thehometree | Glimmer, glitter, shine...

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Glimmer, glitter, shine...

One by one, new adventurers now arrive in the Tree. As one gain wings and rises to the second floor, another light brings in the next person. Soon, a steady stream of people from all kinds of worlds, times and realities come to join the others. Whether confused, angry, excited or scared, your arrival is welcomed with nothing but joy as the fireflies and glow worms descend to greet their new friends.

The Tree offers no explanation and no reason, but the truth is undeniable.

As you will soon realize, it isn't easy to be tiny.

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[ Or one who cares about another's fate more than his own - life isn't unbearable without Steve, but it's darker and meaner. He doesn't want to consider the kind of man he'd be without his best friend. And - he's alive, seventy years on. Did he marry Peggy? Does he have children? Is he still in Brooklyn or somewhere else? Every road leads back to Steve. ]

If you could tell me what you know, please.

[ He never begs, and he's calm enough that it sounds like a quietly firm request. But it's a plea all the same. ]

['Anna' fidgets, fussing with a stray thread at the hem of her hoodie. She doesn't hear the plea, has no reason to suspect it might be there, but Natasha does, and she's the one that reaches out to cover his hand with her own.

No one needs to know that she's double-checking her initial analysis as to whether or not it's flesh or a vibranium alloy.]

He crashed a plane.

[It's odd, to be telling this story. After all, she learned it in Russia, where it wasn't nearly as revered as it was Stateside. She hated the name 'Captain America' on principle once upon a time.]

The war ends on May 8th. This happened a few days before, there were... bombs, I think, on a plane headed to America. It crashed while he was somewhere above the arctic circle, and he was lost for seventy years. But he survived - the serum, you know? And a couple years ago, for me, an expedition found him and brought him home. He's working with the army now, I think.

[Quietly,]

I'm sorry. I wish I knew more, but he's a pretty private guy. He doesn't really do interviews or anything.

Edited 2015-03-16 06:56 (UTC)

[ That fucking idiot. Crashes a plane - how about it. He suddenly, viciously hates being dead, because Steve is getting the chewing out of a lifetime. His right hand tightens over the back of the chair, the knuckles white for brief moments, and slackens as he blinks, covers her hand with his own, and glances away. ]

No, thank you, that's all I needed.

[ It answers an unstated second question: they won the war. In less than a week, too, did he pick an auspicious hour to bite the bullet. ]

Don't tell me what else happens in the future. We wouldn't want to change history accidentally, hey?

Well, James-- my lips are sealed.

[She's trying to sound light-hearted, but whether it's Anna's or Natasha's failure that she doesn't quite manage it remains to be seen. She does, however, squeeze his hand.]

I'm sorry. Do you... need a minute?

No, thanks, I'm fine.

[ He smiles cheekily at her as he withdraws his hands, shifting so he sits a little more jauntily. But he forgets to correct her calling him James. ]

How're you handling all this, Anna?

[It's the same sort of compartmentalization and deflection she got used to from Rogers, and she has to wonder - who learned from whom? Or was it simply the product of shared life experience?

She drums her fingers along the wood of the table in an off-beat tune and gives him a look that's a little lost and a lot chagrined.]

I don't know if I am. How does anyone handle something like this? All I can think of is that I hope to God someone feeds my cat. I woke up this morning and took the subway. Now I've got wings. I'm-- [a long, unsteady exhalation.] surviving, I guess. So far.

[For the last few words, she'd been studying the whorls of the table's grain, now her attention flickers up to him.]

What about you? I mean... you're the one that was just in a war. When was the last time you ate?

[ He smiles back, just worn enough at the edges to make Anna think he's sympathising even if he isn't talking. ]

You're doin' all right. [ He squashes the little twist in his gut that tells him she was on a train too. Coincidence. ]

I ain't hungry. [ Lie, old one, he hasn't stopped feeling hungry and he's sure his ribs are nearly visible. But he's not even thinking about food right now; his mind is swirling with questions about what Steve is doing in the future. ] C'mon. Let's get you somethin' to drink. You'll feel better.

I don't know if I want to try anything they have on tap here. You know the myth about Persephone and Hades?

[She's learned several things about him now she never had cause to know previously, the most recent of which is that he is, in fact, a terrible liar. Anna has no reason to suspect him, but Natasha-- she thinks that, given the choice, he'd do anything to take care of the people around him before he ever looked to himself.

Is that something that survived the Winter Soldier? The reason he pulled Rogers out of the Potomac? Or is there something else there she's not seeing? Hm.]

[ Thoughtfully, ] That was pomegranate seeds. [ but she has a point, he frowns, and hunts for his canteen automatically before it registers that he didn't have it with him when he fell. ] Hm. I've got a chocolate bar. S'pose that's one way o'living history, huh?

[She frowns faintly.]

James, I'm not going to take that from you. What if it's all you've got? You should look after yourself, too.

Hey, I knew what I was gettin' into with the army. [ his eyebrows are raised, looking at her intently, a kind of don't try to fool me ] You were just ridin' the subway.

Well, you've never ridden the modern subway.

[That's a joke.]

I'll be all right. They still raise 'em tough in the Bronx, I promise. But you're very sweet.

Ha ha. That's very funny. I'd be what... [ he makes a show of counting ] ninety six? [ fingerpoint ] Respect your elders. Now keep it.

[She does some (obvious) math of her own, and--]

But physically you're only twenty-eight. So, I've got you beat.

[A shy little smile.]

You know, I probably shouldn't be admitting my age to a total stranger. In... hindsight. Can we forget I did that?

[ hands in the air ]

The lady never stated her age. Stricken from the record.

[That smile turns a bit sharp, settles into something pleasantly flirtatious.]

You're a real gentleman, huh?

[It's gentle, a bit wistful, but warm.]

[ He laughs, softly, places his hand on his heart dramatically. ]

You thought otherwise? I'm wounded. Right here.

Well, a girl's gotta be careful in this day and age.

[She shrugs, and a little of that Bronx attitude comes back in the way she settles back a bit more comfortably against her chair.]

Can't be too sure.

[ He tilts his head. ]

Chivalry ain't dead in the future, is it?

[ He's. A little irritated to be honest. It's not new by any means but he expected it to be better. ]

[It earns a thoughtful hm.]

Depends on what you mean by chivalry.

[ He tilts his head again, conceding. ]

Maybe I shoulda asked a couple more questions. Anyway. You keep that bar.

[She shakes her head.]

How about I take a piece of it and you keep the rest for me, huh? Gives me an excuse to find you later.

[-- And, thoughtfully,]

You can ask more if you'd like. I mean... I doubt I'm going to break the timeline telling you about the internet.

[ He gives her a Look, and then very deliberately breaks off a large piece and hands it to her. No arguments, Anna. ]

I'd like that.

[She gives him a Look, long enough to suggest that she's surrendering because she's decided she wants to rather than him cowing her into it, and takes it. Defiantly, though, she doesn't take a bite, merely wraps it up in a bit of leaf and puts it in her pocket.]

Maybe after we get settled?

[ Planning to stay long, he doesn't joke, and smiles almost boyishly at her, an echo. ]

All right. See ya.

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dissemblance - 2015-03-17 02:57 (UTC) - Expand

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