milliways_bar | (no subject)

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There's a man by the bar.

He's got his wallet out, and seems to be making a point to the bar.

"Put this on Bruce Banner's tab, please. And, I'd sooner you kept it anonymous, thanks."

Those with attentive eyes, will notice either the 4 $10 bills vanishing from the bar top, or maybe the $40 of credit that then goes onto the tab of one B.Banner.

"And I'll have a pint of Kopparbergs. No, not the cider, the beer."

So, there's one scientist, with a pint, at the bar. Eminently botherable.

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"That's the plan, it's just...I don't know how."

"Well, start with one step at a time."

"That's what I've been trying to do. I even went to the Spirit World to ask for help, but then the blue light the monkey told me to follow lead me here where I fell out of the fire place."

It makes sense...if you squint.

"Uh. Okay."

"You fell out the fireplace?" That's kind of the more shocking bit to Erik. He's getting used to parallel universes.

"Right over there, yeah."

Aang doesn't even look backwards when he gestures in the direction of the hearth.

"That's where I met Faithful and his boy Alan."

The phrasing catches his ear.

"Faithful and his boy?"

He's read Lewis, but maybe it's not that.

"Yup. A talking black cat with purple eyes, and a boy with red hair and purple eyes."

There's an earnestness to his tone, almost as if he expect Erik to think him crazy.

"I think Faithful is a spirit, I mean...why else would it be just a cat?"

Erik doesn't. He probably would have, a month ago. But he's seen things since then.

"Okay. Couldn't it just be a cat? I mean, the fact that it talks implies it isn't, but?"

"Because there aren't just cats. There are Pygmy pumas, and badger-cats, and cat-pigeons, but...not just cats."

That's just weird.

"There are. Back in my world at any rate. And I've never heard of badger-cats, though badgers and cats are different animals."

Which brings up another point actually. Is it just a quirk of chance that everyone can communicate perfectly here, and means exactly the same thing with words? or is there some guiding mechanism at work?

"Badger-cats are AMAZING! Especially when they're kittens. They're so cute! And far less likely to bite your face off."

right...

"Kittens are cute as a general rule anyway. And I'm..." Wait. Big Cats can and do. "Most cats can't bite your face off anyway."

Aang seems unimpressed by this.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Some can. But they seem to be dying out these days."

Which is a damn shame. Big Cats are some of the most stunning creatures on the planet

"Really?"

This time it's said far more seriously. As if he's taking the plight of the cats personally.

"But...why?"

"Because Humans are idiots who don't understand what we have."

How do you describe these sorts of things to a kid?

That is the why summed up, though. Pretty neatly, for an offhand comment, if Erik does say so himself.

"Oh," he says with complete understanding. Aang isn't just any kid.

"Maybe our worlds aren't so different after all."

"Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet."

Yeah, that's a fail at attempting to imitate Hugo Weaving's voice. But, hopefully, it is clearly a quote, rather than an actual opinion of Erik's.

Even though it's not a reference Aang would understand, he easily recognizes it as a reference to something.

Selvig's accented English doing an impersonation of Hugo Weaving's American accent is...interesting. So much so that Aang can't help but smirk and even giggle a bit.

"Well, I wouldn't quite go that far."

Erik chuckles too.

"Neither would I. But I can certainly see points of view, that, taken to their extreme would amount to it."

"Did a spirit of your world say that?"

Aang can imagine Heibai thinking that right after the Fire Nation burned down his forest.

"No. A villain in a film said it, as the concluding remarks in a speech intended to break one of the hero's will."

In this moment it doesn't matter to Aang what a film is. All that does matter is:

"Did it work?"

"No. Possibly only because the other two heroes showed up moments later. But no, it didn't."

Three heroes that help each other in their hour of need.
Yeah, Aang knows those feels.

"Good thing he was traveling with friends, huh?"