[ he’s glad to hear it, and the answer will do for now, soothing any worries of interpersonal conflict. ]
The weirdest.
[ gotta love when Cain tells it like it is ]
I forget to mention it outright, but it’s no secret. Katelyn Philips, who made the guide, is a dear friend, and we’ve been living together since we arrived in the first wave. Know her from my Uni days, if you’re after more embarrassing stories of my youth.
[ a lie that needs to be told in service of her deep cover, offered without compunction. ]
Daisy Johnson is a friend from my team at SHIELD, Peggy comes from a time decades in my past but I’ve met her in the present, too, [ he shook her hand when he graduated, and she’d said something about all his mind could do for SHIELD, but either that or Fury looking him in the eye turned the moment into a blur. ] and Stephen Strange is a hero of sorts. Above my paygrade.
[ his universe marks an odd case study, with how many and how disparate its residents are — useful to know and apply to the Displaced. ]
Our universe is also a direct alternate to Thor, Loki and Billy’s own. There are versions of them that we know, but not as they are.
[Those two stick out to him first, the two he's had the most interactions with aside from Peggy, who he'd suspected had some special dynamic with Fitz. Not shocking to hear they've come from the same place.]
that is the weirdest shit are you guys just special? guess the superhero thing gives it away, never mind
[Even if their powers have been redacted and replaced, or in Cain's case, given anew.]
always thought it was kinda ironic how people would come with others they knew from back home that isnt random, right? whats the point? we could all be individual from our own universes or timelines or whatever bullshit and it probably wouldnt affect much but why do some of us have people we know? and why these specific ones? [AKA, the ones he really wants.] somehow i got abel instead of my commanding officer. or uh. my mom
You've hit the fulcrum of all the theories we have, tipping one way or the other: Randomness or order, accident or intent.
[ he now leans toward the latter after four months of waffling. ]
Maybe we're connected to those closest to us, and it's easier to take us together or one after the other, like a homing beacon. It could even be as simple as physical proximity. The varying hair lengths of our arrivals tells us individuals are held for different amounts of time, even if they arrive together.
[ but why not his other half? where did she go? ]
There's something we aren't seeing, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. We're all compatible with these foreign powers, aren't we? I keep coming back to that, when I'm stuck thinking on this. In my head, that's the missing piece.
[ the thing that makes them useful to someone, whether or not that someone forced these changes upon them or is simply using the circumstances to their advantage. they must share some intangible factor.
at least, that's what he thinks, as a man biased by his own history. ]
[And it does, Fitz shining a light into corners of thought he's never considered. This must be why it's everyone's first instinct to point new arrivals toward him for multiverse questions. He has the experience, too, of living two entirely separate lifetimes. Cain can't understand what that's like even as he tries to imagine.]
still feels like we just keep guessing are we ever gonna know? will we just get stuck in this limbo? what if we spend the rest of our lives here, completely in the dark?
[He doesn't expect Fitz to have all the answers, but it's easy to bounce these thoughts off of him.]
sorry. kinda morbid, ha you were just sending me a birthday text. [HOW DID THEY GET HERE.] ill make you celebrate with me later
Easy to get existential and morbid on your birthday. But I always think about how Jemma says the steps you take don’t have to be big — they just have to take you in the right direction. And we’re well on our way, so we’ve got time.
[ it’s their only resource. ]
Certainly enough for you to have fun now. We’ll go dancing another day.
[It's sweet, how much Jemma's name has come up in their conversations recently. He's noticing, following that thread as it appears each time. And it hurts to think Fitz is here without her.]
gonna hold you to that
[They are DANCING whether he likes it or not!!]
thanks, again.
Edited (repetition ugh!! bane of my existence) 2019-05-28 06:24 (UTC)
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no subject
The weirdest.
[ gotta love when Cain tells it like it is ]
I forget to mention it outright, but it’s no secret.
Katelyn Philips, who made the guide, is a dear friend, and we’ve been living together since we arrived in the first wave. Know her from my Uni days, if you’re after more embarrassing stories of my youth.
[ a lie that needs to be told in service of her deep cover, offered without compunction. ]
Daisy Johnson is a friend from my team at SHIELD, Peggy comes from a time decades in my past but I’ve met her in the present, too, [ he shook her hand when he graduated, and she’d said something about all his mind could do for SHIELD, but either that or Fury looking him in the eye turned the moment into a blur. ] and Stephen Strange is a hero of sorts. Above my paygrade.
[ his universe marks an odd case study, with how many and how disparate its residents are — useful to know and apply to the Displaced. ]
Our universe is also a direct alternate to Thor, Loki and Billy’s own. There are versions of them that we know, but not as they are.
[ THE! WEIRDEST! ]
no subject
loki and billy?
[Those two stick out to him first, the two he's had the most interactions with aside from Peggy, who he'd suspected had some special dynamic with Fitz. Not shocking to hear they've come from the same place.]
that is the weirdest shit
are you guys just special? guess the superhero thing gives it away, never mind
[Even if their powers have been redacted and replaced, or in Cain's case, given anew.]
always thought it was kinda ironic how people would come with others they knew from back home
that isnt random, right? whats the point?
we could all be individual from our own universes or timelines or whatever bullshit and it probably wouldnt affect much
but why do some of us have people we know? and why these specific ones? [AKA, the ones he really wants.] somehow i got abel instead of my commanding officer. or uh. my mom
[Trying to think of RANDOM EXAMPLES.]
no subject
[ no hero, no powers. ]
You've hit the fulcrum of all the theories we have, tipping one way or the other: Randomness or order, accident or intent.
[ he now leans toward the latter after four months of waffling. ]
Maybe we're connected to those closest to us, and it's easier to take us together or one after the other, like a homing beacon. It could even be as simple as physical proximity. The varying hair lengths of our arrivals tells us individuals are held for different amounts of time, even if they arrive together.
[ but why not his other half? where did she go? ]
There's something we aren't seeing, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. We're all compatible with these foreign powers, aren't we? I keep coming back to that, when I'm stuck thinking on this. In my head, that's the missing piece.
[ the thing that makes them useful to someone, whether or not that someone forced these changes upon them or is simply using the circumstances to their advantage. they must share some intangible factor.
at least, that's what he thinks, as a man biased by his own history. ]
no subject
makes sense
[And it does, Fitz shining a light into corners of thought he's never considered. This must be why it's everyone's first instinct to point new arrivals toward him for multiverse questions. He has the experience, too, of living two entirely separate lifetimes. Cain can't understand what that's like even as he tries to imagine.]
still feels like we just keep guessing
are we ever gonna know? will we just get stuck in this limbo?
what if we spend the rest of our lives here, completely in the dark?
[He doesn't expect Fitz to have all the answers, but it's easy to bounce these thoughts off of him.]
sorry. kinda morbid, ha
you were just sending me a birthday text. [HOW DID THEY GET HERE.] ill make you celebrate with me later
no subject
But I always think about how Jemma says the steps you take don’t have to be big — they just have to take you in the right direction.
And we’re well on our way, so we’ve got time.
[ it’s their only resource. ]
Certainly enough for you to have fun now. We’ll go dancing another day.
[ obvs not going dancing thanks but 😘😘😘 ]
no subject
gonna hold you to that
[They are DANCING whether he likes it or not!!]
thanks, again.
no subject
[ a beat. ]
You’re welcome, Alexei.