[audio] you can't say that all my friends are not dead or in jail

[beatupgrass]

[Rocket came back from his trip back home awhile ago, promptly ignored any messages he may have received, trapped his room, and then just for good measure retreated into an empty room, so he could mull this over and work the problem out. This was worse than Yondu. This was something he under no circumstances wanted to sit down and be sympathized with about.

But he can't hide forever, so when he finally makes an appearance on the network (audio only), it's to pretend he didn't just fall off the grid and make some (seemingly) unrelated observation.]

Has anyone ever, like... Met people here, and then went back home, and met those same people again, only you didn't remember 'em until you got back here, and now you've got two sets of experiences with that person?

And if it sounds crazy and don't make any sense, then try having it happen to you. It's a real headtrip.

Comments

[beatupgrass]

[Peggy, at least, will understand the significance of the part he's willing to talk about.]

I met Cap and Barnes. Sorta. It was kind of a whole thing, and we weren't exactly swappin' stories.

[mucked]

[ it's just as well there isn't a video component to this conversation -- because peggy finds herself caught somewhere between a grimace and a smile. despite all that's happened here in wonderland, there persists a spark of camaraderie for all the howling commandos.

she can read between those lines. the meeting wasn't a casual one. ]

On Earth or elsewhere?

[ good heavens, if her soldier lads have landed themselves in outer space... ]

[beatupgrass]

Earth, which I've been to now, I guess.

No offense, but I definitely ain't a fan.

[mucked]

It's an acquired taste. Even for those of us born and bred on its soil.

[ her answer is a dry one -- and perhaps a touch less awkward than what her instinct wanted to tell him: that she can't be blamed for his disappointment as she's quite sure she's dead and buried by the time of his visit. responsibility relinquished. ]

Did he still have the beard?

[ steve, that is. it seems like such a superficial question only she's trying to piece together a timeline for herself without making it seem too too much like an interrogation. ]

[beatupgrass]

Yep. Barnes looked better, though. I guess he's doing well for himself these days. And he's got a better arm, which he wouldn't sell me. Cheap bastard.

[He actually talked to Bucky. Cap he only saw from a distance a few times, but that beard man....]

[mucked]

You didn't swap stories but you did ask him to sell you his arm?

[ feel free to imagine her brows raising right now, rocket. ]

Cheeky of you.

[beatupgrass]

And his gun. But it was mid-battle banter, Peg. It's the kind of topic that comes up when you're killin' nasty space dogs.

[mucked]

[ peg. cheeky, indeed. ]

All the more reason not to sell either, I imagine.

[ but there's something jaunty, there, just beneath her tone. she knows mid-battle banter well with both of those men. is it such a sin to sometimes miss the war? not the brutality of it all, never, but the bonds and the relevance and the utility of being. ]

You were all likely better off with the gun firmly in his charge. Barnes was always the best shot of the unit.

[ it's been long enough and her heart has (mostly) mended and moved on. she can say kind things about him again. ]

[beatupgrass]

Probably. He picked me up by the back of the shirt, and wielded me and my gun for a hot minute, and I'm gonna be honest.. It was pretty frickin' badass. I should've been offended, but I wasn't.

[Maybe he did remember Bucky enough to feel that connection.]

[mucked]

...Sounds like a story. [ although perhaps that's all there is to it -- point it, peggy wants to acknowledge how impressive the moment sounds without belittling it. ] A thrilling one, at that.

[ if also a bit chilling. ]

It's good to hear that he's found his way in from the cold.

[beatupgrass]

[Yeah, and then he died again.]

Kinda wish I had the context to ask him how things were going for him. That's the part of this that really sucks. Not that I really had the time.

[mucked]

[ it's as good a segue as any... ]

How were things going for you?

[ good god, but that voice is the equivalent of an innocent whistle. ]

[beatupgrass]

[dead silence.

and then:]

That four year gap before all that went down was pretty good.

[mucked]

...Four years.

[ she hesitates. ]

My word. You've been gone a rather long time, then.

[ technically speaking. ]

[beatupgrass]

Considering last time it was two months, yeah. I wasn't really expecting such a big jump, but now I've officially been back home the same amount of time I've been in Wonderland that's pretty frickin' weird.

[mucked]

[ ah, there's a question. ]

...Do you believe that at all changes the way in which you perceive Wonderland? Does it feel any less temporary?

[beatupgrass]

Not really. I feel like after four years in this place and no trip home has stuck, it's still gonna feel kinda permanent. And to tell you the truth, now I'm starting to wonder if there's anything to go back to.

[mucked]

[ well. that's deeply alarming. ]

Has it gotten so bad?

[ there is no way she can ask this question and sound purely curious -- purely professional -- when it's her own universe hanging on the hooks. ]

[beatupgrass]

The Infinity Stone situation kinda escalated? So yeah. Pretty bad.

[mucked]

...That's been the bee buzzing in Tony's bonnet, too. [ she frowns -- hesitating, if only because she knows these waters are too deep for her to go wading in. and yet! ]

[beatupgrass]

...What's he told you?

[mucked]

Not much. He likes to keep me isolated, when he can.

[ a beat. ]

It's infuriating.

[beatupgrass]

Yeah, he struck me as that kind of a dick. Just 'cause you haven't seen any of this don't mean it ain't relevant. You can handle it.

I'd explain it better if I could.

[mucked]

...He's not as bad as all that. [ despite what she's just said. ] I imagine he's only trying to keep me from going prematurely grey. There isn't a lot one can do from seven decades prior to -- well -- whatever it is.

[ she sighs. ]

I assume there have been casualties?

[ why would he talk about it so fatalistically otherwise? ]

[beatupgrass]

Yeah, that's kinda what I told Nat, so I guess I ain't any better. It's frickin' complicated.

[He exhales deeply.] Yeah... Can't say how many. And I don't know a lot of the people involved anyway.