apocalypsehowcomm | Log: A (dusty) new arrival

Entry tags:

Log: A (dusty) new arrival

Who: Steve Rogers and OTA (including roomies in apartment B4)
When: March 14th-ish, upon arrival
Where: ADI and ADI housing
Summary: Steve arrives at ADI, bangs around in an air duct and collects lots of dust, then gets briefed and takes a look around, ultimately making it to his new living quarters
Warnings: None yet, will update/warn in threads if needed.

Arrival via air duct
Steve Rogers is not a complete stranger to suddenly finding himself in places he hadn't expected to be.

But it's always unsettling, and this time maybe even more so than any others. He'd been in Asgard one minute, and the next — Well. It's a good thing he doesn't have asthma anymore. Because wherever he is, it's dark, cramped, and full of dust.

He also feels… kind of like shit. Weak. Disoriented. Actually, a lot like the old asthma attacks, just with (fortunately) less gasping and choking. Okay, some minor gasping and choking. It's really dusty in here.

Where he'd normally just consider breaking through the damn side of the duct — because yeah, okay, this is an air duct, he's pretty sure — he both feels unsteady enough not to try and unsure enough of where he is that he… probably shouldn't? Not until he knows more. Which has him crawling forward, Mjolnir's strap looped around one wrist, until he spots a vent up ahead. Plan A, then: Kick it in and get the hell out of here. And hope for the best.

(Hope he fits through the vent, in the first place.)

Looking around, settling in
Steve Rogers is also not unaccustomed to the idea of preventing the apocalypse. What he is unaccustomed to is the idea that using any of the abilities the serum grants him requires terrorizing and murdering people. That's just —

Well. He's lived more of his life without superhuman abilities than not. He'll just… not use them, for now.

It is frustrating. He was in the middle of mission. It was, you know, kind of important. But he's still got the soul stone tucked safely away, even if his quantum suit seems to have disappeared (collapsed into the watch, he has to assume, but he can't reactivate it), and if he's needed here, then he supposes he can afford the pit stop. Technically, he's got all the time in the world. Right?

So, he decides to take a look around ADI, still in his dusty Captain America uniform as he walks the halls and pokes his head into offices, the gym, the canteen, and the library. He maybe pokes around for something to eat in the canteen (he's... very hungry) and then stops to study the local maps and directories in the library, committing them to memory.

He finally makes it to the apartments. By the time he shows up at the right door — B4 — he's at least wearing jeans and a hoodie, although his hair is a still bit dusty and there's still that hefty warhammer in one hand. He figures he might as well knock instead of just walking in. It might be his place, now, but it seems like a little politeness is the safer option when meeting potentially apocalypse-averting teammates.

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Well, make that two for the closets, then, based on what Bucky had told him.

Steve sees that smile, and he returns it. They could probably all use a smile in a place like this. "Magic, I guess," he admits, and it might very well be the most reasonable explanation. "It's still not the worst place I've been. Or the dirtiest. But I think all those movies that show people using them as a reasonable way to sneak around are lying to us."

Assuming the kid is from a time when he'll know what that means.

"Were you heading anywhere in particular?"

"I mean, depends on the vent and if the person inside of it can be sneaky enough. It should be a last resort plan honestly." He spares the ceiling a look trying to locate a vent. He could probably sneak around in a vent normally, but that wasn't in the picture right now.

He shakes his head a little, "No, just kind of wandering. Getting a feel for everything I guess."

"I have never been very good at being sneaky," Steve admits, with a bit of a self-effacing, lopsided smile. (Peter's thinking isn't wrong, though. Steve thinks he probably could do much better up there than Steve himself.)

He nods, though, because, "Same. It's... weirdly mundane for a place that's trying to avert the Apocalypse. Or maybe it's exactly as mundane as it should be? I'm honestly not sure. The last apocalypse I went through was a lot flashier."

And faster. At least, except for the five quiet years in between. But at the beginning and the end, it had been fast and flashy, at least. That's more Steve's style than... this.

"Sneaky seems pretty hard to do. I mean, I kind of tried looking at you and walking, I couldn't manage it." He idly jokes back, trying to be sure Steve doesn't quite know who he is.

"I'd really prefer to not go through any more apocalypses, I'm kind of over it." Peter admits with a scrunch of his nose in displeasure. Thinking about the Blip, the battle- it wasn't a fresh wound anymore. It was easier to just pretend he had the same complaints his classmates did about the Blip. That they had to repeat a year, that they had to take midterms twice, normal things. He kind of did share those thoughts, but- it felt like he had no right to complain about that kind of stuff anymore. He was supposed to be an Avenger, Spider-Man. He didn't really get the time to be anything but that. The trip to Europe had only proven it further.

"It was supposed to be my summer vacation, but I guess that's postponed by a lot."

"Eh, we can blame that on me more than you. I know the outfit isn't subtle," Steve promises, though playfulness aside, it's not great to think about this kid having already been through at least one apocalypse, or that he's been torn away from his home to supposedly deal with another. Because there's still a lot about this place that Steve is absorbing, working through - and finding he doesn't like, whether his opinions mean anything or not.

"You've been through apocalypses before?" he asks, carefully, voice a bit quieter and more serious. There is something starting to ping in the back of his head, but it's just background noise at this point.

"I mean, the Blip counts, right?" The name for the whole thing is a little stupid, but it stuck more for the public than anything else. "It got undone, but still really shifted everything."

"I kinda just appeared back in my school bus with the rest of my classmates. We were on a field trip..." That is a complete lie, but Peter should have been there instead of with Mr. Stark. Peter is just trying to play it cool. If Steve doesn't recognize him, Peter is going to take that as a chance to keep him from finding out about Spider-Man.

It is a stupid name, after everything. Steve... had maybe figured at least that was one issue he wasn't going to have to deal with, long-term.

But that tells him a lot, too, right off the bat. It explains the walking into a wall a bit better, too.

And it also makes the pinging in the back of his brain a little louder.

"I think it does," he agrees. "It's the one I've got experience with." And while he is not thrilled to step out of that situation and into this one... if he had one job, that would be it. But Peter's just a kid. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this, after all of that." Even he knows there are going to be repercussions for years. Maybe longer. He... does feel a little bad for skipping out on helping with that. And now he's stuck here, apparently. "I'm told there's no way out of here to get back where we came from, at least not right now, but I hope that will change." Especially if he can help it change, in any way.

"I mean, it's not the Avenger's fault. All of it just kinda... happened." Peter opts to not get too into details, to avoid revealing how much he actually knows. "No one really wanted any of that to happen."

Peter shrugs a little, his expression shifting to something a bit tired and more serious. "Well, I guess we're going to have to help as much as we can. Then we can all get home sooner."

Steve... could argue that, but then, he is very good at assuming responsibility. Blame.

But it feels a little unproductive to argue it here and now, when there's nothing to be done about it, even as the soul stone seems to weigh heavy in his pocket. "I guess so. Once we're sure we're helping the right side."

He's... fairly sure, if only because his trust in some of the people he's met here already extends pretty far. But there's still some doubt. Maybe he's just feeling a little like he had in 2012, when he'd been woken up and immediately enlisted by SHIELD - only to learn down the line that at least some of the people he'd been taking orders from had been on the wrong side of things. "I still want to know more about the situation. Just because they tell us one story doesn't mean it's the only one there is."

If there was one thing either of them were good at, it was carrying guilt. Peter tries to not think about what could have been in regards to Thanos. That never leads anywhere good.

"Yeah." Peter agrees with a slight sigh, rubbing the back of his neck a little anxiously. "That's fair, we don't really know what's going on yet." The lack of information on how they could go, or if this was a good place was definitely alarming. "I at least know I want to help."

Steve nods, smiling a little at that. "I think that's never the wrong way to approach things," he admits. "I want to do the same. But I'm not sure where help is needed the most yet."

He pauses, but figures hey, he might as well offer: "There are a few people here that I trust. That I already know. I can try to keep you in the loop, based on what they tell me."

"Right now its kind of... an adjustment period until something actually happens?" Peter offers back with an uncertain shrug.

"That's a good thing. I mean- uh, someone I know is here, so it's marginally less freaky." Peter knows he can't lie about knowing Mr. Stark. This place isn't that big, so that would backfire immediately. "Keywords, marginally less."

He's kind of already put himself into an incredibly awkward situation by not starting with who he is, but its too late now.

That does get a twitch of Steve's lips up into a smile. Right. Marginally less - that's a bit how he feels, too.

"It does help to have someone you know," he agrees, honestly. He's... still not entirely sure he doesn't know this person, but that could mean anything, really. Especially if they're from the same place.

Which means, actually, "You can count me as someone you know, too," he offers. "If that helps. Since it sounds like we've got some, ah - you know. Shared history." Not that he can offer much perspective just yet, but maybe it'll help, figuring it out together.

"Oh- uh thank you." The offer shouldn't surprise Peter. What he did know about Captain America was a little mixed. Cheesy high school PSA's and the vague times they've met during some kind of fight.

"I'm Peter by the way. I kinda- already know who you are, sir." He shrugs a little bit back. "It's nice to know you didn't disappear to the moon or anything. There are a bunch of rumors about that.

Steve's smile is a little rueful, as he says, "It's nice to meet you, Peter, despite the circumstances."

Yeah, he'd figured the kid must have recognized him by now. But that's fine.

He can't help the way his eyebrows rise at the mention of, "The Moon?" Huh. "I mean - I guess I wouldn't turn down a trip to the Moon," he admits. "But that's not where I went. No."

It's - complicated, honestly. Really, really complicated, for so many reasons.

He glances around. "I guess for now, it's Gloucester. For both of us."

"Like, no one knows where you went, so everyone assumes some kind of moon base? I really don't get it." Peter says easily enough with a shake of his head.

He has a vague idea of where Steve had went, but it was just another one of those Avengers related things that got shuffled to the side in his life. "I'm gonna assume its Avengers stuff." He offers an easy out so Steve doesn't have to explain. Maybe safe both of them a headache.

Peter nods a little, "Yeah, looks like it." He rubs the back of his neck thoughtfully, frowning now. "Actually figuring out what we're doing is gonna be a harder part to everything, I think."

"It does seem like a weird jump to make," Steve admits with the ghost of a helpless laugh. He has to wonder if someone hadn't encouraged that - but no. Stark is gone. It makes his guts twist up all over again, just thinking it, and it's easier to move on and say, "Yeah. Avengers stuff is right. Solo mission."

Which is true enough, but also vague enough not to betray the stone that feels like it's practically burning a hole in his pocket.

"I think you're right," he agrees, with a quiet sigh. "All I know is, there's no way we have the full picture - and I don't think it's just because you and I are new arrivals. There's a lot going on here. It feels like layers on layers, and... those kinds of situations usually mean there's something pretty ugly at the center of it."

Which, yeah - apocalypse sounds pretty ugly. But even with the aforementioned people he trusts... he just doesn't like it. "I think we should be careful," he says - and yes. He does hear himself, saying those actual words. He is aware that it is hypocritical, but most people who know only the Cap persona don't, so he doesn't worry about it for now. "Maybe check in with each other every once in a while. Like the buddy system."

"I kinda assumed, since I don't think you'd want to go to the moon. I don't think the Avengers have money or time for like a moon base or something." Peter answers with a shrug, trying to keep things casual. Even if an Avengers moon base would be cool, he doesn't think that exists.

"I'm gonna hope it isn't- we're causing the end of the world or something being at the center of it." It's a thought that hits Peter and he can't stop himself from voicing it.

The seriousness of the conversation is derailed a little as Peter snorts somewhat, the teenager loosening up a bit. "Sir, um, no offense, Mr. Captain America, but you sound like you're doing one of those PSA's."

An Avengers moon base would be cool, Steve cannot deny that. Even if he supposes he's not in a position to enjoy something like that anymore. He's... not even sure if he really counts as an Avenger anymore, given what he'd been planning to do. Even if it is a little moot right now.

Besides, Steve agrees with the sentiment that he very much hopes they aren't causing the problem by trying to be the solution, but then Peter mentions the PSAs and oh God. Those stupid PSAs.

He probably shouldn't cringe or groan out loud in front of a young, impressionable teenager.

Instead, he lets out a little bark of laughter that could, if one is listening closely, be categorized as embarrassed. "Yeah, those were - those were something," he finally decides, because sometimes there just are no words. Not that he'd like to use with a kid who doesn't know him, anyway. Not that he'd really like to use with someone who does know him, either. Those damn PSAs had been a thing. That had been a time. He'd rather not think about that time ever again, only it's hard not to, with Bucky here, experiencing something very much the same.

Not Bucky, though. Winter. He wants to be called Winter.

"Cheesy PSAs aside," he says, scrubbing a hand through his hair, trying to make it look like just a casual gesture, "I do mean it. We should stay in touch. Not because I'm trying to supervise you," he adds. "But because if something happens to someone, it's better to know about it sooner rather than later."

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Log: A (dusty) new arrival

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