driftfleet | Action | Who needs a gosh dang drink??

Entry tags:

Action | Who needs a gosh dang drink??

Who: Steve and everyone else who just needs to get drunk. One closed to existing CR
Broadcast: No
Action: The Iskaulit/Space Bar
When: Post Calibrations/Bombing the eff out of Marsiva

[OPEN]

Tony would probably be proud of Steve, if he were able to see him right now. He'd slap his back and welcome him back to the world of inebriation while ordering shots for everyone in the bar to commemorate the day. As it is, though, Tony isn't here and, without him, there's not a damn person who would feel proud in this entire bar. That's part of it's charm.

Steve sighs and swallows his fourth drink. It's strong and alien and somehow enough to give him a strong buzz but not enough to really get him drunk. Not yet, at least. But he's not a quitter, so bottom's up! He hisses a little at the burn of it and feels, not for the first time, like he was being a coward. He saw some stuff in those rooms, sure. But other people had it so much worse. Saw so much more. He should really be thankful, actually.

But he's not. And this is a 30's approved way of getting over trauma. There were worse ways of coping, he was sure. So for now he's just going to stay in his seat and keep ordering drinks until that elusive drunken state hits him once more.

Should only take another hour or three.

[CLOSED TO EXISTING CR]

No one could blame Steve for starting. He'd messaged his friends about fifteen minutes ago, telling them to meet him at the bar for some drinks. But just sitting here, waiting? It was done better with a drink in hand to look social, at least. And it's not like that one is going to be his last. No, after Calibrations he can imagine himself coming over here quite often. He can imagine all of them coming here quite often, in fact. But maybe tonight (today? Space was hard to judge) would help take some of the sting off. Or at least some of the awkwardness.

But it wasn't as though they <i>chose</i> to share all of that. Loki, Steve is sure, would have preferred to keep his death to himself. And Thor? I am sure half of those memories were things he'd rather not have replayed over and over again. And <i>Hux</i>. God... That was just what Steve knew of. Who knew what other people had put his friends through? What they'd been through themselves?

Steve preemptively orders another drink for whoever shows up first. Whoever it was, he's sure they won't say no. Not now.

First round is on him.

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He nods, eyes narrowing into something more like calculation. More like when Pietro appeared for Wanda, all those years ago? Or more like when Peggy Carter showed up? Neither, quite; they hadn't had other versions here that were substantially different. After a moment he shakes his head to clear it and purses his lips.

"It's outside my experience, I'm afraid. I simply have not lived long enough to have anyone like that in my past." Friends leaving, friends returning with no memory of him, yes. But not exactly like this. It would be--it would be closer to a Pietro who survived instead of Wanda, back in Sokovia. That's as close as he can think of it, and the idea is uncomfortable enough without an entire lifetime of friendship behind it.

And where does that leave the broken Bucky Barnes?

He leans forward, elbows resting on the table. "I will be the last to say that having a different origin or life than yourself means someone cannot be dear to you. But you must not assume his life experiences will align perfectly with yours. You must not, or you will find to your sorrow that your expectations do not meet reality."

"I know," he says just a little testily. But he exhales a second later and deflates. "I know. I keep...trying to tell myself that, for all the similarities, he's...not the person I know. Similar, but not the same..." It's hard, though, when the person you do know doesn't remember you at all. When the new one is like an answered prayer. Steve looks down at his drink between his palms.

"How would you deal with it? If...if Wanda disappeared. And then you had two: one that didn't remember you at all but was the one from your time and then another that seemed to remember everything but was from another universe?"

He winces a little, knowing that the comparison isn't exactly fair but he didn't know who else to use.

"I know a romantic partner is different from a close friend. But. I still want to know." Vision would look at this differently than him. Less emotionally, he figured. The distance and logic could only do him good in the conundrum.

He settles back in his chair, expression turning to a light smile, if one tinged by a bit of pain. It's not as hard a question as all that, really. Thanks to the mutants on his crew, he knows there's at least one very different version of Wanda Maximoff out there. "Wanda from before Sokovia would be angry and hurt, but still have her brother, and want to make things right for her people. The other--"

What would be the right scenario for that? It's difficult to think of an exact parallel for Captain Barnes, so instead he uses an example he knows for sure. "There is another world, parallel to our own but with mutants--people born with extraordinary abilities such as Kitty and her phasing, Remy and his energy blasts, and Kurt's teleportation. And in at least one of the versions of that timeline, Wanda Maximoff, a mutant, married an android built decades ago called the Vision. That one has not, to my knowledge, ever visited the Drift Fleet."

He drops his gaze and smiles to himself. "Knowing myself as I do, I'd fall in love with both of them."

That...doesn't help. But Steve smiles warmly all the same. He likes Wanda. He feels protective of her like a brother might and can't help but be happy that she has someone like Vision at her side. He loves her so completely and selflessly that it's really a lesson for everyone here. But at the same time, it underlines a lot the differences between Steve and Bucky's relationship and his with Wanda.

Or. Maybe, on second thought, it's not that far off.

"It's not that I don't care for them both. I do. They're the closest thing to family I have left. But..."

He shakes his head to finish the sentence instead of using words. The rest of his drink is finished and Steve flags the bartender down for another.

"I don't know how to help him when he doesn't know me. I don't know if it's better for me to stay away or to inch in. And with the other? I don't know if I'm using him as a crutch."

Perhaps not the most helpful example, no. But when you've already fallen in love with the same person three different times, what would two more be, in the scheme of things? She is by far his closest relationship, after all. But part of that comes from not having a family in the human sense, and the only found family he had at home going through a terrible breakup. Though that's a good point in itself.

"You have more family than that, Captain Rogers. The Avengers are more than simple coworkers, and I know you're aware of that. We are here to help you as much as you help us." Not in the same way as Bucky's family, of course not, but the past few years have to count for something.

And then, of course, there are two different problems. He nods again. "As to the first, it would depend on how things stand currently. Have you spoken with him?" The Vision has an idea, a much better idea than he ever did at home, about how to work with Bucky, but what's true for someone Bucky has no buried emotional responses to may not be the same for someone that he does.

The second...the second is trickier. "I am certain the other Captain missed you as much as you have missed him. Try not to let it overwhelm either of you?" He shakes his head. "But to bring back the previous comparison, I do know how Wanda would feel if Pietro were here. Every moment would be precious, all the more so because she knows it is transitory."

Immediately Steve feels like a heel. Of course the Avengers are family to him. Natasha and Wanda are like the sisters he'd never had and Vision, Thor, and the rest? He'd give his life for them. They were absolutely family to him and he loved them.

Bucky was just. Different.

He was there before and it's hard to explain to people who have only known Steve post-serum what a complete miracle it had seemed that Bucky had given him the time of day. They'd had nothing, together. No food, no rent, no jobs. They'd made it through by leaning on each other until, one day, that support was just gone. And then back but too weak to hold Steve anymore.

Too broken and damaged to know that he could lean himself, this time around.

"Bucky doesn't know me. Even if he did, I don't know that he wants to talk to me. We haven't spoken here, yet. I don't know how to approach him when the last thing he remembers is filling me with holes and leaving me bleeding on a coastline."

And as for the Captain...

"The other Bucky. Yeah. He missed me. And...I get that feeling of every second being precious. But how do you treasure it when you know it can end in a second and neither of you will even remember?"

He bends his head forward and rests it on the top of his glass.

"I didn't mean to make this about me and my issues. I swear. Let's talk about something else."

The Vision idly traces an abstract pattern on the table with a bit of liquid. It's a tricky situation, with the Winter Soldier, and he can hardly suggest the method that had worked last time because some of those people aren't even here anymore.

"I won't deny you know him better than I ever could," he says quietly. "Be assured only that he is there, buried under decades of trauma, and that the best you can do is not to force anything; I've made him the offer of information he can independently verify, equipment he may find useful, and that I'm willing to listen if he's willing to talk." He grimaces. "And I hate to use the comparison, but--have you ever attempted to befriend a feral cat?" Because he's had enough pets in his ship, now, that the Vision knows that the process is long and slow and will probably draw blood, but that once a cat trusts you, it does so for life.

The next question is simple, though, so he smiles once again, if sadly. "You do, because if you do not, your regrets will be even greater. It is that simple."

His own problems, though. He knits his brow and looks ruefully at Steve. "I, er, got into a fight with one of my other crew members for firing upon the Marsiva."

Steve can't help but smile at the visual image of Bucky as a feral cat. With all the hair he has now, it's no that far of a stretch. But despite the strange example, the point is made. At the very least it's a good way to start making contact. Steve's about to thank Vision for the help but then he keeps talking and....right. Okay. This is more pressing.

"You got into a fight with a crew member?! Why?"

Steve realizes that the sentence, formed the way it was, already implies the reason is Vision not agreeing with firing on Marsiva. Which...will be awkward to broach with him, here. But hopefully it won't bring them to blows.

Again.

Oh, it's not that at all. And judging by the rather casual way he's sitting there it didn't get too serious. Still, he exhales and looks rueful when he meets Steve's eyes.

"I'm afraid I let my emotions get the better of me. When the opportunity arose, I took control of our laser cannon and fired longwise across the hull, aiming to do a great deal of superficial damage. Remy took offense to this, berated me for shooting at what he perceives to be the only thing keeping us alive out here, and we had a loud argument that nearly came to blows."

As if in memory, the Mind Stone flickers as he's describing the conflict. He clenches his hand into a fist.

"I recognize it was impulsive and somewhat irresponsible, but over a month of reliving my worst memories every night as well as a removal from the small comforts I have made for myself upon my own ship, combined with the lack of privacy during both day and night had rather upset me. Moreover, the small window of opportunity meant I did not consult my crew on the course of action. His points were not invalid."

Not what Steve expected. For the first time, Steve looks at Vision and sees someone much different than the one he left behind. More emotional, maybe. More human. Steve can't say it doesn't make him pleased. He'd seen flashes of this Vision in his room, but this is different. Steve leans over and pats him hard on the shoulder.

"Remy's gonna hate me then. We unloaded everything we got on that ship."

They're still breathing so that meant either it didn't control it or they hadn't done as much damage as he'd hoped. Still, it felt good.

"Probably not my best strategy. But like you said, time was essential."

More emotional, perhaps. More developed emotionally--certainly. After living for two years under the Sokovia Accords, he's at least more aware of the complexities around a grey situation and how it can affect the people he loves. After just as long under the Atroma, when pushed to a breaking point? Even the mildest-mannered Avenger is still an Avenger.

"You," he points out, meeting Steve's gaze steadily but with the tiniest of twinkles in his eye, "do not have to live with him. If it means I must spend more time than usual secluded in my room, at least I have good company."

Yes, he means that. Because who doesn't love the can we make Steve blush game?

It is not that hard to make Steve go red. Insinuating that you are having sex with a woman he thinks of like a little sister is frankly overkill. Steve blushes violently and shoots Vision a look that he hopes sufficiently warns him off a repeat. Knowing this man though Steve isn't overly hopeful.

"He's really that bad?" Them coming to blows sure implied he was but Steve couldn't imagine someone that awful. They were all in the same team here, after all. Team Not Atroma.

"Tried talking it out?"

"The situation is that bad," he clarifies, returning to a serious expression after a very slight smirk. "The fight itself was all talking, in the end; he believes in not rocking the boat, and I believe in not allowing our oppressors to get their way without a fight simply because they have more power than we do."

Yes, it's complicated beyond just that, which was why emotions had run high. But that was what it had boiled down to, in the end. Was he right to have fired on the Marsiva? Even now, the Vision isn't sure. But if he had to choose again?

He'd still do it.

"Well. If you need an escape we just lost someone off of our ship. And, trust me, they're all about shooting first and asking questions...well. For them, probably never. But still. You can spend a night or two in the empty room if needed." He thinks, belatedly, about putting some sort of rule in place about Wanda and...activities, but that's the 30's talking. He swallows it down.

"Either way, know that I was with you. We had a shot and who knows what could have happened if we didn't take it? It was an opportunity. You don't squander those."

He smiles warmly. "Thank you, Captain Rogers. I do appreciate the offer. However, I think it will be best if I stay where I am. It is hardly the first time I have had a disagreement with someone I otherwise like. I imagine we'll both get over it in time."

Though if he spends a little more time working on his painting skills on the Iskaulit in the meantime, well, who could blame him.

And his eyes light up at Steve's reassurance. "Did you? That's good to hear. I admit, after he berated me I sustained some doubts."

"I don't regret what I did," he says strongly. "The Atroma believe they can do what they want to us. They destroy planets, kidnap people, tear them apart. If for even one moment we can show we're not helpless and not resigned to their show...it's worth it."

Steve had no illusions that they could have destroyed the Marsiva. This was making a point. And sure, there might be consequences, but the point was for the Fleet to have hope in their own power. To not surrender. That was worth whatever might come his way.

"If it gets worse, the offer stands for a night away. Or I can just back you up against Remy. Whatever you need, Vision."

The Vision seems to relax at that. Having Captain America's approval for his actions means they at least met some kind of moral code. It's been worrying to think that people would rather be prisoners with a few creature comforts than free--but that's not exactly a new thought, either. And he's been tempted by it himself. How not? He has a life here, and in many ways it's better than his life at home.

And some people don't have a home or a life to return to. He's risking that with this kind of attack, he knows he is. Whether it's still worth it is a tough call.

"I should visit the other ships more often," he admits. Outside of hand-delivered packages, he doesn't really visit them at all. "I don't mean to be a stranger."

Steve has no idea if it's normal to go visit all of the other ships or not. He's seen all of two counting his own and the other was Nat's. For all he knew he was being rude himself by staying away. There was a lot about this world he still needed to figure out, it seems. But at least Vision seems to be in the same spot.

"Well, you're always welcome. Just...don't argue with Looma. She seems to like any excuse to start fighting with people. Actually, that might be how her people say Hello, honestly. But still."

Some people do it every day. Others, only once in a while if at all. There were a few ships the Vision had never even visited - but then, he rarely went anywhere he wasn't invited.

"Er, I'll do my best." He thinks he remembers her as the one who had gone all-out attacking the Marsiva after someone had left, once, and that would also explain why Steve's ship hadn't been shy about firing on it again this time. "And if you'd care to meet my fish Tony or Bruce you're more than welcome on my ship as well."

Alright. That gets Steve laughing. "You named your fish after Tony and Bruce?" He doesn't wish them kidnapped but he sort of wants them to come here so that he can see them react to that information. Bruce would probably be pleased. Tony? He'd complain he should be something more exotic, probably. Like a lionfish. Or a shark.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to see them. I'll come over sometime soon. Once things settle down between you and your crewmember." No need to step into a powder keg, after all.

"They are red and green, respectively. I felt it appropriate." They're glowing fish, too - he picked them up from the very first planet he visited, along with a tank and several varieties of edible kelp. They can be used as light sources in case of an emergency, and have been used as just that when they fell through a nebula and lost power. (There are also Ultron and Jarvis fish, but he doesn't mention them.)

"I'd like that." He smiles again. "Thank you for inviting me here."

"Oh, man. I hope one of them comes here eventually. Not because they should be kidnapped. I just want their opinion on the red and green fish. That's amazing." He laughs again but warms up as Vision thanks him. He lifts his drink in a short toast to his friend and promises, "Any time. It's good to have friends here."

Bruce had been here when the Vision had arrived, but he'd disappeared so soon after that an introduction hadn't been made with his green namesake. And Tony...

Well, Tony's complicated. Even so, it might be nice to see him here again, especially if he was from closer to the Vision's point in the timeline. The last time, he'd been from so close to Ultron's attack that he'd still been uneasy and fearful around the Vision, and that had made them avoid one another more often than not.

Steve, at least, was willing to trust him. Even after he'd made his error in judgment that had cost Rhodey the use of his legs.

"I'm glad you're here," he agrees quietly.

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Action | Who needs a gosh dang drink??

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Wrap?

sounds good!