microbrobotics | [MoM] IC CONTACT POST

yeah yeah

[And Tadashi has taken over exactly one (1) table in the corner of the garage, still not touching Hiro's things true to form. He's got all his materials piled up while he's hunched over to work, a box of unusable nullifiers to one side by his feet. He did at least manage to shove his empty, very well used coffee mug to the side of the table out of his way while he's been up working for at least two days since the swear-in.]

[ That's how Hiro finds him a few minutes later then, when he comes in balancing a couple mugs on a plate. One for his brother and one ... probably also for his brother, though he's going to steal some sips out of it first. He fishes a half-finished piece of armor out of his pile and floats it so that Tadashi's got a little table that doesn't take up any desk space.

He moves to take one of the useless nullifiers. ]

Tadashi?

[He perks a bit hearing him come down but doesn't respond immediately -- just going to finish this one filament here. It's a few seconds (and an eerily floating armor-table in his peripheral) before he sits back and looks at him.

And then coffee. Coffee take the priority at the moment; he reaches for it and just. Savors that first sip.]

Sorry--Hey.

[ He pulls up more junk to give himself a spot to sit. Then he turns over the broken nullifier in his hand, trying to figure out where this one went wrong just by looking at it. Nope. No dice. He'll have to pull it apart later. ]

... Hey. How's it going so far?

It's--

Uh...

[He looks at the current one on the table, then glances at the discarded ones. Some have obviously short-circuited while others have some light singes around the edges. But the ones near the top aren't nearly as ruined as the ones in the bottom.]

Getting closer.

[ That's progress, right?? He slips the broken one on his wrist - no change to his floating table, so clearly not working on him either. ]

Yeah? Think you'll get it soon?

Maybe? I don't know.

[He slouches in the chair, rubbing his eyes with his free hand not cradling that glorious coffee.]

Last two lasted about a minute before they broke. That's something.

Maybe there's a problem in our approach. If there's another angle.

[ He pulls the one he's holding off his wrist and floats it, letting it turn idly. The generators and the collars obviously worked - so why not this? Is it because they're only blocking one thing? ]

Maybe.

[He watches it himself, thinking a similar thing. Maybe he should just try making one unaltered from the original - that blocks everything. See if that works and go from there. With that thought, he picks up one of the collars, feeling the pieces in it.]

May just see if I can replicate it piece for piece instead of our changes first.

[ Hiro brightens at that.]

Oh, yeah. That part's easy, I think. I already built something like that for a guy on the network. Dean.

[ Hence the "favor" he mentioned previously. ]

[This time the name does ring familiar. With that confirmation, he turns to start changing something on the current band. Honestly, if it means successfully blocking out the fire, he'll gladly block the other things too, just take it off when he needs to heal or use his technopathy.]

The guy you wanted me to talk to, right? About the favor he owes you?

[ Still precious seconds if he has to use his healing right then. Hiro's sure gonna keep working on it even if they do replicate a full block. He nods at his brother's question. ]

Yeah, he wanted something he could use in self defense. To turn someone else's powers off temporarily. I managed that pretty well.

[That gives him pause. Someone just asking Hiro to make something that could turn other people's powers off and Hiro just.... did it. That could be dangerous. He's not opposed to helping people but, it's also good to know everything around the situation first. They can't be making tech like this for anyone who comes to call and not know anything about them.]

What else did he tell you about the situation?

[ It's the Hamada fatal flaw, okay. "Someone has to help." Hiro pauses for a moment, looking up at his brother's reaction and feeling a bit confused. Did he do something wrong? He's not sure what kind of reaction he's reading off his brother here. ]

This guy kills people to steal their powers. So to fight him, he needs to be able to turn them all off.

[ A pause. ]

-- I'm not getting involved past the tech

Good.

[Because hoooooly crap, that is a mess he does not want his brother involved in. But now that that's out of the way, he realizes how he sounded, so he sits back, leaving one hand on the Hornet collar, letting the parts talk to him a minute.]

...Sorry, just. Worried.

[And exhausted. Hiro, have you seen the luggage Tadashi's carrying under those eyes.]

[ He sure has. Hiro relaxes a little at that, since he's not getting disapproved of here. He just doesn't want to disappoint his brother, especially for doing something he thought was the right thing. ]

Hey, I'm not making any more trouble for a while. Promise.

I know. I trust you.

[He instinctively reaches to ruffle his hair, seeing and remembering the burn when he pulls back.

... It'd be a nice break, to do something productive and helpful for the first time in a few days instead of just trying to suppress his own stuff. He points to the red skin.]

Hey, uh. Can.. I mean, do you care if I just...

-- Oh. Yeah, go ahead. I mean, it's not bad, but if you're not too tired ...

[ His gaze flicks instinctively to Tadashi's hands, but he doesn't see any fire there. Good. Safe. No problem. A bit gingerly, he tugs his shirt back enough to expose the burn completely. It's all red and shiny. ]

[That reaction - that split second apprehension he saw - is enough to get his heart to ache. Not enough for his stomach to drop, but just the right touch for Tadashi to feel terrible. It's his brother, his little brother, his only family that he's supposed to protect, and now...

He slowly reaches to touch at it and starts focusing on wanting to heal it, letting it work.]

I'm fine. Just wanna help where I can.

[ If Tadashi had hurt him with anything except fire powers, he wouldn't be quite so skittish. But here they both are. It's not Tadashi's fault that seeing him up in flames is one of Hiro's worst nightmares. He shifts a bit so that Tadashi can get a good angle, so that the skin heals neatly and easily under his brother's fingers. ]

You do help. You've helped a lot.

[And there it goes, healing right up under his hand. Though the comment gets him wondering. Has he really helped? He feels like hasn't done much but make things worse since he got here. He remembers Hiro wanting them to be honest and talk about problems but this isn't even something he should worry his little brother about. ]

Thanks... Just trying, y'know?

[ The only thing left is a faint, red scar where the burn used to be. He shrugs his shirt back up. Now that he's actually paying more attention to his brother, he's starting to read him a little better. Like now, hearing that uncertainty in Tadashi's voice. ]

It's more than that. You showing up at my party was the best thing that's happened to me since ... ever.

[Nuh lil bro you're not supposed to read him at all, he is the unshakable, amazing big bro who just happens to be having a series of mental crises since he's gotten here.]

Well, glad you guys had music playing to get my attention so I'd go in.

[ The mental crises are a little obvious okay. Even though Hiro can't see the full depth and breadth of them. He huffs a bit at that comment, but manages a smile. ]

We didn't do that on purpose, you dope.

[Then he'll just have to work on getting better at hiding them won't he. When he can get Hiro to smile, he smiles himself finally.]

Still worked. So. Good job.

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