Room 204 [afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

"Last load," Ben said from behind a pile of metal. "Think we could start our own branch of Stark's right here in the room?"

His side of his new room was already neatly organized--not that he had much that wasn't droid parts--and he was talking mostly to hide his nerves.

Given the room's other occupant, he wasn't sure why he was even trying.

[OOC: For the roommate, and then open!]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not supposed to just use my powers because of laziness," Ben replied. "Jedi are kind of...diplomatic monks with super powers at home."

[furnaceface]

//Yer can do more than just move chairs around, then?// Jono leaned back in the chair, making himself comfortable as he crossed his arms over his chest. //I've got my share of experience with people with powers, mate. The diplomatic monks bit, I'll admit, is a little new to me.//

[momslilassassin]

"I can move pretty much anything around," Ben said. "My dad's way better at it, but he's been doing it for forty years, so he should be."

[furnaceface]

Ah, so being a super-powered diplomonk was all part of the family tradition as well. Jonothon nodded faintly.

//Plenty of experience, there.// A beat. //It's something yer born with, then? Or does it just creep up on yer one day when yer not looking as a nice little hello from Real Life at large?//

[momslilassassin]

"Something I was born with," Ben said, "or at least the Force-sensitivity is. Being a Jedi is more of a calling."

[furnaceface]

//Somethin' that comes with the package, hm? Yer have it, best not to waste it, so get out there and do some bloody good with it?//

[momslilassassin]

"Exactly," Ben said. "It's part of the family tradition. Grandfather, father, mother, aunt, cousins..."

[furnaceface]

//In the blood,// Jono mused, nodding in recognition. There was a bit of that in the Starsmore bloodline as well, but Jonothon liked to completely ignore the hell out of his own family's heritage. It was a little less 'diplomat monk' and a little too 'freakish secret society' for his liking. //Proud tradition and all. Do yer suppose it's easer, growing up with those powers of yers? Than if they'd just shown up one day, I mean?//

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not sure," Ben admitted. "I didn't exactly use the powers for years. I was afraid of them."

[furnaceface]

//Plenty of people are.// Jono? Speaking from experience? And how. //They can be dangerous, sometimes? Plenty of blokes on the flipside who don't understand what yer are or why yer can do those things? Too much bloody power all at once, so you get right worried it'll get too much and...//

Jono was shutting up, now. He didn't need to unleash a tirade on Ben's poor brain, here.

//.. And explode.//

[momslilassassin]

Ben's eyes went to the scarf around Jono's neck. "Hypothetically," he said, though his eyes were sympathetic. "Right?"

[furnaceface]

//Purely hypothetical,// Jono replied, using that sort of tone that confirmed that he wasn't speaking hypothetically at all.

[momslilassassin]

"How long ago since the purely hypothetical explosion?" Ben asked quietly.

[furnaceface]

Jonothon found himself torn between sinking deeper into a slouch on the chair, or else making his way for the door. He didn't need to dump his issues on this kid.

//Matter of months, now. Not long.//

His hypothetical issues. The ones he needed about as much as a hole in the face. He stayed put.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded, realizing that an admittance that big needed one of his own. "You're at the right school, then," he said quietly. "We're all a little broken here."

[furnaceface]

//Brilliant.// Jonothon found his knees to be of particular interest for a few moments more before he looked up again. //Is that one of the admission requirements to this place, mate?//

[momslilassassin]

"For anyone I've ever found worth talking to," Ben replied. There was a slight pause. "And for me."

[furnaceface]

All a little broken. Ben too. Definitely was something of a trend then, wasn't it? Wonderful trend to keep up. All the rage. Scars and burns, inside and out.

//This have anything to do with that...// He tried to remember the word. //Jedi thing?//

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "And a war thing."

[furnaceface]

//Bugger.// Eloquently projected, Jonothon. //Somethin' big that yer can't get away from?//

It always was. That was possibly a stupid question.

[momslilassassin]

"It's over now, but for the last few years, definitely something big that I couldn't get away from. Jedi are generally at the front lines for wars, and this one was, well, kind of our fault," Ben blurted.

[furnaceface]

//But it's over now,// Jonothon repeated. Because that seemed like something most mutants were ever going to dream about. It was worth repeating. //Over or not, there's no bloody glory in the front lines. Doesn't matter what people try to tell yer to the contrary, does it? Doesn't go away so easily as all that, no matter who started it.//

[momslilassassin]

"Not at all," Ben said, shaking his head sharply to stop the memories. "It's the third war since I was born. I think it would be ridiculously optimistic to think it will be the last one in my life."

[furnaceface]

//And yer a part of it, like it or not, because of what yer are.// Jonothon's shoulders rose and fell slightly in a somewhat not-quite-right mimicry of a sigh. //I'm beginnin' to get a taste of what that life is like, myself. Not quite the same. Nobody expects me to fight.//

That much was his choice. And it was a sideways sort of war with no clear enemy except whoever was trying to kill you at the time.

[momslilassassin]

"So there aren't a lot of others like you?" Ben asked.

Ben was from a different galaxy. He kind of assumed Jono was a special variant of a human species.