There's the weak, and the strong, and the best that have no answers

[usavatar]

WHO: Steve Rogers and Clint Barton and Frank Castle, anyone else in Avengers Mansion or who later happens by.
WHERE: Avenger's Mansion, and THE MEAN STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY
WHEN: The night after Steve's arrival
WARNINGS: N/A
SUMMARY: Valeria brings Steve 'round to Avengers Mansion; later he sneaks out to decompress and gets tailed instead.
FORMAT: Any.


Clint
The trip to the mansion is uneventful, for all that Steve gets his fare share of glances on mass transit. He can't blame the people for it - his suit is supposed to be eye-catching, and the fact that he's filthy with the remains of a battle that hasn't happened here makes it all the more so. Valeria knows the city, it seems, and they approach the imposing building in short order after they leave the subway. There's someone out front as they walk up - someone holding a bow.



The Palatial Manse
It feels good to get clean, even if it's in another unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. People who, according to Mockingbird, are dying to see him. That might be the reason he takes a little longer to tend to his injuries, particularly the gash-and-burn across his side. Might be why he doesn't leave the massive bathroom immediately once he's dressed and his hair is combed. He spends a few minutes staring down his reflection without thinking much at all - and then it's a quiet descent to the living room, which he mostly finds by accident.


Frank Castle/Others
It's somewhere between late and early when he feels the mansion quiet down enough that he can find his way out without being seen. Without being seen by more than the accusing eyes of a small dog dressed in a bee costume, anyway. He hits the sidewalk outside of the gates and takes what feels like his first deep breath since arriving. Steve doesn't pick a direction so much as he starts walking and lets his instinct find paths still familiar even in another world. He's not doing this for the sights. He just needs time to think.

Comments

[usavatar]

So it happened to him, too. [He suspected, but the confirmation is somehow disappointing.] Yes. SHIELD found me around six months ago.

[incywincyhero]

It's probably happened to a lot of you's, multiple universes being what they are. But you said six months ago for you was early 2012? [He clicks his tongue.] Our Cap's been out for more than fifteen years, at this point. It's hard to be exact when we're in the wrong universe, but somewhere around there.

[usavatar]

That isn't exactly comforting. [None of it. He scrubs at the back of his neck before gesturing past the other man, at the seating area.] May I?

[incywincyhero]

It'd probably be less comfortable if I said you get used to it, wouldn't it -- oh, yeah, of course. [He shifts aside to let Steve through, then adds:] I was actually gonna stop by the kitchen -- you want anything?

[usavatar]

No, thank you. [He starts to fall into parade rest, catches himself, and settles on the nearest couch instead. Steve folds his hands over his knees, glancing toward the door and then down again.]

[incywincyhero]

Back in a tic. [Spidey sees the parade rest stance, but (for once) doesn't immediately comment, instead moving off to the kitchen with a wave.

After some banging of pantry doors, clattering of tableware, and the brief whirr of a microwave, he's back with a bag of doritos, two mugs of coffee, and a slightly dehydrated-looking grilled cheese sandwich, all of which he puts on the table nearest where Steve's settled. He slides one of the mugs in the other man's direction.] I'll drink it if you don't want it, don't worry about it going to waste.

[usavatar]

Thanks. [He inspects the grilled cheese sandwich, and buries his commentary in a long pull from the coffee mug. The bitterness still clashes with his memory of the improvised coffees, the substitutes and the teas of rationing, acidic in different ways. But he prefers the real thing - a quiet indulgence.]

I'm surprised. Most people don't seem to worry about that. About waste, I mean.

[incywincyhero]

Well, I ... can't say I always pay that much attention to it. Life on the go, you know how it is. [He lifts his mask so he can pop a few Doritos into his mouth, and crunches them loudly.]

But the people who raised me grew up in the Great Depression, and I figured-- y'know, you said you woke up from the ice just a few months ago... [Okay, that got weird fast. Time for more Doritos.]

[usavatar]

[He smiles at the floor, amused in spite of everything.] You don't have to be uncomfortable talking about it. It's... easier when it's not strange. You were raised by your grandparents?

can we pretend he said "folks" i swear that's what i typed

[incywincyhero]

Not literally, but I guess you could put it like that. See, after my mom and dad had me mom ate dad, so none of us thousand little spiderlings had any place to go...

Anyway. It... wasn't that hard to do the math.

NO NEVER yes of course u__u

[usavatar]

[He looked decidedly human under that mask - Steve thinks it must be a joke, but he can't quite tell for sure. Instead of answering immediately, he gives Spidey a long look.] You're a bit big for your species.

[incywincyhero]

[He takes a big chunk out of his sandwich, then waves it around for emphasis.] Lots of calcium in your average housefly.

[usavatar]

[SIGH.] Am I allowed to ask how literal the alias is? We don't exactly have ground rules for this sort of thing where I'm from.

[incywincyhero]

[Headtilt.] What, not even with the Invaders or the Liberty Legion? You musta talked about this sort of thing with the original Torch, or Namor, or Whizzer, or -- no, knowing what he's like, scratch Namor. Yeesh, you'd think a guy would mellow after seventy years...

[usavatar]

[Spidey gets a long, blank look.] The only individuals with any unique attributes that I know are Dr. Banner, Thor, and Tony Stark. Agents Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff round out the Avengers. It's not... Things went a little differently in my world.

[He massages the corner of one eye.] I was the world's first 'superhero', according to Agent Coulson.

[incywincyhero]

Well, that's... pretty different. But your universe still has four of the six founding Avengers of our universe plus two who came later. And you're already working for SHIELD.

Would the names Hank Pym or Janet van Dyne ring a bell?