revivalproject | Stranger in a Strange Land

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Stranger in a Strange Land

WHO: Tony, Steve and Bucky? And everyone else!
WHERE: Some network nonsense, and skulking around the resort
WHAT: Tony's playing catch up, and doesn't have a good lead yet. This is also Tony's TDM thread, relocated to make more sense on Risa, so if you want to properly canon that meeting, here we are!
WHEN: Risa: After Hours
WARNINGS: Nothing scandalous yet!

The Resort
The amount of information that Tony had now was not helpful, and neither the tablet he had been carefully tucked into his new bed with nor the computers spread throughout the resort were properly calibrated to help Tony map this ever sprawling conundrum. He had no way to connect the mysterious '31' to apocalyptic storms on a planet he had never heard of to all of the information telling him he was currently in an episode of Star Trek. What he did have was: an already rockstar-trashed room, a new wardrobe, and a creeping sensation of truly disgusting self-pity eating away in the pit of his stomach that he was going to have to overcome very rapidly before it grew any more powerful. To do that, he needed answers. He needed Cap. No, he could do this.

If he was going to solve the problem, he had to be in control of how at the very least. So far, the market had offered Tony plenty of fun and fashion, but not anything particularly useful, and it was about time he experienced a childhood fantasy: the replicators. One of the staff members had helpfully directed him in a way that felt so reminiscent of suggesting the ice machine back on familiar ground, that when Tony was actually standing in front of the thing, his first impulse was 'computer: ice'. And the replicator just made it, just like that; and not even just ice, this thing was advanced enough to interpret this failure of a human communication, vague and directionless, and delivered the beautiful, mouthwateringly glistening ice chips in a delicate glass, a useful container for his bumbling desires. Tony could smell how crunchy they were. He stared at this gift for too long in wonder, before remembering that he was still in public and gave a glance up and down the hall, regrouping, trying to focus. It was late so the halls felt deserted, but anyone could be coming back from the clubs at any hour in this place. Current problem: Kidnapping situation. Problem for another time: solving world hunger. He collected his glass of ice, then tried again, asking for a set of precision tools and a soldering iron. Then, after holding all of this cradled in a hammock of his shirt pulled away from his stomach, asked for superglue (this did not work, Tony had to get more specific and got what he hoped he was looking for with 'Cyanoacrylate?'), then, duh, bandages. He should have brought a bag. "Oh. Computer, one more thing, sweetheart. Do you have a bag?" A Ferengi rounded the corner, looking festive in a Margaritaville shirt (would he get the reference?) but staring very seriously at Tony, clearly suspicious and unwilling to share this space with him at this hour. Tony wasn't eager to find out if the species was really as they were portrayed, and instead gave a courteous nod of acknowledgement as he slung his cleverly resort-branded cloth bag of goods over his shoulder and slid away, glass in hand, to find another station to test the limits of. It couldn't hurt to test out his new tools on one, just a little bit. He could solve two problems at once.

It was late, and the breeze flowed easily through the open-air halls of the resort, keeping the still-warm, tropical air from feeling oppressively hot and carrying the sweet smell of alien, fruiting flowers with it. It was the perfect time to case the joint.

[Video]
[A video message posted to the network of a man frowning down into the camera, chin propped up in one hand and looking equal parts bored and skeptical, but occasionally glancing up, just past the camera, possibly betraying his alert tension.
Tony is in his room, sitting with his back against the bed where he has clearly thoroughly tossed the blankets, a single pillow left in the middle of the mattress among the mess. He knows from Billy that this is the best way to get in touch with anyone who might be able to relate to his situation. It doesn't make him feel any less vulnerable.]

I'm used to having some, you know, guidelines-- hard to read the room here, hard to read the audience. Um-- Tony. [He quickly touches his chest, that's me, before holding his chin again.] Looking for: just some fun, nothing serious. Likes: long walks on the beach, particle physics, black coffee. Dislikes: The smell of bookstores. I know, you'll try to convince me, and it will be a very good date, because I've never had a bad one, but I still won't like the smell. What else goes on these things...? [He's looking past the camera again, like he's waiting for the response to come from out there. If this doesn't produce solid results, Tony's ready to take this thing apart and make it more useful to him.]

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[That's ominous.] Look at you. I knew you were just playing at being humble this whole time. [But Tony can't really avoid the topic, and his playful smirk doesn't last. It can't get much worse, can it? If Cap and Wiccan alone couldn't put an end to whatever had been happening to them, it was no surprise that adding more familiar faces didn't improve their odds much.] Yeah, I've seen the kid, Billy. He kind of explained... Five years, Cap? You haven't figured this thing out?

[Steve's exhale says it all. ]

I've only been here for about a year. But no. I haven't been able to figure it out.

[He looks down, almost embarrassed at his own inabilities. It wasn't the first time he'd felt like he was failing everyone around here. With Tony here, that feeling was more acute. ]

People come and go without warning. Right before this, we lost Nat, Bucky, and Vision. There doesn't seem to be a way of stopping it.

[There isn't an obvious pattern to these names, except maybe one small, tiny detail that stood out to Tony:] Hold up. Your Bucky? Bucky Barnes, Kid Commando? [Billy hadn't mentioned that they didn't all have to be alive at the same time.]

Are you... [Tony doesn't want to sound overly concerned, but he doesn't keep it from showing on his face. Steve had barely dealt with Bucky's death the first time.]

Kid Commando? What is that?

[Steve holds a hand up to stop the explanation, figuring that Tony needed to have his answers first. Whatever Tony was going to say would likely just lead to more questions for Steve. Might as well clear something up. ]

There were two Buckys here. One was from the same universe as me, just a different time. He was kidnapped by Hydra and...well. It's a long story. The other one is still here, with me. He was Captain America in his universe instead of me.

[Tony is stuck on two Buckys and is giving Steve an unblinking stare while he just carries on talking like that's not a crazy thing to say so casually. Tony can't handle a singular Bucky yet, and he's up on his toes now, like any more information might make him spring to his feet.]

That's amazing! Reed had this theory that the multiverse couldn't support the paradox of two incidences coming into contact, but I knew he had to be wrong, that was too volatile to explain the fracturing, if there was any polarity at all they had to be attractive, and if this Bucky had the serum and lived your life instead then he would have been living parallel to you-- [Tony isn't showing any sign of stopping soon, his free hand tracing a steady line with two fingers up in illustration. Maybe that was the problem, this situation was creating multiversal bonds that were too hard to break apart again.]

[Steve is 100% not going to stop Tony on a roll like this. He's not sure that he knows Reed or that, even if he did, it would be the same one that this Tony knows. Signs are pointing to them being from different universes, right now. Which is what it is, frankly. Steve would rather have any Tony than none.

And, God. He missed these little tirades. Tony's enthusiasm was contagious even when Steve had no idea what he was saying.]

Well, I will definitely agree that my Buck is attractive.

-- so if you were to meet--[If anything could make Tony stumble over his lecture, it must have been a comment like that.] Uh. Gross.

[He's already curled his fingers together, though, and he had a point he was making, right? No, he can't let it go.] Don't try to be cute, it doesn't suit you, look at you. They were rationing the humour in the Depression, it's not your fault.

[There really hadn't been anyone from home that Steve had needed to break the news to about him and Bucky being together. They'd all either watched it happen or had disappeared long before. Tony was not his Tony, but it was still someone he knew and cared about. The response of 'Uh. Gross' therefore makes Steve turn a bright shade of red and clam up like someone had cast a silencing spell.

He shrugs and looks off screen with a tight smile.]

Eh. Can't blame me for trying. I thought after five years maybe I learned something.

Impossible, old man. You're making puns like that, it's like your actively going backwards, this is a reversal of smooth, hideous. Who's been letting you get away with that? You're much cuter like this. [Tony's wiggling his fingers now at the general blush situation, already grinning because he knows acknowledging it makes it worse. Whoever had been convincing Steve to try to rise above this awkward streak with puns, they didn't appreciate beauty.]

[ Oh yes. Acknowledging it does indeed make it worse. Steve almost glows red as he scrubs his hands over his face and tries not to catch fire. ]

I've been called a few things but 'cute' is normally not one of them. I'm not entirely sure how to take that, Tony.

[He tries to smile and manages better this time around. ]

How about you go back to talkin' scientific nonsense instead of making fun of me?

I'll do you one better: I can do both. The reason you've been whiffing this might be because bringing multiversal subjects together has totally unknown reactive properties. For all we know, if you physically touch another Captain America, you might suddenly think you can pull off that horrifying moustache you bust out for special occasions. You'd be wrong about that, too. In this case, you've picked up the bad jokes, and trying to reverse the polarity now might be like trying to throw the moon away from the Earth. Who else is here? [It's not exactly a pattern yet, and it doesn't exactly explain what they're doing here, but it's the first one Tony's been able to see.]

Mustache?

[Steve just lets that one go. ]

Um. Let's see. From people you'd know who are still here: Wanda, Buck, um... [Christ, he hadn't realized how many people he'd lost from home until now. It was almost everyone. ] There's also Tommy and Billy. Not from my universe, but maybe you know them. Teddy just arrived too...

[Tony is up and pacing now, but he's frowning, because nothing obvious is jumping out at him from that list.] Maybe Wanda and Billy...? [This theory needed more data, and without it, Tony is forced to confront the multiversal problem of Steve. He wants to keep ignoring it, but it's too obvious that this man wasn't quite going to fit into the smooth worn groove at Tony's side. It's lonelier than he wants to examine right now.] Bucky didn't make it. Where I'm from. He's a legend, though. I had Bucky and Toro action figures that were always rescuing Captain America from the laundry room. [Don't let that go to his head, Tony.] Way before we pulled you out of the ice, don't get it twisted. Invader Adventure Hour was definitely over at a totally reasonable age. Twelve? Does twelve sound healthy?

I don't know a Toro...

[Steve tracks Tony as he paces and says nothing. He's no stranger to that look in someone's eyes as they start to come to terms with what this new reality means. He's especially no stranger to the look on Tony Stark. Steve can almost hear the gears turning as the other man attempts to solve this. Arrange it into his view of the universe so the whole thing doesn't fracture like a punched mirror.

It's been a long time since he saw the look on his pwn face, but he sympathizes all the same. ]

In my universe, Bucky died at war with me. He fell off a train and a few days later I went into the ice. 'Cept, he didn't die. He had a version of my serum in him and survived to be taken by HYDRA and made into an assassin called the Winter Soldier.

That Bucky--the one from my universe-- was here under the name 'Winter'. He's gone, now...

[Tony stops pacing where he is, slouching against the railing running around his patio that seems more empty than spacious. If Steve were here, Tony could throw an arm around him and distract him, but it feels like he has to deal with this head on like this. Not one of Tony's strengths.]

What happened to him? [Great, yeah, just ignore it.]

I dunno.

[Steve sighs and looks down at the ground. ]

After the storm was over, he was just missing. Nat too, which is good in a way. They've been together for awhile and I saw Nat without Winter. It was awful. I'm at least glad that they maybe went back home together.

[Steve exhales again and shakes his head. ]

It happens. People come. They leave. There's no warning to it. I lost my Bucky for years when he was brought here. Nothing says it won't happen again.

Rough way to live.

[They must have had a lot in common, and Natasha always had a way with kids, despite herself. This place could have been good for some people, who had something to escape.

This was a less interesting theory. Tony's not thinking about it.]

Chin up, big guy. What do you think I'm doing here now? When have I ever let you down? Don't answer that. This, I can handle.

[Steve smiles finally. A real, broad one. ]

You do come through for me, Tony. It's really, really good to have you here.

[Steve looks around his room and out toward the world outside. ]

What say you, me, and Buck meet up for drinks or something? He just stepped out of the room for a bit but I'm sure I can get hold of him. Be nice to have you meet.

Absolutely. [Try not to look too excited.] There's a cabana on the beach, I swear I can still hear it rock'n'rollin' from here. It's got to be open, right? This place is rowdier than the East Village.

I'll see you there, Tony. Try not to party too much before I get there.

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Stranger in a Strange Land

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this post is chonky, do you want to start a new one?

Done. Bucky will meet us there.