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CONFLUENCE 03
THUNDERSTRUCK
This time there was warning. Any being with precognitive abilities finds themselves brought to their knees a few hours before the event, plagued with a hazy vision of chaos and fear. There's not enough detail to say what is to happen, but at least they have the where and when.
Excelsior, Washington.
The people seem annoyed when they are told to evacuate. After all, Excelsior was built to last. This is a city exempt from the unpredictability of nature. They have weather control systems set up to ensure nothing disrupts their research. This a city built upon scientific advancement, with every inch of infrastructure reliant upon it, and they are confident that they are safe within its borders.
And even without the stubborn minority, the Alliance knows there isn't enough time for a full evacuation. But still, they try. They call upon every available hero to race toward whatever chaos may be about to drop over the city. The Society has sent a few faces too, more quietly. Whether to help or hinder is anyone's guess, as there's whispered encouragement to do both.
The city isn't anywhere near empty when the air goes very still. Everyone and everything pauses and looks skyward as a few drops of rain begin to fall, and the artificial sky fades to reveal roiling clouds.
The Confluence begins.
Excelsior, Washington.
The people seem annoyed when they are told to evacuate. After all, Excelsior was built to last. This is a city exempt from the unpredictability of nature. They have weather control systems set up to ensure nothing disrupts their research. This a city built upon scientific advancement, with every inch of infrastructure reliant upon it, and they are confident that they are safe within its borders.
And even without the stubborn minority, the Alliance knows there isn't enough time for a full evacuation. But still, they try. They call upon every available hero to race toward whatever chaos may be about to drop over the city. The Society has sent a few faces too, more quietly. Whether to help or hinder is anyone's guess, as there's whispered encouragement to do both.
The city isn't anywhere near empty when the air goes very still. Everyone and everything pauses and looks skyward as a few drops of rain begin to fall, and the artificial sky fades to reveal roiling clouds.
The Confluence begins.
ITS RAINING (SUPER) MEN
Rain slashes sideways as the skies darken, taking unnatural colors with every flash of lightning. It's beautiful and awe-striking, but knowing that somehow this bizarre phenomenon is the calm before the storm keeps anyone on the ground from enjoying it. Even the those who lack self preservation in the scientific community don't want to investigate the cause of this.
There's a flash of light and a boom. Those still caught in the streets waiting evacuation brace themselves.
And then people begin to fall.
If you are one of these people, you awaken to find yourself hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speed. You come into awareness just in time to register you're about to make impact with the ground, or a car, a building, whatever is underneath you. The impact pulverizes the surface strike, leaving a sizable crater, and as you pull yourself up you find yourself unharmed. Yet there's energy crackling in the air around you. If there are bystanders near you they whip out cellphones to capture the occurrence for their followers or for scientific posterities, crowding around the craters a buzz of excitement. Some of the more fearful ones simply turn and begin running in hopes they can beat the storm.
There's a flash of light and a boom. Those still caught in the streets waiting evacuation brace themselves.
And then people begin to fall.
If you are one of these people, you awaken to find yourself hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speed. You come into awareness just in time to register you're about to make impact with the ground, or a car, a building, whatever is underneath you. The impact pulverizes the surface strike, leaving a sizable crater, and as you pull yourself up you find yourself unharmed. Yet there's energy crackling in the air around you. If there are bystanders near you they whip out cellphones to capture the occurrence for their followers or for scientific posterities, crowding around the craters a buzz of excitement. Some of the more fearful ones simply turn and begin running in hopes they can beat the storm.
CRYPTO OR CRYPTID
Confluences give people powers. That's part of the deal. And while those of you who just fell from the sky are discovering your new gifts, others are also suddenly uncovering their own brand new talents.
Excelsior isn't exactly known for natural superpowers. Most of its heroes are self-made geniuses, armed with metasuits or other augments. Those that do have powers got them from scientific accidents, transforming due to experiments gone wrong or accidentally tumbling into toxic waste. They have emergency medical protocols ready for that - not for random people on the street suddenly gaining abilities.
Newly empowered townspeople may jump in to help deal with the evolving chaos, but their lack of control of their powers makes them a bigger threat than whatever threat they were trying to stop. Others will shamelessly take advantage of the chaos to live their villainous dreams, robbing stores and taking revenge on their shitty bosses, landlords, or exes.
The reserve members of the Guardian Alliance spring into action. The heavy hitters are elsewhere, trying to deal with the loss of power and getting the city back online, and so you're left with the rookies trying to keep pace. Many of them are inexperienced and unable to keep up with the raw power and ruthlessness of newly awakened metas. Fantastic, an aerokinetic and one of the newer recruits, seems to be the only one even remotely holding his own.
It's clear they need your help to contain this!
The storm doesn't peter out after the new arrivals have all landed, either. The panic and chaos below seems to fuel it to a second peak. Clouds roil, electricity snakes, and the thunder builds into a deafening crescendo. Then with one final, blinding burst of light, everything goes dark and quiet.
The power is out.
More than just the power — Excelsior is out. The powergrid has been downed, its internal networks corrupted, anything that makes the city function is completely fried, that last surge of the storm apparently having acted as an EMP blast. All of Excelsior's internal systems are now offline. The lights are all out.
Vehicles are stalled out in the streets. And then comes the first crashing boom of a falling hover car. There are more still in the air, but anyone who might be in a position to save them will have only moments to do so before they smash apart on whatever or whoever is unlucky enough to be stuck below them.
And it's not just that. Hospitals are now without power.
Excelsior isn't exactly known for natural superpowers. Most of its heroes are self-made geniuses, armed with metasuits or other augments. Those that do have powers got them from scientific accidents, transforming due to experiments gone wrong or accidentally tumbling into toxic waste. They have emergency medical protocols ready for that - not for random people on the street suddenly gaining abilities.
Newly empowered townspeople may jump in to help deal with the evolving chaos, but their lack of control of their powers makes them a bigger threat than whatever threat they were trying to stop. Others will shamelessly take advantage of the chaos to live their villainous dreams, robbing stores and taking revenge on their shitty bosses, landlords, or exes.
The reserve members of the Guardian Alliance spring into action. The heavy hitters are elsewhere, trying to deal with the loss of power and getting the city back online, and so you're left with the rookies trying to keep pace. Many of them are inexperienced and unable to keep up with the raw power and ruthlessness of newly awakened metas. Fantastic, an aerokinetic and one of the newer recruits, seems to be the only one even remotely holding his own.
It's clear they need your help to contain this!
The storm doesn't peter out after the new arrivals have all landed, either. The panic and chaos below seems to fuel it to a second peak. Clouds roil, electricity snakes, and the thunder builds into a deafening crescendo. Then with one final, blinding burst of light, everything goes dark and quiet.
The power is out.
More than just the power — Excelsior is out. The powergrid has been downed, its internal networks corrupted, anything that makes the city function is completely fried, that last surge of the storm apparently having acted as an EMP blast. All of Excelsior's internal systems are now offline. The lights are all out.
Vehicles are stalled out in the streets. And then comes the first crashing boom of a falling hover car. There are more still in the air, but anyone who might be in a position to save them will have only moments to do so before they smash apart on whatever or whoever is unlucky enough to be stuck below them.
And it's not just that. Hospitals are now without power.
VLOG SQUAD STRIKES BACK
In every disaster, the best and worst of human nature can be found. The best shines in every outstretched hand and combined effort, in every life saved. The worst is a gaggle of young adults that live together in the city's least favorite content creator house, known with equal parts irritation and secondhand embarrassment as The Vlog Squad. It seems five of the eight streamer/vlogger/influencers have developed meta powers, including one with the power to record, edit, and broadcast with her mind. The entire group made an on-stream pact to become (non-guild affiliated) supervillains, and their views are skyrocketing.
One of them jumps off a building to demonstrate how he can put holes in everything below him.
Playlist, the ringleader with a sizable following on Youtube and TikTok, has the ability to Freeze, Rewind, Fast Forward reality. Be unlucky enough to be caught in her gaze and find yourself frozen in place, talking in reverse, or zipping around faster than you can control. Good luck getting someone to understand you when you sound like a chipmunk.
Then there's there's the second in command, Filter, an up and coming Instagram star. Filter's powers seem to be tied to their phone. If they get a picture of you in the air - welcome to anti-gravity, you're now stuck floating like a balloon until someone can get you back to Earth. If they slap a sepia filter on an unflattering photo of you, you're now encased in stone until someone drops a compliment. Each filter does something a little different and the unfortunate effects are yours to find out.
The rest of their squad is less notable, both in terms of power and in terms of following. There's a young man who can project his voice for miles around. A young woman who can compel people to dance to the beats dropped by her literal soundcloud. There's one unfortunate fellow whose only real power seems to be to turn people's heads into emojis for 30 seconds.
They're targeting known heroes, but will settle for property damage if it means getting attention. New metas may find themselves accosted by a unpleasant young adult with a camera, mockingly asking if they plan to become heroes. No matter the answer, the result is the same - they'll mock your choice and reasoning and try to get away with a cruel prank.
One of them jumps off a building to demonstrate how he can put holes in everything below him.
Playlist, the ringleader with a sizable following on Youtube and TikTok, has the ability to Freeze, Rewind, Fast Forward reality. Be unlucky enough to be caught in her gaze and find yourself frozen in place, talking in reverse, or zipping around faster than you can control. Good luck getting someone to understand you when you sound like a chipmunk.
Then there's there's the second in command, Filter, an up and coming Instagram star. Filter's powers seem to be tied to their phone. If they get a picture of you in the air - welcome to anti-gravity, you're now stuck floating like a balloon until someone can get you back to Earth. If they slap a sepia filter on an unflattering photo of you, you're now encased in stone until someone drops a compliment. Each filter does something a little different and the unfortunate effects are yours to find out.
The rest of their squad is less notable, both in terms of power and in terms of following. There's a young man who can project his voice for miles around. A young woman who can compel people to dance to the beats dropped by her literal soundcloud. There's one unfortunate fellow whose only real power seems to be to turn people's heads into emojis for 30 seconds.
They're targeting known heroes, but will settle for property damage if it means getting attention. New metas may find themselves accosted by a unpleasant young adult with a camera, mockingly asking if they plan to become heroes. No matter the answer, the result is the same - they'll mock your choice and reasoning and try to get away with a cruel prank.
POWER RESTORED
The power is restored. With it, a belated message makes it to guild and society phones: the guild says restrain the Vlog Squad however you can and await authorities.
Meanwhile a very different message hits the airwaves. Mechanima's digitized voice comes across official channels, torn between amusement and annoyance. He says deal with them, don't care how you do it, but start with the broadcaster.
Once that's done, the guild places a call back to its headquarters to bring everyone back with a teleportation spell. The spell reaches out for whatever metahumans it can find in the area and pulls.
All the metahumans who were involved in the Confluence — new arrivals and old — to a white training space that has already transformed into a luxurious waiting room.
Atomight arrives quickly and makes the following announcement:
They hand out cellphones to all present. Once everyone gathered has been looked over and attended to they're directed to the Diadem in and handed a credit card.
Later into the night, another message comes across those phones. The Society of Villainous Reformation formally extends an invitation to all those villainously inclined. Reply for more info.
Meanwhile a very different message hits the airwaves. Mechanima's digitized voice comes across official channels, torn between amusement and annoyance. He says deal with them, don't care how you do it, but start with the broadcaster.
Once that's done, the guild places a call back to its headquarters to bring everyone back with a teleportation spell. The spell reaches out for whatever metahumans it can find in the area and pulls.
All the metahumans who were involved in the Confluence — new arrivals and old — to a white training space that has already transformed into a luxurious waiting room.
Atomight arrives quickly and makes the following announcement:
Thank you for your help out there. The casualties would be so much higher were it not for those of you who risked your lives to save strangers. To those of you grappling with your new abilities, please rest assured that this room will give you a much needed reprieve. We have staff on site who can work with you to gain control of you new abilities, and nullifiers if you find it's still too much.
You are the third set of newly powered individuals this confluence has brought. Though many of you are native to this world, others among you have come from far off universes. To those of you who have been flung far from home, we'll put you in connection with the others. Many of them are here today and can advise you of what your new reality is here.
We of the Guardian Alliance are committed to doing everything we can to get you home, and to give you some time to get your feet under you. And as this may be your home for a while longer, I wish to formally extend an invitation to those of you who wish to use your powers to defend the innocent to join us.
You are the third set of newly powered individuals this confluence has brought. Though many of you are native to this world, others among you have come from far off universes. To those of you who have been flung far from home, we'll put you in connection with the others. Many of them are here today and can advise you of what your new reality is here.
We of the Guardian Alliance are committed to doing everything we can to get you home, and to give you some time to get your feet under you. And as this may be your home for a while longer, I wish to formally extend an invitation to those of you who wish to use your powers to defend the innocent to join us.
They hand out cellphones to all present. Once everyone gathered has been looked over and attended to they're directed to the Diadem in and handed a credit card.
Later into the night, another message comes across those phones. The Society of Villainous Reformation formally extends an invitation to all those villainously inclined. Reply for more info.
IN SUMMARY
- New arrivals are falling from the skies. They're unharmed despite what should be a lethal impact. People in the city also begin developing superpowers upon landing.
- Players are free to create their own powered NPCs for these encounters and can use them.
- A notable group of online content creators called the Vlog Squad have developed powers and are terrorizing the city and are livestreaming every minute thanks to their powers.
- The Vlog Squad has declared on camera that they do not intend to join any guild and are already showing signs of disrespecting the code. For those already committed to guilds, this means:
Atomight will ask player characters in the Guardian Alliance to deal with them peacefully.
Mechanima demands that members of the Society of Villainous Reformation deal with them — whether this means incapacitating them, forcing them to join, or killing them is their choice. - If anyone wants to engage Mechanima or Atomight, HERE is a top level where we will summarize their responses to PC questions and comments. Please also reply to this comment with what your character plans to do with the Vlog Squad. We encourage you to make posts on the OOC comm plotting out conflict and responses. You may also use this top level to ask event-specific questions about the effects on this page! (Please refer general questions about the setting to the FAQ, and refer any player plots to the PLOTTING page.)
VLOG SQUAD ENCOUNTERS
For each event with a clear antagonistic NPC force — such as the Vlog Squad, in the February arrival — interested players can pitch their characters' encounters with those NPCs. Whether characters are heroic and suited to the role or not, the aim is the group effort of pitching in, so we highly encourage collaborating on these encounters. Once enough NPC encounters have been submitted, we'll determine if and how the trouble has been addressed, and select one of those encounters to be the final, conclusive one in the game. Everyone else's encounters will also have taken place, but may have been temporary stopgaps in addressing the conflict rather than a conclusive blow. For this Confluence, we are asking that submissions be finalized by 3/5.
How it works:
How it works:
- Reply to the relevant top-level comment with an encounter and/or questions about the encounter. The mods are happy to go back and forth with before locking in exactly what a character or group of characters does. Any conversations between characters and NPCs will most likely be happening prior to combat unless specified by the players.
- The mods ask that players present two options. In one version, the character or group of characters kills, immobilizes, or otherwise apprehend the villain(s). In the other version, one way or another, the villain escapes or overcomes the character or group of characters. Players who wish to have a specific spot in the timeline (near to the beginning or near to the end) should make this request explicit, and the mods will make efforts to accommodate this.
- The mods will RNG the results for the final encounter. For all other submissions, the escape/overcome option is selected. Open calls for collaboration which result in multiple player characters contributing to an idea or solution (see: Kamala Khan's solution to the Cerberus fight) have a much higher chance of being the final encounter, as we want to reward player collaboration and innovation. Please be sure that after everyone has weighed in you return to the top-level comment to report exactly what is happening and who is doing what.
- The mods will reply to player submissions with a brief outline of how all of the run-ins go, whether it's a fight or a slapstick series of hilarious accidents that involves the character(s).
Request NPC encounters using the following form —
EXAMPLE—
Character(s) involved: The Iron Giant and Hank Hill
Details of the encounter: Hank will ride in Iron Giant's hand as they search the city for the Vlog Squad, eventually spotting them in a public park. They land explosively in the middle, throwing all of the squad off of their feet while the Iron Giant sends out a signal to scramble their livestreams and begins trying to catch the offenders up in both hands. Hank will try to tackle at least one of them.
How might the villain escape or overcome the player character(s)? Playlist slow motions Iron Giant and they easily duck its grasp, and Filter leaves Hank floating upside down as they make their escape.
How would the player character(s) kill, immobilize, or apprehend the villain? Iron Giant grabs Playlist before she can slow it, then picks up and captures all but Emoji; Hank throws a branch and beans that guy right in the head. Iron Giant gathers him up too, and they turn them in to the first batch of emergency responders they find.
EXAMPLE—
Character(s) involved: The Iron Giant and Hank Hill
Details of the encounter: Hank will ride in Iron Giant's hand as they search the city for the Vlog Squad, eventually spotting them in a public park. They land explosively in the middle, throwing all of the squad off of their feet while the Iron Giant sends out a signal to scramble their livestreams and begins trying to catch the offenders up in both hands. Hank will try to tackle at least one of them.
How might the villain escape or overcome the player character(s)? Playlist slow motions Iron Giant and they easily duck its grasp, and Filter leaves Hank floating upside down as they make their escape.
How would the player character(s) kill, immobilize, or apprehend the villain? Iron Giant grabs Playlist before she can slow it, then picks up and captures all but Emoji; Hank throws a branch and beans that guy right in the head. Iron Giant gathers him up too, and they turn them in to the first batch of emergency responders they find.
vlog squad!
A man hanging midair with a metal arm.
That takes a little more than a few seconds to comprehend, but his yell snaps her out of her circling thoughts. Diana rushes towards him, one hand resting on the Lasso at her hip in case whatever or whoever did this to him is still around. As she gets closer, she can see that there are... flowers? Wreathing his head and arm? This is almost too much. But she manages to keep a hold of her wits, and jogs to a stop in front of him, brows drawn together. He doesn't look injured, but still she asks: "Are you okay? Can you... come down?" He probably would have already if he could, but this is still quite the scene to digest. She doesn't see Filter lurking nearby, watching the scene.
😍
Bucky manages to resist rolling his eyes; if he could come down, he would have already. But sometimes he remembers the manners he'd been taught ages ago so instead of snapping something snarky at her he answers plainly. "Nope, stuck. Haven't figured out how— look out!"
Behind her, Filter ducks out of the shadows of an alley, phone raised and ready.
no subject
His warning comes just before she finishes her thought, and she whirls in time to see Filter behind her, phone raised. In the moment it takes her to turn, his camera finger is faster than her; before she's even taken one step, she feels herself floating into the air as well, and something spreading through her hair. A laugh, a few more camera clicks, and the rogue vlogger dashes back into the safety of the alleyway.
Diana narrows her eyes after him, then turns her attention to the equally unfortunate man in the air beside her. Incredulity paints her face. "This place is very strange."
no subject
"That's an understatement," Bucky grumbles, then sighs. She hardly deserves his grumpiness when she'd only stopped to help. "I'm sorry I got you stuck up here too. But maybe together we can figure a way down."
no subject
Diana exhales slow, gathering her thoughts, and shakes her head. "It isn't your fault I was slow to react." It shames her, and she has no excuse to make; Antiope had taught her better, would have expected better. She feels more vines creeping through her hair and reaches up, plucking an aster tangled up in some laurels from her head. She smiles a bit, and puts them back in her hair.
She scans the area, looking for anything that might help them. She's still able to move her arms, and she thanks Zeus for that; her earlier encounter with Playlist left a sour taste in her mouth. Her hand hovers over the lariat once more, and its glow intensifies, a soft golden light cutting through the rain. "I could try to pull us back down to the earth, but I need an anchor."
no subject
He pushes his own crown of petunias and black dahlias back from his face; between the flowers and the wet hair, Bucky's getting pretty tired of water trickling down his forehead and cheeks.
"I was thinking something similar, but I don't have a rope." She does though, which brings the idea into the realm of possibility. He considers their surroundings, then points to a street sign. "Think you can hook that? Get yourself down, then worry about me."
no subject
Her gaze follows his pointing, and her eyes light up. She finally pulls the lariat from her waist, its glow intensifying with her touch. "Easily." Diana swings the lasso once, twice, and then sends it soaring towards her mark. It moves as if with a mind of its own, seeming to grow and lengthen exactly as much as it needs to in order to reach the sign. And it snaps taut around the metal, providing a perfect anchor. She starts to haul herself towards it, straining against the magic holding her aloft. The flowers and vines spread faster the closer she gets to the ground, twining down her arm and even around the lariat itself.
By the time her feet touch the earth, she feels--lighter. Like working against the spell with brute strength had been siphoning away her energy, but as soon as she was grounded once more, its hold on her was severed. Diana frowns, rolling her shoulders and snapping the lasso back to her hands as she tries to shake the feeling off. She knows there are usually ways to break spells, but it isn't as if she's had a lot of training in that area. So this will have to do.
She turns to face the man, walking back towards him, tilting her head back the closer she gets. Flowers still tangle through her hair, but at least they aren't spreading anymore. She smiles. "See, easy. Are you ready?"
no subject
Then again, Bucky's pretty tired of floating in the air; he's not too inclined to question anything that will get him down.
He nods when she approaches, eyes not on her but on the alley where he last saw Filter. Fortunately the mischief maker seems to have fled, or perhaps found more interesting prey. They might be in the clear for now.
"Easy when you can pull yourself down?" he asks, then shakes his head. "I'm glad it worked. And will hopefully work again."
no subject
Her expression turns solemn, knuckles white around the lariat.
"I can lend you the Lasso of Hestia to pull yourself down." She tries not to sound reluctant, but the Lasso hasn't been out of her hands since she... well, stole it. Along with her armor, shield, and sword. She can't even imagine how furious Hippolyta was once she realized exactly how many of their treasures Diana had taken with her. But that's a worry for another time. "The lasso will guide you, and help you throw true." It glows a soft gold in her hands, warm and comforting. "Or I can try to pull you down myself." Her brows draw together. "I leave the choice to you."
no subject
"You don't have to throw it to me," he replies; hopefully that will sound as reassuring as he can — especially since she mentions trying to pull. Maybe a compromise will prove successful. "Unless you think you're strong enough to anchor one end of it; I can try pulling myself down to you." That should let her keep hold of most of it, right?
no subject
Her brow smooths, and she nods. "I can be your anchor." There's no hesitation in her voice now; she has no doubt that she'll be able to hold her ground while he pulls himself to the earth. She takes one end of the lariat, and tosses it up to him in a single, smooth motion. Once more, the lasso seems to know the will of its wielder, heading straight for his hands. Diana bends her knees slightly, pressing her heels into the concrete, ready when he is.
no subject
But that aside, Bucky can see that the suggestion fits, and he's glad he voiced it. Glad too that her aim flies true, though he's not sure how much of that is her and how much is the glowing lasso itself. It lands perfectly in his hands, feeling warm and smooth; there's no way it's just plain rope. Magic then, and that's an idea that Bucky doesn't want to explore too closely — at least, not until his feet are on the ground.
"Let me know if I pull too hard," he warns, talking the rope in both hands. "I'm a little stronger than I look."
Once he starts pulling he finds it a battle against whatever power Filter used to get him up here in the first place. But hand over hand he fights to bring himself closer to the ground. Amazingly she holds steady through it, her constancy giving Bucky a good focus for his efforts until finally boots meet pavement.
no subject
Diana straightens, a smile blooming across her face. "And not a flower out of place," she can't help but tease, reaching up to push laurels and petals from her own face. A shower of rainwater sprays around her hand, but she doesn't mind. What a strange spell that was, so unlike anything she's ever seen.
Now that they're both on solid ground, she holds the lasso in one hand and offers him the other to shake, a habit she's picked up during her months away from Themyscira. The lariat is still warm in her grasp, though not as warm as it is when she invokes its power. "My name is Diana."
no subject
He groans when she mentions the flowers though, brushing his right hand along his left arm. Stems and leaves twine around the limb, fitting into the grooves between the plates and making everything stiff and hard to move. "Won't lie, I'm a little done with flowers right now. This is gonna be a mess to clean out."
A handshake he can do though, one that's warm and firm. He hasn't met many women with a handshake like that; likes it. It reminds him of someone from long ago and that memory doesn't hurt today. "I'm Bucky. Thanks again, you're a saint."
no subject
"I can help," she offers. She's absolutely sincere, but also can't hide the curiosity in her eyes--or from slipping past her tongue. "Do many men here have arms like this?" She can't say she's ever seen anything like it, but she also knows she really hasn't met many men, relatively speaking. It could be very common, for all she knows.
no subject
Bucky's shoulders stiffen when she offers her help. He looks up, but her expression seems so open. Surely she wouldn't have offered help in the first place - and gotten trapped with him - if she's not sincere. And she'd thrown him the end of her lasso, despite her clear misgivings about it. Surely he can gamble against that?
And what will he really lose, if he loses the gamble anyway?
"No," he finally answers. "I'm not from here so I don't know about this place, but back home this is unique. Here," he holds out his right hand, "I'll show you how to touch so your fingers don't get pinched by the plates."
no subject
But he's accepted her help, which means she couldn't have upset him too much. "I'm not from here either." In case it wasn't obvious by the armor and the lasso and the shield. Her smile returns, and she offers him her own hand without an ounce of hesitation. "Show me." She isn't really worried about getting pinched, but if it makes him feel better, it's no trouble.
no subject
• Bucky lets Diana help him with the vines
• how is she even really this nice like what even
• totally doesn't realize this is the start of Friendship with a capital F
• clearly they need to arm wrestle sometime in the future
• also punch things together
• ?
• ??
• anything else?]
no subject
• possibly doing some accidental heroing while just like, trying to get takeout or something else mundane, trying desperately to save their food or w/e while punching baddies
• diana trying to drag bucky to every minor landmark or interesting site because we have to see it!!! she'd be a good roadtrip buddy
• honestly just like, eating because she has a big appetite and so much of this food is so weird and she wants to share the experience
• F IS FOR FRIENDS]
no subject
And congratulations Diana with your adoption of one grumpy former assassin. Good luck.]