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

[precedented]

Even you are subject to hubris. Ultron cannot escape it. Tony cannot. And you are a product of them as much as you are a product of yourself.

[unbearablynaive]

[Yep, he sighs and looks down, because it's very true. He speaks softly.]

JARVIS tried, but even he was not flawless. Is it wrong to hold myself to higher standards?

[precedented]

That depends. Are you holding yourself to higher standards because you see truths that others cannot, as you linger in the boundaries of humanity and the mechanical?

Or because you see far too much to accept that those mistakes could be yours?

[unbearablynaive]

[Good questions. He only knows the answer to one right away, though.]

I accept that the mistakes are my own. Attempting to place the blame elsewhere would be fruitless and dishonest. [His brow wrinkles, though he doesn't actually frown.] I suppose it is the first, then. I do see farther than the others in many respects.

[precedented]

[ He chuckles, bemused. ]

But not far enough, hm?

[unbearablynaive]

[The chuckle only serves to make him look more downcast.]

No. And if I've one blind spot, there are likely to be others. How can I be trusted?

[precedented]

You can't. Trust is earned, with blindness to yourself.

[unbearablynaive]

[He closes his eyes and nods, having expected as much.]

Then what had been earned is lost, and I am alone.

[precedented]

[ That . . . is hilarious. ]

For someone who can see quite far, your propensity for dramatics is amusing.

[unbearablynaive]

[He is literally only two years old - and looks dejected even by that observation.]

Dramatics or not, I've lost every friend I had.

[precedented]

You have not lost anything. To lose is to give up. What makes you think what you've done is so irreparable?

[unbearablynaive]

[He exhales sharply.]

Their acceptance of me was fragile to begin with and based on the assumption I could control my abilities.

[And then he'd betrayed Wanda's trust and crippled Tony's only human friend. The others hadn't counted him as a friend to begin with, by his reckoning.]

[precedented]

Fragile and broken are still very different, Vision. You carry the hubris of humanity. And perhaps, they do not see that very clearly. But they can learn. And so can you.

Nothing is broken unless it is left that way.

[unbearablynaive]

[He takes another deep breath, hearing the words but having a difficult time processing them correctly. True, Tony hadn't exactly kicked him out, or even made him feel blatantly unwelcome. Rhodey flat-out didn't blame him.]

All I've ever desired is to learn.

[precedented]

And you shall.

But learning will always have mistakes. Terrible ones, dreadful ones. You carry -- [ And his expression flickers and Leto turns away. ] -- You know what you carry.

[unbearablynaive]

The center of the maelstrom.

[He knows it very well. And yet, he's only scratched its surface.]

[precedented]

Poetic. Though I would not call it that.

It is your choice in the end.

[unbearablynaive]

From the vision after which I was named.

[He nods, seeming to settle under a weight.] For what it's worth, I do still choose the side of humanity. Even if they should reject me.

[precedented]

If it helps, humanity rejects its best contenders on a regular basis. I find it's best not to take it to heart.

[unbearablynaive]

[The Vision opens his mouth but then looks pained and then closes it again. He can't even argue with that.]

--If there's a less difficult way not to take it to heart, I'd be interested to hear it.

[precedented]

Do you love them?

[unbearablynaive]

[There's another question that's harder than it has to be; he thinks about it.]

I like them a great deal. I'm not certain I'm capable of love.

[precedented]

You do not need to be capable to love.

[ Leto pauses. ]

I sacrificed my humanity. My physical form. My children. My love. My emotions. My heart. All for my hope that humanity will continue, safe and bright, in their possibility.

That is my capacity. It cannot be matched. It cannot be compared. Because it is the same as anyone else's. Even the most doubtful of loves is the same as mine.

[unbearablynaive]

[The Vision is silent. He's seen humanity as doomed from the start, yes, but that hasn't stopped him from living among them, helping them. Enjoying every minute of it, yes, except when he'd been responsible for Rhodey's fall. Is that a form of love?

If he could sacrifice himself for them, and it would make a difference, would he?]

By that measure--yes. I do love them.

[precedented]

[ His eyes flare, unseeing. He touches out to touch Vision's cheek. His fingers are warm. ]

Ahh, there it is.