8154/To Every Thing..

To Every Thing..
Date of Scene:	03 July 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Castiel arrives at Bucky's only to confront one Peggy Carter. No blood was shed. Bucky gets healed. Castiel does not stab Steve. Tea was had by all. How perfectly English.
Cast of Characters:	Castiel, Peggy Carter, Exile, Winter Soldier, Captain America

---

Castiel has posed:
(from scene 8109)

May nods to Castiel. "As you're his friend and not a colleague, I can't stop you. Off the record, I'm glad you won't let him. I understand why he has so much trouble with anything medical in nature, but that doesn't mean it doesn't also bother me to see him suffering."

Castiel doesn't need second bidding. His phone is grabbed, and under the new parameters of their agreement, he finds a safe zone nearest Bucky's quarters and walks the rest of the way to visit his friend, intending on doing what it seemed only he was able to do. Which was ignore the gallant protests and heal him.

---
Castiel actually walks to Bucky's suite. It's easy enough to find when you've a) been there before, and b) can hone in on the man mystically or spiritually - whatever definition you prefer.

Not that he's pleased about the matter, but Cas knocks. It feels both absurd and uncessary, but the angel does it, giving a surly sort of nod to the lone other being who passes him in the hallway, as it happens while he's standing at Bucky's door...

Peggy Carter has posed:
Well, opening the door IMMEDIATELY post shower isn't something often in Peggy's book of things to do, but the fact that Bucky is still managing to lightly doze mean the less knocking the less likely he is to wake up, so she's dashing down the hall as fast as possible, pulling an elegant cream satin robe around her. Messy, still-damp dark waves of hair around her face and no make up on but that fresh, flushed look of someone still fresh from the shower. That's the woman who opens the door for Castiel, probably presenting a far different picture than what is actually happening in the apartment.

"Shhh... Oh." She assumed it'd be someone from SHIELD. Someone she knew. Who else knew he lived here? The fact that Lili Marlene isn't going nuts probably means it's a familiar face, just not one to her. Sub consciously, she tugs her robe a bit closer around hour glass figure, "I'm sorry, Mr. Barnes is... indisposed..."

Exile has posed:
Lili comes wagging up to the door, favoring Cas with a big doggy smile. She, apparently, approves highly of this newcomer, looking between him and Peggy, and then down the door to Bucky's bedroom. 'Indisposed' must be a euphemism for sleeping....for while Buck needs relatively little sleep, courtesy of his serum, the weariness of healing has been counterbalancing it. There's no sign of him in the living room/kitchen area, anyway.

Castiel has posed:
"Who are you?" Castiel demands abruptly of Peggy. "James Barnes did not say he had a woman. Agent May did not say he had a woman." His brows knot in consternation, as though Peggy were not only trespassing, but had a lot of explaining to do about Bucky's injury and why he wasn't taking care of himself.

Lili, however, gets an altogether different greeting, the angel's features softening in an odd way that suggests he both is fond of her, and somewhat abashed to be caught out as he reaches to pat her head. "You," he tells her, "Are a good dog. Where is your master. I have come to speak to him. He's being stupid." Like Lili is going to carry that message off to Bucky for him.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The woman's back immediately stiffens, bristling protectively about James Barnes even if her own defensive anger is the same sort Castiel has. It's out of love. But, Peggy's had a life time of being dismissed by men or considering someone's 'woman' not partner or boss, so she reacts with just a touch of salt at being called a 'woman' in such a fashion. "James Barnes doesn't *have* a woman. I am no one's woman, thank you very much, I just happen to be residing here. Now, before you wake him up, I'd very much like an explanation of who YOU are knocking like this and making such assumptions?"

Peggy has yet to give her name from her clipped, British words, partially because she's still a touch offended and partially because of wariness. If Lili weren't just so happy to see the man, she'd have a far worse reaction of paranoia, but the dog is the saving grace of this household, as ever.

Exile has posed:
Lili looks like a spectator at Wimbledon, her furry head turning from one to the other and back again, still smiling. She loves Cas. She loves Peggy. Bucky loves Cas. Bucky loves Peggy. Therefore....Cas must love Peggy. Peggy must love Cas. ......even if they both smell profoundly irritated. She takes up position by Peggy, standing with her head *right* under Peg's hand. That's a hint, human. A big hint.

The man of the hour is still nowhere to be seen. Thank a dose of painkillers calculated to knock out Rogers.

Castiel has posed:
There's a soft semi-snort of sound from Castiel, who takes a good long look at Peggy. "You're bossy. You're used to taking charge. And you don't like me." None of which seems to bother him, particularly that last bit.

"I'm his friend, Castiel. And you're right I'm going to wake him up. I'm going to wake him up and tell him how stupid he is. There's no honour in hurting longer than necessary just because he did things in the past that he considers unforgivable. Which aren't - you humans have things entirely backwards there."

All things considered, the Lord was entirely more likely to forgive one of his pet creatures than a wayward member of the Choir. Then again, humans were meant to fail. Angels were not.

"Where is he?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
Her free hand drops to very gently brush through the fur on the side of Lili's body, something reassuring (though probably as much for her as the dog, as the dog seems as happy as anything.) Peggy arches a dark brow at the profiling of her, something rather perfect, but since it doesn't seem to bother him some of her defensiveness drops. She steps back, at least not physically blocking Castiel from entering the apartment, and sighs gently.

"I'm Margaret Carter but... most everyone calls me Peggy. I moved in the other month. It's... complicated. And you look awful human to be to be casually throwing about 'you humans'. But... yes. Bucky is... stubborn. I'm doing what I can and he's resting up right now, at least. Took some pain pills that might as well have been made for a horse. But ... I think that means they're actually helping him. He's in bed. I'm loathe to wake him when he can actually sleep." If Castiel knows anything about history, that name is one that has a lot behind it. But she looks a young and fresh 30 something, not the ancient woman she should be.

Castiel has posed:
Castiel looks disgusted in that same way that he's ofter disgsuted with the Winchester boys - not that Peggy would know it. "Well, maybe it's best he's sleeping. He won't be able to argue with what I'm about to do. I don't know who he's trying to impress - I suspect himself - but it's the kind of stupid that's going to get him hurt and hurt the people who care about him. I'm not Agent May. I don't have to listen to his protests or complaints."

Castiel stops abruptly as Peggy gives her name, the angel canting his shoulders at her with a slight suspicion. "You should be dead. You were in the War of your world the second, fighting the great Nazi wave. I have heard of that name. I have fought alongside that name." His gaze narrows in deep intensity upon her. "Who are you really?"

He says this as though he's not just tossed 'you humans' around lightly and may have some explaining of his own to do considering he just claimed to have fought at that exact same war.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...And just what are you about to *do*, exactly?" Peggy's shoulders square off just a bit more, stern and protective. Whomever Castiel is and no matter how protective he is, Peggy is JUST as protective and she's the one living here, watching Bucky go through the pain and recovery, so she looks very willing to put her self bodily between Castiel and the hallway if he doesn't give her a good answer.

Then he's stopping and looks back at her with that question. While his response about the war is almost as confusing, she's a woman willing to buy into a lot of weird shite these days, considering her return to this realm. "I am exactly who I say I am. I was... caught up in a science experiment for a while and only recently got released from whatever... time... Freeze... I was in." She admits, studying his face to see just how well he takes the truth, or if he's staring at her like a nutter. "Half the reason I'm living here. I served with James Barnes."

Castiel has posed:
What was he going to do? Castiel scowls at Peggy like she's lost several IQ points with that sentence. "I'm going to heal him is what I'm going to do. Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to be polite, but you are blocking the doorway."

Her explanation of a science experiment gets something of a nod. It's plausible. And possible. At the very least Lili seemed to think this uppity female human was okay, and by all accounts she read as concerned for James, which, in Castiel's books was more favourable than trying to win him over.

"You were a good soldier," he says gruffly, making a quiet remark about one of the battles where she'd made a name for herself, the kind of remark one makes when you've been there as opposed to having read about it in a history book. "Too many lives lost that day. Maybe that's when it happened."

That last, cryptic, and quite possible easy to be taken as a commentary on Peggy's prowess. In truth, Castiel is beginning to see his past as a lead up to that fateful day he stopped the elder Winchester boy from selling his soul for his brother's life.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"There were too many lives lost *every* day of that war. But I certainly did my best to stop it, thank you very much, and I'd say James... Steve and I ALL had a firm hand in making certain it did end." No, they didn't drop bombs, but they stopped HYDRA and that mattered almost as much, in her eyes. Especially as yes, it's hard to read what that last sentence of his meant. Still, she does not budge from the hallway.

"You can let him sleep. Even if he is healed, SLEEPING does nothing but help him. It's not just his body that's broken. Now...if you leave a phone number, I'll call you when he wakes up, but I am not letting you bloody well wake him up just to serve your magic weilding ego!" Peggy is doing her very best not to raise her voice and wake BUcky herself, but she's also not backing down from this challenge.

Exile has posed:
There's the sound of shuffling from down the hall, and Buck emerges. No brace, now, but a crutch under his arm. He's in a robe, over t-shirt and sleep shorts, hair loose around his shoulders. He's squinting at the pair of them, owlishly, puzzlement writ large on his features. "Cas....what're you doing here?"

Castiel has posed:
Castiel nods in slow agreement over the statement of lives lost. Wars were.. literal hell. Lives tossed away like they had no meaning, and to what end? On earth, for bits of land. In the celestial wars, even less meaning, the angel would argue. Souls counted against.. what? The deaths of demons and other blighted beings; the obliteration of voices in the Choir - to no end that any of them knew but that the Lord commanded it of them.

Castiel was tired. It was all... pointless.. and it shows in the certain sudden slump of his shoulders now. "He doesn't need to be awake for me to --"

Bucky's voice cuts between himself an Peggy, and immediately CAstiel is upright, and that sudden bristle, facing his friend. "I am here because you are being more stupid than either of the boys combined."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Well, it seems her attempts to not wake Bucky were in vain. She steps to the side, not getting between them now since the pair CLEARLY know each other. "I'll put on tea..." Is the world weary sigh that escapes Peggy Carter's lips. The British answer to everything -- put on a pot of tea and they'll figure out it. She lets the two start this debate as she withdraws to the kitchen to get the kettle going.

Exile has posed:
That apparently wasn't an answer he really understands. And by the vagueness on his face, Buck's still heavily doped up. "Usually that's Steve, but I'll confess to having had my moments,"he says, after a little consideration.

He hitches his way over to the couch, sits down, carefully, Lili keeping pace with him. "But you're making it sound urgent, buddy." Then, belatedly, he remembers his manners, "Oh, right. Uh. I see you've met Peggy. Peggy, this is Castiel. He's an angel."

Bucky is apparently dead serious.

Castiel has posed:
"I have met the bossy one, yes. We almost met before," he intones. Turning on Bucky. "It is urgent. You are being the stupid. I should not have had to hear from a third party that you have been denying yourself care. I have come to heal you."

There is no ask in that statement. Nor in his demeanour.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"An... angel." Peggy states flatly from where she now stands in the door of the kitchen. She's got the kettle on and Bucky's preferred tea out, as well as her own, but has left it there for now. She folds her arms across her chest, still making certain to keep her robe completely closed because she's got a rather old fashioned sense of modesty, but that's the only nod towards it. "A... literal angel?"

Exile has posed:
That has his brow furrowing again....and he's caught. "I'm grateful you can, and are willing to," he says, slowly. "I....don't know why I didn't think to ask. It just...." Because he's afraid of medical care - SHIELD's efforts have only begun to counteract the weight of a lifetime spent being tortured and mutilated in that setting. No, Cas is not a doctor, he's no dead-eyed figure in a white coat. But having people touch him..... "I wasn't denying myself care. I've been letting them treat me..." Sort of.

Then he looks to Peggy and nods, solemnly, "Yeah, he is. I haven't really dared get into a lot of theology with him, it's a sensitive thing, but....he is what he is."

Castiel has posed:
"Tea." Castiel's utterance is flat, much in lines of 'I don't understand this phenonema' and 'Yay. Tea. Not.' However, he has learned that there are certain human conventions, and while he and the vessel prefer the boilermakers, perhaps the Peggy Carter needs the tea for things other than drinking. Such as comporting herself, or allowing he and Bucky moments alone with one another. Either way, he doesn't look thrilled at the prospect of tea, but in a grand gesture of growing maturity, he doesn't complain aloud about the matter.

Bucky's reaction isn't one he'd expected, though, the angel taking in that pause. The fact that Bucky isn't protesting. That he's not said no. That.. it's not maybe the healing that is the issue, or even a matter of paying for his past.. but something else. Or, at best, a mixture of them all, but certainly not a flat out need to suffer.

Castiel comes closer to his friend, "You should have called me," he tells Bucky gruffly, his voice that odd softened rumble that is coupled with the slight slump of shoulders that bespeaks a vulnerability "I am your friend. I would not let you suffer."

He doesn't even snark at Peggy when he turns his head to nod at her. "A literal angel. Did you think I had joined you in that science experiment. I assure you Margaret Carter, I was there that day. I saw that battle the same as you. And countless others before. War is... was.. my trade." No more, though.

Peggy Carter has posed:
His... trade? Peggy stares at him hard for a handful of heartbeats, but doesn't call him on it. Another day, another life, she'd probably have a lot of things to say to him but tonight is not for such discussions. Tonight is about Bucky. "...Would you like a certain type of tea or, perhaps, something harder...there's scotch and gin, in the very least." Whether Peggy could read his preferences that well, or just took a good guess, is hard to tell. She knows what Bucky wants but, otherwise, she's letting the two hash this out. It's also not her place to speak on what Bucky's issues are with doctors. She's trying to hover close enough to be there as needed, but far enough to give them space to talk.

Exile has posed:
"I'd like chamomile, please." Buck's been accumulating more and more of a selection. Not just scattershot guessing what Peg might like, but having her around's reminded him of how he likes it, too.

"I should have," Buck concedes, gently. "I'm sorry. I'll try and remember better in the future. Just.....if I'm not dying and unconscious, remember to ask permission. I'm glad you remembered to knock at the door and come in that way - this Peggy's suite now, too, so just appearing might give us some unpleasant shocks."

That comment about him not suffering makes him look wry. That wasn't what Cas meant, but...

Castiel has posed:
"I would like the whisk.. I will have the chamomile," Castiel says, even if he has no clue what on earth that is, or why he'd agreeing to have it, but given everyone else is having the tea, so is he.

Bucky is given a very stern, and ever so serious look from the angel, "James Barnes, I will ask if you remember to call upon me. I will take your refusal to do so to negate this deal and I will see to you as I see fit from that moment onwards. But know this, you are under my protection." He reaches out and touches his thumb to Bucky's forhead. "I will hear your need wherever and whenever I may be. This I promise."

Then, again, after that solemnity, he gentles into that gruffness, "I did not hear a no in there. I am going to heal this injury of yours. And later, after the tea, we will have the boilermakers.." There's a pause. "You are living with this Peggy?"

Cas turns enough to peer kitchenwards. "She is bossy. I do not know that she likes me. She will let me in if I knock?" Because Castiel isn't making promises about using the door if he's going to be denied. He's barely grasping the concept of and need for such things as it is. Privacy isn't exactly an angelic concept. Nor, as it happens, is individuality, or self-determination.

He doesn't miss the wryness upon his friend's brow, the look leaving the angel somewhat helpless. He knew, as all angelics knew, that suffering of that sort was held by the individual. Hell existed in the mind of the beholder. Forgiveness wasn't a thing that was given, but one that was accepted. Bucky had been forgiven twice, three times or more, over what his sins required, but until he accepted this, there was little to nothing that could be done.

Which, ultimately, was why Castiel refused to allow the one thing he *could* do for the man go undone.

Again he reaches out, and places his hand upon Bucky, this time the palm, and holds it there while he undoes the injury to the man's body, and, much as last time, places pain blockers within his mind to allow him some respite from what can not be healed, even if it will be shortlived.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy isn't *oblivious*. She probably can even hear what is vaguely being said in the other room. But she also respects Bucky and his life. The conversation was more vulnerable and intimate than he might prefer her to see. So, instead of rusing to her own defense when the 'angel' is actually helping Bucky, she lingers with the steeping tea a bit longer than strictly neceesary.

Exile has posed:
"Sorry, buddy, I don't have the makings for boilermakers. Alcohol really doesn't work on me, so I don't keep any here," Buck apologizes. "Peggy's living with me..." He starts turning pink. "In the strictest sense of the phrase, though a lot of humans around here use it as a euphemism for a sexual and romantic bond. She's my friend. We're not lovers. She's not bossy, she's used to having to lead, and to stand her ground. Men are often stupid about letting women lead. But she should let you in, if you knock and wait for permission."

Then he's bracing himself a little, as Cas lays hands on him. Lili's frowning - well, at least, the eyebrow dots reconfigure themselves to express concern. Between the chemicals already in his system, and Cas taking away all the pain, he's sprawling back, limp as a rag. Booze may not work, but at the moment, he doesn't need anything like it.

Castiel has posed:
"You are friends," Castiel accepts with a nod. "Though I would not care if you were the dating. She is like Agent May." Which seems to him to be a fairly acceptable thing to be. "I am thinking she has the soft inner core, too? I am led to believe that you can be both strong and vulnerable." Which he's seen proof of in both the sexes, but hasn't quite figured out this whole human convention of classifying folks by their naughty bits as a means of designating their competence.

"The boilermakers do not affect me either, but the vessel is fond of them. There are memories of them within him. I have.. grown to appreciate that feeling, of memory."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The tea done, she carries two mugs into the room in one hand and one in her other. Carefully, she sets the duo down. "Tea. You two...play... Nice. I'll be right in my room if you need anything." She gives them one last levelled look and then takes her own tea down the hall to her room. It's a promise of respecting BUcky's space and friendships, but not ever going far.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Maybe one can blame the drugs in his system - without the actual pain to balance the stuff he's taken, plus the endorphin backlash from the healing, Bucky's high as a kite. He waves Peggy off to her room before replying.

But he's blunt, when he does, "She and Steve were in love, during the war. They'd've married, if he hadn't gotten frozen. She didn't look at me like that then, she sure doesn't now." His grin is lopsided, sloppy. "Strength and vulnerability go together, unless your heart is totally dead...." He blows out a sigh. "That's why I still smoke. Nicotine can't do much for me, but....I remember it..."

Captain America has posed:
What to bring someone stuck abed when common sense catches up to him?

Not alcohol. Wouldn't work anyways, even if Steve didn't know his oldest friend was doped to the gills with an inhumanly-strong dosage of painkiller.

Not cigarettes, even if he's familiar with the old vice as memories of silvery smoke rising in the light of the sunset from Buck enjoying them. No smoking inside the Triskelion.

Not more drugs. Nope. Not that.

As such, 'shave and a haircut' is knocked upon the door to Bucky's quarters. It's Steve, of course, with a small flat rectangular box in his hand and a six-pack of vintage rootbeer in the other alongside a white plastic bag slung from one finger. He's sporting a plain white t-shirt and jeans with his sneakers today, his blue plaid buttondown open from collar to hem. A sigh leaves him as he steels himself in case it's not Bucky that opens the door.

"Buck? It's Steve," he still offers at the crack of the door. "Brought a movie in case you were bored, something for Lili too."

Castiel has posed:
There is a slow nod from the angel. "It is like Agent May. She did not like the dating. There were none of the soft feelings inside in her. At least not towards myself." He cants his head as he considers it. "I am not sure how it is humans feel these things or understand them. I am still having all the trouble with them. They make me feel..." Wrong wasn't the word, but it was close. Feelings weren't precisely a thing angels felt. Certainly there was joy in the Lord. And Love towards Creation and her creatures, but that didn't reach the heights of depths of the human experience, and it was that Castiel was thinking of. He had been disappointed in Agent May's words, but it had not been a hurtful disappointment, more one of missing the experience or the change to learn.

"Perhaps you are right about strength and vulnerability. Maybe there is no value in the one without the other. I have been struggling to understand my Father's wishes while I have been banished here. I confess there are too many things I do not understand about humans." And his Father.

STeve's arrival has an immediate response from CAstiel, the angel turning upon the door, blade in hand, to protect his friend. Perhaps a slight overreaction, but he was caught off guard, and Bucky is under his care..

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I.....May, I don't know. She guards herself pretty well," Buck says, slowly. "And humans are weird. Give it time, Cas, even those of us who are born to them don't get the way we behave."

Then there's Steve's knock. "Hey, hey, Cas, it's all right. That's my buddy Steven. You can let him in..." Because Bucky's fallen and he can't get up. "Hey, Steve," he says, still softly, but loud enough to be heard. "Sure, come on in. Peg's gone to bed." Like Peggy's Mom, or something.

Captain America has posed:
Having caught another voice within the Soldier's quarters, Steve is patient about permission until he hears Bucky grant it. The front door opens slowly to admit the blond super-soldier and he pauses in its frame, his brows knitted.

That is...a sword...in the hands of the man he knows to be Castiel by brief meeting so many months ago at one of the long tables over in the sector of the Triskelion dedicated to WAND.

"...are we expecting less decent company?" The Captain asks the two men in dry curiosity. He does take a moment to look outside and both ways down the hall (all clear to his eyes) before actually entering the room proper, shutting the door behind him.

Castiel has posed:
And what a sword it is. It's got an aura about it that seems to shimmer and glow, but trying to focus down on it the blade is both solidly there and real, and somehow otherwordly and incandescant at the same time. It's really only Bucky's assurance that this is a friend that has the angel lowering that guard, the blade shimmering into a smaller form, until it is only a dagger's length, and then it's gone. Just... gone.

"You are a friend," he says unecessarily. Even Lili agrees.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck is still sprawled out like muscle tone is a thing for losers. "Steve's my best friend, Cas. He's cool. Steve, you've met Castiel. He just healed me." Because somehow this assassin is worthy of divine care.

He waves a hand, languidly. "Nah. He's just protective." As if Cas were just a pet or his guard dog. Lili's come padding over to nose at Steve's hand. "We gotta be quiet, guys, Peg's gone to bed." Well, now at least Steve can see the living arrangements first hand - the hallway's got four doors on it. Presumably Peg isn't sleeping in Bucky's actual bedroom.

Captain America has posed:
"Yeah, we've met before. WAND meeting," Steve confirms as of knowing the angel with blade no longer on display. He takes a moment to kneel down and properly greeting Lili with a gentle blunt-nailed scritching of her chin and then back around by her ears, letting her sniff at his face.

"Brought her a puzzle toy, Buck, since I wasn't sure if she was getting bored with her human being all gimpy," he says quietly with a little grin as he roots around in the plastic bag. Out comes a spherical dog toy about the size of a small cantaloupe, half of it translucent in blue, the rest a solid confection of interior mazes. He works at opening its top and then adding a handful of dog treats to it before he screws it shut. "Can she have it now or later? I brought a cartoon movie too," he reminds. "Road to El Dorado. You haven't seen that one, right? Have you seen it, Castiel?" The Captain's eyes flicker to the angel again.

Castiel has posed:
"Ah. Yes. You are Steve Rogers. I remember." And of course now that eh knew, and his friend was not only safe, but surrounded by beings who had equal care for him, Castiel actually relaxes. At least as much as he ever does.

"I was uncertain who would open the door without asking. I am to believe that humans do not do that without asking permission first." And, as it was oh so terribly clear, Bucky was in no shape to take care of himself right this moment. With the pain blockers Cas had put in, the painkillers, the heavy duty ones, were having a heyday with his system, no longer being used up to deal with the pain. Loopy was a kind word for the state Buck was in by the looks of it.

"I have not seen that movie, but I have seen the On the Road movies with Bing Crosby and Bob the Hope." Yes, Castiel was a movie buff. In particular black and white ones. The mainstay of afternoon matinees everywhere.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier looks decidedly vague. "I don't remember that one," he says, slowly. "Is that one of the Crosby and Hope movies we missed?" He glanes between them, brow furrowed. "And sure, sure, let Lili play with it, if she wants."

Captain America has posed:
"I did announce myself at the door," Steve notes with a glance to Castiel. "'nd I'm probably the last person on the planet who'd hurt that big lugnut over there. I appreciate you guarding him regardless. He might be able to duck, but we gotta work on his dodging skills." Bucky gets a quick grin from his oldest friend.

Lili is more than welcome to nose after the puzzle toy; Steve allows it to roll gently from his hand for her interest or disinterest, whichever appears in the canine. He rises to his feet slowly and walks towards the kitchen, lifting the DVD box to flash its colorful cover towards Castiel and Bucky.

"It's not one of those Crosby and Hope movies, but related to 'em. Figures they'd redo the classics. It's a lot of slapstick jokes. Figured it might make you laugh. This's rootbeer too, the 'retro' take on it, apparently. When did rootbeer become retro..." The grumble emerges from the kitchen as he stashes the drinks in the fridge.

Castiel has posed:
"Does lugnut mean the same as stupid?" Castiel says the word with the exact same intonation and fondness STeve uses. And much the same exasperation. "He was being all honourable. I have informed him that he is to call upon me sooner next time."

There's a frown for the very, very.. very relaxed Bucky who has likely stopped paying any attention to the conversaation. "Maybe he should go to bed again. I was.. concerned. He is better now, but he should not have waited so long." He says that like Bucky had anything to do with Castiel's arrival here - which he didn't.

"I enjoy the movies," Castiel says, pondering the teacups that Peggy has brought out for them all. "I do not think Bucky will wish his tea. Perhaps you would like it. It is the camomille. A plant thought to relax." Now that he's had time to draw the thing to memory, he remembers, not that he thinks Bucky has any current need of relaxing further. "What is this retro?"

Captain America has posed:
Appearing again from the kitchen, Steve shrugs towards the angel. "Lugnut's more a nickname than indicator of intelligence. The tone will let you know if it's a friendly remark or an insult." The Captain does espy the slack and sleeping form of his friend and smiles to one side of his mouth, enticing a dimple to appear.

"Figure we can tuck a blanket around him and let him be, maybe shove a pillow under his head. I've seen him sleep in weirder positions in far more harrowing circumstances." Like upright tucked into the corner of a barn between engagements back in Grasse, France. Steve goes about doing this for Bucky and the man ends up bundled beneath a blanket with a pillow inserted against a neck crick.

As he walks away, he pauses to take up the untouched cup of chamomile tea and then sits in a nearby chair. "Retro means older, from an earlier generation. It's a nicer way of addressing things than 'outdated'," Steve explains as he sips at the lukewarm tea. Hmm, not bad.

Castiel has posed:
Castiel makes a small sound of understanding, "I believe that is how it is meant when I speak of the boys. They are.. that is, I am fond of them." He'd better be. He'd lost his place in the Choir for them. And were you to see him with them, much like with Bucky, there would be no doubt - not that he admits it to them. There's something of the gruff father figure about his relationship with them still. Not quite the same friendship he had with the assassin.

"I will let you attend to his needs. I am not so good with the pillows and blankets. They are.. not necessary for myself. I find I am.." Awkward was the word he is looking for and fails to find. "I am not human," he offers as explanation enough.

When Bucky is settled, he takes a seat, and picks up the tea cup, fretting over what to do with his hands and the delicate thing. The handle is impossibly small. How do humans use it? Is it for decoration only? Only the porceline thing is *hot* so clearly there must be some adequate use of it? Thankfully he's not harmed nor bothered by the heat, he only notes it. "I would say ancient, only I believe there are some years difference between the terms. I confess to not being familiar enough with how many of your years is retro."

Human time was so very short in comparison to the length of his own existence.

Captain America has posed:
"Retro's difficult to pin down." Steve leans back in his chair and appears to slouch a little, getting comfortable in the presence of the angel and his sleeping friend; knowing Peggy's resting somewhere nearby comforts a corner of his heart. "Vintage is something from the last generation and antique's apparently one-hundred years old." He snorts quietly. "That'd be me. Buck too," and the Captain nods towards the sleeping figure.

His true-blues slide to Castiel again and narrow slightly in interest. "Who're the boys then?"

Castiel has posed:
"And Margaret Carter," Castiel acknowledges. "You are out of your time."

He nods, as much to himself as to Steve. "I was there." Meaning the war. The battles. Not that they'd met, or fought alongside one another, but as a warrior of the Lord, it isn't surprising that that he, and others of his kind, would have had a presence. "I am finding it difficult to understand your world. It is.. uncomfortable. But unless I apologize, I am forbidden my place in the Choir. I am not yet willing to undo what I did. I can not believe I would be moved to break my obedience over a nothing. To apologize, to negate it.."

The angel flounders, once again losing words to express what is, ultimately, a truly human experience: existential crisis.

Captain America has posed:
"Don't need to apologize if you don't have to. This world's an...interesting place," the Captain decides quietly. His eyes fall to Bucky, asleep, and then he glances back towards the collection of doors, where an impossibility come to current life dreams of what she will. "It's a stage and we're all just players in it. Nobody knows the script and maybe you don't like the current chapter, but there's always another one coming. Science's making more and more possibilities into reality. I used to be the weirdest thing, but not anymore." He laughs at himself under his breath and sighs. It makes the surface of his tea riffle.

"If you're around to stay, you might get used to it. We're not all good people, but we're not all bad people either. Like jellybeans." Steve shrugs at his own wisdom and sips at his tea, content to sit and watch Lili fuss with the puzzle toy he brought.

Castiel has posed:
"You sound like Stupid the Elder. I think he would like you," Castiel says with certainty, and giving up on his tea. There are boilermakers somewhere with his name on them.

"I refuse to apologize," he states with finality. "And now that I have met Hayal, I do not think that I am supposed to. Only, it is hard learning to be more human. I envy your ease."

Setting his teacup down, the angel announces, "Take care of James Barnes, STeve Rogers. He is a better man than he allows himself to believe."

And without further ado, he goes from being there, to suddenly gone.. and, as it happens, warming a seat in a certain bar in Hell's Kitchen.