You're Gonna Go Far Kid [Hope]

[Maqui]

It had been hard to say goodbye. Maqui couldn’t deny that. Hugging Lebreau, Yuj, Gadot, it had been hard to leave New Bodhum. It wasn’t like he’d never left, but this time, he was leaving the safety of his friends, his family. He’d been with them for so long. Over ten years. Twenty five. He hadn’t thought he’d actually ever get this old. It was crazy, just crazy. Rubbing his face, he glanced around him. Academia was a lot different from New Bodhum. A lot different. He’d come here a few times anyway, but never to stay. He wondered how Cookie was going to handle it. There had been no way he was going to leave the blue bird alone back in NORA. It was no secret that Yuj hated the bird, and Lebreau probably wanted to cook him up for supper now. Not that Maqui could blame them. Having all your clothes and food eaten would be frustrating, but he couldn’t be mad at the bird, so how could they? Well anyway, it had been time he got his own life. Maybe he would go back. If things didn’t work out here, then he could always drag himself back there, no problem. And so far, he’d done alright for himself. Then again, this was the first day.

He’d been walking by a mechanics shop with the owner outside being yelled at for some work that had broken again. He couldn’t help that the mans work hadn’t been good, but he could help. After years of listening to Snow, he’d had being a hero drilled into his head, and had always wanted to be like Snow. So he had bounded up to the two men and offered to fix the hover that the man had brought in. They’d both looked at him like he was crazy, but in the end, the owner had let him have a shot at it. So the man had left the hover with a threat that he would desire all his money returned if this didn’t work. Well…now he felt he had to make this thing perfect. He wasn’t sure what the problem was. The owner had thought that it was the engine, but after testing the engine a bit, he’d decided that it had nothing to do with that. First though, he’d had to fix the patch job that had been done on the engine needlessly. After that, it seemed to run slightly worse, but he was still convinced it had absolutely nothing to do with the engine. Just from how he thought, he would say that it had something to do more with the internal makeup of the hover. That meant he had to find the wiring and fix that.

“Don’t worry about it Son, my best mechanics couldn’t figure out the problem, so I don’t expect you an either. What are ya? Eighteen? Well anyway, I appreciate ya tryin’, but I don’t expect you to accomplish anything. Too young, no experience.” Maqui blinked and looked at the guy. No experience? Eighteen? “I’m twenty five, and-…well I’ll try my best sir! I think it might have something to do with the wiring, so I’m gonna crawl under there and pop open the box and see what might be the problem.” Maqui wasn’t offended that he thought he was young, or really that he didn’t think that he could do it. Still, when it came to his work, he prided himself in being the best. His robot and all his different inventions back in New Bodhum were a tribute to that. “I think that’s a stupid choice. It’s obviously the engine that’s the problem, but I guess, humor yourself, just don’t break anything.” Watching him walk away, Maqui shook his head, giving Cookie a pat on the shoulder blade. “We’ll fix it, what’s your bet? I’ve got a hundred says I’ll fix this, AND it’s the wiring. What’s your bet? Huh? 100 says I can’t? You’re on!”

Striding up to the mans workbench, Maqui searched for the things he’d need. A wrench and an automatic screwdriver. Searching until he found them, Maqui lovingly picked them up. He always felt the best when he had some tools in his hand. As he was going to be doing some internal wiring work to actually make it work, Maqui grabbed a pliers to strip the wires and sorted through looking for wire covers. Finding a few, he dumped the things he needed in his toolbelt and made his way over toward the machine. Kicking the creeper from where it was propped up against his workbench, he grabbed it with his hands and smoothly deposited it on the floor. Bending down, Maqui settled his back on the creeper and made himself comfortable. Lifting his hands to pull himself under the machine, he noticed that his bird had settled down to lay on the ground right beside the hover. Loyal thing anyway, and used to Maqui probably being under this machine for hours, at least.

Pulling himself under, Maqui lifted up his screwdriver, loosening the opening to the box that held all the wiring. As it opened, he shook his head. What fool had put so many wires in here? No hover needed this many wires to make it work. Just complicated matters. Scanning the wires and moving them around with his hand, Maqui grabbed the scanner he’d grabbed from the bench. His back at the hotel was a better one, but this one would do, hopefully. Grabbing a wire down, Maqui scanned it with the machine, and then repeated the process to all the wires. After he did so, he glanced down and looked at the machine to see the scans. “Scans complete, one hundred percent working quality? That can’t be right…” Hitting it with his palm, Maqui went back and looked at all the scans individually. He’d been sure that it had been the wiring. Sure of it… What if the machine was faulty? Dumping it back into his toolbelt, Maqui lifted his eyes and looked by hand at all the wires. One by one, he went by, until he stopped suddenly. Why did he think this was the problem? Reaching further back, he pulled one down. Flashing his light onto the wire, he looked at it up and down, before taking out his clippers, he clipped it halfway up, before taking out his pliers and expertly stripped the wire. Sticking it to the side, he scanned the mess of wires remaining. Too many. How was…but it had to be more then just one that was the problem. Flashing the light back in deeper, he suddenly noticed that a wire had been completely ripped out. Whoever had actually made this hover, hadn’t really done a good job. Rolling out from under the hover, Maqui grabbed the welder and a spare wire, and then slid back under. Reaching up, he took a breath, slid his goggles down, and then stuck the wire in. Lifting the small welder, he put it back, propped up the light to shine in there, and proceeded to start welding it back in. Sparks flew all over, but finally he got it connected. Pulling up his goggles, he stripped that wire as well. Fastening the wire cover over the two stripped ones, Maqui closed the box and screwed it back together again.

Maqui finally pushed himself out from under the hover and got up off the creeper. It was time. The hover should be working now, hopefully. Wiping the sweat from off his forehead, Maqui clambered up into the seat of the hover. Wetting his lips and hoping that it would actually work, he flipped on the needed switches, reaching over toward the push start button. Hesitating a second, he finally pushed down. Waiting for it NOT to work an-…the engine fired up. “Yeeeee haaaww!” Fistpumping, Maqui grinned as the owner came rushing back in. Staring at it, he then looked at the youth behind the wheel. “Well I’ll be damned! Ya got it fixed boy.” The surprised look just made Maqui grin, before giving him a thumbs up. “Yes sir! I think it’s all ready for the road, but ya might wanna check it out before ya call the owner to see if he wants to come pick it back up. Should go great though.” Ahh yes, it was a good day when you could fix something the ‘best’ couldn’t do. Yup, a good day indeed. Things might just look up from here in the big world of Academia!

Jumping down from the hover, Maqui watched the owner clamber up and expertly back it out of the garage. As his big blue companion clucked and walked up beside him, Maqui gave him a cocky look, a smirk to add as well. Patting him on the shoulder, Maqui grinned and watched the headlights disappear. "Ya owe me a hundred gil ya know."

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Words:; 1771
Muse:; Great! o.o ^ what?
Tagged:; Hope
Outfit:; Click!
Location:; Academia - Random Mechanic shop is random?
Notes:; I don't really know what this is, I apologize for it xD Upset and yada yada blah blah when I finished it. Leave it to Maqui to take a bet with a bird. Also, mechanic scenes kinda got away from me, and...such. Yeah, I'll just stop talking, I got it up anyway? Huzzah! *pats self on back*
Listening too:; Nothing

[Hope Estheim]

It never ceased to amaze Hope how the Academy had access to countless resources, yet never seemed able to order the exact pieces the engineers needed for their creations. Either the items they ordered were poor in quality or weren't the exact parts they needed. That was the issue with buying in bulk through large corporations. The parts didn't have the exactness needed for devices and machines as specific as what the Academy demanded, since they were always working with very sensitive scenarios. Hope could sometime build his own parts, but that often made things even slower during the developmental stage. So his solution? Hope had begun working through several smaller, privately-owned shops in Academia itself, ordering parts through their channels or asking them to start preparing parts for the Academy to use. And actually, the plan had gone quite well. Hope himself had established a few relationships with the owners of these places, and while he couldn't set aside time to make visits and arrange purchases every time such visits needed to be made, he could occasionally walk down to speak with them personally. It was only the right thing to do. So Hope had ushered his aide off to an early lunch and set out for a little walk down to a shop he'd made a recent small purchase from. The place wasn't the largest nor the fanciest place around, but they did excellent work and they typically had parts that Hope needed. The owner was a nice fellow, too, and didn't tried to stick the Academy with prices only because it was essentially the government. Good dealings in Hope's opinion.

He finally reached the place, walking his way up towards the garage entrance. Hope paused to let a vehicle back out, nodding to the driver of it who seemed to be as pleased as he could be with whatever had been fixed. A couple of solid knocks on the metal garage door sufficed for Hope's entrance, and he stepped inside to see not one but two familiar faces. As Hope approached the pair, he peered at the second man, a blond, and was suddenly hit with a memory from...years before. The blond didn't look exactly the same as he had, but as Hope considered who it was, the amazement of finding the other fellow here almost caused him to break out into laughs. He...sure hadn't grown all that much. "Maqui?", Hope asked almost rhetorically, because he was only a few percentage points short of certain that this was the NORA member standing before him. Hope extended a hand to him. "Now I see why the man in the hover looked so pleased." Out of all the engineers and mechanics that the Academy sported, Hope doubted any of them combined could match Maqui's unorthodox, consistent success when it came to machinery. Maqui had been making machines with scraps at seventeen that Hope was only able to match now, with an education and all the best equipment at his disposal. Hope might have even been jealous of him, but if he was, the jealousy was a healthy one. In fact, he was thrilled to see someone from New Bodhum all the way out here. NORA members were the only people Hope still knew outside of the city, and though he'd never known them as well as he would have liked, Hope still thought a great deal of them. They'd once taken up their guns and dove into the very heart of Eden during the greatest crisis Cocoon had ever seen. That was worth more admiration than any of them probably even realized.

Oh, right, equipment. What he'd come all the way down here for. Hope turned his gaze momentarily to the shop's owner. "Do you have anymore of those P-5 cylinders in stock? The first few worked flawlessly, so I'd like to buy up whatever you have now and put in an order for two hundred more." The owner made a quick complaint about how useless all the Academy's suppliers were and stepped away, apparently to check on stock and see about the order. Hope's gaze turned back to Maqui once the other man had disappeared. "What brings you here to Academia, Maqui? Here to pick up supplies?", Hope asked him. He'd have to ask how the rest were doing since Snow and Serah...were gone now, essentially, from what he'd last heard. He needed to see New Bodhum again...by now, it was probably getting to be a huge town, just as Academia was starting to become a huge city. Maybe seeing Maqui would give him the motivation to set aside time for a visit.

Words - 844
Muse - Excellent!
Outfit - Uniform
Notes - This feels so insignificant compared to the glory you created. @_@[/size]

[Maqui]

After the owner took off, Maqui waved, before starting his conversation with Cookie. In his eyes, he was just being fair. After all, they had made the bet, so Cookie could cough up his share of the gil. He had to earn his keep somehow. He wasn’t doing it so far, and he made a lousy lapchocobo, which he still tried to be, despite being hundreds of pounds and four times the size of his master. The shop owner came up behind him then and gave him a pat on the back. “Good grief son, how’d ya fix it anyway? Didn’t even touch the engine with the parts I’d bought to complete the job.” With a shrug, Maqui couldn’t help but beam a little bit in pride as he told the man what he’d done. He wasn’t sure if the man caught it at all, but he seemed pleased. “Hey kid, I was wondering if you’d maybe wanna work-“ The voice caught both of their attentions.

Turning slightly, Maqui caught sight of the tall, silver blonde haired guy coming toward him. It’d been a long time since he’d seen Hope, but Maqui presumed that’s who it was. He looked a lot older, and since he knew him, it had to be. “Hope? Heya man! How’s it goin’?” Leaning forward, Maqui caught himself, quickly brushed his hand against his shirt to rid it of any grease or dirt and then quickly clasped Hope’s hand in a handshake. Force of habit from Lebreau chewing him out every time he’d touch something with greasy hands. At his praise, Maqui got a bit flustered. He wasn’t used to anyone making a big deal out of his work. He did mechanics because he not only enjoyed doing it, but it was something he knew he was really good at. Not only that, but for some reason it seemed to calm him down whenever he had something to fix. “Oh that? It was nothing! Just a little wiring problems, easy fix!” The owner rolled his eyes. “Sure, the kid fixed what all my best mechanics couldn’t figure out, one hell of a mechanic I’d say.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Maqui tried to deny it again, but finally gave up. He didn’t like all this attention or praise, didn’t like it at all. He’d rather just be back underneath that hover with some tools in his hands. His experience was just working with a bunch of junk anyway.

When Hope turned toward the owner of the shop, Maqui turned away and started putting all the tools away. He figured it’d be rude to just stand there and gawk at them while they spoke, despite knowing what they were talking about. Stuffing things here and there, Maqui attempted to keep it cleaner then his own workplaces normally looked. After all, this wasn’t his supplies. And honestly, he was glad of that. His were a lot better, mainly because he fixed them up and upgraded them himself. Finishing that in a few seconds, he returned to where they were talking, wondering what he should do now. He’d finished his little job, so then…was it time to move on? He didn’t honestly know what he was going to do, he should probably be looking for a job. On fleeting thought, he wondered if he should ask this shop owner for the job. He’d just proven himself, so it couldn’t be all that hard to convince the guy to hire him. This was the moment he missed the safety and security of NORA and New Bodhum. The big city kind of overwhelmed him, despite being fascinated by all the gadgets.

Hope’s question caught him by surprise. “Huh? Oh! Nah, I uh…well actually, I moved from New Bodhum, just the other day. Figured it was time for me to get out on my own, ya know? Get my name out there in the world, or big city. Academia, or wherever really. I’d like to eventually have my own shop, but I figured I’d have a better chance here then back in New Bodhum. Hard to say goodbye to the family though. But I took Cookie here and came to see what the city had to offer. I suppose I should be looking for a job here pretty soon, shouldn’t be too hard to find one, with all the shops and everything around. Plenty of work to be done in a city so full of technology. What about you? I heard from Serah you were working on some pretty crazy stuff, but I guess I haven’t heard anything else about it. Been kinda crazy, ya know?”

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Words:; 972
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Hope
Outfit:; Click!
Location:; Academia - Mechanic shop
Notes:; --
Listening too:; Soul Asylum - Runaway Train

[Hope Estheim]

"Everything's going well. How about you?", Hope asked the blond, returning the greeting. Maqui always seemed to be doing relatively well, and judging by the exchange between him and the shop owner, today didn't seem to be much of an exception. Fixing something that couldn't be fixed? Yeah, that sounded like the Maqui Hope had heard a lot about. That reminded him...he still needed to try and find a way to acquire some of Lebreau's cookies sometime too... Though it seemed Maqui had brought a "Cookie" along with him, technically. Hope peered at the bird for a moment before turning back to the two men and Maqui's attempts to deflect praise. No one should have ever doubted that Maqui was Snow's protege. He could almost hear the much larger man speaking the same words...albiet with a little more "hero" and probably some "save the day"s thrown in for good measure.

Hope's business here wouldn't keep him long, but he really wanted to hear about New Bodhum and NORA from Maqui. One could imagine his surprise when he finally asked what brought Maqui all the way out here and he said he'd left the shoreline town. Hope blinked a few times and sat down on a clean tool chest, listening to the other man's exposition on his reasoning for leaving and how it had been hard to leave his family and...Hope couldn't help but notice that was probably how he felt, too, when he and the other l'Cie had become so separated prior to Vanille and Fang's awakening. Hope had been forced to move onto bigger things during that time, and while he was disappointed that his work sometimes kept him away from his extended family, he knew that he'd made the right choice in focusing on his studies and joining the Academy. This way, he could help bring everyone back to more normal lives again...once that happened, he could afford to spend time with them. "I understand completely," Hope responded, in between Maqui's sentences.

The wheels began turning when Maqui mentioned needing a job. Hope didn't want to go stepping on any toes, because someone might have already been interested in offering Maqui a job, but of all the people who merited being payed for the ridiculously skilled labor they performed, Maqui would have been at the top of the list. He ignored the thought for the time being, though, and shrugged a little as Maqui mentioned Hope's work. "I do know crazy... I've actually been working on something Serah would be interested in if I knew a way to contact her properly. At least, we can know she's safe," Hope stated, getting a thoughtful look in his eyes. "It's a device that allows us to view other times and places. Serah herself helped one of my assistants make a breakthrough that allowed us to develop it. We're at a trial-and-error-stage now...but we've been able to use it to keep track of Serah and...Noel, I believe. They're both safe." The Oracle Drive had been exactly what Hope needed when he heard that Serah had left in one of those strange time gates along with the mysterious Pulsian man. Hope didn't know quite what to make of everything yet, but at the very least, he could try to ensure that the younger Farron was safe and make whatever changes he could with the Academy to aid in her time-traveling. Hope had a feeling that if Serah and Noel were successful...they might be a step closer to finding Lightning.

Realizing he was probably boring Maqui to death with his magical mumbo-jumbo, Hope decided to change the subject. Now seemed as good of a time as any to bring up the job situation. Pausing long enough to decide what exactly he should say, Hope rubbed at a callous on his fingers. "Maqui, do you have any job offers lined up?"

Words - 721
Muse - Excellent.
Notes - Sorry it's short...again. u.u[/size]

[Maqui]

How was he doing? Homesick, missing his friends, his family, the familiarity of everything around him, being in his own element, the whole works. Really though, it wasn’t like he couldn’t go back. Nah, he could pack up and go back this exact minute if he really wanted to, and sometimes he did want to. “Me? Oh I’m good! This place is kinda overwhelming, ya know? Not like New Bodhum, that’s for sure, but I guess I’ll have to get used to it here at some point. The gadgets make it easier, because some of the systems they have here fascinate me.” Maqui had only been here for a day and already he missed them something terrible, but he’d also met quite a few people and this fixing of the hoover for this shop owner might have been his big break here in Academia. Maqui wanted to make a go of it by himself. For heaven sake, it wasn’t like he could hold onto NORA forever. No, he’d have his own place one day, make it a nice place, but for now, he needed to build up a name for himself as well as his money supply. As much as he’d like it, money didn’t grow on trees. Of course, saving had always served him well too. And of course, he could survive anywhere as long as he had Cookie and some of Lebreau’s cookies, which of course he had. Maqui had seen her cook before, but he’d never seen so many cookies as that day before he had left. They’d filled the whole kitchen, bags everywhere you laid your eyes, and most of them had been stuffed into his luggage. Who needed clothes when you could have food?

Finally giving Hope some time to talk, Maqui absent mindedly picked up a tool and started playing with it, twirling it around in his fingers as he listened to Hope go on about the crazy stuff he was working on. Maqui figured out of most people he knew, Hope was one of the only ones that could actually appreciate the work he did, as well as the importance of inventing and mechanics. He caught what he said, about getting in contact with her, and found himself nodding along. “I didn’t like leaving her in the hands of that Noel guy. He seemed…well alright, I suppose, but Serah’s special to all of us back at NORA, and to see her just run off with some strange guy nearly gave me a heart attack. I can’t imagine what it did to Gadot. Thought he was gonna mash the guys face in when he suggested taking Serah along.”

The project he was working on interested him greatly. Stopping the fiddling with the tool he had in his hands, Maqui gave the younger man his full attention. The ability to see different times and places…that was some heavy stuff, and his interest was peaked. He wished he could get his hands on that machine to see just how it was they had made it. Having something in his own hands always helped him to get a clear image of what it consisted of. Pondering slightly, he scratched his head, spreading some grease into his blonde hair and then looked back at him. “That sounds great, actually. I’d like to see that some day, just to see how it was made, and just what you had to do to get something like that up and running.” In the back of his mind, he was already picturing what he thought it might look like, a faraway look on his face. He was also glad when Hope mentioned Serah’s safety. “Good. Went to school with her, ya know. She was always smarter then me,” he said with a grin. That was why she was a teacher anyway. (With just a high school diploma >_>) Then again, Maqui hadn’t had the time to spend on classes like English. Nah, he’d been too busy working on his projects.

Lost in thought about inventions, the past, and high school, Maqui once again found himself drifting off instead of paying attention, and almost missed what it was that Hope had said. “Huh? What’d ya say? Ohh, work? Nah. I actually just got here yesterday, I haven’t applied or really looked around yet. I’m sure I’ll find something, since I’m not picky, ya know? As long as I get a bit of free time to work on some projects, I don’t mind just doing this easy stuff on the side,” he said, waving his hand around the big hoovers that still lined the shop.

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Words:; 955
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Hope
Outfit:; The one I linked
Location:; Academia - Shop
Notes:; :3
Listening too:; Skillet - Yours to hold

[Hope Estheim]

There was little else Hope could do as Maqui rattled off his chatter freely but nod and look amused. He could understand completely Maqui's plight, too. Even Hope, a city boy, had taken quite a while to get used to this massive and still-growing city that sat on the previously abandoned world of Gran Pulse. Hope was certain there were still parts of this city even he hadn't seen in his almost seven years of living within it. Palumpolum had been one of Cocoon's largest trade cities if not the largest...but all of Gran Pulse's trading took place in this one metropolis. The scale of it would have been unimaginable if Hope didn't see it daily with his own eyes. And all Maqui had ever known was the quiet shorelines of Bodhum and New Bodhum, where everyone knew everyone else and NORA patrolled with their friendly, everyone-included style. The culture shock he was going through...well, Maqui probably couldn't even understand it all quite yet. But Maqui's talents would let him fit right in...perhaps even moreso than the mechanic realized just yet. "You're dealing with a massive change, so I don't doubt you'll be overwhelmed for quite a while, unfortunately," Hope told him, somewhat apologetically. "If you ever need any help finding your way, don't hesitate to drop by headquarters. The receptionists wouldn't mind putting aside a few minutes to provide you with some direction." It was a small offer, but when it came to this massive city, the Academy was the best directory - free directory - to be found.

While Hope had heard about NORA's distaste for the time traveler who had come and convinced Serah to leave with him, he didn't actually know the hows or whys of the whole situation, a problem which he could now rectify. He listened intently to Maqui's words, nodding when he mentioned Serah was important to them. Serah was someone whom Hope had never...well, properly met. Though he felt like he should know her explicitly, considering all he'd heard from Snow and Light about her, they'd only really had a handful of chats - mostly about Lightning's disappearance - before they'd had to go their separate ways. Yet Hope still felt undoubtedly concerned for her, for his sake, for Snow's sake, for NORA's sake, and most clearly for Lightning's sake, wherever she was. So he genuinely hoped this Noel knew what he was doing...because losing Serah would hurt Hope as much as it would hurt NORA, he knew. That was why Hope needed to make sure he kept a watch over their travels, and maybe find a way to help them even more in the future.

He did have to smirk about Gadot, though. He and Snow were always looking out for each other, so having Serah agree to leave the safety of New Bodhum with another man? Noel must have done something impressive not to have Gadot actually wail on him. "That certainly sounds like Gadot. I think...I hope...all of you were right to let Serah leave with him, though. His arrival coincides with the appearance time gates all over Gran Pulse perfectly. He knows something beyond what we all know, though whether he can truly lead Serah to Lightning...I have no idea." But they would all have to put faith in things they didn't fully understand these days...that way the only way to survive in this new world dominated by the aforementioned gates, portals and mysterious worlds. Coming out of that thought, he blinked a few times when Maqui mentioned that he wanted to see the Oracle Drive up-close. "The Drive is basically a prototype for now, but once we get all of the tests properly run and ensure it's completely safe, I'll beat a few of the other researchers aside to let you take a look. After all, it might inspire you." Hope doubted that Serah actually being smarter than Maqui was actually true...not that it was a shot against Serah, as she was a genius in her own areas. She was a schoolteacher. Maqui was likely always more concerned with his machines in school than with his grades. Hope figured that the difference was merely in interest.

And therein was a small problem for Hope if he wanted to propose that Maqui work for the Academy. The Academy technically could only hire the best of the best - which meant those people that graduated from the university with the highest grades. Hope had always found that narrow-minded...there were plenty of brilliant people out there who had never been as focused on school as they had been on those things that made them qualify as brilliant. Maqui's machines were the best example Hope had come across. But Hope, hearing Maqui didn't have anything yet, was pretty determined to lend the older man a hand. It was beneficial both for the Academy and for Maqui himself. "If I was to mention your working at least part time as a machinist for the Academy...what would you have to say to that?", Hope asked, with the shadow of a smile, getting straight to the point.

Words - 937
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - I actually got some length here! Yaaaay![/size]

[Maqui]

Yeah, the place overwhelmed him. Having grown up in Bodhum, and then having lived the past years in New Bodhum, both sleepy little seaside towns, to come here was…well shocking to say the least. Still, despite being hesitant to talk to all the strangers, and a little hesitant to do anything, he couldn’t help but dive right into some work. Some of the gadgets he’d seen around the city peaked his interest so much that he had taken out a screwdriver and had taken it all apart, standing right there on some busy street. It had all gone great and he’d just gotten it all apart to look and see how it ran so smoothly, when an officer had stopped and barked at him to ask what the ‘hell are you doing?!’, startling him and almost making him drop some important parts he’d been holding. Well the man hadn’t had to get his boxers in a bundle anyway, Maqui could put it together easily, no sweat, which he had promptly done under the guidance of the officer, who wouldn’t know what a bolt looked like if he was smacked in the head with it, which was a bit frustrating. Sometimes people could fluster him easily. If that had happened back in NORA, he would have been able to retreat back to his shop and not had to worry about dealing with people, but here it was like being fed to the sharks. Everywhere you went there were people there staring at him, making his skin crawl at times.

The offer Hope gave him made a relieved smile lift onto his features, before he nodded to show Hope just how happy he was that the younger man had asked. “I’ll take you up on that Hope! You don’t understand how much a familiar face means to me to see in this place. I haven’t met anyone I knew up until just now. And it’s, well like I said, different from everything I grew up with.” Even if he could find his way around in this huge place, Maqui would probably take him up on that offer just to see a familiar, friendly face again, especially if he didn’t find anyone else he knew, which he doubted he would. Everyone he knew was back in New Bodhum, where he was still pining for. But hey, this place had to have some good things, right? He just had to find them all! He wouldn’t turn down a friend if Hope was willing however. Armed with some of Lebreau’s cookies, he doubted anyone would turn down friendship anyway, so that was a secret weapon if nothing else.

With how much he talked, subjects jumped quickly, and before he knew it they were on the subject of Serah, Hope’s gadgets, the stranger Noel and time gates. Quite a bit to digest, but Maqui had seen time the time gates he was talking about. He would like to see this Drive of Hope’s though. Nodding again, Maqui’s eyes followed Cookie roaming the shop before he put in his two cents worth on the subject. “Well, Serah took Lightning’s disappearance hard. I guess I didn’t know Lightning all that well, she always scared everybody,” he admitted a little sheepishly. Maqui had hung out with Serah plenty, but every time her older sister was mentioned he hadn’t been able to run fast enough to get away. Despite that, seeing Serah sad about it had weighed heavily on his mind. Even Snow hadn’t been able to cheer her up all the time, but then he’d gone off and left them. And once more he floated back to reality when Hope started telling him about the machine he had made and was working on. Maqui’s interest couldn’t have been captured any more then it was now, blue eyes large as he stared intently at Hope before a small smile started on his lips, widening until it was practically splitting his face. “Oh gosh Hope, ya mean it? I’d love to take a look! I’ve been studying about the time gates and knocked around my own little ideas on what might be causing them, but I didn’t get too far on it before I ran into some problems. Not having the right materials and time, so I’d beat off a few researchers myself if I could look!”

The thought excited him greatly, his eyes shining still with a desire to see something that was a challenge to understand. Besides, if he had one project that big, he was bound to have others that he could look at and oogle. Maqui wouldn’t have to stick his fingers into them, but it never hurt anything to look. So lost in thinking about what all he might see, Maqui didn’t notice that Hope had offered him a job for a moment. Blinking then, he cocked his head to the side, wondering if he was serious. “A job…at…oh man, I thought ya had to go to a university and all that good stuff to work at a place as fancy as yours.” Maqui couldn’t help but feel the red that crept up the back of his neck, which usually happened when he felt someone was praising his abilities. “Well…that’d be, I mean, I-…well sure! I’d love to! At least as long as you don’t mind that I just finished high school and didn’t go to college or anything.” Maqui hadn’t ever felt embarrassed about that up until now. His skill dealt with working with his hands, not reading books and taking tests. Retaining that sort of stuff had never been a strong suit of his, but when it came to machines, he could take it all apart and rebuild it without a problem. College hadn’t really been an option anyway. You needed some rich parents to do that, and he’d been severely lacking in the rich parents department.

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Words:; 1189
Muse:; Good!
Tagged:; Hope
Outfit:; That one I linked?
Location:; Academia
Notes:; Ick. This was bad XD Oh well, it'll do!
Listening To:; Goodbye to you - Breaking Point

[Hope Estheim]

"And if you ever feel the need to escape the clutter of the city, my place is always available. Even if I'm not around, you may run into Vanille there, or more rarely, Fang." Hope felt good that he could help an old ally in such a hands-on way. He'd gotten used to toiling with Serah and Lightning and Snow all at such a distance, but with Maqui he could offer genuine, tangible assistance and see the results of that assistance immediately. Of course,he wasn't building Oracle Drives to keep tabs on Maqui or anything of the sort, but in this city, a little solace and direction could go quite far. Besides, Hope was happy to have even more friends around the city. Lately, it was mostly just him, Vanille and Fang (when she actually came into the city). It would be good to know that Maqui was around out there too, especially because it provided Hope with another person he could discuss things with, and when it came to Maqui, Hope wouldn't get funny looks when he tried to explain his projects.

Hope had to grin a little at Maqui's comment about Lightning. She probably was pretty scary to NORA, wasn't she? If she could be scary to Hope at first - a boy whom she had no real reason to hold anything against aside from his low constitution - then she was probably really scary to the group that surrounded Snow, the hated boyfriend of Light's sister. "I think it was always her protectiveness of Serah that made her scary," Hope idly commented, able to think back to the day they'd found Serah turning into crystal in the Pulse Vestige and her clear disdain for Snow. And now the man and his wife to be were headed out to help find Lightning instead...it was funny how much things could change. "I know she would appreciate everything NORA did for Serah before she left with Noel. People tell me all the time about their visits to New Bodhum or about relatives living there. They have nothing but good things to say."

Wow...Maqui had taken it upon himself to look into the time gates? That was worth merit in and of itself, even if he didn't have the resources to properly study one (even the Academy barely did for the longest time). Hope was about to ask him if he'd found anything particular before he'd hit the proverbial wall, but the shop owner stepped back to them to mention he had the order in place and needed Hope to sign. The director scribbled his name for the umpteen hundredth time onto the bottom of clipboard he'd been handed and thanked the shop owner, who slowly started returning to the front desk, mumbling something happily about how rarely it was that people appreciated good parts over industrialized supplies. Hope simply shrugged lightly at Maqui and decided what he didn't need to do was simply ask Maqui about his findings with the time gates...he needed to make it so he could work with the older fellow on studying them.

Getting around the educational issues would be a minor problem, Hope believed. "It shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm not the head of the engineering department, but I could hire you as a personal aide, so to speak, to work on most of our research projects, which are the most important of late anyway," Hope assured, thoughtfully rubbing at his chin and trying to decide on the best way to secure Maqui's employment in a way that wouldn't have Hope having a duel with the rest of the Academy board of directors. A thought occurred to him. "We have a written test people have to take, but it's specifically designed for people who have graduated from the university. It covers subjects you'd know about, but in Academy-specific terms... I believe if I proposed a demonstration with you showing off one of your machines, though, we wouldn't have any issues." Nodding to himself, Hope glanced back down at Maqui. "Would that be the best for you? I'm sure you'll be under some pressure."

Words - 764
Muse - Great!
Notes - Bland post is bland.[/size]

[Maqui]

Well…that would be nice. Just somewhere to go. Right now, despite doing alright for himself after coming to the city, he didn’t quite feel at home here. At all. Actually, Maqui felt somewhat like a sore thumb. Perhaps it was the way he dressed. Back in Bodhum, and New Bodhum, people dressed however they wanted to, fashion didn’t dominate that at all. Here though…he had noticed the trends, and though he did think them slightly ridiculous, he had been getting strange looks. Was it the machine gun he packed with him? The blue chocobo that followed at his heels everywhere he went? Or was it the headphones? Well whatever it was, Maqui felt like he should constantly be checking to see if he had spilled something down the front of his shirt. Then he had to remind himself that Snow wouldn’t give a darn about what other people were wearing, he would still go around with his chest showing material. Snow…Maqui missed Snow. Maybe he would see him again in the future. Maybe… And Vanille and Fang? Maqui knew of them of course, and he had seen them once or twice, but he didn’t really know anything about them, other then what he had been told by people. From what he had heard, Vanille sounded easy to get along with, while Fang? Not so much. But either way, it was people that knew those that he did. That common ground would help staying with the people not so awkward, especially if he could just keep his nose in some invention. Engines were a lot nicer sometimes then people were to hang around, that was for sure. “Okay! I might take you up on that, at least if the city gets to be a bit much. You always have food there too, right?” Maybe it wouldn’t be Lebreau’s home cooking, but it had to be edible at the very least.

Maqui had to admit that Hope probably had a point. If he’d had a sibling, he would be protective of them too. But he didn’t comment on it, because honestly, his mind had moved onto another subject quickly. Hearing about Hope’s time gate work and the things he was doing in that academy of his from Serah, Maqui had been itching to take a look himself. Not that he would just barge right in an-…okay, so he might barge right in and take a look, even if they didn’t want him to. Could he help being a curious person? No! He couldn’t! But the real reason he had started to look in on it, wasn’t just because of his own curiosity, but also because Serah had been so distraught about Lightning. Of course, they had tried to persuade her that Lightning wasn’t with them anymore, but…Maqui had always wondered about it himself. The others had been so sure…but what if his young friend was right? So he had set out to study the time gates after they had appeared.

And though Hope had offered to let him crash there at his place, and had offered to let him see what he was working on, the offer for a job still floored him. Standing there, a bit uncertain, the blonde nervously scratched his head. Would the fact that he hadn’t gone to a fancy college and gotten a higher education hold him back now? He had done somewhat well for himself, at least in his own eyes, over the years without it, but building things and fixing things for a smaller scale organization like NORA had to be a lot easier then making the grand scale things that they were making in the Academy. Then again, he had already done much of what they were doing there, in his own way. It all started with tinkering, and of course, it would take time to learn how to do some things he had never been as good with. Like…well...he supposed there had to be mechanic things that he wasn’t good at. Just because he hadn’t ever run across something he couldn’t do, didn’t mean there weren’t things out there that would stump him.

What Hope suggested sounded alright to him. Maqui didn’t know what he would do if he had a lab and a fancy place all to himself anyway, and he had rarely worked alongside others when it came to research and inventing. That was something that he had always done to get away from people. Working not as a main researcher would settle just fine with him. Fiddling with his headset, Maqui felt a bit of apprehension when Hope mentioned written tests. It wasn’t that he was inept at them, just…apprehensive. Usually when he had a piece of paper in front of him asking him a bunch of questions, his brain overloaded and then went blank, leaving him to stare at the paper like it was some two headed monster out to get him. To say he was nervous was…well yes, he was nervous. A ‘whoosh’ of breath left his lungs – one he hadn’t even realized he was holding- when Hope mentioned a demonstration instead of a written test. Maqui still got nervous having to do things in front of people he had never met before, but it was always a whole heck of a lot easier to do that then to stare at the paper blankly. A relieved – if not even weak – smile reached his lips. “That sounds great! I don’t…do so well with tests,” he said a bit nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “But a demonstration…well that should be fine,” he said bravely, still not quite so sure. He knew who he would be demonstrating in front of, and it wasn’t going to be his high school instructors either. These men had probably all gone through some fancy dancy college for researching and the whole nine yards, and here he was-…well, best not to think about it. If Hope thought he could do it, then he must be able to. Right?

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Words:; 1205
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Hope
Outfit:; That one!
Location:; Academia
Notes:; I...I didn't notice you had posted here ;-;
Listening To:; Dad attempting to play the piano xD

[Hope Estheim]

"Plenty of food all the time," Hope answered Maqui, with a light chuckle. NORA's home base had basically been a cafe for years now, so it was understandable Maqui would be concerned about where the food would be coming from now that he was in Academia. The Academy probably didn't have food as good as what a person could find in a small-town cafe, but it would do, especially if Maqui was finding trouble in the city and needed just a couple of good meals for a day if he didn't care to go scraping around for one otherwise. And there were always plenty of people around the Academy more than willing - some too willing - to help strangers when they arrived. If Maqui found anything less than the best assistance at the Academy even when Hope wasn't around, it would be a complete shock to Hope.

Then again, if Maqui was working for the Academy he would be having that help daily, wouldn't he? And vice-versa - the Academy would be receiving Maqui's very own unique brand of assistance if Hope could make this whole idea of him working for them fly. It wouldn't be too hard to get them to put him on payroll of Hope was hiring a personal aid, especially if he let a few of the members of the research board see what Maqui could do. What Maqui could do was better than what any three Academy engineers combined could do, in reality, but he knew some of the researchers would cite regulations and moan and complain that Maqui didn't have proper safety code authorization if he didn't take the tests. So, Hope would assign him onto side projects, which had lately been just as, if not more, important than the bulk projects. Graviton core studies, AI studies...all things Hope would be thrilled to have Maqui help him with in the long run, especially since Maqui would definitely think of things Hope wouldn't have considered trying since he was university-trained. It just sounded like the right idea, and no longer did Hope have to worry about yanking Maqui out of his comfort zone in New Bodhum. The older man was here already.

And he sounded as if he was up for the task of a demonstration. Hope gave him a pleased nod. "A demonstration wouldn't be too much of a show, though you'll be under some scrutiny. You'll only need to show one of your machines and explain the parts and process you used to build it, and probably answer a few questions. If I'm convincing enough, I can probably limit the list of questions....so it won't be a constant stream of 'well, at the university'," Hope explained, with a light roll of his eyes. Yes, some of the people at the Academy could undoubtedly disgust him sometimes with their snooty ways. Hope himself was sometimes even bothered for having ambitious ideas or spending time with Vanille at the Academy or hiring individuals the Academy didn't feel met their all-too-high standards. Elitism was a big problem sometimes at the Academy, and something Hope had been pushing back against the whole time he'd been research director. The Academy was for the growth of society, wasn't it, so why only have certain members of society be a part of it? It only made sense to him.

"Would sometime next week be fine with you? I can schedule the demonstration most any time, so...next Friday? It would give you some time to work and plan if you needed it." Plus, Hope was free save for Oracle Drive work the next Friday. It worked just fine for him, too, and there was no chance he wasn't going to be around for Maqui's demonstration so he could make sure the whole process wasn't unfair to Maqui. Knowing some of those jealous researchers... "I'll have to be heading back up...", Hope relented, as he trotted towards Maqui, pulling a card with his number out of a pocket on his jacket. "But call and let me know when and what time you'll be setting up so I can schedule it officially. If I'm not around, Alyssa can help you as easily as I can. I'll tell her to be expecting a call from you." Hope was going to make this work one way or another. Maqui was too brilliant for him not to...

And imagine the stories he'd be able to tell NORA if this all worked out as well as Hope expected it to.

Words - 827
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Same as Fang thread? We can have a quick word on where to go/how to end/chicken pot pie?[/size]