Let's Get Phys-- I mean, Philosophical.

[telekinesis_kills]

Danny is sitting cross-legged, rather solidly settled into one of the beanbag chairs scattered around the Plaza. He's watching people go about their business, just observing the ebb and flow of the foot traffic around him. At a certain angle, one might be able to see a faint pink glow around his body, which occasionally seems to sink a little deeper into his skin, and then back out again.

"I know what I ought to do," he says aloud. "Find a way back home, report on this new discovery, kick the actual decision-making upstairs to the higher ups, and wait for new orders."

Danny sighs, and it's almost like his body is pressed into his seat a bit more, as though by some large unseen hand. "Nobody knows that I'm here. And if it's true that we can come and go as we please... is anything stopping me from just... going a little later?"

He's probably going to do what he ought to do, all his training and experience tells him so, and yet...

He looks up, with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Is it selfish to want some time for myself?"

Comments

[desertpowered]

Paul doesn't disagree that quiet is good, though he's more cynical about whether things will stay that way. Some people will always want to start trouble or have interests at odds with peace in the Nexus.

There's another nod. "We have to learn fast, where I come from. Luckily I'm good at adapting to new situations, but I like to hang back until I've properly assessed things. I hope she will be, too."

He notices Danny's embarrassment. "I don't know who Commander Steel is, but I didn't really know what America was either. I'm...well, I wasn't born on Earth." Paul's found that humans are common, but non-Earthborn humans are rarer, and he's one of the few. "There isn't anything too serious. You have to be more careful in the Underbelly and the Wilds, because some of the residents aren't so friendly and the anti-violence field won't always protect you. If there's anything else you want to know, feel free to ask."

[telekinesis_kills]

"She'll have you to learn from, right?" Danny asks, because while he has no firsthand knowledge of how siblings are supposed to work, that's what he hears about big brothers. "So she'll have an advantage."

"Oh!" Danny smiles when Paul says he wasn't born of Earth, and says confidently, "Don't even worry about that, Paul. I don't expect you to understand my references just because of the different universes thing, and it's not like I haven't met -- or worked with -- aliens before. When I was a kid, I teamed up with a half demon girl for a while. Before she tried to kill me."

Danny has a very strange history, but sometimes he forgets about how strange it can sound to other people.