(Open Log) You gotta know when to hold 'em

[bindlestifflost]

Who: George Milton, Nick Valentine, and anybody who shows up
When: April 22, starting around 6 PM until
Where: Apartment A-3
Summary: A night for playing cards, drinking beer or b.y.o.b. if harder, snacks and unwinding. Feel free to thread jack and jump all around, at least in my threads. This is just for some relaxed down time and catching up or introductions in a smaller, casual space.
Warnings: None expected. If your characters get to discussing anything triggery or get up to anything spicy, please CW in your individual threads.



Over the past week or so, hand printed signs drawn in sharpie on plain paper have shown up taped to walls around the apartment complex and on any easily accessible bulletin boards at ADI. A couple of them were also delivered to the flophouse with the request they be displayed somewhere the residents might see them.

They read:
Cards and Beer
Friday April 22 6 PM
Apartment A 3
George and Nick's place
You want more than beer
or chips and popcorn
bring your own.
Extra decks appreciated.

The night of, the door to A 3 is propped open. In addition to the dining table, a couple of card tables and cheap folding chairs are set up for games. Two bowls on the coffee table contain chips and popcorn respectively. There's a cooler on the floor in the kitchen filled with ice and cheap beer.

George or Nick will greet people as they come in and tell them to make themselves at home.

((OOC: Feel free to top level with your own character and make whatever prompts you like. George is generally easy-going, but if he catches anyone stealing, getting too hot and heavy in a bedroom, or otherwise being a general jerk about the apartment or the other guests, he will try to throw the offender out. If you want that kind of thread or want to succeed at something nefarious, let me know so we can work it out.))

Comments

Bucky/Winter | MCU

[worthallthis]

I. Arrival

Winter looks a little apprehensive, kind of hovering outside the door in the hall. He wasn't specifically invited to this. Posters on walls really don't count as an invitation, he thinks. But he knows how to play cards. And he knows George and Nick, both. So he came, and now he's second-guessing himself, because he only sort of knows George and Nick.

He did bring something. It's not a thing most people would think to bring to a poker night, but he brought it anyway, because it's one of the few things he knows how to make that's not overkill or likely to keep people up all night. So he is hovering outside with a very big thermos full of... hot cocoa. Yeah.

Somebody tell him he can come in before it gets cold.


II. Cards

Winter is inordinately good at cards. He can keep track of the deck and people's discards in his head, and make an educated guess as to whether it's likely he'll get certain cards based on what he's seen so far. He can read faces and bodies like he's spent seventy years trying to appease cruel and capricious handlers. And his poker face is impeccable.

He lays down a royal straight, relatively confident he'll take this pot, with a perfectly emotionless face.


III. Mingling

Winter is, however, much less apt at socializing. He kind of loiters around the edges whenever he's not playing cards, holding a mug of the hot cocoa he brought, watching people with a too-intent expression.

He's trying to learn why people do things. So he can get better at being a person. That requires watching them. That means he's staring at you and has been for like three minutes, now, expression like someone who is trying to memorize whatever it is you're doing. Sorry.

i

[landing_lights]

Ade's having a pretty good evening, all things considered. It's been a while since he was at a proper social function—decades if you count the time spent in cryo-sleep—but somehow, he's managed to avoid embarrassing himself thus far and has been absolutely cleaning house at cards. Turns out, the ability to literally smell nervousness, fear, and excitement is a useful skill when it comes to gambling. Ade's been calling bluffs all evening.

He's stepped away for some fresh air, a cold beer in his hand mostly just for nostalgia's sake; the c'nataat in his blood gives him immunity to all poisons, recreational ones included. He's taking a sip when he spots the figure at the door. The first thing Ade notices about the man is the thermos in his hands. Second, that one of those hands is made of metal. And finally, as Ade steps towards the door to welcome him in, that the acid scent of human anxiety hangs heavily around him.

Ade's guessing that the other man hadn't expected so many people and is having second thoughts. He stops a respectful distance away, his expression open and amicable.

"Hi," he says. "Are you here for cards?"

[worthallthis]

Better enjoy that immunity while it lasts, Ade. Cuz it won't unless you plan on scaring people regularly. Winter hasn't realized that his own drug resistance is gone too, but then, he hasn't tried drinking any alcohol since he stopped feeding the Stranger, either.

Winter watches Ade approach out of the corner of his eye, not making anything remotely like eye contact. There's a slight nod; he is indeed here for the cards. "There was a sign posted," he says, voice flat and largely uninflected, but still seeming a little bit uncertain.

[landing_lights]

The man's demeanor is unusual—monotone, unsmiling, avoiding eye contact—but he's hardly the strangest person Ade's encountered since stepping in the door. "You're in the right place," Ade says, stepping back to make room. "There's a table for the drinks and snacks; I'll show you."

It's not Ade's party, but it's in his nature to be helpful—and the man at the door seems like someone who likely needs help at this kind of function. Ade glances back as he leads him inside, nodding at the thermos in his hands. "What'd you bring?"

[worthallthis]

"Cocoa." He's pretty sure it's not really an appropriate poker-night kind of drink, but it's all he knows how to make that's easy to bring along.

He can't well bring a dish of pasta or sandwiches or something.

But he does follow Ade inside. Looks like it's okay that he's here, after all. He looks around, chin down and eyes doing most of the moment, checking who all is here already. "I'm Winter," he adds, because he's trying to get better at this person thing, and people usually introduce themselves.

iii

[abrightboy]

Malcolm flops against the wall next to Winter and gestures to his cup. "Is that cocoa? Is there any more?" he asks.

[worthallthis]

"Yes. I brought a thermos. One of the big ones." So it is, specifically, Winter's cocoa. Or perhaps Kate or Yelena's, but in this case, he did in fact make it himself. He gestures at the snack table. "There's about half of it left."

[abrightboy]

"Do... you mind if I have some?" Malcolm asks him. Maybe he hadn't brought it for that.

[worthallthis]

Winter looks over at him with a baffled frown, not quite making eye contact but coming close. "I brought it to share."

iii

[whisperedone]

Garner isn't the best at socializing, not because he isn't personable, anyone he's come across is greeted with a small smile or a friendly word and George helped him with a few rounds at the table, something he was decently good at once he knew the rules, but he has no qualms giving up his spot eventually. No, it's more to do with a general lack of knowing what to say or not fully being able to see someone's face and reactions. In this louder setting, the more subtle cues he relies on are lost to him.

He'd moved back to his place in the kitchen, a safe spot of low activity where people would occasionally come through and he could speak to them, but keep out of the way. The feeling of being watched goes nearly unnoticed for most of that time...until he turns his face more in the direction it feels like a presence has been...but stationary. He almost missed it in the hustle of everyone else, but something tips him off now. His brows pinch together as he tries to listen harder for a shift in clothing or movement...but the person is nearly statuesque. Like someone used to watching for long periods.

Finally, Garner raises a hand from where they've largely rested across himself and waves vaguely in the presence's direction. Hopefully, he's not waving at...and empty wall or something, that would be embarrassing.

[worthallthis]

Winter lifts a hand to wave, back, after a moment of hesitation, uncertain if he's actually the one being waved at. It's the left one, so Garner can hear the movement not just as fabric shifting, but also metal plates clicking and gears whirring.

There is, indeed, a person there, who has been trying to figure out what Garner's deal is and why he doesn't ever seem to look at anyone. He has seen Garner around, but he hasn't exactly paid a lot of attention to him.

[whisperedone]

There's a sound of metal, mechanisms, but muffled as under fabric and it drives Garner's curiosity higher, it also gives him a target to work towards as he carefully picks his way from the kitchen towards the source of the sound.

He pauses as he nears, a hand reaching out to try and find the wall he expects to be nearby...the same wall he thinks this person is near. When his hand presses to it, he stands closer to it to keep out of the way, but turns clouded eyes and a scared face towards the presence, his voice soft. "I hope I'm not talking to empty air, but...have you been watching me?" 'And why do you sound and slightly smell of metal?' But that was maybe not a starter question.

[worthallthis]

"Yes," Winter says without shame, and he's watching him still, putting the clues together finally when he watches Garner feel for the wall.

Belatedly, remembering some reactions he's had to people staring at them, he adds, "Sorry. I'm trying to learn more about being a person. So I can be better at it."

III. Mingling

[bindlestifflost]

George has just finished dumping another sack of ice into the chest and shaking the water out of the plastic into the sink. He's aware of somebody at his back but hasn't had the chance to turn and see them until just now. After greeting him earlier and losing a couple of hands of cards to him through the night, he's confident enough that he wants to be here. The intense stare must just mean he wants something. Maybe.

"Was I blockin' your way to the ice chest? You can help yourself now," he offers, making sure he's well out of the way.

"You havin' a good time?"

[worthallthis]

"No, you're not in the way," Winter assures him. "I'm just watching people." He pauses. "If it's bothering you I can stop." Or try to be less obvious about it. Winter is not good at subtle, unless you're talking about his humor, but he can try.

[bindlestifflost]

"Naw. You ain't botherin' nothin'," he says, leaning back against the counter with his fingers curved casually over the edges of it behind him. Something about him, not something directly exactly, reminds him a little bit of Lennie. Lennie'd watch people like that, like his life depended on it or like maybe if he watched long or hard enough, he'd crack the code on how to be like everybody else.

"'S funny. I never expected I'd be hosting nothin' like this. Used to think about it a lot, what I'd do with my own place, but... It ain't never seemed like more 'n something to pass the time until I got here. Too bad it comes with all that mess you mentioned in the library. I'd have almost said my luck was changin'." Would say that, actually. Just not for the better.

As natural as it would be to ask him about himself, where he's from, what it's like there, he doesn't. There's something about his intense stare and metal arm that says maybe he wouldn't want to talk about it. He figures if he wants to talk he will, and if he doesn't, well, he can do enough of the talking for the both of them for a spell.

[worthallthis]

"I never even thought about having. My own place." He looks around. The apartments are all basically the same, just sometimes decorated differently. This one feels homey, with all the people in it. He kind of likes that. It feels right, to have a bunch of people in a space like this.

"It still isn't, really," he adds. "ADI owns these. But it's okay. They don't spy too much on us and I have a lock on my door they can't get past." He's pretty sure. And anyway, he tends to shove the dresser in front of the door when he goes to bed, regardless.

iii

[failedpromise]

"Hey Winter." Cortana's tone is friendly, maybe a little fond, as she walks over to him.

She's wearing that shirt of his. It's mostly because she was told she had to wear something, but she is wearing it.

"Didn't expect to see you here." He doesn't strike her as the partying type.

[worthallthis]

He's vaguely surprised to see her in his sweatshirt, and it manages to get a small smile out of him. Good job, Cortana. "Hi Cortana." He tilts his head and adds, "I'm good at cards. And spending time with people is a person thing. I'm trying to get better at being a person."

[failedpromise]

Cortana's own smile gets a little wider in response.

Perhaps the person comment should be more concerning, but it's the getting better part that she focuses on. Regardless of why he needs to get better (and she has some guesses that probably aren't too far off), she's glad for him.

"And how's that going?"

[worthallthis]

The smile fades, not that it was likely to stick around for long anyway. "I don't know. A lot of things still don't make sense to me. And I don't think I am very convincing. But everyone at ADI, at least, is very patient with me fucking it up." The people in town are slightly less patient. He still accidentally scares people. It's a problem.

iii

[conning]

Neal was putting together a plate of finger foods to share with Malcolm, all of them small and mild and finishable in one bite. He was doing that, then he noticed Winter watching him, offered a small smile, and then... noticed as he continued to pick out finger foods that Winter was still staring at him. Very intently.

It isn't until Neal has handed the plate off to Malcolm with a kiss and a murmur in his ear that he dares approach the big man. Neal isn't small himself, no, but Winter has so much presence.

"Um... did I take the last of something you wanted? I'm sure Malcolm wouldn't mind sharing."

[worthallthis]

"No. You're fine." Winter tilts his head, considering, eyes narrowed. Then, because he's been told using his words is better than just hoping people will explain out of discomfort alone, he asks, "Why did you kiss him."

[conning]

Neal blinks.

Surely he misheard.

"Sorry, what?"

[worthallthis]

Was he unclear? Winter frowns a little, and tries again, this time with more words. "I don't understand what the appeal of kissing is. So I asked you why you did it."