driftfleet | 'cause it's better than nothing

Entry tags:

'cause it's better than nothing

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for N-Z characters )

Before you post your toplevel comment, please:
1. Check the first letter of your character's name as its written in our tags. N-Z names comment here, and A-M names go to the other post.
2. Make a note in your comment if anything especially triggering or graphic might show up in the Calibration. If you're not sure if something's worth noting or not, we suggest listing it anyway, just to err on the side of caution.
3. Put your character's name (it can be shortened or different from the tag, this time) in the subject of your comment. This will help visitors find you easily, and help us update the list below.
4. Post your comment! It's fine if everyone's Calibrations end up looking and reading very different from one another. As long as you're having fun and following our guidelines, you're good to go. :)
5. If you have any questions or concerns during Calibrations, you are welcome to send them towards the mod team at any time, as always.

ROOMS BY CHARACTER

N - P

Otono-Tachibana Makie

Q - S

Sandalio "Biffy" de Rabiffano

T - V

W - Z

(last updated: 1/25/19)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She kisses him back with all the tenderness in her heart, her grip on him gentled to a real embrace. This is a lesson she wishes he'd never had to learn. Why can't people just see him? No, he isn't human, but he is good and kind and would never intentionally harm anyone who hadn't done something to deserve it.

The man in the mirror had only been handsome because it was him. If anyone else wore that face, she could pass them on the street and never give them a second thought.]

I love you no matter what you look like or what anyone else says, [she tells him when they part.] You're perfect, Vision, just like this.

[She smiles softly up at him, fondly tracing over a seam between vibranium and red skin.]

I love the way your skin feels and falling asleep on your chest. I love looking into your eyes. And I love covering you in kisses. I'll remind you as much as you need me to, love.

But I'm glad you don't feel that way here. Masks hurt.

[For starters, most of them only see with their eyes. Look at Thor - he's just as inhuman, but when they look at him they see an attractive young warrior they could imagine getting a beer with. Not so for the android. They look at him and they see other, and without any further information other means something to be afraid of.

Yes, some humans know better. And he has some friends - but at home, they're entirely limited to who he works with, and the loneliness that results is almost too much to bear sometimes.

Wanda makes it bearable. She's one very good reason he hasn't given up on the human race, and it's times like this that remind him of that most strongly.]

I never hurt when I'm with you. Here or there, it doesn't matter, as long as we're together.

[He kisses her again, and oddly enough the entire gemlike structure shimmers red for that moment. But then he breaks away and sighs, and it returns to its previous appearance.]

But we cannot always be together. If you don't want to see it, I won't show you.

[But he's willing to, and the specter of a uniformed man sitting at a board table with a large stack of paperwork in front of him looms large.]

[She catches the last shimmer of red as they part and it brings a smile to her lips. It's touching to see that a simple kiss can affect him so deeply and she's sure that if he could see her mind something similar would happen.

But unfortunately, it's not to last. Wanda stiffens and shrinks away from the panel, further into Vision's arms. She recognizes that man, although they've never spoken - Secretary Ross. He isn't a friend.]

Is this what you meant?

[She doesn't want to see it. She knows she'll be much happier if she doesn't know what that stack of paperwork does to tear them apart. But...she said she wanted to help him, and wrapping her arms fully around Vision, Wanda tries to draw some strength from the proximity of her lover. Ultron's earlier taunt comes to mind and she is not going to let him be right.

But her voice is still too quiet:] Show me.

[Rather than saying anything he gestures to the panel. The memory begins to play out, once again from the Vision's point of view.

Ross begins to speak. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate." I acknowledge the truth of the first statement but frown at the second. Is he referring to the collateral damage from our recent activities? It's terrible, yes, but surely if that bomb had gone off in a crowded marketplace it would have been even worse. But I focus on the papers, and it becomes clear they're going to take our actions out of context. Its title looms large.

THE SOKOVIA ACCORDS

I capture the provided digital file and read over it in moments. The most important points stand out to my scan. An agreement to register with the UN. A regulation on using technology to provide advanced abilities. International oversight on the Avengers. A prohibition on taking any action in countries other than their own without explicit permission. Those who break the law, or are deemed a threat to the safety of the general public, may be held indefinitely without trial. The creation of self-aware AI is completely prohibited.

Those who are deemed a threat to the safety of the general public may be held indefinitely without trial. The creation of self-aware AI is completely prohibited.

Those who are deemed a threat to the safety of the general public may be held indefinitely without trial. The creation of self-aware AI is completely prohibited.

I glance up at Ross with a hard gaze. Does he realize these Accords specifically call out Wanda and myself?

He does, and he is afraid.

They are all afraid of us.

Familiarity eases fear. Wanda's voice, an echo in memory. "If they knew you like I do, they would not be afraid of you."

I must sign, or they will only ever fear me.

I sign.]

[Wanda's blood runs cold and all the color drains out of her face. She'd long been afraid of this, ever since Strucker had told her in that tone he always used when he was trying to appear 'kind' that unfortunately, she and Pietro couldn't be permitted to set foot outside the compound's walls for their own safety. How long until Secretary Ross, or some other powerful political figure, looks at her and thinks that it's so terribly inconvenient that all of the Scepter's power is attached to a young woman that they can't directly control? The Scepter would do whatever its wielder demanded without question. But Wanda...oh, so much of Strucker's thoughts had been preoccupied with how to keep the twins on his side.

Those who are deemed a threat to the safety of the general public may be held indefinitely without trial. The creation of self-aware AI is completely prohibited.

What is it the Americans say? That it's not paranoia if they really are coming for you? Her hands have started to tremble without Wanda noticing and she hasn't realized how quick and shallow her breathing's become. All she can see are those two lines.

They didn't...did they?

No, this is Ross. She's seen the interviews and from all of her pieced-together knowledge of him, he would. And that might explain another reason Vision had found it necessary to perfect a human disguise.]

It was just a show, [she says hollowly. She's seen enough corruption in Sokvia to guess where this is heading.] They came for us immediately, didn't they?

No.

[He exhales loudly, wilting under Wanda's touch and seeming to shrink in to himself; the roaming blue light seems to pulse and the red in certain panels fades almost completely.]

It took about a week before one of the tenets was violated, and they didn't come for us. I'd signed. So had Tony and Rhodey and Natasha.

[And not the figures that another panel, close to the one where Rhodey is falling, shows as running in a line all together towards him. Wanda. Steve. Sam. Clint. (Ant-Man, who she won't recognize.) The Winter Soldier, who she may or may not have even met yet.]

It broke us, Wanda. The Avengers broke.

[She stares, uncomprehending. If one of them was to turn on her, she'd expect it to be Stark, but the others...

Clint facing Natasha. Vision facing her. It doesn't make any sense. Why hadn't she just chosen to run? What exactly had happened to make Stark willing to risk Sam's life by giving Vision that kind of order?]

I don't understand.

There were a number of factors, of course. Some miscommunication, some emotions running high for various reasons, and a series of bad decisions by everyone involved.

[Well...everyone but Natasha. As far as he'd ever been able to tell, she was the only who had been in the right the entire time. But then, she's a professional at this whole 'politics' thing, and she could afford to hide at the end of it all.]

All you truly need to understand is that there was a rift, and Tony Stark is too stubborn a man to admit he may have been wrong. You and the others went into hiding and...

[And then he lets out a self-deprecating chuckle, and, oddly enough, the color seems to return to the chamber.]

And as soon as I'd overcome my own self-loathing, I got in touch with you again, and we helped each other recover ourselves.

[A panel, red coloring restored, shows itself. It has no audio, it doesn't dominate like the last few have, but it shows Wanda with a different hairstyle in an unfamiliar cityscape, talking shyly and at one point blushing hard. He talks as the video plays.]

And you realized we were in love.

[Yep, there's their first kiss at home, entirely from his perspective.

As a point of fact, it had actually been Natasha that pointed it out to Wanda, but Wanda had been the one to confirm it and tell the Vision what exactly he was feeling this time, so he still counts it as Wanda recognizing it. Turns out they're both kind of oblivious about themselves.]

[...but they can't be together like they are here. Such a simple thing...and yet another facet of a 'normal' life that is apparently completely out of reach. Is it cowardly to admit that she doesn't want to go home to that? So much pain and suffering for nothing at all...

(Although she can't blame her future self for running. Ross would try to lock her up the minute she signed it, she's sure of that.)]

I like our story here better, [she says quietly. Nothing to keep them apart, no trauma to push them together...just Vision being devastating in the starlight until what she really felt for him became obvious.]

[Why would it be cowardly? He admits it all the time, at least to himself. And to anyone who asks him how he likes it here in the Fleet, come to think of it.

He kisses Wanda on the forehead once again, and because this is the seat of his power, little yellow shoots of light gather toward him from all corners of the faceted room and briefly give him a golden appearance.]

As do I. I treasure you, Wanda. You alone are welcome here always.

[Yes, during Calibrations anyone can come here and find out everything they care to know about the Vision, but they will always be visitors, strangers. She belongs.]

[He's always beautiful, but lit up with the strength of his love? Oh, that is not fair. Wanda can't resist leaning up to kiss him gently, relishing in drawing it out to savor the feel of him. A gentle moment, to be a balm to both their hearts.

She strokes his cheek fondly when they part.]

Is there anything you want to show me? Something I've forgotten that you wish I hadn't?

[The earlier formality seems to have relaxed completely, and he kisses her back intensely. It's a personal gesture, but also symbolic; like many actions here in the realm of the mind, it's not something he does lightly.]

I'd prefer to look ahead and form new memories.

[Unbidden, a scene starts to play out behind him: a large, spherical chamber with everyone around dressed in fancy wear and masks, but all at odd angles and weird designs. They're floating around, all of them: it's a ballroom, and all the dancing is done in the air.]

--But if the chance arises again, I'd gladly dance with you in zero-gravity conditions once more.

Love, this is your mind. We can do anything you want.

[She'll always be happy to dance with him, gravity or no. With their powers, it's as effortless as flying to keep pace. It doesn't matter if they don't have the trappings of a ball - they don't need them, just each other.]

Anything at all. I'm yours, Vision.

[She just wants to help lift him up after the heavy turn those memories took.]

[To him, it doesn't even seem to be such a downer. He's always carrying these moments with him, no matter where he is. Yes, they're usually a little farther away from the surface in the Fleet, but they're still there, and they inform everything he does.

Well, almost everything. It's not that he forgets his regrets when he's with Wanda, but they do seem much less important, less world-shattering, when she's around. She still loves him, knowing everything he's done (as he loves all of who she is). And...even though he's been keeping all this from her, it's not because he'd been afraid that she would turn on him or reject him. It was so she wouldn't have to feel the pain he's been through. She deserves better than that.

So he touches her cheek again, eyes warm and with a small amount of sadness that doesn't dampen down the strong glow of his love.]

My dearest love. [He kisses her lightly, just once.] Having you here at all is everything I could want. Anything else is icing on the cake.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

'cause it's better than nothing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject