nexus_sages | (no subject)

(no subject)

Well, here he is again. And it might be completely unsurprising that it took him a moment to remember that he’d been here before but once he’d finished figuring that out he moved on through the crowd and wandered, actually, completely out of the forum.

Right, he remembered his question from that last time and thought some on what would come out of his mouth this time around but first, he got a coffee. No idea how he knew where to go in this kind of place, but never the less. Webb returned and observed the forum for a small while. His brows ebbed in a little and he decided to not make his question political again. That always ended the same way.

Instead he sat and chose to ask something a little more personal. “Do you have a family?”

Seemed liked a good time to talk about family.

[ooc: PS sorry about dropping off the face of the earth :/ ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's holding out for dead to save himself the grief. It has somehow become easier moving day by day, when he's not sucked out from his universe to partake in some crazy kidnapping adventure in some other universe, he's playing eagle and somehow it all makes a lot more sense than any other path he could probably wander down. It was a lot easier, too. Comfortable. Horrible, but known.

David, it seemed, was not without his weaknesses. It's just a shame those weaknesses often got other people killed.

He took a sip of his coffee and observed her a moment. "You think the world would be a better place if people were honest?"

Everyone has weaknesses. She's all too aware of her own. Luckily, they're not likely to lead to any further deaths.

She gives another little shrug at his question. "I don't know. It'd be very different. I'd be happier in a place like that, but it would take some getting used to. What about you, do you think you'd like it?"

"That's a tough question," he admitted, and looked down into his coffee.

Half of the time he popped back up on the grid because someone was lying and that lie was either destroying someone or destroying multiple someones. Although he knew the worst of mankind. He really did, he's experienced it thoroughly and he's even been the worst of the worst... full transparency? Well, keeping things quiet and a little ie here and there. Frankly, it kept the world together.

"I'm not sure truth will help humanity, a lot of humankind is beyond the point of repair. We're a trouble species."

"We are," she agrees quietly, "but we're not beyond hope. There's a lot of good things about humanity..."

Okay, she is not the best person to be defending the state of the human race, but at least she tries. "Truth would bring out a lot of beautiful things, too."

"Sure," it was another short answer that was genuine.

He agreed, there was a lot of beautiful things about humanity and the world, and people were capable of a lot of wonderful things, too. The people at the top, though? He didn't know. He just didn't know. Was change actually possible? In an almost out of character movement, he exhaled and rubbed a hand down his face.

"Here we are, talking about the state of man again."

"You have a lot on your mind. I don't mind talking about it." If it helps, all the better. If it's a purely philosophical fancy, that's okay too. She watches him, taking in his posture and those little moments when he slips up and lets something real show. Don't worry, she won't tell. "You're tired. Of trying to figure this all out on your own, I mean. It's okay to want help."

A very rare smile came across his lips at her first comment. He took the last sip of coffee before answering, "always do."

If there was any chance of them getting to know one another better through casual meetings like this, she'd come to learn a lot of things about him. One thing being that there was never a time where a lot wasn't on his mind. Frankly, he didn't know how to function without a lot on his mind.

"I'm old," he gave off the briefest of laughs, "is what I am."

Maybe that's what it's come down to. Last time he was plucked out of his universe was 2007, then he was pushed back in somewhere between 2010, then some other universe happened and he's pretty sure it was 2015 last time he was 'home'. Hopping around from world to world, who knew what that did to a person let alone the fact that he's a couple years from 50.

How the Hell did he live this long?

"I've never been much of a talker," and that wasn't just to advert the attention, it was fairly true. He'd always been a better listener. Piped up when needed, otherwise fairly quiet.

So he'll take another stab at the whole normal conversation thing. "Did you spend most of your Holiday here?"

"You have a nice smile. You should do that more." This is not flirting. This is a statement of fact (well, two, but that's being pedantic).

She has a feeling there's not much idle conversation in his life. She's not sure if there really are casual meetings in a place like this, either. It makes things seem significant, maybe more than they really are. Maybe she just doesn't want to believe it's all random. People prefer to find reason and order in the cosmos.

"You don't look old. Anyway, old is always three years away. If you can believe that, there's no excuses." There are people for whom that sort of thing works. Maybe he can be one of them. "I did, the whole thing. I live here now, so. But I like it here, and most of my friends are here."

He wouldn't have taken it as flirting even if it was, although that might be awkward considering his previous statement. Sure, he didn't look his age, but that didn't change the fact. On her observation about idle conversation though, she was right. Even things with Marie were hard. They'd talk about travelling and their previous experiences, in a way they were similarly spirited. Always on the move. Always on the run. He didn't realize it until it was gone, really. Now his major source of entertainment, when the mood struck, was dropping in on Landy.

"What can I say, I eat my vegetables." Whoa, stop the train, he can actually do humour (although whether it was striking or not is debatable). "I'm not a scientist so I'm not about to pretend I know what I'm talking about but it's interesting that a nexus can be stable enough to house people long term. I wonder if there's any affects on the mind or body that go unseen."

It's enough of an attempt to get a laugh from her. More of a giggle. Still. "Oh, is that your secret? I'll have to eat more kale."

The rest of his statement is serious enough to get her thinking, and she's quiet while she works over the ideas. "It's likely. I don't know how someone would control for the variables or manage a control group. But moving to any new place is going to change a person."

He appreciated the kudos and put his cup down on a nearby table now that it was finished. "It's all about the greens, they say."

His eyes wandered a little. Perhaps just out of habit -- he kept an eye on who was where, what they looked like, how they held themselves. David's attention went back to Verity a moment later.

"Or visa-vera. What if the person is a drifter, then staying put must change them too." Not that he was.. well, he was, wasn't he? Yeah, he was. In a very well thought out manner.

"So do you do the power smoothies, or is it all salads?" It shouldn't be too hard to believe she drinks a lot of smoothies. She's one of those hemp heart and wheatgrass types.

She knows situational awareness when she sees it. She's pretty good at keeping track of their surroundings too. There is no offense taken in it. "True. Anyone changing their situation is also prone to changing themselves. But change is important. If we don't change..."

Something about the light-hearted part of this conversation jigged a memory. Boat, there was a boat. They were trapped on a boat, Cargo. Wesley and Chief. Wasn't he, didn't he volunteer for something like that? Training, bootcamp, something along those lines? How long ago was it... he couldn't remember.

He'd be good at that. Help people stay in shape or get in shape, help people make healthy choices. He didn't pursue that in his own universe because they wouldn't let him. It would have only been a matter of time that someone came to visit and blew up the fucking place.

"Not sure how I feel about all the new fads. Some of them are real, you know, kale is good for you. That's obvious. Depends on the body, and your previous habits. Healthy habits are really situation. Not everyone neets eight hours of sleep, not everyone can stomach low-carb lifestyles."

Don't get him talking about this. The more he thinks about it the more he's annoyed by the whole 'one kale fits all' mentality. Every body is different, why would anyone think otherwise?

"Change frightens a lot of people. We're more comfortable remaining in a horrible yet known situation than pursuing an unknown and possibly better situation."

"True. Everyone's different. I think it can be good to have some idea where to start, but people need to pay attention to what makes them feel healthy too. Personal chemistry, genetics, lifestyle, situation... it's complicated. People should trust their own understanding of their own selves more." She's no lifestyle guru, but he could be. His enemies would have a hard time blowing anything up in a place with an antiviolence field.

"Yeah... change is scary. But knowing you're going to get hit every night because your husband is a violent piece of shit should be scarier." She doesn't understand. She just doesn't understand.

He probably could. Do something like that outside of his world and under circumstances that weren't dire. If he remembered correctly (which he might not be all things considered) he started helping with training regiments out of necessity. David might have been to a variety of different worlds, but none of them were particularly peaches and cream.

"You could come home to a fist, or you could try and leave and have something worse happen on the way out." There was a moment, "I think a lot of it starts with people not believing they're resourceful enough to make it through life one second at a time. We fear uncertainty, but as a species we're incredibly adaptable."

He's got his choice of la crème de la crème now, and whatever fruit he likes. And if he decides to go home again, he'll go knowing it was his choice; there's a power in that.

"I suppose fearing uncertainty hasn't really been an option for me. The way things would happen... living in the city meant I had to adapt to never knowing what would happen next. Would my favorite deli be open, or had it been wrecked by some costumed villain takedown fight? Was the mayor still the mayor, or had he been replaced with a life-model decoy? Were the aliens going to invade again or had they finally learned not to try?" And none of this seems to particularly bother her. These things just happened. Whatever. Moving on with life.

There was power in that, and frankly he didn't know why he decided to go ba- wait, yes he did. Syria, still wanted to keep an eye on that.

David listened to her world with a rather unfazed sort of expression. If this was him some years ago, he'd not believe her. Considering everything he's seen over the course of his first world deviation? Eh. None of what she spoke about seemed too out of reach.

"Guess I was lucky, my world didn't have any of those kinds of problems. Biggest issue currently is ISIS. I mean, on a world politics front. That and the fact that Donald Trump is somehow an actual running candidate for the Republican Party."

She's not sure what ISIS is or who Donald Trump is, but. "We accidentally had a Nazi superhuman as secretary of state for a while." She can relate, to a degree. Her world didn't have too many rich idiots for too long. They tend to lose their fortunes or their lives. Usually, both, if they've crossed the wrong people. "He was just wearing a mask and nobody noticed. So what's Isis, some cultists she's given powers to?"

Well, a Nazi superhuman is close enough, really. Eventually the mask will fall, but after how long? How many lives must be destroyed before there's enough to knock them out? These were the people that programs like Treadstone or Blackbriar should go after, but they they'd just be going after their own people more times than not.

It was complicated. It always would be.

"That's a long story," he exhaled. "But essentially? Terrorists."

The whole situation was a lot more complicated than the public knew, but he couldn't talk about it. He paused for a moment and then, "How did you deal with that? The Nazi superhuman."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Terrorists are, unfortunately, something she understands all too well. The ones she's seen are just as likely to be disgruntled religious extremists as people in bee-keeping costumes.

She thinks back, worrying her lower lip between her teeth while she tries to remember. "Honestly? I think the Avengers beat him up. It's kind of what they do. Violence begets violence and all that."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only