in his own little room again ((nexus_crossings continuity, for chatnerd, but open))

[shieldborne]

God's righteous man, Ultron had mocked to his face a few years back. Pretending you could live without a war. Steve had to acknowledge he wasn't wrong. The vision Wanda pulled out of his head, it wasn't wrong either. He is half strung-out, bone-weary, combat fatigue personified. Half of him wants to go home.

The other half? Will never be able to stop fighting, because that means having to face what's left.

Visiting the Nexus has only driven that point home, in some ways. No matter how much people encourage him to expand his horizons, take time to relax and recover, to be Steve Rogers, he's restless and adrift there, friendly with everyone but not, in the end, all that close to any. But there is one idea that's caught at him relentlessly since his arrival there, and that's the inescapable visual of kids fighting wars.

Most of them probably don't see it that way. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Men, just doing what they can, what they innocently assume any good person would do. Every time he thinks about that, it hurts. And he has plenty to do in his own world, collecting the proliferating alien weaponry across the planet, breaking up and hunting down remnants of HYDRA, and ducking the law. But here there's an opportunity for something more, something gentler, something that's not fighting and might, in the long term, keep people from ending up in the psychological catch-22 he's gotten himself into.

There's no Nexus real estate office, but there are people who have a clear idea of what land and buildings can be claimed and what can be done with them. Steve has somehow, through funds scraped together, favors called in, and contacts made, become the proud owner of what was once some kind of diner or restaurant. The building is a decent size, two floors, with a lot of the appliances and furnishings still inside it and still working. Including a jukebox, which is what he's looking at right now, outside the front of the building. He's got most of it taken apart and spread neatly on blankets on the grass, and he's methodically cleaning it bit by bit.

The long term plan is a safe house he can set up for the costumed-hero types here that have nowhere else to go if something goes wrong. The kids, specifically. He won't be able to be here all the time, himself, but he can put it together and give what he can. Fill it up with food and medical supplies, maybe put in some bunks, some security--

Well, the plans are still evolving, but it's something.

Comments

[pirateangelbaby]

Steven may not be certain, but Thor has absolutely no reservations about putting the bag down and drawing the captain into a fond embrace, giving him a friendly thump on the back, pleased as anything to see him again. Even if he is a little smaller in mass than Thor remembers, something that strikes him as concerning but not terribly odd, given what he's heard about how winter did to those who were stranded here. Of all the Avengers, the captain was the only one who ever came close to pacing Thor at the dinner table, and for good reason.

As for himself, Thor is pretty sure he's also lost a few pounds from the lean rations of recent weeks, but it's a hell of a lot harder to tell with him, considering he had so much more to start with.

"The ship is fine, mostly, but I'm glad to be off it," Thor confesses, not bothering to hide his relief. "I don't know how everyone else has been putting up with it for so long without going mad, though it's hard to tell with the children. There's not nearly enough busy work to go around. And the population's actually going up," he adds with a brilliant smile, glad to share some good news. "We had a birth two weeks ago."

[shieldborne]

Steve can't help but chuckle quietly when Thor pulls him into a hug. The height difference between them is only a couple inches, but there's something strangely reassuring to him about getting a friendly embrace by a man just a hint taller. Probably has something to do with lingering memories of his youth, pre-serum, and roughhousing with Bucky.

"Eh, bring the kids here for a field trip," he says. "In a couple weeks almost everything's going to be fixed, anyway."

Something in his eyes brightens at the news of a new baby. Possibly his interest in caring about the Spider-men is a symptom of his biological clock going off.

"Congratulations!" He is utterly sincere. "I mean, I assume it wasn't your kid, unless there's a lot you haven't told us, but that's great news, either way."

[pirateangelbaby]

Letting the children get out and about under some kind of adult supervision isn't the worst idea, not by a long shot. Never mind that a good portion of those children are actually older than Steven himself; the good captain excels at being a figure of authority, and Thor would certainly hope that any good Asgardian would respect the commands of someone whom their king has gladly followed into battle. "If you'd have them, I think it'd do them good," he agrees, glancing around at the place. "What do you need done? I could lend you a hand, though if it's going to take a hammer, I'm afraid I'll have to borrow one this time."

Thor's pretty fond of his newest citizen too, and not just because it means one more Aesir life to add to the too-small census of what remains of his home. "No, though our healers are few enough that my hands were the first that held her. Gunnarsdottir will never meet her father, but there is not a single Asgardian still breathing that doesn't love her."

[shieldborne]

Wait, if he'd have them? Steve blinks for a second, because he meant bring the kids to the Nexus for a field trip, not specifically to his place, but--

Actually, nevermind, that sounds like it could be fun, and he's never met any of Thor's people aside from Loki. Which didn't go well. His confusion melts into a smile again, and he nods. "Just give me a heads-up before you bring 'em. I'll figure something out to occupy them."

Although he may need help. Man, are Asgardian children as tough as the adults?

"You want the full list of needed repairs? Mostly it's the wiring and the pipes, sorry to say, but the roof needs patching here and there. I had a group of almost two-dozen in here through the winter."

He heads for the island in the middle of the floor that appears to have been a coffee counter at one time, when the place was a functioning cafe. "No kidding, you delivered a baby??"

He hasn't made the 'fertility god' connection, and while it doesn't surprise him that Thor would care enough to attend a woman in labor and do whatever he could, the idea that he would know what to do is new.

[pirateangelbaby]

"Maybe not all of them at once," Thor hastens to assure him, misreading the captain's startled expression entirely, because there are a lot of children on board and that does seem a bit much. Nor would it be particularly wise to drop in unannounced like Thor himself did today, given recent events, so there'll be no argument from him there. "Oh, absolutely. And I'll stick around just in case... well, just in case." He is most certainly not thinking about all the stories from his and Loki's childhood about certain matters of mischief and minor property damage, no sir.

It's actually a wonder the palace remained standing long enough for them both to reach adulthood, in hindsight.

As the captain no doubt suspects, plumbing and wiring is just a tad out of Thor's wheelhouse, so it's probably a good thing there's something a bit closer to his skill set that he can do, because he would probably try anyway with his usual level of enthusiasm and end up horrifying Nexus safety inspectors everywhere. Besides, patching holes in a roof in atmosphere sounds way more relaxing than worrying about hull breaches. "Two dozen? That can't have been very cozy." Not that room aboard the ship is much better, but at least it's a hell of a lot bigger overall. "I can give the roof a shot. How hard can it be?"

Thor is not, by nature, a modest man, as anyone who knows him could attest to. So maybe it's a little strange that he looks self-conscious now, like he's just admitted to doing something... not wrong, but unusual. "Well, you know, it's been a few hundred years since the last time but it's not something I would easily forget."

[shieldborne]

Steve thought there might be a slim chance Thor might know what to do with the wiring. After all, it's electricity, and he's good with lightning...

Nah, maybe not.

In any case, he doesn't mind hiring a contractor later. He can do basic repairs but some of these are not so basic. He'll accept help with the roof gladly, though. "It was a little too cozy," he says with a sigh. "But everyone was on their best behavior somehow. I think I lucked out there. I'm not sure how I could have kept things calm if it wasn't such a good group, even with the help I had."

Matt and Horvath were both godsends, really, and the Spider-Men were able to contribute to a friendly atmosphere even if they were stuck recuperating for much of the time.

Steve's eyes soften as he notes Thor's body language. "So...wait, you used to do that kinda thing more often? I had no idea. Is it babies specifically or medical care in general?"

[pirateangelbaby]

Looking around this place, Thor can imagine how uncomfortable it must've been with that many people sheltered within these walls. Small wonder the clubhouse is in disrepair after that, despite everyone's best efforts. "I suppose they all have good reasons for not helping put your house back in order." It's not meant to be sarcastic; a few months on the ship made Thor restless enough to get the Hel off it as soon as possible, and he had far more space to roam around in. Not to mention that Steven's guests probably all had friends and family to contact after being missing for weeks on end. No, Thor doesn't blame them one bit. Even though it did leave the poor captain cleaning up on his own.

Well, now there's another pair of hands here to help him out.

By now, of course, Thor is well aware that Earth doesn't have the same hangups about gendered magic that Asgard does - even before meeting Strange, he'd seen how Stark was received by his adoring public despite basing his entire public image around technological sorcery - but hundreds of years of being told certain types of magic are unmanly isn't something easily unlearned, no matter that this doesn't entirely cross the line so much as sit right on the border. "It's... fertility magic, actually. Specifically. I've always had an aptitude for it; I take after my mother that way." Not that even Asgardian science has ever conclusively proven that specific types of seidr can be inherited, but it had certainly helped to have a parent who shared this with him, when he was younger.

"Usually it's been more the 'watering the fields' type," he adds quickly, as if he's worried his friend will get the wrong idea if he doesn't. "Especially on Asgard. But I did a lot of traveling in my youth, and sometimes people asked more from me. Couples wanting healthy babies, that sort of thing."