( 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.

[hyperkinesia]

I'm sure they will. I'm sure they just went home.

[ Well fine, maybe not sure, but hoping. And that's as close as he can get to being fine with it right now. ]

You know, this is one of those times I wish I could drink. But maybe a sip or two wouldn't hurt, if your offer stands.

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?

[vengeance_driven]

[He hopes so for Bruce's sake. When Niko left the Nehada he ended up here. And, despite his misgivings, it is better than what they had. So if they did go somewhere else, he'll hope for a nicer place.]

[Bad at English or not he knows saying, "went to a better place" has a more sinister ring than he would prefer.]

It does. We could get tea or coffee too. I like to drink, but even I like to moderate.

[Not gonna turn out like his father, nope.]

[hyperkinesia]

[ In that they're very much similar, then. Bruce's aversion to alcohol predates his condition by decades, a deep dislike born out of seeing what alcohol can do to a man. Not that he thinks his father would've been any better as a human being had he never touched a single drop, but it's difficult to not make that association, even after so long has passed. ]

Not coffee. That's even worse than a sip of wine for me. Gets me too on edge.

[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?

[clericals]

Yeah, we were - we worked together. Went out for drinks, that sort of thing.

[hyperkinesia]

We were from the same world too, but I didn't know him before coming here. He knew of me, though.

I never had the chance to get to know him better, but he seemed like a nice person. If a little excitable.

[vengeance_driven]

Okay. Let us get a drink, and you with something very mild. Deal.

[There's nothing worse than that sort of role model in your life.]

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?

text;

[ventifact]

is that a lot to leave at once?

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.

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]

Sounds good. Meet you at mess hall, if you're free now?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[wallcrawls]

It's for the best, right?

Has anyone run any tests on the Ingress after someone's gone?

[clericals]

He was - excitable but also nice. Foggy cared about people. He cared about his friends.

I can't believe he's not here now. But that's sort of - isn't that a good thing?

[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?