Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties...

[arrogantalloy]

WHO| Tony, The Avengers, and everyone else.
WHAT| Tony's woken from death and is now seeking the Avengers that died before him, Dave and Bucky too.
WHEN| 2nd of the 10th
WHERE| D12's floor, The commons of the Tribute Tower, possibly out on the streets.
WARNINGS| Thoughts on and talking about death, Maybe swearing?


District 12's Level


When Tony came too in his room his first instinct was to gasp for air. After all, dying from toxic dust you were immediately aware was not only in his body, but had managed to breathe in enough of it during the explosion to essentially leave him not only poisoned by internally hemorrhaging from coughing too long and too hard.

When he realised that he could in fact still breath and that his lungs were clear, Tony spared a thought to Thor, after all, when Tony realised how bad it was going to be he left Thor in the night, having to give mercy to Bucky had been hard enough on him, and Tony didn't want him to go through that, let alone see Tony get to that point. Hopefully Thor didn't take it as an insult, especially not after they started getting along.

Sitting up Tony got himself changed into something he felt more comfortable in, just a t-shirt and jeans before heading out into level 12's common room. Paying no mind to the Avoxes (After all it's not like they can talk to them, and he hates being handed things so they have no real reason to interact) He grabs an apple and walks to the elevator. After all it was a good time of day for people to be leaving their rooms, so Tony was going to go on the hunt.

Tower Commons


He wanders slowly around the commons of the tower, keeping his eyes open for the familiar shapes he was looking for. While he doesn't presently look all too open and obviously amused at the world, right now he looks determined and focused. If it's one thing Tony knows he can rely on is that Bruce, Bucky, Dave, Steve and even Anna all have pretty distinctive shapes to themselves making them easy enough to pick out of a crowd.

Even if the crowd is full of equally weird looking tributes sometimes.

Various drinking establishments.

If he was being honest with himself, Tony might say that the bars were calling to him. But considering his last foray into the world of marinating in liquor had him waking up without his hangover cure of coffee and donuts, Tony felt that maybe he should at least hold off on drinking for... Maybe an hour. So he chose to convince himself instead that he was looking for the others.

Comments

[tookthewheel]

Bucky quietly and briefly hums in acknowledgement, not sure how he is supposed to work on it. He laughed before, briefly, better than what he just did but only once. It felt good when it happened, it felt good just now, so he's not opposed to trying to get better at it if it's always that way.

"Why would I want to make myself look cute?" While asking the question he can't help by think of Aang when Tony mentions the kids, the kid would probably enjoy getting to do that. It's a good thing he wasn't around to hear that or he would have shot off to find some ribbons already.

He knows Tony's teasing him with the question but asks anyway, keeping up the conversation instead of lapsing into silence like he is more accustomed to.

[arrogantalloy]

"You've got the face for cute. I don't see why you shouldn't go for it?"

Is all Tony comes back with, before looking at him with a grin, because yeah it was an obvious tease.

"Besides, there is a whole demographic of women out there who really go for 'cute'. Believe me, that demographic got me through college. Men to really."

[tookthewheel]

"So you wore a ribbon in college." his eyes flick to Tony's hair, which isn't so short someone couldn't get a ribbon in there if they tried, maybe the clip-on kind. The image of Tony with a ribbon in his hair rises, unbidden, to the front of his mind and he feels the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.

Internally he's not exactly sure he wants women or men's attention in the way he assumes Tony's talking about, it's not something he's ever contemplated before (in memory) though from what he knows of his past James Barnes had been considered something of a charmer with women at least.

[arrogantalloy]

"Okay, I'm going to reply to that by saying the 80's were a weird time for everyone involved. But yes, there were a few moments where I had a ribbon or two in my hair. But I had more the baby-face cute going for me at the time."

But then he had the baby face because he was 15 and at MIT, and college girls found 15 prodigies hot. Possibly because of Doogie Howser.

He raises an eyebrow when he glances at the slight lip twitch.

"You're picturing this, aren't you?

[tookthewheel]

Bucky hadn't expected confirmation on what had been a idle but not serious train of logic following from Tony's statements and suggestions. Hm. He doesn't think it was usual for men in the days before the Soldier existed to do that.

He wonders if he was ever awake in the 80's. More than likely, it was difficult to imagine an entire decade going by where his service was not required. "I wouldn't know."

As to that... well, there's no point in lying, even if he hadn't been caught out. "Yes."

[arrogantalloy]

Tony can't even pretend to be embarrassed about the fact, after all it got him attention and at least made him feel like he belonged somewhere, which for him at the time was a big deal. That and Tony just really never had a use for shame in his life so how could he feel embarrassed?

"Well, I can promise you that no matter what you have in your head it was at least five times cuter and well braided than you think."

Then he adds as an afterthought.

"The ribbons, not my hair, I mean it was shaggy then, but not long."

[tookthewheel]

"I was going to ask." he admits without much difficulty in doing so.

Guess what he's trying to picture now Tony.

"You enjoyed it there?" Bucky is making a guess judging from the way Tony speaks of it.

[arrogantalloy]

He can picture it all he wants, a 15 year old boy-genius with ribbons hair isn't a sight no one can ever mentally do justice too.

The question makes him pause. A second to collect what he does think about what he thought of his days at MIT, which felt a million years ago these days.

"Uh, yeah. I guess so."

[tookthewheel]

Especially a brainwashed assassin with a limited capacity for imagination right now but he's giving it his best shot, mostly resulting in the image of Tony as he is now, hair a little longer and covered in ribbons. Maybe that's another of those weakly amused huff's escaping him before he moves on from it.

Bucky's doesn't think Tony sounds so sure as they continue onward's towards the promised donuts. "I don't think I went to college."

[arrogantalloy]

"No one went to college when you were younger." Tony said with certainty. "Everyone enlisted the second they looked 18, for the temporary American Dream of kicking Hitler in the pants."

As they approach the coffee shop, Tony really doesn't even make any note of it, just walks in and heads straight for the counter to charm the girl into giving him a tall cinnamon later and at least 12 donuts. As he knows that his assets have been cut off until further notice. Then he gestures to Bucky.

"And something for the hippy, I'm thinking chai."

[tookthewheel]

"I didn't enlist." he replies, the words coming out with certainty. Bucky's step stumbles slightly because that's right, he didn't enlist, he was drafted, that was it. A distinctive letter on the floor flashes into his head alongside the sense of foreboding that had come with it, the knowledge that his life was about irreparably chance.

It takes focus to keep going forwards and try not to show that he'd just suffered an epiphany.

With interest he watches how Tony manages to persuade the girl behind the counter into giving him the baked goods for free, using his celebrity status as a tribute to make it happen. She looks overwhelmed and flustered as she looks at Tony, then at Bucky who shakes his head. "Just coffee."

Not chai, whatever that was.

[arrogantalloy]

At the implication that Bucky was drafted Tony gives him a long look. He had known more than well enough that Steve had been doing everything he could to get into the war effort, so Tony had just assumed that Bucky had been the same. Howard might have been really chatty about the good captain and his commandos, but how they got into the army was something Howard never brought up, possibly because he didn't know, though more likely it was because he didn't care.

After a eyebrow knitting on Tony's part that had him quietly understand that there was no way drafting would be something easy to accept during WWII, he makes no other comment from there about it.

Instead, Tony turns back to the girl with a grin. "Just coffee for him then. Make it tall, there's a lot of him to fill don't you think?"

He's leaning on the counter now, sounding almost gossipy with the girl about Bucky, who gives a shy giggle that she's trying really hard to not be noticed for, after all Tony might have just been a bit naughty to get himself stuck with a bracelet, but Bucky was meant to be a traitor. She was unsure, but seemed to be caught up enough in Tony's complete disregard for his status enough to then leave to make them both their drinks.

[tookthewheel]

Good. Bucky's glad Tony doesn't say anything about it because he doesn't want to talk about it. He's pushing the knowledge back, or trying to anyway, for when he's alone and can deal without questions being asked of him, so he can try and process the memory and understand if there's questions he needs to ask himself of Steve. Steve never mentioned that he;d been drafted before, neither had the museum.

He shakes himself back to the present, standing quiet and alert until the girl has gone (ducking his head slightly when she giggles and glances his way) before quietly asking "Won't she get in trouble for this?"

[arrogantalloy]

He shakes his head easily.

"If anything it would just make me look more awful, corrupting young woman. I've had the headline before it's not a big deal."

Then he looks around the coffee shop, seeing people look at him and Bucky, whispering to each other, looking both affronted and thrilled that they get to be near such deviant tributes.

"Seems to be good for business anyway."

[tookthewheel]

Bucky follows where Tony looks, noticing all the other customers gazing at them too and fights not to hunch in on himself, to not try to disappear from plain view. Honestly, he hates this visibility and how everyone knows who they are. After going from hardly anyone knowing he existed to being a celebrity in a few short months is hell on him and the reason why he very rarely leaves the Tribute Center when every instinct that has been trained into him tells him to hide.

"I don't understand people." he says with exasperation. "Why do they enjoy this?"

[arrogantalloy]

"Because judging famous people isn't like judging normal people." He says simply. After all, the things he's seen written on the Internet and in magazines about him, you might as well assume he was character in a show than a real person, treating his more news worth days as utterly shameful when just as many of them either do the same thing or wish they had the courage to do what he does (As a playboy or a hero, really).

To make a point he looks at two women sitting by the window, and gives them a big grin, they make a show of looking affronted but quickly enough were leaning in across the table to each other to giggle and chitter about Tony.

"Pretty sure there's a thing about tall poppies and wanting to cut them down that applies here."

[tookthewheel]

Bucky watches the interaction out of the corner of his eyes, as well as the follow-up action the two women take after finishing pretending to be upset by Tony's attention. He still can't say he understands it but he realises he doesn't care enough to pursue the subject here.

The scrutiny directed at them is starting to make him mildly uncomfortable.

"Have you seen the others yet?" he asks to change the subject.

[arrogantalloy]

The coffee's come as Bucky asks, Tony picks up his own and drinks it before answering. Tony has seen both Steve and Bruce before coming across his the blank floppy that was the Winter Soldier. One meeting was more interesting than the other, not that he had any intention of bringing it up.

"Uh, Yeah. You actually make three for three of the men I was looking for. Haven't seen our long haired widow or the other you yet."

[tookthewheel]

He takes the coffee, holding it in his right hand where he can feel the benefit of the heat against his skin. Bucky doesn't drink right away, though he holds the coffee cup up close enough to his face that he can enjoy the rich aroma which in some ways is even better than the taste.

Bucky's eyes flicker at the mention of Natasha, reminded of an unpleasant fact. "No one has seen the Black Widow." he had been informed this by Steve as he has yet to encounter his other self either. "They didn't bring her back."

[arrogantalloy]

There's an obvious pause in Tony's movements when Bucky says she hasn't come back. He blinks and then sips his coffee.

"Well. That. Well it explains something."

Without so much as a hint Tony just heads straight out the door of the coffee shop, he pauses outside, partly to wait for Bucky, partly to think about the fact he's down a Widow he barely knew.

Okay, sure he was still cautious around his worlds widow, even if he didn't outwardly show that, he'd seen how she fought and was eager not to give her an easy reason to use it on him, but he had still respected her. That respect had transferred somewhat onto this other Natasha.

She had her own past with her own Tony and had clearly done the same with him, obvious alone from when the virus outbreak happened and he was one of the few people she grabbed to take to a safe location, treating him affectionately, even playfully. He had honestly liked that side of a woman who admitted that she had played him for information several times in her world.

If she wasn't coming back, there would be a solid part of Tony that would miss it. That and Tony never dealt with people 'leaving him' very well.

[tookthewheel]

Tony doesn't have to wait for long, Bucky hesitates only a moment before following after him outside.

He has been in much the same boat since finding out that piece of information. The Black Widow was not a friend but a woman for whom he had come to possess a healthy amount of respect, the same that he would apply to a handler, a commander. With that came a certain amount of attachment for one who, though at first threatening, had come through after with kinder actions that he wasn't sure he deserved.

His hair will remain uncut because he doesn't know anyone but her he would allow to cut it.

"They made a mistake." They. The Capitol. They made the wrong choice not to bring her back. The current of his own personal upset at the development weaves its way into his words.

[arrogantalloy]

Tony shakes his head then rubs at his face slowly. he really didn't want to deal with this.

"A mistake would have been televising it. They did that with my district's last escort." He takes another drink as he looks around at the walking traffic outside the store without really paying attention to it.

"If they didn't have a point to make with her they could have just sent her back, for all we know she wasn't giving the Capitol enough of a show."

After all, her being one of S.H.I.E.L.D's top spies meant she knew how to keep herself as unobtrusive as possible, so it wouldn't be beyond possibility that she had in general made her self look too uninteresting for the Capitol to keep her around. It almost made Tony want to try it, but he's never been good at not standing out.

[tookthewheel]

Bucky looks down at his drink and after sniffing the liquid inside the cup let's himself take a drink, the hot bitter taste something to focus on other than his own restrained feelings over Natasha's removal from the games.

"She was suspected of murdering the head Peacekeeper." he points this out quietly, even though the bustle of the crowd and traffic around them would make it difficult for any nearby microphone to pick up on their conversation. It might be both reasons were used to justify the decision, a mistake on Natasha's part tied with one on the Capitol's. "But the other suspects have been resurrected."

[arrogantalloy]

He reflects on that thought then looks at Bucky, his face looking certain.

"Then she didn't do it." He takes another drink from his coffee. "They're too big on making an example of people for giving peacekeepers dirty looks to let her go without a word if she was the actual killer."

As much as Tony could let conspiracies fly with that connection, but he's far too logical to let it actually slip through.

[tookthewheel]

"No. It was too sloppy for someone with her skill set."

There's something like professional pride there as he ranks the Black Widow's abilities. Her file had listed her as a level 6 target, highly skilled in espionage, interrogation and assassination. Her combat abilities and intelligence was not to be underestimated.

He doesn't care who actually did it, to be honest, but he'd been certain it was not Natasha from the beginning.