driftfleet | Winter & Vision's (not so) Excellent Adventure

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Winter & Vision's (not so) Excellent Adventure

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was something you chose that time?

Not exactly.

So, mind control? Accident? Mistake?

Still when I was the Winter Soldier. My actions have impacted someone else here.

Yeah. And that sucks. I'm just saying it's not your fault if it wasn't you.

Not sure he'll see it that way. I don't know. How do I even apologize? 'Sorry I killed your parents' can't go over very well.

[That gets a somewhat startled look from her. She assumed killing was probably involved based on what she'd heard, but parents? That strikes a cord with her. Both of hers were murdered too.]

...No.

It really wouldn't. [Her words aren't unkind though. She knows it's not his fault, but that still doesn't mean a son can so easily forgive it.] I don't know what would.

It will come out eventually..

[ He reaches to rub the side of his neck, eyes fixated on the tree in front of them. What the fuck does he do? Bucky doesn't have that moral compass like Steve.. But Steve apparently didn't tell him, either.

Does he keep it to himself until Stark remembers, or should he admit to it before? He shakes his head, looking briefly to Kitty for some sort of answer. ]

Probably. [But she's fresh out of answers. At least without a few more details and it doesn't feel like time to pepper him with more questions.]

I think this is the part where I clasp your shoulder or hold your hand because words aren't enough. [And she would normally just do that, but she's been down that road with him before and she knows touch isn't necessarily welcome.] What do you think?

[ It's true; words aren't enough. This is something that he'll have to stare in the face when it comes at him. Now, in the middle of the forest, isn't the best time.

Bucky sighs, his shoulder slumping. ]

Yeah-- you're right. [ A pause where he holds out his hand to her. ] Let's see if the rumors about this tree are real?

[She takes it and gives it a light squeeze.] They are. [She's already gotten her gift, but hey, if it wants to give out another she won't say no. And if it only gives one to him then it seems like he could use a win today.

Of course they both have enough bad memories in them to make anyone cry for a week so it might also be a trainwreck, but she thinks the support is more important. She's never been in his situation, but she still feels for him. Apocalypse brainwashed more than a few of his minions. That's not a life for anyone. Not that anyone was living the easy life back home.]

Are they? [ He's not really expecting to get anything from this giving tree. Bucky's heard of things being given, but he doesn't really believe it. Hell, if nothing comes of it after an hour, it isn't meant to be.

God, he hopes that he's not telegraphing anything to Kitty. None of his experiences old or new are anything he wants to impose on her. He thinks about the small, dingy apartment in Bucharest. With its newspapered windows, cramped bathroom, and noisy radiator. The bustling market two blocks away, where he haggled with the old woman who ran the fruit stand. She always gave him a deal. It wasn't much, but it was his.

Maybe it's enough that nothing else will get through. ]

I got a picture of my parents from it. [She does her best to focus on the glimpses she's getting from Winter as she says it because she doesn't want to share that particular loss. It's one thing to know they were murdered. It's another to see her standing there, frozen and afraid while it happens. She didn't even try to save them. Sure, she was just an untrained kid, scared of her powers, but she's never forgiven herself for it. Especially since they were there for her. Her parents were just in the way. Yeah, she's not doing a very good job of keeping that to herself.]

Plums, huh? [It wasn't much, but it was still more than he'd had in awhile. That's something.] I'm more of a peach girl.

[ Kitty can't be faulted for her inaction. It's difficult to act in the moment of something terrible. Muscles freeze, panic rises. It takes a lot, being trained to murder, to be accepting of its presence. Guilt twists things, events beyond control are somehow your fault. He knows better than most. ]

It's a nice thing for you to get in this place.

[ He looks at Kitty briefly, before his attention goes back to the tree. ]

They're full of antioxidants. [ Good for the brain and bones, the woman had told him. He needed all the help he could get, honestly. ]

It is. The prison gave me a video of them right before I landed here. Here's hoping I don't wake up somewhere new soon. [She wishes the video had made it with her. The picture probably won't either if she vanishes. Neither will Winn or Kurt or anyone else.]

Those are good. Don't want too many...oxidants.

I hope not, too.

[ He's starting to really hate getting close to people only to have them leave the Fleet. That's life, but it's still shitty. ]

Thanks. [It's nice to be wanted where you are. And she can really understand the feelings coming from him through the planet's link. She's lost people all her life in any number of horrifying ways but somehow the practice she's getting in the prison and the fleet isn't making it easier.

If she didn't need people so much it would be tempting to just not get attached to anyone so it would stop hurting so much.]

I'm not going anywhere if I have any say in it. [And she doesn't. None of them do. She gives his hand a squeeze.]

[ It's harder to lose people who are like you in more ways you're willing to admit. People who see the darkness and match it with their own. Not having to constantly guess motives is a relief.

They're all broken in one way or another in the Fleet. Maybe that's why it's harder. All of them are looking for the missing pieces. Bucky squeezes back, looking toward the tree. ]

I think I'm going to miss this place. [ Not the hand holding or the empathetic sharing, but everything else. ]

Me too. I don't think I'd mind too much if the fleet stayed here. [She's always loved tech and the sameness might get to her after awhile, but right now she feels like she could stay for a long time.

She even likes the intimacy of touching and feeling people's emotions when it's mutually chosen and not just someone grabbing for her hand. But the peace of the place is strange but soothing. The simplicity. The life all around them. She grew up in a city and the urban landscape is never exactly green abundant, but her world took so many hits even the plants were afraid to grow. Everything was dying and here it's just the opposite.] I hope it's a long stay.

I think we need it. After the moon, and then being on the ships..

[ There's not really been a breathable atmosphere for anybody in two months, so an extended stay wouldn't go amiss. Everyone can enjoy their vices and stay the fuck away from people who they're cooped up with if they'd like.

The odd jobs are nice, too. They make people feel useful, instead of just gaining credits for 'popularity'. ]

Are there people you don't want to be with on your ship? [She could feel the thought—vague and ill formed as it is—through the connection. She hasn't had that problem at least. She's liked her crewmates. Even likes the ones on the Tourist which is good since she spends half or more of her nights there with Winn.]

No, that's not the case.

[ There's still residual tension left over from the Incident on the Iskaulit. Not that he talks all that much with some of his crew, but he can tell when someone is scared.

They have a right to be, he is a monster. ]

[Okay, maybe taking advantage of the connection too much, but she meets his eyes. Needing to get this out even if the odds of him believing her are slim. Hell, she's thought it of herself even when she knows she doesn't really qualify. She had a whole society telling her she did though.] Hey. You are not a monster. I've known monsters. I've known a lot of them. That's not you.

[ No matter what anyone says, he knows what he is- what he was made for. Whether he wants to be or not, it doesn't matter. Quite often, he feels like this dark thing, wearing the skin of a dead man, trying to blend in. Wonders how much it shows, because sometimes, it's so obvious to him, how do people not see the gnashing teeth below the mask?

Even these new memories don't help ease the notion. The past grips firmly around the throat, uglier than before. A darker chasm. At the very edge of the dark hole, words echo distantly, trying to sink their claws in further.

Доброе утро, солдат. The words preceding the phrase no longer a living threat, only a poltergeist. ]

Monsters don't always look like monsters.

Trust me, I know that part.

You're a weapon. You're more than that, but it's part of you.

Back there on the Iskaulit and in your memories you weren't the one pulling the trigger. You are now. What you choose now is who you are.

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