhalation he managed to get. "No, I'm fine," he says to the EMT nearby. "Don't worry. But if another -" Cough. "Nobody else should be going in there."

2

[fource]

"Oh, I'm not certain," Quatre said in slight surprise-- he'd noticed the man joining the line behind him just because of the lingering smell of smoke on him, but didn't expect to be addressed, nor did he think much of it at the time. The poor guy seemed to be having a long day. Quatre stepped half out of the line to crane his neck up at the menu better; he's only just over 5 feet tall, and had to duck his head to the side to see past the person in front of him. "The expresso, I believe, though I'm not much of a coffee drinker."

After a moment, he looked up at the man and smiled sympathetically. "Are you alright? You can place your order ahead of mine if you'd like. I'm not in a rush."

(empathy permissions over here if you don't mind!)

[loyal_soldier]

"I'll certainly give it a try." It sounded like it would have caffeeine in it, just by name alone. That was promising.

He shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere very fast at the moment either, but thank you." He was tired. Not physically, not as such. The time loop had ground him down a little bit each day, and then for the second time in under a month, he'd lost a friend to a rebel infiltrator. Never mind the anarchy in the streets or the burning building today, it was the loss that was dragging him down the most, and he still couldn't quite understand why.

[fource]

Quatre stayed where he was standing anyway, rather than pushing his way back to the front of the line; he can probably maneuver it so this man can place his order first once they're in front of the cashier. Never take no for an answer in a politeness war; he can certainly feel the exhaustion radiating off the other man, and he's never learned to leave well enough alone.

"Long day?" he asked, still sympathetic, before he points to the smaller cups. "It's smaller than most drinks, so it's supposed to be more concentrated. Hopefully that would help."

[loyal_soldier]

He sees the maneuvering, but doesn't protest further. If his mind is made up, then he won't argue.

"It's been spent doing something worthwhile," he reflexively replied. It was, but that was also straight from a propaganda piece. "Encountered a house fire in progress. No fatalities, but it wasn't a sure thing at first."

The little white cups made this stuff look like medicine. Good, that was what he needed. He didn't approve of self-medicating on principle, but this was such a relatively small amount of stimulant that it didn't quite rise to that level.

"Thank you. This looks like what I need."

3

[onlydoubts]

Bodhi isn't particularly aware of said stranger and the impending rush of germs headed in his direction, not until it's too late, and it's then that he tries to swerve out of the way. He ducks his head to at least not get a face-full of sneeze, but it doesn't come.

Or when it finally does, it's muffled.

The sort of electrified tone of voice if familiar, and when he glances up it's into the dark lenses in a familiar helmet. Stormtrooper. Poe's trooper?

Um. Regardless, Bodhi can't help the look of surprise at the sudden trooper helmet over the face that wasn't there before. "Um. It's okay. I think it's customary to say bless you, here?"

[loyal_soldier]

"Thank you." He sniffs, fumbling the helmet off. The rest of the armor hadn't come with it this time, just the bucket. It probably looked bizarre, but at least he hadn't sneezed on...

"I've seen you before." On the network.

And since everyone who seemed to know about the Empire who wasn't imperial was somehow a rebel...

He kept the sigh internal, but the tired look he gave the man probably got the same sentiment across anyway.

[onlydoubts]

Yes, they've spoken before. Bodhi recalls that, he'd nearly lost his temper over the course of the conversation. "You have."

Troopers next to never take off their armor, and he's not sure that he's seen without - if not for the helmet in his hands, Bodhi wouldn't know any better, or recognized him as such. But he didn't have his uniform on, either, so.

But he must recall the conversation with some clarity, or the things they'd spoken on.

"Yes, I'm a Rebel. Before you hear it from someone else-" Hux, who he knows wouldn't hesitate to tell someone about all the filthy traitors lurking in their presence... "I'm a defector from the Empire."

[loyal_soldier]

...The sigh didn't stay internal. He closed his eyes for a moment, getting himself centered again. Typical.

"I appreciate your honesty." It was a little late, but he would admit, this one hadn't tried to pretend he was anything he wasn't. That was as good as he was going to get around here.

"And I'm keeping the truce, as per orders." Orders that weren't formal enough for him to feel comfortable. He didn't like having Rules of Engagement that just said 'Don't.' But orders were orders, and he'd do his best to keep following them.

1

[prophesiedone]

Smoke and flames are not uncommon in the cities, but even so, Anakin feels compelled to help whenever possible. Wearing his Jedi robes out of habit and because he feels the most comfortable in them, he runs onto the scene. The grappling hook gets his attention and he watches TK-622 for a moment. However...

The cry of a child - a very small child - sends ice straight through him. He spies the man and races to the foot of the building, raising his hands to lift and cradle both the man and the child with the Force. His forehead furrows as he concentrates, but the weight is nothing. He just needs to be careful.

"Come on... Come on..." he lowers the pair to the ground and hurries to them, "Is there anyone else inside?"

[loyal_soldier]

He's about to drop his rifle and is about to activate the winch and ascend, but then the man starts to lean out the window. Too far. Looks like he's about to jump. He cuts the cord immediately and rushes to get beneath them. He can't catch the man from that height, but if nothing else, he can break their fall, maybe catch the infant. It'll hurt, but it'll give them a better chance.

But they don't fall. They just... float. He doesn't look round to see who's doing it, not when the fire's still the primary concern. He just clears the landing zone until they're down, then takes the man by the arm and double-times it away from the building. Someone's rushing up to meet them: a couple of the onlookers and...

Oh. Kark. He'd thought it had just been one of these powers everyone's got, but Jedi wouldn't need those to break the natural laws of the universe, would they?

The man shakes his head at the Jedi's question, breathing sounding labored. Might have smoke inhalation injuries. "Further back, keep moving," he urges the man onward across the street, then makes a call on his helmet's internal comlink. He needs advisement on how to deal with this, because regardless of how talkative this one was on the network, the Jedi can't be trusted.

...Or apparently, they can. He's left utterly confused by what he hears, but... he has to obey.

"Skywalker," he addresses the maybe-Jedi, clearing the way as emergency crews start to arrive. "I've been informed that we're allies. I am under Emperor Hux and Kylo Ren's protection." That was what he was told to say. He doesn't understand how things got to this point, though.

[prophesiedone]

Once he is reassured that there is no one else to rescue, Anakin pushes back the hood of his cloak and stares up at the blaze. But only for a moment. He is curious at TK-622's reaction - but also relieved that the man seems to want to help others selflessly. Palpatine might be the worst thing about the Empire, though he has no doubt that there are others who are nearly as bad all around him. Like attracts like, after all.

What matters is TK-622 doesn't seem to be one of them.

"Emperor...Hux?" he shakes his head, "That's not how I see him and I don't need him to protect me."

Though the thought is kind in its own way.

"They're friends and Kylo Ren is my grandson." he narrows his eyes when a window shatters from the heat on one of the upper floors, "It was nice of you to step in and help."

[loyal_soldier]

He's still a little hopped up on adrenaline, so his eyes don't stay still under his helmet, scanning the area. Watching for signs of anything explosive cooking off in the building, any imminent collapse, any civilians straying too close. There's always something to watch out for.

"That's correct." Was it not common knowledge? He would have thought it would be. "I smelled the smoke and responded accordingly. That's all." He'd thought it was a bombing. This was a relief by comparison.

3

[knaval]

There's someone who is very unfortunately walking past TK. A tall, blue-haired man that he might recognise, even if he has no reason to even notice the guy right now.

Only... he might after the sneeze has past. Riptide shrieks when the helmet pops onto TK's head and summons his own item.

A giant gun materialises in the street. One that's... suspiciously big enough for Riptide to weild, if TK makes the connection. Fortunately, there's no cars for it to land on, though an awkward silence falls over the street for a moment.

A sing song voice chimes out from the rifle; "Uh-oh! Dropping your gun only damages it! Time to work on your grip!"

Riptide, still in his human form, just presses a hand to his face slowly.

"God damn it."

[loyal_soldier]

Something big and colorful is just suddenly there when his eyes open again and it nearly gives him a goddamn heart attack, the rest of his armor popping into existence, bringing up the rifle now in his hands to--

Oh what the kark is that.

"What."

He lowers the rifle, staring bewildered at the... 'My First Blaster'. Why.

[knaval]

Riptide waves a hand in front of his helmet, seemingly not caring about the rifle.

"Hey! Hey, it's me again! Sorry, you scared me!"

Kind of a pathetic reason, but true nonetheless.

[loyal_soldier]

He takes his finger off the trigger, heart still thudding, but for a stupid reason, apparently. Even moreso than the morning he got startled by the toaster thing in the kitchen.

"What is that?"

Cafe

[stretchy_girl]

Queuing for coffee, one of those little things in life that had to be endured, although for Gemini, humming away quietly with headphones in her ears it didn't seem like she minded the wait too much.

There were songs she needed to learn, and besides it was a lovely sunny day out and that's enough to put a smile on her face. The only question in her mind is where that smell of soot was coming from?

"Huh?" She pulled the earphone out, turning to see who had asked her what. She missed some of the question but managed to get the gist nonetheless.

"Well I'm not an expert but the quadruple shot espresso sounds pretty strong to me."

Re: Cafe

[loyal_soldier]

"Oh." He had no idea what a shot meant in this context. Probably not an actual shot, but that still left him with the mental image of caffeine by injection.

"Thank you ma'am," he managed a half-smile. "Sounds like what I need." Self-medicating was against regulations, but technically caff didn't count.

Re: Cafe

[stretchy_girl]

"Have you not ordered coffee before?" She looked the man up and down, unable to quite believe that he doesn't know what he wants. Surely everyone knew what coffee they liked, unless like her he was missing some memories? Maybe she'd dig a little.

"Are you an imPort?"

Re: Cafe

[loyal_soldier]

"No ma'am," he shakes his head. "Never ordered anything before I arrived on Earth. Rations don't need to get ordered." Not by troopers, anyway. He had a vague sense of and respect for the complexity of the Imperial supply chain, but that still didn't stop the grumbling when a shipment didn't bring in enough clone chow and they had to eat the natural-born formulation instead. That was about it when it came to variation in his diet, prior to turning up here.

"It all seems to take much more thinking than food really should."