11026/Muttonheads Unite!

Muttonheads Unite!
Date of Scene:	09 February 2020
Location:	Medical, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Nothing like waking up in the middle of the night to the Winter Soldier watching you sleep. Lili provides unlimited canine affection as always and Steve reminds Bucky of the justice of poker games.
Cast of Characters:	Captain America, Winter Soldier

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Captain America has posed:
Wade had been off to find Scrabble, but that was...hours ago. There was some screaming in the hall after the mansion went FULL ALERT on the Merc's spandex-suited ass and then Steve had been left by himself to fall asleep again.

The IV machine was laced by Dr. Pym with enough tranquilizer to knock a charging rhino unconscious on the spot. Of course, the super-serum fights it and there are periods where the Captain rises to bleary consciousness. Something makes him wake up beneath the blanketing and within the wrap of the blue terry-robe. With the room's lighting lower at night, he blinks a few times and looks around slowly.

A small sound leaves him even as he reaches to knuckle at one eye. "Wha's...som'ne there?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
So, let's face it - most people, even super-powered beings, *might* get a *little* freaky about waking up, nearly helpless, to find one of the world's most fearsome assassins sitting in a chair, glaring at them. This scenario ends well for almost no one.

Happily, Steve is 'almost no one'. The effect of the glower the Winter Soldier is aiming at him is much mitigated by the fact that what James is cradling in his hands isn't a firearm, but a mug of cocoa. And that at his feet is sitting the German Shepherd who's basically an ambulatory furry sunbeam of love and acceptance. James's face is stony, set. Lili is lolling her tongue like it's the best day ever. Steve is here! Steve who somehow resonates like peanut butter biscuits and thrown tennis balls to this particular canine mind. "No one. You're dreaming. Go back to sleep, Rogers," comes the gruff voice from the chair.

Captain America has posed:
Oh, hey, he knows that gruff voice -- granted, it's a little rougher than it used to be back in Brooklyn when the far-skinnier Rogers didn't WANT to lie down and nap, but the sentiment and inflection of tone remains.

"Oh hey, Buck, 's'you," slurs Steve with a pleased smile aimed at the sober-meined Soldier seated there. "'nd you brought Lili...hey pretty dog, how're you, sucha good girl," he continues with a half-hearted wave of a hand over the edge of the gurney and towards the Shepherd. "Gimme sec, gotta...gotta sit up."

And then Bucky gets to watch the greatest star-spangled Avenger fumble his way to sitting more upright against the pillows. "Som'ody thought it'd be funny to make sure I din't go wandering."

Winter Soldier has posed:
OMG OMG OMG STEVE STEVE STEVE. As per usual, Lili takes her job as Buck's ambassador to the rest of humanity very seriously. The Soldier squints a little, even as the dog starts to wag her tail. She's nearly wagging herself sideways as she comes over to where Steve lies, rests her head gently on his thigh, looks up. Please observe my eyebrow dots, Captain, they're dancing *just for you*.

Buck gives the dose of medication a critical look. "Jesus, Steve, that should tranquilize a feisty rhino. They wanted to be sure you couldn't get up and do something dumb like fight a platoon of Nazi zombies or something, didn't they?"

Captain America has posed:
How to resist the dancing eyebrow dots? Steve, his face an undisguised moue of delight, woozily ruffles at Lili's ears in a manner far less refined and lacking self-control. He even makes kissy duck-lips at the dog before Bucky's question belatedly wends through the IV drip haze and into his brain.

"Oh, uh." Yes, Steve, eloquent. "Yeah, sounds 'bout right. Either that, or stop wandering 'round the medbay 'nd talking to Tony. He brought cheeseburgers 'nd fries, okay? After weeks of slugs that tasted like slimy pickles, I dunno who had a problem with cheeseburgers 'nd fries."

He then frowns at Bucky. "Tell me there're no zombie Nazis walking 'round right now or 'm gonna have to fight 'em in what 'm wearing 'nd the shield's somewhere around here, but I f'get."

Winter Soldier has posed:
She's all squinty and bright-eyed about it, heaving an enormous sigh of contentment. Her ears pin back in doggy ecstasy.

Buck, on the other hand, is much less overtly impressed. One brow goes up. "Where the hell were you?" he asks, bluntly. "And how bad did you get hurt? Nah, no zombie Nazis active at the moment. THough I can totally see you fighting them barefisted in your little fleecy star spangled pj pants."

Captain America has posed:
"I like those pj pants, you leave 'em 'lone," complains Steve mildly in his drugged state. He makes a few more kissy sounds at Lili because it can't be helped and then leaves his hand awkwardly resting upon her head because his attention span is not only woozy, but insanely distractable.

"Wuz on 'nother planet, 's'called..." Again, his brows meet. A few seconds pass and he continues frowning at the Soldier as if HE might know the name. "Khundian Empire. A planet in there. 's'big place, lotsa planets." Rubbing at his temple, the super-soldier sighs. "I dun 'member right now, drugs're playing handball with m'brain. 'm not badly hurt though. s'not injured, just gotta finish this round of antibiotics." There's a limp-wristed gesture at a small orange container with a white lid next to a half-finished glass of water and a half-finished protein shake.

Winter Soldier has posed:
He pulls a face at the protein shake. While Buck has enthusiastically embraced many aspects of modern food culture - pad Thai, peppermint mochas, Girl Scout cookies - smoothies of a certain kind are too reminiscent of stuff he was fed in the USSR. There's a shudder of disgust.

But then he's back to eyeing Steve, only now letting some of the gruffness relent. "Antibiotics? Why?" he wonders. Lili edges a little closer, nudges her head up, prompting. Pet me, giant slab of good nature. The happier you look, the happier my human smells.

Captain America has posed:
Bucky actually gets a finger lifted at him: one moment, please, your dog is requesting more petting, this requires two hands and all of my attention. Now Lili gets Steve talking at her in a ridiculous pitch of baby-talk and both hands smooshling her cheeks around up nearly to her ears.

"Because pickle-slugs're full of space germs 'nd they made my insides feel like ground turkey, din't they, pretty dog? Yes, they did! That, 'nd Tony wasn't able to purify th'water perfectly. He's prolly still sick as a dog. Sick as a dog!" he repeats in that saccharine tone of voice at Lili rather than at his oldest friend.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck looks positively green at the idea. "That's awful," he says, grimacing. And this from a man who was delighted with Army food in WW II. Hey, he didn't have to pay for it and he didn't have to cook it. "Where's Stark?" he asks.

Lili's tail is wagging furiously again. My cheeks, Captain Rogers, my cheeks.

Captain America has posed:
"Stark?" Steve glances up from smooshing those mole-marked Shepherd cheeks and his hands come to a sudden stillness. "He's supposed to be here inna medbay, a room or two down. Didja not see 'im? No, Buck, tha's bad, he's supposed t'be lying down 'nd resting, not being up 'nd about!"

Says the blond super-soldier now trying to extricate himself from the blanketing like he's going to go make sure Tony's still asleep, come hell or high water, because that's what friends do! Fabric rustles and the stand of the IV machine suddenly gets yanked to ping off the gurney's side-bars. "Stupid thing," the Captain mutters, fussing at the insert to his arm clumsily, and at real risk of injuring himself through bending the needle internally.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"No!" Bucky's using his sergeant voice, as if Steve were a Very Bad Dog indeed. "Stay down, Rogers. I didn't look. I'll go check. You don't need to. Stay in the damned bed and leave that alone." His tone has Lili turning big, soft brown eyes on him, accusingly. How can you speak like that to your defenseless marshmallow friend, human?

Captain America has posed:
Actually twitching back into the pillows with his arms half-cringed against his broad chest, Steve stares with wide, betrayed eyes at the sudden use of the Sergeant Voice. He then scowls something fierce.

"Hey! 'm Cap'n 'merica, you can' use that tone'f voice with me, pal. 'm Tony's pal too, 'nd 'm gonna go see that he's okay." Still, he doesn't get very far. All the fuss and sudden jump in heart rate has the IV drugs thoroughly flushing through his system again. With something more akin to a flump, he falls back into the mounding of pillows, arms now limp on the bedding.

A sigh raspberries out. "...'m'onna check on 'im inna minute, gimme a minute," he mumbles, still giving Bucky the best glazed glare he can manage. It's not much in the end. He ends up reaching out for Lili again with twitching fingers, all the more an easily-distracted toddler at this point.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Lili sighs again, but now it's more put-upon, as she nuzzles underneath that hand. It's hard work, keeping up with Steve, even Steve in this mode.

"I'll do it, Steve," Buck says, back to gruffness. Nevermind that his eyes are a little too bright. How nice, to look at a Stark he's not currently tasked with murdering. "And yeah, I can. Because to me, you're not Captain America. You're still Steve, who never has sense enough to know when he needs to *stay down*."

Captain America has posed:
Lili gets more gentle pets this time, though still uncoordinated in the end. "Yer good girl," mumbles the super-soldier at her, his smile off-centered and no less good-natured for it. Hearing Bucky speak brings him to glance over at the Soldier again.

"Don't you know, Barnes? I kin do this all day," he quips lackadaisically before beginning to chuckle. It's a loopy reel of laughter and the man has to cover his mouth at one point. Finally, he seems to get a hold of himself and sighs, still grinning at Bucky. "But 's'good t'see you, Buck, really. Dun mind me, I know 'm'idiot. Only got two more days'f horse-pills 'nd then...freedom." He inscribes a broad arc with a spread hand across the air above him like a rainbow of hope and wonder.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier rolls his eyes up, lets his lids flutter like his lack of surprise is about to stun him into a coma. He's been making that face about Steve Rogers for nearly a century. "Yeah, you can also ram your head into a brick wall all day, but.....well." That grin is tugging at the corner of his mouth, though, despite himself. "Man. You never change. Thank God for that. I guess that's what Erskine saw in you - that you'd be the same inside,even with a hundred new pounds of muscle and a good foot added to your height." He still starts conversations with Steve's pecs these days, without meaning to.

Captain America has posed:
The stories Steve's pecs could tell if they had voices.

"Don't think he figured I'd be tryin' to fistfight zombie Nazis...or were they Nazi zombies...? Whatever -- those'n m'pj-pants of spangled wonder," the Captain says with another few chuckles. "'m sorry if I worried you though, Buck. Seems like I worried everybody. I was comin' back though, I was. Nob'dy gonna stop me from getting back to you all."

His face crumples now. Look at those brows crimp in eloquence of sad guilt. "Wasn't gonna leave you behind -- not you, not Janet, not anybody else!"

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck opens his mouth, like he's about to dismiss that. But then he closes it again, and his expression is arch. "I was about to say," he says, slowly, "How silly that sounded. But you have a way of imposing your will on the universe that sometimes makes me wonder if you aren't a sorcerer yourself, and just don't know it." He leans back in his chair - it doesn't creak, it was presumably made for someone like Steve or Banner to sit in - and laces his fingers over his belly.

Captain America has posed:
"Dunno about having any magic'l powers're anything, but..." Steve's broad shoulders shrug against the mounding of pillows behind him. "I was comin' back to everyone 'nd it was...it was gonna happen like that 'nd I never believed otherwise. But y'know, 's'funny you mention magic tricks because I was playing cards not so long ago 'nd y'know what it reminded me of?"

And it's likely very clear what it should remind Barnes of by that triumphant little smirk on the Captain's face.

"Fleecing you 'nd the Howling C'mmandos in poker. Justice...will always prevail," he says with theatrical weightiness and shakes a reprimanding finger at his oldest fiend. Lili, of course, continues to get gentle head-massaging with his other fingers.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Which has James folding his arms and rolling his eyes again, like a sulky teenager. "That wasn't justice. That was a cheating cheaterpants cheating," he says. Nevermind that those pale eyes have started to twinkle with amusement. This is an argument so outworn it's practically marital.

Captain America has posed:
"Din't cheat one time," the super-soldier declares with the self-assurance he's always had in the matter. Still, his eyes take on that particularly sly twinkle that so few see. After all, this is the man who blithely suggested to Janet that she off-handedly let seven-year cicadas into the walls of the alien-bounty hunter's Triskelion cell; she who was initially responsible for Steve's disappearance.

"'nd it was //justice//. All those things you let 'em get away with for //weeks//. Anchovy oil in m'boots? Sergeant Barnes." Behold: the Disappointed Steve Rogers Look. "You were all lucky it was summer 'nd not the buttcrack of December." Behold: the Look ruined by another smirk.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier lifts a metal finger, admonishingly. "Vigilante justice. Shame on you, you who claim to stand for the rule of law," he says....but now he's grinning in earnest. That grin's still the same, even with the lines that HYDRA's left on his face.

"You know, Steve, you're fun when you're high," he declares. "It's too bad we can't do this on the regular."

Captain America has posed:
"'m just as fun when 'm sober, what's's bunk?!" the Captain declares even as he starts...giggling. Oh dear god, Steve Rogers is giggling. He coughs to interrupt it and reaches for his glass of water to wash down the tickle. Safe, he then continues, "'nd y'know the line about rules anyways: they're guidelines inna end -- whoops."

Yep, that water's cold accidentally splashed to dribble a few drops on the inside of his bathrobe. Steve says a few slurred and rude things in Gaelic as he fumbles the glass back over and then tries brushing the water away from the terry-cloth. "I hate cold water," he mutters.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Yeah, tell me about it," Buck retorts. But his expression is still whimsical, rather than bitter. "God knows we both got good reason." Even if the cold water's what saved his life - he'd be dry bones scattered in the Alps, were it not for that river. "I should let you sleep, buddy," he says, softly.

Captain America has posed:
Observant as he always is, head on a swivel, it's no surprise that Barnes should offer this. Steve's smirk is already faltering to a relaxation slinking through his features and posture like the encroaching lassitude of dusk. He makes to shrug, as if he could continue shouldering the weight of his own need to recover with sheer optimism and perserverance. He instead ends up wrinkling his nose in a yawn and then seeming to be profoundly annoyed with himself.

"Been sleeping too much, this's bunk," he complains in a slurred murmur. "But if you gotta go, I un'erstand. Thanks for visiting, Buck. S'good to be back." The Captain's oldest friend gets a slack grin before he sighs. "...'nd kin still kick your ass at poker," he mumbles more sleepily yet, a final sass before the tranquilizers pull him under.