fresh starts [open]

[tadashiwashere]

CHARACTERS: Tadashi Hamada and several others!
LOCATION: Throughout the ship during the month of June
WARNINGS: Fire. Always fire. Maybe some science bro shenanigans.
SUMMARY: Coming soon! Hiro's starter is in here now. I'm working on the general one and some other individual ones.
NOTES: He's working his way out of his more somber mood as the month goes on!



[SHUTTLE BAY]
[open for earlier interruption, though the end is aimed at Hiro]

The time following the memory swaps that he and Hiro had gone through had been rocky for Tadashi. He had decided to continue forward as best he could, but the nightmares that greeted him nearly every time he closed his eyes were demoralizing. There had been a few days where he had to drag himself out of bed (and several more where he just stayed planted there without opening his eyes, mumbling and waving a hand at Hiro if he tried to convince him to get up). When he did get a decent amount of sleep, he found himself slipping into his own thoughts, wondering constantly what he should take away from his fate -- what he should do with his borrowed time to repay the universe for the extra chances. And also what he should do for Hiro to get him safely back home to Aunt Cass. Connected to that, he agonized over every goodbye, especially before the Jump. If one of them was sent back home, that would be it. There wouldn't be any other chances.

There were several times when Tadashi had to fake smiles and shrug off his brother's concern about him. While he appreciated it, Tadashi just couldn't find a way to confront what had happened out loud after that time lost in the corridors. He wrestled with it mentally plenty, but saying it out loud... it would have only led to drowning in the reality of it again.

So Tadashi decided that "fake it til you make it" was going to be his motto to live by.

He threw himself into his projects, volunteered wherever he could, and tried to redouble his efforts to be the voice of optimism on board the ship.

Eventually, it seemed to work. While he wasn't completely over it, Tadashi didn't feel like he was faking happy. That shift that had started the moment he forced himself to keep moving had clicked into place. He was going to be okay.

Which... led to making it up to Hiro for the times he'd been occasionally distant while putting himself back together.

Tadashi had slipped out of their room impossibly early to get out to the shuttle bay and make some shady decisions. He'd technically volunteered his services to help do various repairs, but he didn't know if that extended to possibly breaking things. He didn't plan to break anything, but you never knew... He at least took precautions to place his little work station far away from the shuttles in a relatively open space.

Over the course of a few days he'd dragged the parts together that he'd been using to get a hands-on idea of how some of the mechanical bits for the shuttles went together, then went to town with a welder, scrap metal, and a temporary disregard for common sense. What he ended up with was reminiscent of a childhood project that... honestly could have ended better. Once he was satisfied that it was ready enough, Tadashi wiped the back of his arm across his forehead and keyed the voice function of his communicator, sending a message to Hiro.

"Hiro. Hey, knucklehead. You up? I need you to get down to the shuttle bay ASAP. I've got something to show you."

He smiled to himself and leaned back against his project, arms folded across his chest. This was probably a bad idea. But it was a good bad idea.

[Near Engineering]
[Open to anyone around Engineering + Rikku]

Maybe he should have signed up for Engineering.

The idea was still appealing, despite Tadashi's convictions that training under medical would allow him to more effectively help his fellow passengers. There were an entire twenty-four hours in every day (and time was relative in space with no windows, anyway) and only a few of those needed to be dedicated to sleep. And showers. Eating could be taken care of while working -- Tadashi had mastered snacking between projects during his first semester of college.

His goal today was to meet up with Rikku to talk over some ideas he'd had for her bots and see if he could brainstorm with her for his own project rebuilding Baymax. But right now... he was just loitering sheepishly in the corridors, trying desperately to look busy when he had nothing to do.

Somehow, he'd gotten some messages crossed, or looked at the time wrong... he was definitely early. Really early.

So this was Tadashi. Attempting in vain to look like he wasn't up to anything. He'd been hanging out with Hiro a lot -- he was starting to feel guilty by association. Even when his intentions were perfectly innocent!

[Bar]
[open, also Firo can come scoff, any science-y friends can come and techno babble]

The talk about supposedly psychic abilities had piqued Tadashi's interest lately. He was still leery of the connection that had allowed his and Hiro's memories to swap, but at the same time... science demanded experimentation and answers. The real tipping point had been hearing about some of the people on board creating objects with their minds. On one hand, it was so far away from science fact to Tadashi that he stayed skeptical even as he made his way to the bar area for the fourth night in a row. Looking at it from the other way, a controlled ability like that held endless potential.

Back home there were high-speed synthetic fabricators and continuous interface liquid production, but there weren't a whole lot of tech that you could carry around in your pocket for when you needed to create something on the fly. If this turned into something legitimate that the passengers were capable of and not just an illusion, maybe they could use it to produce necessary medical equipment as needed, or think up a perfectly realized model of the part they needed.

Those thoughts were the ones that had Tadashi perched on a stool at the bar, an untouched drink sitting within reach (just in case his inhibitions and skepticism turned into hindrances), and a puzzled expression on his face.

He wanted something simple -- just a block or a disc, but no matter how much he flexed his fingers or squinted at the space in front of him, it remained empty.

Once, something flickered, but it startled Tadashi so much that he completely lost concentration and had trouble reproducing it immediately.

Comments

[mikangirl]

Nami props her own chin up on one hand and swirls her drink, mulling that over. "I don't know. Maybe a block is too simple. Maybe you should aim for something small that you're really familiar with. It's easier to picture."

[tadashiwashere]

Too simple, huh?

Tadashi hasn't considered that possibility yet, but that line of reasoning leads into a new problem -- what should he try for, if not something simple? Most of what crosses his mind at first are far too complex. Or too large. Miniaturizing anything also fell too far along the complicated scale.

He reaches up to rub his forehead, and his fingers brush against the brim of his baseball cap.

Huh.

Pressing his tongue into the side of his cheek, Tadashi closes his eyes for a moment as he concentrates. When he opens his eyes, he focuses on the space in front of him again. Something flickers for a moment, he blinks, and a replica of his hat is sitting on the counter.

"Un--"

His concentration wavers as he starts to speak, and the hat is gone again.

"--believable," he finishes lamely.

[mikangirl]

"--you weren't kidding." Or deluded. Nami stares down at the hat-- or where the hat was-- and leans forward, eyes lighting up.

"Can anyone do that? Do it again!"

It's not a magic trick, Nami...

[tadashiwashere]

Tadashi is too busy processing what just happened to respond to Nami immediately, but after another second of confused silence, he nods.

And... there's the hat again. This time, Tadashi keeps his focus on it and tentatively reaches out to nudge the brim. It's solid. Just as he's heard.

"It's... harder than it looks." He's staring very intensely at the hat, trying to keep it visible on the counter, so his tone is somewhat distracted. "But... yep. Looks like anyone can do it."

He certainly didn't have any magical powers that would be aiding in this.

[mikangirl]

"That's amazing!" Nami reaches out for the hat herself, but thinks better of it. It obviously takes a lot of focus. She's fighting to keep an eager smile off her face and not succeeding all that well. If this works for anyone, she could have so much fun--

"So with practice, you could keep it around permanently? How long have you been trying?"

[tadashiwashere]

Tadashi switches his attention to Nami, not even noticing as the hat disappears again. He's actually excited, too -- this is mind-blowing and he can't wait to go back and show Hiro. It actually worked.

"I think so! The applications... oh man, I can't wait to show my brother. We can do so much with the ability to just materialize tools." He grins, pressing a hand to his forehead. "And just a few days, really. I've been coming up here the past four nights, so..."

He gestures vaguely. Maybe he's slow at it, but he managed it. He still can't get past that.

[mikangirl]

"Four nights is pretty fast for learning to create things out of thin air. Just think what you could do in another week."

This calls for more drinks, and Nami waves the bartender down for two more of the same. "How old's your brother?"

[tadashiwashere]

fjhajcnmzxnbzk

Right?

Sorry, not sorry, Nami. Tadashi is grinning ear to ear and might be obnoxiously excited about the possibilities. This could still be some sort of optical illusion if he really forces himself to calm down and accept the alternatives, but even if he's taking that into account, it would be extremely difficult for an outside force to produce the illusion the instant he thought about it. Even that sort of tech would still be exciting.

"Hiro is fourteen." Tadashi pauses, blinking as he processes the possibility that he might have been gone long enough for Hiro to turn fifteen, but... no. No, he doesn't think an extreme amount of time could have passed. "Still just a kid, really. I'm hoping if we learn how these manifestations work, I'll have a better chance of protecting him from..."

He waves one hand in the general direction of the ship at large. All of that.

[mikangirl]

No not-sorry necessary, Tadashi. Nami can full well see why this would make anyone so excited. This is a skill she wishes she could take home with her. For... not exactly noble, piratical reasons.

Her smile softens as he gestures at the ship. She totally feels you there. "Family's important." She takes her drink from the bartender with a smile and nudges the other in Tadashi's direction. Too bad if you're underage or anything. "If you can make those manifestations permanent, you're only limited by your own imagination. I'll have to start practicing, too."

[tadashiwashere]

Tadashi might be underage (barely), but he's a responsible drinker --he'll nurse a single drink all night long, always careful to not overdo it. He generally likes for his inhibitions to remain in place.

He folds his hands around his drink, still slightly too distracted by the possibilities to actually have any of it yet. "Exactly. I don't know what project I would even start with. I could rebuild my robotics project--" He snaps his fingers. "--like that. Especially if Hiro starts working on this. You should see what he can construct on the fly with a neurotransmitter."

As much as Tadashi can think of for practical applications of this, he has no doubt that Hiro won't have five times as many. Not... all of them are bound to be practical, but he's sure some of his brother's ideas will blow him away.

He pulls his actual hat off, carding his fingers back through his hair before glancing at Nami again. "Sorry. I'm getting a little carried away. Any ideas what you'll try for first?"

[mikangirl]

Oh, he's into that kind of thing. He'd probably get on well with Franky, if Tadashi could put up with his over the top, uh, lack of pants. At the question, she straightens, practically sparkling in the bar.

"Money, of course!"

...this is totally a responsible use of her potential mojo.

[tadashiwashere]

Tadashi squints at Nami, not quite sure he heard her right. "That's..."

He covers the lower half of his face with one hand. How should he put this?

"...definitely one way to go with it."

Wow, Nami. Just wow. It at least amuses Tadashi, and he holds back a grin as he ducks his head and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying not to laugh.

[mikangirl]

Nami snickers. She knows exactly what he's thinking. It's all good. "I'm just going for what I know. To practice, right?" And nobody knows money like Nami, even if the currency's totally useless here. "After that-- I wonder if you can make anything organic. Like fruit. Fruit is useful. They don't have my favourite kind here.

"I don't know enough about science to make anything useful to the ship that I can't already make."

[tadashiwashere]

"Fruit is useful," Tadashi echoes.

He wonders for a moment just how real these manifestations are -- if someone ate a fruit that was manifested like this, would they gain any nutrition from it? Would it taste like anything?

Shoving that aside for later pondering, Tadashi propped his chin on one fist. "There's a lot of food I miss from back home that I wouldn't mind being able to just think up. What fruit is your favorite?"

[mikangirl]

"It'd be wonderful if we could." She smiles, looking wistful. "My favourite fruit is mikan. They're like oranges, only smaller and sweeter." Not many seem to have heard of them, so she qualifies.

"I grew up in an orchard of them, and I had three trees' worth on my ship back home. I miss them."

[tadashiwashere]

"I've had mikan oranges before."

They remind him of his childhood, actually. His grandparents had a bowl full of them during one of the last times they had taken a family trip over to see them in Japan -- back when Hiro was a toddler.

"I think I'm a little jealous that you grew up in an orchard. I would have eaten them for every meal back when I was a kid if my parents had let me get away with it."

[mikangirl]

Her eyes light up. "You're the first person here to recognise what they are! You're not from the Grand Line, are you?"

Well, you never know...!

"They'll turn your fingers orange after a while."

[tadashiwashere]

"Grand line? No. I had them when I visited my grandparents in Japan. They could be similar climates."

He tries for a moment to remember if his fingers turned orange during his time eating entirely too many, but it's too far in the past. Worryingly, those memories have already begin to fade. Just a few moments from that visit even stand out anymore.

"Let's put this to the test. Why don't we both try to manifest a mikan? We can compare and contrast our results."

[mikangirl]

Oh, well, she's just been unlucky finding other people who know what they are, then. She still isn't going to complain.

"We could try that. Might take me a while to get it right, though." Heck, if it works out, she can take some of the seeds down to the gardens.

[tadashiwashere]

"Assuming we can find a way to keep the manifestations physical." Tadashi isn't convinced that they can. Making something out of nothing... it just doesn't really work out according to the laws of the universe as he knows them. "Any seeds we plant might disappear the moment we lose focus. I'm thinking this ability might be more useful for temporary fixes."

[mikangirl]

Oh. Her face falls a little. "You can't make it permanent with practice, huh? That's kind of annoying."

Her plans to make so much money, Tadashi. No. :(

[tadashiwashere]

"Well..."

He can't say no for sure, so Tadashi shrugs.

"We're only just starting to use this ability. Who knows? That could happen."

He won't destroy your dreams completely, Nami. Here's some hope for you!

[mikangirl]

She'll take it!

"We won't know until we try, right?" If you're not careful you might get conscripted into making money. But for now, she's just happy to try for a mikan. Although one wonders what eating an extremely temporary piece of fruit would be like.

"This ability thing... it's pretty new, huh?"

[tadashiwashere]

"Yep." Tadashi focuses on creating and banishing his hat a few more times, only frowning slighting when he starts to feel the tug of mental strain that usually comes before a stress headache.

He dismisses it (as well as the hat) in favor of continuing his answer with a shrug.

"There's a man on board who has psychic abilities, but I don't think it was an everyone thing until before the last Jump."

[mikangirl]

That sounds a little disconcerting, actually.

"You guys kinda just woke up with it? Like-- on this jump?"

The one she was on?