3705/War Veterans Reminisce

War Veterans Reminisce
Date of Scene:	21 January 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Wolverine, Captain America

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Wolverine has posed:
    The bar was nearly empty on this wet, blustery, winter day on the East Coast. Outside was frightful, with the rain and the wind wreaking havoc for motorists. There was one man at the bar, and a few people at tables in the back. A few muffled voices make this a sombre day in Harry's. The smell of burned something or other comes from the kitchen in the back.

    Harry is currently behind the bar, wiping the counter, while the man at the bar has his head down, nursing a half-full mug of beer.

    The man sitting at the bar was wearing an old fashined cowboy hat and a dark brown coat with some kind of animal fur around the hood. His blue jeans were almost fully hidden by the jacket, but his worn, comfortable looking cowboy boots were not.

    Logan's eyes stare into the mirror, reflecting his dark, distant memories. Today was the anniversary...and he knew another would be along soon enough to join him. They were soldiers...doing their duty. A long time ago...

Captain America has posed:
It is cold out. That's probably why the man who enters has on a baseball cap, leather bomber jacket, flannel shirt, jeans, boots, and most likely, some very warm socks and possibly some sort of thermal shirt on under the flannel. But yeah, he finds his way in, and tips his cap, taking if off and taking off the jacket, hanging it on the rack by the door. He sighs, and makes his way up to the bar though, settling down. Somehow, despite just taking off the cap, his hair is annoyingly perfect. He still looks young...maybe a year older....two...since near the last time you saw him? The serum has turned him into a genetic freak of nature. As Nat put it...they struck lightning when they combined him and the serum and forces of good and evil both have been trying to replicate the results since with no avail.

Nodding to Harry, "I'll have something that will make me hate myself tomorrow...and probably now while I'm drinking it," he asks politely. His shirt is red, the jeans blue. The white thermal peeking out. Even when not in uniform, he can't help dressing like a walking flag...

Wolverine has posed:
    Raising the half-empty glass to his lips, Logan takes a deep pull, swallows most of the beer in the mug, puts the mug down, wipes the foam from his lips, and sniffs. And sniffs again. Sighing, Logan shakes his head, and continues to stare directly ahead. Without a word. So, he was here.

    "Rogers." Logan growls, as Steve sits down and points to his own mug and himself. And then at Cap. Raising two fingers, and letting Harry know he's buying. Harry brings mugs of his finest, Keith's, for the good Captain and Logan. Harry then blinks as he regards the Captain, smiles, and opens his mouth. Then he sees Logan's reaction, and decides to hightail it elsewhere.

    "Been a while." Logan turns and manages a smile for his very old friend. "January 21..."

    Logan's eyes actually get a bit misty eyed, as he sniffs and wipes at them. "Damn Harry, ya' gotta dust in here more." An excuse. This was always a tough day. 1942. Six teachers and 38 students, most under the age of seven, killed when the damn Luftwaffe bombed the Catford Central School for Girls. And where were they? A Canadian and an American soldier. Super heroes. But they couldn't stop it.

Captain America has posed:
Steve gets it. He smiles politely to Harry but Logan's got a way of taking the fun out of a day. Not that the memories of today are all that fun. He takes his cup and tips it up, before taking a sip. "Does this stuff actually get to you," he asks, referring to the alcohol and not the memories. Still, Cap takes his drink, having the history of being Irish and having served in the military to know what it's like to drink, even if it would probably take something Asgardian to actually do anything to affect him.

"You know...I was frozen a bit. I suppose we've carried that around for a long time but I had a little break. You can't spend your whole life remembering everyone we couldn't save, Logan. It was war, and sometimes there's no way to stop people from doing the unimaginable. Everything...every rule says that women and children are off limits. It's why people gather in schools and churches. You can't predict that kind of evil. And you can't carry the blame of it all this time...."

Steve's not wasting time today. He knows how this affects Logan...that and his sudden dust allergy.

Wolverine has posed:
    "Naw. I try though. Takes a lot ta get ta me. Same as you I think. But it tastes good." Raising his mug, Logan salutes and toasts those gone before. "In the memories of those we've lost, and the battles we've fought. Lest we forget." Logan says solemnly, and then takes a drink.

    "Ahhhhh. Mmmm. Good stuff." Looking sideways at Steve, Logan says, "Thanks fer comin' Steve. It means a lot. With my memories usually scrambled, ah just remembered some things from those years. Thank you fer being a friend and comrade-in-arms. Even if'n ya are American." Logan winks and smiles again, to soften the blow.

    "Yeah, I know what yer sayin'. A' course I do. Good wisdom, Steve. I truly appreciate it. It's not about winning and losing, but tryin' yer best and doing what ya' can. Thanks."

Captain America has posed:
"I hate to break it to you, Logan, but you're an American too. North American..." he says, with a bit of smart-ass in his tone as he takes another sip and nods, "In memories..." he says, taking a deep, heavy breath. There's a silence that lingers a bit, as he purses his lips, taking a sip of the alcohol and swilling it around before settling his glass.

Looking Logan though, he nods. "Always, Logan. I'd invite the others but some of them, with their walkers and everything...." he says with a chuckle. Fury...maybe Natasha. There aren't many 'others' to invite. He's being a smart-ass but hey, when you're with Logan that's a survival technique. Pre-emptive poking of the bear lest the bear eat you alive.

Still, he sighs after a moment. "That's not what I'm saying, Logan. I'm just saying there were 28 bombers that day. You couldn't have been at every one. No matter how good you were, there was no way we were going to stop every attack. And even if we knew about that one...it was a school. Who knew that Schumann was going to target a school. We don't even know if -he- knew that's what it was. There are plenty of things in your heart you probably do have to carry and keep heavy for. I wish you could find the balance between dreading that day but not feeling the responsibility for it."

Wolverine has posed:
    Logan snorts, and shakes his head, "Leave it to an American to call a Canadian an American 'cause he lives in North America." Then Steve comments about the walkers. Logan actually allows himself a chuckle. Steve was always good at that..."You know, you are either a self-righteous pain-in-the-as*, or you are able to get people pulled up by their bootstraps into a good mood from a depressed one. It's a gift. Ya' should write greetin' cards er somethin'."

    Logan takes another swig of his beer, and regards the real American hero beside him with a look of gratitude. "Yeah, Nat and Fury. I bug them now an then. Gotta keep us vets still goin' ta' collect all those cheques. Betcha the government never thought we'd live this long, eh? Heh."

    Logan looks down at his beer as Steve continues. "Yeah, ah know yer right Steve. Ah know it in here." Logan taps his right temple with his right index finger. "It's here that has a hard time, s'all." Then, Logan taps just above his heart. Where they pinned the damn medal on him. "It's why we both still fight the good fight. Ta' try'in save them all."

Captain America has posed:
"Well I could talk about Canada all day. How it does a good job keeping the US warm - Ahh Canada...America's hat. I could quote an old comedian who comments on the fact that Canada is like a quiet apartment above a really good party asking us to quiet it down...." he says with that grin. "I mean let's face it - we're never going to make fun of you too much though. You may stop shipping us maple syrup if we do."

He grins a little but nods, quietly. "I like Nat...." he says in a rather ambiguous way. It could be just a simple statement - that she's a good fighter, soldier. It could not be. Not that Logan hasn't been there himself as far as having feelings for a co-worker.

"Well now I know you're lying. We all know that was surgically removed when you....well hell...now that I think about it...I'm pretty sure there's no medical records at all that say you have one of those." Yeah, now he went from smart-ass to jerk, but is it possible he did it in a nice way? "To save as many as we can, and remind the bad guys that they're going to have to fight for every inch. And to remind the good ones that they're not in it alone. Neither are you..by the way."

Wolverine has posed:
    Logan snorts again, and shakes his head. "Typical American. Always got an answer fer everything. " Logan claps Steve on the shoulder, and takes the good natured ribbing as all Canadians do. With a smile, a nod, and a beer. "Couple more Harry." Logan says, finishing his off.

    "Yeah, been wondering about that meself actually. AH've heard I sometimes can be a bit of a...well, difficult to deal with. But I can tell ya' I got a heart. After all, I get a lot of clothes messy everytime I get stabbed, so something must be pumping it around in here." Logan taps his chest again and shakes his head. "Smart as*."

    Logan grins, and says, "AH know. Now I look after a buncha kids, tryin' ta' make sure they don't grow up and destroy the world. Babysittin' ain't no fun...kinda' like you do fer the Avengers types."

Captain America has posed:
"Whaaaaaaaat? No....ok maybe a little," he says with that little smile but he takes a deep breath again and takes the sip, tipping the glass to you first and then to Harry before taking a sip. "No one faults you any, Logan. If there's a person alive who has at least a little bit of a reason to be grumpy now and then it's you. Besides, to be fair you never got your old time life of sitting on a porch drinkign lemonade and talking about the good old days. Probably because there weren't that many good ones."

Probably too much truth there to want to dwell on. "Maybe instead of a porch it's a school, huh? You can still have your lemonade. But things seem like they're always capable of getting worse. As bad as they were, most of what we had to worry about was our own doing. Now we get things from the heavens, the hells, from space...is it a scary thought to say that we may have had it easy compared to what these kids will face? You're not babysitting. They need you...they don't know what they don't know. They think it's fun. They glorify things. They want to be us...all of that will get them killed. You can tell the truth of it...and that's probably the most important they can hear."

Wolverine has posed:
    "Ha! Can I quote you on that? Everyone thinks I'm grumpy because...wait a minute, I'm grumpy? Hurumph." Logan frowns, crosses his arms across his chest, and then says, "I thought I had a sunny disposition. Maybe not sunny..." Logan says with a shrug, unlocks his arms, and goes in for another drink.

    Logan pauses for a moment, taking a bit before he replies to Steve. "Not all of us can be the blonde, blue eyed poster boy fer what is all good and decent. Ah'm short, hairy, and growl a lot." A pause. "You know, that's not entirely true, Steve. We had some good times. Before it went to hell and you got sucked under the ocean to freeze. We lost Buck. Almost lost the war. The bomb..." Now that memory made him angry.

    "It is a scary time Steve. Ya' kin say that again. Man, it can be tough, fer sure, but yer right. Those kids out there need to know. Which is why everyone thinks ah'm grumpy. I tell 'em like it is, as you say, and they don't like it. It's not all glory and winning. It's a lot of pain, angush, death, blood and drinkin'." Logan smiles at that. "AT least that can be a good thing."

Captain America has posed:
"I heart about that...." he says when you mention the bomb and you can see his face darken a bit - not the same pleased Steve. "One of those times where I'm not sure we won because our ideals were better or more noble. I get the argument...just not sure I would have backed it. They may be glad I was still going for a swim when that happened," he says, how he likes to refer to his time as a human popsicle.

"Trust me Logan. You wouldn't want these looks. All day it's just girls looking at you or giggling or wanting to get their picture with you or having you sign things...or them. It's the worst. You'd hate all that female attention." He grins a bit and takes another long sip of beer before sighign, "Think of it later. At least you can tell them I told you so and you'll be able to get them to listen when the poop hits the fan."

Wolverine has posed:
    "Yeah...happens a lot if we're not careful." Logan nods, in full agreement with Steve. It was good that Steve never got to see that. After all, Logan was there first hand. AT least he thinks he was...memory is fuzzy, but he remembers the pain. The cries. The death and the smell. Ugh. Moving on...

    Logan peers at Steve sideways, and actually laughs. "Yeah, I can see how those classic good looks and perfect physique would be a curse." Logan snorts, and takes an even bigger drink. Harry must have snuck another couple of brews in when he wasn't looking...sneaky.

    "Yeah, anytime someone wants me to sign things, it's usually fer damages 'er somethin'. Not autographs. Heh." Logan sighs, "Yeah, I'd hate all that female attention...terrible cross ya' have ta' bare Rogers." Logan snorts. Poop... "Same ole' boy scout. It's good to see ya' Steve. Truly. We should do this more often...now, if ya' heard, Grimm has this poker game..." LOgan trails off, enjoying the comraderie that he only gets with a very select few people in the Universe. Good times.

Captain America has posed:
He nods, "We all have our crosses to bear, Logan. Mine is this incredible figure...yours....well....lets just say I won't be taking you to any halls of mirrors anytime soon," he says with a grin and he finishes his beer and he stands up, patting Logan on the shoulder for a moment and he just lingers there. No, it's not time to cue up music and it's not a Deadpool/Mohindr bromance moment. Just a brief moment of recognition and memory. "I've played a game of poker or two in my life. I could see fit to join up for that if you get me an invite. Could be entertaining."

He pauses a moment before one more clap on the shoulder of the old man. "You're a good man, Charlie Brown. I don't care what they say about you." He doesn't go to put money on the bar, he knows full well Logan would just shred it if he did. Getting dressed back in his cap and jacket, the snow and storm blows in for a moment as he slips out, knowing better than to look back. That's the bad thing about living this long...there's way too many opportunities to look back.