Winter & Vision's (not so) Excellent Adventure

[reconstitution]

Who: Winter, Vision, & You
Broadcast: n/a
Action: Forest, planetside
When: July 9th

[ This thread is going to serve both as a canon update to post Captain America: Civil War for Winter and Vision, but also be used as a monthly catch-all with prompts. ]

[ It's been a few weeks since they've landed, so Winter's finally gotten over most of his initial uneasiness. Enough to finally venture into the forest for a hike and get the lay of the land. He's familiar with the beach and the markets, and he's heard things about the forest and a certain tree, so he needs to see for himself if the rumors are true.

It's relatively peaceful, and he hasn't come across anyone else yet. He's making his way around a fallen tree when an animal jumps out of a nearby bush and startles him. Winter stumbles back, and his immediate reaction is to reach out with his left hand to steady himself. Unfortunately it's still broken, so it doesn't cooperate like it's meant to. Which means that he trips and falls. Down a steep hill. Only having one functioning arm means he raises his right to shield his head until he can manage to slow down or run into something. Which is exactly what he does before his head smacks solidly against a hard surface. ]

[Meanwhile, the Vision is similarly engaged in heading toward the tree to investigate it. He’s heard you need someone’s hand to hold in order for the magic to work, but his curiosity has the better of him and he’d like to observe it in action first. A scuffle down below his flight path catches his attention, and he swoops into the forest to see what’s going on just in time to see Winter, of all people, taking a tumble down a steep hillside. He rushes over to try and intercept the man before he seriously hurts himself, and in his rush he miscalculates his own density and slams down hard enough that Winter smacks his head against the Vision instead of catching himself safely.

Oops.

The impact is enough to snap the Vision’s head back and hit it against the tree he’d been trying to prevent Winter from hitting. So now there are two enhanced individuals knocked out on the forest floor. How very impressive.]

Comments

[unbearablynaive]

Even so, I'm glad to have met him at all.

[He looks at her thoughtfully. He'd asked her once already, but.]

Are you all right with his disappearance?

[dancingmd]

[She opens her mouth, ready as always to downplay the problem, but then she thinks better of it and shakes her head instead. While she's hardly rendered an incompetent mess because he is gone, she's not totally all right either.]

It's never gets easier, losing someone you love.

[unbearablynaive]

No, I don't suppose it would.

[He looks grateful for the honesty, at least, and he finally takes a seat near her.]

Is there anything I may do to help you?

[dancingmd]

Just the presence of a friend is enough. I tend to dwell on it too much when I'm alone.

[(Though she would not object to a hug.)]

[unbearablynaive]

[Yeah, the hug instinct isn't there, but he will at least clasp her hand.]

Then I'll stay with you as long as you like.

[He glances over at the ocean and frowns lightly.]

Or at least until the beach is closed in the dark, I suppose. We wouldn't want to break the local laws.

[dancingmd]

[When he takes her hand, he'll feel a warm rush of gratitude coming from her, as well as the underlying heartbreak, which is accompanied by a few flashes of Daneel's face. She gives his hand a squeeze and laughs weakly.]

I promise, I won't get you arrested.

[unbearablynaive]

[From him, she can feel sympathy on the surface and a deep well of depression underneath; something altogether new in him since his accident with Winter.]

I do appreciate it. May I get you a fruit drink?

[dancingmd]

[There's a spike of concern for him when she feels that depression. She shakes her head in answer to his question. It's an appreciated offer but she wants him to stay. Her eyes search his face and the question comes through loud and clear without her saying it: what happened?]

[unbearablynaive]

[...Welp, he sure hadn't meant to let that slip through. The Vision winces and settles down on the back next to her.]

Ah--I've gained some new memories, I'm afraid.

[dancingmd]

Want to tell me about it? Or... you can show me, if that's easier than talking.

[unbearablynaive]

[He winces and shakes his head at the idea of showing her.]

There's too much for that. It was an entire year's worth. The pertinent part--

[--that is, the part that has him not his usual self--]

--is that my own miscalculation in battle severely injured a teammate.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly aches in sympathy with that. Miscalculations, a decision made under fire, arriving too late to save a crewmate - all things every Starfleet officer has to grapple with at some point or another. She knows how difficult it is to not let yourself become overwhelmed by the guilt.]

I'm sorry.

[And in an echo of his own offer:]

Please let me know if there is anything I can to do help.

[unbearablynaive]

[He looks up remorsefully at the offer.]

No doubt you could, actually, if he were here. It was nerve damage to the spine, of all things.

[You know, like the thing they just fixed with their other friend here.]

[dancingmd]

I would what I could for them... but that is not what I meant.

[It is you that is here and you that she is worried about right now.]

[unbearablynaive]

[Ah. For himself, is there anything that can be done? He purses his lips.]

I don't know.

[Which in some ways is the most distressing thing to him; he likes knowing.]

I feel as though I'm even more isolated than I was before.

[dancingmd]

[Hearing that breaks her heart and she squeezes his hand, the faces of patients she's lost flickering across her memory, with Tasha, brave, strong, wonderful Tasha at the forefront. But more than that, she's pouring all the love and reassurance into their mental connection that she can. Not alone, not while she can help it.]

[unbearablynaive]

[He can't help wincing as the faces of her patients come through, but soon enough her deliberate sending of warmth gets through to him and he squeezes her hand back gently. From him, the despair begins to ebb and he sighs.]

My apologies. I hadn't meant to burden you with that.

[dancingmd]

[With her free hand, Beverly cups his face and gently turns it towards her.]

No apology is necessary. You are my friend and I care about you and this should not be something you have to bear alone.

[unbearablynaive]

[No, perhaps he shouldn't - but the only friends he'd had left at home being the one he'd shot down and empathy-of-a-brick-wall Tony Stark had given him a rather different impression and made him reluctant to share with anyone here. Why repeat a behavior that's yielded negative results?]

There are burdens that have always been mine alone to bear.

[dancingmd]

[She shakes her head, sensing that reluctance, even if she can't read the reasons behind it.]

It does not have to stay that way.

[unbearablynaive]

[Doesn't it? He's not as sure as she is, not at all.]

One would think it shouldn't bother me here at all, and yet it does. I'm not certain I like the change in myself.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly lets her one hand drop from his face, but she keeps hold of his hand, unwilling to break the mental connection unless he should wish it.]

Why shouldn't it bother you here? Just because you are a universe away doesn't make what happened any less real or important.

[unbearablynaive]

[And he keeps hold of her hand, because he does like the openness and if she doesn't mind being subject to his depressive mood he won't take that away from her.]

Because it's become something of a tradition to leave our actions that occur at home back in that timeline. If I'm willing to give Loki the benefit of the doubt despite his previous actions, surely--

[But it does matter to him, and so it matters. Even though it doesn't have to.]

[dancingmd]

[There's slight confusion at the mention of Loki - who is that? Isn't that the name of a Norse god? - but her focus remains on Vision. And while it's not her place to judge how those from the same world choose to conduct their affairs, it strikes her as a very bad rule in this instance, one that's only hurting him.]

Your emotions are valid and important and they should not be minimized or ignored. Anyone who makes you feel otherwise is wrong.

[unbearablynaive]

[He bites his lip--a very human gesture, in fact--and looks down momentarily. it's not that anyone's ignoring or minimizing his feelings, necessarily, it's that--]

I'm not certain anyone expected me to have them, you see. And they certainly weren't supposed to affect me in combat situations.