strangetrip | [GP/EP] Check-in Day

The woodwinds in her collection were for noodling mostly, and the violin was for memory of her family, but when Curnen really wanted to play she turned again and again to her guitar. This would probably always be her best instrument. It was the first of the month, she’d been here over a year, and it was probably a check-in day. So she sat on the lawn with her instrument in her lap, sending out a subtle magic to call anyone stranded in their little world this way.

At one point, though, she set aside the guitar and turned her face to the sky. For just a few minutes she required a different kind of magic.

It had been a week now since Scanlan had vanished in the battle. And Pike, too, though Curnen honestly couldn’t have cared less about her going away if she tried. Still. The two of them were family to people very dear to her, people who missed them. And Scanlan had been her friend. You marked something like that with a song.

Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

It was a traditional Irish goodbye, a farewell to friends said with love, drinking, well wishes, and the hope of meeting again. She couldn’t think of a better one for the occasion. And as she sang she twined her magic into her voice in a new way, sending the song to any ears that needed it, ears of those who knew and missed the departed. Not all of them might understand it, not all of them knew what she was, but she didn’t particularly care about that right now. The song was more important than the hiding.

Once the last note had dissipated she picked up her guitar again and resumed her work. If there were anybody out there, they had to know where to go.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“Not their first mistake. I would judge that to be ‘Prince Xavin will be his father writ small’.” It was often wrong to judge this Tony Stark by the one she knew of from her Earth, but surely some things were congruent. “I... imagine that many of your enemies made similar early mistakes.” The Howard Stark of her Earth, to her limited knowledge, had taken what amounted to the easy path, the simple service of war. This Tony, by the evidence, right or wrong, chose harder paths.

"I could be making that mistake right now, myself. Who knows?" Tony finally partook of his drink, but only a sip. The warmth was soothing.

"This one--he's not the first enemy I've spared, even just counting my tenure at the hotel."

“Do you regret it?” That was the important question, she thought. People tended to think that mercy was its own reward, but it could be a punishment too.

"I would have regretted the alternative more." Tony didn't have a good "yes" or "no" to give, he himself didn't know, but he knew himself well enough to say that much for certain. "Maybe less 'sparing' and more...probation. Sparing with a caveat. Delayed Murder Response."

Loki and Bucky were either demons that'd crawl back to bite him or blessings in disguise as far as his plans for escape and Thanos Thwartation went. Whatever the case ended up being, he knew he'd have to live with his decisions and stand by them if someone had something to say about it.

“Trust, but verify.” Xavin quirked a little smile. “Without the trust.”

If it were anyone else, Tony would have jumped to his own defense. Xavin simply called things as she saw them.

Tony took a long swig off his sweet, blended drink and tapped the counter. "I let them go. If someone gets hurt, that's on me. Just sitting back and letting things play out--I can't do that. Extra accountability has to come in somewhere. Even if it's just making yourself a friendly face to dissuade any...ugliness."

On both sides. His chipperness with Loki was still largely performative, but it was steadily growing less so.

“I meant no criticism.” Xavin took a bite of her cookie. “One of my instructors - a cultural instructor, not combat - used to say that we destroy our enemies by making them our friends as much as by killing them. I believe he picked up the saying on Earth.”

Tony reassured her with a brief smile.

"I appreciate the validation," Tony began as he reached for another piece of the sweet, "and if I encounter your counterpart in my world, I'll say the same."

"I do not know what my counterpart in your world would look like." Were there Runaways in his world? Had either set of parents, Skrull or Majesdanian, have made the same bargain? "But she would no doubt appreciate the reminder." On some level, anyway.

Tony made to stand. "I'll pass the memo on to the others, too."

Just in case he wasn't around by the time it mattered.

[GP/EP] Check-in Day

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