@cjk [ audio ]

[signifies]

Hello everyone. My name is Clark. I'll try and keep this brief.

Firstly, I've drawn up a blank list and placed one on the bulletin board on each housing floor. If those with medical expertise feel comfortable, they can put their name, residence here, and — if they have one — specialisation, in case of an emergency. We have several residents who aren't from the same point in time, so if you'd like to volunteer to update someone's medical knowledge, please mark your name with an asterisk.

Secondly, ah-- [ a bit of a laugh. ] I'm from Kansas, which some of you might recognise as being host to some pretty bad weather. Now, I'm not going to say I'm paranoid, but-- I like to think ahead. So, I've made up some kits with some of the usual survival paraphernalia back home and distributed them between floors. Feel free to help yourselves if you need them.

[ No one has to use them, but he’d rather everyone knows they're available. ]

Thank you for your time.

( all replies in audio unless otherwise stated )

Comments

[starspangled]

I don't know what I'm looking for most of the time.

[he nods, taking them and starting to fold, creases a little sharper than they actually need to be. sometimes the military just comes back to him.]

So I guess this is as good a place as any.

[signifies]

[ Clark has a sense for loneliness in others, having experienced it his whole life. He glances sidelong at Steve, unsure if he should say anything. ]

I wouldn't know about here just yet.

[ Fitting in somewhere isn't the same as belonging, and Clark wouldn't know what that contentment looked like even if it hit him in the face with kryptonite brass knuckles. ]

What did you do at home, Steve?

[keepitup]

That's ... fascinating, really.

[ If the little details are the only things different, what if it's just because they aren't talking about the big ones? ]

Did the Allies win WWII?

[fingerstripes]

[ He'd had the forethought to leave the Nightwing suit tucked away at the apartment, along with any incriminating hidden gear he'd normally have on hand. It's not... exactly a great feeling, limiting his options in unfamiliar territory. But that's also a discussion that would almost definitely go over better if it happens on open terms.

And anyway, he'll never really be unarmed. ]

Thanks. [ He takes the seat across from Clark with an easy bounce. ] Gotta admit I haven't had a lot of time to check out the cafe scene.

[ He's just really into the secluded corners in this place. ]

[signifies]

Er-- yes.

( saying this conversation is a private call, if that's okay? )

[signifies]

[ Satisfied, Clark nods. If anything happens, he should be able to protect Dick, long enough for him to make it somewhere safe. ]

Me neither.

[ He pushes the menu across the table. ]

The waiter says they're known for their lattes.

[keepitup]

( yes absolutely okay )

Star City and Metropolis are cities in the United States of America?

[signifies]

Yes.

There was a Cold War with Soviet Russia for much of the last century?

[fingerstripes]

I'll give it a shot. [ Typically he's more of a black coffee guy, but that's more lack of time than taste. ]

You're gonna have to tell me if it holds a candle to what Metropolis has to offer on that front.

[signifies]

[ It sounds like he's really planning a visit someday. Clark can imagine it. ]

You'll have to tell me if it's anything like Bludhaven.

[starspangled]

I was a soldier. After that I was part of a team.

[he doesn't mention that the band sort of broke up before he came here, but that feeling of loneliness intensifies.

still, he has a smile on his lips as he looks over at clark.]

You?

[signifies]

I'm a reporter. Here they gave me a job with the paper. What about you?

[fingerstripes]

[ That brings a bright smile to his face. ]

Can't say much for the coffee. But it has a few charms, if you know where to look. You should swing by sometime.

[signifies]

I will.

[ They have a fifteen year gap, but if there's still a Dick Grayson there, Clark's curious enough to look him up. ]

Especially if there's a story to be found.

[ He raises an eyebrow. Time to talk about weird. ]

[fingerstripes]

Well, you can count on Bludhaven not to disappoint there.

[ But it's a lead-in if ever he's seen one. Clark's a brilliant man, of course he knows something's up.

He taps his fingers on the menu. Tries his hardest not to show his hand in a grimace. ]

...So, uh- strange question. When we had that sit-down with the brass on day one, how much of that... actually came as a shock?

The multiverse talk.

[signifies]

[ A lot of it had. Clark knew there was a way into the Phantom Zone, not places like this. It's harder to adjust to people from different times, instead of different universes. If they don't know Metropolis, they don't know Superman. It gives him leeway he doesn't have at home. ]

It's all new to me. You're the first person who recognised Metropolis.

[fingerstripes]

Yeah. I've run into that too. Seems Gotham isn't exactly a universal landmark either. [ And it's left him a little lost for touchstones. For a sense of perspective on time and place. It's a dangerous place to be, alone. It's part of why it feels so important for Clark to understand. He takes a breath. ]

...But where I come from we've-

Honestly it's been weirder to run across worlds where a lot of us aren't represented. [ Wow how this must sound. ]

Uh- In some way.

[signifies]

[ It sounds like it'd throw anyone off-balance. Dick seems to have either experience or expectation. Clark can see how Riverview or anywhere else like it might mess with that. ]

... Us?

[fingerstripes]

...Friends. Sometimes family. [ Technically he's only ever met one other version of himself, but it's more than enough to know they're out there. It's never been a comfortable feeling, exactly. But it's a reality. Inescapable.

How would it feel to be hit with that without that framework already in place? ]

It's pretty far above my pay grade. But, uh- we've actually kind of met before. [ As carefully, casually as he can. ]

[signifies]

[ Dick says friends first. Clark's eyebrows rocket upwards. If they know each other, Dick's behaviour makes sense to him. He's trying to break this gently. Clark would almost prefer a punch in the gut.

He speaks again only after their coffee arrives, having used the time to consider his words. ]

Were we friends?

[starspangled]

First responder.

[steve smiles a little at that.]

I bet selling newspapers would've been their second choice. I did a lot of that.

[fingerstripes]

...Yeah.

We actually met when I was a kid. You'd already been, uh- working out of Metropolis for a few years. [ Working. He studies his coffee, suddenly embarrassed. ]

...There's obviously some differences. [ And there's a way out, if he needs to take it. ]

[signifies]

There are.

[ 1998 versus 2013. Time's shifted forward. He feels guilty: Dick looked for something familiar and found him. ]

I hope enough is the same.

[keepitup]

Yes.

[ He needs something that's an off detail. Something that Clark would remember still, from a few years back. ]

2013 ... Taylor Swift. Sweet country girl turned pop superstar?

[signifies]

She just released Red.