sixthiterationtexts | UN : The Mechanic

[ Once he is sure Tony isn't going to fall over, Bull takes a step back to give him space. ]

I'll admit I prefer right handed if it is a one arm weapon. Don't let the guys who trained me hear it though.

We can also work on your tools first

Knowing what I'll be forging will let me know what tools I need. You said great ax, right? Single head, double head- you want a spike on the bottom-

[ He shakes himself a little, trying to get back into the work mindset. Job, he has one, focus on it. ]

Double head is my preferred, and no spike so it can be used to chop wood too if that is needed. I was trained to be proficient with a wide array of weapons so make what you can. And I'll make it work

You don't know me so I'll try not to be offended by the implication that I'll let you walk out with something less than extraordinary. [ Rude, Bull. Tony snags a tape measure and starts by laying it across Bull's palm, jotting down the numbers in his journal. ]

This isn't a 'I'll make it work' situation. This is a 'I'm getting something custom made by a Stark' situation. Double headed, no spike, how much weight can you swing?

My world doesn't have Starks. [ Bull says with a bit of a smirk. ] Clearly we are missing out.

The axes I've used in the past has been about 20 to 25 pounds. I can swing much heavier but it doesn't help if I run out of steam after half an hour.

[ He takes a bit of charcoal and sketches out the basic outline of the axes he has worked with in the past. ]

The one I had back in Skyhold looked like this. Long enough handle that I can use both hands.

Not going to lie, that's a little- [ He squints, measuring Bull's arm from wrist to elbow, elbow to shoulder. ] basic.

[ Beginner level bullshit. They can do better. ]

What's your form like, other than two handed, how do you prefer to move, tell me everything.

Basic doesn't hurt when it works. Qunari aren't known for opulence.

How about I show you?

[ He grabs a stick that has just about the right thickness as a handle and moves to step outside the smithy. Out there he does some shadow-fighting, running through a few different ways of moving so Tony can get a good idea of how he moves in a fight. ]

What are you known for?

[ From a completely different world, here, and it's more than a little fascinating how disparate the shards of reality that the observers have dipped into for their amusement or experiment. Doesn't matter.

Tony drags his journal over, sketching out notes, fluid diagrams and gestures of motion, now and then he calls out- ]

Do that swing again? I need to see your shoulders.

Most people are terrified of us. Most non-qunari only ever meet mercenaries or soldiers. We're a nation based around one goal and we see ourselves as a machine which each person a part of the machine.

[ He does the moves as requested, grinning once he gets into the swing of things. It feels good to move like this again. If only he has someone to spar against. ]

Giant horned communists. [ Huh. Not the strangest-

No it might be one of the stranger things he's heard about. ]

What's that one goal? Enlightenment? Equality? Conquest?

[ Another swing, another sketch- doing the math visually and timing shit without FRIDAY to back him up is a little vexing but- he's got this. ]

Communists?

Asit tal-eb. There is an order to the world and have everyone following that order. Order and balance is the goal.

[ Tony's hand slows to a stop at that one word, earlier good humor dropping away in an instant.

Balance. ]

Right. [ The next few notes he sketches out are curt, quick. ] Conquest and conversion. That's not something that ends well.

A lot of people feel that way. Not among qunari because we're not allowed to feel that way. It would be against the Qun. And if you go against the Qun you become Tal-Vashoth, a traitor and get hunted.

A lot of blood's been shed over it. On all sides.

[ Bull notices that change, stopping and turning to watch Tony. Had that been what it took to make this fall apart? ]

...Part of me wants to ask where you stand on that, but in the interest of not fucking up our arrangement? I don't want to know.

[ He rolls out his shoulders, tries to shake that tension out of his spine.

I hope they remember you.

That's going to linger in his bad dreams for awhile. ]

What was that backspin you did earlier? [ He looks back over, smile strained but present. Work, work's safe, right? Better to stick to that. ] Need to make sure I can have the balance right so you're able to follow through easily.

You think you'll be able to trust me without knowing?

[ Bull doubts it. His voice is quiet. ]

I am Tal-Vashoth, I disobeyed an order and chose the lives of my non-Qunari men over Qunari soldiers and an alliance that would have benefitted the Qunari.

[ He shows Tony again, slower this time and more controlled. ]

This one?

No offence, Big guy, but I didn't exactly trust you before either. It's nothing personal.

[ And yet willing to slip into a simply navigable arrangement none the less. ]

It's not something I hand out easily. Whoever you were, whatever you did- not worse than what's got me...contemplative. It made me think of the guy that stabbed me, that's all. [ Trying to give him an easy out and Bull...explains anyway. Tony takes a moment to absorb what he's shared- the hunting, the choosing to protect his men over-

Huh. ]

Yeah, that one. [ Some playful fluidity returns to his handwriting and sketches, tension in his shoulders winding down. ] And the overhead swing?

[ Bull does that whole motion again too, nice and slow as well. Then he looks over at Tony, happy to see that the other seems in a better mood. ]

I take it that person isn't here? Or are they?

God, no. Then this really would be hell instead of maybe hell.

[ As it is, Barnes is here but not terrible, Rogers is and he's...Rogers. Peter's here so maybe it isn't, Peggy's here and she doesn't deserve half the shit she's dealing with-

Barton's here but they're alright, he thinks?

Nat's. Not someone he's about to trust again half so easy, shouldn't have in the first place, lesson learned. ]

A lot of people from back home where It's Complicated would be the most accurate relationship status applied are here, but not that fucker.

Edited 2018-09-13 18:18 (UTC)

That sounds familiar. Not that I have anyone here that I know from back home but I got plenty of complicated relationships.

And good. Or rather too bad. I would have liked to have a chat with him when you're done with that axe.

Feeling protective?

[ he dips his head, crackling a quiet laugh as he adds a few more notes. ]

It is a flaw I have.

[ Well it was also something he had always been raised to do. Protect the larger Qunari society. Now he just applied it to the people in his life. ]

Who are the people you know?

Not according to most. Well. Misplaced if you're feeling that way about me. I can take a few hits, I'm fine.

[ Nevermind that he'd almost bled out on arrival, they're not talking about that. ]

Mm? Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, James 'Bucky' Barnes, Steven Rogers- [ His voice isn't at all cold and flat on that last one, oh no. ] Peter Parker, and Peggy Carter. That one's a little...weird. I will know her? She's a friend of my father's before he gets married. I know her when she's older, kind of was like an aunt to me.

And...right now she's young enough to be my daughter. It's. Weird.

You can take a few hits sure, but I was bred to be a wall between those hits and a civilian. I never became a soldier because I wasn't obedient enough but it doesn't change the fact that protection was my life's purpose.

[ Bull listens as Tony lists the names, nodding slightly. He does notice the tone clear as day but he doesn't say anything. He hasn't talked to them yet, at least not a lot but now that he knows the names he is curious. ]

I can imagine. How does that happen?

...Bred to be a- okay. Yeah maybe don't mention that around...anyone from where I'm from? We had a few historically huge issues with people that had that same philosophy in the worst sort of way.

[ That earlier tension doesn't return, though. It doesn't sound like the same way of handling it.

Doesn't make it better, but. ]

We're pulled from particular points on our individual timelines. So. She was pulled from way early in mine, but what was present for her. I guess? I think. I'll need a bottle of something strong to start entertaining time travel to be honest.

[ Bull raises an eyebrow at that. He can imagine a few things that would make that way of doing it badly. Then he shrugs. ]
It seems like a logical thing to do when you view your people as tools. It...It is a very different way to think than what a lot of people are used to. Humans seem to value the idea of freedom a lot more than we do.

[ He blinks at the idea of time travel as well. He's heard of things that make his brain hurt more thanks to magic though. ]
Maybe some sort of blood magic.

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