wilderlogs | Overheard at Camp Melai; Does this mean Robbie's Klinger?

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Overheard at Camp Melai; Does this mean Robbie's Klinger?

Who: Robbie and anyone (special starter for Dixon and Sirius)
What: OVERHEARD AT CAMP, Robbie accidentally figures out the healing thing. Someone tell him about it in the morning.
Where: Camp 1 - Melai Temple
When: Shortly after arrival. All conversations will pre-date that with Dixon and Sirius.
Warnings/Notes: "Overheard at camp" is basically my idea for posting several quick, one-off lines that can be taken out of context (or maybe in context) and seeing what people make of them. Possibly some talk of Dixon and Sirius' injuries.

[ 1: In the kitchen. ]

Dibs on the fleshhook!

[ 2: In the main hall, as he dumps a collection of wood-ish things in a pile in the center of the room for an anticipated fire. ]

Yay, carbon monoxide!

[ 3: Anywhere. ]

Hey, V- guys? This old Enya statue won't not stop undressing me with her eyes. It's freaking me out.

[ For Dixon and later Remus. ]
[ When Robbie heads over to Dixon, he doesn't have a specific plan in mind. He's got what small bits of cloth he could find, not wanting to cut up blankets; anyway, he's unsure how to bandage a face without mummifying Dixon. He remembered to clean them by boiling and to boil separate water for cleaning the wound, which has him feeling rather pleased with himself. He's no doctor, and he wouldn't call any of this sanitary, but Robbie's doing what he can. ]

Hey, I figured you might want to... I don't know, get the day's crap off of that.

[ He looks pointedly at the burn and then resumes talking to Dixon's face as a whole. ]

Or whatever your doc told you to do. If it's one of those things where you flinch too much to do it yourself, I'm not skeeved out by it. I can help.

[ Infections are nasty business, and his pockets don't have any Tylenol. You get a high fever - you're dying. ]

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[ Backing up is a splendid idea, and Robbie's already doing so Hiccup motions at him. You know when you don't want to stand near a dragon? When the dragon's owner doesn't want to stand near the dragon. ]

Heh, smart guy. Er, dragon. I can get behind that, Dr. Teethless - it's a reference to a tv show. A play. Vikings had plays, right?

Anyway, Toothless. I get the whole 'I can do it better and faster' mentality, but then you just set yourself up for this whole dependency thing. You should make us learn, buddy. Then it's all naps and lambs for you.

Don't make me stab you.

[ Aracely and Bart apparently have some things in common. Unfourtunetly Robbie's joking hint that he's dropping too many names goes right over his head, and he gives the man a slightly confused and concerned look. For a moment he even looks at the floor like he actually expects to see something there.

But when he doesn't he just kind of lets it go. ]

Young Justice is my team. Or it was. Most of us are part of the Titans now.

[ Most of them that were still alive and didn't quit. ]

Some of them are here actually. Wondergirl and Superboy.

[ There was also Tim, of course, but he's at least aware enough to keep from mentioning him while he's here in his civilian identity. If Tim decided to trust anyone else here with that information, then he would do it himself. ]

They're the ones wearing the red S and a gold bird. Going for a more civilian look lately, which is kinda weird. Makes me feel out of place bein' the only one in spandex.

[ He pulls at the fabric on his chest a little. ]

But I don't think I could pull off doing the whole jeans and T-shirt thing. I run too fast in jeans and they catch on fire.

[ He looks back up at Robbie curiously. ]

You've got a team?

[ Robbie didn't look like he was exactly wearing a costume, and for all he knew, he could be talking about a baseball team or something. But if Tim could get brought here in his civies that still might mean others did, too. ]

[ Robbie holds up both hands, palms out in a placating gesture. ]

Okay, okay. What's your name again?

[ He's not really sure they've been introduced. ]

[ They probably haven't; there are just acceptable nicknames and very unacceptable ones, and so far he's only hearing the latter. ]

Sothe.

Huh.

[ Titans is another team name, obviously, and Robbie kind of files that and the codenames away under 'good to know'. He hopes they don't look as painfully young as Impulse does, but Rob can't throw stones. He wasn't really any older than Impulse looks - or bigger, for that matter - when he started running around in tights. ]

Sorry, I left my special jammies in a pocket kinetic dimension that I can't get to right now. For the record: not spandex.

[ He wonders if they haven't unlocked unstable molecules where the kid is from, but it seems pointless to ask as he has absolutely no idea how to unpack the concept of the material to anyone. That's what happens when everyone steals their uniform tech from a supergenius. It's a shame, because it would solve the pants on fire problem. ]

Oh, you're a speedster.

[ Said like it's the normalest conversation in the world. ]

At least you're not a dick about it like Quicksilver can be. And, yeah, I've got a team. I'm one of the New Warriors. No, nothing happened to the old ones.

[ He says it like it's a joke, and it is a very old, worn-out joke indeed. But Robbie doesn't really want to talk about them, so he's trying to close off that part of the conversation as quickly as possible. ]

[ Old as it might be, the joke is new to Bart, so Robbie actually gets a smile and a slight laugh out of it.

And at the mention of his costume being stuck in a pocket dimension, he gives a small knowing nod, assuming that meant his powers were gone, too. That seemed to be going around. ]

Cool. That kinda sounds like what the Flash can do. His costume's made from Speed Force energy. Which I guess is something I could maybe do, too. But I've never really figured out how.

And yeah, I'm a speedster, or I was. I don't think I've heard of Quicksilver before, though.

[ He wasn't always great at keeping his heroes and villains straight in his head, but he knew all the speedsters. Even the ones outside of the 'Family'. And while that definitely didn't sound like the name of any current speedsters he knew, it did ring a bell.

It takes him a moment of thought to dig up where he'd heard it before though, and when he does, his eyes go wide. ]

Wait! Do you mean Max!?

[ The exclamation came out sounding alarmed, and laced with hope and desperation. ]

Robbie.

[ Hooking the tool on his belt, Robbie offers a hand - for a fist bump. ]

What's your deal, Sothe? Everyone's got a story - you don't like nicknames and do like knives. What's in between?

I have no idea who this Flash guy is, but he sounds awesome.

[ A summonable uniform is a cut above changing in a phone booth or Quinjet. Sorry, all other heroes, you're just not as awesome. ]

Don't sweat the whole "was" thing. I've never heard of anybody losing their powers permanently.

[ Well... there were thousands - if not millions - of mutants who did, but wow, is it not the time to bring that up and depress them both. Robbie glances down at his hands as if he can will them to work.

He can't.

Jerking his head back up at the sudden enthusiasm, Robbie wracks his brain to come up with anytime he'd ever heard Pietro Maximoff go by Max. He thinks it's ludicrous, but the guy has to have real friends. Or a girlfriend. This could be his kid... oh damn, he hopes not. ]

White haired dude? Got a bit of an accent? Thinks he's the greatest thing since Cheez Whiz, if he could bring himself to acknowledge Cheez Whiz exists?

[Anita looks up from where she's carefully sharpening one of her swords on a whetstone she liberated from the kitchen. At some point she snagged a tan cloak, which she's got the other matching one carefully laid on.]

Mon, we'd need a way bigger fire for that to be a problem.

He's my cousin. And trust me, he's really only cool in theory.

[ Excitement disappearing, he deflates at that somewhat, and there's suddenly a slightly bitter tone in his voice. It's not just the compliment to Wally that got to him though. It's the fact that Robbie doesn't know who the Flash is. There is no chance that someone from his world that works with other heroes hasn't heard of the Flash. ]

But if you don't know who the Flash is then, either you were stuck in virtual reality a good portion of your life, or...you must be from a different universe.

[ He chews at the edge of his lip a little as he tries to think this through. Because...that doesn't exactly sound like it's NOT Max. Maybe it was the Max from whatever universe Robbie came from, and he stayed Quicksilver there? But then again, who's to say Max couldn't have ended up in an alternate universe at some point. Ultimately Max had kept a lot of his past close to his chest. He knew some of it sure, but there were plenty of gaps. And adding his penitent for time travel into the mix, things just get confusing. ]

Is he an older guy? Or wait...if he's going by Quicksilver he might not be. But if...nonono if he's younger he'd be brunet. Unless this is some weird alternate universe thing...

[ Running a hand through his hair, he tugs on it a bit in irritation the more he works himself up.

Did it really even matter in the first place? An alternate universe Max wouldn't really be Max. And if this was some younger version of him doing some universe hopping stuff he hadn't heard about, what then? What good did that information do him? Would he find a way to hop into this guys universe and warn Max about the future? Something Max had very adamantly warned him against ever doing. Yeah, that would just be brilliant.

Maybe it was best to just not know in the first place. ]

Actually, nevermind. Stupid thing to ask about.

[Sirius should have gone with Orion. Or Stubby Boardman. But no, he had to pick Padfoot. Oh well, too late to change it now.

He rested his hands on the ground and leaned back. He envied Robbie a little. Passing out was tempting.]

Navajo? What is that?

[His History of Magic class never covered world history. Or maybe it did. He never paid much attention.]

Some kind of Indian. Fuck if I know. [He gives Sirius a bit of a skeptical look.] You okay? I don't need two people passing out on me. Can't watch and go get help at the same time.

[ Fist bump. What. He goes for a handshake, because what else is there? ]

There's...not that much? I mean, everyone here is like...knights and a "Jedi" and superheroes -

[ That last, especially, spoken in a way that strongly suggests the concept is brand spankin' new to him and he's still getting used to it. ]

I'm not anyone important.

[ Robbie has enough sense to recognize that there is Family Stuff floating around. He doesn't want to pry or stomp on any toes - family can be difficult enough to navigate without random strangers telling you to not say that your cousin is lame.

So he chuckles like Bart's made a joke. ]

Meanwhile, here you are, cool in real life.

[ And that is it for the Flash conversation. Like with asking too many questions about Impulse's friends, right now, he's not ready for the level of commitment that delving more deeply would me. He could get teleported somewhere else any second and never see or hear about Flash or Preston ever again. Or find out how Impulse's life in tights turns out. He hopes well.

On that note, Quicksilver isn't here. He will never know the faux pas that Robbie is about to undertake. He might not even care - he's been an Avenger, he worked for the government at one point. Who's to say that his identity is secret? Pietro's distress is a theoretical future; Impulse's is here and now. ]

He's older than me, but I never asked his age. His hair messes up my perception. Maybe 35? He could be younger, but I don't think much older. And his name is Maximoff.

[ His voice takes a much kinder tone. ]

It's never stupid to ask about your friends.

[ Robbie knows when he's being sassed. He huffs in exasperation, because no one here seems to have much of a sense of humor. ]

... boo, oxygen.

[Okay, that gets a short laugh at out of her. Congrats, Robbbie, you succeeded.]

Is this the part where I tell you we need that? [She's still grinning, at this point, and has set whetstone and sword to the side.]

[ While the comment about him being cool gets him to smile a little, it doesn't last long as his mind drifts back to the topic of Max, and whether or not he should even continue asking into this possible other version of him. In the end, it's too hard to resist prodding further at the topic, despite his better judgment. ]

Max wasn't a friend, he was [ The closest thing he had to a father. ] family.

[ Thinking over the few times he'd seen or heard Max's full first name, he chews the edge of his lip again. ]

And I don't think that's what his name was short for...unless he was lying about that. But he was definitely older than thirty-five. Except he might have been thirty-five when he was Quicksilver. He's always been kinda vague about his history.

But, even if they are the same person he would probably be a different universe version of him. Or some time-traveling dimension hopping version of him. Which means he wouldn't be the version of him I'm looking for.

[ Getting himself a little too worked up, he throws his arms up in frustration, before settling himself back down with a vexed sigh and crossed his arms over his chest in a way that he's unintentional hugging himself a little. And as he glares at the ground his shoulders hunch uncomfortable. ]

Which I guess is the kinda stupid part. Like, even if it is him, it's not as if I can just hop-skip over into your the universe to drop in and say 'Hey, how're you doing? Oh, by the way, could you maybe stop sticking your turkey neck into the Speed Force? Because bad things always seem to happen to you when you do that.'

[Kon feels relieved to hear Robbie joking around about how he's not one of the children of the corn, even though he's a near stranger. Maybe he's right? Maybe even if it looks creepy it's not necessarily that bad.]

[Except if he was right, his power wouldn't have hurt Tim, and it wouldn't feel all weird and head-rushy to use.]

[...But at the end of the day can't all powers hurt people and make you feel power trippy?]

[Kon tries to focus on something that isn't as upsetting to think about. Talking about how he used to be is something that doesn't bug him]

Oh yeah, I got 'em at a Black Friday sale. Also, I used some coupons and doubled up the savings.

[He smiles.]

Basically, yes, I'm one of those. I'm half-human, half-alien and the alien side is stacked.

[ Sweet, sweet success. She's got a good laugh too; it's the kind that makes other people want to laugh along with her. Robbie grins and makes a mental note to add her to the list of people to target with jokes in awkward silences. ]

If you want to ruin my day. I've been following the vapid internet preachings of Valeria Lukyanova, who thinks that we can solve most of our body's problems by living on sunlight alone. I don't know if it's working, but I've lost five pounds and the head rush from trying not to breathe is definitely a kicker.

[ He's very obviously not being serious, although it's delivered without any hesitation because he's not making up the concept. ]

[ Left hanging. The horror. A universe with no fist bumps. Worse, what if they don't have high fives here? He takes the handshake, because he doesn't want to be rude, but the medievalness of this place has never felt more real. ]

There's a Jedi?

[ Robbie looks momentarily surprised, thinks about it, and, yeah, there were one or two people that might be dressed appropriately for everyone's second favorite space opera. Trip-py. ]

None of those things are what make anyone important. Nobody gets a pass for being a superhero. Do you go to school? Does your house look like this, or does it have electricity? I'm trying to establish group unity through friendship. Work with me here.

[ Robbie can’t tell if he’s helping much. He thinks some of it may have landed, but he doesn’t know Kon’s reactions or expressions. He himself often agrees with people who try to lessen his darker moods. It makes them worry less, and Robbie hates making friends stress over him.

The young man is an unknown quantity, and Robbie does know the benefits of rolling with a good distraction. Yeah, it’s enabling, but he has absolutely no room to judge if that’s what is going on. ]

Shoot, I knew it. I’m always too deep in a turkey coma to move until Small Business Saturday.

[ The last time he had a Thanksgiving dinner, he was living at the Avengers Infinite Mansion. It wasn’t a bad spread, only there weren’t any burnt popovers. ]

Oooh, la ti da, Mr. Bispecial. [ He pronounces his concocted label as bi-speesh-ul, like species. ] I don’t have the Triple Crown of superpowers. I'm normally a little more unique.

[ Which, if he thinks about it, ties in nicely with the small business banter. Perfect. ]

[ This is definitely above Robbie's pay grade. Even if he had a road map of the kid's life, he would not want to steer this conversation. Any idiot could put the story together, or at least any idiot superhero could. Impulse is related to a speedster with white hair who goes by the name of Max, codename Quicksilver (and isn't that too much of a coincidence to not be Pietro Maximoff?), who has had Something Bad happen to him. Maybe he's missing, maybe he's in a coma, maybe he's dead.

But nobody would suggest hopping universes to warn someone about anything less. It's serious business.

And Robbie's exacerbated it by supplying details about his world's Quicksilver. He doesn't know what to do, because everything he can think of sounds stupid and uncomforting.

All of it still sounds better than nothing though, so Robbie crouches down next to Impulse and puts a hand on his shoulder. ]

I promise I will gladly chew Quicksilver out for sticking his turkey neck into the Speed Force, whatever that is, and that he should go spend more time with his family and to not be such an impatient dick about everything. That last one's for me. Maybe it's not the right one, but at least I can try to get a warning to one.

[ His hand squeezes the thin shoulder underneath and lies through his teeth. He just wants to make it better, and he knows he can't, but he's stubborn and has to try anyway. ]

I think that's the hardest thing I ever had to learn in tights. Something is better than nothing, and you can't give up hope on everything.

[ See, someone else who knows what a Jedi is? These are apparently Big Things! ]

No school, no house.

[ And since he's sure that's not going to be enough, okay, he'll actually volunteer a little more info on his own, if he must. ]

I'm from Nevassa. The capital of the kingdom of Daein. I'm a thief.

[ It's some real Aladdin-type shit, except instead of a monkey he got siblingadopted by a hot older girl. ]

[ A big thing in the pop culture sense, but not something in dire need of correction given that there aren't any Blu-ray players to be had in this temple.

Of a greater concern is the homeless, uneducated youth concept. Ordinarily, he'd give them the name of a crisis center and bus fare, when he had it, but he has to remind himself that there's nothing he can do fix that. Nosing for more information won't do any good. They're all homeless here. ]

Is that somewhere in Europe?

[ Robbie can't place either name, and he was pretty good at history and geography in school. Then again, there's a lot of little countries that don't turn up in the history books, and they're always near France or an island or something. ]

And when you say thief, I'm going to need more information. Are we talking cat burglar, mugger, bank robber, pickpocket, shoplifting, fraud...

Like, none of these are good options, but I'm kind of fond my wallet.

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Overheard at Camp Melai; Does this mean Robbie's Klinger?

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