Who: Karen Page & Bobby Drake What: Welcome to town beers Where: Verdant When: Feb 1 Warnings: Vague mentions of canon-related violence Status: Complete gdoc
Bobby smiled as he put his phone down again and sipped his drink. After work, and dinner, he had stopped by home, hung out with Jean, and then headed here. He was definitely in for a drink or four, and he knew he could count on the Verdant people to send him home safely if he did drink too much.
He could count on it, and he wasn’t sure he would drink that much tonight, but he was glad to know he was safe. Just like Karen would be, if she did come here. Apparently arriving here was enough for her to want drinks. He got it. If his life had not been as crazy as it was, he would have been the same.
So, he sat back, sipping his drink and watching the door.
***
Karen was still sore, still bruised, and had a bandaid on the cut on her forehead, but overall, she was mostly okay aside from the fact that she was in another world. Seeing someone she had at least heard of helped somewhat, but the fact that she was there in general was a lot to take in, and after everything that had happened recently, she really needed a drink.
As she stepped into Verdant, the blonde glanced around curiously, a little wary. This definitely wasn’t Jodie’s but it was a bar at least, which was a step in the right direction. When she realized that she was still standing in front of the door, she took a step to the side, then glanced back down at the phone in her hands to see if maybe she should try to reach Bobby that way.
***
Seeing someone come in, and look bewildered, Bobby smiled and rose to move to her. “Karen?” He extended a hand to her. “I’m Bobby. Welcome to Verdant and to Madison.” he grinned wider at her.
“I saved us seats at the bar.” He waved hand toward the bar, which was not far off.
***
“Yeah, that’s me.” She shook the offered hand, then smiled at him in return. “Thanks - can’t say yet that I’m ecstatic to be here, but I guess things could always be worse I guess.” Karen let go of his hand when he gestured to the bar, and gave a nod.
“Okay, great,” she said, motioning for him to lead the way over. As she followed him, she studied the bar and the people around, then shifted her attention to Bobby as she slid onto a stool.
“Thanks again for the offer of a drink.”
***
“I get that. It’s a place that has problems, like any other, but it also has a lot of good people. It’s kind of nice, despite itself.” He chuckled as he led the way back to the bar. He was fit, and dressed well,if not formally, a man who worked out, well, in the superheroic way, anyway.
“You’re welcome. Bartender! One of whatever she wants for the new lady, please.” He placed his hands on the bar, so she could see he would not interfere with her drink.
***
“I’m not really sure what I expected, but I’ve never been magically transported to another world, so…” She trailed off with a shrug, and looked up as the bartender approached. “I’ll just have a beer, thanks,” she said with a smile. “Whatever’s on tap.”
Once the glass was in front of her, she picked it up for a long sip, then looked over at Bobby. “So how long have you lived in Madison?”
***
“A little under a year now. It’s been a wild time.” He chuckled. “I remember when I first got here and how weirded out I was. But it’s old hat by now.” He shook his head.
“Hopefully, you will find it easy to settle.”
***
“Yeah, hopefully.” She smiled a little, but it faded as she took another sip of her beer and she looked down. “I wasn’t really looking to start over again somewhere new - especially when I don’t know anyone around here. This is a lot to take in right now.”
***
Bobby nodded. “I'm sorry, Karen. I know how you feel. I was headed to see my family when I got pulled in here. Wasn't my idea of a good time either.” He nodded.
“Where are you from? Oh, and when?”
***
“It’s fine. I’ve done it before, so I’m sure I’ll manage it again,” she replied, taking another drink from her glass. At the questions, she set it down again.
“Before here? New York City. Hell’s Kitchen, to be exact, and it was 2017. So at least I’m not too far off from that, if the date I saw earlier is right. How about you?”
***
“You will, and you don’t have to do it alone. We’ve all been through it. “ He nodded as he listened to her, and nodded again. “Yes, only about a year off, but since it is a different world, even that doesn’t matter, really.
“I first came from the nineties, but then got sent back and brought back here from just 2015.” He waved a hand. “Sometimes, this place will send you home, and for you, time passes back home, but here, a day or a week only pass. Back home, you usually don’t remember this place, until you are brought back again.”
***
“I appreciate that,” she said, though Karen was still a little skeptical since she didn’t actually know Bobby - or anyone else in town. “A few months, actually. It was just the fall. But right, still different. This place actually reminds me of where I grew up, a little.” Breaking off abruptly, she sipped again from her beer, before studying Bobby as he spoke.
“That sounds...unfortunate. And somewhat harrowing.”
***
“It can be, but it can also, be good.” He smiled softly. “I prefer this place to home. My home is always getting invaded, blown up, attacked, yelled at, almost killed, and more. I prefer a nice quiet town… most of the time. Weirdness happens, but it is survivable.”
He chuckled. “And there are good beers.”
***
“I won’t lie and say a vacation wouldn’t be nice, particularly after all that’s been happening lately. It’d be nice to not be shot at for a while, or have anything near me blow up,” Karen admitted. “But I still have friends back there who I care about and miss, and I’d worry about them if I’m here too long.”
She didn’t have any kind of significant other, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t want to make sure Agent Madani and Foggy were doing okay. And Frank - especially Frank, after recent events.
***
“They might be brought here too. From the same point, or your past or future.” Bobby grinned at her. “Not being blown up is nice.” he toasted her with his drink.
“And when you come here, you come from between moments. If you go back, you go back to the moment you left.”
***
“That’s oddly bleak. Come here, live a life, then go back to the same thing you had before, whatever it was?” Karen shook her head slightly. “Sorry to be a little pessimistic, I’m just not sure I’m sold on the idea of being in Madison Valley yet.”
She gave Bobby a smile. “Tell me about you. Where are you from originally? What do you do there?”
***
“That’s okay. Take your time. I’m just some random guy in a bar. Don’t take my word for it.” He chuckled and nodded to her.
“I was born in Long Island and lived there normally until I was 13. Then, suddenly, without warning, I manifested a mutant ability. At first it was just to cool things down, then to ice them over. And it just kept growing. I attended a school for mutants, learning to control my powers and to help keep the peace.”
He sighed, staring into his drink. “My family was afraid of me and my dad was the worst. He hated mutants for taking his son away.” he glanced at her,a sad smile on his face.
“I didn’t go home for almost twenty years. When i did, it was because my dad, having heard someone call me an abomination, had decked the man and been hospitalized for defending mutants. I guess everyone can change.” He took a long drink.
“I was home with him when i first came here in my mid-twenties. I was here for almost a year, then went home, and lived out another ten years. And came back a week later in Madison time.”
***
Karen hadn’t expected him to give her his life’s story, and her beer was forgotten for a few minutes as he talked, her bright blue eyes focused on him, only a little incredulous. If she hadn’t seen the news footage of the Avengers and some of the things Matt could do, Karen might not have fully believed him when he started talking about powers and going to school for them.
She returned the sad smile faintly, though it brightened a little when he followed up about his dad and what he’d done to defend his son. “Most people do change,” she added, glad on his behalf. Her eyebrows climbed at what he said next, about coming to Madison from different points in his life, and one hand reached out to touch his arm.
“It certainly sounds as though you’ve had an interesting experience. I’m sorry that you’re not back there with your family, though.”
***
Bobby nodded. “There is, as one wise person once said, yet hope in the world.” He sipped his drink as he nodded.
“Well, truth to tell, they are safer without me. I love my family, but if I am there, I draw attention to them from those who hate mutants. So I am kind of glad I am not there. I miss them, but maybe with me gone, their lives will be better. And this place… it’s kind of nice to not have people shooting at you, as I said before.”
***
“You’re not the first man I’ve heard say things like that - that someone else’s life would be better or easier with them gone. And I’m going to tell you the same thing I told them.” Her eyes narrowed slightly and she leaned in just a little.
“That is a huge load of crap and if any of you thought about it, you’d know it. You don’t get to decide that someone else’s life would be easier without you. Neither do the two men I’ve said this to before. It’s not your decision to make. And as for being in Madison, if it’s true that we go back to the same point we left with no one the wiser, than you know that you being here won’t have any effect on their lives.”
Sitting back again, Karen picked up her glass for another long drink, but her eyes remained on Bobby.
***
Her words caught him off-guard. He was not sure he agreed on her whole statement, but she did have a bit of a --- “Point. And point.” He nodded.”You’re a pretty smart lady. And those guys are lucky to have you in their lives.” He nodded, thinking.
“I have a feeling we’ll be lucky to have you here, too.”
***
She smiled at him. “I tell them that all the time,” she replied, ignoring the fact for the moment that Matt was dead and she couldn’t tell him anything anymore. Finishing off the beer in her glass, she set it down again and met his eyes.
“Thanks, I hope you’re right about that.”
***
Bobby smiled at her, and nodded. “I am. I can tell these things sometimes.” he grinned and eyed her glass. “Want another?”
He wasn’t trying to get her drunk, just being friendly, this time. And curious.
***
“Are you going to tell me you’re psychic, too?” She teased lightly, then looked down at her glass.
Karen thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Sure, another will be great.” She nodded towards the bartender who refilled it for her, then wrapped both hands around it while studying Bobby.
“You never mentioned what you do here.”
***
“Nah. That’s the professor. I’m an iceman.” he tapped his glass and ice rimmed it suddenly.
He waved at the bartender and got his own refilled, then reached out to hers, touching the side and made it ice cold.
“I’m an accountant, and a part time superhero.”
He chuckled.”Same as back home, really.”
***
Karen blinked, letting go of the glass when it suddenly grew cold, then picked it up for a tentatitve sip. “Huh. That’s a pretty interesting ability,” she said, then looked over and grinned.
“An accountant, seriously? That sounds...like the polar opposite of the superhero thing. And what do you do here, as a superhero?”
***
“That’s just the tip,so to speak, of the iceberg, but the easiest to do inside.” he nodded.
“Mostly rescue kids too dumb to know not to swim in ice cold waters, or stop the occasional weirdness based attack.” He chuckled. “I love math. I can do most math without any paper or equipment and fast. So I just kind of leaned in that direction. I have a doctorate in applied mathematics and now I do the accounting for a local university.”
He nodded.
***
“It’s good that you can use your degree in your work. That’s pretty awesome overall. I hope I can be as settled as you are here, someday.” While she was there, at least. The blond lifted her glass for a slow drink, before relaxing again against the bar.
“Can you tell me about these attacks?”
***
Bobby sipped his drink, then answered her. “It doesn’t happen often. We had some vampires attack once. And I’ve heard of others, but most of the time, the chaos is called by people being altered by the weird weeks that happen every month or two. People are aged up, down, turned genders, switch bodies, switch powers, share memories and other such things. No one knows how, or why, and it is all survivable. So far.”
It was weird to say it, but he was used to it now.
***
“Vampires? Vampires are real?” She blinked as he went over a few more things, then shook her head slightly. “That’s incredible. And nothing I ever thought I’d be involved in,” Karen said. “It sounds like life here isn’t dull, at least?”
***
Bobby chuckled. “It never is. How are you feeling? That was a lot of information at once.” He nodded to her. “Madison can be overwhelming, but it is a good place.”
He hoped she would find it so as well.
***
“I’m...not really sure. Overwhelming, like you said, but - I’m a survivor. I’ll adjust.” She reached out and lightly tapped her glass against his, then smiled at him. “Thank you again for this. I appreciate the chance to acclimate before I really have to get used to everything.
***
He raised his glass in salute. “Any time. And if you have more questions, or want me to help in anything, or… hell,if you just want to get a drink or a bite to eat sometime, just message Bobby Drake, your friendly neighborhood Ice man.” he smiled to her and nodded.