aterat | Enter an old man

Entry tags:

ffx (ou): yuna

Enter an old man

Who; Steve Rogers & you..yes you
What; Arrival
Where; Fountain square?
When; After he arrives
Warnings; None

Blue eyes looked around as he stood in front of the fountain, hands on his hips. Steve had met the lady with the red hair and while she'd been friendly, she couldn't give him the information he needed to get back home. There had been a war going on and Thanos was on a rampage to utterly obliterate the universe so the last thing he needed was to be stuck in the middle of..wherever this place was.

He remembered getting hit in the face and then he woke up here. But if he showed up in this spot, then logic would dictate this was a portal and he really needed to get back to where he was needed.

His gaze caught sight of a drawing..was that a red dragon rising near a fire? Well it didn't matter, he had to keep searching for answers. The fate of the universe and his friends depended on him and he had to get home.

He'd outran the little guy with the Green satchel by accident and when he'd turned back around the dwarf or gnome thing had disappeared so he'd gone back to the fountain to look for more clues as to how to get back to save countless innocent lives from a tyrant hell bent on destroying their existence.

Steve half startled when he heard someone excusing themselves in order to get around him. "Sorry." When he was reassured there was no harm done, his blue eyes slightly widened in amazement as the gas lamps around him were lit. That got his attention and he shook his head.

"This technology is older than I am." There was a smile for a moment but then after the lamp lighter gentleman left, he crouched down to inspect more of the fountain itself, tapping on the stone.

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"You don't look very old to me." Yuna spoke from behind him, her arms held lightly behind her back as her fingers laced lightly together. She had been coming to inspect the area again and while she knew that this was where they all woke up, she didn't expect to see someone else standing face to face with this odd fountain.

"I didn't mean to surprise you." She smiled. "I'm Yuna."

She looked out of place among the Victorian era style city and could easily be identified as one of those brought in by the unknown "Creator". The most identifying feature were her eyes, mismatched, one blue and one green.

Hearing a feminine voice wasn't something he expected. After all, the townsfolk seemed to be quietly gathering outside of people's doors to chat and the rest of the lamps had been lit for the evening. So that meant people were winding down and not looking to be out for much longer.

Steve turned and saw the woman that the voice belonged to and he nodded with a small smile at her words as he stood up. If she only knew the truth about his age but that wasn't important.

"Ma'am."

So when she gave her name he had to do the same in kind. "I'm Steve Rogers, it's nice to meet you Yuna." Meeting people hadn't been on his agenda, but he could definitely be kind and courteous.

A soft sigh escaped him as he then turned to look at the fountain and gestured at it. "I don't suppose you know the riddle of how to get out of here and back home."

"It's nice to meet you Steve." Her expression softened into a subtle frown. "I don't. From what I do understand, we can't go home until the city has repaired itself. It doesn't really make much sense to me." She's trying to understand but there was a great deal of mystery hidden within the old broken city.

"There is a party in the city. So most things are closed and the Aspects are gone." She hadn't seen the woman who Steve had spoken too before she vanished once more.

"But I can try and help."

Steve kept his face averted and didn't want to show his frustration. He had a war and mass world population reduction to stop. He had no time to be here and be stuck. He'd left Bucky, Nat, T'Challa, Wanda, Rhodey, Vision, Thor, Banner, and the rest of Wakanda to fend for itself. Vision was especially vulnerable because of the Mind Stone.

He took one of his hands off of his belt that had been holding onto it and lifted it to run through his hair briefly. Yuna had been heard of course and he had absolute zero interest in a party so he shook his head briefly.

"Sorry, I have to get back."

But then Steve turned to look at her with hearing the kind offer of assistance. Blue eyes met mismatched ones and he smiled, inclining his head towards the fountain.

"Then let's get started."

Yuna shook her head. "It's alright. I understand. Had I been taken at another time. I would be the same." But she'd been lucky. "I wish I could do more. I believe, and this is only my understanding, I am not sure but we were plucked from time and we will be returned when we help here. I don't know if it's the same time but I would think so. The rules here are... different from what I am used too."

She waited and then gestured with a hand so that he followed her. "There are two people known as Aspect's. A man and a woman. The woman you likely met when you first arrived. They are speakers of someone called the Creator but I don't know who that is or what it means exactly. There is a festival going on right now. So the city is a bit different than it usually is."

She lead him onto the steps outside and the city was a buzz with activity. There were stalls set up, music drifting through the streets and air of warm activity.

"I can show you to the Gullwings office too. We started the group to try and collect information, protect the people here and hopefully, one day, find our way back home."

'Taken at another time?' What did that even mean? This thought went through his mind until the next thing that she said floored him. "Wait. You said we'd be returned to the moment we arrived? How is that possible?" He didn't dare to hope, but he found himself half doing it anyway. He'd practically closed the distance between them until Steve realized it and took a step backwards. Did that mean time just stood still for him or where he was and he'd still have a chance to beat Thanos?

Blue eyes blinked as Yuna gestured and puzzedly he followed. Getting information was important, and he took a last look at the fountain and nodded at her next words. "So they're divine messengers." Leave it to Rogers to have a question come out as a statement.

Once upon a time he'd told Natasha that 'There's only one God.' but having to meet and interact with Thor and Loki, he'd learned a little differently because the assault on New York had taught him a lot.

He looked at the sights Yuna had turned towards and he sighed, with his mind going over quite a bit. His hands returned to his belt and Steve looked into the mismatched eyes. "Gullwings office.." And of course this was his usual question coming out as a statement though the rest got a small smile of sorts.

"Sounds like you have a pretty good set up going."

"I think so. I'm not sure. You might be able to ask Halcyn? She was the woman with the red hair but I haven't seen her for a few weeks." Yuna was sure that Halcyn had been at the fountain to greet Steve but it might have been a brief meeting. The Aspect's were skilled at brevity. Yuna suspected that they didn't know as much as they pretended but at the same time knew more than they were saying.

Yuna snapped from her thoughts, turning towards Steve with her usual warm smile. "You think so?"

"I was part of a group called the Gullwings back home. We were spherehunters but we helped others too and..." Her head tilted to the side as a sheepish grin touched her lips. "We might have bent a few rules along the way but we did what we thought was right. I know it sounds silly but I wanted to do that here too. This isn't my home but there are people here and they deserve to be protected too. This is my way of doing that."

She gestured towards the building to their left. "Would you like to come in? I can make tea and show you what information we have gathered. It isn't much but it might help."

There was a dubious look on Steve's face at Yuna's suggestion to ask Halcyn but he didn't voice his doubts. He'd tried to get as much information out of her as he possibly could but really got nowhere even with as insistent as he'd been. So another sigh came out as he watched a small blonde girl and a boy ran past them with pastel coloured ribbons on sticks. They were being chased by a medium sized brown dog barking and wearing some sort of greenery around its neck.

He nodded to the question and her voice shook him out of the rest of those thoughts as blue eyes turned towards Yuna. And as he listened to her explain about this group called the Gullwings he had to let out a small laugh. Steve knew a thing or six about bending rules to do the right thing after all. But when she spoke about protecting people she didn't know, Rogers had to admit that was a noble fight, not unlike the things the Avengers had done.

So he shifted his weight and and shook his head. "Doesn't sound silly at all. Protecting innocent people is what's important." It was nice to hear of others believing as he did bur before he got into that, his eyes went from her to the building she'd indicated and Steve nodded.

"Any information would be helpful."

She saw the look and laughed. "Come on. The worst she can say is nothing and then you're exactly where you are now and if she doesn't answer, we'll make a note for the Gullwings to look into it." They probably wouldn't dig up answers anytime soon but it was good to have a running list of questions that they were trying to find answers too.

Yuna turned towards the front door, glancing behind her to see if Steve was following. Inside was a small entry way that had an unused coat rack. There was a step down and then a step back up that lead to the main room. It was one large room with a few desks, two couches and bookshelves lining around the walls. There was a second floor with more book shelves and alcoves but it was open like an old library might be.

"Have a seat. I'll make us some tea and get the information we have. It's mostly maps of the city and notes about those in charge with descriptions of each person and what it is they do. Jagger keeps a lot of the information organized."

A small laugh escaped him as Yuna tried to talk him into talking to Halcyn. "That's about what I got out of her..nothing." And that was true, he had tried. "So I'm not sure asking again will get any new information."

He of course was following behind Yuna and looked at the tomes that sat within the shelves. He figured there wouldn't be anything from World War II in there, but he found himself searching anyhow. And Steve nodded at the invitation to sit down but wanted to do a good look around the room anyhow.

A hand lifted to slightly slide down the spine of a red book and about all he'd caught was maps of the city and notes of people in charge. But he paused and turned to look at Yuna as she spoke the person's name. "Who's Jagger?"

"That's true. Oh! There is an orb in the library. You might be able to ask it. Yes or no questions work best though Caelan has some trouble getting turned around by the orb. It is something like a... magical librarian." She really liked the orb.

It took a moment before she returned with all of the papers and tea. It wasn't a lot but it was a start.

"He works here with me and Caelan. It's just the three of us right now. He is in charge of most of the paper work. None of us are really good at it though." Her grin widened. "Caelan is the one who found these maps at the library. He's currently mapping out the sewers too." She sat across from him and sipped her tea.

"It isn't much, not yet."

"A magical librarian.." The thought of something like that had him shaking his head with a small laugh. The very idea of it just went beyond his level of comprehension and he could see a small wizard..about as small as the one that had the satchels here sitting behind a desk asking if they needed help.

But when she brought the tea and papers, Steve immediately sat down and looked over the paperwork until he looked up at Yuna. She hadn't sat down yet so he stood up and grabbed a paper. He'd learned ladies sat first and hadn't really felt the need to do that in years. So he walked around the room keeping his blue eyes focused on the paper in front of him.

He glanced up from the paper and over briefly at her when she mentioned who Jagger was and smiled. "Paperwork was always for the higher ups who had the time back home." He was referring to his time in the military of course but he wasn't really good at it either.

Once she sat down he sat back too and took a sip of the tea not really knowing what to do here, so Steve was following Yuna's lead with this meeting stuff. At hearing about the sewers though there was a smile. "I guess I could always go see what's lurking in the sewers."

"If you do, I hope you take someone with you. It is dangerous down there and if you are attacked, it's wise to have back up. We wouldn't know what happened to you if you disappeared." Yuna's head tilted to the side. "I'd be worried."

She didn't keep tabs on everyone but Yuna tried to keep track of those within her sphere to make sure that they were okay. It was easy for those who were a part of the Gullwings. "Caelan will be leading that, if you'd like, I can get you in contact with him. He's... around." She smiled as she took a small sip of her tea.

Steve couldn't help but laugh lightly at Yuna's concern. It wasn't that it was funny at all so much as it was touching and nice to have someone worry about him. So he raised a hand up and shook his head. "I'll be fine." This was no time to inform her of the threat greater than whatever was in the sewer back home. And no, he wasn't about to invite her along to partake in the danger because of his own code of chivalry.

"I'll wait to see what information Caelan has then before heading out." This much Steve could agree on as he nodded, as it would be a good idea to get what information he could before taking off. And it made him think of his shield..the one he gave back to Tony. He wished he had it here but he had the one shield that T'Challa had been able to procure for him and that was vastly appreciated.

"Alright." She grinned and leaned forward in her seat. It wasn't that Yuna was impatient but she was always moving from place to place. It was rare for her to sit for any long period of time.

"Well, if you need anything from me, you can call me. I don't mind. It's what we're here to do!"

"No problem, dude-"

Wait. That accent's definitely American - that alone is enough to make her slow down and turn back to look at the guy who bumped into her. He certainly wasn't dressed like everyone else here, so that could only mean one thing.

Newbie. An American newbie. Fuck yeah. If he's from New York that'd be even cooler.

Whether or not he means for anyone to hear his next words, Holly does with ease, and as she usually does, she's skating back a few paces and opening her mouth to reply before she's even considered that the guy might want to be left alone to...study the fountain. In peace.

"Well yeah, I sure hope so- unless y'anti-agin' lotion is workin' literal fuckin' miracles, makin' you look all young and shit." Linking her hands behind her back, she gives Steve another, more appraising look. "You ain't from around here, huh. Just got here?"

Dude? That term sounded like something the kids back home said, so blue eyes probably blinked a little longer than they needed to. Focusing his attention back to the fountain, he could see the person moving back to look better at him. Stoically Steve endured the closer scrutiny and mentally reminded himself that this person wasn't one of the Avengers or he might've said something about the language being used.

Still, he gave the person a half narrowed eyes expression, but decided to turn it around because maybe it was best to ignore the language and just go with the words spoken without it. So he tried a small nod instead.

"You've got a good point." Though the technology back home far outranked him and it was technology he was never supposed to be alive to see by all rights.

There was more being looked at so Steve decided to return the favour but the next words struck him. Still though, he didn't give anything away. "Guilty as charged, on both counts." And then he thought a moment because if she was saying something like that..

"You must not be from here either then."

"Nah, I got bought here a lil while back. From New York originally though, and lemme tell ya, this place is nothin like home."

That'd been one of the biggest kicks in the teeth; it wasn't even some cool, multiverse-type-situation like in the movies, but instead a whole different city that didn't even have the decency to have wifi.

One hand stayed stuck in her pocket, while the other got offered to Steve with the confidence of someone far older than she was.

"I'm Holly - you got a name, Fountain Inspector Dude?"

Now that answer caught his attention. "You're from New York? No kidding, which part?" It was nice to see someone from Earth and from New York no less. But hearing that renewed his wanting to get back home because Thanos could snap this girl and her family out of existence and it was his duty to prevent that.

He remembered meeting Peter Parker at the airport and finding out the kid was from Queens. That had been a surprise too but a nice one. Thankfully though with this unlike with Parker, Holly and he weren't on opposite sides of a fight.

However, none of that showed on his face as he laughed a little and extended his hand to her out of politeness. "Steve Rogers and I'm from Brooklyn. It's nice to meet you Holly."

Edited 2020-08-30 22:08 (UTC)

"Yeah, you too dude!" That made her brighten considerably, and even though the handshake was over after a second or two, this conversation certainly wasn't.

"Manhattan! Well- not technically, technically, but that's where I've lived most'a my life, so I think it counts."

There was that 'dude' word again but at least she didn't seem to recognize him or at least she didn't mention anything about the Avengers or the previous attack on New York or anything. That was a good thing and Steve was of course going to keep things as low key as possible.

The smile was great to see and he nodded with his own smile in place. "Manhattan..well home is where you make it so that counts." He just really couldn't get over meeting a fellow New Yorker here, how strange, yet how awesome.

"How long have you been here?"

"Mm, not long - a few weeks maybe? S'gone by real quick, but the novelty's really startin' t'wear off, if you get my drift."

Shoving her hand back into her pocket, she carried on without much trouble. "What kinda uniform is that, anyhow? Doesn't look like military- well, I guess it kinda does, but like...not, cause I know that beard ain't regulation, or at least I'm assumin'."

"A few weeks?" Steve asked, concerned about that long of a time frame being trapped here. But he had to pull himself back because it wasn't Holly's fault, she was just giving him the information that she had. Luckily though her words about his uniform had him pull back and try and dust some of the dirt off, which probably meant his hair was dirty too since that fall had landed him right in it. "Right.." And then he pulled a twig out of his hair and examined it a moment before tossing it aside.

Then there was the question about the military. He'd once been there and had tried to sneak in..but that was before the serum and wasn't important. "My uniform used to look better." Rogers was not going to lie but he wasn't exactly going to be forthcoming because he couldn't tell her things for her own safety so he shook his head with a small embarrassed and self conscious tug at his beard. "No..this isn't exactly regulation." But it was for a nomad and secret Avenger.

There once had been a white star on the center of his uniform, but that was before he'd gone on the run. Since that day with Bucky and Tony and the choice he'd made..it still haunted him sometimes. But he had been there in Wakanda trying to do the right thing after it had been reported that Stark had gone missing. It was as he'd said, Earth had lost her best defender.

But he had to get the attention off of himself so he just half laughed and shook his head. "So what was going on in Manhattan before you arrived here?"

So...he was military, but...not. Maybe a mercenary? Ohh, that'd be very cool indeed..he kinda suited that, she thought. He looked all serious and a bit rugged but also with nice hair, like the guys you see in action movies.

The question about home derails that trail of thought rather nicely (and thankfully, for Steve's sake).

"Oh- not a lot, really. Same old stuff, the political landscape is on fire and the world's fallin' to pieces slowly, but the weather's still good!"

Even if there wasn't any mirth in his system, Steve smiled with a slight nod. "That sounds like New York alright." Really, Earth too but he figured maybe if things were worse than the girl might tip him off to it. And he couldn't and wouldn't fault her for not knowing about Thanos or any alien attack on New York, or the Avengers.

And he hoped to further keep Holly's mind busy with his next question. "So what does everyone do for fun here?" It was odd to think back to when he was a kid with all of the health issues he had. But even then he had Bucky with him so it was no big deal if he got sick or anything.

She nodded as well, and shrugged. "New York's just New York, nothin' really changes y'know?" There wasn't much that Holly could imagine that'd impact it, asides from like....a big-ass asteroid. Or aliens, like in 'War of the Worlds'.

The question of what there was to do earned Steve a heavy sigh. "Honestly? Not a whole lot - there's a lotta stuff to look at and explore, and there's a couple'a bars and whatever, but there's no internet or anythin'."

Truly, the most tragic thing about this place. "They don't even have a movie theatre."

There was another smile and Steve shook his head. "Good old New York." Well maybe the attacks hadn't happened yet which was a good thing. But that didn't give him permission to slack off and that wasn't something he would ever even think to do.

He was surprised at the sigh and soon got the reason for it. "No internet.." Huh, that would figure. A modern convenience he had gotten used to and it was nowhere around. "So what have you gone and explored?" If anyone could get an interesting point of view, he'd learned it was through a child with the small amount of time he'd spent at Clint's place.

But the last part he heard was something else. "Not even a movie theatre..what kind of technology does this place even have?" That really wasn't meant at Holly, but it made even less sense than waking up seventy years later.

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Enter an old man

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