( text )

[hyperkinesia]

For those who knew them: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Clark Kent, Scott Lang and Foggy Nelson are gone.

[ Bruce doesn't know whether or not to leave it at that. He wants to keep it a brief announcement, almost detached, but in the process he's making it fairly obvious that some of these people leaving has affected him a lot. But then again, that's why he went with text, so he can avoid any slip of his expression or tone of voice that might betray just how upset he is.

He doesn't really want to talk about it. Or maybe he does, but he doesn't know with whom, or how to bring it up. It's not like he's ever been the best at expressing himself.

Best to just leave it at that. Short and... not really sweet, no. ]

That's it.


(( ooc: forward-dated a couple of days just to avoid overlapping recent drop notices! ))

Comments

☄ PRIVATE

[vengeance_driven]

Are you doing okay?

[Because Niko knows Clark stopped Bruce before. He'll miss Scott, but he doesn't know how Bruce knew him. But Clark, though. Clark was one of Bruce's tickets to feeling safe with himself, or so it seems.]

[hyperkinesia]

As well as I can manage.

[ Which is almost the same as saying not really okay, no. ]

I'll be fine. I just need some time.

[vengeance_driven]

I know we are not great friends or anything, but if you need someone to spend time with I am around.

[He likes Bruce, and Bruce is nice to Tali. That's enough for a genuine investment, not just a fear of the great green marauder.]

I think they'll be okay.

text.

[wallcrawls]

Sorry to hear that. [ and he is, but he didn't and doesn't know any of those people, so: ] They disappear all at once?

[hyperkinesia]

No. Tony's been gone for a couple of weeks or so, the rest disappeared over the past few days.

It happens sometimes. People just leave. I don't know how, but I think the Ingress just reverts the process through which it brings us here and sends us home.

text

[clericals]

Foggy...oh no. Then it's true.

[hyperkinesia]

Yes. I've checked all the cryo units and the directory. He's gone.

I'm sorry. Did you know him from home?

text; private

[peridork]

[Looking at the names, she remembers Tony being mentioned in the past as a friend, but she isn't really familiar with the others... Nor is she much use for emotional support, but she remembers all too well how upset she was when Steven left. It feels wrong not to say something.

She doesn't feel confident enough in her social abilities to risk video in what she perceives as a sensitive situation like this, so Bruce gets a very plain text message to start:]

Are you ok?

[hyperkinesia]

[ He appreciates text right now, actually. There's a reason why his original broadcast is text too, and he would like to avoid any other kind of communication in this whole post, if he can.

He can't help a small smile, though, seeing Peridot trying to show concern for him. ]

I'll be fine. Thank you for asking anyway.

text;

[ventifact]

is that a lot to leave at once?

[hyperkinesia]

It sounds like a lot, yes. I can't say it never happened before, because I have no idea. And they didn't all vanish at once, but over the course of a few days.

text;

[isdronning]

Oh, Bruce...

[ She didn't know any of these people, or their level of importance to Bruce. However, just reading the text, she's getting the idea that he's upset. It's...too brief and flippant to not be. ]

I'm so sorry.

[hyperkinesia]

Thanks. I'll be fine.

[ Evidently this is just the kind of answer he was hoping not to get in this post, but he also doesn't want to be outright mean when she's just trying to be nice. ]

They just went home. It happens sometimes.

Text

[beautifulspaceraptor]

Both of my roommates are gone too.

[He never really had a chance to get to know them and Eric's revelation about his empathic powers had been unnerving, but...

The red scarf the witch had given him is folded neatly atop his bed and Nihlus watches it out of the corner of his eye.]

Is this normal for this ship? I'd heard that crewmembers can just disappear but I never expected this.

[hyperkinesia]

Really? What were their names, and when did they leave?

[ Not that Bruce is actively studying this situation, but maybe there's a pattern shaping up when it comes to people leaving, just like there is one to when people show up on board. ]

I can't say anything for the numbers, but people do go away every so often, presumably returned to their own worlds. They didn't all vanish at the same time, by the way. It was over the course of a few days, and Tony's been gone for longer, a couple of weeks now.

[text]

[soldiergenes]

[ Snake is still recovering from time spent in cryo (time that Banner himself might have observed, come to think of it), but this isn't something that he can ignore. Scott was one of his roommates, and Clark hadn't quite been a friend, but he'd been an ally at the least.

It brings up a question that's been bugging him for a while now. ]

Do we have any clue where people go when they leave? Or is it all just speculation?

[hyperkinesia]

What little we know so far seems to point things in that direction, but no. There's no definite proof.

Guess we all prefer thinking that that's what happens.

text

[knaval]

scotts gone??
where
will he be back???

[hyperkinesia]

From the ship.

Probably not. He might but you shouldn't count on it.

text;

[ergon]

[ He's suspected. Still, it sucks to get confirmation. ]

Thank you. Do you know if he's gone home?

[hyperkinesia]

Not really. It's the strongest theory based on previous experiences, but there's no way to be sure.

[forfeits]

Where'd they go? That's a lot of people in a short amount of time.

[ He knew Scott, at the very least, and trusted him. Knew some of the others just by name, at most. But it's worrying that people can just disappear like that. ]

[hyperkinesia]

What little we know so far seems to indicate that they're sent back home, but there's no way of knowing for sure. And it usually isn't this many people— there are even more than I initially thought too, people have been mentioning others.

I've wondered if it might have anything to do with the fact that the Ingress didn't bring in anyone new at the start of this month.

Action

[notpatsy]

[ Yeah, no way in hell is she going to respond to this over the network, she knows what a blow this is to Bruce, not to mention the fact that Foggy and Pepper were some of her closest friends on board.

So, wherever he is, he will feel arms envelop him from behind in a hug and if she's interrupting him at work then tough. He's getting held. ]

Hey.

[hyperkinesia]

[ Bruce has made a very reasonable decision to not talk about this, and that's what he'll do. Or try to, anyway. People keep asking him if he's doing alright and sometimes he just feels like answering with a biting remark, but instead he smiles placidly, nods, and goes back to what he was doing, actively not talking about it.

Still, when Trish comes into the science department and wraps her arms around him from behind, he knows very well why she's doing it. He doesn't really smile this time around, but then it's not important because she can't fully see his face, even when he glances over his shoulder. ]

Hi there.