(no subject)

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve comes through the door in his dress uniform, looking hollow-eyed and grim. He goes to the Bar and drops a pile of Army scrip on the top.

"A bottle of Atlantean, please," and then adds, "And some paper and a pen, and a poppy from Remembrance Day, if you have one."

The Bar delivers. Perhaps with an air of concern.

"Thank you, ma'am," Steve says and, in big dark letters that are nothing like his usual cheerful hand, writes:


IN MEMORIAM
SGT. JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES
1918-1944


and pins it to the bulletin board, along with the poppy.

He then takes the bottle and goes to the darkest, least visible booth he can find.



[ooc: Feel free to have your pup react to Steve's announcement, but please PM or email me before tagging Steve as he is in a Very, Very Bad Place. Thanks.

All threads millitimed to before the thread with Orpheus, please.]

Comments

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

He looks up at her blearily. "They do?"

[claudiometer]

"So they say, but when someone you care about's gone? I have my doubts."
(That's the voice of someone who's been there, if not in the same circumstances. Claudia may not have seen a war, but she has lost absolutely everyone who was important to her.)
She sets the bars down regardless. "Still, I figured it couldn't hurt to try."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

He picks up one and chuckles without humor. "Cadbury. Huh."

[claudiometer]

"I - know how this goes. Talk if you want, don't if you don't."
(and if you go, if you go and leave me down here on my own)
Claudia sighs. "I won't tell you it ever stops hurting, but you do... reach a place where you can cope."
(then I'll wait for you)
You cope, and people think you're okay, but even if you're so extraordinarily lucky as to get the person you lost back, it doesn't stop hurting.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"He's not the first person I've lost," Steve says as he tears off the wrapper. "He's... he's just always been there."

[claudiometer]

"And now he's not, and you don't know what you're gonna do. I know that place."
It's not a fun one, and she's glad she doesn't live there anymore.
"I guess - I guess there's at least the chance he'll end up here? It's nothing you can lean on, but people do show up after dying in their worlds, sometimes."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve glares at her.

"You think that'll make it better?"

[claudiometer]

"It's more closure than I thought I'd ever get. Look, I'm on your side here, dude. I just don't know how to talk someone else through it. I don't know what'll help, I was ten the last time it came up and everyone handles it differently anyway. But he was a nice guy, and so are you, so I wanted to try."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"He was a great guy," Steve mutters. "He was the best."

He says to Claudia, "Nothing'll help, but thanks for the chocolate."

[claudiometer]

Really, she had a feeling that might be the answer. She was inconsolable for days after Joshua pulled his disappearing act.
But can you blame a girl for trying?
"You're welcome."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

He nods and has another swig of Atlantean.