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]

I'm not your oracle, Vision. Or anyone else's. You're welcome to look, but I cannot always provide.

[unbearablynaive]

[If only he could go to an oracle. It would probably help clear things up. Even so he nods in acknowledgment.]

I appreciate the lack of platitudes, regardless.

[precedented]

[ He laughs. ]

I'm too blunt to offer that kind of service.

[unbearablynaive]

A sure sign I'm no longer surrounded only by humanity, I think.

[precedented]

A curious statement. I could argue that I am the most human one could ever meet. I existed at its dawn, after all.

Human is a species. Humanity is a state of being.

[unbearablynaive]

My apologies for a poor choice of words, in that case. As much as I like the human race [even love them, as he's just admitted] the state of my own world leads me to believe it's not ready for any kind of broader definition of the term humanity.

[They're fearmongering about Thor, for goodness' sake, and he's an ally.]

[precedented]

[ He props his leg against the tree, his knee raised. ]

My skin is thick. And you are most likely right. They would not understand it.

[unbearablynaive]

[He shakes his head lightly, both agreeing that they wouldn't understand and to help clear it.]

It is a very different mindset here. I may have some trouble readjusting.

[precedented]

Then don't.

Why adjust to something you were not meant to be?

[unbearablynaive]

[That gets a ghost of a smile.]

In some ways I prefer it here.

[precedented]

Most do. It's why I allow myself to travel to these places. It offers, ah, a certain clarity one cannot get from their own world.

[unbearablynaive]

["Clarity" is a good word for it.]

Hence the desire to adjust again. I'd like to get the most out of it while I'm here.

[precedented]

But it begs the question.

[ And his eyes are sharp. They could see through anything. ]

What are you adjusting to?

[unbearablynaive]

From being the only significantly well-known non-human on the planet to one among many, from being a team member with no particular authority to being captain of a fairly tightly-knit crew. To doubling in age, particularly.

[He closes his eyes briefly.]

To being among those who don't fear me.

[precedented]

[ His lips twitch. Leto always looks like he's enjoying the world's best joke and it's often hard to tell whether it's you he's laughing at. ]

You're not all that fearsome.

[unbearablynaive]

[That just makes him look more disgruntled.]

The United Nations believes otherwise.

[precedented]

Of course they would. I never said you were not fearsome. Simply on the grand scale of things . . .

[ He pauses, considering and then amends. ] On my scale, you are not so. Granted, I am immortal and invulnerable.

[unbearablynaive]

That may have done something to influence your opinion.

[precedented]

Possibly. But only my opinion matters right now.

[unbearablynaive]

[He inclines his head.]

I don't cultivate a fearsome aspect. [Hell, he'd even started wearing dad sweaters. There's nothing scary about that.] I try to be friendly, in fact. Yet here it seems to have a far greater effect than there; I could count perhaps two of them as my friends, and the rest as allies at most.

[...it's possible he's underselling himself here, but then, after the breakup, perhaps not.]

[precedented]

You are dangerous. Even though you may not use it, adhere to it or even speak to it. We all carry our own inherent dangers. You do not need powers to possess danger. Men are dangerous. Humans are dangerous. The fear will never go away.

Trying to play a role will not take that away. As I said earlier. There's little point in adapting to someone you are not.

[unbearablynaive]

[He smiles grimly and spreads his hands out.]

That's it, you see. Here, I had a chance to grow into myself without undue outside influence. There, I was shaped by the strength of the personalities around me. Does that make one of them more or less true? Are they not both me? And if so, do I wear a mask or discard it?

[He doesn't expect an answer, because this is what he has to figure out about himself now, and why he's troubled.]

[precedented]

[ He laughs. ]

What kind of rhetoric is that? It's a little disappointing. Of course you will be influenced. But adaptation and influence are not the same. Something I'm sure you're well aware of.

[unbearablynaive]

[The disappointment is...well, disappointing. The Vision exhales. He's always disappointing someone these days, isn't he?]

No, of course pressure and a reaction to pressure are different. I haven't settled into myself, and I'm finding it difficult to reconcile.

[precedented]

Yes . . . that much is clear. Surely you'll find better answers from someone in your universe?

Or can they not be trusted to be objective?