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[shield]

• action • call • text

Comments

text; un: gwenzelle.washington

[thiwp]

consider this
gyms that give you free ice cream after a job well done
brilliant, right?
i know

[shield]

Some people would say that defeats the purpose of going to the gym. Not me, but, you know. People.

[thiwp]

well it's not like they would force people to eat it
no no
it's just for people like me who don't like going there but i know i should
it'd be nice if i got a prize at the end of my struggle

[shield]

Tell you what: next time we spar, loser buys the ice cream? That way you have an incentive to win AND ice cream to look forward to.

[thiwp]

are you just saying that because you know you can beat me and most likely will every time we spar
is that why
it's ok if that's why but just be honest

text;

[distorqueo]

[ sent after she noticed bucky posting on the network, but probably way too late to actually head anything off at the pass. shoulda paid better attention to your surveillance skills, wanda! ]

Thoughts?

[shield]

[ Aw, Wanda. Opening her text brings a smile to his face nevertheless. ]

I'm not sure. Is this your way of telling me to buy two pizzas so there's enough left for you?

[distorqueo]

:D

Not really, it was just a philosophical question. It was either that or send you all the pictures of bees and flowers I've been taking on my phone.

DO you eat an entire pizza at a time? That seems like a lot.

[shield]

I wouldn't have minded. Are you taking up nature photography?

I have a very demanding metabolism. :/

text;

[notability]

[ This single text has taken her hours to send. ]

You're back.

[shield]

[ Steve, on the other hand, doesn't get hours to craft a message, and he's too excited to take his time. (It's a horrible, gut-wrenching kind of excitement, his heart and mind racing with possibilities, wondering if this is a trick, afraid to hope that isn't. ]

Pefgy?

[ Followed hardly a second later by: ]

PEGGY?

[ And soon after: ]

You've been here this whole time?

[ Maybe it's for the best that he's finding out like this. It's harder for the hundreds of questions he has to spill out over text. ]

[notability]

[ And that is enough to let her know it's not the same Steve. She doesn't respond for a few moments, tears welling up and wanting to toss her phone over to the far side of the couch. It's so unfair.

It just keeps happening. ]

Yes.

[shield]

[ He's never spoken to Peggy like this, through plain text, but he's spent enough time in the 21st century to tell when someone is upset. Short messages and one word answers are common indicators, and she's said all of three words so far. Once again, Steve struggling to find his footing where previous versions of him left off. ]

I didn't know. I would have found you.

text.

[vizh]

[ hAS SOMEONE BEEN PUTTING THIS OFF INTENTIONALLY?? there is a non-zero chance. one could even say there’s a … 01111001 01100101 01110011 chance.

i’m tired ok vision is texting at a very reasonable afternoonish time ]

Hello, Captain.

[shield]

[ How unprepared for this is Steve, on a scale of 1 to 10? That depends. What's binary for five billion? ]

Vision. I didn't realize you were here in Eudio.

How are you?

[ Yes, good, small talk. Super normal, super chill. ]

[vizh]

Understandable. I’m not on the network very often, to an extent that I hadn’t realized you had returned.

[ yes this is good and non-specific. of course he noticed; vision keeps an eye on the network and has the unfortunate ability to retain its nuances and announcements. but still, he doesn’t have to specify a date range or anything, jeez. ]

I am fine. Thank you.

[ beat. he can’t keep it in for much longer, his uncanny bluntness. ]

Have you been safe?

[shield]

[ Steve will be a pal and not ask how someone who probably gets a wifi connection directly to his brain misses anything on the network. He probably would have avoided this for as long as possible too. ]

I haven't had any trouble, if that's what you mean. There's not a whole lot of danger to be found around here.

[ And about that elephant in the room... ]

When did you come here? From our timeline, I mean. It looks like everyone left at different points.

text;

[chernyy]

I'm going back.

[shield]

[ The suddenness of the message stuns Steve, a thousand questions running through his mind as he stares back at the screen. Why now? What for? How long? Does she know what's coming if she goes back? He hasn't talked about it, but he's not the only one who knows.

He can't let her leave without warning her. ]

Are you sure?

[chernyy]

[ Clint knew. And had told her. Kind of hard to ignore it after that point. ]

As sure as I can be. I don't want to see it play out like that but maybe I can change something. Prevent something. I don't know. It's worth trying, right?

[shield]

That's what I came here for. They said they'd send me back so I could make it right.

[ He doesn't even know what he'll do when the time comes, how he'll turn things around, but it's like Natasha said — he has to try. ]

Will it help if I tell you what I know? You don't have to go in blind.

drags this post into 2019 with an overflow.

[evite]

[ ⏮ ]

did you get any weird looks?
or did you manage to keep it together until you got to the office?

[shield]

I had a close call but forunately it takes a lot more to faze MTA riders.

[evite]

so what you're saying is next time i should send a video?

[shield]

I thought you gave up on that when I refused to download Snapchat.