Players:
Summary: Connor tells Rashmi and Robyn a bit about the world he comes from.
Date: June 18, 2011
Log Title: A Different World
Rating: PG
NYC - Central Park
Central Park is a large public park in upper Manhattan, largest areas of green with people reading, having a picnic, or playing Frisbee. Walking paths can be found all around the park. In-between the large area's of grass, the park is shadier with many trees. A large road circles the park where joggers, bicyclists, and inline skaters are commonly found.
First one moment, there is just an empty patch of pavement… and the next a smoking, swirly vortex appears and two people walk out of it as if they had always been there. As the slightly taller and much more british Connor than his current-world duplicate looks around, he says to Robyn, "Not to worry, my good friend… one of the perks of this version of the spell is that those around us assume we were always here. Magic tends to… ahhh… how best to put it…" He chuckles, "Magic does not register easily to the normal human mind. As such, we can spell cast within public and not cause a general panic. Hence why we walked… if we'd simply appeared standing there… that might have caused quite a stir." The magic robes have altered themselves into a three-piece suit, complete with a matching hat, and the staff into a walking cane with an ivory wolf's head, dating him quite a bit, "Beautiful place… Central Park, yes? On our world this is New Amsterdam Conservatory."
The whole magic thing is something Robyn isn't used to but he's finding it neat. "It's weird cause you're so much like Connor but you're not. Well you are him but you're not this world's Connor…you know what I mean." He says shaking his head. "Anyway, I called Rashmi and she's on her way to meet us here and yes this is Central Park. And New Amsterdam Conservatory do you mean the Dutch never gave up control of New York?"
Upon hearing that Connor is alive — even if it's not *their* Connor, Rashmi did something she'd never done before; given a hurried affirmation that she'd be there, and hung up on Robyn. Thanks to the City's subway system, it's not long before she's in the Park, trying not to look like she's speedwalking down the paths, head turning this way and that in search of Robyn. A light charcoal-colored skirt swishes over her feet as she roams the Park, battered old bookbag thumping against her hip.
"Well… New York has ahhh…" Connor pauses a moment, "Complicated relationship… shall we say that the city kept to it's original roots, but took the name change as compromise. Strangely enough… but I understand far too well. The level of technology of your world is astounding! Phones that fit in the pocket, these… computer things… they remind me of our Babbage engines… and best of all, the food. Did you know that we…" And he then stops as he spots Rashmi, and the first thing he does is murmur to Robyn, "Dear Lord… not to alarm you, Robyn my friend… but… is that Rashmi?" Eyes spotting the familiar face, but everything else, and he then says, "Her hair… it's so… short." Stopping to adjust his tie and hat, "I would abhor making a bad impression… is there anything else I should know?"
There's a nod of confirmation from Robyn before he whispers back. "I wouldn't mention the hair." Not sure if it's still a touchy subject or now. "Um…be yourself?" He offers before walking up to Rashmi and giving her a big hug. "Rashmi! I'm so happy to see you. This is the Connor I was telling you about." He says with a grin. "And it's confirmed that our Connor is alive."
"There you are!" Rashmi cries, quickly moving forward and wrapping her arms around Robyn's shoulders, squeezing tightly. "Oh God I was worried I was hearing things! So he's alive? And…*Oh,*" she says, glancing beyond Robyn and to the insanely dapper, if anachronistic, man behind him. "Is that *him?*" she murmurs into her friend's ear. "He's…. wow. *British.*"
Connor removes his hat, and sweeps into a curt bow, then rises up and says, "A pleasure to meet you indeed. I am indeed… but that is simply a byproduct of the upbringing. Please… don't hold it against me." Grinning as he makes no other overt motions. Looking back and forth between the two he taps his cane once on the ground, "You must forgive me if I seem less than forwards. Robyn has been such a good man about filling me in upon the differences in our respective worlds. But… on my Earth you and I… have a… ahh…" And he chuckles, "You are QUITE vocal about your opinions, and do not appreciate my certain… loyalist tendencies." Before another comment can be made, "Before you apologize or make excuses… you and I are not the people we know, so none are need. So tell me… is there a good tea house we might go to?"
Robyn nods as he listens to Connor. "She's quite vocal about her opinions here too but that's one of the things that makes Rashmi awesome." He says. "Sorry Rashmi but it's true. Anyway the only ones I know of are in Chinatown though I think there's an Alice in Wonderland theme type tea house not to far from here. I'll have to look on my cellphone and get the directions then we can talk there."
Rashmi flushes, wrinkling her nose at the compliment and shaking her head. "Sorry," she says to Connor, stepping back and reaching out a hand to shake. "It's good to meet you, um, Connor. …Actually, yeah, I know the Alice place… This way? So, wait…. loyalist? Like, we're still a colony or something?"
The sigh that comes is the one of patient long-suffering, as he gives an apologetic smile to both, "The Americas and India are both British commonwealths… however, India has fought to claim reparations from the Empire for being treated as second-class citizens for so long. Whereas my family has always been loyal to the Crown and country. This has brought us many arguments… but that's neither here nor there." Giving it a dismissive wave he looks around for a long moment, and then taps the cane three times on the ground. Each one is like a thunderclap, at least to those present, and a nearby picnic bench is suddenly populated with tea, snacks, and a shade awning, "There… problem solved." And he winks, "But don't tell anyone… I get in trouble for these kinds of things."
Robyn's eyes go wide with amazement as the tea table just appears. "Wow…and who are we going to tell? It's not like we have a direct line to your world and it's not like anyone here can get you in trouble. Well maybe Ms. Frost…" He just sighs. "I'd love to see your world and what it's like someday though it just seems so neat."
"Yeah, that *must* be handy," Rashmi says, shaking her head. "Probably it's a bit of a pain, though… I mean, if you're doing the same magic you did in your world, it's probably a *lot* harder to get access to it… most of our mystics have to make deals with Great Beings just to get *access* to the really high-order power, because there's simply not enough running arou—" Blinking, she trails off, shaking her head. "…Sorry. It's not often I actually get to *use* that SUpernatural Studies elective I took last semester…. Anyway! Commonwealth. Yeah. I can see how that'd grate…"
"Greater beings?! Dear Lord… how… uncouth. Most of them are merely supernatural drug peddlers looking for the gullible." And he actually gives a SNORT of contempt! then Connor begins walking over to the table, and checks the settings while you're both standing there, "But it's a pleasure to know that SOMEONE actually takes the time to merit study of the Arcane Sciences. It's a refreshing change of pace from so many people giving me looks as I placed a containment circle around the event. I am given to understand Robyn has a wish to be an artist. I am simply delighting at his inventive tastes in subject matter, and told him he should display is work. So tell me… what do you do when you are not in school… hmm?"
"Me or Rashmi or both?" Robyn asks Connor. "Well..uh…I do a lot of sculpting when not in school, sometimes I hang out with Jordan or go home to my parents. Mostly my artwork though." He says grinning a bit as Connor says he's delighting in his subject matter. "I never got a chance to study to much about magic at Xavier's and speaking of studying." He turns to Rashmi. "I'm thinking about looking over everything I can from old news articles on Heather's parents, maybe use that to see what they're up to this time and see any patterns."
"Good idea," Rashmi says quietly, slipping onto a seat at the table. "Send me what you find, okay? I'll pass it up the chain. SHIELD's got a huge interest, since one of our students got taken, too… Tabitha. She's a power copier," she notes with a small shudder. "Um. When I'm not in school? Well, let's see." And she starts ticking off on her fingers. "Legal assistant for Ms. Walters — um, She-Hulk — intern at the Genoshan Embassy on Saturdays, helping out at Xavier's on Sundays, going out with Travis, advanced combat training in the evenings, and whatever comes up in the intervening time." Flushing again, she shrugs, pouring out a cup of tea. "Oh! Darjeeling, nice… Honey, or sugar?"
Rashmi's list of extracurricular activities bring an arched eyebrow from Connor as he pours his own tea, and then motions to two small wooden containers, one with a glass dowel, "Both…" And then picks them up to offer to add them to her tea as needed, "If you… don't mind my saying… but… the Rashmi of my world has hobbies she indulges. She dances, if you can believe it. Quite elegantly too. There is a small gathering that takes place… Hindi regulars and paranaturals gather. She invited me one… sardonically, I suppose… but she has this rather… attractive Rakshasa partner." Offering a wry grin as he looks to Robyn, "Truly, if she is always this busy, then as her stalwart gentleman companion, it behooves you to ensure she has relaxation time."
"I'll just take Honey." Robyn says as he nods to Rashmi. "I'll forward you anything I can find. And I can believe there's a Rashmi that dances. Though I've never seen you dance since Jordan and I missed the school dance." He says before looking at Connor. "Hey, trust me, there's no slowing her down. Also we don't go to the same school so we hang out and relax when we can."
Rashmi's lips twitch upward. "That *is* relaxing, Connor," she says, accepting a squeeze of honey with a nod of thanks. "See… I *think* I have something that looks like an idea of how it is in your world — if you squint right — but I'm a mutant. And the way my powers work… well… it's sort of impossible for me not to have a lot on my mind. Like, imagine if the Sun had control over all the planets. And could change how all the planets orbited, whenever it wanted. That's… *sort* of how my powers work, just on a lot smaller scale. But my brain had to change how it works to allow for it. ….So basically I'm always dealing with a half dozen thoughts all at once, y'know?"
Connor finishes with everyone else's tea, and then sugars his own, then strangely enough, adds a small touch of pepper. Once it's to his own satisfaction, he then picks up and offers small cucumber sandwiches… actual cucumber sandwiches… to each of you in turn, "So… each train of thought… would be like an arm of Shiva, yes? I can see how that would be horribly confusing, and would need much structure to maintain. Which amazes me why you have not, in fact… partaken in magic." Looking back and forth between the pair, and then back to Rashmi herself, pausing and looking at her more closely, "You… are aware that the potential is within you, yes?"
Robyn stands up as he looks at his phone. "I'm really sorry guys but I gotta run for a bit. It's my parents on the phone. I should be back in a bit." He says as he takes one of the cucumber sandwiches before heading off a little bit.
Rashmi bobs her head, smiling at Robyn. "Say hi for me, okay?" As Robyn wanders away from the table, she shakes her head. "It wouldn't surprise me, Connor… but I don't think it's something I should really get too far into, considering. Mutants and magic tend not to mix really at all easily… and besides, I want to get into *law,* not mysticism."
Sipping from his cup, the new Connor replies, "Magic is nothing but a series of laws, laws that define what can be done and what cannot within some very liberal boundaries." Grinning as this almost sparks an argument from him, and then he inclines his head, "Forgive me… you have to understand… these kinds of conversations are not common for me. Normally you chastise me for being a… what was it last time?" He pauses, "Oh yes. A bootlicking toady to a militant regime too fat with it's own corruption to understand that it's weight cannot be supported by the peoples it has built it's back on." Pointing as he speaks and keeping it in the most pleasant tone possible.
Rashmi lifts a shoulder, taking a sip of her own tea with a small smile. "That other me sounds like a suffragette, honestly. So, yeah… I can see her being confrontational. Me? I'm just a massive busybody who likes to argue. So, barrister. Then politician. And besides; it takes *way* too much energy to really stay mad at *anyone* unless they work *real* hard at it, y'know?"
Connor motions with one hand in admission, "To be fair… yes… I am a crown loyalist, and with good reason. Due to the checks and balances in place by the established authority, normal society does not come to rely on the paranatural as much as it already does. But I have deliberately ensured that I will not take any dangerous information from this world back with me. Your lack of mystical support means that other innovations have taken precedence at a far greater rate." He pauses in his speech to take a bite from a sandwich, and then continues, "You are remarkably tolerant, if I might say… which is a lovely change. While Lord Xavier is a tolerant soul, even I will admit to some prejudice." And he motions towards the park, "I know my capabilities are beyond their understanding, and I would either frighten them, or they would place me into service to their beck and call. Either slave or monster. My father suffered it as an Imperial magus in Her Majesty's Royal Arcane Marines, but this did not stop him from marrying a normal wife."
Rashmi's lips twitch. "Y'know, you sound like our Magneto… well. *When* he's in his more charitable moods, at least. But it's pretty much the same here, for mutants. I mean… just… go to Mutant Town sometime, then pop over to Times Square and look at the difference, y'know? People are afraid of mutants. More so than most metahumans, and for honestly really understandable reasons." Lifting up her sandwich, she points the uneaten corner at Connor, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, think about this; say you got married. And you had a kid. For all you know, your kid could set you on fire with his mind. Or his skin will turn clear as glass, and he can touch things and make them melt. Or any one of a couple dozen hundred things. And even if he doesn't *look* different when he's born? It might happen when he's a teenager. And he'll probably damage something when his powers show up. That's what being a mutant looks like, to the outside world."
Connor hmphs as his mouth twitches into a slight grin, "How about when a young person with the lycanthrope bloodline undergoes their first change? Or when a magic talent first manifests… or someone learns for the first time they can communicate with the dead? We understand these same things. It is frightening, and sometimes disconcerting, but that is why my Lord Xavier, as well as your Professor both established their respective houses of learning." It's a thin thing that grin, and looks, now that you've mentioned it, almost frighteningly familiar, until it softens and he bows his head, "Forgive me. Please. I just realized… I am attempting to win an argument with someone with whom I am not actually having the same with. Please, I sincerely hope you won't hold it against me."
Rashmi snorts, shaking her head. "Oh *hardly.* Like I said, I like to argue. You can disagree without it getting personal, y'know? Anyway… You're right, it's really the same. But it seems like your *civilization* is based on magic… We don't have that for mutants. As many of them as there are… Modern civilization is mostly just people putting their minds to it. Which when you think about it, it makes everything we've accomplished just *amazing.*"
Shaking his head once more, Connor replies, "I agree that everything here is amazing. Do you know what it is like to not feel like… you are living in a world who is reliant upon you?" Looking at the crowd once more, he continues softly, "When one graduates from any school, we are a part of the system. But that is because there are certain things that only magic can do. I have mastered transportation magic. I will be part of a group who will be tasked with transporting materials and persons all over the world. Our Rashmi disagrees with this… she feels we should have a right to choose our professions in life. That we as the paranatural deserve a right to live freely without being beholden to the system that keeps such things as say… witch-hunts from happening. Despite the fact that we are protected by the government, does not stop hatred or jealousy of our natural gifts."
"That," Rashmi says with a sigh, "is because you're a valuable resource. Which is *worse,* really, because it just dehumanizes the most essential people your world *has.* Which they *need* to stop doing… because it can't last forever. And when your, um… paranaturals… rebel…. it'll be horrific."
Connor looks down and away as he takes a breath, and with a wave of his hand, everything vanishes save what is in your hands, "That's all well and good to say, and I understand the spirit with which it is intended… but what is the better alternative? So we rebel? And then what? We incite war? We create our own part of the world? It is an imperfect system, Rashmi… but it IS our system, and it exists for a reason. If I could, I would show you my world, and let you see why we are as we are… but sadly, I am not an illusionist. My magics focus on movement and combat." The look on his face seems almost sad in response, "At least allow me the honor of escorting you back to your transportation? And for the remainder of our walk, we can merely agree to disagree?"
Rashmi tilts her head, nodding slowly. "I understand what you mean, Connor… But it's a messy problem with no easy answer. No *ideal* answer." Chuckling, she gets to her feet, shaking her head. "'Democracy is the worst form of government,' said Sir Winston Churchill, 'Except for all the others.'" Spreading her hands, she gestures down the path to the nearest subway station. "People are just like that… you can barely get ten people to agree on what to put on a *pizza,* much less how the world should work."
"Sir Winston Churchill?", Connor says in a speculative tone, "Who on the Lord's green earth would give THAT reactionart conservative blowhard any credibility in the first place…"
