video.

[enactors]

( marc still isn't entirely sure where he falls on the 'is this actually real?' question he's asked himself more than a handful of times since finding himself here, since finding the parchment with his crime(s).

still: it feels real enough, and for now that's enough.

he's dressed in a suit — it's white in its entirety, with small crescent moons serving as buttons and cufflinks. it's — fine. it's an outfit that says he — before here, at least — probably spent a small fortune on dry cleaning, and begs the question of how long it's going to stay looking Like That (answer: not long).

with one leg crossed over the other, there's a breath of a pause before he speaks. this isn't how he normally does this, but then, this isn't normal by any — even his — definition of the word. )

My name is Mr. Knight. ( is it? of course not, but there's nothing to marc's demeanour that says otherwise; and for those familiar, his accent says 'chicago!' ) I'm a priest. ( certainly, by A Definition, and by that, we mean 'by marc spector's definition and no-one else's, except (maybe) an ancient egyptian moon god's'. )

At home, I ran a mission — the Midnight Mission — through which I protected my community and my people. Travellers of the night. ( a breath of a pause and he holds up a hand (gloved, white, because of course) and gestures vaguely at his surroundings. ) A change in circumstances doesn't change my duty. If there's anyone that requires help or assistance with, ( at night, because marc is Dedicated, ), no matter how strange or unusual, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Comments

[enactors]

( fighting crime is marc's hobby, and job, and everything else. he doesn't do anything else with his time — up at 6pm for avengers-mandated therapy with andrea sterman at 7pm, then—

moon knight.

that's it. that's his life. mostly.

finding an honest-to-god hobby would probably be healthy, but marc has never been very good at doing anything that's good for him.

and since his mercenary days, since dying (the first time), marc has never held a job. steven had always dealt with the money side of things, jake had dealt with the people side — friends, associates, and marc—

—well, marc mostly punched things and made a mess of his life. )

I don't know how many jobs they've got here that need my particular set of talents.

What does a space man do when he's not in space?

[starguy]

[ One day Peter's gonna help Marc pick up stamp collecting or something. Well, Peter's hobby is also working— whenever he gets ansty, he takes a job, or he picks a fight, or he takes the gang to Knowhere or Contraxia and finds trouble if trouble won't find him. But since all of those are pretty much off the table, maybe he'll pick up music or mixing drinks or something like that.

Is that what normal people do? How hard can it be? ]

Good question! [ He laughs, though it's more deflecting than cheery. He has been pondering this one. ] I'm thinking I might try hunting monsters or whatever the locals can't mess with. I did a little bit of that with my friends before, so that should be right up my alley. I can't take a dragon alone, but smaller stuff's not too bad.

I'm still workshopping it, though. 'Star-Lord's Monster Extermination' doesn't have a great ring to it.

[enactors]

( marc isn't sure if he ever got peter's name when they first spoke-slash-met-slash-whatever, but it's nice to have confirmation that the gaudy 'star-lord' decorating the back of his jacket serves a ...purpose? exists for some unknown reason? isn't just a nonsensical phrase? )

Try something with alliteration. ( that is ... not really why marc went with 'midnight mission', but it may have been part of it. ) And shorter.

[starguy]

[ Marc's got this branding thing down pat, as far as Peter's concerned. He's happy for the help. ]

Yeah, good point. It doesn't really roll off the tongue.

[ Plus the name "Star-Lord" deserves something badass to go with it. ]

Quill's Questing? Nah, that might be too vague. Star-Lord's Monster Mashers? Star Smashers! Nah... [ He clicks his tongue. ] This is harder than I thought. I seriously struck gold with "Guardians of the Galaxy," I can't top that.

[ He only has himself to blame for choosing to name himself after his favorite metal band. ]

[enactors]

Now you're making it too specific. ( outside of the 'quill's questing' suggestion, that is.

but also, peter, do you really want to take tips from the guy that has such belongings as (the) 'mooncopter' and 'moon sticks' (normal people call them 'truncheons')? ) You're limiting your avenues.

[starguy]

You think so?

[ Hmmm maybe Quill's Quests has some legs, then. Clearly this is who he should be listening to -- better to name things after the moon than name your ship after a crush on the girl from Who's the Boss? ]

Maybe I'll try taking down a few monsters and see if I can get some inspiration that way.

[ He ponders this. ]

How'd you pick your name? Assuming your last name isn't really Knight.

[enactors]

( privately, marc had been wondering how long he'd be able to get away with pretending that 'mr. knight' was his actual name. he's never asked reese if she'd thought it was his actual name or if she'd just presumed that whilst it was a pseudonym, his real name was a lot more interesting than ... marc.

here it seems as if the vast majority of people are far more suspicious and far more likely to doubt that it's a real name and marc certainly Feels Some Kind of Way about it.

he doesn't question the concept of 'fighting monsters, finding inspiration' because, frankly, that's an absolutely legitimate method as far as marc's concerned. instead, he sighs. )

Moon Knight. ( does that explain anything? marc certainly seems to think so.

at length, he realises that it probably doesn't explain anything. ) —Mr. Knight is more personable. ( like that explains anything further. )

[starguy]

[ Peter's suspicion comes more from his love of comics than malice, that's for sure. He isn't gonna push Marc for his real name—that would be against the "superhero code." And sure, Peter is hardly a superhero himself, so even if that was a thing, it wouldn't matter. But even Peter can respect boundaries. Some boundaries. ]

Ooh, Moon Knight. You know, your branding makes a lot more sense now. I should've guessed that.

[ The night theme, the moon symbols and all that... Yeah, this tracks. Maybe Peter should start embroidering stars on his jacket? He can certainly sew another patch somewhere maybe.

More importantly, this very serious conversation they're having, ]

Wouldn't Mr. Moon be more personable though? Mr. Knight sounds like a guy who lives in a castle on the weekends.

[enactors]

( marc's secret identity has never been very secret, in spite of his at-times best efforts. he's vascillated between caring deeply about separating the different areas of his life and, at others — and much to steven's chagrin, mostly — not.

the avengers had all known who he was under the mask, but it wasn't something that ever had been particularly difficult to piece together from a non-governmental, non-superhero point of view. there had been the superhero registration act (that'd gone swimmingly...), but even before all that, there had been that documentary. the one about khonshu that he — marc, not steven — had decided was a brilliant idea.

in other words, it's not — despite what marc might say — about having a secret identity. it is about separating the facets of his life, but not like, say, spider-man. instead of having a secret identity to protect his loved ones specifically (as reese had pointed out, marc doesn't have any friends), marc has a reticence of dealing with things that make his life difficult or things about his life (almost always caused by himself) that he dislikes.

maybe eventually he'll introduce himself like a regular human being, but today is not that day. )

That's easy to say when you're not familiar with the alternative. ( that is: peter doesn't know moon knight and doesn't know his reputation. where mr. knight is a concerned citizen, moon knight's a ruthless vigilante, and the difference in costume, name and (mostly) methods meant that whilst everyone knew mr. knight and moon knight were the same person (probably), one could work the police when required and the other ... could not. ) And what either of them do with their free time is irrelevant.

( well, it's not, because moon knight is how marc spends his free time but

you know. )

[starguy]

[ Identity is an important thing, and maybe Peter would be a bit more insistent on the Star-Lord moniker if he were looking at this as a job, or even if he were worrying less about the inevitable moments of 'oh god what's going to happen to them, when are things going to start going to hell.' He's trying not to think about those things, so therefore he is chill.

He is soo chill. Wildly, totally, chill. ]

Alright. So you're saying Moon Knight makes Mr. Knight seem like a friendly-neighborhood kind of guy? I mean, the clothes definitely work for the down-to-Earth feel. I like it!

[ I promise Peter doesn't know about Spider-Man. He also doesn't know a thing about Moon Knight, but he doesn't feel it odd to talk about them like they aren't both the guy in front of him. Sometimes you look back at yourself and you don't feel like that guy, you know? (That's not quite right, Peter.) ]

So does Moon Knight lean more into the Knight aesthetic? Armor and the whole thing?

[enactors]

( marc is nothing if not assured in the impact of either the moon knight or the mr. knight costumes. neither are designed for being down-to-earth, though one is — as peter has said — more-so than the other. they're designed to be noticed, to be impactful, to elicit a response of 'why the fuck is he wearing white at night' with a side of 'oh, shit'.

because, frankly, none of it's practical and that's the point. )

A shroud. ( that is

not what it is. it's a cape and cowl. ) But a knight serves a cause. ( or: it's not about the outfit!! )

[starguy]

[ Marc is just so extra and Peter is eating it up. Of course his outfits are about making a statement -- that's what heroes are about, isn't it? It's not about whoever they are under the mask. It's about the image of who they are.

Seriously, Mr. Knight is the coolest guy here. ]

A Shroud... [ Emphasis Capital. ] That sounds badass.

[ It sounds very important. And a Knight serves, whereas Mr. Knight takes care of bad guys and tells people to ask for him if they need help. Peter can kinda see it. It really is just like his comic books. ]

Is it same cause as Mr. Knight? Protecting the travelers of the night?

[enactors]

( just you wait until marc loses his shit about something, peter!!

and whilst marc's never been vain per se — that's always been steven — there is a not-small part of him that knows that the mr. knight suit is a really, really great suit. the moon knight suit? also yes, but in a different way.

but he's not going to admit to anything approach vanity because that doesn't fit his brand. )

It's fitting. ( he'd told his doctor that his outfits were chosen because they were 'what dead people wear' — a shroud and a suit, and he's tempted to add the explanation on here, but it'd be apropos nothing and without the background of '[I've] died three times and have very weird feelings about my personhood', so he doesn't. )

—Yes.