The Center's been hell sometimes, but it's also been incredibly rewarding. More than prayer, um, I've tried to make it feel like home - with food, and board games, and whatever else people've brought my way.
[Stefan's never going to openly brandish his powers and fight off enemy troops. That's not the kind of person he is, unless his loved ones are in the line of fire. Communities and healing, though, have always been his number-one priorities.
They have enough fighters and leaders. Let him stay back and fuel the hearth.]
I'm biased, given that I practically live there, but there's no pressure to visit either.
You'll have a lot of visitors once the holidays roll in.
[ those are the times people seek others, this sense of community. the last couple of years have been on the lonelier side. the one here might be a bit of a progress. ]
It's nice, having somewhere to go and spend time with everyone.
I imagine so. There's a whole lot of us from Earth, and uh, things like Christmas and Hanukkah don't disappear just because we're somewhere else.
[He's been preparing for a while, truthfully, with buying a menorah ahead of time and preparing an aluminum Christmas tree to stand in the place of the real deal. (He has little idea that Misty'll grow a large evergreen, or that the rest of the community will pitch in and decorate the entire thing.) ]
We didn't choose each other, but you know, we might as well make the most of it.
That's the thing about these abrupt changes, isn't it?
[ it's not the first one for him, nor the most difficult. waking up in the 21st century, not knowing anything and anyone had prepared him for this. this was far easier, if only because there were people here he knew. ]
The adjustment can depend on the people around you. We really hit the jackpot with that.
[ most of the people on the fleet are both kind and understanding. a good support system for newcomers. ]
[It sure doesn't sound like Steve's first time with unfamiliar settings - Stefan doesn't want to press, but he sure hopes it wasn't because the good Captain wasn't kidnapped by another dimension.]
We really did. None of us have any control over how we got here, but people could've rioted a long time ago. I'm glad they didn't.
[outside of augment glitches, everyone had been relatively peaceful - and that's the biggest blessing Stefan could've asked for.]
I don't like these circumstances anymore than the next person.
[ and on the one hand, this isn't how he usually operated when faced when an injustice. standing up to kidnappers and dictators is the captain America way of action but then, they know so little on who or what the Atroma actually are. The intel stage takes far more time than he would have expected. ]
But there are children here. At the end of the day, I want to keep everyone safe.
You and me both. I don't know much about Atroma, let alone if they're really filming a reality show, but...
[He hesitates. He knows he's grown complacent, and that's entirely on him for being here as long as he has. Still - he's been here long enough, and he can always offer up whatever little he's managed to figure out.]
[Stefan hadn't witnessed the attack, but he had seen the aftermath - Wrath's limp body, blood streaking everywhere along the hallways, Sascha dangling it in his face like a tasty treat. He swallows, his entire body growing rigid.]
I didn't think she was capable of that. Her OR Beau, really - they're supposed to be our "hosts," but we haven't heard from him in a while.
Never heard of Beau. When did we last hear from him?
[ not in the months that he had been here, surely. it's something to ask Peggy about when he returns to the Starstruck; if anyone had listened to every message and memorized it, it would be her. ]
It might have been the Atroma, using her voice. I'm not sure there even is a Diamond, No one really met her face to face.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action;
Date: 2016-12-19 09:37 pm (UTC)[Stefan's never going to openly brandish his powers and fight off enemy troops. That's not the kind of person he is, unless his loved ones are in the line of fire. Communities and healing, though, have always been his number-one priorities.
They have enough fighters and leaders. Let him stay back and fuel the hearth.]
I'm biased, given that I practically live there, but there's no pressure to visit either.
action;
Date: 2016-12-26 09:35 pm (UTC)[ those are the times people seek others, this sense of community. the last couple of years have been on the lonelier side. the one here might be a bit of a progress. ]
It's nice, having somewhere to go and spend time with everyone.
action;
Date: 2016-12-27 03:38 am (UTC)[He's been preparing for a while, truthfully, with buying a menorah ahead of time and preparing an aluminum Christmas tree to stand in the place of the real deal. (He has little idea that Misty'll grow a large evergreen, or that the rest of the community will pitch in and decorate the entire thing.) ]
We didn't choose each other, but you know, we might as well make the most of it.
action;
Date: 2016-12-31 12:03 pm (UTC)[ it's not the first one for him, nor the most difficult. waking up in the 21st century, not knowing anything and anyone had prepared him for this. this was far easier, if only because there were people here he knew. ]
The adjustment can depend on the people around you. We really hit the jackpot with that.
[ most of the people on the fleet are both kind and understanding. a good support system for newcomers. ]
action;
Date: 2017-01-01 09:08 am (UTC)We really did. None of us have any control over how we got here, but people could've rioted a long time ago. I'm glad they didn't.
[outside of augment glitches, everyone had been relatively peaceful - and that's the biggest blessing Stefan could've asked for.]
action;
Date: 2017-01-03 07:22 pm (UTC)[ and on the one hand, this isn't how he usually operated when faced when an injustice. standing up to kidnappers and dictators is the captain America way of action but then, they know so little on who or what the Atroma actually are. The intel stage takes far more time than he would have expected. ]
But there are children here. At the end of the day, I want to keep everyone safe.
action;
Date: 2017-01-07 06:24 am (UTC)[He hesitates. He knows he's grown complacent, and that's entirely on him for being here as long as he has. Still - he's been here long enough, and he can always offer up whatever little he's managed to figure out.]
I can certainly tell you what I do.
action;
Date: 2017-01-09 09:52 pm (UTC)[ he offers. a way to start this conversation. ]
She - a friend of mine heard her voice in his head, thought he did, before his augment made him lose control of himself.
[ what happened later still haunts him, blood everywhere, bucky's missing, Peggy's broken ribs. ]
action;
Date: 2017-01-10 05:02 am (UTC)[Stefan hadn't witnessed the attack, but he had seen the aftermath - Wrath's limp body, blood streaking everywhere along the hallways, Sascha dangling it in his face like a tasty treat. He swallows, his entire body growing rigid.]
I didn't think she was capable of that. Her OR Beau, really - they're supposed to be our "hosts," but we haven't heard from him in a while.
action;
Date: 2017-01-14 09:28 pm (UTC)[ not in the months that he had been here, surely. it's something to ask Peggy about when he returns to the Starstruck; if anyone had listened to every message and memorized it, it would be her. ]
It might have been the Atroma, using her voice. I'm not sure there even is a Diamond, No one really met her face to face.
action;
Date: 2017-01-14 10:44 pm (UTC)[Not that it had been a particularly long conversation. Stefan was more keen on reacquiring his Qur'an than insulting his hosts.]
Every time Diamond makes a broadcast, listen for the guy singing in the background. That's Beau.