voidtreckerexpress | February Catch-All Log

Entry tags:

February Catch-All Log

Who: Tony + varies
What: Varies
Where: On the train somewhere
When: Second half of Domino (19th forward)
Warnings: Tony being rude, language

[In the Gym: Open]

Even though Tony has cut back on his busy schedule, he still is sparring some and doing yoga often. It's not the relentless every single day at precisely certain times. The yoga, he attempts to do by himself now but given the number of people on board, that's pretty impossible.

(So come bug him while he's doing the warrior pose or using a practice sword!)

[Science lesson in standard car!: Open]

Since a little before the new arrivals, Tony has had several classes each week on both science and math topics. He's juggling a variety of skill levels, but Peter is his helper in most classes to go help anyone who needs it. Today, Tony decides to have a demonstration of suspending an egg between water and vinegar and breathing fire. He uses some charcoal for chalk and uses the front wall of the standard car as his chalkboard. When the demonstrations are over, he assigns some worksheets for practice. However, he also provides cookies.

(Bug him afterward about the demonstrations, cookies, whatever)

[19: Evening, Happy Birthday Ignis! (Invitation to ALL BLUE team plus- Reigen, Raven, and anyone close to Ignis (you know who you are and I can't think atm)]

Ignis had thought he was planning a dinner party with just Madoka and Tony. Of course, he didn't think Tony had remembered his birthday and he's the King of Extra, clearly this meant they should throw a surprise party. (Yes, another one). He didn't know what cake to make for a chef like Ignis, so he went with what Mady liked best, since that would most likely make his partner just as or even more pleased. So they had white icing with sprinkles and pink, strawberry, triple layered cake.

Tony had some of the kids help make party hats and confetti and got everyone who was attending into the dining car while he went to get the unaware birthday boy in the kitchen.

[A compromise, Day 20: Bucky, Ignis, Tony and Yuffie.]

Tony was a little skeptical of this approach, but he was willing to give it a try. He had a small bundle wrapped in paper in one hand when he arrived at the quiet car to await the teenager. He looked at the other two men with a sigh.

"Do we really have to do this?" He whined at Ignis, knowing full well what the answer would be.

[OTA: Just make up something and start it. I'm game!]

[P.S. For those observant types, Tony's hand is now missing the wedding ring he has had since coming here.]

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Bucky was concerned and, despite his better judgement, he'd decided that Tony was, unfortunately, one of the best people to approach about said concerns. So he waited until after breakfast to find Tony, folding his arms over his chest with a sigh as he approached. "Have you seen Steve?" Normally, Bucky was at least vaguely aware of Steve's presence. The guy didn't hide well, and he seemed to like hovering just close enough to keep tabs, without actually barging into Bucky's business. It had been a comfortable compromise for them.

But he hadn't even been able to find Steve at all today -- and he'd been looking.

Tony was strolling back to the quiet car after breakfast when he actively tried not to notice Bucky standing there but failed. It might have worked if the little shit hadn't actively talked to him.

He frowned as he stopped and thought. "No, but he's been sticking to himself a lot lately. Let's go ask the scary screen machine that devours souls of people with one arm, shall we?" He clapped Bucky lightly on the shoulder- almost affectionate, but obviously that couldn't be the case- and walked over to the carriage's ICP. "Hmm.." He hit a few buttons and then stared. All humor faded and he muttered a curse.

Bucky rolls his eyes, but turns to follow Tony to the nearest ICP. "I don't think it's going to eat my soul. It just looks too much like Arnim Zola." He folds his arms over his chest, and tenses when Tony curses.

Peering over his shoulder, Bucky frowns at the change in color. "Peggy's name is gold, too," he says softly. His eyes search the screen, brow furrowing. "And Amery's. He hasn't been showing up in his bed in the mornings. What does it mean?" He's ignoring the pit that's suddenly formed in his gut, and takes a step back, biting the inside of his lip hard enough that he tastes blood.

He's already put it together, and there are tears burning at his eyes, but he can't bring himself to say it.

"That would've been the first clue about Amery.." Tony pointed out, still looking at the screen. However when he looks up, he sees the distress on Bucky's face. "Hey hey.. Bucky. It might not mean what you think."

He reached out and put a hand lightly on his shoulder. He did his best to put himself between the screen and Bucky's gaze so hopefully the man would listen to him. "People have a tendency to vanish around here. It's unnerving and creeps us all out, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're gone for good. When someone vanishes their name turns gold and at some point later they show up again stuffed in a suitcase. That's what happens eight times out of ten. They could all still come back." And even if they didn't, Bucky wasn't alone.

The good news was this wasn't the kind of freak out that made him lose contact with the world around him. He takes a deep breath, searching Tony's face as he listens. "Don't lie to me," he says softly. "I can handle you being an asshole, just don't lie," even though he can see that Tony isn't. "Don't tell me it's not my fault when all three of them..." he can't get the rest of the words out without his voice breaking, so instead he clams up. He's determined not to cry, but it's a hard battle to win.

Tony sighed, feeling bad for the other man. It was weird, but he still felt bad for him. "I'm not lying. The-" He'd started before Bucky had finished but was cut short when the real reason Bucky was upset came to light. It wasn't just the fact that they were gone, but who they were.

"Come on. Come with me." He took a hold of Bucky's non-mechanical arm and put a hand on his back. He firmly, but not unkindly tugged the man the few feet to his lab. He had to let go for a moment to get the lock undone, but then he was able to get them into the private space. "Bucky, I don't know know why all three of them are gone but you're not to blame. This has nothing to do with you."

Once they were in private, Bucky took another deep breath, sizing Tony up. "Don't punch me," he mutters, and promptly pulls Tony into a tight hug, hiding his face in the man's shoulder. Coming to the lab was a good idea, if only it meant no one had to see this. He's even nice enough to make sure he doesn't squeeze too tightly, since Tony's just a breakable regular-strength human. "If it's not me, then why?" And why hadn't he been taken, too?

Tony gave Bucky a very concerned look at that warning. "What are y-oh!" He let out a quick, undignified grunt at suddenly being hugged by a super soldier. Yikes, these guys were big!

After a moment, he forced himself to relax and put his arms around the poor fellow. Patting his back, he sighed again. "I don't know, but clearly you have shittier luck than Peter and that is astounding."

Bucky takes another deep breath, calming himself down a little more before letting go. "Sorry," but he'd needed the hug kind, and beggars couldn't be choosers, right? Granted, there were at least a half dozen people he could think of that would let him hug them, but... he scrubs his face with his hands, because he totally was not crying, at all. Not even a little.

"People just... disappear like this? And sometimes just come back?" he asks, taking a seat and scowling as he tries to wrap his mind around it. Either that or he really hates Tony's shoes.

What was wrong with his hug? He was a great hugger. Screw you and your 'beggars can't be choosers' thing.

Tony frowned, seeing those not!tears and pulled out from his pocket a handkerchief. He didn't say a word as he handed it over, so they could both pretend it wasn't happening. "Yes, they do. Sometimes they're gone a few days, sometimes a couple weeks. It's.. awful." He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall and looked down at the floor.

And yes, he wished he had much nicer shoes, but he wasn't spending the points just for some wingtips, okay?

His hug was attached to him, that's what. Trying to keep up a rivalry is hard work, okay?

He takes the handkerchief, blotting at his eyes a few times before handing it back, sighing heavily. "And sometimes they're gone for good, right?" he asks, frowning tightly. "What the fuck is wrong with this place?" He could understand torturing people, to get them to talk, get them to do what you want. He could even understand disappearing people to be intimidating... but there didn't seem to be a point to this. And why stuff them in suitcases?

Okay, maybe Tony is fucking with him with the suitcase bit, but the rest is still extremely fucked up, too.

Oh right. Yes, go hug someone else. Tool.

Tony holds up his hands, he doesn't want that back you dolt. He sighed though at the question and nods. "Yes. We find out at the next platform, unfortunately. If we see them leave, then.. but if we don't then we know they're just temporarily gone."

Dear god, Tony wished he was joking about the suitcases. It was so weird!

"And the craziest part is they have no memory of being gone at all. You know how.. well, a normal person would be able to have some kind of feeling like they'd been asleep even if they were given sedatives. From I've been told it's like they were doing something one minute, they hear the conductor ask them to go to the engine room- which we can't get to- and boom, they're in a suitcase. After that, people tend to get really pissed and go pound on the wall in the supply car for a while."

Bucky stuffs it into his pocket instead, sighing and rubbing his hands over his face again, letting out a quiet groan. "Do we even know how long it'll be before we see another platform?" he asks, dropping his hands again and looking up at Tony. He's not sure how he feels about Tony being the only thing he has left that he can even recognize from his own world.

He knows there are others, but he'd never met any of them before the train. It's like meeting characters from a book. Or like his brain has been fried again, and people are telling him who he is and... he's just not. Going to think about that anymore. Nope. He sighs again, heavily. "Fucking fuck, Tony. What the hell are we into?"

"Yes, thankfully." Tony was glad he could at least give Bucky some 'good' news. It would be a day for clarity, which they both could use. "The platforms come every two weeks if this pattern continues. So..." He moves some paper around on his desk and checks a chart he's set up. "We have five days till the next one."

He sighed as Bucky vented. He hated this. He hated not having any control or any way of helping. He wanted to fix this and prevent it from happening again. Unfortunately, he simply couldn't and no amount of council's or arguing with a wall would change that.

"I'm sorry." He finally said after Bucky was finished. "I don't know. I know this place is far from ideal and it's shitty we can't do anything about this. I know I have a unique situation where I'm grateful to be here. Every minute I'm on this train is one more I get to live. The instant I go home, I die. But.. Bucky, that's not Steve. He lives on. He's from far in your future and you get to go home to him whenever that happens. I'm doing everything I can think of to get you home too." There just wasn't much he could do.

He sighs heavily, raking a hand through his hair restlessly as he listens, but that last bit catches him off guard. He looks up, taking a few seconds to make sure he heard that right.

"I'm sorry," he replies quietly. "How?" because if he knows, maybe he can stop it. No one's told him very much about what the future holds for him, and frankly he's been too scared to ask.

Tony's gaze dropped when he realizes what he said hadn't been common knowledge. For once, he hadn't intended to pull the conversation's focus on himself quite as much as that had. The point he'd made had been about Steve.

He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but it was a lie. It might not be easy to tell if it was to Bucky or to himself. "Saving the world, of course," he answered without his usual arrogant tone. "But I know I succeed since Steve, May, and Happy are all from my future. It's better than I deser- but anyway, the point is, you'll get to see Steve again when you go home and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you there."

"It's not better than you deserved," Bucky snaps, his frown turning into a scowl as he stands again. "I don't know that much about you, but I know you fought alongside Steve, I know that aside from the bullshit in the tabloids, everything you've done has been to help people."

He hesitates, knowing he's about to play with fire. "You remind me of your father, going headfirst towards danger and progress without thinking twice about it. Doing what needs to be done to keep people safe even if it means you don't sleep so good at night. Neither of you deserved to die for it."

Tony was taken back by the force of Bucky's reaction. He might have expected that kind of response from a few other people, but not this guy. What did it say about them that in this relatively short period of time they'd gone from completely loathing each other to whatever this was. If someone didn't know any better they might think this was friendship.

"I have a lot to make up for.." It wasn't a complete dismissal that he'd done those positive things, but not a full acceptance either. His thoughts were slowly spiraling, but the next topic brought up was more than enough to snap him back to the present conversation. "What?" He began the instant Bucky started, but quickly shut up. He stared at the man across from him without any idea how to respond to that. He was like his father? That was every little boy's dream when he was young and naive to the world. He'd been compared to him a number of times in his life, but it was always different from someone who knew the man well, like Bucky did.

"Thank you." He almost stopped there before pushing forward. "You didn't deserve what happened to you either, nor do you deserve all the people you're close to leave. I wish I could prevent it or send you and everyone else who wants to leave home."

It's definitely not friendship. Bucky doesn't even know how to be friends with people who aren't named Steve anymore.

He smiles, though, when he sees Tony actually managing to accept the praise for what it was, nodding his head and letting out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, well. Maybe this train really can be a fresh start for us. There wasn't a lot left for me after I was captured," especially considering how he'd been turned back into the Winter Soldier so easily. He doesn't know what happens, but he imagines it involved a jail cell. "All I ever really wanted was a quiet life -- or as quiet as they get in Brooklyn," he flashes a grin. "Thanks, for reading me in."

Tony smirked at that and nodded. "That's why I moved my family to a house in the woods." He had as much acreage as a barrier to the outside world as he could without actually buying his own island to exist on- which he'd considered.

"I have no idea what that means, but you better get out of here before we both start growing girl parts."

Bucky rolls his eyes exaggeratedly. "What are you, twelve?" With a shake of his head he gets up, nudging open the door and stepping outside. "You'd probably enjoy that, anyway," he flashes a grin, and kicks the door shut behind him.

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February Catch-All Log

Wildcard | Day 27

Re: Wildcard | Day 27

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