tushanshu | [console | video] then we do it again (pre-hurricane)

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[console | video] then we do it again (pre-hurricane)

[Hi there, Keeliai. Remember this guy? It's been a while.

He's sitting in what looks like a cafe out in the city. For those who don't remember him from his previous stay, he's beautiful, with striking eyes that unfortunately have some pretty dark circles under them. He looks like he hasn't slept well in ages. He's wearing a three-piece suit and cradling a cup of something in his hands--lid on, because his hands shake.

He's... seen better days.

When he speaks, he's got a pronounced Irish accent.]

Right, I... I'm back. Surprise. [He smiles and his face lights up for a moment before the smile slips.]

I don't know how many of the people I knew are left. I know... I know we're missing some. [Studiously going to avoid mentioning Anton, thank you very much.] If you're still around and we were friends, or... talked, maybe drop me a line? And hello to all the newcomers. I know I've spoken with a few of you.

I'm back at the shelter, so. I mean, Brigid and Sonja are doing the real work, the paperwork and all that. I couldn't keep paperwork straight these days if I tried.

[The thought trails off. He looks a bit lost.]

If anyone happens to spot a talking skeleton, let me know, will you? He's got another punch coming if he shows his face again. And... if anyone happens to spot a tall, skinny redhead with an accent like mine, please tell him I'm looking for him.

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You mages and your not-getting-old thing.

[It's teasing; Pepper knows they do age, just very slowly. When Erskine steps out, she looks the loom over more closely. His work is neat, even if it's simple. The loom itself is lovely. Pepper has never seen one this size before, and it has some kind of writing on it that she can't decipher, but if she had to guess based on the script and Erskine's heritage, it's probably some kind of Irish language. What was it called? Gaelic? She'd heard Skul talk about it, and speak it once or twice.

She runs her fingers along the writing. Something secret, something personal must be written there. Something only Erskine and probably the other Dead Men could read. Pepper of course wants to know what it says, but one thing at a time. The redhead straightens when Erskine returns.]

This is really beautiful. How come you stopped weaving before?

[When Erskine returns to the antechamber it's behind a small, plush armchair floating about two feet above the floor. His right hand is held up at waist-level, channeling the air magic that's levitating the chair, so it's obvious the floating is his doing. He sets the chair down near the loom so Pepper can watch him work as she'd requested and then settles himself back on the bench, careful to allow Pepper to stay at the loom and admire the machine if she likes.]

I didn't see much point in it anymore. The couple who adopted me taught me to weave; it was going to be my trade. It would have been a good life for a mortal. But then I discovered the little tricks I could do were magic. I was introduced to the magical community and I barely paused to look back.

[He smiles down at the engravings Pepper's been admiring, one of the more genuine smiles he's been able to muster since he's been back. His fingers trace along part of the inscription lovingly.]

Hopeless thought it might be a good tool for therapy. Something soothing, something to keep my hands busy.

Edited 2017-01-15 23:00 (UTC)

[Pepper's delight at the floating chair is obvious; magic is still awesome, even though she's now capable of some herself. It hasn't lost it's shine. After another moment or two to admire the loom, she settles herself in the chair Erskine's brought.]

I guess that makes sense. Learning how to do magic is kind of a big lifestyle change. [Hopeless was on the right track, she thinks, and she hopes she'll get to meet him some day.] You're good at it. Bakura likes to have something to do with his hands, too, but it's usually wood carving. Maybe there's something about creating stuff that's good therapy, too. Does it help, doing this?

[Erskine smiles a wry little smile]

Oddly enough, Bakura's usually the one lending me a bit of string to make cat's cradles, to keep my hands busy. I suppose we are alike, in that respect.

[Yeah, he still has no idea about Bakura and Pepper. He nods.]

I think it does. I spend more time focusing on the weaving, or what sort of project I'm going to make, than on... other things. [He picks up the shuttle, though he doesn't immediately begin weaving again right away. Just holds it in his hands, staring down at it.] What was it you wanted to ask?

He's had even longer than you to figure this stuff out, so. He lets me come over in the middle of the night to practice if I can't sleep - for being so prickly he's good at reading people and pointing out what might help.

[Pepper shrugs lightly, smiling fondly at nothing in particular. She'll drop the dating bombshell on Erskine later. Her smile fades slowly at the last, but she did say she had questions. No point in avoiding it now.]

Well, I guess how you're doing is a good place to start. It doesn't really look like you've been sleeping much. Or eating, which is part of why I brought scones.

[If Erskine were a little less... preoccupied, we'll say, he might give Pepper's comment about Bakura some serious thought. Popping over in the middle of the night and all. Except he had much the same sort of arrangement with Bakura the last time he was here, so the thought doesn't even cross his mind.

He's quiet for a long moment, considering, before finally starting to weave again. He works slowly at first while he weighs how to come at her question.]

I'm... better than I was, at the Guild. Not jumping at shadows quite as often as I was. [There's a weak laugh at that; he's definitely still jumping at shadows.] I've never slept very well. I told you I was having nightmares after Mevolent...? [He glances at Pepper, though he doesn't wait long before speaking again.] They were better for a time. Not good, but better. And now... they're worse again.

It helped, having Anton nearby. He'd play music, let me curl up next to him if I needed to. Even sang, once in a while. And now he's gone.

You mentioned the nightmares, I think, but not about what. But it makes sense, given...

[Given who and what he had been tortured for. She could imagine what kind of things he might be seeing, but she didn't know enough to really put detail into the ideas. Pepper looks at him with a sad smile.]

I can barely imagine Anton singing. That sounds nice, though. I, um, can't really sing, but-- well, I'm really good at talking. You can-- you can call me, if you're having trouble sleeping. I'm used to being up all night anyway.

[He doesn't offer up more information about the subject of his nightmares, just moves on when Pepper does.]

I appreciate the offer. Maybe I'll take you up on that, some night. But it's every night, these days. Music helps a little; I haven't been able to sleep without music or some sort of background noise since I was a child. But after--

[The thought cuts off abruptly.]

You can't sleep either?

Hm? Oh. I meant that, you know, being a superhero usually means a lot of all-nighters. I got used to only sleeping a few hours some nights, but it's totally worth it.

[She hesitates for a moment. Give and take; Erskine was willing to talk to her about the hard stuff. Pepper could do the same, and it might make him feel less lonely, too, even if she's still troubled by what he's done.]

Sometimes, though... well, since coming here it's not always because I'm out flying. There was this vision, a little while after I got here. About the baby turtles dying. Kind of hard to forget. [She twines her fingers together in her lap, sighing.] And then sometimes it's because I miss my dad, too. Although lately I can't get the image of him dying out of my head. He's not actually dead, it was an illusion, but... it didn't seem like one the first time I saw it. It was part of a test.

Oh. Right, yes, I-- I suppose that makes sense.

[His lips press into a thin line as he listens; after being the one doing the talking for so much of their recent conversations, he's more than willing to listen if Pepper wants to talk. He keeps working at the loom but the motions are slow, deliberate as they talk.]

You... you've mentioned your father before, haven't you? I don't quite remember--

Yeah, I probably did. He works for the FBI; we live in New York City. It's just been the two of us since I was six. We make a pretty good team. [She sounds fond, and tries to keep the sadness out of her tone. Pepper misses him so much it makes her chest hurt.] He's the reason I wanted to be a SHIELD agent and fight crime and everything. I've been trying to help him on cases since I was little, but there's this whole 'needing to be an adult' rule that he keeps bringing up.

[There's a small smile now. Pepper knows that legally she's not entitled to arrest people and do half the things she's done, including hack into the FBI servers repeatedly (but they made it so easy), but legality has never really stopped her from fighting for justice.]

He was here for a little while, last April, when we had that big influx of Foreigners. I was kinda distracted by him, so I didn't get to meet all the other people that came. [Like Hopeless, and Rover. She'd met Ghastly, though.] It was cool getting to introduce him to a few people I never thought he'd get to meet. Weird, but cool. He and Rhodey are probably the only reasons I want to go back home; I'd be okay staying here permanently, if they were here, too. There's people here I'd miss just as much if I were home.

[The part about 'needing to be an adult' draws a soft laugh]

Being an adult is overrated. Our world's been saved half a dozen times by a girl no older than you.

[At the mention of her he pauses in his weaving, gripping the shuttle tight for a moment until the spike of panic passes. He's trying not to interrupt Pepper.]

Maybe you'll get lucky then, and he'll show up one day for good. Or you can treat your time here like a holiday and enjoy going back to your own world and your father when it's time. Since we go back to the time we came from.

[As he's recently confirmed, very painfully.]

[Pepper isn't sure what causes that tension in Erskine, but it must have something to do with whoever this girl is.]

I've done some world-saving myself, you know. More day-saving than world-saving, but I don't fly around in power armor just because it's fun. Only partly because it's fun.

[She shrugs and then sighs softly.]

I'm not really looking forward to going back, actually. As soon as I do, a giant alien ship is going to explode over Manhattan, and a lot of people are going to die. I know most of my friends survive, and my dad does, too, but it's not gonna be fun. Not for a while. At least we'll be together, which is good. I just... I don't want to forget, but I'm also not sure I want to remember. I'm not sure which'll hurt worse.

I meant to ask, actually--how did you end up a superhero? I'm assuming you didn't fall into a vat of radioactive waste or something like that.

[He's grateful for the diversion back away from her, and smiles a little as his weaving returns to its former rhythm. The smile predictably fades, however, at the mention of things exploding and people dying.]

I'm glad you and your father survive, at least. But we're happy to have you here for now. We'll just have to make the best of the time we have, I suppose.

No vats of anything, although I did get sprayed with hazmat foam once. It got up my nose, [Pepper recalls, faintly amused.] Tony needed a distraction while we were infiltrating a high-security building.

[The matter of Erskine's past doesn't seem quite settled, but she feels the tug back to lighter ground and goes with it.]

It all started when Tony came to the Tomorrow Academy - that's our high school.[Skipping the part about his dad supposedly dying and it being Gene's fault, whoops.] He was friends with Rhodey, who was sort of my only friend at the time, and so we all ended up together, more or less. And right around then there was this armored superhero that showed up called Iron Man - stopping runaway trains, catching villains, that kind of thing. [She's glossing over some of the less pretty bits of the story.] Anyway, I was pretty sure Tony and Rhodey were up to something and that Tony was Iron Man, and once he actually did the big reveal I started helping them out. Mostly I was operating suits remotely since I didn't have my own and it took me a little while to learn how to fly in one, but the three of us basically started doing a bunch of supervillain-catching and world-saving and whatever. A little while before I got brought here, Tony gave me my own armor and that was that.

Tony... I know I've heard of him, here and there, but I don't know if we've ever actually met.

[Other than that comment and a few appropriate nods along the way, he's quiet as she talks.

There's a faint tug of a memory at the name 'Iron Man,' something to do with Anton, but he doesn't remember well enough to say anything about it. He just looks puzzled for a moment before settling back to his weaving while Pepper continues.]

So you've got your suit here then, I assume? And you're moonlighting as a superhero to the kedan in between delivering fantastic smelling treats by day?

I.... think you may have met him before, but you probably didn't know him super well.

[They didn't run in the same circles, mostly.

She nods in answer to his questions, grinning now.]

Yeah, I've got my suit. I showed up in it, but I'm not hiding my identity. There wasn't a point; everyone already knew Tony and his suit by the time I got here. I've been using it a lot on night patrols for the police force, though, and any time there's problems that need either people who can fly or who are really strong. [And occasionally situations where there are fights, but those were comparably rare.]

That's possible. Swiss cheese memory, and all.

[Oh dear. Pepper's grin is infectious. He smiles back, and when he speaks again it's obvious that he's teasing.]

So you're a super hero and a police officer and you're, what? Twelve?

Excuse you, I'm nineteen. [She crosses her arms in mock offense.] And I'm helping run the force on top of working for it, just so you know.

[Pepper can't help but laugh quietly, and it's vaguely wistful.]

I've been told since I was twelve that I wasn't supposed to go after the bad guys, and if I'd listened to my dad and the rest of his FBI friends then I wouldn't have ended up taking on supervillains and saving the world. I get that I'm young, and I know that you're teasing, that's fine, but it's like no one takes me seriously until I'm wearing armor.

[This time instead of merely pausing in his weaving he stop altogether. Erskine sets the shuttle down and turns on his bench to face Pepper, smiling gently rather than grinning now.]

If it helps, I don't think I've ever even seen your armor, and I take you seriously. I know I can't speak for everyone else, but....

[He shrugs]

You know the worst about me, and you're still here. You're smart and passionate and you care about people who probably don't deserve it. I don't need to see your armor to believe that you've saved the world.

[Pepper looks a little bemused for a moment, and then flattered. She smiles, and it's smaller and more vulnerable than usual.]

Thanks, Erskine. Really.

[Then her smile turns just a shade wry, and she tilts her head to the side.]

Also, it's not about deserve. I've seen what giving people a second chance can do. Giving up on them isn't an option.

[And just like that, she's decided that she won't give up on Erskine, either. She hadn't quite known when she came here, but now... despite everything he's done, he needs help, and not hatred. Pepper has learned she can be angry and still care, and she does.]

Any time, love.

[He turns back to the loom instead of facing Pepper now, though he doesn't pick the shuttle back up. Just stares down at the machine with a faint, almost sad smile.]

That's a good way to look at things. Not very many people feel the same way, you know.

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[console | video] then we do it again (pre-hurricane)

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