is there room for one more sun? //closed

[pursuitofcappiness]

Who: Anna, Tony & Steve
What: Tony is an idiot!!!! More specifically, he fell into some rocks and Anna's bringing him home.
When: Evening, Day 19
Warnings:

It's been sort of a day of healing, of recuperation and figuring out where to go next. Aside from the worry, it's been a good day. Steve thought he'd go fishing and then spend the day at the library trying to figure something out about this place, all the things in the woods, maybe clues... But he's home now, washing dishes and humming a catchy song he'd heard on the radio...

He thinks about frequencies, whether or not anyone's been able to send out a signal. And maybe they can patch out a distress call and hope someone picks up. It's a long shot, but it's a decent idea if they can get it to work. He busies himself with these thoughts and checks his wristwatch. He thinks about making a call. As he dries off the dishes, he decides he'll write a note instead and leave it somewhere visible-- Dinner's in the oven, went to library, call if you need me.

When he gets to the living room to get a slip of paper, he thinks he can hear someone coming up the road. It's silly to think it's even someone coming here, but for some reason, he gets the nagging feeling to look through the window and see who it is-- when he does, he throws open the door and runs outside. He hasn't even gotten the chance to put his shoes on and he has an odd sinking sensation in his gut that reminds him of another time and another place.

Comments

[afallenstar]

With any luck, neither of them will dwell too much on any of this long enough to ask her some potentially awkward questions, because she hasn't actually got any logical responses. It's not on the forefront of her mind any more, although as soon as the two of them are out of the danger zone it's going to be right back up as number one concern all over again.

As it is, she's just a little bit distracted with two of the few people that she actually likes in this place simultaneously trying to die on her, and that's just not acceptable. Not now that they've made her actually give a damn about what happens to them. It's pretty much the only reason she's still here, half-drunk and stone cold cup of tea still clasped in her hands as she looks over the two of them. She could help them, but she won't, and so to atone for the selfishness that they don't even realise she has, she's going to make sure she at least takes care of them until they get better.

"Here." She's quiet and gentle again, and with the small hints of a smile she gathers up some of the blankets to spread out over the two of them. She hovers for a moment, digging her teeth into her lower lip as she looks between them, and then just sits down on the chair again. The tea is still cold, and she's still not going to drink it, but it's at least something to have in her hands anyway so she picks the mug up again. If nothing else, if anything else happens, if either of them get worse, she can step in. "Do you want anything else?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Tony, you didn't make a mistake. No one is going to die." He's confused. What mistakes? Who is "she"? Steve thinks it probably had to do with the other Steve who was here, but when he got to the Cape, Tony said he'd only been in town for three days. But he also said he hadn't slept and definitely looked it. So Steve's not sure what happened. Why did everyone think he was dead? And who decided Tony was supposed to be his protector? That seems a bit odd, especially considering their current circumstances.

He lies down and crawls underneath the blankets when Anna starts to drape them over him, not letting go of Tony because here is a man who he saw fly a nuke into space to save a city, to save their city, without hesitation. But he's scared that Steve will even leave for a second. So he grips Tony's hand and resolves to stay, so that Tony can stop making promises to fix things he didn't do or feel guilty about things he can't control.

Looking up from where he is, he suddenly gets a bout of deja-vu and expects to see a shock of blonde hair when he looks up at Anna. He wonders if she ever loses that calm, or if she's just as saintly as his mother was. She must be cold and tired, and all she's doing is fretting over the two of them. "You can stay, if you want," he replies, to her question. "It's cold outside. I'll be better tomorrow," he says, a promise he used to make. "I'll make us something to eat in the morning."

[manofiron]

More blankets are nice. Very nice. It’s getting warmer, the extra blankets and Steve’s body heat going a long way to chasing the rest of the chill away. The trouble with the warmth is that it makes him drowsy, and coupled with the intoxication, the concussion, and the fact that he hasn’t been getting much sleep, it makes the lure of sleep impossible to resist.

Tony’s fingers curl around Steve’s, tangling them together so that it will take some effort – though admittedly not much – to get away from him. Why it’s so important to make sure he keeps a hold of him, Tony doesn’t know. But he wasn’t there for Bruce and he disappeared. He won’t let the same thing happen to Steve.

“I always make mistakes.” It’s a quiet, disagreeable grumble and Tony’s not entirely conscious of the fact that he says it. His eyes are closing and he’s content to let them. It’s warm. It’s comfortable. Steve’s not leaving. Anna’s okay. It’s fine. He can close his eyes for a second. They won’t disappear in such a short span of time.

But a second turns into two and quickly becomes sixty. Tony doesn’t open his eyes again. Warm for the first time since arriving in the town, he finally sleeps.

[afallenstar]

A slow smile spreads over her face at Steve's offer, small but strikingly genuine all the same, and she just gives him a small nod as she turns the cup around in her hand, and after a moment or two of quiet she nods. She's not sure what it is about his offer that touches her so much, because she's sure he won't be better by the morning so it definitely can't be the offer of breakfast. She just settles down more comfortably in her chair, and it's about then that she realises that she's really invested in these two being okay. Aside from a few exceptions she's kept mostly to herself since arriving at the town, mostly to protect herself but also because the few people that she knows from home aren't the ones that she remembers - or else they're just too much of a reminder of what she used to be.

Tony and Steve on the other hand, come completely history free, and it's a chance at a clean slate. She can pretend for a little while around them, and it's nice, comforting, and she has believed for a long time now that she wasn't going to get that again. Selfish as it is, untrustworthy as she's being, that brief reprieve and moments of normal are a relief when every moment is spent resenting her existence.

"I might have to take you up on that." She's not going to sleep, even if she could she has bigger priorities at hand right now and that's keeping these two safe, but that doesn't mean she can't stick around a while anyway. For once she's glad that she doesn't share their needs for rest, someone has to look after them after all. It might as well be her. Setting the cup down on the floor in front of her, she glances at Tony with a soft smile before leaning forward, propping her elbows on the bed and resting her chin in her hands.

"I think he's asleep," that comment is softer, quieter, and she pokes Steve's arm gently, "You should do the same. I'll still be here in the morning."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He sighs in relief that she agrees to stay, because he knows he's not in any sort of shape to do anything right now but danger seems to be a recurring subject and for some reason, he feels that if she stays here, that if anything were to happen, at least he'd be here. Come nine circles of hell or scientists, he'll stand up and drive them as far as they'll go. For all the loss he's suffered, it never does get any easier.

"I'll get some sleep if you do," he offers, knowing that she might not. He knows that of all of them, she deserves it the most. And he knows that he might not be better in the morning, but he'll have a whole new chance to act like he is. They've all got work to do and he's got a breakfast to make.

He needs to wait until she leaves anyway, because the sheets are still damp and they smell like the ocean, and when he closes his eyes he feels the vertigo slam into him and the drag of the sand on his face. It smells sharp and acrid like gunfire so he busies himself looking at the glow that seems to surround Anna from his altered state. The fear in his eyes looks like worry, so there's nothing terribly suspect about that.