13426/Fair is Fair

Fair is Fair
Date of Scene:	03 June 2021
Location:	First Floor, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Captain America gives Wonder Woman a tour of Avengers Mansion.
Cast of Characters:	Captain America, Wonder Woman

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Captain America has posed:
After having been invited to lunch at the Themysciran Consulate by Princess Diana, a lunch that the Scarlet Witch and Winter Soldier also managed to score impromptu invites... chaos magic was by definition, chaotic, Captain America had decided to return the favor, and invited Wonder Woman to Avengers Mansion.

Avengers Mansion was to many of the team, first and foremost a home. They had rooms here. They slept here. They ate here. They worked out here. They watched TV here. They read books here. It was a fortress, it had a bunker, with Quinjets, and all of that, but it was still a home. Most also had separate apartments, as did Steve Rogers, although his was all the way out in Brooklyn Heights, so a fair commute. When he was at Avengers Mansion, he was usually in uniform, but not always.

The day had started off so lovely. It had been warm and sunny, with nary a cloud in sight. People wore shorts, skirts, t-shirts, and even some of the children had been playing near a fire hydrant that somebody had managed to open. But that had all changed in the last 15 to twenty minutes or so.

The weather had not forecast rain, yet here it was, and as Steve Rogers stood near the window, dressed in a navy blue polo shirt with the Avengers logo over his left breast, and black trousers, overlooking the garden, which by now was getting plenty of water. He wondered idly if he should call Diana to cancel the tour. "Must be Thor messing around again," he said out loud, shaking his head. Or any number of other weather related people. There was Storm, there was the Weather Wizard, there was Zeus, there were probably quite a few more. Or, it might have been natural. Who could tell?

Wonder Woman has posed:
Chaos magic is, indeed, chaotic. The appearance of the Scarlet Witch and the Winter Soldier had been unexpected, but not unwelcome. There had been plenty of food to go around for all. And it had been a rather enjoyable afternoon. This morning had proven to be something of a quiet morning -- Diana took the time to catch up on a bit of paperwork at the museum, and spent a moment to simply admire the fair weather of the morning.

For today, Diana wears a summer dress. It's a medium shade of blue with a paisley print to the fabric and off-the-shoulder sleeves that are loose and end above her elbows, the skirt of it loose and reaching her mid-calf. She wears a pair of tan sandals, the ties of which criss-cross around her legs to her mid-calf. Her bracers, a piece of her heritage as being an Amazon, are worn as well, not that she expects to truly need them. Her black hair was neatly gathered at the nape of her neck and loosely braided, the end of it secured with a small clip. Rather than walk -- or fly -- Diana drove to the mansion. It had started to rain about midway along her drive, though she didn't particularly mind it. After parking the car, she got out and started to make her way towards the door.

She has a long stride, and so other than walking a bit quickly, she didn't move in a particular hurry. No girlish shrieking about getting wet, either. If the weather was a sign from the Fates, then so be it, but she was here and that was that. She didn't seem to mind that she was rained on along on her way to the front door of the masion, and once there, she rang the doorbell. And then, she did the expected thing -- and she waited.

Captain America has posed:
Seeing Diana's approach through the window, Steve Rogers quickly made his way to the door, practically opening it just as she rang, meaning she had a very short wait. "Come on, get in here, and out from the rain," he said, placing a hand up as if it could somehow shield her from the rain. His shield was upstairs in his room, along with his uniform. That would have been useful right now.

Of course, if she were a vampire, she had now been invited, so could come in. Steve still was getting to use the existence of such things. And Amazons. And Norse Gods. And so much more. This was such a different world to the one he had grown up in. Looking her over, his eyes were trying to tell how much of the rain she had absorbed, "do you need a towel, or a hot cup of cocoa to warm you through?" Hot cocoa was great for rainy days, even if the weatherman said it wouldn't be one.

"But I'm glad you could make it. Did you have trouble finding it?" He expected her chauffer put it into the GPS, he knew about GPS, he didn't really understand it, but it was a thing. Mostly, he was just asking if she had a good drive over, whether it was her behind the wheel, or a chauffeur. For all he knew, Ferdinand was sitting in the car waiting.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Even as she had approached the door, she could hear the footsteps within the mansion making their way towards the door. Her sense of hearing is quite keen, after all. A smile rises to the corners of her lips as the door opens to reveal him, and she gives a nod to him. She glances briefly towards his hand, that effort made with an attempt to try to shield her from the rain, and her blue gaze easily returns to him as she gives a soft chuckle. "It is just a little rain. It hurts naught," Diana says, a touch of amusement to her voice.

Diana moves to step inside at his invitation, inclining her head towards him as she does so. "Thank you, Steve," she says with a smile. She is fairly damp, give the way the rain is falling outside. The keys for her car dangle from one of the fingers of her right hand. This world is a much different one than the one that she grew up in as well, though she's had a bit more time to adapt to it. "Tea would be lovely, if it is not too much trouble," she requests, one of her eyebrows quirking up. She doesn't show any signs of being cold, interestingly enough, even though the rain is rather chill and the temperature has lowered outside from what it was before the rain had started.

"It was fairly easy to find. I am glad that I could make it as well," Diana says, a smile touching the corners of her lips. "It started to rain about half way here. It was a good drive here," she adds, lightly flipping her keys so that they rest within the palm of her hand. "The rain was somewhat unexpected. Weather is that way, sometimes."

Captain America has posed:
"It may not hurt, but this downpour soaks into clothes." Steve Rogers' arm was soaking wet, as well as half of his upper torso, as he leaned out of the protection of the doorway. Once she was inside, he would try and shake off some of the water from his arm. His watch was also wet, so he wiped that clean. The watch was a rare relic that S.H.I.E.L.D. had managed to find, somewhere, somehow. So it wasn't as water resistant as today's technology. It could rust. But it still kept great time, despite it's age, so there were pros and cons.

"Oh, of course," and he would gesture to her with his dry hand, walking along with her towards the kitchen. "Not a problem at all. We have a wide selection." Tony seemed to stock the mansion with everything they could want. "More than we need, really," he added, a sheepish look on his face, embarrassed at the extravagance.

Upon reaching the kitchen, he would pull out a chair for her, though she may not take it, before moving towards the pantry, "is there any specific type you would like?" And if she didn't name one, he would start naming the varieties he could find until one was settled on. He would then brew two cups. It was easy, as they had instant scolding hot water from a water tank that Tony had set up. So it was leaving the tea bags in, and removing them after three minutes, for the perfect cup, "do you take milk, cream, or sugar?" Steve drank his with milk and sugar.

Wonder Woman has posed:
"It does have a way of doing that, yes," Diana agrees, a smile quirking at the corners of her lips. The hem of her skirt might well be dripping just a bit, on account of the rain. She was in the rain for longer than what his arm had been. Her hair wasn't dry, either, though it was't entirely soaked. She glances towards the watch at his wrist, which had become wet from the rain, and then her gaze turns back to him. "I hope it is not harmed at all, from the rain," she says softly, a touch of concern to her voice. She doesn't have a watch on, today -- she's wearing her bracers. They are a habit, and nearly always worn.

She walks with him then towards the kitchen, following him and falling into step a little to one side as well. It's a protective sort of positioning, which he might well recognize. "A wide selection of tea is not a bad thing. I have something of a collection, myself," she comments, a smile easily coming back to her features. "There are different types for different tastes, and sometimes a moment simply speaks to a particular kind of tea," she adds, a thoughtful tone to her voice.

There's a brief glance that she gives to the chair that he pulled out for her, and the she watches him briefly. She steps over to the chair and sits, smoothly crossing her legs at the knee and lightly adjusting the damp fabric of her skirt. "An oolong tea would be perfect," she requests. Then she quirks a smile at his question of what she takes in her tea. "A bit of honey, please," she replies. It's a bit different tha how most likely drink it, but that's her preference.

Captain America has posed:
"I keep hearing from the science types around here that they can make moisture wicking outfits, but I'm not sure I'm ready to devote my entire wardrobe to the big corporations, even if they're very nice and environmentally friendly big corporations. And I know that Wasp wouldn't stand for it, even if it was her big corporation." He was relatively poor compared to many of his comrades. There was no such thing as Rogers Corp, of if there was; it had nothing to do with him. Looking down at his watch, "oh, no, just an antique, so I'm a little extra careful with it. But it still tells time with the best of them. Just doesn't have the 300 foot water resistant slogan, or whatever it is that the new ones have."

"When I grew up, it was tea, no type, just tea, with T-E-A on the tin. And I was lucky if I got any milk or sugar with it. Lucky to get coffee too. Which, only came in black. Your options were hot or not so hot." He had a half frown, half smile, it was a hard look to describe, as he was both amused, and sad at the thought, but listening to her about the different teas for a different mind, listening to her at all really, it had him smiling again soon enough.

Moments later, he would remove the tea bags, and put milk and sugar in his, while hers got some honey. He did think about trying the honey, and mentioned, "next time, I'll try the honey." He would set them down on the table, with tea cups, and take the chair adjacent to her, so they were sitting close enough to face each other, but far enough that her crossed legs wouldn't brush up against him. "So, you were telling me about the Bana-Migdall," he mispronounced Mighdall, having heard it, but the accent was hard for him.

Wonder Woman has posed:
"I have heard of similar fabrics. Overall, water is just that... water. It causes no harm, and I do not mind it overly much. Although dry is preferred and more comfortable," Diana comments, a smile quirking her lips. There's no corporation that she runs or is a part of, but her situation is somewhat different. She's royalty, and she works for multiple buildings that are owned by the country that she belongs to. She's always well dressed, regardless of what style she happens to dress to fit. "It never hurts to be careful with things that are older," Diana comments in a thoughtful tone. Perhaps she means more than just his watch. "Water resistance is not the most important thing."

She chuckles softly as she nods to agree with him about tea. "Yes. At home, it was just tea as well. It seems to be more recently that there has come to be a multitude of varieties of tea," Diana says, watching him. "Sugar was rationed, years ago. It was saved for special occassions. As well as other things," she muses, her brow wrinkling slightly. It's not just that she knows these things from history, she knows them from living them. "Things have changed from then until now. Some for the better, and some for the worse," she says, a thoughtful tone to her voice.

"It adds a little something more than just sweetness to it, I find," Diana offers, in regards to the honey in tea. "I have favoured it for many years," she adds, a smile tugging her lips. One of her eyebrows quirks up as she reaches out to pick up her tea, holding it easily even though the cup is hot from the water within. She doesn't seem to notice or be bothered by it. "The Bana-Mighdall. It was inhabited by a faction of Amazons, and it translates to mean the City of Women," Diana says, a smile tugging her lips.

Captain America has posed:
"It can be soothing, like when I swim laps in the pool. And people sing in the rain." He quirked his brow, trying to remember, "I heard that somewhere, seemed to be from a song, although I don't know the reference." As she brought up never being too careful with older things, he offered up, "some of us old things are in pretty good shape." His 111th birthday was just under a month away. It was of public record. Most people who cared to, already knew.

The brow wrinkling slightly caught his attention, and he decided to ask, "other things?" Although he often had to ask questions as people mentioned concepts that were beyond his knowledge or frame of reference. He felt safe asking her. Sometimes he would just remain silent. "If the Bana-Mighdall are the City of Women, then Themyscira would be?"

Wonder Woman has posed:
"Different things are soothing to different people," Diana says, a thoughtful tone to her voice and a smile tugging her lips. She chuckles softly, then lifts her cup in order to take a sip of the tea held within it. She sits back a touch in her chair, relaxed and comfortable. She lifts her free hand to catch up the end of her braid and remove the clip there, placing it on the table before her fingers return to her hair in order to unravel her braid. "Some of us old things are in quite good shape, that is true," Diana agrees. It might make a person wonder about just how old she is. Her birthday had been in March, though it had passed without fuss or fanfare at all -- it was her nine hundred and eleventh. It was just another day.

"Mmm... other things, yes. Sugar was not the only thing that was rationed. So many things were, then. If there was a birthday that was coming for someone in a family, then they would save up the flour and sugar and other things to be able to make at least a small cake. To try to keep things at least a little bit normal. It was more than just food that was rationed, other things were as well. It made for difficult times," she says, a small smile coming to her features. "Those who lived in Bana-Mighdall became known as the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall. It was a place apart from Themyscira, and one that was hidden for many years. Themyscira is where I am from. It is named after the capital of the Amazon tribe in Greek mythology," she explains, watching him.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers would only now take a sip of his tea, having let it sit and cool just enough. It also helped to mix the sugar and milk in there, letting it all swirl about. Setting the cup down, he would regard her for a moment, as she referred to herself as old. She certainly didn't look it, even less than he looked in his opinion. "All right, I'll bite. I'll be 111 on July 4th."

He had misunderstood the rationing, thinking that she meant there were other uses for sugar, rather than other things to be rationed, so all he did was nod and make an 'ah' sound in understanding. "You seem to be using past tenses with Bana-Mighdall. What happened to it?"

Wonder Woman has posed:
Slightly, Diana shifted the cup within her hand before taking a moment to look down to the contents of it. The fingers of her free hand finish with the task of unweaving the dark locks of her hair, and then she lightly combs her fingers through it. One of her eyebrows quirks up as he admits his age, and shares his birthday. "March twenty-second," Diana says, a smile quirking at the corners of her lips. She moved her foot to slightly nudge his leg nearest to her, and then lifted her gaze to meet his, a touch of amusement to her eyes. "I have a few years on you, and that would be... conservative to say," she says.

She considers his question for a moment before she gives a small nod. "Past tenses are appropriate for it, alas. They were considered a 'lost tribe', led by Antiope. They renounced the Gods and vowed to seek vegeance on men. They were violent and bitter. There were many battles that happened before those of the lost tribe were brought back to Themyscira and integrated to the ranks there," Diana says in a soft tone. "Bana-Mighdall was destroyed," she adds. She lifts the cup of tea, taking a sip of the brew and savouring it.

Captain America has posed:
Steve Rogers repeated the date, 'Diana's birthday is March twenty-second, Diana's birthday is March twenty-second, Diana's birthday is March twenty-second', in his mind as it was a memorization technique he had learned long ago with important details. He couldn't look down at her nudging his leg, because the table was in the way, but he felt the contact against his black trousers.

"It's just a number. Thor's over fifteen hundred. Nat just had her hundredth birthday party." He really didn't care that she was older than him, though he was still surprised by it. He knew people of advanced age who looked as good, or better, than he did, but it never ceased to amaze him.

He would playfully brush his leg against hers under the table, though there may have been the first point of contention between them as he replied, instinctively, "there's only one God, Diana, and I don't think he'd approve of them seeking vengeance on anyone. Nothing good comes from vengeance. You gotta stand up for yourself, fight back, but the minute you start trying to start something up, you become the people you struggled against. I'm glad it worked out for them in the end."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Contrary to him, she doesn't think of her birthday as being an important detail. But she is slightly biased, considering that it's her birthday. One of her eyebrows quirks up slightly, and she chuckles softly, her blue eyes showing a sparkle to them. "Indeed, it is just a number. Which happens to mark the number of years that a person has lived," Diana comments, her voice reflecting a portion of that amusement as well.

She listens as he shares the years of others that he knows, and she lifts her cup of tea in order to take a sip of it. She lifts her free hand in order to lightly brush her hair over her shoulder and to her back, and then she lowers her hand to her lap. And for a moment, she's quiet on the matter of age. For a moment, it perhaps seems as though she'll not offer anything further about the subject. "Nine hundred and eleven," she says softly, then lifts her cup to take a drink of her tea again. Her tongue brushes over her lips as she watches him. She hadn't been lying when she'd said having a few years on him was 'conservative'.

One of her shoulders faintly lifts at first at his comment, and then she gives a small shake of her head. "I was raised in a different time and in a different world than you, Steve," Diana says softly, a smile touching at the corners of her lips. "While I respect that your religion and your beliefs have only one God, mine are not the same. Mine include many," she comments, a gentle tone to her voice. As blessed as she has been by both Gods and Goddesses, she believes in them. "In the end, yes... it worked out for them, and it worked out for Themyscira. The Amazons are fierce warriors. It is a part of who and what we are," she says.

Captain America has posed:
"Seventy-five of mine were spent in the ice. Thankfully, I was asleep for it. So, it wasn't too bad when Bucky borrowed my bunk the other night. I've had enough sleep for myself, and several other people." He tried to play it down, as if it were a joke, without actually thinking of the ramifications of it. It was part of him. He had spent more time under the ice than he had not. If he lived long enough to equal that record, he would be by far the oldest human on record, assuming of course he was still human. It was something he grappled with often, but rarely gave voice to.

Watching her play with her hair, he almost missed the age she spoke. He considered it for the briefest of moments, just long enough to make sure she wasn't about to continue speaking, "and you don't look a day over twenty-three." He didn't seem to be terribly moved by the age. It was just a number. She was a good person. She was strong-willed. She was a hero. And she was a friend.

"I'm sorry if that sounded... it's just..." he didn't want to upset her, and she seemed to take it in stride. He kept trying to start, and then just went with what his gut told him. "I guess, yes, I was raised protestant. Part of the reason my family emigrated. My room is just down the hall from Thor. I've met Loki. Other Asgardians. I've fought alongside Hercules, against and with Ares. It's hard to think of somebody as a god when you've seen them in the shower."

Wonder Woman has posed:
"It is a long time to spend beneath the ice. I am sorry, that so many years were spent in such a way. It is better that you were asleep for it, I think -- I have heard that such cold can be painful," Diana says softly. The words that she chooses to use might well give the implication that cold isn't a bother to her. "It must have been quite a different world to wake up to than what it had been when you first ended up beneath the ice," she says, watching him. Based on what she knows of her own history, she isn't human at all. She was made of clay, as the story goes.

One of her eyebrows quirks up a touch as he seems to accept the age that she'd claimed for herself. "Many would be intimidated and in disbelief of such a number," she says softly, a thoughtful note to her voice. She gives a soft chuckle, then lifts her tea to take a sip. "I have looked the same for many years. Though I would put it closer to thirty," she comments, a hint of amusement coming to the words. Many of the things that she did were in the cause of helping people.

"Religion can be a difficult topic to discuss. To open the box of, so to speak," Diana says, a smile touching her lips. "Where did your family emigrate from?" she asks, a measure of curiosity to her voice with the question. Then she gives a wry sort of chuckle at his mention of Ares. "Knowing Ares, it was more fighting against him than with him," she says, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I imagine it might change the perception of them," she agrees.

Captain America has posed:
"It is, but you get used to it." How could such a short phrase encompass such a long and horrible time? The pain must have been unbearable, enough to send him into a coma for seven and a half decades. "Waking up after so long under the ice, it might as well be another planet. Oh, some parts are still the same, the monuments, the buildings, but the people, everyone I ever knew, almost, were gone." He covered all manner of pains with that one.

"I've learned to believe in a lot of strange tales. I'm living one. And I don't intimidate easily." The last part was said with the confidence of a man who has stood down all manner of challenges, and never flinched. He was resolute in that. "Though, to me, you'll always be twenty-three." He offered with a warm smile.

"My family originally came from the Republic of Ireland, though at the time it was still part of the United Kingdom. From what my parents told me, it wasn't safe to be a Protestant there. It wasn't safe for anyone. Rebellion was coming. They came to America for a better life."

"Well, yeah, even when fighting with him, it's... a bit of a handful." It was a good thing that she was not a telepath, for he managed to bite his tongue at an inappropriate joke that he would like to share.

Wonder Woman has posed:
"That would not be an easy thing to do. To get used to it," Diana says in a soft tone. She listens to what he shares, and then she gives a small shake of her head, her blue gaze meeting his. She reaches out her free hand to very brief, for a reassuring momet, touch his knee that's nearest to her. "It must have felt like another world. The changes that happened, the technology that came about in the meanwhile," she says. And she's quiet for a lingering moment, her brow wrinkling slightly. "The people that were no longer there. That would be the hardest part, I imagine," she adds, a gentle tone to her voice. She's lost people along the way as well -- she understands how hard it is.

"I would expect that you have seen a great may strange things. And seeing them does tend to lead to believing in them," she comments. "I suspected that you did not intimidate easily, when you asked me how much I was holding back after we sparred in the gym," she says, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She hadn't given him an exact amount -- it's hard to quantify that sort of thing. But she has significantly more strength than what he'd seen her use that day. "The age that I actually am is, alas, unchanged by the age that you will also see me as," she says, inclining her head towards him.

"Ah, Ireland. It is beautiful there. I have visited a time or three, over the years," Diana says, giving a small nod to him. "I hope that they found the better life that they sought, when they came here," she adds. "Many have come from many places, seeking safety and refuge."

"Gods and Goddesses are often a handful to fight either with or against. They can be unpredictable, and there are those who might be inclined to change sides midway along," she says, giving a soft chuckle. She lifts her cup of tea, finishing the rest of her tea before she reaches out to set it on the table.

Captain America has posed:
He gave her a curt nod in agreement, appreciating her softer tone and understanding demeanor. He met her blue gaze with his baby blues after she gave that shake of her head, though briefly, his eyes darted to the way her hair would dance and sing as she shook it. The hand that went to the knee of his black trousers felt nice, he nodded again, glad for the reassuring gesture. "Yes, it was," losing every person he had ever known, save for a scant few that endured until this day, such as Bucky Barnes and Wolverine, both of whom he knew during the war. There were a surprising number of survivors, but few were terribly close to him.

She was powerful, and she had held back when they spared, but then, so did he, and even though he was 'just a man', he had fought and beaten people who claimed to be gods. He had fought and beaten beings that he had no business fighting or beating. But he did. He may or may not be able to stand up to her. Though, they both probably hoped that it would never be known. "We will have to have a real sparring session one of these days." There was no bravado, nor smirk, or wink. It was as if he was genuinely curious how they would fare against each other."We come from all over. Some of us aren't even of this world. But, together, we are stronger. We gain from our differences. Sometimes we come for safety and refuge. Sometimes we just want to be a part of something greater than ourselves. Whatever the reason, we come together. One brand can be broken, but if you bundle enough branches together, no man, no woman, no... god, no one, can break it."

He had finished his tea as well, and was glad to have enjoyed it with her. "I believe I promised you a tour." Rising to his feet, he would offer his hand, "shall we?"