15351/Backyard Ponderings

Backyard Ponderings
Date of Scene:	16 July 2023
Location:	Backyard, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Jessica's talking to statue-Cap, when the real Captain America reappears. The conversation becomes much more meaningful.
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Woman (Drew), Captain America

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Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Presently, Jessica is seated on the edge of the fountain, her back to the garden. Her fluffy elephant slippers are on the ground, her unicorn print pants rolled up, and her feet resting inside the pool. Not coincidentally at all, it's the same pool in which the statues of Tony Stark and Captain America are located.

She's right in the middle of an exciting recitation to the latter, apparently, all animated.

"...so then I punched him in the face, obviously." Jessica makes a helpful gesture, tilting her head towards statue-Cap, quizzically. "That was fine, right? I mean, he was a complete jerk who had also coincidentally put everyone in danger, so I feel like that's justified. My therapist said I shouldn't punch out of anger. Well, actually he said I shouldn't punch at all, but what does he know?"

The woman's been gone for two years, give or take, but despite rumors of her memory being excised, not that much has changed.

Captain America has posed:
Speaking of being gone, well, Cap's not been entirely present of late himself, and only just back to being officially 'in town' and 'on duty' for quite some time - having done what the Aussie's might say is a bit of a walkabout. He, he said he needed some time to just get back in touch with the average Joe - took off one morning on his bike, only seen rarely since, until a week or two ago.

So it's perhaps a touch surprising to have the man that statue's modeled after walk down the path, dressed in jeans, plain white t-shirt, and a pair of well worn work boots to complete the blue collar off work / casual style that Steve favors.

Sightlines being what they are, it might seem that he walks out from behind one of those statues, his own in fact, just about in time to catch Jessica's last few words - "Punched -who- in the face? " He asks with a touch of that damnably humble yet all too famous smile across his face, one that he trades briefly for a frown as he looks over at the statue of him, "I _really_ wish the hadn't done that. More than once I've thought about coming down here and ripping it out."

Then his attention turns back to Jessica, "Hey. Long time no see."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
When Captain America looks at the statue version of himself, he'll notice statue-Cap is wearing a low-slung baseball cap and a badly knitted scarf in an unpleasant mix of colors. Probably good he wasn't here to receive said gifts. Clint's been wearing some really wild t-shirts of late that are probably also due to the Spider-Woman's influence, if Jessica's occasional delighted cackle is anything to judge by.

"Haven't you been listening to my story at all? He was the one who tried to- you know, he did the thing, with the thing?" Jessica's waving and gesturing probably isn't that helpful at making it clearer. "He had a dumb name codename for himself, I promise, I just can't rememb-"

And that's about when Jessica realizes that Captain America is talking back. I mean, that's a good thing, but not normally something the statue /does/. She jerks backwards, and of course, immediately topples off the the edge of the seat onto the ground, with an /oof/.

Then she hastily picks herself up and dusts herself off. She's wearing a white t-shirt that just says 'I can't adult today' on it, and paired with her unicorn pants, yeah, it's one of those days. At least she's open about expressing her feelings -- that's one thing her therapist doesn't have to fight her for.

"Cap?" Jess says, incredulously, staring at Steve. Yeah, there's that smile. The one that gets him dozens of blogs, tiktok's, instagrams, wattpads and fanfictions made of, about and for him. "Uh... hey. So. You're back. Hey." Not. Awkward. At. All.

Captain America has posed:
A moment might be spent looking at the statue's 'addons' and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he just chuckles and gives a slight shake of his head - he's a pretty decent idea where the adornments came from, and well..there are worse things that could've been done.

"Words, Jes, use your words. They _all_ seem to have code names these days.. " Steve replies in a tone that's clearly amused, but also colored with hints of concern and most definitely curiosity. He gives her a look over a she gets herself picked up and dusted off, one that takes it's time - but somehow not at all in the way one might normally expect a guy to give an attractive young woman - nope, this is just simply a mix of fatherly/brotherly interest, making sure she's well and catching up the mental picture of her after the length of time they've not seen each other.

"Hey there. You're lookin' well... _comfortable_ .. but good. " He says with that same smile, moving towards the bench she went over the back of and motions back at it with one hand, "Like I said, been a minute, mebbe I can listen a bit more .. actively than my stony duplicate back there... But only if we sit _not_ looking at the silly thing."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Words. That's helpful. Very helpful. "Right," Jess says. She doesn't appear uncomfortable under the scrutiny. Most would -- most would read into it -- but Jessica's not exactly normal, and doesn't always get the kind of social cues most do. Wasn't exactly high on Hydra's list of priority training.

Before, Jessica didn't hang out at the Avenger's Mansion so often, mostly -- even if she didn't admit it aloud -- because she as afraid of her own pheromones potentially affecting her fellow Avengers. It seems like two years of hanging out with Hydra goons has changed that sentiment. She does look /very/ comfortable indeed. Maybe a little too comfortable, given her attire.

Steve's words provoke a genuine laugh from Jessica, as she pads back over to the bench and drops down next to him with a sigh. "Honestly, the first time I saw it, I couldn't believe you let Tony do it." She half turns her head, towards, well, /up/ to look at Steve, with a smile. If you want to do statue heist, I'm totally on board."

And then she shifts, pulling her feet up onto the edge of the bench, wrapping one hand around her knees. "How is, was your... thing? What were you doing again?" She wasn't around when Steve /left/. She would've asked JARVIS about him, but for the longest while they had AVINA, and Jessica just didn't trust that AI the way she seems to trust JARVIS. Must be the British accent.

Captain America has posed:
Sitting on the bench and looking down, and over, at Jess, Steve hmms a moment and then shifts his weight a bit as he puts his feet out in front of him. Hands rest atop the bench seat and he shifts forward - lowering himself to the ground to sit on the grass with his feet out front of him and leaning back against the bench. Lifting his hands, he laces his fingers together behind his head and appears to just _relax_ there for a moment.

"I may take you up on that, though - I think the scarf softens the .. pretentiousness of the thing. " He shrugs, chuckles, and gives a shake of his head. "It's one thing if it were out in the world some place that needed a beacon, or something, but _here_... yeah, well. " He trails off, shakes his head just slightly, and then takes a moment before he responds to her question.

"It was good. Spent most of it riding the back roads, and low country lanes across the States. Some good time to spend talking with real people about their lives, seeing what it is that _they_ have to deal with. "

A pause

"And you? You .. you went UC for a while, right? "

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Maybe it's a good thing, that once Steve sets on the ground, he can no longer see Jessica's expression. There's something envious there, of just how relaxed he is, just how easy it is for him to ease into that. A weird thing to be envious about, maybe. But she's a complicated person, as he no doubt knows, given her history.

It's gone though the moment Steve speaks. He has that effect on people. Jessica in particular. It's just impossible for animosity to exist around him, just by reason of him existing. Jessica's chuckle is rueful and genuine. "Look, all I'll say is it's a good thing you weren't here, or you'd be wearing that," her thumb jerks towards the scarf. "My therapist told me I had to make something and gift it. So, you know. One thing to thank Cap-tue for." Yeah, she named his statue. Cap-statue.

Jessica's markedly quiet while he relays his experience. There's that same hint of envy, but for the experience. "That sound like... actually, it sounds dull," she decides, apologetic. "For me, anyway. But it sounds like it was good for you. You look... relaxed. Content." Definite envy.

When the question's turned her way, the brunette pauses. "Uh, well. I was hanging out with Hydra goons for like two years, so that sucked." Understatement. Her body language says it all, the increasing stiffness and discomfort apparent. "But then Clint came, and we had cheeseburgers and vodka, so that was better. Wanda's been trying to work at my memories, bring them back, but there's some problems there, so... if I don't remember stuff we've done, that's kind of why. Oh! And there's, uh, some stuff I should talk to you about, out of my mission. You, and Tony, but he's been..." a beat, "You know. Dealing with JARVIS and the suit thing, and whatever. We should talk. Not today though." Even Jessica isn't such of a spoilsport to disturb a totally relaxed Captain America.