Centennials Are A Nuissance

[reconstitution]

Who: Bucky Barnes & You!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Heron
When: 3/10


[Broadcast;;]

[ The feed opens up with a view of the Heron's cargo bay, set upon a surface and focused on a very plain, yet sizable crate set in the center. Bucky comes into view, absolutely suspicious of the box addressed to him. He circles the crate a few times before kneeling and pulling out a knife so he can shimmy the lid off. It's removed very carefully and set to the side, much like he's diffusing a bomb. It may as well be, he knows what day it is, and this is obviously some weird thing from the Atroma.

He lifts a piece of paper from the top, skims through it quickly and crumples it and tosses the offending thing across the cargo bay. Bucky takes out a package that looks harmless enough- the crate is filled to the brim with very questionably made bottle rockets? Fiddling with it ends in a very harmless but extremely unnecessary explosion of glitter and confetti.

Boy, those sure aren't very nice words are they? Bucky seems to realize that the communicator is broadcasting this catastrophe, so a very glitter and confetti-covered captain stomps over to the device to shut it off. Not long after, a text comes through the network. ]

I don't care who takes the damn things, just get them off my ship. There are 99 more...

[Action;;]

[ Throughout the day, Bucky can probably be found sulking around the Heron, or sitting in the kitchen trying to clean glitter out from between the plates of his arm. His mood would be so much better if there were cake. ]

Comments

Text

[namisan]

[Wow. IS IT UNNECESSARY SPONSOR DROP DAY OR--]

...you win.

Text

[reconstitution]

Somehow this doesn't feel like a victory.

Text

[namisan]

I'd say try selling them but I don't think glitter bombs would go over well in an underwater civilization.

[hollystrike]

[On the one hand, she definitely feels bad for him.

On the other, though... there's giggling on the line.]

Can I take them all, Mr Barnes?

[Do you know what a pooka can do with piles of questionably made bottle rockets. Do you.]

[reconstitution]

[ They would be so much better if they were bottle rockets! He would take fire over confetti. He sounds more annoyed than he actually is. ]

Be my guest.

action

[takingkarabusiness]

[ SURPRISE!!!! Kara sneaks onto the ship and finds him in the kitchen. She's holding a cake with 10 lit candles on it, and comes into the room singing Happy Birthday ]

Happy Birthday, dear Winter~ Happy birthday to you!

action

[reconstitution]

[ Well, it's definitely a surprise. He'd hoped no one would figure it out, though he had foolishly given an exact number of those damn things. The cake definitely softens the blow, and Kara makes it better.

He stops trying to work glitter out of his arm to watch her come into the kitchen, offering her a quick smile. ]

Thank you. It's good to see you, Kara.

Action

[shockjock]

[Oh. Oh she is going to be taking as many of those things as she can carry. And hiding them everywhere. For reasons.

Once she's stashed away a suitable haul, she's off to make a complete nuisance of herself. So while he's sitting there sulking grooming his shiny metal arm, there'll be an abrupt crackling of electricity before Livewire's leaning over his head with a fantastic disregard for personal space.]

So Sourpuss, what's the occasion? Greasemonkey give ya clean bill of health?

[...yep, totally just floating there. Not that she needed to levitate of course, but she is trying to discharge some power as a precaution, what with the ship being submerged and all. But at least she's being real nice about it and not short circuiting everything in the room.]

Action

[reconstitution]

[ Well, it's not as if he's keeping an eye on the thing to make sure they're actually off the ship. His own fault, really. He should be more vigilant with current additions to the crew.

The telltale crackling sets him a little more on edge, the tension rising in his shoulders, but his expression remains neutral. It changes only long enough to glance at her, clearly disapproving of her proximity. ]

Something like that.

action

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha finds Barnes cleaning his arm, and hides a smirk. Mostly. Look, she's allowed to have a sense of humor. And whatever he thinks, the legendary Winter Soldier picking flecks of glitter out of his arm is hilarious.

She slips in with soft foot falls, intentionally loud enough for him to hear her coming. It might be funny, but she's not stupid.

She figures the small package wrapped she carries is enough of a surprise for today.]

So since the cat's out of the bag, does that mean we get to acknowledge your birthday now?

action

[reconstitution]

[ He would be far less imposing if there wasn't glitter stuck in his arm and in his hair. Hopefully this shit comes out with a good scrubbing, or he's going to be pissed.

Natasha makes enough noise that he's aware of her as she walks into the kitchen. He eyes the package warily, thoroughly done with surprises for the next lifetime. Whose idea was it to send the Winter Soldier confetti bombs? Someone with a death wish is who.

He sighs, his shoulders sagging briefly. ]

I suppose it does. Don't see why it's such a big deal in the first place. Isn't the first one I've had here.

[ Definitely the first being celebrated, though. ]

[ action ]

[axiomed]

[ Charles is, by no means, an excellent cook. But he is a decent one and manages well in the kitchen. Mostly by necessity, though he doesn't enjoy cooking a lot. Still, he plops a cupcake on the table with a fond smile and holds up a rag. ]

Need some help?

[ action ]

[reconstitution]

[ It's most definitely the thought that counts, and he's really glad to see Charles after the earlier irritation. Bucky offers him a relieved smile. ]

It's possible.

( action )

[uprightness]

[ steve has been stubbornly keeping to the starstruck. after everything that happened, it's necessary for someone to keep an eye on max, that's the formal reason. the thing he doesn't say, however, is that a long stay underwater makes him uneasy, reminds him of a few terrible seconds when all he saw was ice and water approaching and all he heard was the sound of an engine as the Valkyrie went down.

today, however, his mood picks up from the very second he wakes up. he'll arrive at the heron in the afternoon and take a seat in front of him. ]

Could have been worse. Remember my birthday last year?

[ the 'your majesty' on the cake, the amount of pink? ]

Happy birthday, Buck. Figured I'll add another to your collection.

[ he had made it a habit from the get-go to draw brooklyn from him, in pens and pencils. This one is a framed painting in watercolor, the horizon line of coney island. ]

( action )

[reconstitution]

No, see, that was funny.

[ This? Not so funny. It's going to take forever to get every last speck out. Wrath would have thought it was hysterical, though. He stops what he's doing to stare at the painting in awe. ]

Wow.. This is great, Steve. Thank you.

[ He's going to have to figure out the perfect spot for it in his quarters. ]

private text »

[mucked]

Good God, that's awful. [ no 'congratulations' or 'here, here' -- just abject sympathy for a man she suspects doesn't much care for having the date so handily broadcast to the rest.

she knows she'd hate it, were it for her. ] I wasn't going to say anything -- but silence seems irrelevant, now.

private text »

[reconstitution]

Apparently secrets are something we're not allowed.

[ Honestly, it's not that he wanted to keep it a secret, but he wasn't about to go letting everyone know when his birthday was, either. Doesn't seem like a very big deal to him. It's just one more year he hasn't died, right? ]

action »

[perfecting]

[ Nancy Wheeler has been slowly adjusting to this removed, odd life that she has been pulled into. With no clear schedule and no school, she created one for herself. She wakes up when the lights are turned on, she showers, she practices her shots and she cleans weapons and she eats and reads and studies and reads again.

she doesn't venture too far and she doesn't make herself too familiar. A seventeen year old girl, she quickly realizes the halls of the heron aren't the halls of school and that her crew is, well.

she likes to call them special.

she bites back a smile and a pearl of laughter when she watches the video. She has seen the captain from afar, haven't yet introduced herself.

she tidies down her sweater and walks over to the kitchen. she'll have to bite back another smile, watching him trying to remove the glitter from his hair and - arm? is that an arm? Mike would go crazy for it.

She'll offer him a towel. ]

Here -

[ and out of habit to speak to adults a certain way, he's a captain, nancy is his security officer, she'll add, ]

Sir.

action »

[reconstitution]

[ The newest arrival has been there for a short while, but he hasn't gone out of his way to introduce himself. Part of him was mildly concerned that she would be similar to Livewire, and that interaction always rubs him the wrong way.

He hears her coming before she steps into the kitchen, but doesn't stop what he was doing. Staring when someone walks into a room apparently freaks people out. Bucky glances up at her when the towel is held out and takes it from her with a small nod. ]

Thank you. You don't have to call me sir. Winter is fine.

text

[athru]

I'll take as many as are left when everyone else has had a go.

text

[reconstitution]

Why wait? I'm sure there's plenty.

Video

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Lots of snorts and laughter will start coming from Bucky's communicator. If he checks the screen, he'll see Wanda nearly doubled-over from laughing at that little display. Honestly, it was priceless. If she believed karma, she probably would not be laughing this hard.]

[As her laughter starts to slow and she begins to catch her breath, she's able to squeak out a few words.]

That-- that is a-- a good look for you!

[Another snort and a few more giggles.]

Video

[reconstitution]

[ It's very hard to take the Winter Soldier very seriously when there is a heavy dusting of glitter and confetti on his head and shoulders. There's definitely a spec stuck to his nose. ]

I think it'd look even better on you.

[ Watch it, Maximoff. Better keep an ear out in your ducts, there may be an assassin lurking with a glitter bomb. ]

Action

[stabsbothways]

[ Summer picks up the piece of paper he discarded and straightens it out to read it. ]

Action

[reconstitution]

[ Captain Barnes,

On behalf of the spectacular celebration at hand, we would like to offer our congratulations!

HAPPY CENTENNIAL!!!!!

This is an excellent achievement best shared with everyone! Enjoy our special Flootfetti Capsules and have some cake! ]