nysalogs | OPEN TO CR (and +1's, why not!!)

Entry tags:

OPEN TO CR (and +1's, why not!!)

Who: Peggy Carter (

revlon), Steve Rogers (

starspangle) & Various
What: The wedding!
When: Dec 1
Where: Thesa Station
Warning(s): N/A

[ To anyone who knows Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, this wedding has been a long time coming — almost too long. So perhaps it isn't surprising at all that once they finally got engaged, the ceremony fell into place fairly quickly. Neither of them are ones for much fuss so they've decided to have it up on the station so friends and guests can attend no matter where on the island they live. And while the exhibition hall on Thesa isn't the English countryside or a church in New York City, this day is still uniquely theirs and intrinsically tied to the life they've made here.

It's an intimate late afternoon ceremony with wide windows overlooking the vastness of space and its twinkling stars. Steve, in a sharp suit one might recognise from last December's holiday gala, has Bucky Barnes as his best man and Claire Fraser is there for Peggy as matron of honour — the first friend she made in this new world. With so many absent friends, the bride decides to walk herself down the short aisle and the wedding gown is an understated, elegant affair in satin with a touch of beaded lace, expertly tailored by Claire's own hands. When the bride and groom meet, Captain Kirk begins:

"Since the days of the first wooden vessels, all ship's masters have had one happy privilege. That of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony. And so we are gathered here today with you, Margaret Elizabeth Carter, and you, Steven Grant Rogers, in the sight of your fellows..."

And once they are pronounced Mr and Mrs Rogers, the party can officially begin! There's a hodgepodge dinner buffet courtesy of the mess hall (and cake later, of course) so perhaps you're trying to decide where to start first; or maybe you've forgone the food for the self-service bar with wine, whiskey, and beer. (Champagne for the toast!) If tipple isn't to your tastes, then maybe the dancing is — it isn't big band swing music, but it's close enough, and you're attending the wedding of some golden oldies from the 1940s so there's sure to be someone cutting a rug. Or maybe you're taking a breather from all that and taking in the view of the stars and the planet below.

Whatever your fancy, mingle and enjoy! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When was that?

[ Bucky's got an idea, of course, if he served in the war, but he can't really help the question, anyway. He wants to know more about Thomas and not just because the idea of magic still feels a little exciting and fantastical even now. Besides, his own timeline doesn't add up and he's been about as cards-on-the-table as he gets with Thomas. ]

Ah.

[ when is a better question than why, and it isn't as though it really is a secret. ]

The Storm hit in 2017.

Shit and here I thought I was special for being so old.

[ But it's kind of an odd relief. Bucky's never even sure how old he feels anymore between all the lost years and the ever-present feeling that he's fallen out of time. Steve's the only other person he knows who's been through anything similar, but it's so different. ]

It was 2016 for me. Is that normal for wizards? 'Cause it ain't normal where I'm from.

No.

[ steve knows about thomas' age. him and peggy are some of the few that thomas has mentioned it to. and now bucky. ]

At some point after the war, well into my 80s, I started ageing backward. I've no idea what caused it. [ "magic returning into the world", only magic had never truly left, had it? still, there'd been a revival of sorts.

he'd almost missed it, of course, too busy fighting ghosts of the variant that couldn't be exorcised, demons of the war instead of anything more literal. ]

[ He nods, not sure how he's really supposed to react to that. It's beyond weird and Bucky's entire life is basically weird these days. ]

I was cryogenically frozen for a while, but I don't think I age normally, either.

[ Really not something he'd been planning to reveal to anyone, but here they are. ]

[ it is beyond weird, but thomas is glad bucky isn't asking any more questions. his age isn't something he minds, precisely, but he'd resented the reversal of the ageing process for a while, when he'd been capable of resentment at all. ]

How so? [ the age, he means. ]

Oh, uh, during the war I was captured. I don't really know what they did to me in technical terms, but it I guess it made me pretty indestructible, kinda like Steve.

[ Which, given some of the other ways he's seen attempts at that go, Bucky knows he got off lucky biologically-speaking, even if just about everything else went wrong in the worst ways possible. ]

It's not a big deal.

[ The way his eyes avert and his voice gets tight makes it all too clear how much of a lie that is, but he lies about this stuff when he's not at his best friend's wedding, so he's sure as hell not going to let himself get emotional about it now. Making jokes and changing the subject is how he navigates this heavy stuff, because it's the only way he can keep himself together. The only person who's got the full truth is a psychic girl who's back in cryo and he plans to keep it that way. Even Steve doesn't get all of it. ]

Of course.

[ thomas inclines his head. the agreement is quiet, calm. there's some sympathy in his gaze, but none of it bleeds into his tone —that's entirely professional, bland. very british and posh and not saying anything at all.

he doesn't get it, of course, not really. how could he? he hasn't been captured during the war and no one's performed any experiments on him. he's read about some of the things nazi wizards did and more of their experiments are detailed in the black library he used to guard back in london. he wasn't captured and no one experimented on him and still, the war almost broke him the way it broke every other wizard, if it didn't outright kill them.

he understands not wanting to talk about it, at least. he still finds himself flinching at the mention of ettersberg more often than not. ]

How long were you frozen?

On and off for about seventy years. My memories aren't really solid, so I'm not sure exactly how much they took me out.

[ He can't remember everything from before it all, either, but at least he remembers enough to know who he is now. ]

I've only been away from all of that for a few years, so there's been some technology shock. And now we're in space, which is a whole other level.

[ The corner of his lip quirks. ]

What was it like watching all those changes happen? I just woke up in a different world. I never got to see any of it.

[ thomas clears his throat. ]

I can't say I've paid particular attention to them all.

[ the truth is that he hadn't. the truth is that for a while, he hadn't really left the folly unless the commissioner had called. the truth is that he doesn't know a great many things that have changed. ]

I do know that the map function on those smart phones is very useful.

[ Bucky turns his head sharply and studies Thomas, trying to figure out if he's being fucked with right now. After a moment, though, he just laughs. ]

Oh my god. You're worse than I am and I was literally asleep.

[ He bumps his shoulder against Thomas's gently. ]

Wizard thing or do you just live under a rock by choice? And what about all the other changes? You haven't noticed that ladies are wearing short skirts and everyone talks like a sailor now?

[ Which, if Bucky's being honest he's always talked like that, but he's never exactly been a fancy upper crust gentleman and Thomas gives him the impression that he actually comes from some sort of polite society. ]

[it's not a wizard thing. it's a war thing and a "everyone i know is either dead or dying" thing and a depression thing, but the gentle bump of bucky's shoulder against his snaps him out of such morose thoughts before they have the time to fester.

probably for the best, that. ]

I did, in fact, notice the short skirts. Someone pointed them out to me back in the sixties. [ ... thomas has no interest in short skirts or women's legs, frankly, but that's perhaps beside the point. ]

There have been plenty changes. Some for the better, I'd say. Most, even. [ briefly, he smiles. ] More rights for all sorts of people.

[ That makes Bucky smile, too. It hadn't affected him in the same way, but that doesn't make it less of a good thing. He doesn't like thinking about how hard it had been for people who'd had to hide their whole lives away or risk prison time. For all he knows, he'd known gay men back then and they hadn't been able to tell him. ]

Definitely a good change. Makes the war seem worth it in some way.

[ And that means a lot coming from Bucky, because he never came home. ]

Good people shouldn't have to feel scared. That's too close to what we were fighting against.

[ it has concerned thomas very directly, but he hasn't reaped the benefits. before the war, back with the foreign office, there'd been trysts and dalliances, hidden and unspoken things. before and during the war, there'd been david mellenby.

after david, there hadn't been anyone and so the decriminalisation of homosexuality had been something of a theoretical victory as far as its impact on thomas' life is concerned. he does appreciate the freedom that seems to be afforded all sorts of preferences here, no stigma much less criminalisation.

it doesn't change years of socialisation, but it's something. ]

We joined the war to stop magical experimentation German wizards were doing. [ "we" being british practitioners, of course.

he means to say that their aims were perhaps less noble than those of american soldiers. he means to say, too, that it might not have been so different. in a way, it was both. ]

[ It's strange to think of all these different Earths that existed with different variables like wizards, but they still had the same wars. Bucky thinks about it sometimes, gets a little lost in it, really, because so much of his life changed in that war and it almost feels like some kind of fixed point. It's as if his life couldn't have existed at all without him falling from that train. ]

Yeah, well, the last thing the Nazis needed was to add magic to their arsenal. Steve barely got me out the first time I was captured.

[ there's a lot to unpack in that statement —and thomas isn't going to touch any of it. instead, he nods again. ] Yes, quite. We had some trouble with our retreat as well.

[ the retreat he was tasked with covering. ]

[ Bucky huffs. They're too sober for this, but he's not sure he can fix that for himself. Still, drinking at least lets him pretend he's tipsy. That's something.

He moves like he's going to grab Thomas's wrist, but hesitates before he makes contact. Skin contact comes with those powers he can't quite control and while he's not big on touching people with his metal hand, it works just fine and it's the lesser of two evils right now, so he switches hands and reaches with his left for Thomas's wrist. ]

Okay, we need drinks. We're bringing down the wedding.

[ thomas glances down at the hand on his wrist, then back at bucky. he won't read anything into the touch, he tells himself, and then firmly sets all thoughts about touching aside.

instead, he nods. ]

I'm afraid you are right. [ he ought to apologise for that, perhaps, and end the conversation, but he much prefers the option where they drink and bucky's hand perhaps lingers on his wrist, metal or not. ]

Couple of sad old men.

[ He laughs as he gently tugs Thomas towards the bartender. It's not as if he and Steve haven't had moments like this, too. Sometimes he wonders if it's their ages or just the things they lived through, but it can be all too easy to slip into the most depressing conversations like they're discussing the weather. Normally he wouldn't care, but he doesn't want anything dragging down this day. ]

We've got to do something about that.

And you suppose alcohol will be just the thing?

[ perhaps age has something to do with it —but the things they've seen in their lifetimes, the war, that surely plays a greater role. thomas had not often been morose, before the war.

after is another matter entirely.

he follows bucky toward the bartender, neither pulling his wrist back nor turning his hand so the grip changes into one of another kind. ]

It's that or dancing. We don't have that many options here and I don't want to eat that much cake, do you?

[ And as they get up to the bar, Bucky orders the strongest drink they've got. Maybe if he drinks it fast enough, he really will get a little tipsy. ]

[ thomas raises his brows at bucky's order. ]

I do hope you're not expecting me to keep up with that. [ though he'll ask the bartender for a whiskey. which he is decidedly not going to drink quickly. ]

I would probably try to stop you if you tried.

[ And though he might not admit it, Bucky's too good a guy to let someone drink themselves stupid. ]

I don't have a normal metabolism.

I'd assumed as much.

[ if it isn't magic, it must be something else, after all —and he is friends with steve rogers. he doesn't know any details, but he can fill in some blanks. possibly incorrectly, but fill them in nonetheless.

he gestures (with his free hand) to the drink. ] I won't judge.

[ That's when Bucky realizes he's still holding the other man's wrist. He drops it gently so that he can reach for his drink and does his best not to overthink the action. ]

Thanks. Never thought I'd wish for worse tolerance, but the bright side is no hangovers.

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