I am learning to trust the journey

[wearingthestars]

WHO: Billy, Soldier
WHERE: Soldier's hideout
WHAT: Awkward sleepover? Avoiding Tommy
WHEN: The night of the fight
WARNINGS: TBD?




Billy teleported part of the way there, and started walking. It gave him time to think, not that there hadn't been plenty of that all ready. He really thought he was doing what was right. It wasn't the disagreement that bothered him so much as the lack of control. To be told he couldn't do something, that he wasn't allowed. And then Tommy had deleted their conversation, taking that choice from him too.

And he knew it was a sensitive subject. Beyond sensitive. But this wasn't like that. It was a few scans maybe, and with Billy's consent.

He sighed, still going back and forth in his mind as to whether he was in the wrong. He just needed to get out of the house. They both needed some space.

Billy wondered if Soldier had found him yet. Probably a while ago. He glanced around, trying to see if he could spot him, but as far as he could tell he was alone.

He pulled out his phone.
I'm almost there. You're right behind me, aren't you?

Comments

[sinistral]

They didn't have to figure it out tonight. They didn't even have to figure it out tomorrow, or the next day. His offer of training would not expire.

He was quiet for a moment. Billy showed a lot of consideration in the way he asked that question; the Soldier wasn't used to it. "The Winter Soldier did not play cards, if that's what you're asking. This skill doesn't come from HYDRA."

[wearingthestars]

There was a small heat on Billy's cheeks, but he nodded in appreciation at the Soldier's correct interpretation of his question. That made sense, there wasn't much reason for HYDRA to want him to use that skill.

"I think I was picturing some kind of like...undercover James Bond...thing," he explained, looking a little embarrassed since obviously that wasn't the best use of someone with the Soldier's skill set.

[sinistral]

"I don't have a martini," he replied, referencing a habit of the fictional agent that even he could identify. "Or someone to rescue."

Not that he had any interest in a so-called Bond Girl. He'd rather not deal with anything resembling a relationship; the concept held no lure for him.

"Now bring the cards back to a deck, and I'll deal. I'm going to deal all the cards face up just to explain the game, but you know that wouldn't be how it was played." He would carefully cut the deck and deal as promised, explaining the suits and values and how to build a hand from a pair up to the royal flush.

[wearingthestars]

Billy grinned, glad the Soldier was playing along, and he tried to picture him in one of those fancy suits Bond always wore, martini in hand, and a lady on his arm. He could pull it off.

He tried his best to memorize the rules and hands.

"...This is one of those games where I'm going to lose because my face is one big tell, isn't it?" he realized with a laugh, thinking the Soldier was going to do particularly well in that area. How did you school your features like that? Billy tried to put a more serious face on.

[sinistral]

The Soldier would likely argue that he couldn't pull off the whole spy thing. If nothing else, there weren't many people with metal arms; that definitely eliminated the ability to be undercover. But the conversation strayed away from that topic, and that was fine with him.

Focusing instead on dealing cards and teaching Billy the various hands, he shrugged at the question. "A poker face will help you, whether you're cheating or not. Part of the game is bluffing, and presenting a confident front even when you have a bad hand. That skill isn't exclusive to poker."

[wearingthestars]

Billy face scrunched, immediately betraying his doubt that he could pull that off, but he tried to force it back into a more neutral state, studying the Solider's to try and learn from his example.

"How do you-?" he passed his hand over his face to try and indicate the patented unreadable look- "I feel like I'm constantly an open book. I don't know how to keep that stuff from showing."

[sinistral]

Billy asked what was probably a straightforward question for most people. But it touched on pieces of his past that weren't the most pleasant, and he debated how much more to share.

"For you? Practice, I suppose. It's... different for me." He hesitated there, dealing out a few more cards, building two more hands in front of each of them. "The Winter Soldier doesn't... feel things. A weapon doesn't have emotions. There's just the mission. Just orders. I still... struggle. To feel."