directed | IC Inbox - Entranceway

[Eobard doesn't mind the wait. For once he's willing to extend some patience and take the time to think. Truth be told, he isn't certain why he feels the need to call Rip out here. He can admit his actions are not totally based in logic here, but that bothers him either more. He rarely ever makes decisions based upon emotional reactions, able to detach and think cooly about the situation. Yet right now, the dreams he's been having in the past couple nights have put him on edge. The one he had with Rip in it was among the most vivid, and so it burns in his mind still to this day.

He didn't call Rip out here to vent his frustrations onto him. It wasn't the real Rip Hunter in his dreams, so he has no reason to be antagonistic about it. If anything, he wants to keep his dreams a secret.

So when Rip comes, Eobard turns to greet him with a cool glance..]

I'm surprised. I didn't think you would even respond to my request. [He's certain if he were in Rip's position, he would tell the man to contact him in the morning instead. Yet Rip did come, and of his own decision, so Eobard doesn't feel bad.] Rip, I requested to speak with you because I want to grasp a solid ground. I want to know where you and I stand.

[Honestly, Rip doesn't know what to expect from this. Like everyone, he is haunted by dreams, visions of people he's met here, memories of his past, his failures, his dead family and the life orchestrated by the Time Masters rather than by his own choice. Yet none of this is so unordinary an occurrence for him. The truth is that Rip carries his guilt around his heart regardless, its weight heavy and unyielding. His dreams have shown him nothing he does not already know, and so the sleep is closer to an inconvenience than an upset.]

I doubted you would ask without reason. [And Eobard had asked, in his own way.] And for better or worse, I haven't exactly been keeping to my normal hours anyway.

[At least the sleep provides true rest; it should, given just how much of it Rip's gotten lately.

It does little to prepare him in the end, however, for what Eobard wishes to know. The question hints at uncertainty, and sparks concern in Rip. He has informed the Legends of his deal with Eobard, and gone so far as to seek the aid of a weapons designer for a means to combat the man. If Eobard knows of any of it, then this conversation could turn to violence very quickly.

Yet something in the man's words makes him wonder: the need to find steady footing. A solid ground. Despite the casualness of their delivery, they almost sound...vulnerable.

It isn't something he's at all used to seeing from Eobard Thawne.]

You want to know where we stand. [He presses his lips together for a moment, trying to guess at what might have changed.] Just what brought this on, Mr. Thawne?

Truthfully, I've been thinking about this since after the flooding. [Which isn't a lie, but he thought of how to best explain himself before Rip arrived without mentioning any dreams.] You and I have an alliance, but only one where we agreed to work together for the sake of escaping here. I think we can both agree there was really nothing past that motivating us. Yet it feels like since the aftermath of the flood, that even footing has teetered off balance.

I dislike not being clear and cut with any alliances I make. So I wanted to ask your thoughts on what I've described.

[This isn't the same as with Malcolm and Damien. Those two are his arms, travelling around when he cannot due to the monster constantly chasing him. Rip is far more knowledgable than either of those, despite lacking similar combat skills, and that right now trumps his needs. So he wants to be clear on where he is with Rip, so as not to lose someone with good knowledge.]

[Can Rip say he has somehow not seen what Eobard means by that shift in balance since the flood? Not in truth, no. There had been moments in their interactions, when the man attempted to correct Rip’s aphasia, and when Rip in turn informed Eobard that the true end to the event had accomplished the goal. Of course they’d each assigned their own framework for those times, calling them a matter of scientific discovery or simple courtesy. Yet it would seem neither man is quite so able to fully embrace those labels, which can be quite a dangerous thing.

They are not friends. Any such assumption would be dangerous at best, and likely disastrous in its outcome.]

There is a phenomenon known to time travelers as “time drift.” In case you’re not familiar, it’s what happens when someone stays in a place and time that’s not their own for too long. [Even if that’s not what’s happening to them, Rip thinks it could be close.] A person begins to believe they belong in that era rather than their own. They begin to lose parts of themselves as their mind conforms to where they are, rather than where they’re from.

I don’t think it’s that far-fetched to believe that there might be some variant of that in play, considering everything else that happens to us in this world. [Or perhaps it’s something simpler: people tend to unite after a tragedy, after all. Who is he to say?]

But I see no reason for our alliance to have changed. Our goals are still the same; we both desire to escape this place—perhaps even more now than when either of us first arrived.

I've heard of time drifts. Never really had to worry about experiencing it - speedsters don't stay in one time period for long. We have our own reasons for that.

[The Time Wraiths, that is to say. He wouldn't be surprised if Time Masters are aware to some degree about the creatures that originate from the Speed Force. Speedsters can never stay in one time era for too long because of them. Any attempt will be met with hostility from those monsters, as they seek to keep a check and balance. Eobard's fingers twitch by his side, recalling that dream he had just two nights ago, but he pays it no mind.]

What you say is true, but I don't speak of the terms of our alliance in practical terms. More of... the spirit behind them. As if our own relationship has changed, in a way I don't quite feel comfortable with.

Yes, I've been made aware. [The Time Wraiths are perhaps the only reason why the speedsters don't inflict greater damage upon the timeline than they already do. The Time Masters were still aware of those with that unique ability, still intervened as necessary--but without the creatures somehow associated with the speedsters, Rip suspects that even the Time Masters would have had difficulty keeping those with powers like Eobard and Barry Allen in check.

Yet the answers provided don't seem to satisfy the man standing in front of him now. A potential explanation, a promise of continued cooperation--yet something else weighs on Eobard Thawne's mind. Rip steps closer, his hands resting on his hips (his right near his holster, though he has yet to get the sense that he would need his gun this night.)]

That's all rather vague, you realize. [An uncomfortable feeling rooted in the spirit of their joint venture doesn't tell Rip much. Not truly.] What has you on edge?

[What can he say? That the dream he had has put him on edge? Any vulnerability he chooses to expose to Rip is done with a calculated mindset. There is absolutely no benefit to telling Rip about his dreams, and so he refuses to do so.]

Rip, I have respect for you. You may not believe me when I say so, but I don't call someone an enemy unless I truly feel they have earned that from me. ...However, I wonder how much of enemies we truly are. That is where my troubles have been, as a man who does not walk in the middle road.

[Either Rip must be an ally or an enemy, but he cannot be both. And that has come to frustrate him.]

[Does Rip believe Eobard? The answer comes to mind with surprising ease, considering the animosity that is meant to exist between them. He's convinced that Eobard probably holds as much respect for him as a man of his nature can; the phrase "worthy adversary" would likely come off as cliche, but that hardly makes it seem to fit any less.

What's far more interesting is Eobard's confession to questioning the more confrontational label of their relationship. While Rip cannot honestly say he hasn't also wondered at points, he is also a man who as a general rule, tries to act towards the greater good of people and the world. His job, after all, had been to protect history.

Eobard's life mission, seemingly, has been to utterly wreck the Flash.

He takes it all in, watching Eobard while he mulls over those thoughts.]

When we first spoke here, you complimented me on what you saw as my ability to see beyond the immediate morality of a situation. [A conversation which Eobard no doubt remembers as well as Rip.] Yet now, you seem to want to prescribe to a more black-and-white definition of--well, whatever it is that exists between us.

[It's a little contradictory, when looked at that way. Ally, enemy, both: people so rarely fall into such tidy terms.]

You also mentioned the destruction of the Vanishing Point, and implied you'd come up against my team. I'll confess: the latter hasn't yet happened for me. [And perhaps that is part of the difficulty on Rip's side of things: that within his own experience of the timeline, Eobard has yet to make himself the Legend's enemy.]

But it seems it will, and I can only assume from that, that you mean to affect the timeline in some fashion.

I do. [He confesses freely to it, not really ashamed of his goal or deceptive about it.] I'm sure if I told you what it was, you would start preaching to me about the sanctity of the timeline. And even if I explained my motives, you would still disapprove. That's the kind of man you are.

[He knows already what the response is. If he were a different man, the Flash even, maybe Rip would not scorn his plot. So he won't make any excuses for himself.]

You make me sound so contradictory though. When I complimented you, it was on your training as a Time Master. You've been trained to look at the timeline and see it from a distance. Never attaching yourself to any one situation in an emotional way, but simply judging what it is. [His smirk shifts into something more languid and cynical, his eyes sharpening his stare as well.] Looking at the world in shades of gray is so idealistic. In life, we are either innocent or guilty. History is the same as well. You're either right or wrong. A hero or a villain.

And that's where the problem lies. You're neither of those two things. Who are you then, Rip Hunter? How should you be judged? You exist on the outside of time, just on the edge of the border. That's why I'm finding it difficult how to categorize you. Should I just say you're a man who's "doing his job"?

[It should be simpler, right? Just like in the colorful books he read as a child, when he first stepped in the world of heroism and villainy. The Flash was a hero, and the Reverse Flash was a villain. If he's the Reverse Flash, he must therefore be the villain. Villains fight against heroes, and so that is what he does. He opposes those who would stop him from getting what he wants.

How should he classify a man like Rip Hunter, who was never one of those two things?]

Oh, I could likely give you a lecture anyway, even without knowing your intent. [Rip's rather good at it, as as Eobard said: that's simply who he is. Even now, after the destruction of the Vanishing Point, his own departure from the organization before that, Rip so often considers himself a Time Master. He cannot see himself stepping away from that role, and as hard as it is for him to look at his life beyond the quest to put an end to Vandal Savage, he has.

Someone must still protect history--and every indication would say that Rip himself assumes that role, right down to Eobard all but confirming his suspicions about the future.

A man who exists outside of time. And perhaps Eobard isn't wrong in that regard: without the vital tether of his family, Rip cannot even say he feels an attachment to 2166 anymore. The home he intends to return to is the Waverider--not a time, not even a place in the truest sense of the word.

And Eobard calls it idealistic, to be so removed. Neither hero nor villain, innocent or guilty. His mouth tightens; by the end of that tidy little speech, Rip feels a rather strong urge to laugh.]

You truly do make it sound idealistic--but I assure you, Mr. Thawne, that is hardly how my life is. [Even the question itself is a farce: who are you Rip Hunter, asked to a man who goes by a name chosen to erase his true identity when he'd been but a child.]

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that's not how the existence of any individual is. Defining history in such rigid terms is to fail to understand it at all. No one person is entirely hero or villain, not all the time. The worst of men is capable of acts of kindness, while the best of them could still cause catastrophe.

[Per Degaton had been a child once. One whom Rip could have removed from history permanently, except he'd chosen to believe in the goodness the boy might possess rather than pull the trigger of his gun.

And in the end, he'd been forced to wonder if that murder might not have been the heroic action after all. Take that and compare it to his abandonment of Calvert, condemning the town and it's people to a terrible end, but ensuring he could continue to act to protect the whole of time.

Hero, and villain. Rip truly is both and neither one.]

I would suggest you call me a Legend--but somehow I doubt that would grant you the answer you seek. [Eobard wants to classify Rip's existence, his purpose, but there is no label suitable, certainly not one that conforms to Eobard's view of the world.]

I know how history defines people, Rip. Between the lines there is nuance, but people don't care about that. They want a hero, who exists as a beacon of light and good. They want a villain, someone to unite against in hatred. Of course no one person is the hero or villain all the time. But history selectively captures the forefront, and not the background.

[He truly can't see it Rip's way. It's far too idealistic, almost naive. Eobard has seen how history judges, and it is cruel and unusual. He doesn't lament that fact, but accepts it for what it is and responds in kind. To live is to be cutthroat. No one gets ahead with kindness.

But this does give him a better understanding of who Rip is. It reminds him why Rip is his enemy. Their ideologies will never match. Despite being time travelers who see through things pragmatically, Rip is... emotional. Driven by empathy, and compassion for humans. He isn't naive, not by a long shot, but he looks too much for the best in others. Maybe because he wants to find something good, even when it's hard.

It's a shame. If that were to change, Eobard thinks they could get along well.]

I think I've had enough for tonight. I have a better understanding now of where we stand, and that's all I wanted. [A beat.] Oh, by the way? "Legends" has to be one of the worst names I've ever heard any team call themselves.

Interesting. Who would have ever guessed you care quite so much about what people think? [The fact that it's through the long stretch of history hardly matters; in the end, it would seem that Eobard has chosen to let the dictates of time define his path rather than seek out his own. Or perhaps that is simply how Rip sees it in the aftermath of learning about the Oculus. He remembers quite well Druce's cruel confidence as Rip viewed the one true timeline, the events that would and must be without question.

He's never seen his team quite so united as they had been in the moments when they decided that damnable machine must be destroyed.

Well. In the end, it would seem Eobard has found whatever answer he'd been looking for. Their differences are more well-defined, and it apparently has put to rest whatever doubt drove Eobard to ask for this meeting. Rip does remain a touch curious--but the commentary on his team's chosen moniker derails his own questions for the moment.]

Is it? [There's a hint of a grin on his lips, if only for a moment.] I must confess, I've grown rather fond of it myself. After all, none of us are exactly heroes nor villains in the end, now are we?

It's also why you aren't legends. [It's a contradictory name at best and outright self-aggrandizing at worst.] And for the record? I don't care for what people think, Rip. Only what history reflects.

[Nobody ever reads a history book and thinks of the opinions of the people who lived through those times. It's about the collective whole, not individuals. History wipes all of those away, with few exception.]

You can go off to bed now. I have no further need for you.

Perhaps for now, Mr. Thawne. Yet you know well that the future is always in flux. [In truth, Rip hardly cares to be remembered as a Legend; his goals remain unchanged whether he earns renown for them or not. But as for the impact those on his team might have?

Well. Considering how extraordinary they've all proven themselves to be, Rip in turn wouldn't be surprised if they leave their marks on history after all.]

And I suppose that is the heart of the difference between us: I'm much more concerned with protecting history rather than how I am reflected in it.

[Oh, but whereas he might have left, Eobard's dismissal of him stops Rip from even turning away.] Well, I see we've moved past the point of framing things politely. You truly did find your answer, didn't you?

Oh? ...I'm sorry. It seems I left you with the impression that I was ever being polite to begin with. I didn't mean to deceive you.

[He smiles, tone even and sardonic.]

I found the answer I was looking for. That's all that really matters.

I'm sure.

[And here Rip is half-tempted to do as some of the more rebellious children running around might by rolling his eyes.]

Good for you, then. I suppose I will take my leave now, before one or both of us drops dead asleep again.

[While Rip is certainly grateful that this event doesn't seem to carry the same risk of fatality as the last, it hardly makes the suddenly-sleeping-in-random-places aspect any less annoying.]

Oh, don't worry. If you happen to fall asleep before making it to your room, I'll be happy to drop you somewhere comfortable. Maybe into the heart of the hedge maze?

I'd hardly want you to trouble yourself, Mr. Thawne. As reassuring as your offer is.

[Rip won't point out there are worse places he could end up in this scenario: the pool, the fountain in this still frigid weather.

What it does do is cement the shift back to something closer to their first conversation existing between them now. While he's ready to walk away, Rip pauses for a moment. He can already guess the answer, but he'd be remiss not to ask the question anyway.]

I don't suppose you'll tell me what brought all this on? The sudden desire to meet, whatever uncertainty you'd been feeling.

[For curiosity's sake.]

I told you - I've been thinking about it since the flood.

[Of course that's what he says, and not the whole truth. But he won't dare even make a hint of what he dreamed, or Rip's part in it.]

And yet you only saw fit to ask about it now--in the midst of another event no less.

[Rip isn't completely buying it. There is something he's missing, although Eobard likely won't reveal whatever detail that is. Still--he's not taking the man's words at face value.]

Believe what you will. I may not be a polite man, but I'm not a dishonest one. I do not make falsehoods about my intentions.

[His lies are only by omission, which other people count while he doesn't. Anything he doesn't reveal is done with calculation.]

Oh, I've no reason not to believe you. [At least not so far as this is concerned.] You've been thinking about it since the floods; fine.

But merely thinking about something, and choosing to act on it--[He points towards Eobard briefly.]--those are two entirely different creatures.

So I suppose what I'm really asking after, is what made you decide to act?

[He smirks.]

If you must know, I just wanted to ruin your pleasant evening.

Oh, how flattering that you'd go to the effort.

[Right then. Eobard means not to tell him, and Rip hardly suspects he'll be able to sway the man. So be it.]

Until the next time we meet, Mr. Thawne.

IC Inbox - Entranceway

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