75/Somebody Needs to Beat Coulson's Score Pac Man Score

Somebody Needs to Beat Coulson's Score Pac Man Score
Date of Scene:	23 February 2020
Location:	Recreation Lounge: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Maybe one day, Steve will beat Bucky's high score on Galaga, but it is not this day!
Cast of Characters:	James Barnes, Steve Rogers

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James Barnes has posed:
Coulson may be the reigning Pac Man champ. But the Galaga machine's high scores are more or less all JBB, JBB, JBB from top to bottom. Lili's preserving a judicious silence and mumbling her favorite Nylabone as Buck hammers on the one button and nudges the joystick back and forth in rapid flicks. His expression has that calm intensity Steve knows so well, though usually it's half-hidden behind a scope.

He seems, in his own weird way, content. He's in jeans and t-shirt, nothing concealing the metal arm, and the front of his hair's pulled back into a tail over the back left loose: very Men of the North, as it were. But hey, it's better than the man-bun Steven's seem him defiantly sporting of late.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve returned to the Triskelion after his brief public foray not too long ago, a half hour at most, but he's given up focusing for the moment. To suddenly hear and be privy to the fact that Tony is running for President?

Enough to knock anybody out of a perfectly good bumblebee-like work-state. Blowing a hard sigh, he shuts his laptop and blacks out the holographic screens wired up above his desk with a sideway gesture of dismissal. Still wearing his leather shearling-lined motorcycle jacket, the Captain clomps his way out of his office and through the maze of hallways known to the Triskelion. He's hunting out someone in particular and after finding the suite light's outside light off to indicate that no one's home, he starts methodically checking rooms.

It doesn't take a long foray of the menetal list before he finds Barnes in the Recreational Lounge. At first just a blond head stuck through the open door to survey the area, the rest of the super-soldier follows along with a mild grin. With hands in his pockets, he meanders towards the gaming machine.

"Beaten your highest score yet?" He makes a quiet smooching sound towards Lili, ever fond of the service dog who keeps sanity around when Steve can't be.

James Barnes has posed:
She's a bundle of love and loyalty, an emissary and guardian when Steve can't be there to ward off nightmares or flashbacks. She twinkles at Steve, drops her bone with a little 'pleah' and gets to her feet to amble over. No vest, she's off-duty.

It's a silent moment or two before Buck responds, looking over his shoulder with a grin. "Not lately. Not enough caffeine, I think. I like to kind of zone out.....I know there are fancier machines with lots of games that I could have in my own place but....I kinna like being out of there." He tends to treat his actual apartment like a monk's cell, somewhere to store his few possessions, the myriad of Lili's toys, and sleep and retreat when his body demands it. "How's it goin'?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Off-duty Lili means that the big blond super-soldier drops to one knee to offer the best scruffles he can in gratitude for her daily efforts. Blunt nails quickly get to work at the fur just behind and beneath her gigantic ears even as he mumbles sweet nonsense at her in Gaelic; it's all about the tone of voice anyways, not necessarily the words.

"Can't imagine it's fun being in there twenty-four-seven," he opines as to the Soldier's room. "Fresh air's important. 's'why 'm not in my office still." He glances up from those adoring brown eyes to half-smirk at Bucky. "That 'nd seeing what you were up to. You want some coffee for your efforts?" Getting to his feet, Steve starts wandering towards the machine regardless of opinions, though he still looks over his shoulder for a response.

James Barnes has posed:
Of course, she immediately rolls over and offers a fuzzy golden belly, complete with a beseeching look and a wave of a forepaw. Help me out here, second-best human. Buck can't help but grin at that, even as he turns away from the machine. "Yeah, sure." He'll dose it with cream and sugar until it's mostly dairy, honestly. "And yeah, fresh air is...." Not that it'll keep him from avoiding the winter cold to the very best of his ability.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Unable to resist the belly, Steve is distracted with a brief if thorough once-over of its golden fur before he's finally able to tear himself away from the quiet delight that is Lili the Shepherd.

"Might be creamer in the fridge, might not be. People're like piranhas around here about it." There's a note of a grump to be found in the Captain's voice. Upon reaching the machine, he pushes the button to get it going before he sidles to open the fridge and peer within. "There's some cream, you're in luck. Not flavored," he reports even as he pulls the opened cardboard pint out from behind a questionable Tupperware that might have been soup at one point. This gets plunked to the counter beside the machine.

"Done any running on the track? Good to get the heart going if you're feeling antsy," the man says quietly to his oldest friend, his eyes watchful and mild.

James Barnes has posed:
"I like the peppermint kind," Buck confides, voice low. He takes over Shepherd-scritching duties for the moment, and Lili wriggles in an ecstasy of canine delight. I am so the best girl, yes I am! Buck confirms this by muttering sweet little nothings in turn, and grinning at her.

"Yeah," he says. "I mean, I use all the stuff here. I tend to run outside a lot, though, makes me feel less like a rat on a wheel, y'know?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Know what you mean. The track's a good place to move 'nd not think. You get your music going 'nd your feet at a beat 'nd time melts away. Best way I've found to settle myself if something's eating my alive," Steve shares even as he fishes out mugs from a cupboard above the coffee machine. They're plain white ceramic things, nothing fancy, and he frowns briefly at the empty carafe as it fills.

"Buck, I came to check on you, but there's...a few things on my mind. Need your opinion, I think." He then gives Barnes a look rarely seen by others: patience strained and the acknowledgement of new weight on his shoulders.

James Barnes has posed:
That has him rising from where he's crouched by Lili, and that foolish little half-grin fades. "I tend to swim, when that happens. The warmth....it's like the opposite of anything that happened to me when HYDRA had me. And it makes the metalwork hurt less." He'll rarely admit that he's in some kind of pain more or less constantly.

But he nods at that. "Sure. What's eatin' ya?" he wonders. Steve's got the patience of a saint, albeit the kind of saint like Ignatius of Loyola who was a mercenary and soldier of fortune before his conversion, but even he's human.

Steve Rogers has posed:
While the coffee maker burbles, the man now leaning against the counter with one arm folded across his chest in an aborted arms-crossing dedicates himself to a rubbing of both temples with hand spanned before his eyes.

He emerges with one of those long-suffering sighs known so well to Barnes, at least. "You seen the news in the last hour or so?" It's not some coy attempt at tease. Steve sincerely doesn't want to be repeating himself if necessary; the habit stems from time spent in many meetings with the SSR in a race against time and Schmidt's nefarious inventions.

James Barnes has posed:
Buck goes still, in that way he has. Wary, like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. "No," he says, bluntly. And being a child of 1917, doesn't immediately go for his phone. He waits for Steve to tell him. "Why? What happened?" By his expression, he's half-expecting Steve to tell him that WW III has been declared. They're children of the first and veterans of the second, surely they'll be there for the third.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve pulls a crooked half-smile. "Sorry, Buck, that was awful phrasing. Didn't mean it like it was a world-ending event," he says with a grimace at himself. The coffee maker finishes burbling and briefly, the Captain diverts to pour out two mugs of coffee. Bucky will find his offered out to him and then the other receives a dollop of cream; this too is offered towards Barnes even though there's counterspace to spare.

"Tony's running for president." This news is delivered with a neutrality utterly Rogersian. Still, those true-blues watch the Soldier keenly enough.

James Barnes has posed:
Buck takes his with that funny, gentle formality. Two hands, before he turns to find the sugar jar. "You're serious." It isn't a question. There's no joking incredulity. Steve wouldn't make this a joke.

There's the clink of spoon against mug, as he doctors his coffee. "That doesn't make much sense to me. He's not a politician, he's an engineer, for all his money and his love for the spotlight."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Right," agrees his friend. Steve sips at his coffee and continues leaning against the counter, his brows knitted in well-meaning concern. "I still need to talk to him privately, see what he's thinking. I dunno that Tony knows what he's getting into...'nd not that I could counsel him. There've also been presidents who were elected without a history of politics. Reagan comes to mind." Whatever the Captain thinks of this is kept to himself.

"So it's not impossible that Tony could be successfully elected." Fishing out his phone, he thumbs to the most recent news article. A rotation of its screen shows Barnes the picture taken and catching on like wildlife: Steve shaking Tony's hand not but minutes after the formal announcement. "PR's going to be good for him with that," notes the man with dry amusement.

James Barnes has posed:
His eyes go hooded, wary. "What's your concern, then?" he says, quietly. "Say he does get elected. Because you're right. He's got money, he's got fame, he does have a rep as a philanthropist and a genius inventor. Americans love that stuff." As if he no longer wholly counted himself among that number. "And considering America's political history over recent decades, god knows he's better'n some."

A beat, and he says, as an apparently casual aside, "Kennedy wasn't me. Sorta. 's an agent named Galichenko. I dumped his body off of Galveston."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Now it's Steve's turn to exhibit that stilled wariness rarely seen in the man. He gives Barnes a searching look, squinting and then actively shifting his frown into something more ruefully amused.

"'m concerned because he's a friend 'nd an Avenger. A President //and// an Avenger? Don't think it's impossible, but he works himself to the bone over his own inventions. Can't imagine him making time to be both without it difficult to sustain." Not 'impossible', of note in the Captain's thoughts -- just difficult. "If he asks me to be his running mate, don't think 'm going to agree. I remember the times of rubbing elbows with the senators well enough. Not my cup of tea." That, and Steve tended to be inadvertently frank in his opinions whether it benefitted those trotting him out or not.

Still, nearly sotto voce and with a look from beneath his brows, the Captain asks, "...you let the proper authorities know about Galveston?"

James Barnes has posed:
It's the idea of Steve as VP that makes Buck's eyes go wide and shocked. A beat of breathless stillness that has Lili looking up from her bone, ears pricking forward. Does human need her? Then Bucky's dissolving into helpless, soundless laughter. Bent double with it, shoulders shaking hard enough that Steve can *hear* the rasp of plates scraping, like a snake in dry leaves.

It takes him a while to recover, straighten up, and pull out a hankie and wipe his eyes. "Oh, whoo," he says, like Steve's told the best joke ever. "You one bullet away from the Presidency of the United States. Oh, damn, my ribs hurt."

The look he gives Steve is sly. "I let Fury know." Up to Steve if that actually constitutes 'the proper authorities'. Nick plays his cards so close to the vest they're practically in his undershirt.

Steve Rogers has posed:
At first, Steve too is concerned. Did he accidentally trigger an uncontainable point of stress in the Soldier? His eyes grow a little wider, coffee mug held paused before his lips.

But then comes the beginnings of a full-body bout of laughter and he scoffs. Oh, how Captain Rogers scoffs, fully, with a wrinkle to his nose and a smile trying hard not to appear. "Alright, yeah, yuck it up, Barnes," he mutters before he takes a deep sip of his coffee. He's sure to add after Bucky manages proper words again, "Don't break a rib about it."

Fury apparently constitutes the 'proper authorities' for all he seems to let that tidbit of information slide with a simple nod of acknowledgement. "Wise of you."

Still, Steve shakes his head again. "Seems like you've got no major flaws in logic to point out so far, so that's good. Just...still surprised by all of it." Then comes the self-righteous point even while the super-soldier tries not to laugh: "'nd I'd make a good Vice President, Buck, you stuff it."

James Barnes has posed:
Steven's seen a variation on this face since they were in their single digits. Something along the lines of 'let me tell you why that's bullshit, Steven'. Oh, he's trying to suppress his smile, but his lips are trembling. "Steve, you'd make an awful politician. You can't lie, you can't mince words, you can't temporize, and you can't move an inch when it comes to what you think is right and wrong. You might make a good cult-leader, but you'd cause more chaos in Washington than someone letting a box of rats loose in a convent. For that matter, Stark might well get elected, but he'll be a terrible politician, too. He's arrogant and convinced that he's right.....he might make a dictator for some little banana republic that he could people with robots, but the United States of America? Pfft." He shakes his head.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Bucky's descriptive results of the convent under rat-seige is enough to make Steve himself nearly double over in laughter. While the Soldier's laugh is nearly silent, the Captain's laugh rings like a bell: full-lunged and from his belly. He doesn't hear half of what is said about republics and robots, but he does come up for air in time to hear the dismissive little sound.

Wiping at his eyes, the blond sighs. "God, Buck, that image." It sets him to chuckling for another few seconds before he puffs out a larger sigh and clears his throat. "Guess we'll just have to see what happens. Who knows? Tony might pull this entire idea away and reframe it as a way to garner public attention for something else by next Tuesday."

A wave of his hand dismisses the entire affair. He looks out across the rec room as if it might suddenly inspire some genius. "Other'n Tony announcing his intent to run...not much else to report. Probably should be grateful that."

James Barnes has posed:
Winter Soldier blows out a slow breath. "I hope so. Because honestly, we need him as an inventor and as an Avenger far more than we need him as a politician. Also, he *can't* be an Avenger and be President. The Avengers are an international and extra-governmental entity, the US Presidency is explicitly an American political institution. The conflict of interest, both perceived and real, would be massive. He'd have to cut ties to function."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve nods and again points towards his oldest friend. "Precisely what I wanted to talk to him about, the conflict of interest. Dunno if he's considered this. He's used to doing what he means to 'nd what he says, which...can always count on him for that."

Un- and re-crossing his booted feet at the ankles, the super-soldier frowns down at his coffee. "If he wants to leave the Avengers, that's...mean, it's his call. We'd be missing a piece, but it wouldn't stop us from protecting the world from trouble. I wonder if he realizes he wouldn't technically be able to give us orders as the President..." muses the Captain with a wry little smirk at Bucky.

James Barnes has posed:
"He's used to getting his way," James's voice is matter of fact, even. "And I bet he thinks that yes, you'd just be another little accessory. I guarantee you he hasn't thought it through....and he won't like it when he does. The question is if he'll be wise enough to change his mind, or if he'll just keep going for stubborness's sake. Remember his dad and the flying cars? How many of those things did he wreck, when he honestly shoulda just given up and taken a cue from Sikorsky and worked on helicopters...."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Mmm." A quiet thoughtful sound slips from the Avenger despite his lips being closed. "Howard almost had those flying cars figured out. If the SSR hadn't gotten him involved with the super-soldier project, he probably would've managed to get one 'nd keep one off the ground. Imagine that: blacking out the city because he had to charge one of the car's batteries 'nd not turn the dial to 11 in my personal toaster machine."

With such droll amusement does Steve say this.

"Still...we'll have to see. I'll talk with him," confirms the Captain yet again. "You feel like coming out to the mansion sometime? Different surroundings, fresh air 'nd all?" This is offered with no intent to be insulted if declined.

James Barnes has posed:
"Almost did," Buck concedes, lifting his coffee mug. "Almost." He shouldn't've mentioned Howard, should he? Winter remembers Howard, too, and with much less fondness.....if a certain icy satisfaction.

But then, what pleasures did that one have, besides the respite granted him after a successful mission. The knowledge that they might let him go into the cold, and *rest*.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Stalwartly determined not to let the fact that he knows of this particular event come to the forefront, Steve instead looks out on the recreational room again. His eyes do fall to Lili and a small smile shows on his lips. Even for this particular super-soldier, she's an anchoring to the here and now in her way.

"We'll have you out to the mansion sometime, get you out of rattling around here," he says with another glance at Bucky. "Think you'd like the gardens in the back. The early-blooming flowers're starting to peek out. Makes me itch to get my pencils 'nd sit out there in a thick coat 'nd sketch 'em."

James Barnes has posed:
He has Winter's memories. That's the hell of it, one pain among the many. He remembers the things his body did, was made to do. The way he's gone quiet now has Lili coming over to insinuate her glossy-furred head under his hand, demand touches and attention. A good diversion from the ghosts that threaten, as he smiles and looks down at her.

Then he glances up at Steve. "I'd like that," he says, quietly. No quibbling with it. As if he were an invalid slowly recovering.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"It's a plan then. I'll make sure nothing's going on around here 'nd then text you? Maybe I'll drop in on you instead, make you ride pillion like we used to back when we were luring HYDRA motorcycle operatives into those clever traps Dernier used to set up." For all Steve smiles, there's a solmenity to his wistful mein. It was serious business, all of that, even if it was worth a bout of adrenalined-fueled laughter when the goons invariably ended up in pits or clotheslined.

Realizing he's out of coffee, the man turns to pour himself another mug. He lifts the carafe towards Bucky in a gesture of offering more even as he notes, "'nd for educational purposes, don't ghost Director Fury when he calls you. Gets that look that makes you wonder about shipping off overseas." There's still a wry little twist of dark amusement that twinkles through the Captain's true-blues. "What've you been up to around here lately then?"

James Barnes has posed:
The idea of him ghosting Fury makes buck look a little bemused. Fury's the boss, and one of his primary lines of defense against all those who are out for his blood for what Winter did, over all those years. "Why would I do that?" And indeed, what does he have to *do* that isn't living here, training here, deliberately keeping himself under the watchful Argus eyes of SHIELD and its people. He's their pet monster now, and it behooves him to act like it.

Which is why Steve gets a turn of his metal hand in reply. "I train. I go on missions when they ask. I, uh.....we're kinna doing an extended debriefing thing, unpacking a lot of stuff about HYDRA and its influences and goals." He makes it sound dry, academic, as if it weren't a teeth-gritted horror movie ride for him. There's a mirthless smile. "They thought I'd never get away, never be able to talk, so....they didn't scruple to hide a lot from me."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Back goes the carafe. Sipping at his newly-heated mug of coffee, Steve smiles to himself. "Never figured you would ghost him, just sharing some wisdom," he murmurs with a flick of his brows. Somebody did get the Dead-Fish Stare after all.

It's not pity that carves the Captain's face into stoic lines: it's an understanding empathy and stalwart stance that the Winter Soldier is but a construct -- underneath the blood-soaked history is Bucky Barnes, and no one will convince him otherwise.

His tone is steady, his gaze equally so. "Always did think too much of themselves, HYDRA. 'm glad I got you back, Buck. Couldn't lose you again, not after the ice."

James Barnes has posed:
Steven can see him reach for humor, try to rally. Try to find some of the old snarky wit....but it never gets entirely off the ground. His smile wavers into that emptiness, like a reflection in water disturbed. "Yeah," he says. "Schmidt was the worst. They all go mad, one way or another. There's that line that they can never refrain from crossing. Like they think God's away on business and left them minding the shop.....and then they fuck up and we get 'em."

Lili's licking at his hand, impatiently. Stop smelling distressed. Recalled to himself, he glances down, ruffles her ears. "I dunno what I'd do without ya, Steve. If I.....well, without you, I'd never've remembered I was me."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Wasn't about to let you get away," the Captain insists in his gentle and implacable manner. His eyes fall to Lili and he nods the slightest to himself -- good girl, good girl, keep the Soldier present. "Not about to let 'em get away without recompense. HYDRA's got another thing coming if it thinks about even looking your direction again. You were always there for me -- won't countenance being otherwise here 'nd now."

Another deep swig of his coffee and Steve nods towards the gaming machine with its screen occupied by so many 'JBB's in its high score column. "Bet you I can beat your high score."

And maybe pigs will fly, but the Captain's in league with Lili. He's not about to let Bucky disappear too deeply into the mire of his shadowed past.