Hello Soldier

[alwaysdramatic]

There is a man in the Nexus. Standing tall, he is cut like a champion athlete or a Greek god. The uniform he wears proclaims him to be proudly American - a star emblazoned across his chest - and the shield that hangs on his back should leave no doubt as to who he is. He pores meticulously over one of the brochures, brows furrowed as he reads the strange information it provides. Having finished it, he shakes his head in disbelief before sliding it into a pocket and looking up to pay more attention to his surroundings.

"First a robot tries to take over the world and now this," he mumbles to himself. Passing a hand across his eyes he lets out a quiet sigh before straightening his shoulders and turning to the the Nexus at large. The instructions are to ask a question, and he seems to wrestle for a moment with his thoughts. Captain America has no room for doubt, but Steve Rogers? Well, he could use a fresh viewpoint, and if he's lucky this will all be some strange dream and he'll at least wake up with a little clarity.

"Duty entails sacrifice. That's a pretty cut and dried concept. How do you know if you're sacrificing too much? Is there a too much?"

((And we'll just keep this spoiler free!))

Comments

[alwaysdramatic]

He knows how refreshing having someone be honest with you can be. Though he's only really experienced it after they've lied to him several times. So it's a little different.

"So, how long have you been here, Verity? You seem pretty used to," he waves a hand in a vague, all-encompassing movement. "All this."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Not very long. It's a little hard to tell," she admits, "but less than a day. I guess it's easier when I know it's all true. I can skip right to the getting over it."

[alwaysdramatic]

"It's all a little over my head. I vaguely understood that Thor's from another world, but all this alternate universe mumbo jumbo makes my head swim." He just wants things to be simple!

[brave_heart_verity]

"This I can actually help with." It's good to feel useful. "So... okay, it's like... every time you make a choice, every possible outcome happens somewhere. Like for breakfast, if you chose eggs over cereal, there's a slightly different you who had the cereal instead in another reality."

[alwaysdramatic]

"Right. So every possible choice branches off in all directions and I'm only aware of the one that I chose, but another me chose different?" The possibilities of that particular theory just make his head hurt. Every little choice branching into a million more smaller ones, each on creating a new possibility. It's almost more than the mind can conceive.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Well... it may not be every choice. It may only be the statistically significant choices. Not that there's any way for us to know, since the sheer volume of options is too large to even sample accurately." Noticing he's not dealing with this so well, she'll try to be reassuring. "The important thing is that you are you."

[alwaysdramatic]

"I suppose it would be strange to meet a version of myself where the only difference is he had eggs for breakfast and I didn't." He shakes his head slightly. That would be dumb. "Really does put you in your place though."

[brave_heart_verity]

"It could be interesting to see how little changes lead to bigger ones," she supposes thoughtfully. "But there'd be a lot of jealousy one way or the other. Or possibly going both ways."

His second comment gets a curious look from her. "You seem much too modest to have to worry about that."

[alwaysdramatic]

"I'd imagine. The grass is always greener and all that," he muses for a moment. "End of the day I suppose the lesson's still good though. Gotta make the most of the hand you've been dealt. Not really much use getting hung up on could've beens."

He laughs at that, a hand going to the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm the delusions of grandeur type. Still, you think you know your tiny little place in the universe, then you learn that place is a whole lot tinier than you thought in the grand scheme of things. It's a pretty humbling experience for any man I'd say."

[brave_heart_verity]

"It's the same size it's always been," she counters with a smile. "There's just more of a horizon."

[alwaysdramatic]

"Well that's definitely a more encouraging way of looking at it." He smiles in return. "You're a very uncommon sort of young woman, Ms. Willis."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Verity," she reminds him, "and... thanks?"

[alwaysdramatic]

"Verity, of course." He chuckles at the sudden awkwardness. "You can make the man bigger but you can't take the awkwardness out of him. That's what Romanoff tells me in any case."

[brave_heart_verity]

Oh, the sniggering.

"I. Um. Usually that makes them more awkward. Maybe I've just got lousy taste in boyfriends."

[alwaysdramatic]

It's a credit to Steve that he's quite as oblivious as he is. It takes him a moment to catch the joke, and even when he does all he can do is cough embarrassedly.

"Wouldn't know much about that. Never was too good with the ladies."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Now that, I find hard to believe. Unless the problem was picking one."

[alwaysdramatic]

He touches his right hand to his heart before raising it in the air, still smiling. "Honest Abe. Time was I didn't warrant a second look. Can't learn to talk to women when you don't get the chance to practice."

That and he's a massive dork. But he doesn't know that.

[brave_heart_verity]

An eyebrow rises, not in doubt but in disappointment. "Then you're looking for the wrong kind of woman. We're not all that shallow."

And some girls like geeks.

[alwaysdramatic]

He shakes his head gently, remembering some of the women Bucky had tried to set him up with. "First impressions are important. People measure you at first glance. I suppose nowadays it's easier, what's inside matters enough to people most'll take the time to find it. Back in my day it was a little different."

A geek is exactly what Steve happens to be. Added Super Soldier muscle mass or not.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Yeah, first impressions are important. But I'm going to make a wild assumption that you bathed regularly and dressed appropriately, so it can't have been that bad. And getting to know someone is more important." She is very determined he understand this.

[alwaysdramatic]

He gives her a good natured shrug. It's not something he spends a lot of time thinking about.

"Times were different. Most women valued different qualities back then. I didn't exactly fit the 'macho man' bill. Getting to know someone's important, last lady who gave me that shot's going on a hundred these days though."

[brave_heart_verity]

She sighs. He could just say he doesn't want to talk about it, instead of pulling out the "dying girlfriend" card.

"I'm sorry. But she's not the last one unless that's your choice." Because hello.

[alwaysdramatic]

You'll have to excuse him. This is all part of his 'bad at talking to women' schtick. Also, he may or may not be rather oblivious.

He offers her an apologetic smile, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. But yeah, I know that, been a little busy since I was thawed is all."

[brave_heart_verity]

"You're stuck in the middle of everywhere and might not know how to get home. I'd say you've got some free time," she points out. She might sound a little hopeful because she's a little hopeful.

[alwaysdramatic]

"One way to look at it. I should probably try and find a way back though. One of those sacrifices I was talking about. Not much time to spend talking to charming young women." And you know when Captain America says it, it isn't so much a line as it is a simple fact, Verity.