reality_crossroads | (no subject)

[That gets another genuine smile out of Marty] Yeah -- I've wanted to be a musician for years. And I refuse to let that bastard who took me and pretended to give me everything I wanted ruin it for me.

[Doc nods, expression serious as steam hisses out from under his coat] Hear hear.

*He nods and has another drink.* Don't let the bastards get you down.

[Marty, with a little nod of his own] I try not to. [then he smirks] Helps to imagine just how pissed off the asshole must have been after I booked it -- and now he can't even get to me at all. [Unless The Agent somehow shows up in the Nexus. . .a continual fear, but one that has become much less worrisome as the years have passed and there's still no sign of him]

I imagine that helps rather a lot.

[Marty grins, rather meanly] It does. [He leans on the bar] So, what's your story?

[Doc, with a laugh] You're going to have to specify which one, Marty.

*Nancy laughs as well.* I have several thousand just off the top of my head.

[Marty's eyebrows shoot up] Damn. Lead an exciting life, huh?

And a very long one, although not all my stories are about me. My family has their share as well.

[Doc nods] He was just telling one about his son.

[Marty nods back] Yeah, I guess if you and yours have been around the block a few times, you're gonna have some stories. [glances over at Doc] We've got a few of our own, don't we?

So I've heard.

[Doc, chuckling] I attempted to explain our familial situation and even he found it confusing.

[Marty, deadpan] Great -- we're weird even to immortals. Yay us.

Congratulations. *A chuckle.*

[Doc, now a bit thoughtful] To be fair, we've packed a lot of odd events into -- er, I suppose it's a normal human lifetime. It's hard to be sure when time acts so differently in Arcadia. . .

Most people take a longer time to have so many oddities happen, yes.

[Marty, nodding] Yeah, but as is probably obvious, we ain't most people. I think the most "normal" one among us is Victor, and even he woke up the dead once.

That's not so hard to do. *A moment of thought.* Probably harder for mortals, admittedly.

[Marty snorts] Yeah, for most of us, dead is dead. And Victor brought Emily back by accident, so. . .

[Doc, figuring he can provide some context] He was arranged to be married and was out in the woods to practice his vows -- and upon putting the ring on a hand-shaped branch, discovered it was actually a skeletal hand. Belonging to a murdered bride who rose to accept what she thought was a proposal.

That's one way to do it, I suppose.

[Doc waves a hand] The real problem there was, while he was fleeing her, the Rift -- a tear between worlds -- picked him up. He went straight from running from a corpse bride in a Victorian England village to finding himself lost in a warehouse in modern-day Chicago. As you might imagine, it was quite the shock.

Well that sounds just lovely. Not the best of luck there.

[Doc nods] Yes -- he's lucky that, like me, he stumbled across some of the kinder residents of that Chicago when he arrived. I ran into it while Marty and I were trying to escape Arcadia and our Keepers.

[Marty grumbles] Yeah. . .kind of a kick in the teeth for both of us to get out, but only me to make it back home. I thought for ages Doc had died or gotten lost -- and couldn't figure out which was worse.

[Doc, immediately] Getting lost. Trust me.

There aren't many places where it's worse to get lost than to die. Assuming you don't starve, anyway.

[Doc, very seriously] Trust me, the Hedge -- the area between Arcadia and Earth -- is one of them. I got lost in it on my first attempt at escape from my Keeper, and. . .well. When I was first introduced to Marty, I was going by "Professor" as I didn't know my own NAME after stumbling around in there. Fortunately Marty helped me regain some of my memories, and the sudden trip to Chicago restored the rest.

It's good you got them back.

You seem like you could stand to join me in the miracle of the loafs and fishes. I can get some spare fishing rods somewhere, I'm sure.

[Doc nods] Yes, I -- well. I believe I already mentioned how nervous it's made me about having my mind altered.

[but this has turned out well, so he relaxes again with a smile] That sounds nice, honestly.

[Marty, with a little smile of his own] This is the Nexus -- you want fishing rods, they'll probably just turn up. Along with a lake.