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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"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?"

"Good thing his friends knew where he was being held."

It's a slightly different problem, but the complexities of the story don't merit explaining at the moment.

"Yeah...it's important to let people know where you're going, you know...just in case."

Hmm. Could that possibly be a voice of experience speaking? Possibly?

"Yeah. Never mind the fact that he'd sacrificed himself to let the others get away."

What ever would give you that idea, Erik?

"And they still came back for him anyway."

"After getting away safely and re-equipping, yeah they did. That's what friends are for, isn't it?"

"I hope so. Though, wouldn't it be better if friends weren't put into danger in the first place?"

"It would. But, that was the nature of the film. And sometimes, you have to stand in harms way, because someone has to, and otherwise, it'll be an innocent civilian."

This would be the point where Aang looks away, swallows hard, and very quietly agrees.

"no. that's true, isn't it."

"Yes. And I'll happily confess to being most grateful it wasn't me that had to stand up in my world."

He says in complete ignorance of what's going to happen... (And he wonders why the mun is snickering).

"Did...did something happen in your world?"