[Before her message goes through, Clarke tries messaging Tony for a few days before his ID is set up. It's actually through replying to her post that she realizes he's finally "free."
The conversation ahead is one she's had before. She knows Tony won't remember her, but that doesn't matter.
He's still someone who helped her once, or a version of him did. And that's enough for her. Sometimes, Clarke can be straightforward that way while acknowledging the complication of it all.]
Hi. I'm Clarke.
I don't know if Stephen mentioned me, but we knew each other when Stephen and I first got here.
This is actually the second time I'm explaining this to a Tony, but from what I can see, you're a lot closer to the one I knew before.
And if Stephen didn't bother to share: you were here before. Not for long, but long enough.
He didn't have to mention you, when everyone and their brother replied to your write-up.
[Although that's about the last thing that jumps out of Clarke's message, compared to the other stuff. Not gonna lie -- the casual text of of "a Tony" has him a little squeamish, not the least of which because he already knows there's two of them running around.
And then there's...]
He implied it, but held on the details. So, y'know, basically what you probably expected if you know the guy.
Anyway, it's not the first time someone's remembered meeting me when I don't have a clue who they are. Guess the silver lining here is you'll actually believe me when I tell you I'm extremely good at what I do. Which is, like, everything.
We were a bit more humbled when we met. We'd just been in a bus accident, so let's say that there wasn't a lot of time to show that you were good at everything and you just needed to be good at the one thing, which was helping a post-apocalyptic citizen settle in.
[The "oh you went there" isn't present in her text, but she's definitely feeling it.]
Let me guess. You typically forget people because you meet a lot of people because you're important?
[Despite the glib commentary, the squeamishness starts to turn into a straight-up churning in his stomach. A different version of him, from another universe -- that he can wrap his head around, but the thought that he, himself was here at one point, making an impact on the people around him--
Space-time. Wormholes. Keep your cool, Stark.]
Pretty much. And let me guess. The post-apocalyptic citizen was... you?
Call it culture shock. You recognized the symptoms.
[AKA "you knew what it was like to be traumatized and on the verge of a panic attack," but even in her world no one calls a spade a spade on trauma, so here we are.]
What, of your life getting flipped turned upside-down?
[He pauses in his typing, stumped for a second on how to continue. Maybe there's a Hallmark card for "Dear Friend, sorry I forgot who you are, and/or am actually a different person entirely. Yours Truly--"]
Yeah, guess I've got some experience in the field at this point.
He blinks at the interface for a second, though it stays steady and present in his retina, projected by the little chip in his head. The churning in his gut raises its ugly head again in response to something so specific, so personal. Tony wonders for a second if this is how Strange might feel if he ever brought up what he'd found out in Lunatia about the scars on his hands, during their big mech mind-meld and... otherwise.]
Ah. Yeah, that's a "part" all right. [What to type back? Deflection, probably--] Was it about the whole existential jet lag of getting here, or something from home?
Something from home. A long story. I'd be happy to tell if you wanted.
[But she's also not volunteering. It's not the point.
The point is:]
It was something that helped. [A moment, even if Clarke wouldn't sardonically refer to it that way.] I wouldn't feel right not telling you about it. [Because she's bizarrely sincere that way.]
you run into interdimensional other you and your primary concern is... duplicate usernames?
[Actually, his primary concern is probably hyper-analyzing any and all differences and similarities between him and his alternate self, and how each gut reaction to each one of those deductions may or may not reflect on his own dysfunctional sense of self-worth, but like.
Wild guess, could be anything.]
yeah, okay, i'll bite. i swear i won't tell anyone if i get a misfired, i dunno -- AR blueprint for an augmented optical resonator
[ more accurately, he is trying his damnedest to avoid hyper-analyzing all of the above right now.
he has plenty of time to do that later when there are less pressing matters to focus his attention on. honestly, the last thing he needed in his life is, well, this and he would have happily continued to postpone any interactions between them if he hadn't suddenly decided to get involved with current events.
luckily, he has gotten used to life relentlessly throwing him curve balls. ]
i don't care about the duplicate uns i'm referring to our presence in this society as a whole
look, i know you only arrived here some time ago but i'm sure you've heard that the existence of the displaced is now public knowledge
i've been keeping a low profile up until now i'm sure you're trying to do the same but i'm about to take a trip that's most likely gonna change that at least it definitely will for me
unfortunately, it's gonna have your name attached to it so consider this a heads up
[ see how he's masterfully breezing past all that sarcasm, tony? totally intentional. ]
[The response doesn't come for a few minutes. When it does--]
Gotcha -- thanks for the heads up, Mini Me, glad you decided to have your big "I'm Iron Man" moment just in time for it to get us both in trouble.
[Okay, maybe that's unfair. (And hypocritical.) But between the year-long homesickness and the new pile of societal circumstances to navigate, it's been hard for him to keep his cool, or... no, that's not right. It's been a breeze to keep his cool -- with strangers, acquaintances, friends and allies who don't share the same layover time on Prismatica that he had.
Which is why it's boiling over now. Over text, to a man he doesn't know but can see in his mind's eye with perfect, punchable detail.]
I don't know the state of the universe where you're from, but I've got a ticking clock in mine. On the off chance that quantum mechanics for the time-space differential between here and there get replaced with something more like Back-to-the-Future logic, I'd kind of like to spend every waking moment I have trying to get back to the people I love.
As far as "displaced" politics and putting your name on a class-action lawsuit or whatever it is you plan to do, fine. Go ahead. But if you're half as smart as I am, you know it's a short-term goal in a universe we shouldn't be in, and unless it gets us an all-access pass to the tech resources we need pronto, ASAP, yesterday, it's ultimately a feel-good dead end.
[Until something shifts. Until he gets to know his new neighbors by name, and the guy at the corner store by the bald patch on his head. Until he's got the way to the nearest transport stop memorized, until he learns the stories of other stranded refugees whose homes he's never seen.
He knows this. Knows what distracts him, what's dangerous. Knows what'll pull him in.]
[ it's funny how something as seemingly trivial as a small outburst can cement the fact that he is, in fact, conversing with a universal variation of himself. he doesn't know what the man looks like or what his life was like back on his earth, but beneath that layer of defensive sarcasm lies the same rationale he follows.
over the course of the past few months, he has been trying to stay as uninvolved with displaced politics as possible, outright rejecting any suggestions to participate in projects or movements that won't bring him any closer to solving the ever-prominent mystery of how they were all brought to this world.
he is still trying to do that, but as much as he would like to remain impartial, he can't ignore what riverstone wants from them. so, yeah, tony's right. he is going to jeopardize what he has been working so damn hard to maintain since his arrival here — a low profile out of the eyes of, if not the public, any large corporations. but here's the thing, he isn't prone to regretting any actions he deems necessary and, in this particular case, he believes that his involvement is what's needed because the consequences can have a potential long-term effect on everyone here.
and as much as he hates to admit it, he isn't any closer to figuring out who is behind the cross-dimensional kidnappings. riverstone allegedly claims to know, so even if he doesn't have an ounce of trust in them, however this exchange turns out, there does remain at least a fraction of a chance that they might learn something that will help them with their primary objective.
considering they're going to be on this earth for an indeterminate amount of time, he can't turn a blind eye to the very prevalent threat of a large corporate entity getting their hands on any displaced DNA. the ramifications of that happening would be astronomical. ]
you're right. we should be focusing all of our time and resources into figuring out how to return everyone back to our respective worlds. i know that. but we can't just sit back and ignore something that could change the course for every single displaced on this earth, which does include us btw, because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves.
objectively, it is a short-term goal, but it also has potential long-term consequences that could negatively affect all of us.
we don't know how long we're going to be here and i'd like to make sure that while we ARE here, we're not gonna get ourselves screwed over before we even manage to get a step closer to solving who or what is bringing us here
i know this isn't ideal for either of us, but i'm not asking you to get involved. i don't want you to get involved.
i'm just letting you know my decision ahead of time, so you can take whatever measure you deem necessary to prepare for the outcome. i would like to point out that there is a strong likelihood that the only one who will be seriously impacted by this is me and only me. we might share the same name, but i think it kinda ends there.
@stephen.strange, backdated to [waves hand at whenever suits your chronology]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
@clarke.griffin
The conversation ahead is one she's had before. She knows Tony won't remember her, but that doesn't matter.
He's still someone who helped her once, or a version of him did. And that's enough for her. Sometimes, Clarke can be straightforward that way while acknowledging the complication of it all.]
Hi. I'm Clarke.
I don't know if Stephen mentioned me, but we knew each other when Stephen and I first got here.
This is actually the second time I'm explaining this to a Tony, but from what I can see, you're a lot closer to the one I knew before.
And if Stephen didn't bother to share: you were here before. Not for long, but long enough.
no subject
[Although that's about the last thing that jumps out of Clarke's message, compared to the other stuff. Not gonna lie -- the casual text of of "a Tony" has him a little squeamish, not the least of which because he already knows there's two of them running around.
And then there's...]
He implied it, but held on the details. So, y'know, basically what you probably expected if you know the guy.
Anyway, it's not the first time someone's remembered meeting me when I don't have a clue who they are. Guess the silver lining here is you'll actually believe me when I tell you I'm extremely good at what I do. Which is, like, everything.
[There it is.]
no subject
[The "oh you went there" isn't present in her text, but she's definitely feeling it.]
Let me guess. You typically forget people because you meet a lot of people because you're important?
no subject
[Despite the glib commentary, the squeamishness starts to turn into a straight-up churning in his stomach. A different version of him, from another universe -- that he can wrap his head around, but the thought that he, himself was here at one point, making an impact on the people around him--
Space-time. Wormholes. Keep your cool, Stark.]
Pretty much. And let me guess. The post-apocalyptic citizen was... you?
no subject
Call it culture shock. You recognized the symptoms.
[AKA "you knew what it was like to be traumatized and on the verge of a panic attack," but even in her world no one calls a spade a spade on trauma, so here we are.]
no subject
[He pauses in his typing, stumped for a second on how to continue. Maybe there's a Hallmark card for "Dear Friend, sorry I forgot who you are, and/or am actually a different person entirely. Yours Truly--"]
Yeah, guess I've got some experience in the field at this point.
[Maybe even more than "he" did before.]
no subject
It's more the panic attack part. That part.
[Though she's not surprised that he wouldn't leap to that part.]
no subject
He blinks at the interface for a second, though it stays steady and present in his retina, projected by the little chip in his head. The churning in his gut raises its ugly head again in response to something so specific, so personal. Tony wonders for a second if this is how Strange might feel if he ever brought up what he'd found out in Lunatia about the scars on his hands, during their big mech mind-meld and... otherwise.]
Ah. Yeah, that's a "part" all right. [What to type back? Deflection, probably--] Was it about the whole existential jet lag of getting here, or something from home?
[Better than talking about himself.]
no subject
[But she's also not volunteering. It's not the point.
The point is:]
It was something that helped. [A moment, even if Clarke wouldn't sardonically refer to it that way.] I wouldn't feel right not telling you about it. [Because she's bizarrely sincere that way.]
@tony.stark
[ yep. that's it. that's the greeting. ]
1/2
2/2
1/3
no subject
no subject
we're bound to affect each other through the actions we take now, so i'm here to work out the kinks with you
1/2
you run into interdimensional other you and your primary concern is... duplicate usernames?
[Actually, his primary concern is probably hyper-analyzing any and all differences and similarities between him and his alternate self, and how each gut reaction to each one of those deductions may or may not reflect on his own dysfunctional sense of self-worth, but like.
Wild guess, could be anything.]
yeah, okay, i'll bite. i swear i won't tell anyone if i get a misfired, i dunno -- AR blueprint for an augmented optical resonator
2/2
no subject
he has plenty of time to do that later when there are less pressing matters to focus his attention on. honestly, the last thing he needed in his life is, well, this and he would have happily continued to postpone any interactions between them if he hadn't suddenly decided to get involved with current events.
luckily, he has gotten used to life relentlessly throwing him curve balls. ]
i don't care about the duplicate uns
i'm referring to our presence in this society as a whole
look, i know you only arrived here some time ago
but i'm sure you've heard that the existence of the displaced is now public knowledge
i've been keeping a low profile up until now
i'm sure you're trying to do the same
but i'm about to take a trip that's most likely gonna change that
at least it definitely will for me
unfortunately, it's gonna have your name attached to it
so consider this a heads up
[ see how he's masterfully breezing past all that sarcasm, tony? totally intentional. ]
1/4
Gotcha -- thanks for the heads up, Mini Me, glad you decided to have your big "I'm Iron Man" moment just in time for it to get us both in trouble.
[Okay, maybe that's unfair. (And hypocritical.) But between the year-long homesickness and the new pile of societal circumstances to navigate, it's been hard for him to keep his cool, or... no, that's not right. It's been a breeze to keep his cool -- with strangers, acquaintances, friends and allies who don't share the same layover time on Prismatica that he had.
Which is why it's boiling over now. Over text, to a man he doesn't know but can see in his mind's eye with perfect, punchable detail.]
2/4
3/4
I don't know the state of the universe where you're from, but I've got a ticking clock in mine. On the off chance that quantum mechanics for the time-space differential between here and there get replaced with something more like Back-to-the-Future logic, I'd kind of like to spend every waking moment I have trying to get back to the people I love.
4/4
As far as "displaced" politics and putting your name on a class-action lawsuit or whatever it is you plan to do, fine. Go ahead. But if you're half as smart as I am, you know it's a short-term goal in a universe we shouldn't be in, and unless it gets us an all-access pass to the tech resources we need pronto, ASAP, yesterday, it's ultimately a feel-good dead end.
[Until something shifts. Until he gets to know his new neighbors by name, and the guy at the corner store by the bald patch on his head. Until he's got the way to the nearest transport stop memorized, until he learns the stories of other stranded refugees whose homes he's never seen.
He knows this. Knows what distracts him, what's dangerous. Knows what'll pull him in.]
But sure. Do what you want, I'm not your dad.
Probably.
no subject
over the course of the past few months, he has been trying to stay as uninvolved with displaced politics as possible, outright rejecting any suggestions to participate in projects or movements that won't bring him any closer to solving the ever-prominent mystery of how they were all brought to this world.
he is still trying to do that, but as much as he would like to remain impartial, he can't ignore what riverstone wants from them. so, yeah, tony's right. he is going to jeopardize what he has been working so damn hard to maintain since his arrival here — a low profile out of the eyes of, if not the public, any large corporations. but here's the thing, he isn't prone to regretting any actions he deems necessary and, in this particular case, he believes that his involvement is what's needed because the consequences can have a potential long-term effect on everyone here.
and as much as he hates to admit it, he isn't any closer to figuring out who is behind the cross-dimensional kidnappings. riverstone allegedly claims to know, so even if he doesn't have an ounce of trust in them, however this exchange turns out, there does remain at least a fraction of a chance that they might learn something that will help them with their primary objective.
considering they're going to be on this earth for an indeterminate amount of time, he can't turn a blind eye to the very prevalent threat of a large corporate entity getting their hands on any displaced DNA. the ramifications of that happening would be astronomical. ]
you're right. we should be focusing all of our time and resources into figuring out how to return everyone back to our respective worlds. i know that. but we can't just sit back and ignore something that could change the course for every single displaced on this earth, which does include us btw, because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves.
objectively, it is a short-term goal, but it also has potential long-term consequences that could negatively affect all of us.
we don't know how long we're going to be here and i'd like to make sure that while we ARE here, we're not gonna get ourselves screwed over before we even manage to get a step closer to solving who or what is bringing us here
i know this isn't ideal for either of us, but i'm not asking you to get involved. i don't want you to get involved.
i'm just letting you know my decision ahead of time, so you can take whatever measure you deem necessary to prepare for the outcome. i would like to point out that there is a strong likelihood that the only one who will be seriously impacted by this is me and only me. we might share the same name, but i think it kinda ends there.
@stephen.strange, backdated to [waves hand at whenever suits your chronology]