ohmythor | 01 ✴ voice

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01 ✴ voice

[ It takes Jane a long while to settle down to this first ... whatever. Video? Journal entry? Something. She has clothes - not her own, but clothes nonetheless - and even a small bag of food, to take with her when she goes to find ... well. Someplace to stay. Stay, not live. This won't be home. It can't be.

She sighs heavily, puffing her cheeks out on a hard breath as she flips through the pages. An hour or two of reading have acquainted her with how the system works, as bizarre as it is. She sounds tired, when she speaks, a sort of bone weary ache. ]

Alright. So the journal is some sort of half-book half-iPad technomagical means of communicating, aaaaand this place gives you wings. [ A beat. ] There's a cheesy Red Bull ad in there somewhere, but I'm not going there.

[ A pause. Stay on track for three seconds, why don't you? ]

Sorry, I-- my name is Jane Foster. I'm a astrophysicist with SHIELD, if that means anything to anyone. Well, more like a researcher, but -- anyway. I just really hope that means something to someone. It'd be nice to at least -- I don't know. Have a familiar face from my own world. Or universe. I'm guessing universe.

[ Another pause, shorter. ] So how many versions of Earth are there, here? I'm going to guess at least a dozen. Maybe several dozen, who knows. And probably plenty of other worlds besides. From who knows how many different universes. And yet here we all are. [ She laughs, incredulous and kind of unhappy. ] This place is somehow the special one. I'd just -- love to know how they do it, really. Someone's going to tell me it's magic, and I just--

[ She finally stops, sighing again. ]

Sorry, sorry. Um -- hi. Nice to ... meet all of you, I guess.

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[He winces at that. Actually winces.]

It's... been a long time since the Avengers were founded. Not all of the original members are still around.

[Let's not forget whose mother kind of murdered him. And whose fault that kind-of-sort-of is. Ahem.

Hasty subject change is go-]

I, uh... well. I didn't inherit Thor's powers, I can just mimic them. I actually got the Scarlet Witch's abilities. The reality-bending. That's what my magic is.

[ ... a curl of emotion threads through her gut that she tries to shut down and can't. Is his world the future of hers? Or truly a parallel? Some mix of both?

She wonders about Thor. She tries not to. Considering how different she is from his version of Jane Foster, he might be nothing like the Thor she knows. But she still thinks it. She can't help herself.

It takes her a moment to process that without showing any real outward signs of distress. He seems upset enough as it is, seeing that wince, and she doesn't want to make it harder on him. So she schools herself, and finally just shakes her head. ]

... so you can bend reality, but you model your powers after Thor's? That's ... kind of sweet.

[Inwardly, he's grateful she isn't asking about Thor. He wants to give her good news, exciting news, fun news. How the Avengers are still going strong, how popular and powerful they've become, how they've saved the world countless times.

He doesn't want to tell her how they fell apart, destroyed themselves. How half of them are dead and the other half are fighting each other. How there's a war between super heroes going on right now.

How he has no idea whether Thor is alive or dead but his clone murdered someone just before he got here.

Yeah, there's a lot that he really doesn't want to say right now. Nervously he lifts a hand to rub at one of his ears (a habit he's picked up since the escape from the Cube), both of which are scarred by recently-healed wounds, one at the top, center, and bottom of each lobe.]

Kind of. I've been trying to branch out lately... do my own thing. Find my own hero identity, you know?

[ ... Jane is no fool. She watches him, his silence, his nervous fidgeting, his awkward stops and pauses, and she begins to piece together a story. Nothing complete. But obviously something went wrong, more than just the passage of time wearing on the group itself. Why is his group called the "New Avengers"? Is it just an homage? Or something more? Why is he so nervous about telling her anything related to the "old" Avengers?

What does this mean for her own world, someday?

She takes a breath. And then she smiles, leaning forward again. She can do this, for him. She's the adult of the two. ]

I think that sounds like a good idea. I guess it's sort of like ... an artist. You learn by mimicking other styles, but you start to develop your own after a while.

Edited 2012-05-18 04:50 (UTC)

[He lifts his head at that - taking in her expression, her smile - and after a moment of surprise, his lips curve into a smile as well, obviously grateful. He can't really tell if she was imagining some calamity or if she thought they'd merely disbanded, and at this point he's pretty much just glad he doesn't have to explain everything. It's pretty obvious that some bad things went down if Cap is relying on a ragtag bunch of teenagers, and he has no illusions of how pathetic that looks. Reality-bendy-powers or otherwise.]

That's a good way to look at it. And I'm not complaining- I think the powers of the Scarlet Witch are way cooler than Thor's. No offense to him, of course.

[ That's better. She's glad to see him smile, after where he was just a moment ago. While that is, yes, one of her theories - if there's a second Avengers group, she reasons, something must have happened to the first - she's letting it go. If he ever wants to tell her, he can, but she won't pry it out of him. It isn't really her business, when it comes down to it. So her mouth quirks, and she rolls with it. He even wins a quiet laugh. ]

I'll go ahead and say no offense taken on his behalf. [ Amused. ] Reality-bending sounds pretty intense, anyway. What exactly can you do?

[Her laugh finally breaks him out of the funk, at least for the moment; though he can be overly sensitive at times, he is nothing if not easily placated. Or distracted, what-have-you.

Plus showing off is fun so long as he's not scaring anyone.]

To be honest, I don't even know. I haven't done this long enough to know the limits of my powers yet. I can fly, and I'm working on teleportation, and I can change or summon objects at will. I basically just have to wish for it really hard and it happens.

[Which sounds ridiculous in the hands of a teenager. HE KNOWS.]

[ Excellent. It's nice to see a grin on his face instead of that unhappy nervousness.

Of course, her eyebrows just go uuuup when he describes his powers. ]

That's, um. .... that's ... pretty impressive. [ Making ... kind of a face. Not a bad face, just ... you know. Teenager with the ability to do basically whatever he wants at any time. Unsure how to feel about that. Though she's still smiling. ]

[Aren't you glad he's channeling that into something nice and good-guy like super heroism instead of get-rich-quick schemes?]

And harder than it sounds, to tell the truth. I'm better at it when I'm not under pressure, which isn't a great prerequisite when you're fighting crime or super villains or whatever.

[ Ah. A sympathetic wince. ] Right. Does practice help?

Eventually, yeah. Just took a while to find the right method for getting the spells started. I had help for that, at least.

[FIDGET. Help that he's sorely missing right now, actually. Not for the first time he wishes that Teddy was here. Or at least that he was where Teddy is. Or... something. Yeah.]

The other Young Avengers? [ Her mouth quirks. It's mostly a rhetorical question. ] You think you'll be okay here?

I think so. [He can at least try to be reassuring; he knows that his powers make people nervous sometimes.] I'm getting better at it. Anyway, from what I've heard, this place isn't as dangerous as New York, so it might do me some good to stay here for a while.

It's sort of weird to hear New York being referred to as so dangerous. It wasn't -- I mean, until recently, anyway. You make it sound like a war zone. [ Her mouth pulls to one side. ] But I mean -- other than, you know, some of the, uh, less fortunate things I've heard ... this place does seem pretty nice. Like a quiet country getaway. [ Though there's some incredulity in her expression and tone. ]

[He winces slightly at the mention of war- she's closer to the mark there than he'd like to admit.]

Luceti's not bad, yeah. It's a little boring, I guess, but people find ways to keep busy anyway.

Edited (HTML NO WORKIE ON 3DS, LAME) 2012-05-24 20:51 (UTC)

Yeah? [ She glances off to one side, suddenly, letting out a slow sigh. ] Like what?

Edited 2012-05-25 00:43 (UTC)

Like... socializing, I think. I haven't been here that long, so I can't say what works in the long term, but so far I've met a lot of really interesting people. Other than that, you might be better off asking some veterans.

[ She looks back to him, her smile sort of thoughtful. ] Veterans, huh? Just how long have people been stuck here for?

I was told that some people have been stuck here for around five years. Don't know how true that is, but... I'd trust the source.

[Which is very unsettling, he knows.]

Five -- five years?

[ She leans back in her chair, blowing out a breath and running a hand over her hair. ]

That is not reassuring.

I know. [He sounds about as happy about it as she is.] It's supposed to be totally randomized, though. Some people go home in days, or weeks, or months, or not at all. It sucks, but it comes down to how lucky you are.

I wonder if it's really about luck. Or maybe it's just a randomized process. Who knows.

[ She sighs again, then sits up. ]

Okay, so let me try summarizing everything so far. You and I are from related universes, somehow. We're stuck here, it's completely random if we go home, and also there's experiments. [ ... shrugs a shoulder. ] Did I miss anything?

I... read some things about getting drafted to fight in a war, but... I'm really hoping they skip us on that one.

[He's already played that part, thanks, and he doesn't want to do it again. The price for fighting was almost too high.]

... a war? Are you serious? Against who? Why?

[ Rubs a hand over her mouth. The thought is a chilling one. It's not like she knows how to fight. That's all super hero stuff. She's just ... Jane. Just plain old boring Jane Foster, she who can parse particle data at a glance, but she who could not use a gun or a sword or goddamn anything to save her life. ]

... I'm starting to get the feeling I'm going to need to know more than astrophysics if I want to get by, here.

Something called the Third Party. They want to kill us.

[He leans away in his seat, slumping against the cushion at his back. Man, not even here a month and he's already starting to feel resigned about this whole stupid situation. It's kind of a downer when you're used to being able to get what you want by saying it a lot.]

Well don't look at me, so far magic's been totally useless, too.

[action] it might take some creative editing...

[action] GO FIGHT WIN! take down the skeeviness.

[action] I will do this thing after I'm done making a dorky map

[action] hooray i helped

[action] /clap clap!! also it's young avengers but w/e w/e

[action] oh. oops. it's 6 am, fight me.

[action] my god that is early /fights anyway

[action] I SLEPT. EVENTUALLY.

[action] COLOUR ME IMPRESSED

[action] you know I picked up Children's Crusade today because of you

[action] HAHAHA I LOVE YOU did you enjoy billy's little angstcoaster

[action] I THINK HE HAS GOOD REASON AT LEAST, SOB

[action] yay for complicated families

[action] more like complicated everything

[action] welcome to the life of billy kaplan

[action] i got to the bit about the Cube in the original run, btw. ALL OF MY ENDLESS HORROR.

[action] jkdsfhf oh my god I know isn't it awful, MY POOR BABY AND HIS TRAUMA SOB

[action] iwanthimtogotosleep iwanthimtogotosleep

[action] I WANT YOU TO DIE

[action] S O B NO MY HEART

[action] iwanthimtostopiwanthimtostop

[action] lakthgjbdf NO NO NO god that was just aggressively heartbreaking

[action] he can just cut and cut for days and billy gets to watch

[action] wow no ok that's it ONE MORE WORD OUT OF YOU AND I'M APPING THE WARDEN

[action] ..........................................D8