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A young man sits on one of the many couches in the Forum, and sighs at a notebook in his hands. The page is full of scribbled-out text, pages and pages of it. The pages are dog-eared and a bit ragged, indicating he's been using this notebook for a while.

"How can it be this hard to think of a good name for a secret identity?"

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"It was a long career," the old man points out.

"So it was kind of one of those... 'being who you needed to be at the time' sort of things?"

"It was," he confirms, and gives the young man a smile by way of encouragement.

"I guess I get that," Jon agrees, nodding. "Dad didn't start being Superman until he decided to take the plunge and get in the public eye instead of just zipping around so no one could see him."

"That sounds like something I would've done."

"Did you wear a mask?" Jon asks, curious. It's something else he's been trying to decide on, and hasn't come to a conclusion either way.

"I did. Half-face cowl with a helmet under it, most of the time." The man digs out a Starkphone and pulls up one of his old photos. "Here, that was me."

"That's the kind of mask Batman uses," Jon says, recognizing the basic design. "It's definitely better than the domino masks a lot of people use."

"For some things. A domino mask is only a token disguise, true, but as it hides less of the face it can make someone seem more approachable."

"There is that," Jon agrees. "And there are some in the League who use even riskier disguises, like wearing glasses in their 'civilian' personas, even if they don't need them, then going barefaced in costume."

"I could see how that would work," the old man admits. "The right pair of glasses, maybe a change in posture, tone, stride, expression, a person could look very different. And then you don't risk losing your mask in a crisis."

"Exactly. It works really well if you know how to do it right, but it also means you've got to keep it up in public all the time, just in case someone's watching."

"I have to admit, it seems like a lot of work."

"Yeah. It's understandably not a popular choice."

"To be fair," the old man admits, "my real name was a matter of public record early on, I just didn't have many people around me to be threatened by proximity."

"Not much family?" Jon says, a little sympathy in his voice. He doesn't know what that's like, growing up as one of six kids in the house.

"My dad died in the first World War. My mom was a nurse in a TB ward--got hit, couldn't shake it. I was an only child."

"Sorry," Jon says, although he's not sure if he's apologizing for asking or just expressing regret at the old man's misfortune, long ago though it was. "I can't say I know how that feels."

"Thanks." It's sympathy, whatever the intent, and the old man takes it well. "At your age, I wouldn't want you to."

"I guess I can't argue with that." It strikes him that they've been chatting for quite some time now, and he hasn't introduced himself. How rude. Better fix that. "I'm Jon, by the way. Jonathan Kent."

"Steve Rogers," the old man replies with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Jon."

"You too," Jon answers sincerely. "Meeting people like you is one of the big reasons I like coming here... you can find all sorts of relevant advice from voices of experience."

"It's nice for me, too." There's that smile again. "I'd like to think this experience is doing somebody some good."

"Well if nothing else, you've given me something to think about," Jon replies optimistically.

"Which is a good place to start. You'll do alright, Jon."

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jonathan_kent - 2016-03-16 04:57 (UTC) - Expand

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stands_for_something - 2016-03-16 05:00 (UTC) - Expand

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