9004/Do They Know It's Christmas After All

Do They Know It's Christmas After All
Date of Scene:	08 December 2021
Location:	Avengers Mansion - First Floor
Synopsis:	James and Wanda decorate the Avengers mansion and plan on skating.
Cast of Characters:	James Barnes, Wanda Maximoff

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James Barnes has posed:
James Buchanan Barnes has been having a rough couple of nights (weeks, months, years) and there are few things that can really make him feel at ease. One of those things is a _person_ and she happens to be the nexus of realities, or something like that. It's unsure if Bucky even knows about this particular aspect of her existence or would even be able to fully comprehend it. All he knows is that when Wanda's around, things get a little _lighter_, his head aches less, his limbs don't feel wound so tight and he relaxes to the point of forgetting he even _has_ cochlear implant, never mind turning them on or off.

This may be why today, he finds himself in Avengers Manor, awaiting the Scarlet Witch's arrival. is she coming from inside the house? From outside? She's a woman of mystery.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Jaunty music: that's the hallmark of HELL. Trust a woman who embodies one of the great evils in the land to know evil. When some reject from Band-Aid gets together to chorus about it being Christmas after all somewhere or another, let the world suffer with her. Spotify feeds into speakers hidden around the landing.

In the middle of it all, Wanda Maximoff floats boughs and garlands all over the banisters and rails. She has ribbons wrapped around them in blips of red, because of course it would be a rich scarlet velvet, though some of them vary things by being silver trimmed. It's all very exciting when lit, which some of them are, but they have to be linked up somehow. Woman of mystery, is she?

He won't have trouble finding her, doing a conga with spruce.

James Barnes has posed:
It's true. That makes her particularly easy to find. James smiles as he looks up at the floating witch, but it's one of those quiet, smaller smiles; private for himself, maybe, not even for her so much as his own thoughts manifested on his face. For a while, he says nothing, but eventually there's a soft clearing of the Winter Soldier's throat.

"Nice view."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
She's not that high off the ground, maybe half a meter. The better for a view of the entryway and where she can string up the festive garland. The boughs are real; no fake stuff or projections, even if Tony could manage? Is that fun? No. Not so much.

The inane music slides into Dean Martin's croon that welcomes people to dance and make merry. Better still, though she flits her finger back and forth against the beat. Telekinetic purpose tosses a garland over the knob supporting a banister, just in time for her look behind her. No brother there; then down, a smile marking familiarity, for Bucky.

"I thought so myself. Bit different for me, but good things, you know?"

James Barnes has posed:
His smile grows a little broader, a little more public, when she replies, and he pops a jellybean into his mouth from a baggie he has in his metallic hand. He tips his head a bit and then takes in all the decorations she's putting up, before scanning his eyes back to her. For a moment, he seems bemused, then simply _amused_.

"You want one?" He holds the baggie up.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda blinks at the bag, trying to suss out the contents. It helps he chews it, though Bucky could be swishing around dice to tease her. "I could take a little break. Still have to keep these up." Her maestro's serenade lobs two bunches of greenery up onto the balcony overlooking the main floor. They don't fall much, though several needles and bits of dust float in the air once her concentration is split and the spell fades back. Her drop to the ground is equally loud, boots smacking into marble and forcing her into a crouch with her knees deeply bent. Not her finest or more graceful of moments.

"Is it cold outside? I am not quite done here. When I am, I thought about a walk." No one jogs in 20 degree weather. "You having a good time?"

James Barnes has posed:
Plenty of people jog in 20 degree weather! It's usually the people who have it so ingrained in them to do so that they prepare for the weather and do it even if it's uncomfortable, but there are people! Bucky, for one.

But a walk is probably something that sounds nicer. He watches her hit the floor and raises a brow. But even if he was going to give her a suggestion, he doesn't. It's not Training Time with Bucky. It's Festive Time with Wanda!

Case in point: "It's all right." His time. "Do you want company?" For her walk. He's still holding the baggie out, shaking it a little for her as the jellybeans rattle.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
People born in Russia and other cold places, or military people. Therefore, Bucky. An equation that even Wanda can do, directed as she is to mind jellybeans and various different ornaments placed in clusters and groups. "I should finish this," she gestures. "Something half done is almost worse than doing it at all, wouldn't you say? I would like someone to come in here and feel welcome, not overwhelmed."

Her hair spills back from her face as she gives her head a good shake. "I would like the company, always." Bucky's question is almost scoffed at. "You have to ask that even now? Company is important. We all have our lives here and there. I get that, but it's a good time to be with other people."

He wants to feed her candy, she'll eat it. Her metabolism is almost that of her insane brother's.

James Barnes has posed:
Her question as to whether he has to ask that even now gets a short shrug. He seems to consider the question for a moment, though unlike other people who might look up or even to the side, Bucky kind of squints straight ahead when he thinks deeply on things, looking _through_ her for a moment, before his eyes focus again. "Some times we need to be alone. Even when we like the company we keep."

He lets her take as many jelly beans as she wants and then pops another in his mouth. "Do you want help setting all this up?" His smile is warm again. "Or," he says, tone just a bit teasing as he takes a seat at the bottom of the stairs and looks up at her with a smile, "should I just enjoy the view?"

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
What do those icy eyes see? What truths are conveyed? She smiles a little. "We do. But not when we are putting up our Christmas decorations in a mansion. There are other places to be alone in the privacy of our thoughts." The wisdom of Wanda Maximoff is not a small thing, easily one.

"I suppose you can help. Plug those strands in and I can get the rest in place." Jellybeans are pure sugar, so she helps herself to a few, though not too many. His smile warms her enough to grin back before she pops a candy in her mouth. "Sound good? It won't take you nearly so long."

James Barnes has posed:
Bucky looks put out for a moment when she informs him he has to get back up again, but he does so without complaint, winking at her as he moves to help her hang up the decorations.

It really doesn't take him very long, but he kind of times it, instinctively, to how long it might take her to finish her own task. By the time they're both done, he's stolen more than a few glances, but he's finished the task at hand, and his baggie of jelly beans is once more in his hand.

"So where are we going?" She might have to define 'walk' for a man who can do it for days on end in any direction.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Too bad for the Winter Soldier, reduced to capitalist festivities, right? Plugging in lights or straightening up a few garlands takes a bit, not overly long. Wanda has more work to do with the telekinetic maneuvering of her own. She does not ask for help much, though she stays on the ground, for one hard landing is all she needs in a day. The effect proves eye-catching, though.

All in a bag of jellybeans' worth of work.

She ends up leaning on a wall for a bit, smile in place. "Fifth Avenue is so expensive. The park? We're practically atop it."

James Barnes has posed:
It'd be hard for her not to catch his eye at this point.

Her suggestion as to destination cements the _type_ of walk this will be for him and he gives a short little shrug; not dismissive, just accepting. "That sounds good to me. Let me get my coat." Because even if he won't actually feel much cold if he leaves in just the jeans and burgundy Henley that he's wearing, the jacket is much better at hiding his metallic arm.

It takes him all of two minutes to retrieve it, and soon enough, he's holding the door open for her. Gentleman genes can't be killed by Hydra.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda isn't wearing a coat. That's what coat racks and closets are for. They have both. She will stop on the way out to fetch her preferred cover-up, a dark grey puffer coat with a stylish bit of red for accents slithered into. The hood's fringe of fake fur does a fine job hiding her auburn hair. A few moments to worry with zippers and the belt, then she can claim herself as presentable. More than two seconds, but the idea of having a coat is a novelty.

Central Park across the street is vast, of course. Many different features stretch out before them in the dying grey afternoon light. She offers her hand to Bucky, non-preferential to what side he takes, always somewhat mindful. "They have skating by the big Christmas tree. All I can think, what a good place for an Olympian to practice while no one knows."

James Barnes has posed:
He takes her hand with his normal, flesh one. This isn't how it was before. The first few times they walked hand-in-hand, he gave her the metallic one; some subconscious attempt to put artificial distance between them. But this time, it's the real one, even if there's gloves in the way of their skin touching.

Her idea gets a tilt of his head side to side and then he smiles at her. "Are you talking about you or me?" Is he teasing her on her ability to ice skate? Yes, he probably is. But he does it with a soft smile, bumping her shoulder gently as they cross the street. Never mind that she can probably grant herself Olympian-level ice skating prowess magically. Magic is cheating!

"I remember when you could cross this street without even looking because the cars were so few and far between." In comparison to now, anyway.

"But yeah. Ice skating sounds good."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Metal has never bothered the witch. It could; then again, consider who her father is, a master of metal and anything that can be magnetised. So too her green-haired sister. But the trust implicit in flesh meeting flesh instead of the Soviet-crafted vibranium alloy is another matter, and at the heart of it comes trust. A kind of trust colored by looping her fingers around his. No mitten, even!

"I was thinking one of the actual Olympians. That young man from Massachusetts who keeps winning all the medals. I think his name is Nathan. He is very interesting to watch. Or the Japanese champion." Yes, she spends her time watching the highlights reel of flips and spins, rocketing around the ice. They all have their bad habits. The shoulder bump from Bucky would normally not be an issue but her boots slide and scrape on the sidewalk, and she laughs in protest. "You keep doing that, I am going to end up flying over these cars!"

really, cheating or not. "The street is a madhouse. Always loud. We have good soundproof materials, but sometimes I miss the quiet. You know when the forest stills, and you can hear the crack of ice across water? Like that."

James Barnes has posed:
Her skidding and laughing protest just get her hand held a little tighter as he pulls her back towards him with little effort. He shakes his head a bit and leans, bumping his forehead to hers as they walk. "No. I got you." No flying over anywhere while he's holding her; any part of her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I like that sort of quiet, too." Even though it reminds him of his missions. Sure, he killed plenty of people in cities; but it was those kills at night, in the wilderness or the very very quiet of mid-twentieth century suburbia that saw the highest kill count for the Winter Soldier.

"Know any place like that around here anymore?"