[ There's a helpless little vindictive streak in him that resents the understanding. If he'd known the purpose of this meeting was kindness, would he have come?
His eyes narrow, smile cutting sharp and lacking any real humour. ]
I played a large part in subjugating a planet's worth of people for well over a century. I think that might stay relevant for a while.
( he won't ask do you regret it or why did you do it because given the whole alternate reality bullshit going on--he's betting there's some weird complicated bullshit involved. )
Shit set up they gave you in the other place, wasn't it?
( an unspecified 'you', given-- ) Outing who didn't belong by giving only us the power. Do you think it might have been intentional? I know ours got a mixed bag.
I don't think there's any way it wasn't intentional, unless gods dream in centuries-long planetwide elaborate alternate universes. Whether it was targeted on an individual level, harder to say.
( no way of knowing if it was intentional on an individual level unless he knows who was who. loki was one of them. as was thor. loki's been around for a while, so that being intentional sided with strange make sense. thor has been. . on and off. but. )
Thor and Loki I assume you know. Marian and Helena Hawke - I don't think they were related outside of the Aerie. Tony Stark, John Murphy, John— [ He stops, brow furrowing in brief surprise. He doesn't actually know John's real last name. He'd been Strange for close to a century, an orphan before that... ] Somebody. I'd not met him before the Aerie, must be relatively new. A woman called Andromache, Quintalian, and Yennefer.
[ Some names there have more significance to him than others, though he knows them all with varying degrees of overfamiliarity now. He tries not to deliver one with any more weight than the others, though the list contains relatives and lovers and victims all. ]
( is that a name. and andromache doesn't strike as familiar, either. the others, he's seen around. seen them on the network if nothing else. john murphy he knows. is there another john who's been hanging around the network? jason doesn't know. )
[ It's going to take a while to get back into the habit of differentiating timelines. Jason doesn't know the newer crowd because he's been away, and he hasn't in actuality just spent 200 years in a globed city with them. ]
Another I didn't know much about until the Aerie and can't claim to know well now.
( could you describe it to him, strange. is this someone he should be keeping an eye out for? strange says he doesn't know them so asking for his opinion on their character obviously isn't going to get him anywhere. )
[ A sigh. He considers briefly the idea of dropping a mental image direct in Jason's thoughts — then remembers that the internet is a special place, and has likely already done the job for him.
Sure enough, it doesn't take long to find a candid of the man himself lurking on a discussion thread on Cooltalk. He sends it over to Jason's inbox. All told, it only takes ten seconds or so. ]
I'll keep an eye out for 'em. The rest of the Cardinals.
( the bird theme is fucking stupid and he hates it. is jimmy responsible for this? fuck off jimmy, jason doesn't want any more stupid bird shit going on in his life, he's had enough. )
Just in case someone outside gets a little extra enthusiastic.
[ That's been one of his many lessons of the last two days. But it does no good to dwell on it, and it doesn't take much to shift the conversation sideways. ]
Have you seen Damian?
[ Asked casually, as though he's not overly invested in the answer. Meaning, of course, that he is. ]
( not recently in person but he generally knows damian's approximate whereabouts and what he's getting into. because jason and damian are both stalkery stalkers who don't leave each other the hell alone and this is just how they prefer to live their lives. )
( that damian thought of him, that he tried to leave jason something. but jason opts to just destroy this whole conversation because he doesn't do emotions. )
But I don't need it. My housewife routine is working out pretty great.
[ Look at him go. Coming in here with the express purpose of catering to Stephen's emotional upheaval and weaving his way out of taking the stage himself. ]
You'll have to take that up with Damian now.
[ Not quite letting the conversation die the death he'd set up for it. ]
If you're being well kept, he might do you the favor of not bringing it up.
( he's a helper, here, helping strange through whatever this is supposed to be. you're welcome. but look, he does move to stand himself up and--potentially get out of stephen's way. for now. )
[ A confirmation if ever there was one that this might not be a good environment for anyone not looking to take the spotlight off of him today. He lifts his hand in a wave, gifting Jason his freedom, smirk light and not unfriendly. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
His eyes narrow, smile cutting sharp and lacking any real humour. ]
I played a large part in subjugating a planet's worth of people for well over a century. I think that might stay relevant for a while.
no subject
( he won't ask do you regret it or why did you do it because given the whole alternate reality bullshit going on--he's betting there's some weird complicated bullshit involved. )
no subject
[ Not if he had a choice. That one's easy, and he gets the point before it needs to be laboured. ]
But people aren't going to forget just because I'm not a dictator anymore. Nor should they be expected to. And that reflects on all of us.
no subject
( an unspecified 'you', given-- ) Outing who didn't belong by giving only us the power. Do you think it might have been intentional? I know ours got a mixed bag.
no subject
no subject
( no way of knowing if it was intentional on an individual level unless he knows who was who. loki was one of them. as was thor. loki's been around for a while, so that being intentional sided with strange make sense. thor has been. . on and off. but. )
no subject
Thor and Loki I assume you know. Marian and Helena Hawke - I don't think they were related outside of the Aerie. Tony Stark, John Murphy, John— [ He stops, brow furrowing in brief surprise. He doesn't actually know John's real last name. He'd been Strange for close to a century, an orphan before that... ] Somebody. I'd not met him before the Aerie, must be relatively new. A woman called Andromache, Quintalian, and Yennefer.
[ Some names there have more significance to him than others, though he knows them all with varying degrees of overfamiliarity now. He tries not to deliver one with any more weight than the others, though the list contains relatives and lovers and victims all. ]
no subject
( is that a name. and andromache doesn't strike as familiar, either. the others, he's seen around. seen them on the network if nothing else. john murphy he knows. is there another john who's been hanging around the network? jason doesn't know. )
no subject
[ It's going to take a while to get back into the habit of differentiating timelines. Jason doesn't know the newer crowd because he's been away, and he hasn't in actuality just spent 200 years in a globed city with them. ]
Another I didn't know much about until the Aerie and can't claim to know well now.
no subject
( could you describe it to him, strange. is this someone he should be keeping an eye out for? strange says he doesn't know them so asking for his opinion on their character obviously isn't going to get him anywhere. )
no subject
Sure enough, it doesn't take long to find a candid of the man himself lurking on a discussion thread on Cooltalk. He sends it over to Jason's inbox. All told, it only takes ten seconds or so. ]
There you go.
no subject
( the bird theme is fucking stupid and he hates it. is jimmy responsible for this? fuck off jimmy, jason doesn't want any more stupid bird shit going on in his life, he's had enough. )
Just in case someone outside gets a little extra enthusiastic.
no subject
Jesus. These kids. A warm huff of defeat as he shifts his focus off to an empty shelf and takes another dram of whiskey from his glass. ]
Watch yourself. You'll get a good reputation.
no subject
( not with how much shit he's been stirring. but in jason's defense: clarke asked for it, and he doesn't take any of it back. )
People know better by now than that.
no subject
[ That's been one of his many lessons of the last two days. But it does no good to dwell on it, and it doesn't take much to shift the conversation sideways. ]
Have you seen Damian?
[ Asked casually, as though he's not overly invested in the answer. Meaning, of course, that he is. ]
no subject
( not recently in person but he generally knows damian's approximate whereabouts and what he's getting into. because jason and damian are both stalkery stalkers who don't leave each other the hell alone and this is just how they prefer to live their lives. )
He's doing alright. For Damian.
no subject
[ He hasn't crossed that bridge yet. For the best, until further notice.
Though actually, while they're on the topic, this is a good chance to turn the spotlight of the conversation away from him for a while. ]
He left me some money for you.
no subject
( that damian thought of him, that he tried to leave jason something. but jason opts to just destroy this whole conversation because he doesn't do emotions. )
But I don't need it. My housewife routine is working out pretty great.
no subject
You'll have to take that up with Damian now.
[ Not quite letting the conversation die the death he'd set up for it. ]
If you're being well kept, he might do you the favor of not bringing it up.
no subject
( he's a helper, here, helping strange through whatever this is supposed to be. you're welcome. but look, he does move to stand himself up and--potentially get out of stephen's way. for now. )
You good?
no subject
[ A confirmation if ever there was one that this might not be a good environment for anyone not looking to take the spotlight off of him today. He lifts his hand in a wave, gifting Jason his freedom, smirk light and not unfriendly. ]
Fine. [ He's just fine. ] Thanks for the whiskey.
no subject
( and he's leaving the whiskey behind, moving off towards the door. )
Take care.