[ closed ] avengers: civil dinner parties

[falcony]

WHO: mcu cast
WHAT: sam was there for the civil war. he's not about to let poor communication screw them all over again. (aka, sam's hosting a dinner for the whole family, no matter how awkward or tense it might be)
WHERE: horizon
WHEN: mid February

[ sam has hosted his fair share of abraxas-wide events, and has been a part of a fair number of family dinners himself. it's been a few months since he last hosted anything for the summoned at large, but the sudden appearance of steve, bucky, and peter have him thinking about his recent initiative. the way they're all being cut off at the knees by the lack of contact. he's only just now started building those contacts, only recently put the effort into keeping them up, but he's not letting this fall through the cracks. not when he hears about wanda.

so he sets a day, tells everyone when to show up. there's no reason to set up, no reason to set the table or prep the food - the horizon means it's all ready for him. all done up and cleaned and ready when they arrive. there isn't any specific reason for the meeting other than getting everyone in a room together, other than setting up safe, neutral territory for everyone to meet and get that first conversation out of the way. he knows tony will want to see peter, he wants to see wanda (and he knows steve and bucky will to), tony and steve will need to talk, and stephen...well. he needs to know all of them, doesn't he? they're a team, and if they're going to get through this, it's going to be together.

so they each get messages (or at least, tony and stephen both do - with tony's attached to a BRING WANDA, MAKE SURE SHE CAN GET INTO THE HORIZON), the food gets set out, and they will all eat. whether they want to or not. and sam is prepared to step in, if he needs to. ]




FEEL FREE TO MAKE TOP LEVELS EITHER OPEN OR CLOSED (DEPENDING ON THE THREAD).

THE ENTIRE HORIZON DOMAIN IS OPEN, AND SAM'S GOING TO LET PEOPLE WANDA/EXPLORE IF THEY WANT TO, EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER DINNER.

Comments

[carmesi]

[at least here it feels like they've got all the time in the world, no real consequence for taking an extra second, for stalling, for really letting emotion sweep over them. as superheroes—as avengers—the world doesn't stop to let them handle any moment they might need to figure out if their hearts are doing alright.

the amount of friends they've had to say goodbye to in a few seconds before returning to battle—it's just too many. at a time like this, she can only think about how she never even got to say good bye to natasha. blipped, gone for five years, and when she returned, nat was gone. just like with pietro, she wishes she could have said so many things, done things differently, if only she had known.

it's been a sec, he says, and wanda fills her lungs with air.]

I wouldn't have wanted to miss it.

[—despite the fact that it's not all peachy and happy with everyone who is here, even with herself. she pulls away finally, grateful for the familiarity, but doesn't pull too far from the embrace.

(she wants to ask, about steve—)]

I saw your new uniform. [her nose scrunches a bit as a small smile appears.] It looks good on you.

[(—and wants to avoid traipsing too close to talking about what happened in westview.)]

[falcony]

[ sam has always had that strange sort of relationship to death - from riley, who brought him home, to his parents, who kept him away, and then the whirlwind of faces, of names, of people and lives and friends. he has given him some time to grieve natasha, and even time to grieve steve (though that’s a different situation entirely, isn’t it? the impossible. the improbable. right here.)

the weight of the realization of just how long it’s been settles on him, a kind of grip that threatens to pull him down. months before this place, with rumors of westview, of wanda, of his people who he hadn’t checked in with.

(steve had always found time, steve had managed, and here sam is just a couple months in and-)

he laughs, letting her pull from him but also not quite letting her go far. ]

Thanks. [ and he means it - the support, the casual comment, it looks good on you. he’s not bashful, but it means something. more than just something. a lot.

but then he remembers - again, how long it’s been. the little he knows other than the reports and the classified labels and wanda, alone. wanda, without vision or steve or even him, wrapped up in his own family matters. sam pulls away, but his hands remain on her shoulders. his expression dropping into something a little more serious. ]

I’m sorry I haven’t reached out. Didn’t. Whatever. I should have- [ he should have done a lot. but that’s not wanda’s problem, so sam just shakes his head. pushes out a sigh, which sounds a lot like an almost laugh. ]

How have you been holding up?

[carmesi]

[he says he should have, but wanda isn't entirely certain that she is his responsibility. there is a truth that she realized after tony stark's funeral, of how things would never be the way they were before; things were too broken, too sullied by loss, the in-fighting, the tiring fighting to protect the world. without steve, without tony, without nat, without vision—what were they? the heart was gone; the glue that kept them together lost in sacrifices for others that would never look at their pain as anything but what's necessary to keep their own lives intact.

—wanda tilts her head just a bit as those thoughts race in her mind, allowing herself instead to dismiss them, for now, and smile with a short amount of feeling.]

Better, now.

[it's not dismissive, nor a lie. even with the consequences of westview heavy in her mind, she came out of it feeling more certain about some things: her sense of self, her loved ones, her bond with a family that is nothing but memories now. despite having chosen exile for herself, she is not engulfed by grief, constantly knocked down.]

You know I can look after myself, right? [in case he means the question in a more general sense.] You had other things to worry about at the time.

[wanda raises an eyebrow. besides, more importantly—]

How long have you been in this world for?

[falcony]

[ that's the problem though, isn't it? because maybe it isn't entirely his responsibility, but he could have helped. which, in turn, means he should have. because no, nothing will be the same without tony stark. and steve leaving so soon after only further pushed the path away. they all went in their separate directions, all went after their separate lives, because sam had a family he had to check in on and a sister who didn't disappear and somewhere in the midst of all that, the other half of his life slipped away.

bucky found his way back into it ( because obviously, it had to be bucky's choice. no number of texts or calls or anything sam attempted would do that. ) but the others? the others, who were also hurting? also grieving? wanda? sam sees it now even as she smiles - small, tired, understanding. better, now. and she's not lying, not wrong. sam can see that there's a sort of exhausted acceptance in her, that whatever had really gone down at Westview had brought her to...somewhere. somewhere, maybe, not as dangerous. sam wants to know what happened, but also doesn't want to push, so when she continues he lets her, giving a small, perhaps a little sheepish smile. ]

I know you can, but you shouldn't have to alone.

[ the 'other things' has him exhaling, mostly because he hates that it is true. he'd been wrapped up in those other things. running from the shield and then running to get it back. and now? now it's led him somewhere where the shield doesn't mean much of anything at all - and he still feels guilty about it.

but that's an issue for another day, because wanda turns her attention to him and sam does pull away from her just a little more - less continued, drawn-out hug and more just. keeping his hands on her shoulders, or her arms. ]

Time is...weird, here. [ stephen strange would be so proud of that explanation. ] People get pulled through the well from different points in time, so it's hard to pinpoint of time works here the same as home, but. [ a beat, a sigh. ] Just about nine months.

[carmesi]

[that's as much of an eloquent explanation for the ways in which the multiverse expands and conflagrates by means of magical summons; wanda will neither correct nor question the way sam goes about it, simply taking his words as if it is still a concept she is trying to grasp.

she gives him something of a look, between disbelief and pity.]

That's a long time to be stuck in any place. Especially away from home.

[—and that much time is not something wanda is sure she can allow herself to remain here for. certainly something to ponder about later.]

Tony Stark is in Solvunn.

[wanda says this with a deep breath and a sigh—her feelings infinitely mixed about the man. she squashes them down by sidestepping away from sam, away from the hands on her arms, a slow and careful traipse about the walls of the room, looking at the framed photos with both fascination and curiosity.

in the end, she points at a photo with two boys and whom wanda assumes is the mother, with sam on the side, all wrapped in a big hug.]

They're adorable. [and because no one in their right mind would be an avenger with kids on the line (sorry scott, sorry clint).] Your nephews?

[falcony]

[ he sees the look she gives him, and meets it with one of his own, except that his is more of a small smile. something that says I know and what else is there to say and it hasn't been easy all in one. because what else is there to say, really? he doesn't understand the multiverse, he doesn't understand time, and he doesn't understand magic in any of the ways that would be helpful here. all he can say is that this is what happened and I keep moving and so he does.

the expression she wears after, though, is a bit more complicated. one that sam's not entirely sure he can read. either way, before he can ask, she is talking of tony stark and solvunn and sam's chest tightens, just a bit. ]

Yeah. [ because having mixed feelings towards tony stark is a fairly universal feeling. he's not exactly sure what else there is to say when wanda fixes that, stepping out of his grasp and moving around the room, staring at the photos with a kind of curiosity that sam's used to fitting alongside.

rather than following her, sam turns and leans up against a doorframe, arms crossed over his chest more out of familiar comfort than anything judging, as he watches her attention shift to one of the photos, on of his favorites. he's not even sure if that's where the photo sits back at the house, but for now it sits here, where sam can see it. ]

Yeah. [ there's a small, fond smile on his face at the sight of it. ] And my sister Sarah. They technically live in this house back home.

[carmesi]

[wanda knows she doesn't need to ask for permission, so she just grabs hold of the framed photo, holding it in her hands—gentle, careful—looking down at the happy family with a sense of heartfelt want. two boys. tommy and billy.]

What are their names?

[she asks quietly, turning to him after she sets the photo back in place. she has also heard the stories of people losing their homes after being snapped. this place? this feels like a home that's been in the family for years and years—too many for wanda to count—and so she gets the impression that she already knows the answer to her question.]

I heard a lot of people had trouble after five years, when they — you know — [got back.] Did you get to see them before coming here?

[falcony]

[ sam watches wanda look at the boys, having no idea what associations she may draw. his smile and expression is still fond, though there is also a bit of loss wrapped up in it. he misses those boys, and while this is hardly the longest he's gone without seeing them, having known he was right with them before coming... ]

Cass and AJ. [ his brows lift a bit when she turns to him, though it's only a moment later that his eyes return to the photo. ]

Before I left they were just babies. [ 'left', like he chose to disappear. like it was something any of them had any agency over. sam takes a breath. ] I saw them a little, before the whole thing. But when I came back they were so big. They're like little men, which- Sarah needed the help. [ now that has a bit of guilt wrapped up in it, thinking about everything sarah went through while sam was...well. take your pick. on the run with steve, blipped away, searching for bucky. the list goes on, but it doesn't matter as much now.

or didn't, at least. he pushes off the doorframe a bit, if only to walk up a little closer to the photos, the history. he lets out another breath. ] I was down there a lot, before the shield stuff started up again. [ fixing the boat, fighting with his sister, worrying about bills. he supposes those things haven't just gone away, but they feel like a lifetime ago. his eyes scan the line of photos, the collection of lives, before him. ] I left to take care of that, so I was kind of just dropping in every now and then, but yeah. Actually, I was down with them when Ambrose pulled me through the well.

[carmesi]

Five years is a long time.

[she agrees; wanda had no one waiting for her, not like sam did—time didn't go by her in unexpected ways, forcing her to miss out on loved ones' lives. she can only imagine what that must feel like, though.]

It's not like we had a choice.

[in not being present. but sam speaks, explains a bit more, and wanda listens, quiet—turns to him and offers him a small smile.

nine long months, though.

she pulls away from it a bit, because it must not feel great to have been pulled away from family again after having gone back to them not too long after those five years.

(ambrose. she keeps that name in the back of her mind.)]

Has it been just you and Tony Stark all this time?

[falcony]

[ she's not wrong - wanda didn't have someone like sarah and her boys, didn't have those lives you'd thought you'd be a part of just continue on without, but she did have steve. steve, who wasn't the same after those five years. steve, who sam could tell was off, even in those small moments he'd gotten.

five years is a long time. for both of them. his eyes turn to her for just a moment - curious, worried, wondering what all happened beyond the reports he'd managed to get a hold of, what could have really happened that he doesn't know about.

she offers him a small smile, and sam smiles back in return. at least until her question, you and tony stark, and sam is reminded of. just how long nine months can really be. he huffs a laugh, shaking his head. ]

Oh, no- Stark showed up not that long ago. No, first it was just me and Bucky and Stephen Strange- Doctor Strange- did you meet him? [ he has no clue. still, sam shrugs and continues. ] Both of them left, and honestly- I guess they were different versions? You know, multiverse stuff. [ she knows, she'd seemed familiar enough with the topic when he mentioned it last time, so sam doesn't bother mentioning it again. ] Peter arrived around that time, the first time. Then, about a month or so after, not long after the jailbreak, all three left- we're not exactly sure what happens when people disappear around here, but they do every now and then. [ wanda might be able to see the twinge of...something, in his words. loss, guilt, a kind of echo of how tough those months had been. sam's expression is light and easy enough, but there is probably something to how not-easy that time had been. ]

A couples of months after that, Doctor Strange is back but doesn't remember being here. And that's about when Stark showed up too. And then a couple months after that, you, Peter - who does remember being here - Bucky who doesn't, and Steve. [ a shrug. you know - cause all of this is super casual. definitely. ] There are a few others that have been around as long as I have, but not that many anymore.

[carmesi]

[it feels right, when sam starts to talk, to sit herself down on the couch—just for a moment. it's not that she feels tired, not in this plane, but because she wants to be attentive, to really let this moment sink in; that sam's here, sam and so many other people she knows, and she doesn't have to be alone. it helps her frayed feelings of concern and discontent at the world that opened up to her after the summoning ceremony.

there's that word again: the multiverse.]

Vis and I talked about the multiverse before. [wanda wraps her hands into each other, rubbing at the skin along the curve of her thumbs. talking about vision is always... painful, to a degree. too personal, even. sam would understand, stuck knowing of the arrangement they had with stark so that she and vision could meet, disagreements or not.] All this stuff... it can be dangerous, Sam.

[but she is not vision, and she does not hold the wisdom he had, given to him by the infinity stone that gave him life, to really understand the magnitude of it all.

perhaps now is not the place to talk about it, but—]

What are we doing here? How can we fix what's happening?

[falcony]

[ wanda gets settled, and it hits sam (not for the first time) how domestic this all feels. like this conversation could have been happening in a safe house, with all of them on the run, but it somehow still feels right that it's here. in his house. the same house he grew up in, that his sister lives in now. he talks, and wanda settles onto the couch. listens.

it's when she says vis and I talked that sam turns back to her, nodding once. he can tell she's still hurting - and honestly, they all are. the list of people they lost in that war goes on and on, but sam can see that pain in her now, and he wishes there was more he could do about it.

for now, he just nods. shakes his head. runs a hand across the back of his neck. ]

I know. [ because it is dangerous - all of this. sam lets out a breath that's not quite a sigh, but something closer. he knows this is dangerous, it has been since he first got pulled through, but with everything he's learned since he feels like the water just keeps rising.

she asks what are we doing here and for a moment, sam just sort of. sits on the question. tries to figure out what information is actually helpful, and what isn't. ]

Depends on who you ask. [ sam tries to give a small smile, but it comes out more tired than anything, as he steps around to take a seat in the closest chair to her. ]

Back when we first got pulled through, it was because Thorne, and their High Mage Ambrose, was worried about the Singularity. He says, and Strange agrees with him, that it's connected to the entire Universe, and that something's happening to it that could cause ripples into every universe it's connected to. The locals can't get close enough to it to actually study it, no matter what they try to do, but we can- supposedly 'cause of our connection to the Singularity. That it's the same reason we got pulled here, and why we can go to the Horizon. [ he gestures around him. ] He wanted us to help him figure out what was wrong, and fix it; or that's what he told us he wanted.

[ sam leans forward at this point, elbows on his knees. ]

Since then, Solvunn and the Cities have both started bringing new people in - which doesn't make sense if you're going with the Singularity theory. The Cities are thanking people for showing up to help them fight some war that hasn't even started yet, and I don't even know what Solvunn's saying, but they're still pulling us through - more and more people every couple of months.

[ and then there's the harder question - the one that sam knew he'd be asked some day, that someone would look to him for answers. how can we fix what's happening? how can they? sam's been trying to find the answer to that since he got pulled through, himself. since they dusted off his coat and the mages told him they'd all heard of his exploits. his great deeds. and now what?

his eyes move around the room for a moment or two, like the imaginary recreation of this house would tell him the answers he's been asking since he first arrived. ]

We need to know what needs to be fixed, first, cause until we know what we're working with we'll never know if we're really helping, or just being jerked around. [ he looks back to wanda. ] And while we're figuring that out, I don't know, Wanda. [ a beat. ] I guess stop a war.

[carmesi]

A war against the factions?

[she holds on to the last thing he says, though she knows that perhaps she is asking him for too much. there is a lot that's been left in the shadows, and they are looking at information through an unfocused lens, missing out on other vital sources of understanding.

wanda dislikes it, though: the idea that she is pulled to a different faction from those of her world—loved ones or mere acquaintances alike—only to be asked that she fight against them. because stopping a war means getting involved in one.

sokovia is testament that a war cannot be stopped without sacrifice and without striking back.]

If it comes down to it, I will not be picking sides. [she sighs, looking away, letting her hair fall from her shoulder in the same motion. from what he's said, it's a lot and nothing at the same time.] We are a team — all of us, right?

[though she is not making eye contact, sam should be well aware that she doesn't toss this kind of commitment around lightly. she wants to help, and this is her agreeing to do so.]

[falcony]

[ he nods, because he too would latch onto that last bit and had assumed she would, too, for all the extra information affords her. there is a lot to this world, just as there's a lot to any, and their presence here has only complicated things.

sam does find himself watching her for a few more moments after, though. as if he assumes she has something she's deciding, something she's considering. it's not until she does speak that sam lets out a breath, one he hadn't quite been aware he was holding in. ]

Of course we're a team. All of us. [ he gives her a small smile, and even if she's not looking for it, the tone to his voice should say it enough. ] And no one is going to be forced to pick sides- that's the goal. [ he knows that everyone will feel differently, that there may already be summoned out there who have taken sides. but sam has to believe there's a way out of this - so he does. ]

No one is going to be forced to fight this war- not if I can help it.

good place for wrap up?

[carmesi]

[it's a big deal for wanda, to raise her hand—hesitant fingers curled, only to splay out as she reaches for his hand, to hold on to him tightly. it grounds her, makes her forget about westview and how lonely she feels, and gives her a semblance of something... normal, before everything went wrong in wakanda.

she can trust his words, believe them with all her heart. being part of the 'team' means so much to her, even when she feels like she is back to square one — that she shouldn't be allowed this much, now.]

I'm glad you're here, Sam.

[it's vulnerable, the way she says that, because had it been literally anyone else, perhaps she would have been more hesitant of stepping into the horizon to meet everyone else.

with this, wanda stands and lets go of his hand; although still uncertain of who she will find past the doorway of this small, cozy room, she knows that while sam is here, nothing and no one can hurt her.]

I guess I better go and — say hello. To the rest.