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

[arcum]

[ The memory is there. Strangely enough. But it doesn't click into place until she's next to him. Her scent hits him like a runaway train and for half a second Clint can feel the heat from the sun on the back of his neck. He can feel the sweat winding down his brow. He's back there. Almost immediately. But when she speaks he's back in the room. Air conditioning going and his body comfortable.

He turns his head finally and smiles at her. ]

Pretty sure I already proved that overseas. [ With another grin he grabs a controller. ]

[avicula]

Maybe. Or maybe I was going easy on you.

[ dutch definitely wasn't going easy on him overseas. she remembers sweat and dirt and pushing clint down onto a thin mattress with a hand just below his throat, fingers spread over his collarbones. she remembers it all too well, but she doesn't remember why they were fighting a war, against whom, any of the information that should matter.

none of it was real, probably. ]

[arcum]

Were you now? Cause my broken cot doesn't seem to agree with you.

[ She was wild. More wild than she probably had any reason to be, but he didn't hate it. He liked it. Clint can't rightfully remember much about the war that brought him there. He remembers moments. Blinks in time. Him laying hidden while he tried to teach Bucky to beat box over the comm line. He remembers Dutch giving him shit and then he remembers what she looked like out of the damn flak jacket. ]

[avicula]

[ dutch lets out a laugh at that, low but no less amused for it. ] All right, maybe I wasn't. [ and maybe she isn't now that they've started up this game: he makes that comment and she laughs, but she also delivers a low kick to one of his legs, striking it with one of her ankles — but then leaving her leg there for a moment after, too. maybe it'll distract him into making a mistake on the road; maybe it won't. ]

[arcum]

[ There's a yelp from Clint when she connects. He didn't think she'd resort to childish tactics like kicking. But he doesn't look angry about it. In fact he's still smiling. But he's ready in case she tries to elbow him or go for something a little more substantial.

Dutch takes another approach. Her leg practically glued to the side of his by now. He squints trying to figure out what's happening until he finally looks down. ]

Stop it. You're cheating.

[avicula]

[ this game is a lot more harmless than some of the games dutch has played in her life, though she doesn't remember ever playing any game at all, so she's not sure where that thought comes from. it reminds her of the easy camaraderie with johnny, reading comics while lying on his bed, that kind of thing.

clint isn't johnny. that's a good thing; dutch is pretty sure sleeping with johnny would ruin their partnership and she has no intention or interest in doing that. (she misses johnny. she's pretty sure he's real.) ]

Yeah, so? What are you going to do about it?

[arcum]

[ It's not fair. He has no defense for this. Women know that men don't have a defense for things like this too. He probably should have had another player sit between them. Just to keep her cheating ass in check. So she couldn't play footsie and ruin his focus.

But Clint pulls his leg away. In a desperate attempt to keep his coordination and not go spiraling into a wall. ]

No more footsie or I'm calling a redo.

[avicula]

So you can't handle it.

[ all right, so the discussion started with dutch asking if he could keep up. not quite the same as handling it, her, but close enough. clearly, he can't. she's managing to stay on the road and make decent time even while very deliberately cheating via footsie playing. ]