metalogs | OPEN | Paint Yourself A New Life

Entry tags:

OPEN | Paint Yourself A New Life

Who: David Alleyne

helpdesk_hero, Mina Ashido

pinkxeno, Harry Osborn

nepotis, Bucky Barnes

sinistral
What: David Has Many Meetings (Including Open Post)
When: [Forward Dated] April 1st through 5th
Where: Excelsior - Guild Housing #1, Excelsior - Connoisseur Coffee,
Content Warnings: Only in Thread Labeled V - Seeking Comfort: discussion of murder of children, attempted suicide, David's death, hate crimes

I. A Home Of Clashing Styles | Closed to Mina Ashido | Excelsior - Guild Housing #1
David had been living in the guild apartment for a month now, or just a shade over, and all that time he'd been holding his tongue. Beyond introducing himself to Mina when he'd first moved in at the start of March, he had not engaged with the young woman much, and definitely didn't stay long in the public spaces of their shared home. How could he when he was faced with the absolute disaster of the appearance? A living room painted electric green with zebra stripes? Horrid. A kitchen filled with insanely colorful and not always matching touches and appliances? Oh god. Even the small touches of decoration in the public spaces made David try not to wince.

Honestly, he hadn't even invited his boyfriend over because of the state of things. Most days he just came home from work or other things, walked in the door, visibly winced, and went right to his room or attached lab. But today, as he came back from the office in full business wear, vest and long sleeve shirt and tie and all of that. And walking in like that, with his back pack and a bag of groceries for him to cook dinner, he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Just... do it like an adult," he told himself before lifting his voice, hoping it would carry to wherever his housemate was.

"Mina, can we talk for a moment?"

II. Looking At The Moving Pieces | Closed to Bucky | Excelsior - Guild Housing #1
The weekend. David made a hard and fast rule to not go into the office on weekends, which made it the perfect sort of time for outside consultations. Today was one of those instances. After a previously successful first meeting with one Bucky Barnes (because of course David had recognized the man for who he had to be) back in March, today was going to be the first full check over, for the two of them to determine if David would be a good emergency tech for the man.

David waited in the living room for the knock at the door, knowing he'd have to let the former Winter Soldier choose his own pace at being comfortable with his arrival. What what little first hand knowledge that had been shared with him by people back home, he imagined the man would be... nervous. But David couldn't be certain. He'd met people from other versions of his world, and they didn't always line up personality wise.

But he was going to do his best to support the guy, and try and hide that he might have pre-formed opinions based on a whole other man. So he kept himself quiet and patient until he heard the knock at the door. David rose quickly and moved to it, opening the door to meet the other man.

"Mister Barnes, good afternoon. Come on in. Would you like any refreshments before I guide you back to my work room?"

He had no intention of calling it a lab. Not with a man no doubt tormented by his universe's Hydra.

III. The Coffee Conundrum | Closed to Harry Osborn | Excelsior - Connoisseur Coffee
Coffee. It was something that mattered to David, quite a bit actually. Caffeine was part of his diet, perhaps more than it should be. And, until he had the money to properly kit his kitchen out with a good brewing set up, David found a local coffee shop to indulge his needs. The world had blessed him with a great coffee shop between the apartment and his office, and it was here that David appeared multiple times a day. A quick stop in first thing for a coffee on the way to work, a trip in the evening for a cup to take home, and of course this, his lunch break.

David was currently settled in the cafe as he was most afternoons, in a table near a wall that normally wasn't the most desirable area of the care. His back was to the wall, and in front of him on the smaller table was a laptop. The other chair at the table was taken up by a back pack, and taking up the rest of the room on the table was another laptop, sitting closed, which was a weird thing, unless one knew David. Truth was the two laptops were interfaced, and he was using his technopathy to boost the processing of the one he was currently working on.

Thing was most days David did this, and it wasn't a problem. But today? Today there was a convention in town, something David wasn't aware of, and the cafe had packed to almost bursting when David wasn't aware of it. He'd been too engrossed in his current design project, his attention flicking back and forth between his typing and the medical journal at his side, opened to a recent article about a new study on regenerative rates of the nervous system. Truly, he had no idea how rude he was being taking up a table that could be used by others, especially after he'd finished his packed punch and coffee just a few minutes ago.

Perhaps someone should go and shuffle the man out of the space.

IV. Wildcard | Open to all
[OOC: I'm open to anything here, giving David a chance to hang out with his standing CR or meet new people. My only rule is that interactions would happen in Excelsior. If you have an idea that the above open post doesn't allow for, either private message this account or hit me up on plurk at

churbooseanon or discord at Churby#4290. OR throw your own starter out in here. I'm happy to do many things.

IF you're looking for things that may be good hooks, David's a technopath, associated with a company that makes prosethetics and assistive technology, an accomplished chef that will be hitting up stores around the city for quality food and cookware/appliances, a technopath that will be around many computer shops, and honestly? He's a hockey nerd so you might find him at sports bars sometimes. Other than that, he'll likely often be out reading books in parks, or even just scientific journals. Guy has a spread of interests and we can talk it out to figure what might best hook a character into paying attention to him or coming over to say hi.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Harry knows his free meal ticket is coming to a close. He has less than a month to move out of the Diadem and decide whether he'll stay on the guilds' dime or break out on his own. He isn't sure that staying in Central City will be the best move for him, long-term, and like hell is he living in Magicville or Bumfuck Nowhere, Kansas. So, he decides to visit Excelsior and do some apartment shopping. He gets a late start, and so is only arriving at the coffee shop for breakfast during what appears to be the lunch rush. He orders, pays, takes his americano and breakfast sandwich from the server, and turns to look out over the packed coffee house, eyes searching to find an unoccupied seat.

There's one table, over by the wall, with only one guy sitting at it... Harry approaches to get a better look, at which point he sees that the free chair is occupied by a backpack, and there's a second laptop taking up the free half of the table.

"Jesus Christ, is the circus in town or something? Look, if this isn't your bag and you're waiting for your friend to come back from the restroom, feel free to tell me to fuck off, but... Is this seat taken?"

Some speaks, and it's near enough that David actually looks up. He wasn't expecting to be engaged, he's been treated with courteous privacy before. For a while he stares at the other man in confusion, before his eyes dart around.

"Oh, it got busy," he said,clearly shocked. "Hold on, let me clear that space for you."

He was immediately on his feet, straightening out his light sweater reflexively before he moved to collect the backpack. This he tucked under his seat, and he considered the other laptop for a moment. With a sigh, because he really wasn't done, he raised the laptop he had open, slid the other one under it to give the stranger room, and then settled his work laptop back down before sitting.

"It was rather empty when I first got here, and I was taking a long lunch. Guess I got lost in my reading. I'm sorry."

"Cheers."

Harry slides into the seat once it's been freed of the backpack, setting the plate with his breakfast sandwich on the table and sipping from his cup before setting that down too.

"What're you reading? It must be pretty engrossing."

Ah, but what he's reading would be boring. Still, the man asked, and David had been unintentionally rude so he would answer. Because what harm was it to do so?

"Recent publication on a new study on the regenerative rates of nerves," he answered. "I need to keep up with that sort of thing in my line of work."

Believe it or not, that topic actually does pique Harry's interest. Mostly because his own nerves could use some increased regeneration.

"Are you a doctor? Or... a neuroscientist?"

Edited (formatting) 2022-04-02 14:30 (UTC)

"Doctor, trauma surgeon, neurologist, brain surgeon, and prosthetics dev," David rattled off as he closed his laptop. There was no way he was going to be able to focus on this if he got questions like this.

"Not that you'll believe it," he shrugged. People didn't think you could do all of that by his age. Which was fair, because he wasn't old enough for the residencies on top of everything else.

Harry shakes his head, a bit stunned but mostly impressed. He smiles.

"The first person I met here was a sentient alien helicopter. I'll believe just about anything. Are you doing all that work here, or just back home?"

Sentient alien... Nope, not touching that. But he raises an eyebrow at that assumption.

"This is home," he said, because dammit he's trying to avoid being known for his meta status. Don't assume things, stranger. Just let him pretend to be a nice local dude.

In Harry's defense, he's talked to maybe half a dozen natives since he arrived here, the barista of this café included. But he can admit when he's made a misstep. He raises a hand, shaking his head apologetically.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to assume."

He takes a bite of his breakfast sandwich, chewing and swallowing before he decides to change the subject slightly.

"Do you live here in Excelsior? I'm thinking of relocating here."

Well, at least he's diverted the guy from thinking he's a meta. Bonus points.

"Yes, I do. It's a nice place to live, if you can get past the way the confluences can make the city uncomfortable from time to time. But the Guilds do try and warn us."

He still thinks the guy could be a meta. He just doesn't think he's one from another world, who came here through a Confluence.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm responsible for at least one crater, myself." He tries to laugh it off, at least.

"Do you know what the housing market is like— specifically for people not on a trauma surgeon's salary?"

Seriously, secret identities suck to maintain when people assume things. But hey, they're talking, and he doesn't know the assumption. He thinks he's in the free and clear. Or he will until he hears who this is.

"It's nice enough, though far from cheap. You're looking at the most cutting edge city in the country. I'd definitely suggest having work lined up before considering moving out here. Good news is the coffee is lovely."

He smiles and looks to his cup. Which is... empty. Shit. Mistakes were made.

"And I'm not on a trauma surgeon's salary. I currently work with a company specializing in prosthetics and assistive technology. Thus the study. Knowing adaptive rates of nerves is important if you're out to make new limbs and have them interface with a person's mind, to serve as a true new arm or leg."

"That it is." Harry lifts his own cup in cheers and takes a sip.

He's slightly less interested in the guy's line of work when it comes to prosthetics. Only because it doesn't directly apply to him. But that's just Harry's self-centered nature slipping through the façade of friendliness.

"Fascinating." Not really. "I don't have that kind of scientific background myself, though back home I did used to run a biotech firm, for a bit."

It's definitely going to be hard to start from scratch, here.

"A biotech firm?" David asked. How interesting. Still, he's intrigued.

"What did you guys work on? If nothing else, if it's relevant, I might be able to get you an interview with Adaptech."

Because it doesn't hurt to have more employees with varied skill sets in his opinion.

"It wasn't all biotech, but that was a large part of what we did. We had some military contracts, some civic engineering... We designed and built a new power grid for the city of New York. But maybe our most groundbreaking research was done in the field of cross-species genetics."

He's great at talking about what Oscorp did, not so great at contributing to the work itself. In another life, he would've done well in the marketing department.

He laughs, shaking his head self-deprecatingly. "All of it was far over my head, really. I just inherited the company when my dad passed."

Cross species genetics. Inherited company when his father passed. Military contracts. New York.

Ah.

"It occurs to me I haven't introduced myself. I'm David. And I've got to say, cross-species genetics is a very troubling field that I don't think is a very good idea."

"Harry. Harry Osborn." He says openly and without hesitation, seeing no reason why some native would know who he is or have formed any prior judgements.

"It's an ethical minefield, to be sure, but the potential applications to the field of human medicine make it worth the effort, in my opinion."

Yep. There it is. Loki had warned him. And now the man showed up at his table. It makes David sigh.

"See, from my experience, OsCorp never really advanced the medical world. In fact, I have little love for your father's work."

The idea that his Norman had passed away in this Harry's world is a relief. Though he can't be sure it's true. Osborn does have a way of just showing the fuck up.

Harry's open, genial demeanor instantly shifts. He leans back in his chair, eyes narrowing, expression growing closed off.

What the fuck?

"I thought 'here was home' for you."

"It is now," David answered, leaning back in his chair. "I'm a Chicago native who spent a lot of time in upstate New York, and your father, from my instance of Earth, was a megalomaniac, not to mention a very annoying villain. I won't even call him super."

Because Green Goblin was, and only would be, a horrible person. Harry, though, he might have potential.

"Loki told me you were here."

Harry presses his lips together, nodding as the pieces fall into place. So Loki is talking about him behind his back, and as more than just 'my boyfriend's best friend.'

"You're from Loki's world, then. The world with a thousand heroes." It's clear from his tone what his opinion on so-called 'heroes' is.

"Did he tell you we don't have that, in our world? That we have just the one, and he's a selfish, selective jerk?"

Well, if it helps, David and Loki have quite a few reasons to consider the man's father the worst thing ever. In their world, the man had done quite a bit of terrible things to them.

"That you don't have what? A lot of villains? Just your father?"

Harry's nostrils flare in anger.

"Look, I'm the last person to sing my father's praises, but he wasn't some supervillain, torturing puppies for his own personal amusement. He invested in this research to try to survive, as long as he could. And even then, he couldn't manage to do that."

The hand holding his paper coffee cup is white-knuckled and trembling. Part of that tremor is anger, but most of it is because stress hormones trigger a worsening of his retroviral hypodysplasia.

"I never used the word 'super', as I would not give him such high ratings. But in my world the Green Goblin is known for his villainy. He wasn't, to my knowledge, known for any illness, though. Clearly a universal difference. And therefore I apologize. The man you knew is not necessarily a good correlation for the one I did."

That said, he does have a reason for his feelings, and he feels it's only fair to share in the moment. He did really start something here after all.

"In my world, Norman Osborn was also known for what he did to my people, and so I tend to have a very... intense dislike for his name. Enough to get testy. Which is of course unfair to you. For this I very much apologize as well."

Harry lets out a shaky exhale, trying to calm himself down before he has a full blown meltdown in the middle of the crowded coffee shop. He's been walking on a knife's edge, emotionally, and his father— and his father's illness— has always been a sensitive subject for him. He forcefully shoves down his anger, letting go of the vice grip on his cup, moving his hand to scratch at the now irritated patch of skin on his neck.

"Yeah. As I was trying to say, our worlds are very different. I can't talk much on what your Norman Osborn did to you, but from what little I've heard about your world from Loki, the two really aren't comparable, beyond having a few key names in common."

Norman Osborn, Spider-Man. Who knows what or who else?

"If it helps to clarify, the name 'Green Goblin' means nothing to me. My father never went by that name."

iii.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject