((OPEN)) The teacher is in.

[hyperkinesia]

Who: Bruce Banner Robert Greene and YOU!
Where: all around Storybrooke
When: throughout the whole event
Rating: PG for now, possibly will change... most likely.
Summary: your favorite teacher being out and about and living a quiet boring life.
The Story:

OCT 24^TH TO 26^TH

[ Life in Storybrooke is... quiet. It's the same one day as it was the last, or the same as the one weeks past. Not that Robert complains, somehow he feels as if he'd yearned for something this peaceful for so long - and yet it feels so wrong.

He knows why, but he doesn't think too much about it. That whole period of his life he likes to keep buried deep or it might just poke its head back out to haunt him.

And in the meantime, avoiding was always his thing. He's good at it, incredibly so, and even with both he and Virginia living in the same small town he does manage to go days or weeks on end without so much as seeing her. Of course that might also be because he spends most of his time either at school or at home, that makes it a lot easier to not run into her at any and all times.

(He could always leave Storybrooke. But the few times that thought crossed his mind it was gone as soon as it was there. He'd never not been in Storybrooke, where else would he go?)

But on Sunday, he feels differently. That one day he feels a strange yearning though he doesn't know for what, so despite not having figured out what that is, he still goes outside, spends his whole day going from one place to the other, even so far as stepping closer to the town limits at one point. The playground, the grocery store, the pie place - he goes through every single place in search of something that's yet to reveal itself to him. ]


OCT 28^TH

[ Suddenly the weight of it all is maddening, and he's split between being two completely different people - Bruce and Robert - and he doesn't know where one ends, where the other begins. Actually, there's also a third, or should be at least. The Hulk, the massive green monster fueled by rage, and yet even now as he remembers this other life of his, the beast is still not in him, it's still not here.

Whether it's because Bruce is the actual lie, or because this is the product of a Wonderland event, he doesn't know. He tries not to think about that one detail too much, when so many other worries already plague his mind.

He remembers-- remembers names, people, or he remembers people from this place but with different names altogether. Looking at Virginia now is nearly impossible because all he can see is Pepper and he's remembered Tony too, and he can't think of either without being reminded of what they'd done just the day prior.

Then there's Natasha, and he's sure that's her name, it rings clear in his head and it had been one of the first that came to mind the night before. Yet here he is the day after and he doesn't know what to do. Does he talk to her, when he doesn't even know what's the truth and what's the lie? Should he wait, and avoid her like he's avoiding Virginia - Pepper - now?

How many other people had he forgotten for that while, how many of these lives are a lie?

Can a man who has two lives be in fact no one at all? ]

Comments

[hyperkinesia]

[ Night and morning that had kind of merged into one and the same for him. The particular moment that it all changed had been as far from ideal as can get - one moment he was lying in bed with the woman he loved, the next she was someone else, he was someone else, and most definitely they were not meant to be like that with each other.

Not only that, but Bruce didn't want to, he never had. But in his mind two different people now sit together, impossible to tell which one is the truth and which one is the lie, and while Bruce has nothing but feelings of friendship for Pepper, Robert is still lingering there with his long harbored love for Virginia.

In the end she had to leave, and keeping their distance was all they could do for now. And Bruce, or Robert - or both -, spent the whole night lying awake, searching through all these new memories he'd just gotten, finding new names in old faces, seemingly old memories suddenly playing so fresh in his mind. And in the morning he gets dressed, wraps himself up in a warm coat, and goes outside, to do... something. Anything.

The time he takes to debate whether or not to go to Natasha - that's her name, and her life is an entirely different one from the school counselor's - his feet are already taking him there, working on their own until he's standing only a little ways down the street. But just as he's about to turn around and leave, he sees her stepping out of the house and he's rooted to the spot. ]

Hi. [ His smile is tired, guilty despite himself, and probably tells about a thousand different things he can't put into words right now. If she had any doubts he'd remembered, it shouldn't last long as he speaks up again. ] Natasha?

[widows_kiss]

[ Well. That answered that question fairly succinctly, didn't it? At least she wasn't the only one feeling like she was going crazy this morning. ]

God that sounds weird. [ She rakes agitated fingers through her hair as she comes to a stop in front of him, meeting his gaze. ] You too, huh? I've been up almost all night with this. Here I was hoping someone had tried to slip me something at the bar. It would be so much less complicated.

[ Because this? This redefined complicated. ]

Does that mean I should call you... Bruce? Is that what we're even doing right now? Do you believe any of this?

[hyperkinesia]

[ The fact that she recognizes the name he calls her, and doesn't just look at him like he's gone crazy, brings him some relief. True, he probably had less reason to have doubts about this, since he'd been with Virginia - or Pepper - when they both got those memories, but it's still at least good to know they weren't the only ones in that situation.

Though that's where the good feelings start and end, honestly. Everything else just settles unpleasantly at the back of his throat even now, but he smiles and keeps it to himself, for now at least. ]

I don't know, really. I don't know what to believe right now. [ He lets out a loud and shaky sigh, lowering his head before he looks away and down the street. ] It could just be part of an event, this. Or not, it could be... a trick, I don't know. But what's the point of giving us a new set of memories?

[ What if they're both lies? Anything could be happening right now. They could just be trapped in an illusion, all of them together. Real life merging with a fabricated past, or two fabricated pasts poorly mushed together. Just thinking about the possibilities makes his head hurt. ]

Bruce is fine, though. [ May as well keep at least one thing simple right now. ]

[widows_kiss]

Just one?

[ The question slips out without her entirely intending to ask it, and there's part of her consciousness in the back of her mind cursing at the clumsiness of that slip, but she shakes her head, hoping that he'll brush it off.

Although that right there tells her that maybe all the memories she's trying to sort through isn;t quite the same as what he's trying to sort.

She huffs out an aggravated sigh and tucks her hair behind her ear. ]

I haven't had enough coffee for this conversation. Actually, I'm not sure there is such a thing, but I'm going to at least attempt to find it. Have you had breakfast?

[hyperkinesia]

Well, another one. Just kind of... [ He trails off for a moment, hesitance on each word. ] Wondering if I'm Bruce or I'm Robert. I can't even be sure anymore. Or if I'll ever be sure.

[ It's a strange feeling, honestly, especially so with people he remembers from this sudden new life he seems to have been living, alongside the one in Storybrooke. Maybe that's why he prefers to be called Bruce by her, because what he remembers of her as Natasha is... well, better. Even though he knows that if that's indeed the reality, then this all might make it more complicated.

But one thing at a time. ]

Not yet, no. [ He's not even sure he wants to stomach anything right now, but he probably should anyway. So he nods down the road, his hands tucked warmly in his jacket pockets. ] I'll join you.

[widows_kiss]

[ She has more names than that to add to the score, although it's mostly between Natalie and Natasha with a fainter echo of Natalia to follow with almost petulant stubbornness. Others that can be listed off like faint shadows linger at the very back of her mind, lives and memories and knowledge of... of people she doesn't entirely understand. Sarah. Anna. Katherine. Elizabeth. Tatiana. Like one long stream of consciousness of identities that should have better perspective than the muddled one she feels like she's drowning in at the moment.

It's enough to give her a killer headache, on top of the lingering effects of the bottle of wine she'd downed the night before. So instead she just nods and tucks her hands in her jacket pocket as she falls into step beside him, the main street conveniently only about a block or two away. ]

I suppose it's comforting to know there's someone as confused by this whole mess as I am.

[hyperkinesia]

[ He hadn't quite realized that yet, though sooner or later it would dawn on him too. Bruce knows Natasha, remembers who she is and who she used to be, and different identities, different names, he would figure that's something she's dealing with right now.

In that grander scheme of things, he really can't complain all that much. At least his memories aren't a tangled weave of lives layering over one another. ]

No... I think a lot of us are. [ If not all, even. But for now he can't be entirely sure of that. He falls quiet, visibly hesitant for a while as they walk down the street, then finally he just decides to let it out in one go, and deal with it from there. ]

I slept with Pepper. [ A fraction of a second and he continues, before she gets the chance to say anything to that. ] Or... Robert slept with Virginia. So I guess... I slept with Virginia.

[ He sighs, not even sure if that makes any difference at all right now. ]

[widows_kiss]

[ It's enough of a surprising revelation to both Natalie and Natasha that she stops short in the middle of the sidewalk and blinks at him blankly for a moment as she absorbs that information, not sure how she feels about it.

Confused? Amused? Everything's to complicated to decipher at the moment, she she settles on a safely neutral and mildly bewildered answer instead. ]

Congratulations?

[hyperkinesia]

[ Her answer throws him off his balance, unexpected, with a hint of bewilderment. He glances over at her, his expression open and surprised, then he shakes his head. ]

No. That's not... not what I'd say about it.

[ Because he wasn't bragging, he wasn't just sharing for the sake of sharing. His point here is a different one, though maybe not exactly one that should be priority, considering all the things they're dealing with in their own heads. ]

It felt right then. Not so much anymore. [ His last words a hint bitter, a lot regretful. He sighs quietly. ] I'm sorry.

[widows_kiss]

[ She stops walking forward, moving instead to stand in front of him, abruptly halting his progress as well as she peers up into his face, her expression serious as she meets his gaze. ]

You don't need to apologize to me. Whatever this is... whatever mess has all these memories jumbled and confused and making us doubt which us is the real one - this isn't your fault. You didn't do this, you didn't ask for this, no more than I did, or anyone else, for that matter. Yesterday we all thought we were one person and today... Today everything's a mess.

[ She waves a hand dismissively, frowning fiercely for a moment. ] If it felt right at the time? That's all that's important right now, because you acted on what you felt was right. That's not something you ever have to apologize to me for, especially when at the time.. you and I were not who we are right this moment. Even if we're not entirely certain who that is.

So no apologies, alright?

[hyperkinesia]

[ She's right, of course, every word of hers making perfect sense to him. He wouldn't want or expect an apology from something like this himself, and in the same fashion she wouldn't want it from him either. But often guilt goes against logic that way.

Still, he nods in agreement and understanding, his eyes flickering up to look at her. ]

Alright. [ He nearly apologizes for having apologized, but isn't that the very definition of redundant? The thought has his lips twitching into a small smile, bitterly amused for the briefest moment. ] You're right, this is all... God, it's already complicated enough as it is.

[ Breakfast, at least, is simple enough. ]