Speakeasy Conversations [OPEN]

[itsananimalthing]

WHO | Riddick and OPEN
WHAT | Looking for some information. And maybe a good beer.
WHEN | After his death, late week 4
WHERE | Speakeasy
WARNINGS / NOTES | As always, Riddick's language

So he hadn't been punished inside or outside the arena. Which meant either his conversation with the bartender at Speakeasy hadn't been overheard and registered by anyone important, or they were biding their time to see what he did with the information. Riddick was tentatively betting on the former.

Which meant it was time to get more information. Freshly revived and returned to the capitol, he spend a day getting reacquainted with the city and finding out about the whole curfew thing before stopping by the bar. He paced inside and went immediately to the bar. It took him two drinks-- cheap beer; he wasn't wasting credit tonight, not yet-- before he got around to mentioning Lilium and Conscientia.

Plenty of time for a chat with anyone else who happened to be in the bar, right?

Comments

[itsananimalthing]

Riddick chuckles, and beckons the bartender over again. "Another of that fizzy coke thing for the scruffy guy," he says. Looking back to Bruce, he adds, "You wanna sit, or should I stop bothering ya and let you run away like you so obviously wanna do?"

[hasacondition]

He laughs quietly and pulls up a chair; as far as these conversations usually go, this is pretty manageable. "You know how people say 'it's not you, it's me?' It's not personal, I promise."

[itsananimalthing]

"Oh, so you see anybody you recognize, you run away? Bet you got a lot of friends." And for Riddick, really, this is positively amiable. He's not making fun of him too hard, he's not glaring, he's just gently mocking.

[hasacondition]

"I'm the life of the party, when I can fit through the door," he agrees, cynicism mixed with genuine amusement-- he's pretty comfortable with this sort of back and forth, even if he's the subject of conversation.

[itsananimalthing]

Yeah, this is pretty much Riddick being companionable. Enjoy it, Bruce. "Don't have much problem fittin' through the door right now, looks like, so I guess I should be expectin' some excitement about now?"

[hasacondition]

He laughs, taking a sip of his new soda-- he might as well enjoy it. "I can give you a really thrilling lecture on particle collisions."

Because he definitely wasn't feeling the push any longer, just like when he first appeared here; whatever happened to bring it back is long gone, and he's got to figure out what it is.

"That's about all I can do, here," he adds on, throwing it out there to feel out if the other guy knew anything that would be helpful.

[itsananimalthing]

"Yeah, think that's a thing. Nobody who's... not normal... can really do anythin' they used t'do back home. Except, 'pparently, in those holes in that glacier." Which is something to think about, and pretty much makes Riddick think it's not a lack but something specifically controlled by the capitol. Which also means he's glad he's at least mostly normal, and they don't seem to have messed with him any.

[hasacondition]

He smiles against his glass again. "'Not normal' is a pretty polite way of phrasing it."

But this was good-- he had realized it was leaving the glacier that caused the problem, but it was good to know it was the same for everybody, even if it left them in a bad position. "Do they... normally do something like that? Make them come back for a bit?"

[itsananimalthing]

"Not that I saw." And he's been doing a good bit of watching, trying to learn things from what the televised bits would show, and more often, what they didn't show. "The talking turtle turned into a monster once, but that's it. Mostly it's just bashing at each other with whatever weapons you make or find. This magic thing is new."

[hasacondition]

"Great. I really love being special." He knows that bit of sarcasm isn't exactly fair, but something about talking monster turtles struck a nerve. Still, always best to be painfully accurate. "Science, not magic."

[itsananimalthing]

Riddick looks aside at him, sizes him up again skeptically, then says, "So you changin' into somethin' else is science? How the hell's that work? From what I can tell, place I come from is a lot more advanced than anybody else. Space-ships an' shit. And we don't got anythin' like that."

[hasacondition]

He laughs, focusing on his drink instead of looking back at him. "Yeah, well, short answer is a seventy-year-old piece of history combined with lots and lots of radiation. I've got a few years of research notes if you want the details."

"Spaceships, huh? Like, to live on, or...?"

[itsananimalthing]

"Ain't so great to live on 'em, they're kinda cramped, and goin' anywhere takes weeks, so usually yer in cryo," Riddick explained. "Think I'll pass on your research notes, though. Probably a bit past what schoolin' I managed to scrape together."

Which was more than most people assumed, but he didn't like to let on that bit. Being thought a big, dumb convict made life easier for him.

[hasacondition]

"Really? So there's some sort of safe way to preserve the body tissue? There's got to be a way around the ice formation..."

But he catches himself and smiles sheepishly. "...Sorry. I sort of know a guy this is relevant to."

[itsananimalthing]

"Ain't ice, buddy, just cryo." He cocks his head at Bruce curiously. "Stasis. Done with drugs and electricity and shit. Dunno why they call it cryo, just I guess cuz you're frozen. Supposed to be asleep without dreamin' for weeks on end." But he dreams, anyway. He's used to it by now.

And because he is curious, he asks, "Who's your friend? They got put on ice or somethin'?"

[hasacondition]

He doesn't seem to be discouraged with this information-- if anything, he just looks more interested. "And there's no effect on vitals? Or are you hooked up to something?"

But he just smiles at his own joke as he says "Incredibly literally, yeah."

[itsananimalthing]

"Yeah, it's a hook-up thing," Riddick agrees. "Older models they stick ya in a glass coffin thing, newer you just sit and it monitors you with tabs an' shit. So somebody really tried to freeze somebody else using ice. What kind of shit were they on, tryin' that?"

Because that was so old school he's surprised the guy even survived. Nobody did that. Who the fuck did that?

[hasacondition]

"That's fantastic. I guess there wasn't any reason to assume we were all from the same time, right? Like, if they have something to pull us to their time, why limit yourself to our low tech?"

He hadn't really thought about it; it would be a hard habit to break, assuming everyone was from the 21st century. Maybe a little easier to remember with the less-human-looking tributes around, but still.

"He did." But after a brief pause, he lets in on the joke, smile shrinking slightly as he thinks through the implications. "It wasn't exactly intentional. Hell, if we'd known he was still alive, you probably wouldn't have seen my little show out there."

[itsananimalthing]

"That seventy-year-old piece of history, then," Riddick surmises. "Yeah, I think you guys're from further back than I am. Or further away. Whatever you were doin' sounds pretty barbaric." He pauses, considers, then adds, "I like it. Where's a guy get that whole turning-green-and-massive thing?"

[hasacondition]

"That's the one." He doesn't particularly sound surprised that Riddick put it together, but it's nice that he doesn't have to clarify. "Probably. 2012, if that means anything to you?"

He laughs a little at that, because at least someone likes it. "You don't."

[itsananimalthing]

"How come? That radiation thing a one-time gig?" Not that he's all that surprised. Even if he could anywhere else, he sure as hell couldn't here. And he's not altogether sure he would, anyway, since it seems like the kind of thing that would be risky. Not to mention he's not sure he likes the idea of losing control of himself like that, either.

But it's nice to dream a little, now and then, and the Hulk is pretty fucking cool to a guy like Riddick.

[hasacondition]

"More in the sense that I smashed up the research on the way out." It was funny, in a way, that it kept happening to anyone who tried to approach the Super Soldier project, aside from how bloodily his attempts had ended. "But if you want to try, you're welcome to it, just get ready to chip away at a PHD."

[itsananimalthing]

Riddick barks a laugh. It's not a pleasant sort of sound, but it is at least recognizable. "No, don't really think I'm the schooling type." Just be glad he knows what a PhD is, Bruce. It's a rare thing for Riddick to understand those normal Earth-y things. "Doubt they'd let somebody like me even in the door."

[hasacondition]

The laugh, harsh as it may sound, makes him feel more like he's actually just hanging out and having a drink, so he smiles slightly; not anything bitter or sarcastic, but real.

"They're not that bad, actually. Few enough people are interested in theorizing about electrons all day that they can't afford to be too picky."