[ please don't. wynonna is going to light his ass on fire for this as it is. do not announce it to the masses. he's super hard to kill, but that does not mean she wouldn't find a way. hell hath no fury like a ticked off earp. ]
I am from 2017. [ casual as he slips his guns back into their holsters. but he leaves it at that, as curious as he was with the woman on the network who came dangerously close to figuring it out. he waits, like a tried and true gambler, leaving the floor open.
[ there's no poker face to be had here. (the crooks on the waverider clean him out every time and he's still grateful just for having been a part of it.) his eyes narrow and his mouth drops open-- if ray was wearing a pearl necklace he'd clutch it in offense. but he can feel the challenge that's just been levied at him. ]
Yeah? Well, I'm calling your bluff. See, I'm a time traveler. And you scream 1870 to me. [ an inexact date, ray has a habit of leaning too heavily on his own experiences sometimes. ]
[ he shakes his head. his tendency to hone in on a single focus has always been a major setback for ray. when things don't fit the space he's cut out for the shape he thinks they are, he tends to lose footing.
ray looks over the targets again and thinks back over the now barely two conversations they've had. if there's one thing he can be sure of, at least, it's that immortality and magic aren't always a fun combo. ]
Oh. My mistake. It's just with all the crafty evasive answers and bizarre set of skills you seemed comfortably out of place. It's not every day you meet a dentist who can shoot like-- oh-my-god-you're-Doc-Holliday.
What? But you're so obviously-- [ his hands flit about, losing words (bravo) to fit the situation. ] --Doc. Gunslinging and smooth and poker faced. So poker faced...
[ ray, no. stop trying to build your box around this man. he is not here to be a statue for you to ogle in awe. (though ogling is sort of still happening. sigh.) ]
[ pffft. raymond, p l e a s e. but it's fine. the ogling doesn't seem to bother doc in the slightest. in fact, his only response to the intense scrutiny of his person is to pull a cigarette out of his pocket and light it. what? eternal health. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
he takes in a drag, blows it back out, shrugs. ] I am a professional card sharp.
[ go on, lecture him. he will happily inform you of his inability to die once more. and yeah, maybe he shouldn't have been smoking back in the day when he actually had terminal tuberculosis, because that certainly... hadn't... helped matters... but there were many things the 1880s were unaware of. ]
Unfortunately, [ he says with tangible reluctance weighting down his voice. doc didn't ask to be black badge, but black badge didn't give a fuck about what he wanted. what any of them wanted. ] But that's more of a recent development. The deputyship that history records was a temporary affair in a time of need, something I immediately surrendered once it was no longer necessary to hold.
Salvation. [ doc follows that up with a half-snort, half-chuckle. (dude, you live in a town called purgatory. don't throw stones.)
he drops the cigarette, pressing it into the dirt with his heel. better, ray? ] I do know how it is, though likely for very different reasons. Unless you were dyin' of something you're not showin' signs of or spent some quality time at the bottom of a well.
[ he misunderstands, as happens when a person wants to apply their image of another person onto them. and only half listens because he's a jackass. but ray does express his sympathies with a grimace. ]
Oh, right yeah. I guess that would put a damper on the whole deputy thrill, huh?
Thrill? [ misunderstanding indeed. ] You modern folk seem to have this collective misconception that we wanted to be deputies. I was a dentist, and Wyatt— [ yes, wyatt earp is now a factor of this conversation. ] Wyatt wanted to be farmer, settle down somewhere and start a family for himself. But life doesn't always let you decide what you want to be or where you'll go. Now, Morgan and Virgil? They were the lawmen. The rest of us were just along for the ride. Not sure what we stepped into the O.K. Corral as, but we emerged gunslingers regardless of whether we wanted to or not.
[ that sharpens ray's focus from eager superfan to concerned citizen face. ]
Oh, I-- [ but he realizes quickly that doc's got some stuff to get off his chest, and uh yeah. ray can see that he fully deserves that and more. his smile doesn't disappear but it turns lopsided in guilt. ] Sorry, you're right. I get swept up in the romance of it all, but it seems like a lot of people who got into the work didn't exactly do so willingly.
[ even ray, who sought out the ability to help people, didn't just wake up one day wanting to build a technosuit to fly around in. it's not fair, and maybe it's overstepping his bounds, but ray tries again: ]
But stories about you and Wyatt Earp, you know, they inspire other people who fall into the life. Who have to make due with imperfect circumstances.
Tell that to his great-great-granddaughter and the curse she inherited from him. I'm sure Wynonna would get a good kick outta that.
[ not that she probably hasn't heard such things a dozen times before, what with growing up earp an all. it's a hazard of purgatory. "wyatt earp country," or so the town liked to proclaim. drove doc mad, considering the number of places wyatt lived, that this godforsaken, cursed little spec of a town got to claim that supposed glory. ]
Wynonna Earp. Wyatt Earp's great-great-granddaughter, or were you not payin' attention?
[ as for the curse— doc resists the urge to get out another cigarette. he takes his hat off instead, running a hand over his hair. he'll get to the curse in a second. ]
The whole family is. [ doc fiddles with his hat, fingers pressing into the brim as he turns it around in his hands. ] Wyatt made a mistake, and now the rest of his line is forced to deal with his slain outlaws until the end of time. They rise from the depths of hell in the form of human-like demon revenants, and the eldest of the family — the heir — has to send them back using Wyatt's gun. Wynonna is the current heir. The task of takin' care of the revenants is currently hers.
She also happens to be here and is going to be none too pleased when she finds out you not only know who I am, but who she is, as well.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I am from 2017. [ casual as he slips his guns back into their holsters. but he leaves it at that, as curious as he was with the woman on the network who came dangerously close to figuring it out. he waits, like a tried and true gambler, leaving the floor open.
your move, raymond. ]
no subject
Yeah? Well, I'm calling your bluff. See, I'm a time traveler. And you scream 1870 to me. [ an inexact date, ray has a habit of leaning too heavily on his own experiences sometimes. ]
no subject
1887, last I saw that side of history.
no subject
no subject
What? No! I've got eternal longevity.
no subject
You have what, now?
no subject
Eternal longevity. Immortality?
[ for a guy covered in that much futuristic gear, you sure are slow on the uptake. ]
no subject
[ he shakes his head. his tendency to hone in on a single focus has always been a major setback for ray. when things don't fit the space he's cut out for the shape he thinks they are, he tends to lose footing.
ray looks over the targets again and thinks back over the now barely two conversations they've had. if there's one thing he can be sure of, at least, it's that immortality and magic aren't always a fun combo. ]
Oh. My mistake. It's just with all the crafty evasive answers and bizarre set of skills you seemed comfortably out of place. It's not every day you meet a dentist who can shoot like-- oh-my-god-you're-Doc-Holliday.
no subject
[ try not to look so smug, doc. it's not a good look on you. ]
no subject
Are you kidding? You're a legend. [ hang on. ] But you already knew that, didn't you?
no subject
[ how often did he have to correct the citizens of purgatory on their "knowledge" of wyatt earp? too often. ]
no subject
[ ray, no. stop trying to build your box around this man. he is not here to be a statue for you to ogle in awe. (though ogling is sort of still happening. sigh.) ]
no subject
he takes in a drag, blows it back out, shrugs. ] I am a professional card sharp.
no subject
And an actual Marshall! Right? So, I mean, it seems like the books got it mostly right.
[ ever the idealist. also, ever arrogant: ]
You know, I was Sherriff in an Old West town for awhile.
no subject
Unfortunately, [ he says with tangible reluctance weighting down his voice. doc didn't ask to be black badge, but black badge didn't give a fuck about what he wanted. what any of them wanted. ] But that's more of a recent development. The deputyship that history records was a temporary affair in a time of need, something I immediately surrendered once it was no longer necessary to hold.
[ doc eyes him. ] Were you, now?
no subject
Ayup. [ ray. ] Cleared Salvation all outta riff raff. I couldn't stick around, either. [ ray pls. ] You know how it i--
[ aaand there's the coughing. doesn't seem likely to stop any time soon... ]
no subject
he drops the cigarette, pressing it into the dirt with his heel. better, ray? ] I do know how it is, though likely for very different reasons. Unless you were dyin' of something you're not showin' signs of or spent some quality time at the bottom of a well.
no subject
Oh, right yeah. I guess that would put a damper on the whole deputy thrill, huh?
no subject
no subject
Oh, I-- [ but he realizes quickly that doc's got some stuff to get off his chest, and uh yeah. ray can see that he fully deserves that and more. his smile doesn't disappear but it turns lopsided in guilt. ] Sorry, you're right. I get swept up in the romance of it all, but it seems like a lot of people who got into the work didn't exactly do so willingly.
[ even ray, who sought out the ability to help people, didn't just wake up one day wanting to build a technosuit to fly around in. it's not fair, and maybe it's overstepping his bounds, but ray tries again: ]
But stories about you and Wyatt Earp, you know, they inspire other people who fall into the life. Who have to make due with imperfect circumstances.
no subject
[ not that she probably hasn't heard such things a dozen times before, what with growing up earp an all. it's a hazard of purgatory. "wyatt earp country," or so the town liked to proclaim. drove doc mad, considering the number of places wyatt lived, that this godforsaken, cursed little spec of a town got to claim that supposed glory. ]
no subject
[ that's a good shove right down off that soap box for ray, at least ]
...Wynonna?
no subject
[ as for the curse— doc resists the urge to get out another cigarette. he takes his hat off instead, running a hand over his hair. he'll get to the curse in a second. ]
no subject
And Wyatt Earp's granddaughter is ... cursed? [ mumblemumble ] Sounds like a time aberration to me.
no subject
She also happens to be here and is going to be none too pleased when she finds out you not only know who I am, but who she is, as well.
[ temporal aberration indeed. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)