tushanshu | 10° VIDEO

Entry tags:

10° VIDEO

[There's a pause before Johnny's face appears on the screen, bent over to press the buttons. Once he confirms that the screen is on, he straightens and makes sure he's in frame, wearing very basic clothes.]

Aw, Reed. You shouldn't have! It's a little small, but I admit, I like what you've done with the place.

[He waits a beat, as if Reed might actually respond.]

There are two obvious possibilities for why I'm here. One, the Emperor is a crazed fan who abducted me to find out if The Torch is really as hot as they say he is – I am, by the way – or, two, I'm actually dead, they're lying to me, and I have a motorcycle and a pile of women waiting for me somewhere.

[A split-second pause.] I'll tell you what. If it's the first option? You can come find me. If it's the second, let me know and I'll come find you. Until then? This Fire Sector is like home, sweet home.

Johnny out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Nita's of the opinion that if someone takes something of hers, they need it more than she does, so she doesn't bother locking her doors under ordinary circumstances.]

Hi, Johnny.

[She stands up to her full not-very-impressive height, which makes her several inches shorter than he is. Nita's barefoot and wearing a green-scaled swimsuit, and she's obviously not human, with pointed ears, strangely high-arched eyebrows, and small white wings at each ankle.

What she really wants is a hug, but this isn't her Johnny Storm, so she just offers him a hand to shake.]

I'm Namorita Prentiss.

[He glances around as he enters, giving a quick "hey" as soon as he catches sight of her. Johnny closes the door behind him. Stepping forward, his eyes travel the length of her body and, still smiling, he makes no move to offers his hand. There's a hint of apology on his expression as he replies.]

Johnny Storm, but I guess you already know that. So don't take this personally, but I need to ask what you are and what kind of powers you have before I shake your hand.

[Nita lets her hand fall back to her side, doing a good job hiding how much having another friend reject her hurts. Intellectually, she's aware it's a different Johnny, but it doesn't help much.]

"What" I am? [Kind of a jerky way to phrase it.] I'm Atlantean. I can fly, toss a city bus, and take a punch from Ben Grimm. [She doesn't mention the breathing water thing, because she doesn't consider it a power.]

In my universe, our families go way back. [Leeeeet's not get into details just yet...]

So you were born with your powers.

[He offers the assumption, waiting for her to confirm it. It's not a personal attack so much as it's the Torch being careful. Last he checked, his DNA is messed up and he's swapping powers with his friends. It seems better safe than sorry to risk swapping with someone he doesn't know at all. If she confirms his suspicion, he'll offer his hand to shake.]

In your universe? What do you mean? You're friends with Sue?

Yeah. [Nita's not sure why that makes a difference, but she accepts the handshake with her own firm grip.]

My cousin has known you guys for ages. When I first came to the surface, he asked Dr. Richards and Sue to look out for me. [Sue's asked Nita to call her by her first name and Reed hasn't, hence the difference in how she refers to them.]

[Johnny stares at her expectantly as they shake hands and then for a moment after. When nothing seems to happen, he glances down at his own hand. He snaps to make a small fire appear about his hand and then snaps again to extinguish it. He smiles.

Then his attention returns to her.]

Uh huh. So your cousin knows Reed? I would have remembered your face if I'd met you before, Rita. It's not exactly a face you forget.

[His smile widens with his slight lean, flirting a little while still trying to get the important information.]

[Oh my god, Johnny.] Nita. You should probably try to get a girl's name right if you're gonna flirt with her.

[Ain't even mad. It's Johnny, so this is standard operating procedure.]

Actually, Namor's more Sue's friend than Dr. Richards'. [This is not technically a lie.]

Lucky for me you're a generous woman.

[Anotehr smile. But then his smile wanes slightly. Sue doesn't have friends that Johnny doesn't know about. Especially not male friends.]

I didn't realize she knew any Namor. They must have had some kind of a falling out since he wasn't invited to the wedding.

Uh.

[Nita is going to get herself into trouble with this conversation, because she's just not a good liar, even by omission.]

If you've never heard of him, Atlantis might not exist in your universe, or maybe it never made contact with the surface.

There you go again. What do you mean my universe? You're saying that you're from some.. parallel universe or something?

[He gives her his skeptical face. Silver men on surfboards eating planets is one thing, but alternate universes is a whole other deal. It's not unfathomable. Just hard to believe.]

[Nita returns his skeptical look. The Fantastic Four are always time traveling or visiting alternate universes or other dimensions.]

Well, yeah.

Right, of course. Because everyone knows about parallel universes.

[The 'NOT' is implied. Johnny crosses his arms as he thinks, not entirely sure how to feel about all of this.]

Are you at least going to tell me how your cousin knew my sister? And, for that matter, why you weren't interested in going on a date with me in your universe? Because I think we might need to fix that here.

You're impossible, Johnny Storm.

[Nita flops into a chair. Honestly, he's going to find out the truth sooner or later, because the love triangle involved is common knowledge and there are plenty of people here from her universe. She might as well come clean now rather than let something slip later and make it look like she was hiding something.]

My cousin almost convinced Sue to marry him instead. [That's the nicest possible way of putting it.]

You and me...that's more complicated. [Because time travel.]

[Johnny shows immediate displeasure at the news, frowning deeply and tensing the muscles in his arms. He has no reason to be physically aggressive here, but he doesn't really like accusations being thrown around and saying Sue would marry anyone else is something bordering on an attack on her character.]

Sue's been in love with Reed since they met. There's no way the sister I know would marry anyone else. If she's that different in your world, then I don't know what that says about what you know of me. What does that even mean, "that's more complicated?"

[60s Reed was a huge ass and Namor's really hot.]

Hey, I don't even think we exist in your universe, so there's no point in getting mad about something that happened years ago in a different timeline. Besides, Sue's been married to Dr. Richards for almost a decade. I used to babysit Franklin.

[She brushes her bangs back in an exasperated motion.]

"More complicated" means "time travel."

You babysat their kid?

[He sounds incredulous. Nita's not exactly making any sense and, as much as Johnny tries to keep an open mind, there's not really a good reason to believe her. Minus her appearance, she could just be a crazed fan too, trying to convince him that she's a part of his family. It makes him rethink his flirting style for a fraction of a second. Then he's moving on.]

How do I know you're not trying to trick me? Because I don't know what universe you and your cousin are from, but in my universe, we don't have any parallel universes or time travel or any of it. At least not that Reed's discovered yet.

[Nita's usually understanding, but she doesn't like having someone in a Fantastic Four uniform being so confrontational. They're supposed to be friends!]

If you really think this is a trick, go. [She gestures at the door.] I know you're not my Johnny, but that doesn't make having you mad at me for being honest any more fun.

Fine!

[Johnny's never been good at deescalating situations. If she's going to show him the door, then he'll take it. The Torch drops his hands and turns to go.]

If you're not even willing to try to prove to me that you knew my family, then I'm not interested.

[And with that, he's grabbing hold of the door and he'll be exiting unless she gives him a reason not to.]

What do you want, a signed note from Mister Fantastic? I might be able to tell you something that's not public knowledge, but maybe it's all a clever ruse and I'm actually a Doombot!

[Nita can be as stubborn as anyone, and she's really tired of nobody she knows recognizing her.]

[He swings around, flailing his arms in the air.]

I wanted something- Yeah! I was going to say I want something most people don't know, but I don't even know if the Johnny you knew is anything like me.

[He huffs a little. Johnny drops his arms and his volume a little.]

I don't know what a Doombot is, though I'm guessing it has something to do with Victor. So stop comparing me to whatever version of the Four you knew, because it isn't us!

Believe me, the Johnny I know is a lot like you. [A BUTTHEAD.]

...Wait, if you have Dr. Doom, how can you not know what a Doombot is? [Something occurs to her.] How long ago did you have your accident?

Well, he's not me! [BECAUSE I'M BETTER.]

I don't know, a couple years ago now. Why does it matter? [Johnny closes the door again, hovering inside but right beside it. He's still grumpy.]

[ooc: the MCU canon is vague on timeline, so please just go with it. :|]

Edited 2013-04-16 06:12 (UTC)

Yeah, I noticed. [NO YOU'RE NOT.]

[When he gives the time frame, a lot of her anger switches to surprise.] Oh Neptune, you're brand new at this. No wonder you don't believe me.

[OOC: You get really really used to timelines not making any goddamn sense when you play from comics. Nita's canonical birthday is in 1958.]

..Not soon enough! [Yeah, he's petty.]

[But then she looks surprised and his anger disappears with hers.]

We're not brand new. Why? How long has your Four been doing this?

[She has to think for a second, because time travel.] At least fifteen years now.

[She shakes her head.] Sorry. If I'd realized how different our universes were, I'd've started more slowly. I just--never mind, it's not your problem. [Nita's actually really bad at staying angry. She'll just cry into her pillow alone later.]

[OOC: Using the rough 3:1 estimate for the timeline.]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]