2.2 - [ video ]
Betty Ross was ported out last week. I doubt anyone knows that, unless they pieced it out from my...dramatics. Betty was a known felon here, living below her standards in order to keep her head down. She's gone, and the Hulk didn't make an appearance thanks to Jan taking care of me---and, well, telling me that all the pills she was putting in my cheerios were just marshmallows. The City should sleep better tonight, shouldn't it?
[ a tear slips down past the rim of his glasses and he wipes at it distractedly with the back of his hand. He takes a deep breath, holds it, and then exhales raggedly. Composure kept ]
I'm not a stranger to loss. On the contrary, this isn't the first time that I've lost Betty. I can only hope that she's left to a better place than the one I was in when I came here. I can hope that at least, can't I? Betty is angry and bitter and controlling and---and---abusive, I know that, but I still loved her. Had she not been taken by the Porter, I was going to ask her to marry me.
[ a beat. He pauses, rubs the bridge of his nose, and continues ]
I'm going to be forty-five, soon. I might not look it. [ he tips up a little bit of a self-depreciating grin at that ] The Hulk serum slowed my aging process dramatically. I've spent almost an entire year in this City, and a large chunk of that was with Betty. We...learned. We took advantage of the time here to change. Had we been given more time, maybe we would have resolved the problems we had and brought the solutions back with us in some shape or form. I like to think that even if she doesn't remember anything of this time we've spent, she brings some of the serenity she found back with her.
Isn't that what we all want? Or what we should want from this experience?
Every day, I see posts about newcomers coming to the City and wanting to go back home. Some or more desperate or louder than others. Sometimes, people mark the days and months that they've been here and wail about all the time they have wasted.
Even at my worst, even after all that I've felt and done wrong, I don't see this as a waste. This is some kind of neutral limbo state that we've been brought into. Hating it or...utilizing it is a matter of choice. There may be no reason that we're here, or there may be a hundred reasons. I'm not a spiritual man, so it is far from me to make any grand remarks on this being preordained by some higher power.
I---don't know. I don't know. But this is what helps me to cope.
I, ah. Have probably overstayed my time on here. I'm going to go back to bed. Kitty will be back later today, so that's something to look forward to.
[ a tear slips down past the rim of his glasses and he wipes at it distractedly with the back of his hand. He takes a deep breath, holds it, and then exhales raggedly. Composure kept ]
I'm not a stranger to loss. On the contrary, this isn't the first time that I've lost Betty. I can only hope that she's left to a better place than the one I was in when I came here. I can hope that at least, can't I? Betty is angry and bitter and controlling and---and---abusive, I know that, but I still loved her. Had she not been taken by the Porter, I was going to ask her to marry me.
[ a beat. He pauses, rubs the bridge of his nose, and continues ]
I'm going to be forty-five, soon. I might not look it. [ he tips up a little bit of a self-depreciating grin at that ] The Hulk serum slowed my aging process dramatically. I've spent almost an entire year in this City, and a large chunk of that was with Betty. We...learned. We took advantage of the time here to change. Had we been given more time, maybe we would have resolved the problems we had and brought the solutions back with us in some shape or form. I like to think that even if she doesn't remember anything of this time we've spent, she brings some of the serenity she found back with her.
Isn't that what we all want? Or what we should want from this experience?
Every day, I see posts about newcomers coming to the City and wanting to go back home. Some or more desperate or louder than others. Sometimes, people mark the days and months that they've been here and wail about all the time they have wasted.
Even at my worst, even after all that I've felt and done wrong, I don't see this as a waste. This is some kind of neutral limbo state that we've been brought into. Hating it or...utilizing it is a matter of choice. There may be no reason that we're here, or there may be a hundred reasons. I'm not a spiritual man, so it is far from me to make any grand remarks on this being preordained by some higher power.
I---don't know. I don't know. But this is what helps me to cope.
I, ah. Have probably overstayed my time on here. I'm going to go back to bed. Kitty will be back later today, so that's something to look forward to.