(no subject)

[red_room]

Dozens of different species meeting and mingling. Hundreds of potentially dangerous individuals all converging in one place. Some most definitely a threat to any world and to the Nexus should the AV field ever waver. But nearly all a threat in some way.

And yet.

Quiet streets on a crisp morning in the plaza with no wind. Humans and non humans mingling to do their daily shopping and travel to and from their worlds. How is it in a place with so much chaos inherently present it's more peaceful here than Natasha's home world?

"How in the hell have we not destroyed this place and each other yet? My world's a mess and it doesn't have a third of the dangers this place does."

Comments

[rebelscumfather]

The Nexus is a profoundly odd place. No doubt about it.

Take for example the presence of Han Solo himself. His discovery of the nexus meant that he came to the discovery of his own alternate. A man less than half his age who - as far as he could figure - was some kind of space cowboy or a ... pirate? He ain't really sure, but it's f*ucking weird all the same. How their alike and not alike.

Another example is his relationship to the Black Widow. It's never been overt and they've never discussed it directly, but she looks at him with something like familiarity - the color of his eyes, the scar on his face - because she knows the other. And it's a hell of a thing to talk to someone you hardly know who is giving all the non-verbal cues that they know you.

It doesn't occur to him that the spy does this to everybody to some degree. She just doesn't have to pretend so much for him.

"Strange isn't it? The place that feels unreal half the time in better shape than your own world?"

[red_room]

It's the same dealing with this Han Solo as it is the Nexus' Steve Rogers, for the most part. In both cases she knows them, and yet she doesn't. it's easier to stay on the sidelines with Steve, as he doesn't know her and doesn't seek her out quite the way Han Solo the elder sometimes seems to.

"There's so much potential for disaster here, but..." The spy gives a look around the Plaza and then offers up a half hearted shrug of her shoulders. "For the most part, everything here works. There's trouble now and again, but it gets sorted."

[rebelscumfather]

If she doesn't appreciate the gray-haired scoundrel's company, she need only say so and he won't bother her anymore. He gets the feeling she kinda does like seeing him around, though. He also happens to be up on the current events that she might (or might not) be referencing.

"If only we could figure out what it was that keeps this place in order. Then maybe would could ship it home in droves and hope it fixes things."

[red_room]

She enjoys the company, not that she ever shows as much outwardly. Han Solo the Elder is a very sharp cookie. And well, current events outside of the Nexus aren't too great, but at least someone else understands.

"First person to reverse engineer the AV field will win all the Nobel prizes." Snort.

[rebelscumfather]

It's fine. He accepts any and all permissible behavior, mild as it might be, as another person's acceptance of him. Heck, telling outright that you don't like him isn't a guarantee that he'll believe you - he spent years pursuing the woman he ended up marrying in that circumstance.

"They'd have to make up new prizes they haven't given out before if someone could do that."

It's not a fun time to be a liberal citizen of the United States in the current climate. He wasn't so worried at first, he didn't think the new president would try to do many of the crazy things he said and eventually he'd get impeached - but that was his thinking before that first flurry of executive orders.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia is sitting at a nearby Nexus terminal with a cup of coffee. She looks up at the question, as it is something she has thought about herself, but hesitates to answer. The attractive, polished woman who asked it intimidates her a little, but then again most strangers do.

"Many people think of this place as a refuge," she says quietly. She fidgets with the scarf around her neck. "They don't want to bring the troubles of their own world here."

[red_room]

"Have you ever wondered about it though? We have very dangerous people and creatures that show up here. People who could waltz into any door they wanted to and start all kinds of trouble. And yet it hasn't happened."

That she knows of. but she's Natasha motherfucking Romanov so she's pretty sure she would have heard of it by now if it was happening.

'Not that i'm wishing it would...it just, doesn't make sense to me."

[chiron_survivor]

"No, I... I've wondered about it." The thought has crossed her mind too often to count. How easy it would be for the Cylons to wreak havoc. Or her friend Adam's concern about the Illuminati. How any sort of evildoer could pass from their world into another, one with even fewer defenses than their own.

"They'd have to... start over, I guess. And they might end up stuck somewhere else. Portals have a way of disappearing." She looks away, as if in apology. She has a feeling Natasha isn't going to think much of her next suggestion. "Or maybe it's hard being bad all the time. You can get a break from it here."

[red_room]

"I'm used to things going wrong. When they don't I get paranoid."

It's kept her alive on more than a few occasions, but Natasha doesn't argue that it's not a hard life to live. Always being on edge is hard. Tiring. Exhausting, even. A nice glass of wine and a relaxing night of quiet are great once in a while, but after too long she just starts getting antsy.

[chiron_survivor]

She peers at Natasha shyly. "Is... um, is that related to what you do for a living? Do you fight crime?" She must, to be so concerned about the potential machinations of dangerous people.

[withoutathorn]

Katherine happens to be nearby--she's heading from the inn she stays at to get some chocolates from the candy store. She stops and ponders the woman's question--perhaps a touch of a second too long. No one ever said Katherine was particularly bright.

"I've never thought of it that way," she replies, her British accent refined, at least enough for a teenaged queen, anyway. "But not everyone, I suppose, is dangerous."

Maybe it all evens out, she thinks.

[red_room]

"The AV field keeps people safe---when it works. But it doesn't make sense to me. For how much chaos is in this place. It's far more peaceful than I'd have ever expected."

The spy watches Katherine with the same unreadbale thoughtful expression she's had since she arrived in the Plaza this morning.

"It makes me uneasy, I guess."

[withoutathorn]

"Do you think something bad will happen?" Now Katherine looks concerned. "I try not to think about such things, but perhaps..."

[red_room]

"I don't know."

The admission is simple and quiet.

"I'm used to terrible things happening pretty much all the time though."

[pathfromdarknesstogray]

"Field or no bloody field, I'm amazed that we haven't all killed each other yet." This comes from Dia, who in a departure from her usual robes is wearing a black longcoat, pants, and heavy boots. The lightsaber isn't visible for once, but undoubtedly, it's on her person somewhere.

"I'm not complaining, but even the most neutral places I've seen are still a bloody hive for scum and villainy to get away with everything they can."

Of course, Dia's experience with neutral worlds and places tends to be the Hutt controlled ones, so her experiences might be a little biased. Supposedly, there's the Voss's homeworld, too, but she's never been there.

[red_room]

"There's plenty of shady things going on here if you're looking for it, but it's definitely not the worst I've seen by a long shot. I just wonder sometimes how it all stays together."

Natasha gives a nod in the way of greeting toward the former Sith.

"I get tense when I think of all the potential for disaster waiting here."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

"Even in chaos, there's balance." It's not a strictly Sith teaching, but it's something she's learned through observation and survival. Even chaotic shit like the Sith Empire needs some form of balance to survive and thrive, let alone for as long as it has.

Which was why it was probably telling that things were falling apart with the Emperor's disappearance, and the inevitable vacuum that formed that was now letting the Sith Council politically infight without anything keeping them in check.

"I try not to bloody think too deeply on it, because when I do, it's worrying and frightening all at once. There is some sort of balance at work here, although what it is, I've got no idea."

[h_hollister]

Have a snarky blonde laughing herself silly, Nat.

"Giiiiirl," she drawled, shaking her head. "Giiiiiiiiiiiiirll. The Nexus is totally self-correcting. Like a grain of sand in an oyster. We're just too self-centered to see the pearls."

Hips had opinions about the Nexus, and its mucous layer of self-preservation. Not that anybody ever listened.

[red_room]

"Mmmmmmhmm?"

She can totally play the lets stretch out our words game. Hippolyta is a figure in the Nexus that most of the long term residents know well. Natasha knows well enough to know that she probably has a better idea of how this place works than most.

"If only the worlds it touches could be so simple." The spy folds her arms over her chest and inclines her head. An invitation for Hips to take a seat and join her if she wishes to.

[h_hollister]

She does.

...God, Natasha looks so much like...never mind.

"Want a drink?" she asks as she gets settled. "I usually prefer the Macallan, but I'd be fine with some Stoli. I find it's better to tackle the metaphysics of the multiverse with at least a half a bottle in you."

[red_room]

If anything puts one in the mood for day drinking, it's the state of affairs in US politics. Natasha doesn't quite smile but it looks like she's trying hard not to.

"I don't have an Asgardian's stamina, but I do pretty alright for a normal girl."

As if anyone in the Nexus is really normal.

[protolawyer]

Shark stops fiddling with a toothpick between his chompers, letting it dangle from his lips instead as he looks the redhead over skeptically.

"So is that, like...a threat? Cuz I think people live here and shit. Not that that's stopped worldwide destruction before, but just saying."

[red_room]

"Observation and wonder, more like."

The spy crosses one leg over the other and offers a shrug of her shoulders. It's made the decision to spend most of her time in the Nexus a relatively simple one. Her world's turned into some bizarro nightmare. Here makes more sense, as insane as that sounds.

[protolawyer]

"Isn't there something that stops people from shanking one another with impudence? Maybe it extends to property damage too. Kinda hard to rip a place up if you can't land a hit, right?" Shark uses his tongue to flip the toothpick in his mouth, the end of it tapping against his teeth. It's an obnoxious display.

[red_room]

"If I could reverse engineer it to use in my world, it would make things a hell of a lot simpler."

She's hardly the first person to have that wish and she won't be the last. But talking to the lawyer with the punchable green face is about par for her day as far as weirdness goes. And she still likes him better than the folks in charge back home.

"Do you have to deal with drama from your world here?"