I don't know. I think he's just bored and weird. And he looks like a scarecrow. But I don't want him to think I'm dumb
[ Even though she really isn't kept around for her staggering intellect.
Anyway, here's the riddle. ]
"A man runs away from home. He turns left and keeps running. After some time, he turns left again and keeps running. He turns left one more time and runs home.
Who is the man in the mask, and what did his girlfriend say she wanted for lunch?"
Wait He's just giving you riddles for fun? They have nothing to do with the fights?
[ john would just. ignore them. personally. but it does sound like kimiko's already a step beyond that, so-
here they go, he guesses.
except that the riddle comes through, john just sort of stares at it. he's not one for riddles, or puzzles, or really any of this stuff. but something about home does ping for him. ]
It sounds like baseball. The man's the batter and running around the bases. Right?
[ Kimiko hasn't ruled out that it's some sort of test from Juniper herself. The woman is quite unique. But she makes good money by putting in a handful of hours of work a week and what else is she even qualified for? Mopping floors? She really doesn't want to screw up the current arrangement. ]
[ she could always come work construction with john. she would have to deal with some of the worst kind of cat-calling, name-calling, and every other version of calling imaginable, but.
then again, the only reason john needs to work the construction job is because he doesn't win nearly as consistently or as much as kimiko, so. they're probably breaking even. ]
It sounds like baseball to me, but you might want to get a second opinion. The masked guy would be the umpire. The hungry girlfriend, I don't know what lunch has to do with baseball. Unless they're talking about concessions?
why would someone lie about that like what would be the point, what would they gain by doing so, here? steve rogers doesn't mean anything to any of the fluxborn and not even the fluxdrifts unless they were from our specific time and era
i don't know, i didn't know him that well but it seems likely he's he's very much not dead and very much alive talking on the network
Because people have sick senses of humor. And lie all the time. Haven't you seen that one guy all over the post?
[ also.... don't ask him when he started tracking said post. he might have only looked at it after he texted back to her that it's not possible. that's not important, though. ]
Steve Rogers means something to a lot of people- maybe not fluxborn, but the people who've showed up recently. He was a hero. And a legend. And he died saving all of us.
So until I see it with my own two eyes, I'm not gonna believe it. Are you?
[ yes, steve rogers died saving everyone, yadda yadda. but so did her sister - and natasha didn't die on earth, she died on a planet called vormir, after having traveled dimensionally and through time to get there. it was entirely possible in yelena's mind that steve could've been warped from where he went with the other avengers, to ...here. ]
and yes, people lie all the time you don't have to tell me that, you are preaching to the choir here that doesn't mean this person is doing it.
actually, if this place pulls in people from alternate timelines doesn't it stand to reason that he could've been brought from a much earlier time in his past? like, ANY time?
[ honestly, john doesn't really know what to think of that, either. that yelena seems a little lost. that he- well, he doesn't have a firm standing on these grounds, but he's picked up his sealegs a little better than she has. and now these things are happening, more things are happening, and while he's less likely to believe them right off the cuff, yelena is...
she's struggling. in a way that maybe most people wouldn't notice. but he does.
so instead of arguing, which is, really, what he wants to be doing, john just sort of lets that stand. ]
maybe? But then that would mean anyone could be pulled in from any time. Who's to say that's even the Steve Rogers we know? He could be from some other dimension, too.
[ it speaks of just how much she's beginning to unravel that she hasn't even considered an alternate universe/dimension possibility. she knows it's possible, she's been briefed on exactly what's happened. she's aware there's a multiverse out there, with maybe infinite versions of people she knows, including natasha. including herself. including bob.
it doesn't make it any easier to accept being here against her will. ]
that means that anyone anywhere from any dimension could end up here it's too much to think about, i don't want to imagine what steve rogers is in another universe if he's shield, or hydra, or whatever or what any of us are like i just want to focus on ours on what we know can we stick to that, please?
[ Cassian is feeling just dramatic enough to claim that this weather is the worst thing to have happened to them since they've arrived. That's how much he hates the cold. ]
Two per person for now. Not everyone is respecting that. I got you some.
[ john 100% agrees with him and is two seconds away from chasing after whatever rumors he'd been hearing whispered through the grapevine of some weird diffusion zone not far from here with sharp sand.
he'll take sharp sand over this bs. any day. every day. ]
Thanks, man.
Should I go grab some more? Just to make sure we have them? I might. You still there?
So we can make sure to get as many of them as possible?
[ john very nearly types out 'what, you've never doubled up on rations before?' before realizing just how. bad that makes him look. ]
Two minutes, tops. Save me a cup?
[ is john immediately going to drop whatever he's doing to go grab coffee and hand warmers? absolutely. the foreman could try and get mad at him but good fucking luck. john's been one of the only guys keeping everyone in line. he can take a break for this. ]
[ The various entrepreneurs offering hand-delivery service are working overtime in the lead up to Christmas and its various cosmic iterations — but no such effort is necessary this time, because Kimiko slips a little gift box into his coat pocket somewhere between two a.m. last call beers and (the likely very ill-advised) three a.m. doughnut run. If he notices the additional weight in his jacket, he doesn’t say anything. Maybe they’re too busy having fun.
Inside is a gently used wristwatch, the face still crisp and gleaming and the brown band soft. He probably has one already, but… not from her.
Laying over where it’s tucked snugly in the box is a small post-it. Her handwriting in English is slow and careful, each letter individually written; no practiced looping, no easy bunching the letters together. In her defense, English is her fourth language.
It reads —
Merry Christmas! Thank you for being my friend this year. - Kimiko. ]
[ the box slips into the pocket of his coat without any notice at all. it's actually not going to be until the morning, when john is going through his clothes to find his wallet, any extra joolies he might have stuck in pockets instead of that wallet, etc etc etc. he was having fun last night, they both were, he thinks. but that also means that his things are a bit all over the place, which is why he goes searching.
and he finds the package. the watch. and it's a beautiful watch, a beautiful piece, and john pulls it on and sets it to time. because here's the thing- back home? he did have one. his father's, that his brother didn't want and barely worked. but it had been his. and he did not wear it on missions. showing up in the medbay out near the scrapyard meant that he had been in his uniform when he woke up, with no watch to be found.
so - if kimiko is looking, she'll find it on john's wrist from here on out. not when he's in the ring, of course. and not when he's in uniform, out on the streets. but every other time, whenever they're running errands, or on another night out, it will be there - tucked right under his sleeves.
she's going to get a text back pretty soon after. ]
Merry Christmas, Kimiko. The watch is really great. I'll bring yours to our next burrito night?
[ The next burrito night is a few days later, following a long evening of fights and Juniper's eager bid to get butts in seats by advertising The Unkillable Loudmouth's last fights of the year!. Kimiko thinks she might hate the propaganda even more than she hates the call sign, but she walks away with one percent of all ticket sales — naturally, she and John end up splurging not just on burritos but on a platter of nachos with everything.
It's too cold to sit at one of the picnic tables, but they make do under the hatchback of her vehicle; food between them, legs dangling. (Well, her legs dangle, at least.) The sky is uncommonly clear, if dark, and a fair few more stars than she's used to seeing.
She does, at one point, gently snag his wrist. Pushes his coat sleeve up an inch to see the watch. Tries to ignore how warm his skin is; and the way things have shifted, just a little, just a hair, after that night at the bar. It's... not worth talking about.
But she sees the watch, exactly where it ought to be, and the resulting smile blooms across her whole face. ]
[ the unkillable loudmouth's last fight of the year.
really, whether or not kimiko had warned john about the 'storyline', john still somehow feels a bit... unsteady, at seeing it in action. all of the posters, the promotion, the way he sat outside of the cage in the audience and heard the murmurs. it's not often that juniper lets someone retire and do you think they have anything cooked up? and my bet's that she's not gonna be 'unkillable' for very long. it set a weird tension in john's shoulders, has him... he doesn't even know. on edge? ready to strike? if it came down to it.
it didn't. and the fight goes well. john ends up smiling somewhere near the end, right as she stands tall above her opponent, covered in blood, grinning for the crowd. proud. and yeah, she ends up with plenty of winnings, and john takes home a few of his own, betting on loudmouth, on her final strike.
it means dinner is burritos, it means dinner is burritos and nachos and even a tres leches cake. he would have rathered found a table somewhere inside, where the heater was working and the doors were closed, but its not too bad in the back of her hatchback.
he's mid-bite when she snags his wrist and pushes up his coatsleeve, and it says all that really needs to be said about how things have changed that he barely even blinks, glancing over to make sure she sees what she was looking for. the smile that spreads over her face has him smiling back, and then he swallows, setting down his food to start searching through his jacket pockets. once he checks the fourth pocket, he finds what he's looking for and hands her a small wrapped package. ]
A little late, but... here. [ does he look a little sheepish? maybe.
when she opens it, inside she'll find a necklace made out of what looks like sterling silver, though it's hard to tell the degree of metals in the city. the pendant will be a circle, or rather, three concentric circles, with a spider right in the middle. ]
I thought it looked like the stuffed spider you gave me. From the arcade.
[ maybe? kind of? please tell him this isn't stupid. ]
[ Kimiko tugs off the newspaper wrapping, opens the little jewellery box, sitting the lid aside gently. The harsh overhead light of her SUV means the silver gleams bright and pale, shining up at her. The eight legs of a spider spread out in spindly little lines, the body bulbous and adorable in shaped silver.
It's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever given her. The Shining Light had no use for holidays, for gift-giving, for friendship; and she refuses to think of her life before, or the disavowed years after. A whole life, almost thirty years to become nothing more than crumpled paper, nothing more than an unfinished song. But this — but John — is enough to make her believe that even if her past is mist, she has a future. She can collect pretty things. She can make friends and share gifts for them. It's normal and it's possible and it's perfect.
Taking the necklace out of the box, her smile is big and wide and watery, taking ownership of most of her face. With the chain dangling over the space between her thumb and pointer finger, she studies the way the concentric circles and spider embedded within them gleam in the light.
Taking his hand, she sets the necklace down in his palm. The reason why becomes apparent when she pulls her hair over one shoulder and turns at the waist, showing him the back of her neck. The clasp looks a bit finicky, so — if he wouldn't mind.
Strangely, her heart beats a little oddly in her chest. It hasn't done that, not with him, since that moment by the token machine. Putting the tokens in his palm, folding his fingers over. Bringing joy and colour back to him.
She's probably just having a heart attack because of all the V. It's fine. ]
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From: 822 - 2762
Juniper's assistant gave me a riddle. I can't solve it.
[ h e l p ]
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They're handing out riddles now?
I don't know if I'm going to be much help but I can try
What's it say?
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I think he's just bored and weird.
And he looks like a scarecrow.
But I don't want him to think I'm dumb
[ Even though she really isn't kept around for her staggering intellect.
Anyway, here's the riddle. ]
"A man runs away from home. He turns left and keeps running. After some time, he turns left again and keeps running. He turns left one more time and runs home.
Who is the man in the mask, and what did his girlfriend say she wanted for lunch?"
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He's just giving you riddles for fun?
They have nothing to do with the fights?
[ john would just. ignore them. personally. but it does sound like kimiko's already a step beyond that, so-
here they go, he guesses.
except that the riddle comes through, john just sort of stares at it. he's not one for riddles, or puzzles, or really any of this stuff. but something about home does ping for him. ]
It sounds like baseball.
The man's the batter and running around the bases.
Right?
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Maybe
I'm not really a sports person.
What about the mask?
And the hungry girlfriend?
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then again, the only reason john needs to work the construction job is because he doesn't win nearly as consistently or as much as kimiko, so. they're probably breaking even. ]
It sounds like baseball to me, but you might want to get a second opinion.
The masked guy would be the umpire.
The hungry girlfriend, I don't know what lunch has to do with baseball.
Unless they're talking about concessions?
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[ Immediately perking up at this genius suggestion, tbh. John is so smart. ]
I've never been to a baseball game.
What do they serve?
Popcorn?
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from: 612 – 3341
steve rogers is here
are we dreaming this
are you going to talk to him
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Steve Rogers is dead.
Unless we're in another mass hallucination.
Or whoever that is is lying.
[ he refuses to believe this is possible. he REFUSES TO BELIEVE THIS IS POSSIBLE. ]
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like what would be the point, what would they gain by doing so, here?
steve rogers doesn't mean anything to any of the fluxborn
and not even the fluxdrifts unless they were from our specific time and era
i don't know, i didn't know him that well but
it seems likely he's he's very much not dead
and very much alive talking on the network
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And lie all the time.
Haven't you seen that one guy all over the post?
[ also.... don't ask him when he started tracking said post. he might have only looked at it after he texted back to her that it's not possible. that's not important, though. ]
Steve Rogers means something to a lot of people- maybe not fluxborn, but the people who've showed up recently.
He was a hero. And a legend. And he died saving all of us.
So until I see it with my own two eyes, I'm not gonna believe it.
Are you?
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[ yes, steve rogers died saving everyone, yadda yadda. but so did her sister - and natasha didn't die on earth, she died on a planet called vormir, after having traveled dimensionally and through time to get there. it was entirely possible in yelena's mind that steve could've been warped from where he went with the other avengers, to ...here. ]
and yes, people lie all the time
you don't have to tell me that, you are preaching to the choir here
that doesn't mean this person is doing it.
actually, if this place pulls in people from alternate timelines
doesn't it stand to reason that he could've been brought from a much earlier time in his past?
like, ANY time?
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she's struggling. in a way that maybe most people wouldn't notice. but he does.
so instead of arguing, which is, really, what he wants to be doing, john just sort of lets that stand. ]
maybe?
But then that would mean anyone could be pulled in from any time.
Who's to say that's even the Steve Rogers we know?
He could be from some other dimension, too.
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it doesn't make it any easier to accept being here against her will. ]
that means that anyone anywhere from any dimension could end up here
it's too much to think about, i don't want to imagine what steve rogers is in another universe
if he's shield, or hydra, or whatever
or what any of us are like
i just want to focus on ours
on what we know
can we stick to that, please?
[ aka, stop fucking with her, john ]
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from: 737 – 9012
And someone dropped off hand warmers.
[ He hates this weather so much. ]
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Copy.
Any idea if they're limiting how many warmers you get to take?
[ at the very least they agree on that. this weather? sucks. across the board. ]
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Two per person for now.
Not everyone is respecting that.
I got you some.
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he'll take sharp sand over this bs. any day. every day. ]
Thanks, man.
Should I go grab some more?
Just to make sure we have them?
I might.
You still there?
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Why did you ask if you were just going to do it?
[ He's teasing, obviously. ]
Yeah
Still here. Waiting for another CAF before I go - eta?
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[ john very nearly types out 'what, you've never doubled up on rations before?' before realizing just how. bad that makes him look. ]
Two minutes, tops.
Save me a cup?
[ is john immediately going to drop whatever he's doing to go grab coffee and hand warmers? absolutely. the foreman could try and get mad at him but good fucking luck. john's been one of the only guys keeping everyone in line. he can take a break for this. ]
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Inside is a gently used wristwatch, the face still crisp and gleaming and the brown band soft. He probably has one already, but… not from her.
Laying over where it’s tucked snugly in the box is a small post-it. Her handwriting in English is slow and careful, each letter individually written; no practiced looping, no easy bunching the letters together. In her defense, English is her fourth language.
It reads —
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for being my friend this year.
- Kimiko. ]
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and he finds the package. the watch. and it's a beautiful watch, a beautiful piece, and john pulls it on and sets it to time. because here's the thing- back home? he did have one. his father's, that his brother didn't want and barely worked. but it had been his. and he did not wear it on missions. showing up in the medbay out near the scrapyard meant that he had been in his uniform when he woke up, with no watch to be found.
so - if kimiko is looking, she'll find it on john's wrist from here on out. not when he's in the ring, of course. and not when he's in uniform, out on the streets. but every other time, whenever they're running errands, or on another night out, it will be there - tucked right under his sleeves.
she's going to get a text back pretty soon after. ]
Merry Christmas, Kimiko.
The watch is really great.
I'll bring yours to our next burrito night?
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[ The next burrito night is a few days later, following a long evening of fights and Juniper's eager bid to get butts in seats by advertising The Unkillable Loudmouth's last fights of the year!. Kimiko thinks she might hate the propaganda even more than she hates the call sign, but she walks away with one percent of all ticket sales — naturally, she and John end up splurging not just on burritos but on a platter of nachos with everything.
It's too cold to sit at one of the picnic tables, but they make do under the hatchback of her vehicle; food between them, legs dangling. (Well, her legs dangle, at least.) The sky is uncommonly clear, if dark, and a fair few more stars than she's used to seeing.
She does, at one point, gently snag his wrist. Pushes his coat sleeve up an inch to see the watch. Tries to ignore how warm his skin is; and the way things have shifted, just a little, just a hair, after that night at the bar. It's... not worth talking about.
But she sees the watch, exactly where it ought to be, and the resulting smile blooms across her whole face. ]
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really, whether or not kimiko had warned john about the 'storyline', john still somehow feels a bit... unsteady, at seeing it in action. all of the posters, the promotion, the way he sat outside of the cage in the audience and heard the murmurs. it's not often that juniper lets someone retire and do you think they have anything cooked up? and my bet's that she's not gonna be 'unkillable' for very long. it set a weird tension in john's shoulders, has him... he doesn't even know. on edge? ready to strike? if it came down to it.
it didn't. and the fight goes well. john ends up smiling somewhere near the end, right as she stands tall above her opponent, covered in blood, grinning for the crowd. proud. and yeah, she ends up with plenty of winnings, and john takes home a few of his own, betting on loudmouth, on her final strike.
it means dinner is burritos, it means dinner is burritos and nachos and even a tres leches cake. he would have rathered found a table somewhere inside, where the heater was working and the doors were closed, but its not too bad in the back of her hatchback.
he's mid-bite when she snags his wrist and pushes up his coatsleeve, and it says all that really needs to be said about how things have changed that he barely even blinks, glancing over to make sure she sees what she was looking for. the smile that spreads over her face has him smiling back, and then he swallows, setting down his food to start searching through his jacket pockets. once he checks the fourth pocket, he finds what he's looking for and hands her a small wrapped package. ]
A little late, but... here. [ does he look a little sheepish? maybe.
when she opens it, inside she'll find a necklace made out of what looks like sterling silver, though it's hard to tell the degree of metals in the city. the pendant will be a circle, or rather, three concentric circles, with a spider right in the middle. ]
I thought it looked like the stuffed spider you gave me. From the arcade.
[ maybe? kind of? please tell him this isn't stupid. ]
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It's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever given her. The Shining Light had no use for holidays, for gift-giving, for friendship; and she refuses to think of her life before, or the disavowed years after. A whole life, almost thirty years to become nothing more than crumpled paper, nothing more than an unfinished song. But this — but John — is enough to make her believe that even if her past is mist, she has a future. She can collect pretty things. She can make friends and share gifts for them. It's normal and it's possible and it's perfect.
Taking the necklace out of the box, her smile is big and wide and watery, taking ownership of most of her face. With the chain dangling over the space between her thumb and pointer finger, she studies the way the concentric circles and spider embedded within them gleam in the light.
Taking his hand, she sets the necklace down in his palm. The reason why becomes apparent when she pulls her hair over one shoulder and turns at the waist, showing him the back of her neck. The clasp looks a bit finicky, so — if he wouldn't mind.
Strangely, her heart beats a little oddly in her chest. It hasn't done that, not with him, since that moment by the token machine. Putting the tokens in his palm, folding his fingers over. Bringing joy and colour back to him.
She's probably just having a heart attack because of all the V. It's fine. ]