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[twentysixlegions]

 Many others of his ilk like to cause a scene or enter with a bang - Stolas, however, is not one for dramatics. He's also one for studying a situation before stepping into it. 

He doesn't immediately ask any questions - instead, he watches the Nexus-goers like someone would people watch. Perhaps a little more intently than some would like, leaving them feeling like an owl is watching them from somewhere. The custom of asking a question makes itself shown quickly, and people like it when customs or traditions are followed. He might as well.

Stolas' voice is on the deeper end of the scale, but clear and calm, sounding like a college professor. "What constellations have you always been able to find, when the sky allows it? Why do you think it's easy for you to find this particular one?"

Comments

[bornstrong]

There's a young woman nearby, dressed in a saffron-colored skirt and top, who hears his question. She has a sort of regal bearing about her--probably because she once was a princess, in her homeland.

Intrigued by the man--because Iphigenia knows that usually, people are just confused when they arrive here--she smiles and begins to speak.

"Orion," she says, her own voice youthful and strong. "I could always find it, back home. To me, it's the easiest one to see."

She worries her lip a little, thinking about the second half of his inquiry.

"I have always felt a connection to it, but I'm not sure why."

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas looks pleased that someone is striking up a conversation. He leans forward, listening. "Orion? I've met others who agree with you. His belt is a giveaway. If you find it, then the rest falls into place."

He gives her a friendly smile, trying to set her at ease, upon seeing her worry her lip. "I hope it's a happy connection. Sometimes things are important because of painful associations."

[bornstrong]

"No, I'm just unsure of what it means to me, I guess," she admits, frowning a little. She's wondering if it has something to do with Artemis (of course it does, she thinks, but doesn't say), and then Aulis, and therefore the events leading up to her arrival in the Nexus.

"But it doesn't really matter," she says, trying to sound more cheerful. "Yes, it's easy to find his belt."

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas nods. "Understandable enough," he says.

He picks up on her wanting to change the subject. "Would I be right in assuming that you've been here longer than myself? If you felt so inclined, would you give me some information about this place?"

[bornstrong]

"It is a place between worlds--a meeting-place, for everyone and everything," she explains, relieved that he's not prying. "Some people end up stuck here, because of death or otherwise, and others can wander as they please. Either way, it's fascinating."

And she smiles then, because Iphigenia does enjoy meeting new people, after all.

"I'm Iphigenia, lately of Mycenae," she continues. "And what is your name, stranger?"

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas blinks only once during the explanation. There's no disbelief in his amber-yellow eyes, just surprise. He's heard of these places (live long enough and you hear of most things) but has never found his way to one. It's something new, and Stolas is very pleased about it.

"Really? How exciting! I think I would remember dying, and I don't feel particularly trapped. I should hope I'll be able to find my way back and forth." He seems genuine about this, with a quick grin.

Stolas smiles warmly. "I am Stolas. It is a pleasure to meet you, Iphigenia." He doesn't add his title, because that's for when he wants to mess with motormouth demons who act like they're the best thing Hell has ever seen.

((He knows who she is, considering he's... well... very old - but he understands what discretion is. I hope this is okay...? edit to clarify: he knows OF her, i should say?))

[bornstrong]

"Good for you," she says, and while she sounds genuine--and she does mean it--there's a touch of sorrow in her voice. She can never go back home.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Iphigenia continues, again willing her sadness to disappear. "You're not frightened or confused?"

That perplexes her. She was expecting to have to console him.

[ooc: not a problem! I love when folks know who she is! :D ]

[twelve_not_fourteen]

[Han has a friend in the Nexus with the same pb. Do you mind a mistaken identity tag or would you rather me not tag in with that?]

[twentysixlegions]

[Go ahead! This is gonna be fun. I, uh, picked this pb before I backread some of the posts and immediately imagined the mistaken identity thing.]

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han tilts his head up to the sky with the question. Doesn't matter what time of day it is because he's not looking at stars that are there. He's seeing something in the eye of his mind. The one's he could see from the surface of Corellia, in particular, always seemed well documented in his memory.

"Dralls Hat and the Ronto." He says at last, around a bit of a sigh. It's been hard on the Captain being marooned somewhere. The stars of the Nexus are lovely, but they're not his own and it's keeping him from enjoying them,

"They're easy to find because they both share the only red star in the Corellian sky." He tips his head back toward the other and with a cocked eyebrow he asks, "You got a cold or something, Josh? Your voice is funny."

[twentysixlegions]

"I must admit, I'm not familiar with those." Stolas is familiar with every constellation, so hearing two that don't ring a bell is interesting.

This person is talking familiarly with him, and even calling him by a different name. Stolas raises an eyebrow. "I'm not sick in the least, and I'm also afraid you have the wrong person. My name is Stolas, not Josh."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"You're not Josh?"

Naturally, Han is looking at the other guy like he's the strange one. As if he was perfectly in the right to presume this guy was Josh, because from Han's point of view, he is. The guy is a dead ringer for his Canadian friend, but then, it's not as if the fact that some people around here do have doubles around here.

If some accounts are to be believed, he has one too. "Oh. My mistake, then. I guess."

Anyway, back to the more interesting part of this conversation - the astronomy part. "Constellations are gonna be all different depending on what planet you're observing them from. Then there's what system you're from. Or what galaxy. I meet a whole lot more people around here from the Milky Way than people from my own ..."

[twentysixlegions]

"I'm afraid I am not." Of course, now he's curious about whoever this Josh is, and why this man had them confused. "Is he often in this place?"

Stolas has had the basic idea of the Nexus explained to him and understands it. He nods politely along with everything Han says, listening. "What galaxy is it that you're from? I must admit to having a bias towards the Milky Way myself. Perhaps this place will expand my horizons."

[chiron_survivor]

Passing through the Plaza on her way to the coffee machine, Adia can't help but feel like someone is watching her. Unremarkable in her dusty but serviceable wool coat, she has no reason to think she'd attract someone's attention, but she takes an anxious look around anyway.

Stolas looks like someone she knows, enough to make her do a double take, but his voice is not like this other person's, and she's been in the Nexus long enough to know about the possibility of alternates. "Oh... Corona Borealis, maybe. I liked the story behind it so I'd ask my father to point it out nearly every time we were out at night and the skies were clear." She frowns softly. "Not sure I'd be able to spot it again, though."

[twentysixlegions]

He hasn't come across an alternate of himself yet, though Stolas knows that humans often have dopplegangers. How he'll react when face to face with someone that looks like him has yet to be seen.

At Adia's answer, he smiles in return. "The Northern Crown," he says. "It is one of the nicer stories, isn't it?" Stolas notes her frown, and his head tilts a fraction. From what he's heard of this place so far, there could be any number of reasons for that.

"What part of the story did you like the most?" he asks instead.

[chiron_survivor]

If anything, Stolas sharing a face with someone Adia already knows and likes makes her more amenable to speaking with him. "It is. You're familiar with it?" Likely it's just mythology for him, or a long-dead religion. She's used to that being the case here.

"Oh... well, I always liked how clever Ariadne was with mazes. And that Dionysius loved her... not as how most gods love mortals, in the old myths. Either obsessively or too carelessly. He genuinely cared for her. The crown is the proof."

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas nods to her question. He's quite familiar with it, but saying that you were around when the stars were spoken into being is viewed as a lie or a delusion most of the time. When it's not, it's unsettling.

He smiles quietly at Adia's explanation, eyes going a little distant in thought for a moment. "That usually is how it is, isn't it? Either too much or too little, and forgetting that someone is a person." He frowns, but not at Adia, before coming back to himself. "I would say she earned her happy ending, personally."

[chiron_survivor]

"I think it must be difficult for a god to understand what it even means to be a person, let alone see someone that way," Adia muses, but there's no judgement in her words. She wonders a bit at his frown, if he's had his own experiences with the gods. "She did, I suppose. She helped a lot of people... not only Theseus, but all those people who would have kept being sacrificed to the Minotaur."

The subject of religion and myths was always a touch awkward for her in the Nexus because one never knew who could be listening. Wishing she had something to hold in her hands to keep from fidgeting with her scarf, she remembers her original purpose of coming to the Plaza. "I was about to get a cup of coffee. Would you like one? They're free. They have tea and hot chocolate, too."

[twentysixlegions]

"I've discovered that even humans have difficulty with that." That's not even bringing up the demons in his legions, or some of the other fallen angels. But Stolas isn't about to nitpick. "Yes. I imagine it couldn't have been easy for her to see happen. Is her compassion another part of the story that you like?" It's not said mockingly or sarcastically.

Stolas doesn't focus on her fidgeting - some people dislike their movements being studied. At her offer of a warm drink, his amber eyes light up. "I enjoy tea. My favorite way to make it is the Turkish way, though I'm not sure if you're familiar with it. I would love to accompany you." A pause, a chuckle. "I'm afraid I didn't ask your name. I am Stolas - and you?"

[brother_alone]

What the shit.

No, okay, what the actual shit?

Josh had been minding his own business, picking up a few groceries for Ice Bear and on his way back home when something caught his eye. At first he wasn't sure what it was he thought he'd seen. A mirror? A window that had reflected his image back to him?

But no. There's definitely a guy there. Watching people. Watching him. And he looks like he could be Josh's twin.

"...Holy shit are you real?"

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas has talked to a few people in the Nexus already - he's been told what it is, he's been taken to get some tea, and he's been mistaken for someone else. Not in that order, but it's the last one that's rather important, because now Stolas understands why.

He doesn't say anything at first, because he's a little surprised - he had thought this 'Josh' might look like a cousin or perhaps a brother. He didn't expect to be a dead-ringer for him. Even their hair is close in style.

"Yes. Quite real, actually. Are you Josh?" Then, because knowing someone's name out of the blue is a bit gauche, he adds "Someone thought that I was you, earlier. I didn't realize how... understandable that was. Or that I would meet you so soon."

[brother_alone]

Somehow, Josh doesn't drop the grocery bag he was carrying. Which is a miracle because he's very very close to freaking out right now. It gets set on the empty park bench next to him and he takes another step closer to his doppelganger with wide disbelieving green eyes.

The voice is wrong. It's all wrong. It startles him into jumping a bit because at this point he really was expecting his own voice.

"Yuh...You're...what are you?" A hallucination, please be a hallucination. Though this other Josh is surprisingly gore-free to be one of his hallucinations. Maybe he is real. God how could that be true though?

"Yeah. I..I'm Josh. Joshua Washington. I live here."

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas tilts his head at how startled Josh is. At the question of what are you he raises an eyebrow. "A number of things. But you already seem ill at ease, so perhaps we'll circle back around to that later, hm?"

He isn't covered in gore or blood. Stolas sticks a hand out. "You're free to see if I'm solid." He's had people freak out like this when he's in owl form, but never when he's a normal human being. "He mentioned that as well. I'm sorry that I know so much about you when we've only just met. I am Stolas."

[brother_alone]

Josh drops his gaze to Stolas' hand as it extends. He swallows the lump in his throat and hesitantly reaches a tan hand out. One that shakes and trembles despite his attempts to calm down. There are crescent moon shaped scars on the palms of his hands visible as he reaches out, withdrawing his fingers when he gets close before finally touching Stolas's hand.

Solid. Skin and bone. Josh sinks his teeth into his lower lip hard enough to hurt but Stolas doesn't go away. This isn't a hallucination. This is real.

"Sh...shit. You're...Who? Who told you about me?"

[twentysixlegions]

Stolas has the patience of stars. He doesn't try to rush Josh as the other man reaches out to touch him. Once Josh finally is - his hand is warm, oddly so, like he's been around a fire or a hot stove. Despite this he doesn't seem uncomfortable and isn't sweating. But he is skin and bone and solid, and he doesn't make a grab for Josh.

Josh might notice that Stolas has not blinked recently, but well, certain things are hard for people that are more or less pretending to be human.

"He called himself Han, if that helps at all. As I said, he mistook me for you." He's trying not to be irritated over repeating himself. Sometimes people need to hear something once or twice before accepting it, he has to remember that.