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[treadstone]

Well, here he is again. And it might be completely unsurprising that it took him a moment to remember that he’d been here before but once he’d finished figuring that out he moved on through the crowd and wandered, actually, completely out of the forum.

Right, he remembered his question from that last time and thought some on what would come out of his mouth this time around but first, he got a coffee. No idea how he knew where to go in this kind of place, but never the less. Webb returned and observed the forum for a small while. His brows ebbed in a little and he decided to not make his question political again. That always ended the same way.

Instead he sat and chose to ask something a little more personal. “Do you have a family?”

Seemed liked a good time to talk about family.

[ooc: PS sorry about dropping off the face of the earth :/ ]

Comments

Welcome back!

[juststeverogers]

"Sort of." There's a slim man bundled up as much as possible with a shopping bag in his hands who stops at the posed question. He sounds a lot older than he looks, that's for sure.

"Blood family, no. Not anymore."

Thanks!

[treadstone]

Christ, kid looks like a draft could knock him over. David spared him a good look over just by habit and narrowed his eyes a tick, momentarily. Whatever he was thinking, or whatever he noticed, didn't reveal itself in his words.

"Sounds like a story," he waved to the seat beside him on the couch and brought the cup up to his lips.

[juststeverogers]

Steve will look down into his shopping bag, decide that this is an acceptable delay in getting home, and take a seat on the couch.

"Not a long one. Ma died of tuberculosis. Was just me an' her. My best friend got into the army for The War the day I ended up stuck here. I consider him to be close enough to be family." Another rummage and Steve will offer a container with four blueberry muffins to David. Would he like one?

"How about you?"

[treadstone]

He shifted just a little, turned his body to better face the young man who decided to sit. Cup still in hand, David gave the man a one-over again when he mentioned War. David himself looked every bit the soldier even if he wasn't wearing a uniform. The way his shoulders rested, the way he kept himself neat - not a hair out of place - and his overall build. If Steve was from wartimes (wait, when isn't there war?) then he might pick up a thing or two.

"Sorry to hear about that," he said, and it was genuine. Sure, he'll accept the muffin and give a nod of thanks.

"According to some paperwork I had a family once," David said as he picked away at the food in an incredibly meticulous way. Like everything else he does. "I don't remember them, though." A beat, "What war, if you don't mind me asking?"

[juststeverogers]

"Uh..." Steve frowns. It didn't have a name when he left. But he's read a lot since coming here. "I'm from Brooklyn, December 1941. I think...World War 2?" Steve looks up again. "None of the recruiters would take me. But they were happy to take Buck. Then I got stuck here. I dunno if mine was a world where we won or not."

He doesn't care so much about the winning or losing. Just if Bucky's okay. He cares about the outcome of the war, but less than the outcome of his family. What little is left of it.

"What war are you from? You look like a soldier."

[treadstone]

"Excuse me if I say I'm not surprised," he commented on the fact that they wouldn't take him.

Stories told of those times where volunteers classified as A-4 were so devastated that they killed themselves. He wondered, briefly, if he ever met any of those heros back when he was in Service. He might have wanted to. He probably still would, although most of them were gone by now.

He didn't believe in war, he didn't believe there was a good side or a bad side, but he definitely believed that everyone fighting in the allied forces back in those days were heros.

David thought a moment on the question. He could crop up a story based on paperwork. He couldn't say he was Delta, not even here, it just wouldn't fly. He could say he was Airborne, though. Probably his last mission was in Afghanistan before he moved to Treadstone. That timeline matched up.

"You'll be happy to know that World War II was the last big devastation," but not the last war. War would never end. "I'm Airborne," a beat, "My last deployment was Afghanistan."

[brave_heart_verity]

Oh hey, she remembers him. He gets a friendly little wave. "I do. I have the one I was born in, and the one I helped make. The latter's the only one talking to me right now. Holidays getting to you, too?"

[treadstone]

She looked familiar. Yes, he remembered her too and he shifted through the information in his mind to recall what it was they talked about. There was a time where he was getting better with this memory thing but somewhere between point A and point B the soldier came back. Suppose that kind of conditioning can't disappear forever.

"Mm," he gave her the slighted of a smile and raised a hand in a wave. Oh, yeah. Their conversation got personal pretty fast. He remembered it now. "Same shit different time of year. There's no better cover for an assassination than someone having too many drinks at a holiday party."

A moment, he can't say from personal experience but. Well anyway. "I hear that's common. Making family."

[brave_heart_verity]

Very few people have perfect memories. One brief conversation months ago doesn't have to be particularly memorable. But he can manage a smile, so whatever he remembers can't be that bad.

The casual reference to assassinating someone gives her pause. "A good reminder to be careful about any suspicious-looking punch."

She gives a little shrug. "For those of us in need of one, probably. It can be nice until they start bugging you because then you've got nobody but yourself to blame for their being around." She's joking about that last part. Even at their most annoying, she loves her brothers.

[treadstone]

He blamed himself for that one. Should have seen it coming. Maybe he was getting old, too slow, new people came in to these programs with a lot more promise than he had. Every generation people get smarter, faster, evolve. He was an outdated design. Nevertheless determined. Until the day someone manages to catch him and take him out, he wasn't going to stop.

"Even the most independent person needs someone around sometimes, better for them to be friend than foe." A moment. "How have you been?" David learns socializing 101. Look at him go, what a pro.

[brave_heart_verity]

Evolution is great for the species, if not the individual. Pity there's no retirement plan for someone in his line of work. If only he could find a place where nobody cares who he is or who he was...

"I've been... I'm okay." Things have happened, as she knew they would. It might explain the black-on-black wardrobe. "I've been lucky my friends have been here. I don't think I would have survived surviving otherwise."

[treadstone]

He's not sure he could survive here. The only time he managed to find peace of mind was in India with Marie, and look where that landed him. Once you're in the system, you're there for life. Either you're a friend or a foe and if you're a foe it didn't matter how far removed from the grid you where. They'd always find you, and he knew that now. Besides, what was he doing when he was with Marie? Odd jobs, kept up his health, and somewhere in the back of his mind was this burning nagging feeling. Kept up with news, always waiting for that one big fuck up that would call him back in action. If he was being honest with himself.

David nodded and stayed silent for a moment. He wasn't about to pry and ask what the damage was but instead he offered her the seat beside him if she wanted to take it. David had always been better at listening than talking, anyway. Partially because what would he talk about? Most of his life he only remembered from the pages of confidential records.

"Does your ability to tell if someone is lying make it hard for you to lie, then?" He can sometimes be cheeky, though. When the mood strikes.

[onemorebounty]

I have the family I was born into, the family that raised me, and the family I've gathered around myself.

[treadstone]

"You're still on good terms with all of them?" Some people have it good, he supposes.

[onemorebounty]

As good as is possible. The first two groups are dead, but I remember them fondly.

*"Good" is a relative term.*

[treadstone]

"Sorry to hear," he said, genuine. Seemed to be a running theme with people he came into contact with.

[onemorebounty]

*She accepts the sympathy with a nod.*

Thanks. You?

[the_nicest_scarf]

[Family? The question doesn't fall on deaf ears, as a short human wrapped in bandages happens to hear the question. Despite looking like a walking mummy, the form of the human is clearly female. There's also a blue bag slung over her back, concealing a shovel and a gun of some sort. The Nexus brings in the strangest people nowadays.]

...I had an older brother once. [Her voice is almost mechanical, hidden behind a barely visible mask and blue scarf, her lone green 'eye' stares at the human cautiously.] We do not get along anymore due to conflicting ideals.

[treadstone]

It's a really good thing that David has been through the ringer a couple times when it came to coming into contact with sentient beings that looked not-so-human. Not that his opinion would show on his face either way but by this point, he's pretty used to it. A place like this? He's figure it to bring a lot of weird traffic, always.

"Wouldn't be a family if everyone got along, would it?" Sounds like he's reading something out of a textbook. 'What a family is like for dummies'. He wouldn't know. He didn't remember if he got along with his. He must of, he was married once apparently. As for his parents though? Who really knew.

[the_nicest_scarf]

[Hmm. This human confuses Rebel a bit. Most of the Nexus travelers either give her questionable looks or try to politely walk away. But this human is different, accepting, which is a foreign feeling to her. She doesn't let her guard down, but a slight turn of her head indicates curiosity.]

He no longer poses a problem to me. But the pain lingers at times. [Her bandaged hand goes to the scarf around her neck, pulling it closer.] ...Having a family is pointless in the wasteland. Everything eventually dies.

[treadstone]

The way she said that makes him instantly think that she killed him and the question was right at the tip of his tongue before it retreated and he took another sip of his coffee instead. He'd say he can't be judgemental over the matter, all things considered, but he can and he is. Same as he is for himself.

"You're not from the best universe, I take it?"

[the_nicest_scarf]

[Perhaps she killed him? Or it might have been a companion of hers? The answer stays hidden, as the topic is quickly silenced before it can even be started. She merely nods yes to his second question, not making any sort of gestures, but her green eye does look at the cup he's drinking from. What's that? She doesn't dare ask that question in fear of the human attacking her.]

Correct. Legends say our world was ravaged by a nuclear apocalypse. I believe it to be true, based on the creatures I've seen.

I hope it's okay for me to tag into this a little late! :o

[bestdadinamestris]

Hughes has been busy with a large number of things recently, but that's not going to keep him from stopping to answer a question about family.

"I have the best family there is," he says proudly as he saunters up to David with a smile. "Though to be fair, I include more than my wife and daughter as my family. I consider my closest friends family as well."

Talking about late :p lmao

[treadstone]

He remembered this man, if only through the way he carried himself. It was hard to forget. Something ingrained. David gave a nod and found the smallest smile at the way Hughes talked.

"Sometimes the family you make is stronger than the family you have."

Haha it's okay. We can slow tag together!

[bestdadinamestris]

Hughes nods in agreement. He'd be a poor man indeed if he didn't have his closest friends in his life right now. Even if Roy annoys the hell out of him some days.

"The difficult part is often convincing them that they're family and that your desire to be close and protect them is as much for them as it is for you. No man is an island, even if he sometimes wishes he was."