✮ video.

[uprightness]

Who: Steve Rogers + you.
Broadcast: yep.
Action: on the starstruck, if you're inclined!
When: current.

[ It has been a long time since Steve Rogers has done one of these little network announcements, seven months, if you want to be specific about it. Some things have changed, others haven't. He still looks awkward about addressing a whole lot of people at once for something that isn't an emergency. The uniform is gone, however, replaced by a simple blue t-shirt and jeans and the shield is nowhere in sight.

He seems to have spread many sheets of paper all over the Starstruck's kitchen. Some feature tables of dates - undoubtedly a calendar in the making and others feature, well, drawings; each sheet contains one scenery. They would strike some people as rather familiar, a hand-holding tree, a sandy beach, the market of the tri-fraction system with people wearing clothes in various colors, the woods of the Lagan system, the Nebula lights and lastly, the mountains of Siourew and the Co’kal. ]

I meant to finish a few calendars by New Year's Eve but it seems I'm behind on my deadline.

[ To say the very least. He rubs his chin, there's a beginning of a stubble there. How many days has he devoted to this as of late? it's hard to tell. ]

I'm not going to write years on 'em, since it's different for all of us but I thought it might be a nice way to keep up with dates and holidays.

[ He frowns and confesses, ]

I feel like I've left some things out - and some of you have seen planets I haven't been around to see for myself. I figured I'd ask - if you have the time, you can describe some of them to me and I'll add them to the calendar. It can be anything you liked on any of the planets we've been to.

[ and, okay, fine - ]

I could use a description of where we're currently docked, too.

[ How can a person so big can seem so awkward? ]

Thanks you.

Comments

[uprightness]

Known stories or do you write them, too?

[ having grown up when he did, he doesn't seem to find a twelve year old who speaks of making a living. sometimes even the young ones had to help and support their families - some of them still do. ]

[shamisens]

Write . . . ?

[ Oh. People could do that, though Kubo doubts they're called story-tellers. He flounders, trying to find the right words, worrying on his lower lip. ]

I don't write. I tell stories using paper and my magic.

[uprightness]

Magic?

[ it's not a new concept for him. steve would write off half of what he'd seen as magic if he wasn't explained otherwise. ]

[shamisens]

[ Kubo pulls his shamisen from around his shoulder and twinges the strings. Steve's paper vibrates before fluttering into the air. They make a book, flipping through the illustrations before landing again in neat piles. ]

Magic.

[uprightness]

[ ....well! if this isn't one of the nicest things he had seen on the fleet. ]

Think you can do that again?

[ you'll have to stop him, kubo, he'll never stop asking now. ]

[shamisens]

[ He blinks. Kubo has gotten requests before but not for something so mundane. Still, he rests his fingers on the shamisen once more. ]

Sure. Is there something you want to see . . . ?

[uprightness]

Whatever comes to mind.

[ he doesn't seem to have a request at hand. perhaps he's curious about the process or maybe it's kubo's own imagination that he finds fascinating even more than the magic, itself. ]

[shamisens]

[ Kubo purses his lips. Sometimes the old acts are the best ones. And it's been some time since he rehashed Hanzo's great deeds to the public. With a nod, he starts playing. The paper vibrates before circling each other, a rising storm. Then they fold themselves into neat origami shapes. Samurai warriors, stern men with crescent moon helmets face each other. They swing their swords, rushing towards each other.

Slice! Cut! The paper folds and presses, as if every blow was real and vividly displayed. Until there were none, except the red samurai, who sheathes his sword. With a flourish, Kubo ends the song. ]

[uprightness]

[ most would see only magic but steve sees art first, the carefully folded papers, the way they move, the story they tell. he stares with open awe and nods his head when the story ends with a well-deserved applause. ]

Beautiful.

[shamisens]

[ Beautiful is not a word he hears often and for a few seconds Kubo fumbles with a proper response. In the end, he settles for a bow, as is customary. ]

[uprightness]

That's some talent.

[ he doesn't say gift, that always sounds odd to him, as if one didn't have to work for it. there's work and care in this manner of art, there's little doubt about that. ]

You should do more of these.

[ the performances. ]

[shamisens]

[ He brushes some of his hair away from his eyepatch. ]

I probably will. There's just . . . less reason to perform in the Fleet. I don't need to work as much.

[ There's no ailing mother to support, no need to scrape for a bowl of rice. His world is unfettered, unchained and Kubo is still reeling. ]

[uprightness]

Maybe just for the sake of storytelling.

[ he smiles a bit, soft around the edges. ]

Does doing this make you happy?

[shamisens]

[ Happy is a difficult question these days but Kubo nods. ]

It is my calling. Whether I realized it then or not.

[uprightness]

If that what brings you joy, yeah. But you know, I'd like to think there isn't just one calling for a person. You could always try new things.

[ but then again, he should start taking his own advice. ]

[shamisens]

I could. But I have more than just my own stories to tell. So . . . I'm not ready yet.