rekindleme | And back again [open]

Entry tags:

And back again [open]

Who: Steve Rogers and anyone
Where: Tony's room and around the city
When: February 23rd
Summary: Steve comes back after staying in his world for about 70 years. Cue making sure that Tony is okay and reorienting himself with Saeng Seong.
Warnings: Steve being a grumpy old man.

[Locked to Tony]

Steve wasn't very happy, to say the least. He thought that he would be getting a little time to himself after the battle in New York, time to maybe adjust to the new era or at least see how much had changed since his frozen slumber in the ice. But no, he woke up in another unfamiliar place without any warning. Of course the unfamiliar place became familiar once his memories came rushing back. Saeng Seong, right. He was... small when he was last here. It seemed so long ago. Steve briefly wondered if any of his friends were still here, how much time had passed in this place.

Oh, and Tony. He was here before. So was Loki- and okay, he needed to see if his teammate was alright and if Loki had done anything since his disappearance. Exploring the city would need to come after.

With that task in mind, Steve headed to Tony's apartment and knocked on his door, trying to remain calm despite the frustration he was feeling. He was getting sick of being transported to places without knowing how much time had passed.

[option a; open]

After being reassured that Loki hadn't done anything destructive yet and getting an explanation on how much time had passed, Steve decided that it would be a good time to walk around Saeng Seong again. Although, barely any time had passed since he was gone, almost the opposite of how it was on Earth.

Figures. A small part of him wished that only three days passed when he took the plane down.

Still, he had to do this. It wasn't like he remembered every single detail of this city... and he just really needed the fresh air. So Steve could be found around the districts, stopping every so often at different shops with a look of surprise. Surprise that it remained unchanged even though he knew it had only been a short amount of time. Or Steve could be seen walking down the street and turning his head at everything in almost a daze.

[option b; open]

Afterward, Steve was just sitting down on a bench in the park, staring down at his folded hands and looking a bit distracted. He needed a little time to take this all in still. Maybe he was overreacting, but just seeing the city almost unchanged... it was just a bit mind-boggling to him.

"Just three days..." Steve mumbled to himself, although his voice was clear enough to be heard. He also was a little angry about everything, but he tried to keep things to himself as he sat there on the bench.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Guardian Corps? That was definitely a group he wasn't familiar with, but Steve nodded to her comments still. He didn't ask why she wasn't with them anymore as he wasn't really up to explaining his own reasons for being out of the army now. Steve figured that these things could be personal or just beyond their control.

"Two former soldiers." Even though he barely knew Lightning, it was a little nice talking to someone that was also a soldier, or former one. Tony was a teammate, but very clearly stated that he wasn't one. He didn't hold it against him or anything, but sometimes it could be difficult relating with someone that didn't have that type of mindset. "Have a feeling that we still give off the impression of one. Old habits die hard."

She shrugged at his comment. She didn't know how long he'd been in his army, but she'd been in the Corps. since she finished high school-- and people her age tended to finish college. Maybe to some people it's not so long, but she'd been a soldier since she was at a young, impressionable age.

"It stays-- not that it matters. I think the more pressing issue is what we do after."

There's pretty much nothing else for her to be, and she had no idea what to do when she got back home and finished what she planned to do, since she refused to return to service and work for the Sanctum again. Not after what it had done to her family. On the run, she never thought about it, even once. But here, when there was nothing to do, she suddenly had all the time in the world and a lot of things to sift through, this included.

"Sometimes that's the hardest part." He missed the end of World War II; he just woke up and people told him it was over. Steve didn't necessarily needed a victory party or anything like that, but before Loki's bid to take over the world, he wondered what his use was, why he was woken up from his ice slumber. What an old soldier from the 40s could do.

Figuring out your use, once the war and battles are over.

Steve was in a better spot now than he was before the Avengers, but it still didn't make the feelings he had go completely away. "But you still have your friends and family back home? People to protect." Of course that wasn't the end all solution, but Steve would think they would help at least a bit.

'Trying to protect them,' was the answer she didn't give. She didn't need to air that out, and he didn't need to know. It was complicated, anyway, and even if she were to make her explanation less complicated, she'd rather not tell anyone about what was going on back home. Instead, her reply was different.

"Yeah, I do. My circumstances haven't changed since you disappeared and came back." Though she wished they did, and for the better. "We'll work something out when I get back home, I guess.

"Good luck when you do return home." He looked sincere as he said that, Steve did hope things worked out for her when she got back. He didn't doubt that she would eventually return, maybe it would take a while or maybe it wouldn't, but it was going to happen someday.

But in the mean time, they had to take one day at a time here. And survive. Speaking of which... "Been getting enough physical contact here too?" Steve thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, to make sure she was doing okay. Not everyone was very keen on hugging or touching other people, heck he only lasted because he relied on the friends he made here.

... Ugh, of course someone would ask her that eventually. In reality, she wished no one would, because she just wasn't comfortable with it. She only initiated touch with the people she really loved, and even then, those touches didn't happen, and never lasted long. She'd been trained to fight and win, not to deal with other people, and definitely not to engage in physical contact. Most of the physical contact she ever did with other people involved taking them down.

Lightning was tempted to lie, no doubt about that. But she'd taken too long in replying already-- Steve would definitely figure out that she was lying. Saying yes would be delaying the inevitable.

Besides, Lightning wasn't exactly the type to lie. "No, I haven't."

Steve looked a little worried at that response. He didn't want anyone to get sick, whether they are a soldier or not. Back when he was young, Steve had to deal with various illnesses nearly every couple months. He was often helpless and stuck to a bed with someone watching over him.

"Not going to suggest that we hug." He wasn't about to do something like that without her permission either, but he might be able to offer something else instead. "But we could try sparring for a couple of rounds. Should ease the requirements at least a little." Steve was willing to be punched in the face and sparring with another soldier did sound appealing to him.

Lightning was taken aback-- to her, that was practically an invitation to use him as a punching bag, and she wasn't exactly some run-of-the-mill ex-soldier, not when she was a l'Cie at that. She was strong before, but she'd become even stronger with magic in her veins. She'd taken on fal'Cie, for goodness' sake, and knew from experience that she could break a man with a few well-placed, well-enhanced hits if she didn't keep herself in check.

So consider her wary of the offer, but for his sake. She'd rather not send Steve back to his room limping, or worse, to a clinic.

"You sure about that?"

"Might as well keep up with our training, right? Never know when something might happen in this place." There were those violent snowmen he heard about, even though he didn't encounter them himself. No one was really hurt by them either, but it was still a dangerous time for some people here. "Only so much we can practice against a punching bag."

Also, Loki was here. That was all the more reason to be on edge.

Steve wasn't sure what Lightning could do, but he wasn't going to underestimate her. He knew that appearances could be deceiving and even though he fought aliens in New York and Nazis in World War II, that didn't mean he was prepared for everything. He just had to keep learning and getting stronger, even if he didn't remember this place when he returned back to Earth.

He had a point there. She hated admitting it to herself, but he had a point. Lightning wasn't sure if magic could weaken over time if it wasn't used often, but she knew physical strength and skills could. And to her, with her wariness of what this place might spring on them, not keeping herself in top shape was unacceptable.

"... Fine. But we should stop if someone's in danger of actually getting hurt." Just a warning.

"Do we stay here or go?"

"Wouldn't want it any other way." Steve usually didn't put all of strength when he trained with others. In his world, mostly everyone was just human and he didn't want to hurt anyone because of the serum he received. He planned on doing the same with Lightning just because it was the norm for him.

"There's a gym, we can use that. The mats there would at least cushion us." And there shouldn't be as many people around- or at least no innocent dog walking by.

"Lead the way."

To be honest, Lightning hadn't been to that place yet, even if it was in this district. She'd looked at it from the outside, yes, but hadn't stepped inside yet. It wasn't her style, and she doubted people would appreciate her using her gunblade indoors.

Steve got up from the bench and started to walk towards the gym. He didn't really say anything else as they walked, not sure what to bring up. But the quiet was okay with him, unless she wanted to talk about something.

The gym was a place a frequented a lot back in New York, but he didn't have anyone to really train with back there. It was just him and a punching bag, usually with no one around either. He kinda hoped that it won't be so crowded there right now, but it was the best place he could think of right now. But there should be an open mat for them to spar on.

Nope, Lightning was quiet the entire walk. She wasn't the kind of person to pepper silences with small talk, or even talk at all. She preferred letting someone else do all the talking, like Snow, or Vanille.

When they arrived at the gym, Lightning didn't know what to expect. It was, of course, something entirely different from the gyms she'd been to while still training in the academy. But then again, this was an entirely different world, and this was a gym for civilian use, not for military personnel, even if two former soldiers were going to appropriate an area of it for themselves.

It wasn't so crowded-- few people, actually-- so there was enough space for them if they ever got rough. Lightning pointed out a good space for them and shrugged at Steve. "Good enough?"

Steve nodded and took off his shoes before he stepped into position. He didn't know what her fighting style was like, although it was highly probable that he wouldn't recognize the name even if she told him. So might as well learn things first-hand, right? ~~Famous last words~~

"Any rules of mannerisms I should know about before we begin?"

Edited 2014-03-03 05:30 (UTC)

For her part, Lightning removed not only her boots, but her gloves, holster, red belt bag, cape and pauldron as well, before getting on to the mat and testing how it felt beneath her toes. With enough pressure, she could feel just a bit of the floor, but if she simply stood or walked on it, it was firm enough. Probably enough to handle a brawl, or her tossing him down. Steve was a big guy, about as big as Snow, but Light had magic in her veins. She might go easy on him.

Then again, she wasn't about to tell him how she fought. She could fight dirty if she needed too, but she wasn't going to go about biting him in what was just a spar. "I'll leave you to figure that out."

She didn't have a proper ready position, not like Steve apparently, since she was a soldier who used a gunblade, but she raised her fists anyway-- which was his only warning that she was going to strike. She lashed out with one fist, aiming for his gut, but even if it connected, it wasn't a strong hit. It was just her testing the waters and seeing how fast his reaction time was.

Edited 2014-03-03 12:18 (UTC)

Steve waited as she removed her holster and the other components of her outfit. It was definitely a different type of uniform than what he was familiar with, almost reminded him of knights back in the old days. Probably wasn't used much for stealth though. ...Not that he could really talk about being stealthy.

He couldn't help but smile a little at her comment though. Well, time to get this started.

As soon as she raised her fists, Steve assumed the spar had started. He managed to block her fist with one of his own hands, she was definitely quick, but he had fast reflexes as well. Without wasting time, Steve swung his other fist at her, aiming to hit Lightning in the side. It wasn't too fast and it didn't hold all of his strength in it either.

Lightning dodged that one easily-- she saw it coming. He was faster than a regular human, and that surprised Lightning, but she still saw it coming easily. So she dodged to the side, and immediately rushed Steve, closing the distance between them so she could try and punch him in the face.

Some people hardly expected someone getting them in the face and for good reason, or because it was dirty fighting. But Lightning wasn't exactly concerned about all that, considering she didn't care. Getting someone in the face was just another thing for her.

Steve wasn't exactly expecting a punch aimed towards his face, so it did catch him off guard. Enough that he didn't dodge as well as he normally would have and the blow landed on the side of his face. And wow, that punch packed quite a wallop. Definitely more than he expected at least. Still, he managed to keep his grounding.

This time, he swung a fist towards her face, a bit faster than the one he threw earlier. It was mostly instinct, just attacking back from an unexpected but pretty painful hit.

Now that kind of retaliation Lightning wasn't expecting, and when she saw it coming, she had no choice but to take it.But she steeled herself anyway-- or as much as she could, considering she didn't have any of those kinds of skills, not like Fang or Snow.

But she closed her eyes and braced for the impact. And she even grabbed onto his collar with both hands, because if it knocked her down, she'd either stay upright with her handholds, or even manage to pull him down with her.

Luckily, she managed to stay upright, but her cheek stung now-- that would become a bruise she'd feel for days, if she didn't put a Cure on it. But putting a Cure on was the least of her priorities. Her priority right now was putting this man on his back, so she could hit him more without him retaliating with a lot of momentum. She understood now that he was strong, and she was going to adjust accordingly.

So she kicked at his leg and tightened her grip on his shirt, attempting to push him down onto the mats.

Steve hadn't punched that many ladies in the face, if he was honest with himself, but Lightning was a soldier and someone that was no nonsense. Almost like Peggy, in a way. He definitely respected that and would treat this spar as such. If she wanted to go for face punches, then he was open for that too.

He wasn't surprised that she managed to stay upright, that first punch told him of her strength. So he went in to strike at her shoulder before he felt his leg being swept underneath him, making him land on his back.

She didn't think that would work, considering how much bigger Steve was, but she guessed that the bigger they were, the harder they fell.

So she took advantage of that, sitting on top of Steve to aim her fists at any part of him she could reach. He was going to shove her off and get up sooner or later, and she wanted to get in as many hits as possible.

Despite landing rather hard on his back, Steve fought back, blocking a few of her strikes although some of them still connected. They hurt and he wasn't about to let this continue, so he didn't hold back when he shoved her off of him. It had been a while since he used his full strength against another human, but Steve felt it was necessary at that moment.

Once she was off, Steve quickly jumped back to his feet, still looking like he could take a lot more rounds.

When Steve threw her off, she twisted her body as soon as she hit the mat, so she could roll into a position to get back onto her feet.

And of course, once she got back on her feet, she was at it again, charging him. Lightning had her fist up in mimicry of a punch, but that's all it was. If it connected, it wasn't going to be strong. She was just expecting him to either dodge or block and if he did, she'd follow it up with a kick.

He was ready as she charged at him, dodging the punch and managing to block her kick with his arm. Steve grunted from the force and strain, that was definitely going to bruise tomorrow, but he held up as he went in for a kick, trying to hit her in the side this time.

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