El!
El has been with the site for nearly two years now and has continued to prove her value. Currently, she is heading up our site event, Battle for Liberterram, on top of keeping up with her own personal plots.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peggy Carter!
Lux's posts are all wonderful to read. She has done a wonderful job of grasping the new universe and incorporating Peggy into it.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peter Parker!
It's good to see Spidey back on the site. Watching him deal with the universe shift in his own snarky way has been nothing short of entertaining.
THREAD
SPOTLIGHT
Eight O'Clock on the Dot!
El and Lux are making magic in this thread. Straight up fireworks, and the way they've played with drawing out the reveal is top class.
Outside darkness loomed over the city of Manhattan, but in the darkness the lights of the city still shone as bright as any sun did. Whether it was midnight or midday, the city bustled and people were living their life and keeping the place running perpetually. Looking down upon all of that, Kayley was trying to keep running in the literal sense. Beads of sweat running down her face, pacing herself at an higher level than before, finding the limits of her personal endurance and pushing it further.
Kayley had been born with the x-gene, but the gene never gave her gifts in the physical sense. Nor had she ever done anything heroic, or any of the other thing. The most strenuous thing she had done in her life was being on the soccer team in college, and even there she wasn’t much in the way of talent.
But living with Tony Stark in the tower, and coming across people of power and other people that had insane physical gifts, it had made her self-conscious about her own physique. And with the tower having a state of the art gym available at any time, the choice of doing something about her inadequacies.
Helping matters too was Tony’s cold behavior to her ever since he had his mental breakdown and insistence on going dry. Which apparently had been about more than just alcohol, Kayley quickly realized. He looked at her differently, he barely slept in the same bed as her, and he was more occupied in his lab about things that he spoke with nobody about, and his AI’s knowledge of matters had been hidden behind self-destructive blockades that would kill the AI if it ever divulged what happened behind closed doors.
And then there were the people expecting her to deliver details about Tony, people that were extremely impatient and questioned her own dedication whenever Kayley had to admit to them that Tony had been more secretive as ever… Whenever she wasn’t being questioned by them, she was questioning herself, whether or not Tony had found out and was now just stringing her along and playing her long enough to find out who was on the other side.
All in all she needed to put her mind onto something different, so she had just hit the gym more and more, pacing herself, pushing herself, needing to be too tired to even think about the details. Just her, and a perpetual runners high.
Her mind detached from the world around her, just looking out onto the city and moving her feet endlessly. At least, until her subconscious mind woke her up whenever a sound broke the status quo.
’Barnes, I hope you didn’t come into the gym just to watch me run?‘ she queried in between breaths, continuing to focus at the display of the treadmill.
The only way she had known it was Barnes walking in the gym was because Barnes was really the only one other than Kayley that actively used the facilities. Especially in the middle of the night for that matter, the guy seemed to be active whenever he wasn’t having episodes himself. Made Tony look well-adjusted, all things considered.
Hearing the machine beep, the program went to a lower pace to let her heartrate drop and her body recuperate a little bit until the next one pushed the level a little bit higher again. Giving her a few minutes to look around to find Barnes’ face and wonder if he’d ever move to do something other than just stand in the corner all night.
TAG: James Barnes // NOTES: Finally got around to it, mate // WORDS: 600 words
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
Nighttime was pretty much the only time that James could walk around and no one would look at him; and that was because no one was around to look at him. After seeing Howard, he didn’t feel comfortable at the tower, but he felt less awkward. His own home… house… home, it didn’t have a gym, and his passkey allowed him nearly unlimited access to the tower. So far, he hadn’t found a place he wasn’t allowed into though. The towers was the best, but most nights it was also filled with one or two other people who decided that not being around other people was the way to go.
Tonight was no different, as he tossed and turned in his own bed and found it impossible to sleep, he figured a walk and a work out were in order. The walk had been nice, but as soon as he had gotten through the security to the gym, he found it less than empty. As soon as he’d walked in, the single other occupant tonight looked at him and spoke. He’d become used to see her. Seeing her and walking away. She was Tony’s girlfriend, or something, but the two had never had a conversation longer than hello or some smart comment like the one she just gave. He couldn’t sleep, though, and thus, didn’t want to leave, despite her remarks.
“No.” Simple answers were often the best, and he dropped his bag next to the treadmill furthest from her and stepped on. “I just came to run.” He looked down at her treadmill as it slowed and pressed his higher, to a comfortable walking distance. It meant that he could watch her as he walked. But as he thought back to all of the interactions he’d had with her he looked back to his machine and avoided eye contact until he could think of something to say. Two minutes passed and he looked up through the window, out over the city. “Can’t sleep?” It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but it wasn’t like he could talk to her about his nightmares or his troubles coping with a new reality.
Feeling her heartbeat go back down to an ordinary pace, Kayley glanced at Barnes getting on the most distant treadmill. The man was as concise with his words as he usually was, a few grunts, a couple of single-syllable words, and that was the conversation.
’Yeah, something like that.‘ Kayley replied to the man’s question in the same kind of gruffness.
She never really hung around Barnes, nor conversed with the man. With the size of the Stark complex, it was easy to avoid each other and do their own thing. She didn’t hate the man, nor did he hate her, she presumed… But there was something about Barnes that unnerved Kayley, something sinister and ‘non-human’ about the man. He had lived with the Stark’s longer than she had, but there was just something that always kept her on her toes, the man had been a trained killer, and she always had the irrational fear that something in the guy would snap and turn against her.
Howard had always assured her that Barnes was a good man, a reformed man just looking to live with his demons, but there was always the doubts inside her stomach about the man.
With her heartbeat leveled out again, a few button presses got her into a slight jog again, ready to find her limit yet again, until her body fully gave out for the night. ’Tony’s in the lab again, and work got me thinking too much.‘ she divulged openly, grabbing the water bottle in front of her and taking a few good sips. ’So I’m just… running… A lot, until I get bored enough to be able to sleep.‘ she continued, although openly wondering if Barnes was listening or even cared about anything she had to say.
’You can’t sleep either?‘ She queried.
TAG: James Barnes // NOTES: Meh // WORDS: 600 words
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
Even though it seemed that their previous relationship had been strained, what would be the harm in him getting to know this woman now? He didn’t have to uphold the same relationships as before, even though it would make it easier for this reality’s Bucky when he came back. James wanted to be normal, and this was probably the best chance he’d get at it. It was one of the reasons he continued to talk to her, opening up with his question. She responded and he nodded, looking from her to his machine again. Would that be the end of the conversation? It would be something admittedly; and they could always improve from there.
Kayley started to run again, and James increased his own machines pace, easily keeping up. She started talking again, however, and he looked over at her, and then back to his machine so it didn’t seem too weird. He had to think of a response, too, and it was easier to do when he wasn’t looking at her with the same expressionless look he’d had the last few weeks. “Running won’t bore you, it will only exhaust your body until it requires rest.” Another stupid thing to say, and it didn’t contribute to the conversation at all. He looked at the buttons on his machine and then up and over at her. She had asked a question.
It wasn’t that… okay, yes it was. He couldn’t sleep. He found it hard even on the good nights. With all of the thoughts he had, questions, running through his mind and at volume, it didn’t even help when Hutch sat at the edge of the bed and watched him. Or at the door, or when James tried to move into the living room and sleep on the couch with Hutch’s head propped in his lap. The only thing he hadn’t tried was sleeping in proximity with Steve. They had shared a bed when they were younger and Steve was cold and sick, and during the war when it was cold. But the only coldness now was inside his own body and mind. Not something a quick snuggle would solve.
James realized he hadn’t replied in at least thirty seconds and nodded. ”Yeah.” And quickly followed it up with another question to keep the attention off himself. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked; what do you do?”
’I dunno about how it works with people like you, but I get really bored by cardio if I do it long enough.‘ Kayley sighed between strides on the treadmill, feeling her heartrate slowly increase once more. Every ‘wave’ she did a little bit shorter, her human endurance showings its limits.
Pushing off harder and harder, she tried hard to ignore Barnes keeping pace with her own attempt. As if the man was taunting her for not being an experiment in cold war super-soldiering. She knew the guy could probably run for two-hundred miles and breaking his shoes before he’d break a sweat, but why he’d attempt to keep pace with her, instead of just doing his own thing, she didn’t know. But it was annoying enough to have her subconsciously up the tempo, as if outrunning him was remotely possible.
’I work in legal, pushing papers for the bigshots…‘ Kayley explained, sucking air a little as she knew upping her pace was going to blow her up sooner rather than later. ’At least until I pass the bar, then I can get my own gophers.‘ she added with a slight strained smile, gritting her teeth a little as she felt her legs move faster than they had ever ran.
As expected, Barnes kept up without even putting effort into it. Kayley could feel her heartrate spiking and her body protesting the torture it was being put through, but she was too stubborn to stop. She simply squinted her eyes, took deeper breaths, and let instinct take over in her foolish attempt to be slightly quicker than Barnes.
’And if you’re going to match me, at least try to make it look like you’re trying…‘ she subconsciously slip out of her mouth in between the deep breaths…
TAG: James Barnes // NOTES: Meh, but I guess Barnes will make her run herself into oblivion. // WORDS: 300 words
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
People like him? Crazy brainwashed assassins or… no, she probably meant enhanced persons. It was a fair call, he supposed. He certainly got bored by cardio if he did it long enough, and it was more beneficial for his body to be doing weight lifting anyway. The amount he ate… thankfully, his metabolism took care of whatever wasn’t turned into muscle or necessary fat storage. He seemed to disappear into himself with thoughts and didn’t realize that he was still keeping pace with Kayley as she increased or decreased her tempo.
Her voice cut through when she answered his question and he looked over at her. Paperwork. Now that sounded boring. “And you’ll get your own… law office?” Was she even a lawer? Well, obviously not yet. Or would she still work for Stark Industries? He knew so little about the people of this universe that it was constantly unnerving and he was always adding information to his mental collection of people.
It took him a moment to understand what she was talking about next, and he looked back down at his machine. It was fairly slow, wasn’t it. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.” He increased the speed until it was obviously out of reach for Kayley, but still within the realms of possibility for a regular human. Or Usain Bolt, anyway. If he could run a 2600. He supposed he could also just go and lift weights, but he wanted to run. He thought about it for a bit and then realized that running wouldn’t make him feel better, in the end, and he hit stop and moved over to the bench press, loading it and buckling the plates on. Now that he wasn’t running, Hutch finally walked into the room and jumped up onto the bench next to him, laying down to watch both humans work out.
Gruffly letting out an exhausted grunt, she didn’t really believe Barnes’ excuse. ’Yeah… sure.‘
And just like that, Barnes sped up to an unnatural pace and quickly thereafter decided to abandon his attempts at running the treadmill. Further reinforcing Kayley’s knowledge that the guy was just trying to rile her up and get under her skin, for whatever reason.
But she didn’t had the energy to give the man dirty looks behind his back either, her foolish attempt at keeping pace with the unnatural human specimen had exhausted what energy she had left before he had arrived.
Letting the treadmill roll to a halt, she grabbed the bottle of sugarized electrolytes and downed at least half of it in the hope that it did as branded, and refill her energy reserves.
’So, do you know what the hell’s going on with Tony?‘ she asked out loud, glancing over at the man now pushing an ungodly weight up and down.
Stepping off the treadmill, she sat herself down giving Barnes’ dog a scratch behind the ear as it explored the room. ’Tony won’t open to me anymore, for whatever reason. And from what I’ve heard from Howard, you had yourself a few moments at the same time Tony did.‘
She really wanted to know what the hell was going on, just for her own sanity’s sake. Because she knew she was being kept out of the loop about something, and although the irony wasn’t lost on her, she really wanted to know the ‘why’.
TAG: James Barnes // NOTES: Lacking a bit of muse for this one. // WORDS: 300 words
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
His thoughts had been so erratic since he'd been dropped into this new and unfamiliar world. He constantly second-guessed himself, and his decisions, and other people, or he just outright ignored everyone and forgot that people outside of him existed for minutes at a time. Since finding out that HYDRA was not only still active, but in full view of the public, that had only gotten worse. Or better. It depended on the day, and he never knew from one to the next.
After a few heavy reps with the weights, Kayley spoke up and asked a question, the content of which almost made James drop the bar onto his throat. Hutch was more used to Kayley than James was, as as soon as she sat down, he walked over for his usual pat before sniffing around her, only looking up when James had the bar back in its holding spot and sat up to look at Kayley. Why was she asking him for, what seemed like, relationship advice? As far as he knew, he was probably the last person she should be asking. In this reality or the one he'd come from.
The look on his face showed how uncomfortable he was, but he thought he could offer her something at the very least. Especially when she brought him into it. “I- ahh, well… How much has Howard told you?” That was the best. Find out what she knew first, accomodate her knowledge or just repeat on it in a way that seemed like she was getting new information. It made James feel somewhat bad that he hadn’t gone and seen Tony in the time he’d been there. Howard kept asking him when he was going to go back to work, but it had been slow, and he couldn’t fully commit to anything when he didn’t… he just didn’t. “Because, you know, I’m prone to a few panic attacks every now and then.”
Squinting her eyes slightly, she took Barnes’ words with a few grains of salt. Mostly because there was the unshakeable feeling in her gut that Barnes’ previous episode was nothing like Howard had explained his other episodes, and it happening on the same day as Tony having a moment, it just felt off to her, but there was nothing that could really explain it either. It was as if the answer was obvious, yet impossible to understand by anyone.
’I guess you’re right, no idea why I even make such connections.‘ Prodding for more information would cause the conversation to lose its casual tone, and would undoubtedly tip off Barnes about Kayley’s true intentions of digging for information.
Laughing lightly, the lack of sleep was finally slowly starting to catch up with her. Letting her hand run through her hair a few times a yawn followed soon. Part of her wanted to use the treadmill as a bed, not even go back to bed because Tony wouldn’t be there anyways. ’I don’t even know why I’m airing my problems with you, really.‘
She didn’t even know if Bucky had ever been in a relationship, either in the modern day or back in the 40s where the man had originally come from before dark forces had turned the man into their attack dog. Kayley wouldn’t find it odd if he had relations in the past, the guy certainly was good looking enough, and there were plenty women that loved the ‘troubled soul’ that Barnes was the very definition of.
’I guess you’re the only one that won’t go around gossiping, or will judge me behind my back.‘ Kayley wasn’t a stranger to all the rumors and tabloid journalism surrounding her and Tony, the age discrepancy and Tony’s taste in women had made sure that people looked at Kayley differently.
TAG: James Barnes // NOTES: blergh. // WORDS: 300 words
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
She didn’t answer his question and that alone told him how much she knew. Not much. He watched her carefully and as soon as her mind was made up, he saw it flash in her eyes. She didn’t believe him, and she was right to because he was… not totally lying, but definitely not telling the truth. “Because they’re not entirely wrong.” Was what he ended up giving her, accompanied by a shrug. If it was her gut instinct, it was right; and if it was research, she definitely knew what she was talking about and him lying was only showing her that he couldn’t be trusted.
The next thing she said was right. He didn’t know why she was airing her problems with him either. She followed it up with a suggestion and he smiled tightly. “I’ve got no-one around me that likes gossi, and honestly, who am I to judge anyone?” James stood and removed some of the weights from the bar, putting them back in their place on the rack before he sat back down with the bar and new weight at his feet. Instead of lifting it to continue his workout, he looked at Kayley and sighed. “I don’t know how we see each other, but you’re right. I won’t judge you, and I don’t have anyone to tell your problems to. Only Steve, and he wasn’t a big fan of gossip. “If you want, you can unload them on me in a judgement free zone.”
Briefly, he thought about Tony and looked away. “And as for Tony, I haven’t spoken to him in weeks, and anything said in this room-” He motioned at the gym in its entirety. There weren’t even cameras in here, which he appreciated, and understood, seeing as it was a private gym and very few people ever came in here. Mostly people who respected the gym and all that it stood for. Quiet personal reflection time. “It stays in this room. Unless you want to bring it up somewhere else.” He offered another smile, slightly longer and more natural on his face.
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