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]

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.

[unbearablynaive]

[By contrast, his skin is cool. Inhuman.

He closes his eyes.]

I don't know that it's enough.

[precedented]

And you never will know. Only time will tell and it does not speak to you.

[unbearablynaive]

[Oddly, that seems to comfort him. No, he doesn't have a way to listen to Time - because that's not who he is. His is another aspect.]

As well it does not. My responsibilities are great enough.

[precedented]

[ Leto laughs, pulling his hand back. Teasingly, he replies. ]

Of course they are.

[unbearablynaive]

[Look, nobody wants to see the wielder of the Mind Stone get headaches. It would be generally bad.]

It is--difficult to accept that my limitations have changed; will continue to change. Is there anything to make it easier?

[precedented]

I don't actually have all the answers, Vision.

[unbearablynaive]

[But Leto has made him feel better about it, if only a little. So his expression lightens, not quite to a smile but not as horribly depressed as it had been before, at least.]

The question was worth asking regardless.

[precedented]

[ Leto hums, the amused flicker in his eyes unwavering. ]

I find the best place to start is by not calling them limitations. Because we are not limited in nature. We're limited in thought.

[unbearablynaive]

What word would you use, then?

[precedented]

Roads not taken seems to be more fitting. Anything we cannot do, we must seek to subvert.

[unbearablynaive]

[He's not sure he agrees with that entirely, but it's food for thought, at least. Does dispassionate calculation count as the road not taken, then? What kind of subversion is possible?

It's times like this he wishes he'd had a chance to get to know Dr. Banner better. He'd know a lot more about handling emotions under stress. (Probably.)]

I don't suppose you'd have an example in mind.

[precedented]

You're very determined to find facts to match your predicament.

[unbearablynaive]

[Well...yes.]

I'm afraid it's my nature.

[precedented]

To be unbearably naive?

[ Leto grins at his own joke. ]

[unbearablynaive]

[Ultron's words, those. Though he can no longer say as an excuse that he was born yesterday.]

To look for answers where I see none, though anyone would agree with you, I think.