[ stephen eyes him for a second, but - right. empathy. he hums, a neutral sound of assent. ]
They put me in with a teenage girl this time. Smart kid, picking stuff up quick, but she’s from a place and time that doesn’t have lightbulbs, never mind ...
[ he trails off. sighs. what is he even doing here. he’s thinking of america, which makes him think of everything else. too many universes in too short a period of time. ]
Things will happen. Probably like what happened to you. [ he lifts his coffee cup to his grimacing mouth. ] I’m not looking forward to it.
Probably a good idea. [ a pause, and then: ] Thanks.
[ stephen doesn’t thank people often, so the word is more than a throwaway courtesy. his concern for eponine isn’t particular, or at least he doesn’t think so; he’s just, you know. the adult. and this is his third rodeo. ]
No, I know. I'm not trying to like, therapize you or whatever. Was aiming more for equal grounds friendship?
I honestly don't think I'd be much help for people like fifteen plus older than me, beyond teaching them breathing exercises, 'cause they kinda register as authority figures in my head.
[ that’s good. stephen is man enough to recognise that he probably needs therapy, but he sure as hell won’t find it in this town. besides, duplicity is useful too, in its own way; it’s pared him down before to constituent parts. ]
To be fair, I don't think I'd be much better if I were one of the planeteers of my world.
[ he knows damn well planeteer isn't the word stephen used, but captain planet has to be roughly his generation, right? it was popular enough he has to be at least be aware of it. ]
[ evasive, but not intentionally. he loves magic; he knows in his bones his universe is beautiful, and that he’d choose it over any other; he’s been - trying to figure things out, since everything with america, wanda, christine. he’s also in the prime of his heroic career, and he’s seen firsthand how fragile a reality is, what kind of pressure it can withstand. no time to be jaded, not exactly. but he has to be ready for anything. ]
[ caleb's learned with time to pick out subtle feelings, anger, from annoyance from being vaguely disgruntled, and the different shapes of love, like how it's different love between brothers and partners; he can tell how serious a crush is.
he doesn't recognize the specifics of whatever stephen's feeling, though. just the shapes of it, he can recognize uncertainty and awe and a lot of what he used to feel right before a big football game; anticipation and excitement and fear, but it feels different, bigger. like what it'd feel before playing a superbowl, he guesses. ]
I'm trying not to be nosy but man, it's a struggle.
Couple of things. A Cosmic Conqueror the first time. Space warlord. Multiverse issues. Chaos magic users that also threatened the multiverse ...
[ he trails off. there’s a kind of wry self-awareness to these recollections, where not too long ago they might have made him proud - or at least segued into his usual bit about how you’d think that would qualify you for certain accolades ... ]
Superheroics, at this point. Is how they’re thought of colloquially. Mostly it’s a living.
... do you think I'd know about it if there was a bigger circus back home? People in your world know, right? Like, the clowning's too big to not be public?
At the scale it occurs back home, yes. A cosmic threat back home eliminated half of all life in the universe one time. We probably need to revise the DSM as a result.
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I'm kinda grateful for it, to be honest. I was way too young to be here— I still am, I think, but I feel better prepared for it.
[ he doesn't want to be nosy, but... ]
You're worried about a kid here?
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They put me in with a teenage girl this time. Smart kid, picking stuff up quick, but she’s from a place and time that doesn’t have lightbulbs, never mind ...
[ he trails off. sighs. what is he even doing here. he’s thinking of america, which makes him think of everything else. too many universes in too short a period of time. ]
Things will happen. Probably like what happened to you. [ he lifts his coffee cup to his grimacing mouth. ] I’m not looking forward to it.
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[ A year in and he's only had to do one thing he hated. He's been lucky. ]
If you introduce us, I can try and introduce her to more people. I know enough younger people maybe she'll land soft too.
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[ stephen doesn’t thank people often, so the word is more than a throwaway courtesy. his concern for eponine isn’t particular, or at least he doesn’t think so; he’s just, you know. the adult. and this is his third rodeo. ]
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[ he already went there, and this guy doesn't seem to have much patience for beating around the bush so. ]
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I’m not your patient, Caleb.
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I honestly don't think I'd be much help for people like fifteen plus older than me, beyond teaching them breathing exercises, 'cause they kinda register as authority figures in my head.
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[ that’s good. stephen is man enough to recognise that he probably needs therapy, but he sure as hell won’t find it in this town. besides, duplicity is useful too, in its own way; it’s pared him down before to constituent parts. ]
I don’t know if “jaded” is the word. We’ll see.
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[ he knows damn well planeteer isn't the word stephen used, but captain planet has to be roughly his generation, right? it was popular enough he has to be at least be aware of it. ]
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[ evasive, but not intentionally. he loves magic; he knows in his bones his universe is beautiful, and that he’d choose it over any other; he’s been - trying to figure things out, since everything with america, wanda, christine. he’s also in the prime of his heroic career, and he’s seen firsthand how fragile a reality is, what kind of pressure it can withstand. no time to be jaded, not exactly. but he has to be ready for anything. ]
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he doesn't recognize the specifics of whatever stephen's feeling, though. just the shapes of it, he can recognize uncertainty and awe and a lot of what he used to feel right before a big football game; anticipation and excitement and fear, but it feels different, bigger. like what it'd feel before playing a superbowl, he guesses. ]
I'm trying not to be nosy but man, it's a struggle.
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[ the coffee is good and caleb, by all appearances, is a competent and level-headed young man. why not? ]
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[ he's dying to know, but making a concentrated effort to not be creepy about it. ]
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[ he trails off. there’s a kind of wry self-awareness to these recollections, where not too long ago they might have made him proud - or at least segued into his usual bit about how you’d think that would qualify you for certain accolades ... ]
Superheroics, at this point. Is how they’re thought of colloquially. Mostly it’s a living.
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