maskormenacelogs | you know you could have it so much better

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you know you could have it so much better

WHO: SHADE and GILBERT
WHERE: Residence #004
WHEN: 3/7 evening
WHAT: One actual Victorian fellow and one not really Victorian fellow smoking a smoke and being classy and weird. Probably more weird than classy.
WARNINGS: tba

[ Sharon hadn't been herself before Gil had come to realize she had been infected with some mysterious virus whose origins were still unknown to him by the end of it. She needed rest after such a grueling and strange week and he tended to her without crowding her. It was never polite to impose too much on a young lady, especially the Duchess Rainsworth's granddaughter.

But then she disappeared and he was filled with temporary panic before it receded and was replaced by a touch of happiness and comfort Sharon was back where she belonged.

Then came bitter thoughts. He was supposed to be happy she was ported back home, to continue what they had all started out to finish regarding the Baskervilles, Leo, the Sealing Stones, and the mysteries of the Abyss. But while pleased for Sharon, he began to wonder when his turn would come. Three years away from Oz was rapidly approaching and his throat felt tight and head dizzy and heavy.

He needed to get back and yet here he was. All he could do was focus on cleaning the home, offering Aileen the now spare bedroom, preparing meals, and when the evening settled in and quiet fell upon the neighborhood he stepped out into the backyard and took long drags of his cigarette, watching the sun disappear from view. ]

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It would be my primary concern, if I didn't know my shadows well enough.

[ He said it coolly, although the look on Gilbert's face said enough, didn't it? ]

Fear not, Gilbert. I assure you, you'll be begging me to cook dinner after tomorrow night.

[ He looks away, coughing quietly into his free hand and then taking another drag of his cigarette.

He somehow doubts he'll beg for more of Shade's food, if only because he doesn't salivate over good food the way others do. No, he gets starry-eyed for different reasons. ]

I... guess I'll use the extra time to go into town and get some brand new clothes I need.

Ah, excellent! [ He almost looks pleased on principle. Gil never seems to take any time off, and the Shade? He's something of a languid, lazy kind of bastard. He does things because he wants to, not because he has to.

So anything to see the boy relax seems like a victory. ]

I'm sure the boutiques will be quite pleased with your decision to spend time out there instead of in here.

It won't be for long.

We arrived with nothing but the clothes on our back and this weather is too much. And it's only winter...

[ He's going through a shirt a day and he knows how much energy gets used up using the machine. Not to mention all the detergent, bleach, and fabric softener they all have to use. It's disgusting, honestly. At least the evenings, like now, are pleasantly cool. ]

Yes, yes, it's quite warm.

[ Not that Shade noticed, but then again, he was the sort that wouldn't be touched by heat or cold, no matter where he was. At one time, perhaps, he still had been, but long ago, he'd stopped feeling it.

Or perhaps it had been his brain reading it as something that existed, even if it hadn't. ]

I can't imagine it's comfortable. You should prepare for the coming months appropriately, for certain.

[ Gil is not so lucky in that aspect. He's a lot more sensitive to American summers and the heat waves that come along with it. He's never had to deal with such sticky and sweaty summers before he arrived in the City. ]

It's manageable for now. The air conditioning helps, though I hate to leave it running all the time if we'll have to pay the electricity bill eventually.

Indeed. Perhaps we shall see where that goes, hm? Perhaps the government will be kind enough to pay that expense for us as well?

[ After all, they'd given him a house, hadn't they? It was something. ]

I suppose it depends on whether or not we're all registered.

[ Which he isn't and remains pretty undecided about. ]

Are you?

Thus far, yes, I am.

I thought they might revoke the status when I left the country, but instead they let me off with a warning.

[ He sighed, somewhat softly. ]

I'm surprised, honestly. I thought they would take any excuse to revoke the privilege.

You should be more happy about that. They were generous enough to warn you the first time.

[ He can't believe this man had the nerve to take off so soon and without a second thought. He shakes his head slowly. ]

Though, I'm not sure I understand what this "Cold" War is.

Should I? [ He laughed, softly. The Shade was the Shade, and his whims were generally what he followed, no matter what they were. ]

The Cold War was named because it was hardly a war at all. It's all about the powers, and their game of one-upsmanship with no actual battle. It's essentially a long-standing standoff.

[ He pauses, slowly digesting this information and trying to make sense of it and what else it could mean. He had theorized they were essentially soldiers for a potential war, but could it be that's not the case anymore? ]

They're using those with actual powers to scare Russia?

Political powers -- however, I'm sure the conversation would come up.

If I were running a country, I would wave this little trump card around enough to ensure they were more than aware I had it just sitting here. The Cold War was all about weapons that nobody wanted to use.

[ Without knowing what Shade means, he's truthfully a little taken aback by such a bold statement. ]

Wouldn't they retaliate at some point?

[ He's heard some stories about Russia, mainly from Natasha, who told him parts of their history had been etched in blood. They had suffered. ]

If you had knew someone with more power, even if you disliked them, would you bat at the tiger's tail? Or would you attempt to amass more power first?

[ Shade honestly didn't care so much about these things. Fascinating, and he'd lived through the age, walked the streets of both Washington and Moscow -- not here of course -- but to him, it was only a curiosity.

The wheel of history turning. ]

One gains more power, the other figures a way around it, until they both have too much, and if either one capitulates, then the world will fall to pieces around them.

Neither one wishes to go that far, and leave only ruin behind. It's about intimidation.

[ He listens closely to Shade, almost hanging onto his every word.

Power itself can be a complicated matter. He had spent the better part of his life chasing it with little success initially, his desperation, his thirst for Raven's power stronger with as more and more time passed and Oz remained trapped in the Abyss. Nearly ten years had passed before he was able to tame the Nightray's Chain and acquire the power not just to seal, but to kill and to protect.

His hand drifts to the lower half of his neck, feeling the carcere beneath his clothes. ]

Do you think something like that will happen here?

It's possible. In my world, things dissolved, before they escalated.

That doesn't necessarily mean it will here, but perhaps it will.

After all, they still have nuclear bombs.

[ It's a low chuckle that he released, at the thought. Well, most people couldn't survive a nuclear blast. Shade had first-hand experience with bombs. He as certain he could recover from something like that.

But who wished to take that chance? ]

Even though we may have the balance, they still have enough that I doubt the war would escalate too rapidly that we wouldn't know it's coming.

Nuclear bombs?

[ He's heard of them, but he's not certain what they do besides explode. How many bombs does it take to level a city? ]

Destructive little nightmares, yes.

They're quite dangerous. The thing could level a city, and there's been hardly enough work done to figure out what other effects it could have on the rest of the world.

They did something similar to Los Angeles back in the other world.

[ Had it been nuclear? But if it has effects like Shade says, maybe not. Not if it affected the whole world. Surely they would have gotten sick at some point. ]

Ah yes, I remember hearing about that, something about a bombing. [ He shrugged. ]

Whether or not it was nuclear, the damage is still...terrifying, isn't it? Imagine a constant stream of dealing with such threats, if either side were to escalate it. That's why it hasn't happened.

There's no way to stop something like that? There has to be a power stronger than that weapon.

[ imPorts stronger than a nuclear bomb. Resistant to it. He's seen what plenty of them are capable of. ]

Mm, there is.

[ Shade could stop it, after all.

He'd stopped that bomber from harming his Opal. ]

But, would that perhaps create a new Vulcanus -- may be a Vulcanus-esque nation? If we were to intervene?

[ He lifts his head, realizing this whole time they've been here, Vulcanus hasn't crossed his thoughts. They're partly responsible for the entire mess and chaos they had to leave behind, aren't they? His gaze grows darker. ]

I would hope not. They've made enough trouble for everyone.

These people truly like us... for whatever reason.

A mystery, yes? They barely know us, but perhaps that is the entirety of it.

[ He puffed away on his pipe, looking into the sky. ]

People with superpowers, they don't start out all chaos and destruction. That comes later. At first, it's elation, and wonder, at the fact that a man can run like the wind, or fly, or lift a car.

The distrust comes when the power is shown to be so great, and fear then settles in.

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