Welcome Pizza Party!

[lonelinessloop]

WHO: EVERYONE!
WHAT: a welcome party for the new arrivals, with pizza and milkshakes and snacks and candy, dancing games and video games and a big banner that says 'WELCOME!' and music and balloons for everyone!
WHERE: main common room
WHEN: beginning of August
NOTES/WARNINGs: None so far. Party thread!


The main common room has been transformed into party central!!!

There's streamers and balloons and tons of fun and games. Haruka, Luigi, and Duck have made sure that there's a little something for everyone.

There's a food table with all kinds of snacks and candy as well as pizza with every combination of toppings you could ask for.

There's dance games out with their mats on the floor for fun and friendly competitions, and a sign that says there's a scavenger hunt for anyone interested. There's also a bunch of machines, almost like a margarita bar (but of course not!) that offer all kinds of milkshakes and slushies for anyone who'd want one. Fun, happy, upbeat pop music with bubblegum lyrics is playing just loud enough to be fun but not to give anyone a headache.

Haruka had made sure that the kitchen staff knew they wouldn't need to make dinner tonight, and they were using all paper cups and plates so no clean up! Everyone could have fun tonight!

"We just wanted to welcome you all to the Clipper! So enjoy the snacks, and have fun!"

Comments

[punched_hitler]

"Well. I wouldn't want to deprive you of that vital experience," Steve points out magnanimously, as they head for the stairs. "So don't let me stop you."

Okay, not that the wristwatches have eggplant emojis. He thinks.

[worthallthis]

They don't, sadly. He doesn't even think the communicators back on the Barge have them. "Next time I got the ability, I'll send you the dirtiest string of emojis I can come up with," he promises with a little laugh.

[punched_hitler]

"You'd better," Steve murmurs, unable to keep the dumb grin off his face, giving B's hand a gentle tug. "I'm holding you to that. Double points if it's at a highly inappropriate time."

He probably shouldn't be feeling playful, of all things, right now. But things are okay, if not great. It's like the lull between battles on the front. Things are still bad. But they're less bad, just for a minute, and you have to grab it while you can.

[worthallthis]

When things are shitty, you take what pieces of joy you can get. B's going to take this one with... well, he can't take it with both hands right now, but he can take it with one, dammit.

"In the middle of a meeting with some really important person," B promises. "Which will teach you to leave your phone muted next time. Did I ever tell you 'bout the time Sam blew our cover cuz his phone went off?"

[punched_hitler]

"Silencing my phone is no fun," Steve points out (although he doubts he'll ever be in an important meeting ever again), right before he glances at B and lets out a little laugh. "No, you did not. And now you need to."

[worthallthis]

"Oh god. Right. So we were in Madripor, which is this little island country in the South Pacific, all kinds of lawless. Zemo was pretending to be my handler, and Sam was pretending to be this asshole local. We were in a meeting with a fence who had info on the supersoldier serum, and we almost had her, and Sam's phone just goes off."

B rolls his eyes, towing Steve (gently) up the stairs. "It was his sister. Listening to him try to pretend to be this hot shot Madripor goon on the phone, with Sarah yelling at her kids about Cheerios in the background? It would've been hilarious if it hadn't almost gotten him shot."

I'm... assuming they haven't really had a long, involved talk about the events of FATWS

[punched_hitler]

"Oh my God." It's not like Sam can see him, but Steve still puts his hand over his mouth to maybe try to hide the absolutely shit-eating grin that he can't hold back at that.

Of course, the name Zemo puts him a little on edge. B doesn't seem broken up about it - maybe Zemo had turned things around, in his universe? His hand squeezes B's a little tighter without really meaning to, though, and he files that information away to maybe ask about later. Not now. Maybe not for a long time. But he'll remember.

"Okay, so I guess I'll put it on silent before an undercover op. If I must." Yeah, it's not like Steve and undercover ops really mix, anyway. "The eggplants can wait until I'm done with those."

yeah he might not have mentioned the Zemo thing 8D

[worthallthis]

"We got out of it, but mostly because I'm really quick at stopping bullets, and then Sharon came to our rescue when they put a bounty on us." B's got mixed feelings about Sharon, honestly. He has no idea how she wound up falling off Sam and Steve's radar in his universe, or wound up in such a position of power in Madripor, but he doesn't think it was as bad as she played it up for Sam's sake, either. But she did help out when they needed it, in the end.

Also, she was mean about his connection to Steve. B might be better about being a jerk, but he can still hold a grudge.

[punched_hitler]

"Yeah, you are," Steve says, in the wistful tone of someone for whom stopping bullets is a turn-on. Because Steve is weird like that.

Of course, for him, Sharon swooping in and saving the day isn't a surprise, even if part of him knows she got the short end of the stick when it had come to helping them with the Accords. But Steve had always trusted a Carter to land on her feet, if nothing else.

"So you never let Sam hear the end of it, right?"

[worthallthis]

"I might've brought it up a couple times," B drawls, reaching the right floor and heading straight for his cabin door. "That, and the time he gave me grief for not thanking him for rescuing me from the situation he put me in."

[punched_hitler]

"Seems fair to me," Steve says reasonably, still letting himself be towed along, though he knows B will have to drop his hand to open the door. He still waits until the very last second to relax his grip, though.

And, once they're inside: "All right. Should I take off my shoes, just in case?"

[worthallthis]

"Yeah, then you're less likely to break my toes," B agrees, already dropping onto the bed-- their mattress on the floor is the one from the goats' room, so the bed got to keep its mattress, and is mostly a place for dogs to lounge-- to unlace his boots. "And also to muck up our blankets."

[punched_hitler]

"Definitely wouldn't want that," Steve agrees, deciding to just brace himself by leaning back against the door and pulling off one shoe, then the other, setting them neatly next to the door frame.

Then he straightens up, not exactly nervous, but not exactly not. Maybe this feels like a big deal, in that way that a lot of things feel like a big deal to Steve, even if they're not. But B's not treating it like one, and it's not like Steve doesn't actually want this, so he drifts over to the CD player, even though he kind of expects to be batted out of the way so B can pick the music.

[worthallthis]

B's go under the bed, and he looks up at Steve and smiles, kind of soft. He can see that tension in his shoulders, poor guy. This, at least, B thinks he can handle for him. "Put on the Glenn Miller one. Pick something slow to start with, yeah?"

[punched_hitler]

The tension does ebb a little at that. Steve is absolutely better off with something to do. "You got it," he says, digging through the stack until he finds the right one, popping it in and skipping a few tracks until he gets to Moonlight Serenade.

After that, though, he turns around, shuffling to the center of the room and holding up his arms. "C'mon, Fred Astaire. Get up here and lead."

He figures he can take B's hand with one of his own, and wrap his other arm around B's waist, though he's open to being moved around if B has other ideas.

[worthallthis]

"Now that brings back memories." The first song Steve ever tried to play for him. He can only think, now, that it was the strength of the unfamiliar emotion that made him try to smash it the first time he heard this song again, because he still fucking loves Miller.

B considers for half a second, then grins and instead slides his hand up behind Steve's neck. "Starting easy," he promises warmly. "Just sway with me, Steve." He'll pull him into something more complicated in a minute, but this song is romantic and he's gonna just sway a little with his guy.

[punched_hitler]

Steve grins a little sheepishly. Yeah, he remembers, too, but it seems like his luck might just be a little better this time around. Which is good - he likes Miller, too. He likes this song.

His arms drop to slide around B's waist, then, as he leans closer and yes, he is definitely capable of swaying. "This's nice," he agrees. And easy. And it lets him be basically zero inches from B, which is extra nice. "Let's work up up to tossing me across the room."

[worthallthis]

"Eh. Might not even get that far. This is pretty good, just as it is." B rests his forehead against Steve's, shuts his eyes a moment. He's pretty sure he'll bounce Steve into something more upbeat, when the song changes, but he'll think about that later. Right now he's got his guy close and comfortable, and no dogs or cats are currently underfoot. That's all anybody could ask for, right?

[punched_hitler]

"Oh, Whew. Lucky me." Despite how it's a joke, it's kind of not, too. Being thrown around the room has nothing on this, even if he'd actually let B do it, too.

This is pretty good.

He doesn't exactly lead, but he does sort of try to at least show he's into it by nudging B this way or that, when it seems appropriate. Mostly just circling in place - just to prove they're dancing.

[worthallthis]

It's enough. It's a moment of calm, even peace, in the midst of where they are. B's happy to take it, just sway in circles to an old favorite with his best guy. "Can't believe you avoided this for so long," he says, maybe quietly teasing a bit. "You're doing fine."

[punched_hitler]

"This is barely dancing," Steve points out, not because he's trying to push said luck, but because yeah, sure. He can do this just fine.

His smile does turn more rueful, and his voice is maybe a little too light when he ducks his head and admits, "You probably wouldn't really like the explanation."

It's not a complete brush-off, honestly. He just really doesn't think B will like the answer, even though it had, funny enough, been on his mind just a few minutes ago.

[worthallthis]

B leans his head back again so he can look at Steve, tilting it a little. "Try me?" he offers. "Promise I won't get mad or anything. Unless you just don't wanna get into it."

[punched_hitler]

Steve sighs, but, "No, I know you won't get mad."

It's just that the mood was pretty good. He doesn't want to sour it. But he feels it's pretty unfair to say something cryptic like you won't like it and not follow through.

"I was just thinking... I used to spend a lot of time watching... y'know. Him. Dancing," he says. Every single double date, pretty much, unless Steve begged off early (after his own date had done the same). "I don't think I was jealous, exactly?" Not in any straightforward way, anyway. "It just seemed like something that wasn't for me."

Which is, maybe, a metaphor for a lot of things.

[worthallthis]

Well, he's not wrong. B doesn't really like hearing that. But mostly because it makes him feel... sad. For Steve. He knows Steve hadn't ever really been into those dates... but it'd been important that he be there. Or it'd seemed like it, at the time. It's not like they could have had this, back then. Not really. Neither of them were ready, and the world would've smashed them down so hard they might never have gotten up again.

And there's a little part of him that wonders just how far Steve has separated him from all the other Buckies, if that shared history is still a "him" and not a "you". Or if that's Steve still honoring his wish to not be the same guy he used to be, even for the parts that are still the same. It's something to chew on, but probably not important. Especially not in this moment.

He rubs his thumb up through Steve's hair, back and forth. "Well," is what he says, voice soft, "turns out you were wrong. How about that."

[punched_hitler]

Honestly, this is Steve trying to respect B's wishes and keep them separate as best he can. He knows that everything up until a certain point seems the same, but it had meant so much to B to be different, and it has honestly meant a lot to Steve, too, to try to make sure he knows that when they're close like this, he's not thinking about Bucky, he's thinking about B.

Except, admittedly, he sort of is right now. He can't help it, any more than he can help the way his steps falter and he's already close, so it's not like he can throw himself at B, but he definitely gives the impression that he would if he could, leaning against him and suddenly clinging tight. Maybe it's a good thing his strength is gone, or some ribs might creak. "Yeah, but for how long," he mumbles, throat feeling tight. Bucky had disappeared a month, to the day, after their wedding. He'd come back, sure... though he hadn't remembered getting married for weeks. And when he'd gone, again, a year later, he'd never come back.

Steve is painfully aware that his time with good things seems measured. And it's been a month. Just a month. He's so tired of it. He just wants this. "I wanna be wrong forever."