pc catchall for dick (heh) (unpredicktable)

[uncurtained]

shitpost incoming

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[unpredicktable]

2016. [ he's quick to answer with this FAR OFF FUTURE YEAR, and pauses ] It was July back home. You?

[uncurtained]

2018, so... Not too far off in the scheme of things, I guess. It was September.

[unpredicktable]

Wow. The far-off future where I could legally drink.

[ dick, please. ]

Honestly, the differences between our two Earths have to date back by at least-- ... Well, way further back than you'd think. It's amazing they're even that similar to begin with.

[uncurtained]

Yeah. I don't think I would have missed the whole superhero thing, at least. How long has that been going on...?

[unpredicktable]

The first recorded superhero became active in 1938. Maybe a dozen or so more heroes started up in the years after. After the second world war, superhero activity died down and most of them retired until a boom of superhero popped back up in the late nineties. The numbers have only gone up since then.

[ it's a good thing... dick knows his superhero history ]

There have been records of people with supernatural abilities going a lot further back than that, though. But for "classic" superheroes, that's about it.

[uncurtained]

[She seems pretty interested in this history lesson, tilting her head.]

Do you all have different abilities?

[unpredicktable]

[ first off, important: ]

I don't have any powers. [ uwu ] And... yes and no. There is a wide variety of abilities and powers out there, but there are some definite repeats. There are a lot of people with superspeed around, for example.

[uncurtained]

[A pause for a few seconds, and then:]

Wait, really? Then... Can I ask why you're doing it?

[unpredicktable]

Well, for one, it's the right thing to do, and I like doing it.

[ he says it with a grin then. very clearly hesitates, but sighs and continues, more somber: ]

My family was murdered when I was nine. [ he's not quite looking at her when he says it. it's never easier to remember?? haha weird ] The man who took me in after that helped me bring the culprit to justice and offered to train me. I've been doing it ever since.

[uncurtained]

[She! has a lot of concerns about that, but the moment after he tells her his parents were murdered doesn’t really seem like the time to bring them up. Instead, she’s moving forward to put a hand on his shoulder, a little like the gesture he gave her after she got out of the recording studio.]

I’m so sorry... I can’t even imagine.

[unpredicktable]

It's... well, I won't say it's fine, but-- I am.

[ he shrugs, not knowing what else to say. so. uhhh. ya ]

[uncurtained]

[She gets the feeling that now is an ideal time for a subject change, so as she takes her hand away—]

It's pretty impressive. I never would have done something like that when I was a kid.

[unpredicktable]

[ he smiles at her, a little grateful ]

Heh. Well, I did have a little bit of an advantage to start with. Circus kid. It helps your superhero career if you've already got training doing stunts on a trapeze.

[uncurtained]

...Huh. I kind of thought circus kids weren’t a thing anymore, except in books. That’s cool, though! How’d you get into it?

[unpredicktable]

You're right, it's not exactly commonplace anymore. [ he shrugs ] But my family worked as the main act of the circus, so I was pretty much born into it.

[uncurtained]

[She nods.]

And you said you did trapeze, right? Did it ever freak you out?

[unpredicktable]

...Nah. I was... I was practically born up there. As a kid, it was weirder for me to think that people could be freaked out by it. Like someone being scared of walking.

[uncurtained]

...Right. I guess even something that most people aren’t used to can seem normal if you’ve always done it.

[unpredicktable]

Yeah, that... goes for pretty much my whole life.

[ he's mildly self-aware, so it's fine. ]

[uncurtained]

At least you’ve got company here? Even if it took... all of this.

[unpredicktable]

Company?

[ like. what kinda company. ]

[uncurtained]

Just, like... Other people who've gone through some really abnormal stuff.

[Hm.]

What did you think I meant?

[unpredicktable]

I almost thought you were calling me a demon for a second there.

[ he wasn't sure if she was making fun of him or. what. ]

I don't think there's anyone who hasn't gone through abnormal stuff in my life even beyond this place. Not anyone I talk to that often, anyway.

[ dick, that says a lot more about your civilian life than you want it too ]

[uncurtained]

If I were calling you a demon, I'd be a little more clear about it.

[She tilts her head.]

So all your friends are involved in the same kind of thing you are?

[unpredicktable]

Good to know.

[ hm. he tilts his head right back ]

... Yeah. I kept it up as a kid, but... the double-life thing gets a bit too complicated to get close to people who aren't in the know.