(no subject)

[1nv1nc1ble]

A little while ago, Invincible was on Mars. And then he was in the Bar, with very little travel happening between (it's Milliways; it happens). Then, he had a conversation with Jay, who suggested that he get some rest. Now, the thing about being Viltrumite is that, when you stop eating, or sleeping, your body doesn't mind, because it can do that for a while. That's part of being a Viltrumite and part of being Invincible. But, the body of a Viltrumite knows that the brain can be annoying about things like hunger or exhaustion, so it stops talking to the brain about those things after a while, until the Viltrumite in question is someplace where issues like hunger and exhaustion can be addressed.

The long and short of it is that, once Jay mentioned that Invincible should get some rest and he got a room key from Bar, the body informed the brain how long it had been since real sleep (more than ten days), and Mark Grayson was asleep almost before he got his boots off.

Given the timelessness of Milliways, Invincible isn't sure how long he slept, but he felt much better after waking up. A quick shower makes him feel even better, and while his uniform hasn't been washed and still bears stains of Martian regolith, it doesn't smell particularly funky. Art the Tailor does good work, and the materials that make up Invincible's uniform shed dirt and odor.

Now that he's rested, Invincible's body has decided to inform his brain that the last thing he ate was a tuna salad sandwich, frozen by the vacuum of space. And that was a week ago. Cue on teenage superhero, working his way through a massive plate of eggs (over easy, topped with Tabasco), bacon, ham, sausage, hashbrowns (covered in cheese), toast (for sopping up egg, of course), pancakes and syrup, and half a box of some sugary cereal that has a humanoid dog in a jetpack on the front. With more enthusiasm than manners.

Botherable, if you don't mind him talking with his mouth full.

Comments

[athelstanthescribe]

The food is getting a curious look from Athelstan in his seat by the fire. Apart from the eggs and toast, the cheese, and maybe the meats, he can't identify any of it.

[1nv1nc1ble]

It takes a few minutes before Invincible notices that someone's watching him. He's that hungry. But eventually, he pauses for air, takes a sip of orange juice, and notices the man watching him. The mirrored goggles don't give a good idea of his expression, but his mouth quirks into an embarassed grin, and he says, "Pretty atrocious manners, right?" He wipes at his face with a napkin. "In my defense, I haven't eaten in a while."

[athelstanthescribe]

"I've seen worse", he says easily. "I'm sorry if I was staring, your food is unfamiliar."

[1nv1nc1ble]

Invincible looks down at his food, then back at the young man, studying his dress. "Well," he says, after a moment, "most of it's pretty standard breakfast food, where I come from, though I usually don't eat this much."

He points at what's left on his plate. "Chicken eggs, fried. The red stuff is a spicy sauce. Bacon, ham, and sausage... all pork. Hashbrowns... those are shredded potatoes, fried and topped with cheese. Toasted bread. Pancakes... um, that's a bread made by cooking it on a griddle or skillet. And cereal." He pauses, figuring out how to describe cereal. "It's a breakfast food made of grains. Sort of like porridge, I guess, except dry and then served in milk."

[athelstanthescribe]

He listens to all of this carefully. "The eggs and bread I knew. Pork, yes, and now you explain the cereal and pancakes, I see - but what are potatoes?"

They won't make it to Europe for a good eight hundred years after his time.

[1nv1nc1ble]

"Potatoes? They're a root vegetable, like carrots. How do you not know potatoes? They're everywhere."

Pardon him, Athelstane. His 21st-Century privilege might be showing a little.

[athelstanthescribe]

"I've never heard of them", he says almost apologetically. "Carrots, yes, they grow in Al-Andalus, but... not potatoes."

[1nv1nc1ble]

Invincible thinks for a moment. "Al-Andalus" sounds vaguely familiar, but since his History classes began mostly with the Renaissance, and didn't spend too much time on the Muslim conquest of Spain (beyond some brief discussions of El Cid and the contributions of the Islam world to science and mathematics), he can't pin down where he heard it. Brow furrowed in thought, he asks, "Where are you from?" Then, realizing he's talking to a man in a homespun monk's habit, he adds, "And when?"

[athelstanthescribe]

"The island of Lindisfarne, in the year 793. My name is Athelstan."

[1nv1nc1ble]

[OOC: Sorry about the delay. I moved over the weekend, so I didn't have Internet.]


Invincible thinks for a moment. "I'm not sure where Lindisfarne is," he says after a moment, "but you look like you're from Earth, so... I think that potatoes started in the Americas, and were brought over to Europe by explorers. By my time, in 2004, they're all over the place."

He taps the Bar. "Could I borrow a raw potato?" he asks, and a fine specimen of Solanum tuberosum appears. "Voila," Invincible says, gesturing to the tuber. "A potato."

"Oh," he adds after a moment, "I'm called Invincible. I'm from the city of Los Angeles, in 2004."

[athelstanthescribe]

[ooc: no worries, real life happens!]

Athelstan pokes dubiously at the potato.

"Your name is Invincible? How did you earn that, so young?"

[1nv1nc1ble]

[OOC: Once again, apologies for the delay. The week past has been ridiculously busy.]

Invincible grins. "By being so," he says, in a matter-of-fact tone as if he were explaining why he was called "Markus the Tall."

"Has anyone here explained superheroes to you?"

[athelstanthescribe]

He thinks about that, having been told a lot of things, then says more or less confidently, "No."

[not_his_pa]

What Invincible's eating smells good and strange, William's just come inside from the stables and is drawn over, "Is the stuff in that bowl different colors?"

He's never seen anything like it before, sugary cereals aren't a food item in his time.

[1nv1nc1ble]

The box proclaims to contain something called "Science Dog's Science-Os!!!" and also claims to to be "Fortified with 11 Essential Vitamins!!!" and comes "Now with Marshmallow Quarks!!!". (Apparently Marketing likes exclamation points.) Invincible looks up at the question, mouth full of the aforementioned cereal, swallows, and nods. "One color for every quark." He turns the box to reveal the back, where a legend of cartoon subatomic particles identifies each one, explains its behavior (in brief, easy-to-understand English... if you happen to know anything about basic atomic structure and theory), and how it interacts with its fellow quarks. (While the Marketing on Science Dog products is fairly typical, the creator and owners of the character do insist on educating his fans, even if they do it with cartoon subatomic particles and marshmallow cereal.)

[not_his_pa]

Its a strange box and William starts reading as he's never heard of quarks before.

[1nv1nc1ble]

(The narrative had a long and researched description of the cartoon quarks, from Eugene the Up Quark to Bonita the Beauty/Bottom Quark, prepared... And it got eaten by a crash. So you get this instead.)

There is a brief description of how quarks are particles of matter too small to see, even with the most powerful of microscope, and that they are responsible for building larger pieces of matter. Quarks come in six flavors, and each flavor is listed and named, accompanied by a cartoon image of the quark in question, from slim, fatherly Eugene the Up Quark and his partner Doreen the Down Quark, to their sons, Chaz the Charm Quark and Stephen the Strange Quark, and their grandchildren, Tom the Top Quark and Bonita the Bottom Quark. Each quark is colored differently, corresponding to the marshmallows in the cereal. The cereal itself is a dense multigrain disc-shaped piece. Whoever drew the illustration on the box seems to think it's some sort of atomic shape, and has added spinning electrons around it in the picture.

"You're welcome to try it, if you wish," says Invincible. "It's kinda sugary; not everyone likes it."

[not_his_pa]

"Like rock candy can of sugary?" As William likes that when he can get it.

[1nv1nc1ble]

[OOC: Sorry about the delay. I was moving this weekend.]

Invincible considers. The closest he's gotten to rock candy are Lifesavers and lemon drops. "About that," he says. "Try a handful first. They're not bad dry, but a little crunchy."

[not_his_pa]

(OOC: Not a problem. I hope the move went smoothly.)

"Thanks," He grabs a handful and takes a bite, they're odd.

[1nv1nc1ble]

[OOC: Sorry again. Busy, busy week.]

Invincible waits for a moment. "Well?" he asks, "What do you think?"

[not_his_pa]

"Sweet and crunchy, not too bad."

[1nv1nc1ble]

"Cool," says Invincible, grinning. "There's lots of brands, but this is my personal favorite."

He holds out a hand. "I'm Invincible."

[not_his_pa]

"William, that's a hell of a name," He shakes Invincible's hand with a grin.

[1nv1nc1ble]

"Superhero," he replies, by way of explanation. "Big names come with the bright uniforms."

"Where are you from, William?" he asks. "I'm from California. 2004."