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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"As human as the rest of us? Flaws and virtues all? Just, with great power?" Erik replies.

"Oh yeah. Even the not so people people."

"What do you mean by that?"

"There aren't a whole lot of people spirits in the Spirit world. Mostly they're animals or plants or...other things."

His tone shifts from completely sure of himself, to less than that...rather quickly.

The shift in tone is one he knows full well.

"You're not sure, are you?" Erik asks gently. "You don't know what it's 'supposed' to be like. There's no shame in that."

He's quiet for a moment, and in that time begins to nibble on his own bottom lip. "no," he finally admits quietly. "I know there isn't, but that doesn't mean I don't feel it anyway."

Erik smiles as gently as he can. "It's something we all feel. Especially when it's 'our' area, one we feel we should know completely. We shouldn't, but we do."

"Yeah? What do you do when you feel this way?"

"Depends on the topic. Depends on who already knows I don't know. Might go read a few summary papers on the topic. Might just go talk to people."

"Of course, sometimes no one knows. That's when you try to invent experiments that might get results that would tell you."

"That's what I was trying to do! Er...talk to someone, I mean."

"And hey, you are," Erik agrees. "I guess the real trick is talking to someone who knows what you want to know."

"Also not losing the light you were told to follow."

"Assuming the light was provided by a source you trust, yes, that would certainly help."

Aang just blinks. It's clear that this is something he hadn't considered.

"I'm sure it's fine..."

Ahh, ever the optimist.

"It usually is," Erik agrees.

But, you know, Gollum at Cirith Ungol and all that. It's a possibility.

"That's what I think too. Or...at least that's what I hope." Aang scratches at the back of his head, as if he's not entirely sure what to think.

"Sometimes there's nothing for it but to test it out and see what happens."

That is the whole point (well, part of the point) of science, anyway!

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