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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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.

[ Her brow knits. ]

Useless? Why, what's been happening?

Nothing- that's the problem. Usually when I want to go somewhere I can just say that I want to be there and I will be. But no matter how much I try, I can't get myself home.

[ ... sympathy tugs at her heart. Just seeing that look on his face... ]

Billy... listen. Did you hear about... [ She pulls out her journal, searching in the back for the guide that was mentioned to her. She scans it, quickly, then seemingly having found what she was looking for, she glances back up at him. ] The barrier? I mean - have you read about what it does to -- powers?

Yeah... I noticed that. My powers aren't as strong here as they used to be. It takes more effort to get spells going, and afterwards I feel more tired than I should. I tried to break the barrier, too, but that didn't work either.

[And he tried for hours. It is some solid stuff, even for the son of a woman who can recreate the entire goddamn world.]

[ A soft breath out. ]

Listen to me. Okay? You're not useless, and your powers aren't, either. You're trying to do something that I think is impossible for any of us. [ ... ] You don't have to be the exception to that, Billy. Reality bending witch powers or not. [ With some humor. ]

... I mean, I guess that means anything I do won't help, either. [ Somewhat thoughtfully. ] But it can't hurt to keep trying. Just -- you know. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts." [ A faint smile. ] You know who said that?

[His eyes widen at her words, growing more and more surprised as she speaks. He... really hadn't expected that. At all. And in a way, it's exactly what he needed to hear; he's always been the negative one, the one full of sarcasm and self-deprecating commentary. Teddy was the one who'd encouraged him when he needed it, and... Teddy's not here.

This? This is nice. And she doesn't even know him.

For a moment, he can't speak. And when he finally finds the words, all he can manage is a stammer.]

N... no, I don't. But I like the sound of it.

Winston Churchill.

[ Her smile widens a little at the look on his face. She's glad that got through. She's really not great shakes at motivational speeches. ]

... you're ... kind of a natural worrier, aren't you? Stop. It's okay to stop, sometimes. Even if you're a super hero. [ A beat ] It's just... I grew up thinking the impossible was just stuff we didn't know how to do yet. So you know what I'm going to do?

[ The corner of her mouth quirks, and she laces her fingers together, leaning her arms on the table. ]

I think, tomorrow, I'm going to the library. And I'm going to see if they have anything about, I don't know, medicine. And also astrophysics. Maybe there's something local to this -- this world, this planet, whatever it is, that I can learn. That's new. Just because you hit a wall doesn't mean you can't go sideways, right?

[Oh, that makes sense. He was good at that, wasn't he- the whole inspiration thing.

He considers that for a moment, then nods, a small smile creeping across his expression. Okay, he officially likes this Jane. She may not be the one who patched him up during the war, but she's pretty cool.]

I like the sideways idea, you run into a door eventually. [God. Oh god that was lame. Now he's talking like his mother. No, worse, he's talking like those stupid self-help books Teddy made him read. So embarrassing.] So you want to give medicine a shot?

[ Don't feel bad, Billy. That gets her to grin. ] Something like that.

And yeah, I guess. I mean, it can't hurt, right? I don't think I'll be fully qualified as a nurse in, you know, a week or two, but -- I thiiiink I'm going to need to diversify a little, in a place like this. [ She looks away, briefly, then back at him and shrugs. ] And if I was a nurse in one universe, maybe I can pull it off in two.

[He'll just be over here sharing that grin, don't mind him.]

Speaking from experience, you definitely have a healer's touch. Or the potential for it, I guess. I think you'd be good at it.

A healer's touch. That is -- so weird. Not a bad thing! Just... [ Shakes her head. ] This is surreal. But still worth a shot. So, hey, um. [ Her smile quirks. ] Chin up, okay?

[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

[action] yeah, that's what I thought. B)

[action] wow you are mean to me

[action] ME? YOU WERE THE ONE CHANTING HORRIBLY SAD THINGS.

[action] I was just quoting my character don't be mad bro

[action] your sad, sad sack of a character.

[action] at least he's in luceti now where nothing horri- ...oh

[action] .... 8| you're terrible.

[action] like anyone is surprised

[action] yeah, no, not really.

[action] you're mean too don't even

[action] I don't know what you're talking about.