revivalproject | Steve Rogers

Entry tags:

Steve Rogers | OTA

WHO: Steve and You?
WHERE: Agrii ship in the water area
WHAT: A pool party!!
WHEN: Around debates time
WARNINGS: Not sure, will edit!

Steve has been trying to get in touch with the Agrii for days now without any luck. So far it's mostly just been hanging out by the water. And a few of them can really hold their breath a long time, it seems. They seem uneasy if he swims too far, so he sticks by the shallower bit of the pool for now.

If nothing else, the lush greenery is a nice change of scenery, and some days there's all this bountiful delicious food, such that he hasn't had better since before arriving here.

So, one day, after fruitlessly searching around by himself and not finding any better leads, he invites a few fellow He-Rows over for what appears to be a pool party. It's open to anyone who happens to make it through the thick botany, and he's definitely trying to encourage the younger Agrii to come play with them. Food and drink are just from the mess hall, and the games are simple ones like a hand-drawn deck of cards, and sitting on each other's shoulders trying to knock off your opponent.

If anyone wants to play that game with him, he'd definitely make a better root than pusher - don't worry, he'll be sure to keep his balance, so long as your character wants to keep playing.

Partway through he gets tasked with going back to get more ice or snacks or something, so feel free to bump into him then or in his yellow speedo (that he most definitely did not pick out himself) and towel, gathering supplies. You'll definitely score an invitation if you ask.

Then, when the 'party' starts winding down, Steve's maybe a little disappointed in not having made much progress, though he's sure a few of the younger Agrii might be coming around to them, so it's not entirely a fruitless endeavor. But he's gotten his hands on a piece of paper and graphite, and he might even ask your character to stand still for a second, as they look really nice under this foliage, and it'll just take a few minutes, if they don't mind.

[ OoC: Feel free to respond to any of the things Steve is doing or throw up your own toplevel so other people can tag you at the 'party'! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Cake gets stale," Steve answers, with a bit of amusement. He shifts a little, if only because Tony's blocking his light a bit, so when he looks up he doesn't have to squint. That's much nicer. It's still weird how his eyes are blue.

"Do you think I could freckle if I try to get enough sun here? I don't burn anymore."

There wasn't much of a chance of either burning or freckles, because that light was entirely synthetic and Tony was pretty sure the nearest star was 502 million miles away, give or take a few thousand. But he smiled at Steve with a breath of a laugh, and released the cards he held to his chest to send them sliding easily across the smooth gold and free his hand to brush along Steve's collar where he should have been freckled, knuckles pressing faintly to share the map of them that Tony knew for certain. "They're really not taking care of you on that backwards planet," he accused. "I'm sending you back with a note. You're supposed to have a regular dose of pool parties and basketball games, and the occasional mission to the Savage Land for a proper stranding, to keep the wheels greased. What, do they only let you out at night?"

"I'm on the run, Tony," he answers. "They passed a law, ratified by the UN. Unanimous vote - people with superhuman abilities and weapons such as the Iron Man armor have to be under a register. They have to vote everytime we wanna leave US soil to do a mission. I couldn't stand for that, so I left."

Well, he blew up a lot of stuff on his way out, like his friendship.

"Tony... he wanted to keep the team together." Not to mention, repair his relationship with Pepper. Steve had been supportive of that, he'd understood. But - he just couldn't do it, ultimately.

Tony should have better anticipated Steve's very serious answer, and started to roll his eyes at the increasingly familiar refrain, only this time it came with more context. The teasing was abruptly gone for Tony to look sharply at Steve, then push himself up on his elbows, letting the cards fall, forgotten. "A register," he echoed, and the humid heat of the greenhouse wasn't enough to keep the ice from spreading through his chest. "Because something happened." That was the first point of tension, the one he knew to anticipate but didn't know how to stop. The second had always been Steve. He must have been too late to stop that one, too.

"Yeah," he said. "Ultron happened." He looks away from Tony for a second because he doesn't want to assign any guilt where it doesn't belong. This Tony hadn't built Ultron, of course. Steve doesn't want him to think he blames him for what happened. Hell, he wouldn't want the other one to think that either. They all had a part in Ultron. They can all take responsibility together - just, not the way that Ross thinks would be best.

That wasn't right. It might not have happened to Tony yet, but he could see with enough clarity that it wasn't just Ultron or some other existential threat leaving people anxious about masked heroes; it was the overeager young vigilante who went nuclear and neglected to empty the shopping mall of hostages before he blew it up. Steve was looking away, though, so Tony couldn't search his face for what he meant, what the body count was that should have been avoided. Tony was sitting up then, drawing his knees closer and frowning. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the catalyst was just that they lost. No wonder Steve didn't trust him. He started to neatly gather the cards so he could put something right, feeling foolish even as he did so.

He didn't intend to make Tony feel bad, but he sees that he does, so he reaches out for his wrist, to stay him. "Hey, I don't - I don't blame the other Tony for making Ultron. He thought he was doing what was best. But I guess, in the aftermath, we decided to check in more, talk about what was going on, inform the team, so we could make decisions together. And then... the Accords kinda came out of nowhere. And then..." The whole mess with Bucky.

Jesus, how could he forget, Tommy had rambled something about Tony being his grandfather and the reminder had Tony rubbing at his brow irritably with his free hand, forced to contend with the idea that he was the overeager kid going nuclear. Doing what was best. 'Make decisions together' then sounded like 'make sure Tony didn't go rogue again', and of course no one would listen to him when he tried to tell them what he knew was coming. The Accords didn't come out of nowhere, if he knew then that Tony knew, and it was only Steve's hold on his wrist that stopped Tony from snarling at him to back off. The contact had him counting short, aborted breaths instead in an effort to manage the instinct. "And then they all looked to you, because you wouldn't lead them wrong," he also knew.

"No, a couple of them agreed with me," he says, moving closer because he can feel that shortness of breath and he wants to make sure Tony this reaction doesn't escalate. "And more than a few agreed with him. Or, at least, agreed that we should keep the team together."

Nothing like this has happened on Tony's world, but, Steve thinks it's a bit inevitable. It might not be called the Accords, it might not happen this decade - but it will. Eventually.

"I just wish I'd known earlier. We could've made edits. Just wish... we'd talked it over."

Steve was close enough that Tony could feel the heat of him, but he still shivered and closed his eyes, nodding. He didn't need Steve to elaborate, he had already tried to explain it to Namor himself--'friend against friend. That is what will happen.'

"How d'you think that conversation goes?" he asked, gaze sliding slowly toward Steve finally. "What is it that I can say that convinces you to sign on, agree to round up our friends and go where S.H.I.E.L.D. sends us?" He gave a small shake of his head, sure already that Steve's moral conviction wasn't going to be rocked by Tony's begging. He couldn't even sway Strange.

"Nothing," he answers. "But we can edit them - with time. We. Agreed to, but then..." He doesn't know how to explain all this. "Something else came up." He really does not want to go into details here in case Bucky also killed this Tony's parents. "Like it always does. We just never have enough time."

That was always the idea, steer the disaster that was already bearing down on them, so Tony cut Steve a sidelong glare for his crystal clear hindsight, only for his eyes to widen with surprise at 'agreed'. So there was something that would convince Steve to trust Tony, and avoid the same beard of regret back at home.

But then...

"There's always time," Tony muttered, though it did sound empty then as much as he believed, "That's the thing about the future, it's always there."

"I know," Steve says. "But it always feels like we waste so much of it." He frowns. "Not. Us. Me and -- sorry." He messed up because he always tries to keep them so far apart in his mind.

"I didn't mean that." He pulls his hand away, finally.

Tony took it quickly against his chest instead, holding his own wrist where Steve had and drumming his fingers restlessly over his heart. "No, it's--" he tried to assure, tipping his head like he meant to lean it against Steve's, then thought better of it as he admitted, "I guess we do, too." They had only gotten here because Tony was insisting that Steve should waste more time with him. They should have been spending all of that time together planning and preparing, and the ribbing from the Avengers over the years about them needing alone time suddenly seemed heavier.

"I thought you talked all the time," he says under his breath, as he feels Tony's heartbeat under his palm. It's odd, the way that it beats in tune like the heartbeat passes, ping-ponging back and forth between Tony and Steve. It holds, for a brief moment that seems to last a whole minute, before they fall out of sync.

"Kinda wish I hadn't left things the way I had. I know I keep saying that."

That was a briefly baffling statement, earning Steve a confused stare as Tony tried to work out how to explain that was exactly what he meant, only to abandon it apologetically. There were worse problems to have; at least he had been neglecting to plan while encouraging Steve to fall in love with the future. "What would you do differently?" he asked, and it wasn't the most natural question from someone who would rather look forward, until he was glancing around with an expectantly raised eyebrow. Steve had plenty of space to make those changes now, might as well get started so he didn't make the same mistakes with someone else.

"Would've been a better friend," he says. He doesn't elaborate on the part about telling him about his parents. But he says: "Would've told him that it wasn't his fault. That he didn't have to make amends by signing the Accords. And he said - part of the reason he wanted to was because Pepper thought it was too dangerous for him to be Iron Man. That he wanted a compromise to get her back. I... guess I could've offered him an alternative."

This Steve was more gentle with him than the one Tony knew at home, so Tony finally relented and leaned over like he had wanted to, pressing his shoulder to Steve's to assure him he couldn't have been much better. Maybe that was a change he had already consciously made, though; why he was so sensitive. Tony had no such reassurance for any guilt that he could imagine trying to work off. That was an ongoing project that he doubted Steve could talk him out of.

Pepper was the part that had him actually shaking his head, and he muttered, "He shouldn't have done that to her in the first place. He knows better. That's the alternative." He looked over with a challenge, skeptical that Steve thought he had a better one to propose.

This feels nice. Even under the artificial light, which almost feels like sun if he thinks about it but not too hard. Like they're just two friends, spending time on a beach.

"Well, what can I say? You're both romantics. And sometimes love is enough. I think he's probably retired now. And I hope they're happy together." Steve doesn't know if he could ever give up Captain America - or, well, Nomad, now. And maybe that's why he's alone. Maybe he deserves that.

That didn't seem right, but Tony could hardly argue that he couldn't give up the suit so easily when he'd already done it here. It probably wasn't so agonizing for a Tony Stark who knew how to control himself, too, and handle his liquor. That was a nice thought, actually being able to make his partner happy and not terrify and disappoint them every day. "Doesn't sound like you screwed up that bad," he mused, slowly looking Steve's way again. "If that's true, and they're happy, you know...I wish, sometimes, that I had said goodbye, that I knew it was the last time I'd be at the Tower, but I also know they're happier now without me there. I wouldn't want to change that. I'm not going to, I mean."

"Why?" he asks. He'd not asked why Tony left, but he probably knows what Steve's gonna say. "They miss you," he says. Tony knows they do. He knows what he means to them, and if he doesn't by now, then, they've all failed him. That's sort of what he's afraid he's done, with the Tony from home.

Tony huffed a laugh and shook his head with a wry smile, not about to get sentimental just because Steve had his own regrets to project. He'd thought about this enough, and made his peace already. "I'm less of a liability here. A handful of you have to clean up after me, versus putting a whole galaxy at risk. They're fine, they have everything I could have given them anyway, they've got the Tower and the quinjets and the accounts will keep them fed," he explained. He had found the cards again by then, so his hands had something to manage and he could frown down at them as he deftly shuffled. "Your team, I know they're looking for you. Tony, too, if they told him, if he knows you're not just underground. You're a priority." He didn't have to say that he wasn't, and that no one was looking for him. If Steve's Avengers were that much like the team Tony knew, then they never had.

Of course there's one thing Steve wants to focus on in all of that. "Tony, you're not a liability," he says. "Is that what you feel like, back home?" Because that would explain a lot of things about Tony's behavior across universes, to be honest. But also - Steve just wanted Tony to know that's not what he thinks of him, not in the least.

"Your greatest asset was never your money, Tony." He'd thought maybe that the other one was just so busy on the west coast that he never came to visit, not that maybe he didn't feel like an integral part of the team.

"It's not a feeling, it's--ask anyone," Tony argued, because if he was trying to tell Steve he shouldn't be trusted, it couldn't hinge on trusting his perspective. "Jon can barely look at me anymore, everything I do is another fight, it's like I can't help myself. I think I'm doing the right thing, and I'm so sure that I ignore everyone begging me to stop, and then I'm the only one surprised when we come back and there's a whole new AI system controlling the ship that the Agrii hate. That a volcano just about levels the city. That the moon has a face now and it screams at us." Every one of those, Tony's fault, and if Steve didn't catch on, he waved a hand up his chest, one and only. No one else had a more impressive resume.

"The kind of people that get mad enough at you to put on a mask and knock on your door for a fight, they're Nazis. You're a threat to the worst impulses of society. The kind of people I'm a threat to, it's my girlfriends. People who work for me. People who's kids I killed for a couple of dollars from the other side of the planet."

This again. Of course Tony would feel bad about this, but Steve just said: "You course-corrected. You always do. Yeah, you've made a lot of enemies, but we all do. I spend most of my time alone because I don't want anyone else affected by it, and that's not really a way to live. There's just the mission and an empty apartment," he says. "And Jon - he loves you. I don't know a lot about him but I know that he does, because I know what you get like when you're looking for a fight, and if he wants to work things out, he's willing to meet you partway. I just don't know why you always wanna make it so hard."

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject