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April in New York, and while there's still a bit of a bite in the air, there's also a hint of spring in the buds of leaves on the trees along the side of the street. Mutant town doesn't have many of those, but there are a few here and there - usually where someone with a particular talent has nurtured them. The city certainly doesn't care about beautification in this part of town. Hope has been visiting the community center, but with few people around to help at the moment, she's just leaving, hands shoved into her pockets as she lets the gated door close behind her.
Nate was just chilling in Mutant Town really, walking outside to enjoy that fresh air. Unlike Hope most likely, he seems to be wearing a more…punk clothing. leather pants, leather jacket, nothing on his hands, and a rough looking shirt that looks to be tearing a bit in certain areas, however, as it does this, it also reveals his extreme musculature in certain areas of his torso.
He ends up coming across Hope as she walks out right in front of him as he was exploring. though when he was about to complain at her? he notices something strangely…familiar with her.
Hope comes up short as Nate approaches, already stepping back toward the door, but when she looks up to see who it is, she blinks. For most things, Hope has quick reactions. There's no time to second-guess things at the end of the world. But this isn't something she expected. Brows furrowed, she leans back toward the door.
"Nathan?"
Nathan pauses fully when he has a full moment to look at Hope. But then he recognizes her.
"Hope?"
He looks at her curiously then, tilting his head at her like he's confused on why -she's- here…in this timeline….same as he is.
Being recognized seems even more strange than seeing a younger version of Nathan. Hope keeps her hands in her pockets - probably on a weapon of some sort, knowing her - as she gives him a long, suspicious look.
"What's…going on?" she finally asks, pulling out hand out of her pocket to poke at one of the rips in his shirt. "No TO. You're…not my Nathan."
Nathan looks at her, catching those brief thoughts from her mind, he has a pretty good feeling of what she could have in her pockets. Though as she pokes at his abs, he looks down at her then, narrowing his eyes. "Time Travel continues to surprise me. I…saw you when I traveled back in time. Like a distant memory of a life that was not my own." he tilts his head softly then.
"…very confusing. Who are you to me?"
The question is meant to be asked in honesty, wanting to know who she is.
"That is a very long story," Hope snorts, grimacing as she takes a step back again, both hands back in her pockets. But whoever she is, she doesn't find the idea of time travel odd. Or, frankly, the idea of another him for that matter. He makes Nathan number three in her life. She starts down the sidewalk, glancing over her shoulder to tip her head in a gesture for him to follow. "When did you come from, first? Or where, maybe. My Nathan had the TO from the time he was a baby, so I don't think you're him from another time in his life, which means you're a him from a different timeline entirely."
Nathan looks at her then, tilting his head softly as she spoke to him about timelines and other confusing factors. "I only went back in time once…back to here. While I'm not -your- Nathan, It explains why I know things that I likely shouldn't. Like how I don't have a Techno-Organic body or virus…" he shrugs then. "but…I guess that means you know me." he shrugs then once more.
"I'm from a world where two mutants, Apocalypse and Sinister, were at war with each other. and that's not including the backfired-planned Sentinels from mankind that decided to want to wipe out everyone." he sighs.
"My world isn't at all like this one."
"I remember Apocalypse." Hope's voice is grim at that, more so than just a memory can account for. "Though that was in the future. When I was little." She takes a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh before she looks back to him. "Mine either, really. Any of them." She pauses, lips pursing as she looks back at him. "I guess it's too much to hope you've still got a time travel device, or you wouldn't be here, huh?"
Nathaniel nods softly to her then. "yeah…..not a pretty place, at all. Though at least I have the comfort that I blew him up…hopefully." he sighs then a moment. when he's asked about a time machine, he shakes his head. "I didn't use a time machine. Must have bene a power that was dormant or something. I screamed at the sky and I ended up here." he shrugs then softly. "It is what it is."
"Huh." Hope looks speculative for a moment, the only sign that she might be feeling out the ambient powers for something that feels like being able to bend space or time. Not finding something that feels quite right, she reaches up to rub a hand at the back of her neck. "I'm still waiting for- Well. I need to get back to my time. They need me there. So someone's going to figure it out eventually."
Nate shrugs softly to her, looking her right in the eyes. "Well, if I could do it again, I would. You're not the only one who's needed back in their timeline. But…maybe this is what was intended? We can change the past to affect the future. It all happens pretty much the same way anyways." he shakes his head then. "maybe…just maybe." but he looks at her and he nods softly. "If I can help, I will. I don't know any time machine schematics though."
"I'm not convinced anything is intended by anything," Hope snorts softly, shaking her head. "I don't think I really like that idea, honestly. I prefer to make my own fate. Or at least own the one I've got. Otherwise…Otherwise it's just too much crap, and that's not the world I want to live in." She looks back to him again as she walks, as if she can't quiet help it. "It's really weird seeing him - seeing you - like this."
Nathaniel just looks at her as she walks by him…the words about making his own fate..his own destiny resonate with him, and he smiles softly. "That's the plan…but I want to make sure the world I leave behind is better then when I came in it, wouldn't you say?" he asks her curiously, but he does nod. "If it can't be saved then.." he lowers his head. Alas, her comments about him being once again compared to…well, himself really, causes a small smile. "It's good to see you in the flesh." he says with that kind smile of his.
"For a few moments you were a haze…a memory. But it's good to see you Hope." he says then. "Us time travelers need to stick together, right?"
"Something like that," Hope smirks, hands back in her pockets. "Nathan was always a traveler, though. No matter where - or when - we went, he knew what to do. I do my best to live up to what he taught me." Which sounds more like a eulogy than just a memory. "So. Mistaken travel, huh? Sounds like things weren't super great where you came from, either."
Nate nods softly to her then, offering her a small smile. "Well…it makes sense. I do like to get around." he says in a more happy go lucky kind of way. Though it sounds like this version of him was more of a mentor to Hope than a friend, but he nods lightly. "Yeah. Complete accident, really." he shrugs then. "and they definitely…definitely…agonizingly were not what one would call -great- at all.
"I mean, if you want to compare war stories, I could bring out some of the war stories," Hope chuckles, glancing over. "Like, the cockroach people. That one was pretty bad. All of civilization down to two cities, one of which was nice and the other of which was awful. And the space-whales. Those were interesting."
Nathaniel ends up chuckling to her after he hears some of her stories, his smile growing a bit wide as these two…uncle and niece? sorta cousins? the line gets weird after awhile. "cockroach people? Space whales? All I had to deal with were vampires, mutants, humans, sentinels, and the occasional person with a god complex." he laughs then.
"Hey, if you still had both mutants and humans to deal with, then that counts as progress in my book." Hope smiles faintly, continuing along the sidewalk. "Do you have a place to stay? Have you been to the school?" she asks.
Nathan smiles softly to Hope then and he shrugs a bit! "Guess you can say that…" but then…the Xavier's school is mentioned, though he does shrug softly at the first part. "kind of? I usually just find a place that looks comfortable and I sleep there." he says with a small smile present. though he shakesh is head at the school bit. "Don't know nuthin' about a school. I don't plan on going to one if that's what your asking."
Hope quirks a brow. "That's interesting. But if you don't have a place, then you should come to the Avengers place. They're mostly old, but they're pretty decent. And it's better than under a bridge somewhere. And Tony and I are working on a time machine when we can. I mean, we might not ever succeed, but there aren't a lot of people who can do any more than that, so it might give you a chance to get home."
Nathan shrugs then. "It's what I know…comfortable. reminds me of home." he smiles then a bit before she suggests the Avengers place. "…avengers?" he didn't have them in his world. either that, or they all died. Regardless, when he hears that she's trying to build a time machine with a friend, he grins at her softly. "sounds nice…I guess I'll check it out then."
"Tell them you're…related to Hope's Nathan," Hope says with a faint smile. "They'll let you in." She gives him another long look considering, then shakes her head as she takes a few steps back and away. "It's weird. Probably gonna stay that way. But…it's still good to meet you. See you soon, hopefully."