I'll follow behind you on rainbow road

[paragon]

Who: CAPTAIN AMERICA WANTS YOU
Where: The Baromanogerneson Residence (i.e., 5031)
When: May 9th
What: Mario Kart and subversion, two great tastes that taste great together.
Warnings: Please warn in subjects as needed!
[Open]

The thought had formed pretty much as soon as he'd opened the box that was left on the front porch. The people here need a way to talk. There are two rooms in the house where they would be free to do so. He'd come home one day — not long after the body had disappeared from the upstairs bathroom and all the cameras he'd ripped from their wiring between there and the garage had been put back in place in their absence with a friendly maintenance note left behind that all fixtures in need of repair had been seen to, along with a bill for the expenses — to find Natasha sitting on the bed, writing a note in Sharpie. He'd leaned against the door frame and watched her hold it up to the cameras and make a deal: Steve wouldn't break any more cameras, if they give them the privacy of their bedrooms. As there had only been the three of them at the time (despite the insistence in his head that the house has always been filled by his teammates, just as he remembers of the last few years before Wayward Pines), that had meant the master bedroom downstairs, and Bucky's upstairs.

It had actually worked, though Steve wouldn't have trusted the word of whoever's behind the cameras himself if it weren't for Natasha's daily inspections, and so far the deal's held.

But it's not — can't be — a luxury only afforded to them, for their own sakes. He's told others here and there, and he knows his friends have, too. It's not enough, but nor does he have a way to get people over without arousing suspicion. But then there's the Nintendo system. A little unorthodox, as far as his own methods go, but he'll work with anything he has.

He doesn't put it down anywhere in writing, letting news of the party travel by word of mouth and hoping that's enough to keep it out of the wrong ears. At least for now. There's a chance — a good chance — that it will eventually get the Sheriff's attention, but by then it will have had the effect it's supposed to and given the people here the chance to speak to each other truthfully. And if that comes down on anyone, it's gonna be the people prepared to deal with it.

The day of the ninth is a rainy one, a good day to stay inside and play games with friends. It also provides a good excuse to use the master bedroom just off the end of the foyer as a temporary coat room. Straight ahead in the living room, Mario Kart is all ready to go, and in the kitchen next to that, snack food and drinks are available.

((ooc: THIS IS A MINGLE POST. While I will be tagging around with Steve a bit, this is mostly to give people a chance to chat with each other without the cameras watching. Per Natasha's deal with the powers that be, the cameras in the master bedroom and Bucky's room upstairs have been removed. Natasha will be greeting people at the door and taking them on a "tour" (i.e., to the master bedroom to explain the camera situation, why the party's really happening, and that they are not to discuss the lack of cameras while elsewhere in the house). Feel free to wander in there any time for a chat, or simply enjoy some Mario Kart and refreshments! Commenting around is encouraged, and please note in your top-levels whether they're open or closed. If you have any questions for me I can be found on plurk (jeeps) or discord (jeeps#9644).))

Comments

Steve Rogers | Open

[paragon]

[ Steve plays winner a few times. He thinks he's gotten the hang of the game pretty well by now, especially given Natasha's propensity for trash talking (he's never been a man who could let that go, and he's sure as hell not gonna start on Rainbow Road). As far as ruses go, it's a pretty easy one to keep up, and necessary if they're gonna pull this off without showing their hand to the people watching. They may be able to avoid the cameras, but Steve's always stayed well aware of the small bump on his thigh, same as the one he'd stopped Nat from cutting right out of her own leg in the beginning. The time will come for it, though.

So they're not here to play games, not really, and he doesn't mind handing off the controller to other takers. He watches them play, talks to others on the sidelines and keeps the snacks comings — making himself available to talk, basically. Though he might end up using Bucky's room so as not to monopolize the one downstairs. ]

[volitaunt]

[ Poe scouted out the man he knows (and barely remembers) is Caroline's brother. They certainly have looks in common, though Steve has a good deal of weight and height on Caroline and like. Anybody else.

He seems nice. Definitely charismatic. The tenor of the rooms change when he comes and goes, and Poe would mark him out for research and recruitment if this were a different place and he had different people to go home to. Steve, Poe concludes, is the kind of person who leads, intentionally or not.

By the time he finds the man in a rare moment of solitude, its in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Poe pauses at the door, non-alcoholic beverage in hand, and raps his knuckles lightly on the doorway to announce himself. ] You got a minute, or are you taking one?

[postpartor]

[ Well. She'd remembered them, these people who are supposedly her childhood friends. Hearing that they were having a party was the perfect chance to get a look at them for herself (she still considers this the first look for herself, even if she can recall their faces--the gentleness of their history doesn't feel right).

She's only just arrives when she sees Steve, and here it comes, the rush of emotions she's starting to get used to, like a baptism trying to bring her into the fold of believers.

Sharon puts on a smile and navigates her way smoothly through the crowd, tapping him on the shoulder. ]

Nice party, Steve. Did you know someone put a sign out front that says 'The Baromanogernesons'?

[ It definitely wasn't her. ]

[keephimtalking]

[ Yeah, Lantar just dropped by to see if he could borrow an umbrella for tomorrow and somehow got roped into this party. He's beginning to regret not just venturing out and getting one from the store proper, rain and all.

He couldn't even eat anything. And it was loud. And there were WAY too many people around and they were ALL human and he's acutely aware of the number of stares he's getting here.

Well, okay, there was some kind of sentient orb robot rolling around to add to the inhuman count, but that asshole's getting cooed at so orbie can just go eat it.

Steve will probably recognize his neighbor standing awkwardly off to the side, eyeballing the exit. You wanna talk to the towering, toothy space horror, neighbor Steve? ]

[comic_relief]

<sub>[At first, news of a party doesn't tickle Jack's interest the way it might for some teens. Video games run on tek he's not familiar with, even less so. Both are foreign, both seem like a distraction from the real problems of the day.

But when he finds out it's being staged at the same house that once held the body of their missing monster friend, he changes his mind. Now that could be interesting. He joins the influx of party guests, stopping briefly to watch this "Mario Kart" stuff in action (... huh) before orchestrating an excuse to make his way into an unmonitored room.

Using the tour to get there isn't out of the question, as the last time he'd been in and out of Steve's house before the cameras were repaired so they wouldn't have clocked him inside the premises, but street cameras might have still caught him in the vicinity. Rather than pretend it's first time learning the lay of the land, it's much easier to toss out an offhand joke that he's curious what kind of lingerie a redhead keeps in her underwear drawer. Once inside, he sighs. There's not a lot of relaxing to be had even with the cameras gone--the disease causing the symptoms hasn't changed.]</sub>

... Yeah, but how does this help us? We still don't know who's behind the surveillance yet, do we?

_{[But hey, on the other hand it must be nice to change clothes in peace and quiet.]}

[magija]

[ Whenever she's in this house, Wanda feels as though she should be living here. Everything, of who she is or who she was, is all a blur and yet it's in their presence that she always feels the vague trickle of something seeming to make sense — Steve, always taking a tall and protective father's stance. Sam, with the warm affection of a mother's smile. Clint, holding the boisterous and prideful attitude of a brother softer than he shows off. Even Bucky, a mystery to Wanda as she is to herself, seems like a previously estranged cousin who's found his way home.

It's Natasha who makes her uncomfortable. There's a secret she can taste on her tongue when the redhead is around, an itch at the center of her back that she can't quite reach. Why does it bother her so?

She briefly thinks it could be Natasha that's the source of the shuffling, just on instinct, tempted to speed up her escape from the bathroom back to the more concentrated crowd. But through the door she can see a tall, breathing and living muscle of a man that is never difficult to identify.

Her fingers slide up the frame of the door as she quietly lingers in. ] Are you here to cry quietly over your losses? [ If he even has. Wanda hasn't been paying too close attention to the games everyone's been playing. ]

caroline forbes • open

[coy]

[ Caroline plays one or two rounds and loses on purpose, despite her competitive nature. If only because she doesn't want to draw attention to her better than your average bear vampiric reflexes. She could probably beat some people but not all of them.

However, she has other reasons not to win, she wants to be available to talk to people, without being heard. She wants to get information and maybe share anything she might know (which isn't much right now).

And Steve, if you think that your not!sister would show up empty handed, you are so wrong. She brings quite a few snacks and might even be caught subtly re-arranging the way the rest are laid out for the guests because... that's Caroline for you. If she's not hovering in the kitchen, she might be offering to get someone a drink or having one herself where the noise is... less.]

[paragon]

[ Natasha hadn't needed to give Caroline the rundown. She's been to the house, she knows it; to Steve it would've been unconscionable not to have already told her. So he doesn't take up her time now, when there are probably other people she cares about that she needs to talk to. He just stays aware of her, less to keep tabs than because it's something he wouldn't know how to turn off if he cared to, though she mostly stays in his periphery rather than in the midst of things. Which isn't really how he remembers her, but he's not sure if he ought to trust that. It wasn't really her, any more than it was him.

Still, this is the third time he's checked on things in the kitchen only to find her hovering there, nudging things around with a critical eye, and this time he doesn't leave her to it. He goes to her, slipping his hands into his pockets and leaning back against the counter slightly. ] When are you gonna get started on the furniture?

[volitaunt]

[ He's remembered more since the last time they spoke. His mother, losing her, the General recruiting him into the Resistance. The mission that killed L'ulo, who might as well have been his uncle. The past few days have been a seesaw of emotion between remembering the loss of family and discovering the existence of it here. (A cousin, a half-cousin, a nephew, a sister he lost fourteen years ago so hazy that he forgets she exists and feels the worse for it.)

He watches Caroline from the kitchen doorway as she rearranges things, bottle of root beer in hand. He shouldn't let the sight of her center him. He should fight this. Right now he doesn't have the energy to try, which means the best thing he can do is keep a good chunk of the room between them. ] What're your criteria? For the way things go?

[ It's not a mocking question. He has no eye for this kind of thing. ]

[seaweedbrain]

[ After watching a couple of games, Percy heads into the kitchen to investigate the snacks available. He doesn't actually know a whole lot of people here, which is kind of weird, but then he figures the town is big enough that there are probably faces he's missed or forgotten.

He enters when Caroline's around and watches her shifting and moving snack-bowls and drink-cups around, probably too focused to notice him for the moment.

It's weird, the sudden feeling that jolts him in the chest like an electric shock. That blonde hair, the meticulousness of her action ... it's so familiar, so reminiscent of something he can't put his finger on. But he knows it's important, he's just not sure why.

And then, just like that, it's gone. ]

That row of cups is crooked.

[ It's a teasing remark, of course, because there are no crooked rows of cups. ]

Pietro Maximoff | open

[windchasing]

[ Pietro has never actually played a videogame, not that he can remember (or even that he can't remember). So when he heard about the party, he'd been skeptical. But Allison was going, and Mr. Rogers was not so bad he supposed, and even if Pietro is very, very much not a party person - well, how bad can it be?

So far, the answer is, medium bad. Or at least that's how Pietro's Mario Kart performance can be categorized. He understands the controls well enough, but actually hitting the correct buttons at the correct time, while properly accounting for both the graphics lag and the controller lag? That takes him more than one entire minute to master. And that's terrible. ]

Why would anyone want to win a fake race? [ he grumbles as Koopa Troopa rolls to a sad halt in 7th place. ] These carts can barely break seventy-five.

[ He could go faster than that at a brisk walk. ]

[seaweedbrain]

Uh, because it's fun, dude?

[ Well, it would be fun if he won more than the one time, anyway. And so far ... he hasn't.

He's almost 100% sure he's got quick reflexes and should, by all rights, be pretty good at video games ... but so far his winning streak isn't all that much of a streak and more like dumb luck, but he'll keep his spirits high for as long as he can. ]

[birdcostumes]

[Sam isn't the most skilled Mario Kart racer in the world. He was never really much of a gamer, to be honest. After living in the Avengers facility, however, he kind of got used to them, and the level of competition that goes along with them. Or maybe that's just his crazy teammates.]

You want them to go faster around crazy hairpin turns with no guard rails? [He laughs.] Or over banana peels?

[paragon]

[ It's fair to say that Steve's confused by Pietro. Nothing he's done — he's a restless teenager, which doesn't typically present with much mystery — but the mere fact of his existence. The false memories tell Steve that his name is Pietro Maximoff and that he's Wanda's brother, but this isn't the kid he knew, whose funeral he attended. He'd just chalk it up to another trick of this town making up for a lost brother, but . . . Pietro's fast. He tries not to give himself away but he's not very good at it, and Steve's caught him in moments he didn't realize he was being observed, a shift of movement too quick for even Steve's eyes to catch, broken tools, an answer that's not particularly astute but still given too quickly.

So he's been a little baffled and, things being as they are, has remained that way. ]

I'd say that's pretty good for something that small. [ Steve's elbows are resting on the back of the couch near Pietro's head as he watches the racing. ] Seventy-five not fast enough for you? [ He gives Pietro a small smile at that. ]

BB-8 and Maybe That Other Guy | Open

[volitaunt]

[ BB-8, as usual, came with Poe.

The droid left his partner to scan the house, and had been on his way to find Poe and report back about the cameras missing from some of the rooms when he got distracted by the goings-on in the living room.

Specifically, the tiny pixelated pod racers.

Which is why BB-8 is now directly in front of the TV, trilling excitedly about having found something familiar. ]

[seaweedbrain]

[ For a long, drawn-out second, Percy thinks that the droid is probably part of the video game experience.

(And he thinks, this is so cool, which is followed by, how much did this thing cost?)

But the video game is Mario Kart and there are little race-cars zooming across the screen and he doesn't remember spherical-shaped robots being playable characters, even if his actual experience with video games is less than most.

He'd been sitting somewhere in the back while people played rounds of the game, but now he gets up to approach the droid, reaching out to maaaaybe touch it. ]

Wow, you are cool.

[birdcostumes]

[Dude. Okay, listen.

Sam is no stranger to robots or artificial beings. He's been in Tony Stark's lab. He's met Dum-E, and while he (luckily) never had to deal with Ultron, he's heard about him in detail. He knows Vision, too, and thinks pretty highly of him.

But he's never seen anything like this little rolly-polly orange bot. BB-8 distracts him from his game, and Sam ends up losing the round spectacularly. Normally he'd be mad, but he just passes the controller to whoever is waiting for the next round before squatting down next to the little robot to look it over curiously.]

Man, I bet Stark would love to get his hands on you, little guy.

Re: BB-8 and Maybe That Other Guy | Open

[seeyaduke]

[Ana had seen robots before, but she had never seen a robot like that before. It amused her, and she sat on the floor near it for a second, her legs criss-crossed in her jeans. One finger brushed her lip and then she tapped the side of her glasses, scanning it just a little bit in a way that was probably rude. Of course, her scanner doesn't compare at all to his own, but she wanted some sort of form of reference.

After all, he was too adorable not to have one.

After listening to the chirps that he'd given, Ana just murmured:]

You're talking, aren't you?

Danny Fenton | Open

[invisibill]

[You know what was weird? Going to a teacher's house to play video games.

But there was food and there were games to play. Danny couldn't really think of a reason not to go.

He wanders around, going back and forth between the food and the excitement around the screen. Every now and then he stops to talk to people he recognizes.]

Ana OTA!

[seeyaduke]

[When Ana had played video games, the systems they'd had had been beyond Mario Kart. However, Ana's father, whom she was close to was a giant nerd and always insisted that she play him on that rather than on a better game with cooler graphics. It served her well now here, though because as she was watching most everyone involved, they seemed to be a bit... Well, in the end she supposed they were all Steve's friends so that was to be expected.

But she won a game or two, and then lost several more with appropriate 'aw's and damn its. And maybe one or more shits when she got hit with a shell.]

[ceoinstilettos]

[ pepper didn’t pick up a controller and join in the go karting fun, because she wasn’t looking to embarrass herself. video games weren’t her forte and while it seemed like the person in last place always got the best items she figured she’d be chastised for using the accursed blue shell over and over. so, instead, she found a seat by ana and watched as she tore up the track. ]

[ she smiled, cheering her on when she was in first and giving her words of encouragement when she wasn’t… and maybe even chuckling when she did get hit with a shell. Sorry! ] I had no idea you were such a gamer.

Kaulder | OTA

[byironandfire]

[Kaulder has by now been given a house and a job - teaching Biology at the school, of all places. He has done his best to obey the rules posted all over town as well as he can, at least until he can figure out what the hell is going on, and why he can't remember anything. He'd heard from Ana that he should show up, and so...here he is.

Gamely, he tries to play Mario Kart a few times before giving up and allowing himself to mingle, watching people around him and quietly eavesdropping on conversations. Someone has answers about what's going on here, and they can give them to him in the rooms without cameras.

He just doesn't know who.]

[avicula]

[ dutch remembers kaulder, and she doesn't. there are holes in the memories she has of her life as a killjoy, but all her memories of kaulder feature this town. maybe there are things she's missing (there definitely are), but what she remembers is enough to walk up to him at some point, a drink in hand and a lazy smile playing around her lips, one hand lifting to settle on his upper arm in a decidedly intimate gesture. ]

Been a while, hasn't it?

[ there's an easy ploy here: it'll get suspicious soon if people walk into the rooms without cameras all the time with no obvious reason for it. no matter what else she may be thinking about whoever is behind all this, dutch hardly thinks they're stupid. but if they pretend that they want a little privacy for a lover's spat or the rekindling of an old romance, well.

who's to say that's not a legitimate use of the upstairs bedroom? ]

Clary Fary | OTA

[babyhunter]

[Steve is by far one of Clary's favorite teachers but then art is by far one of her favorite subjects. When she heard about the party she had to stop by and given her tendency to watch big gatherings more than participate in them she brought her sketchbook. Part of the time she can be found sitting in the corner with her eyes flicking between the crowd and the white page of her book. Even with the loud buzzing of conversation Clary will zone out and fall into the dense murky darkness of her thoughts.

Learning about the camera's didn't help her relax. Neither did the the heavy weight of the Stele in her pocket. It all feels so odd.

After being dragged into one of the matches Clary's voice rings loudly over the room.] I did it! I can't believe I won! I love having the blue shell when I'm in second! [That evil evil blue shell.]

Clint Barton | Open

[arcum]

[ He's getting used to living in a full house. Somehow though it just feels like this fits. The people. The chaos. Though what feels new and strange is watching Steve stare at Natasha sometimes like she's a Turducken. It's off putting and he's decided that somehow the relationship is more than little bit gross. But at least there's Sam and sometimes Bucky. Though sometimes he wonders if Bucky is auditioning for Nirvana. But this is just home he's decided. With his increasingly strange friendships and his room with no door. Which he needs to start work on soon.

Answers are the reason they're here. Answers and some sort of real talk that can occur in the room that Clint still doesn't want to go into. No matter how much you can talk in there without being seen. He does not want to cram himself into Natasha's sex den to have a chat with some strangers about the truth. He would rather take a flying leap off the roof.

Surprisingly he's good at this. It's all about hand eye coordination which Clint has in spades. There's a reason he gets hole in ones in golf or he always hits the bullseye in darts. Video games just take a little more concentration which he absolutely no problem doing. Another thing he doesn't have a problem doing? Stuff his face full of some snacks. But he does it politely. He has manners. Somehow. There's a female voice in the back of his head telling him to chew his food and be a good example. Whatever that means. ]

[avicula]

[ at some point during the evening, dutch settles down on the couch next to clint. she remembers him, but does that mean he remembers her, too? she's not entirely sure, though so far, most memories she has of this town and her life in this world rather than out in space seem to be reciprocated, real.

she grabs a controller, glancing at clint sideways. ] Think you can keep up with me?

Carl Grimes | Open

[futureserialkiller]

[ Carl doesn't do parties, he thinks. Or that's his own impression of himself, if that makes any sense. But he's still nervous in his own home, so he's restless. And on his walks (he has yet to enter class himself) he heard about a party and thought, What the hell. So he comes.

He spends more time staring at the games than anything else. There's something about the racing video game takes his attention. It's not because it's a typical thing a teenager would be interested - there's something else there. Like he's staring at a ghost, or something that's not real. But why? It's just a game.

Maybe Carl is being stupid.

When he's not offered a chance to play or idly eating in the corner, Carl browses around, looking into rooms. It's a big house, not unlike the houses that surrounds Carl's trailer. Eventually he will be hanging around the doorway at the master bedroom. ]

dutch | open

[avicula]

[ dutch doesn't know anyone in the baromanogerneson residence particularly well — she's worked with steve rogers during the war and she's gotten to know barton intimately during that same stint, but it's the physical kind of intimacy, not the emotional kind. she wouldn't say she's friends with any of them. mostly, she's curious and bored and willing to figure out whether she knows what mario kart is or not.

she arrives not too early, receives the grand tour and lingers in the master bedroom where she's dropped her coat for a while, ostentatiously to catch up with people she already knows. in truth, her opening statement is a very different kind of small-talk: ] Anyone else pissed off that our every move is being watched?

[ it makes her want to smash things. she'll refrain from doing that in the house, though, no worries.

as the evening progresses, she'll have a drink or two, eat some snacks and introduce herself to those in the room she doesn't yet. she'll play a few rounds of mario kart, too, eyes narrow and reflexes quick. she doesn't remember this game at all, but she's not bad at it. ]