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Tweak says, "...but my friends call me Borf"

Nebula (abluemeanie) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-10-07 16:27:00

Entry tags:

nebula (mcu), remus lupin

Who: Nebula and Remus
What: A reintroduction
Where: The library
When: Today

She and Gamora had explored the town the day before, finding their way around and seeing what the situation was. Thanos was not in this place, of that much Nebula was entirely certain, but the rest was a little more difficult. The house they'd woken up in was theirs, hers and Gamora and the pink boy he was familiar too, but it wasn't his house. They lived here together, she and her sister alone together for the first time ever. Nebula didn't even have words for how good it was to think that maybe she and Gamora had gotten away from Thanos together, maybe they'd stolen a ship? Or maybe they'd been saved?

But by who?

There were still a lot of questions she had but she was more curious about the town than she was about the answers to things like that. As long as she got to stay here it didn't matter. Today she found her way to a building she hadn't noticed the day before and she pulled open the door carefully, she still held on to the baton she'd found in her room just in case this all turned out to be some sort of elaborate trick. It wouldn't be the first time Thanos had tried to trick her, but it was certainly more involved than any he'd done in the past.

What she found was a library, there were shelves and piles of books around and she stepped inside letting the door close carefully behind her so she wouldn't draw undue attention to herself and began to move carefully through the stacks to see what she might find there. Of course just a little explanation and she saw a man her first instinct was to run but Thanos had told her time and time again it was unacceptable so she held her ground clutching at the baton and holding it out like a sword in his direction, hoping this was not the start of another attack.

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abluemeanie
2019-10-08 08:12 pm UTC (link)

Her eyes were wide as she watched the man hold on his hands, in a sort of surrender, but she wasn't certain she trusted it just yet - but he didn't appear to be a danger. Thanos had taught her that was not enough to let her guard down, but Nebula thought maybe he really was as safe as he seemed. He was working in a library after all, enemies didn't work in libraries, at least that's what she thought.

He might be an enemy but she needed more information to take back to Gamora so this was a step in the right direction. "Is this your library?" She asked him, not sure what to make of the name Starklandia, she couldn't tell if she knew it or not, but it was strange even if it caused her a little bit of confusion.

"I'm Nebula," She added after a moment, he greeted her with a kind of familiarity that she wasn't entirely sure what to do with, no one called her love, that was not a word Thanos allowed, but she felt like maybe he meant it and she needed to know more about that.

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lonewolfen
2019-10-08 10:54 pm UTC (link)

Remus knew from their conversations about their respective childhoods that Nebula had not had the happiest or most nurturing of upbringings. Looking at her, so young, it made his heart ache because he'd really grown to care for her. He was able to empathize with her in a way he never would've expected he could, and so to see her while she was at an age where she was being conditioned to believe that the way she was treated was normal and acceptable really was heartbreaking. At least she was here, safe, and the tyrant who raised her was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she could be granted some normalcy, despite this not being such a normal situation.

He knew her, but she did not know him; not really, anyway. Remus was still trying to observe the children to see what they did and did not remember. He took a couple of cautious steps toward her, and then crouched down to be more on her level so she did not have to look at him the way she likely had to look at others. "Hello, Miss Nebula," he said, in the way he always addressed her. "My name is Remus. And this library belongs to everyone here in town. I just work here to keep it organized and add more books. Have you been to a library before?"

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abluemeanie
2019-10-09 03:43 am UTC (link)

She liked that he crouched down for her, putting himself on her level. It wasn't something that ever happened, only Gamora was at the same level as she was, but their father, the others, no one ever lowered themselves to talk to her. She lowered her weapon then as he introduced himself to her, it was new but not new in some way. Nebula didn't know how to describe it feeling like she knew him but didn't all at once.

Looking around the library she wasn't certain what to make of it, the idea that it belonged to the town, she was in the town, did that mean it belonged to her too? She didn't want to suggest it in cause it was wrong and he punished her for it, but she thought maybe it was true.

"No," She shook her head, "Father has a library but we're not allowed in. He says we haven't earned it yet." She wasn't sure she ever would, but Gamora might one day, she was father's favorite after all.

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lonewolfen
2019-10-09 01:43 pm UTC (link)

It was very difficult, knowing he needed to regard her as though he was a stranger to her. Remus had very much been enjoying the friendship the two of them had been forming and growing over the past few months. Their initial conversation had been one Remus had been terrified of in the beginning but ultimately they were able to really understand each other and relate in a multitude of ways. None of them had any way of knowing if this change was going to be permanent, and if it was, their friendship would have to change a bit seeing as he was an adult and she was a child, but they'd also have to start over.

The good thing about that, was that if she was here now as a child, then she'd not gone through nearly as many traumatic experiences or exposed to such cruelty for as long as she had as an adult. That didn't make anything that had happened to her so far excusable or okay, but it was good she was out of the hands of the man who claimed himself to be her father now.

"Well, here, this library is open to everyone," Remus said. "You do not have to earn your way in to read. But, that doesn't mean it isn't special. Here in Starklandia, we just believe that everyone is equal, and on even ground with each other." He smiled at her. "What kinds of stories do you like, Miss Nebula?"

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abluemeanie
2019-10-10 08:18 pm UTC (link)

Nebula wasn't sure she could trust something like that, no one just gave something for no reason. She might not have to earn it but maybe something would be expected of her for being here. She didn't know what to expect but she was curious. Even if it meant she'd owe something later she was curious. And Remus seemed nice, like someone she could trust - which was ridiculous, Nebula didn't trust anyone, apart from Gamora, and even Gamora had given her plenty of reasons not to trust her at all times. She shouldn't trust Remus, but she found that she did.

As for Starklandia and everyone being equal? Nebula wasn't certain about that, if that were true her father never would have treated her the way he did, she and Gamora wouldn't have to fight. Things would be better. But maybe it was different here? Maybe they didn't have to do any of that anymore. It was too many questions really, more than she wanted to try and find the answers to. Instead she'd focus on Remus' question rather than her own.

"I - don't know any." She admitted slowly. "Are there good ones?"

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lonewolfen
2019-10-10 08:25 pm UTC (link)

Remus had a feeling that she would be wary. Knowing what he did know of her upbringing and how she'd been regarded and expected to be, it came as no shock that she didn't openly trust him right away. He had a hard time with that too -- trusting people. And he always felt guilty about it when he did because he had to harbor the secret of his furry little problem. He felt more compelled than ever to show her that she did not have to worry, she did not have to fight or be afraid she'd be punished. Remus wanted to show her that she could enjoy her life and explore possibilities she did not even realize she had.

Reading, for example, would be a wonderful way for her to take imaginary adventures.

"Oh, yes," he said, still smiling as he nodded his head. "Several. We have books with stories filled with adventures, magic, science, myths, mystery. Some are even true stories that really happened to people. Others are made up, set in far away places you have to picture in your imagination. Would you like to look at them with me?"

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abluemeanie
2019-10-10 08:55 pm UTC (link)

There were so many different kinds of stories, Nebula had never thought that there would be so many. Their father did not encourage them to dream things like that, they were encouraged only to fight and to train and to become stronger, and imaginations was not a part of that. But listening to him tell her about all the different kinds of stories there were she wanted to know more about it this thing that their father had kept hidden from her.

She nodded, "Yes," She agreed, "I'd like to see some of the stories." She stepped closer to him then, she was worried about many of the people in the town, grown beings who were preying on children from what she'd seen on the local network, but she thought this man was someone she could trust, as much as she was capable of trusting anyone at this point in her life.

"Are there any about Luphom?" She asked him, curious of maybe she could read about her home world, even if she could not remember anything about it or the family she had been taken from.

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lonewolfen
2019-10-11 10:09 am UTC (link)

One of the ways Remus had coped with his loneliness and isolation growing up was through reading. He always asked for books, always asked if his mother could go to the library if they couldn't go together to bring him new books to read. He could escape from his own reality and pretend he was a character in the books he read, go on their journey with them, fight their battles, reach their goals. It made things much easier. When he would finish one book, he'd pick up another. He'd reread books to see if there were things he missed, or if there was a particular journey he wanted to return to.

Remus had begun introducing Nebula to books as an adult, so he hoped she would still hold the same interest as a child. That said, he wasn't going to treat her any differently other than perhaps a bit of the language he used. He wasn't going to give her children's books; really he didn't think they had any anyway.

He kept still as she moved closer; he didn't want to alarm her by standing upright too fast, to give her any indication that her moving forward was anything other than positive. "There might be," he said, and that was the truth. Though he kept the shelves very organized, he hadn't memorized their entire catalogue just yet. "People come and go, and bring books they find to help me keep the shelves full. We'll give it a look, alright, love?" He then slowly raised back up to his full height and held his hand out to her. "Help me look? Even if there isn't a book about Luphom, we'll find something exciting to read."

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abluemeanie
2019-10-11 10:01 pm UTC (link)

It was more than she could ask for really, her world was gone, her family killed, but maybe something of them remained and maybe it was here? It was more than she'd had in a very long time, and even if there weren't any stories from Luphom here she thought she would like what they found regardless, Remus seemed to think they were good stories and that was enough for her.

As for the people, well they were complicated and a little worrisome in a lot of ways, but books and Remus, those were two things she thought she could trust enough to stay here for a while, and see what they might find together. So when Remus offered her his hand she reached up to take it, carefully unless it all ended up being some sort of trick, but she thought maybe this place was one without tricks. At least in the library, she wasn't certain she could say the same for the rest of the town just yet.

"It's where I'm from." She told him quietly, a fact she hadn't told anyone about herself in... well she wasn't certain she'd ever told anyone. Thanos knew of course, he'd destroyed her world and her family, but the fact remained with her. "It's gone now. My father destroyed it." It was not without it's own inner conflict, the knowledge that she'd had a family of her own once, but Thanos was now her father, but he was the reason her family was no longer with her. Her life was an exercise in the complicated but she thought maybe here she could make a little sense of it.

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lonewolfen
2019-10-14 03:57 pm UTC (link)

Remus had a feeling that it would be hard to find anything about her home planet in the library, but not impossible. Nebula had not shared the name of her planet before to him, otherwise he immediately would have recognized the name had he ever seen anything about it. But, there was a chance because he had a few encyclopedia-like texts that he'd gotten his hands on while the doors opened up into that space-like realm. He'd managed to barter some books for others and brought back as many as he could. He'd wanted to expand their geography and historical sections and so, why not space? There were people in Starklandia from all over the universe and from different parallel universes. They should not keep their texts strictly to Earth stories.

If they were going to have anything about Luphom, it'd be in those books. "We're going to check this section over here, first. And if we cannot find anything about your home, we'll look for some adventure stories you might like, if that's alright with you, Miss Nebula." He thought about maybe squeezing her hand but also thought she might interpret that as some sort of act of dominance as opposed to affection so he just held her hand and walked her over to where he'd shelved those rather large and very different sort of books.

Remus let go of her hand. "One moment, let me get these down." He pulled his wand from his pocket and gave a little swish, which then had the books sliding out of the shelves and floating over to a table. "Let's go have a look, and see what we can find."

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abluemeanie
2019-10-14 11:17 pm UTC (link)

She walked with Remus as he told her their plan of attack, appreciating that he laid it out for her, what they would do to find the stories she thought she might like, and if they could not find them there was a back up option that sounded good as well and she nodded when he asked her opinion. "It is a sound plan of action." She agreed with complete seriousness, even if Remus didn't seem like someone her father would employ as a teacher she wanted to be ready at all points in case she misjudged something and it turned out that she should have been worried all along.

They found the books that he wanted to check first and then she watched awed as he moved them down from the shelves and to a table with the wave of something he pulled from his pocket. She watched eyes darting back and forth between the floating books and the movement of his hand and the instrument he'd used before he suggested they go to see what they found.

"You have powers," She said softly approaching the table with him, she didn't know what to think of the powers. They reminded her some of the sort of gifts that some of the others had, those who worked alongside her father to bring about his will in the galaxy. She didn't think she needed to fear him and yet, those powers were different and strange and so often that meant pain for her as a result.

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lonewolfen
2019-10-15 04:00 pm UTC (link)

Based on the friendship he had with her that he knew, and what he imagined was probably still true with her in child form, was that Nebula was very practical, very matter of fact. That was why he explained to her outright what he thought they should do. She could assess it that way, understand it, and then decide if she liked the idea or not. Even though it was quite strange that so many of the townsfolk had suddenly become children, Remus felt that they were at an advantage knowing more about them as adults that they could give good guidance as children.

He wasn't speaking down to her, regarding her as any less intelligent than he knew her to be simply because she was younger. That wasn't a tactic he thought was helpful to children at all. Just because she was a kid, didn't make her less valid. If she'd said she wanted to try something else, he would've listened and they could've figured out another way to find a book. It was just that simple.

"I suppose that could be a way to phrase it," he said when she observed aloud that he had 'powers.' He smiled a little. "I am what some would call, a 'wizard,' in that I can produce magic through spells." Remus often downplayed it; he was actually an incredibly gifted wizard in many ways, stronger and more capable to do very complicated magic including not using his wand and casting spells non-verbally. But he wasn't the type to show off; most of that was simply for his own health benefits for when he was too weak to use his wand and sometimes even speak.

"Would you like to help me flip through these books to see if we can find something about your home? There might be facts about other places and people in these pages that could interest you as well."

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abluemeanie
2019-10-16 06:09 am UTC (link)

Remus put her at ease, very easily for someone who was in some ways a stranger, and yet Nebula felt like she could trust him. And though he should be someone she looked at with mistrust she found herself glad to be near him and listening to his plans for how they might find stories from her world, or at least stories that were interesting to her. And when he told her that he was a wizard, she found that to be something that set her at ease a little more as well - like the word was familiar even though she didn't think she had heard it before.

"And you are good." She decided to try that instead of some of the other things that were swirling around in her mind. She was constantly taking in external data, making decisions based on what she took in, but that seemed like the best place to start. To be sure that he was good and not like those who worked with her father. None of them would ever call themselves good. Even Thanos himself would not have claimed to be that. "You won't hurt us, my sister and me." She and Gamora were venturing from one another a bit more now than they had that first day, but she still worried for them both, fearing that at some point this all would be revealed to be some sort of trick.

She bit her lip, chewing on it as she deliberated a bit more, his offer to read through the books with him before she nodded. "Yes, I would." Even if there wasn't anything about Luphom in his books she thought she would like the added information. "You aren't - busy?" Time like this was a luxury she had not been afforded before, and she did not want to take too much and find that it had been a mistake.

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lonewolfen
2019-10-17 09:34 pm UTC (link)

One of the things that Remus had noticed about Nebula was that she probably hadn't had much of an opportunity to relax in her lifetime. It seemed she always had to be on edge, always wary, always wondering if she'd be attacked or put through some sort of process that involved acts he did not wish to think of because her father was a cruel tyrant. If there was anything he could do to help put her at ease, then of course he wanted to do that. He'd tried to do so as an adult and he certainly would continue it while she was a child.

There were some who would say he was not good. That whole werewolf thing kind of threw a wrench into his good intentions and general peaceful, pleasant nature. But he wasn't going to go into all that just yet, maybe not ever. Remus didn't think child!Nebula needed to hear about the bite. Not when she was learning right now that she could trust him and that she could be comfortable in his presence.

"I would never harm you or your sister," he said. "I would help you, if you should ever need it."

He smiled a little when she inquired about if he was busy. Remus would never turn down the opportunity to read with her, or help her look for something that might be familiar or perhaps the chance to learn about where she was from. "I'm not busy at all, love. I'm very happy you stopped by."

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abluemeanie
2019-10-18 02:19 am UTC (link)

She nodded when he promised that he would never hurt her or Gamora, that was important to her, that they were both safe. There had been times when it had been offered to her, her own well being over Gamora's but she had never been able to take it, needing her sister to be safe just as much as she was also. It was a small relief to hear that at least one person would not harm them in this place - she thought the strange men she and Gamora were staying with could probably be counted as well.

So strange to have so many that would help them if they needed it.

"Thank you," Was all she could say to his words after that, that he was happy she came by, and he called her love. Two things she had never heard since she had been taken in by the great Titan. But hearing them now she found she wanted to hold them close to her and keep them as long as possible, tucked away for those times when she knew she would need a reminder of something other than the pain and anguish that Thanos bestowed upon his children. For now though they could focus on the books together, they could see what there was there and maybe if she was very lucky she'd find just a little more of that feeling again.

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