acatalepsy_rpg | video, after the caverns

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video, after the caverns

So, correct me if I'm wrong about this.

[Hank doesn't bother with an intro, just starts right on in. The angle he's holding his wrist shows both his face and the stick he's dragging along the wall behind him, which has been in a fire at some point in the recent past and leaves a long black trail of ash over the wall as he walks.]

But when all you heroes trooped into the haunted caves under the mysterious freaky lake the communication plan was along the lines of, 'gee, if someone gets their feet ate off by some freaky bullshit I sure do hope they yell real loud so I can get there before they bleed out' right? I mean, I trust you guys know to make a post letting us all know if you need backup, but what if this- [Here the screen shakes as Hank wiggles his wrist, indicating the watch] -gets busted, or stolen, or whatever?

I don't know, I was just thinking, next time a bunch of us, or just anyone, goes into something that might get bad there should be some kind of post stuck to the top of our feed that we could all check, just something like this-

[He stops walking, still talking as he starts to scratch a little list in ash onto the wall beside him.]

Hey, I wonder how little Suzy's doing. Oh, she checked in an hour ago, she's probably fine.

[He writes Suzy on the wall, and a checkmark next to her name.]

How about JimBob the Murder Bot? Oh, he hasn't checked in for about seven hours, I should take someone to go look for him.

[Next to JimBob the Murder Bot he doodles a little skull. Sorry Jimbo, it's hard out there for a figurative probably-dead robot. Better luck next time.]

Or maybe you guys would rather do some kinda daily role call like in school or, hell, maybe it's just more fun to lone wolf your way through all this world saving shit, what do I know. Decide amongst yourselves. I might be around, I might not. Just thought I'd throw this out there. I'm gonna go eat.

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[Oh. That wasn't the answer she expected really, given Connor himself seemed fairly comfortable being termed an android.]

I see. Then perhaps Astoria shall indulge you are some point and whisk us away to Detroit.

What, you think that was me bragging?

[Hank shakes his head, running his tongue over his teeth.]

How many rounds of this whole, uh, multidimensional hero bullshit have you done? I was thinkin Detroit in twenty thirty eight might be a little much for you but I heard the last place you all went was a whole city full of robots. A planet full of em. So, uh. I guess you got any freaking out over with a long time ago, huh?

Only two at present. And I daresay if Detroit is anything like that place, I should feel fairly at home ... as long as not large storms present themselves.

[That said, Elizabeth laughs a little.]

Perhaps. Or it is entirely possible we might stumble upon some place in the future that might cause me more 'freaking out', as you put it.

Yeah? Well you'd still be one up on me, if I was from way back when, two rounds in I'd still be fuckin losing it, used to big weird future cities or not. How do you deal? Do you just... You just kind of accept that it can't be real, or...

[Or what? He doesn't know. He doesn't. It'd be real great if there was some kind of other option, one that actually made sense.]

[Ah. Elizabeth's brow furrows and for once she actually looks uncertain.]

I own that it was not an easy thing to adapt to. We barely found ourselves here before we were wisked away to a completely new world. There was a great deal I had to learn and I wager there is even more I could learn even now.

[And given Elizabeth is the sort to mask discomfort with jokes and teasing, a great deal of what turmoil she did and still does feel has been more reserved for quieter, lonelier moments.

But...]

I would think this was a dream if it were not half as fantastical as it is. Despite being a prodigious reader, my dreams have never been so vivid as to call forth people who can traverse through space or robot men who behave in more gentlemanly ways than some humans! No, calling all of this a dream simply won't do.

So I have set my mind about another task. If I am to be here then I will be capable of experiencing a great deal more than I would at home. If I am to experience new things then I shall do so wholeheartedly and at my own discretion when I am capable of such.

[At that, she gives a teasing smile.]

I also have a very vexing temperament. Any intimidation only causes my courage to rise, you see.

[Hank's gaze kind of glues itself to the screen as she talks. Then when she starts to finish up he sags, looking down and then back up again with a tiny, crooked smile.]

Yeah, I guess that'd help. Too bad that's not the kind of thing you can teach, huh?

[He looks down again, lips pursed. Whatever. Asking for advice was probably always gonna be a crapshoot.]

You got it, though - this is too weird to not be a dream, but it's too- too real to be one, too. Too much. Too much of it. But, fuck, uh, I guess it won't matter when shit starts to kick off - whenever that turns out to be. If my batch of newbies didn't just fuck the whole system up with that weird sickness shit and we're just stuck here forever.

I don't believe it was your group. In Struxta there was a storm ravaging the lands. It almost felt like, to myself at least, that whatever caused that brought illness upon us. Or something happened to Astoria, the supposed goddess who brought us all here.

[That said, Elizabeth's brow furrows.]

I am unsure just what has happened to her, of course. The illness itself was certainly real enough.

Yeah, from what she said I was kind of assuming whatever brought us in without her say-so was the same thing that kicked everyone's ass with that death-flu shit. It could of been just her - uh, her powers- [That's so stupid, it's stupid, he still can't quite make himself talk about magic powers - even without using that m-word - with a totally serious tone, like it's a real and serious thing.] -fucking up, but that didn't feel like what she told us was going on, unless she was just lying to us for whatever reason.

I have never felt that she was a liar.

...I cannot say I have had the best record of spotting liars from those who are far more truthful however.

Oh yeah? Well I’m usually not that bad at it, but here? Fuck, I don’t know. Does anything even count as a lie when everything here’s just stupid, unreal bullshit?

[Elizabeth does agree with his point to an extent but before she can make mention of that, she has to ask one thing. After clearing her throat.]

Are you always this... colorful with your words as well, sir?

What? Oh, you mean the- Well, I don't know, I don't really think about it.

[One corner of his lips curls up.]

Why, you mean to tell me they don't say 'fuck' in ye olde high society?

[She can't help but smile a little in reply.]

Perhaps they do but certainly not around ladies. Or at least not in the portion of society I frequent.

Well, uh- [He takes a slow breath, thinking, and shrugs.] -I could substitute somethin, if you want. Censor myself or some shit.

[He looks wry, amused for a second.]

No promises though. I mean, obviously I'm gonna be real good at it.

[She laughs pleasantly, somehow amused by the offer. It strikes her as just as absurd of a situation as the magic or anything else about this place.]

If you might attempt to reduce your language by perhaps half, I am of the inclination to be perfectly tolerable to the other half, sir.

[At home, yes, she would be more than a little scandalized by such talk. Here? Why the rules flew right out the window.
Adaptability was key and Elizabeth felt no need to cling to that which stifled her from making connections in what would otherwise be a very friendless place for her.]

Half. Okay, uh, maybe I can do that. [He still, for the record, looks amused.] That's the first time anyone's ever asked me that. And usually they're kinda pi- uh, mad when they do it. I guess you really are pretty good with this brave new world and shit, all the weird stuff.

Admittedly I would be much harsher if I were at home. Given the circumstances though, it does not seem quite fair to punish you -- or others -- for customs they do not know.

[A beat, then she asks curiously.]

So this is not common place where you are from then? To speak in such... colorful ways?

Well, at the station? Fu- uh, yeah. [He grins, a little cheered from his earlier thoughts about her adaptability and his pretty total lack of it by the spectacle of his own struggle to censor himself.] Heck yeah.

At a school though, or uh, a church? Or talking to the press? There are always places you've gotta tone it down a little. I mean, I haven't been in any of those places in uh, a hell of a long time, but. They're there. And there are always people who got a big old stick rammed right up their- [He raises his eyebrows at the screen, grins, then shrugs.] I bet that's true where you're from, too. Not that much has changed.

So, back home. You'd get that mad at people for havin a dirty mouth? Is it that bad?

[She seems firm in her conviction as she speaks.]

It is the distinguishing mark between a gentleman and... shall we say, less than gentlemanly. I have never heard any of the men of my acquaintance speak in such a way and I have certainly never heard any of the women do so either.

[There's something oddly amusing about trying to fathom any of the men she knows speaking the way he does. Did they speak like that in their clubs or in the drawing rooms during periods when they socialized with only other men? Did stodgy, stuck-up Mr. Darcy ever utter anything like Hank's voluminous vocabulary?

She huffs out a breath, quirking a smile.]

To speak plainly, you would give my mother a most acute attack of nerves, sir.

[He breathes out a wicked, pleased little laugh.]

Well, scarin little old ladies isn't the worst thing I've ever done. So, do you never hang around the uh, lower classes at all? Not that they don't all make sure to sound all right and proper if you do come around, I bet, but is it gentlemen or nothing? You guys - uh, your mom and you and whoever else - do you never spend time around the kind of people who might accidentally let something slip?

No, not at all.

[She says it in a sort of mystified way at first, as if the very question is strange. She clears her throat after that though, realizing once more how different her own time is compared to most. Or so it seems.]

I somewhat understand that social class is not really much of a consideration in other's times as it is in my own. The idea of engaging with those who are not gentlemen is ... strange to say the least.

[How does she further explain without having to delve into the very fabric of her reality. Trying to comprehend everything you simply take for granted about life is unique and though this is far from the first time she's had to do in her six months here, this is honestly the very time she's had to dwell into it very deeply.]

I believe explaining just how important social class is should take a great deal of time. If I might provide a brief example, there are some who do not consider my family worth their time or notice because my maternal grandfather was a lawyer and thus my mother's side of the family is chiefly engaged in trade.

Edited 2018-11-20 21:25 (UTC)

Well that's some bullshit. Them treating you like that, I mean. Lawyers aren't all inhuman.

[He quirks a smile at the screen - yeah, he knows that's not the point of what she was saying but hey, lawyer jokes - then looks down for a second to think.]

So how do you handle that here? You could just stick to it, you know, if you wanted. I've met at least one lady something-or-other here, there's a princess floating around, probably some kind of prince. But you're not exactly grilling people on their family history ten generations back before you talk to em. Although- [He gestures to himself.] -sometimes someone's, uh, class is probably kinda obvious. But here you are talkin to me no problem. So how do you reconcile that? Do you just pretend everyone's some kind of gentleman back where they come from or what?

[Elizabeth looks off to one side, her expression thoughtful and perhaps a touch... surprised? How had she been able to handle it? She had explained earlier she could take different worlds and different people because of her curiosity. This topic though...]

I believe in the beginning it was in part owed to how I did not have any choice in the matter. As you say, no one questions anyone's lineage or background here. Such matters seem to be trivial in most other worlds -- or so I have gathered so far. If I wished to have information and I wished to carry on then, I must adapt to the world and society around me even if it should contradict what I have known.

[And yet...]

While I have no trouble in observing the social mores of my time, I own that I do not feel bound to them. And with such things a non-issue here, why should I seek out a continuation of them? No, I am quite glad with how things are fashioned here.

[You would not have a gentleman here who professes such violent love for you and such distaste for your family in the same breath. There would be no compulsion for it.]

So, do as the Romans do, huh? That's real big of you. Now if only the rich people back where I come from would do the same thing, that'd make life a lot easier.

I wonder if the rich of my own time would as well. I do not have many who I would call wealthy within my circle of acquaintances.

[Sure, her family was of the landed gentry but fairly impoverished as far as that went.]

And I fear those who are might prove trying company.

[She's putting her complicated feelings for Mr. Darcy very nicely.]

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fuck1ngusernam3 - 2018-11-24 12:15 (UTC) - Expand

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