Threads Through Time [Avengers - rskde & virginia]

[Virginia Greene]

Lucille Lowe was not nearly as enthusiastic as her best friend about this double date. Sure, she'd agreed and she'd put a decent bit of effort into her outfit - even the large red bow tied around the band holding her ponytail in place was perfectly shaped thanks to Edith, and Lucille would have lying if she were to say she didn't feel cute in her navy blue halterneck dress and reasonable heels. Of course her friend had also casually insinuated that the fact that her bright red lipstick that all but matched her bow was a bit excessive and made her stand out in a bad way, but Lucille knew better than to take pre-date Edith at her word, the leggy blonde always got a little nitpicky before a date that she was particularly excited for. If she'd thought that it was true, she might have joked that Edith was concerned about being outshone but that was impossible because there wasn't a person Earth who shone brighter than Edith did.

They were meeting their dates in town, something Lucille had insisted on instead of letting the men come pick them up because what if they turned out to be creeps, so it was a brief cab ride and a little walk away but that was fine. It was a nice afternoon - just cool enough to be comfortable but not cold enough to need a sweater, probably not until night hit. The plan would probably take all afternoon; first the ferry to Coney Island because Edith had thought it would be romantic, having heard about a particularly romantic ferry ride that a coworker went on, then an afternoon at the theme park. And it did sound fun, Lucille was just... not sure what she was supposed to get out of it. She wasn't really looking to date, not when she had a job lined up and starting in a few months, and double dates with Edith rarely worked out well on account of them having vastly different tastes in men. "If he's like the last one, I'm quitting and going to a bar." At two in the afternoon on a Saturday. Her best friend had a type, and his type tended to attract a sort of friend that Lucille wasn't nearly as interested in as Edith was. "No, Lou. He assured me that his friend was very kind, and had a lot of energy. He did sort of mention he was on the shorter side, but I didn't think that would matter much to you." No, that didn't matter much to her. She perhaps preferred it when she didn't have to crane her head to look up at the man. At only five foot five inches, the tall, broad shouldered friends-of Edith's dates that she met were a neck cramp waiting to happen. Not that she didn't like her men... manly. She appreciated it just as much as anyone, it just wasn't the only thing that mattered.

Chances were she would end up just entertaining her date while trying to make sure that Edith's went well, that had happened before. If things were ever too bad she was sure she could ask her friend and they could leave, but it wouldn't happen. She would put up with the worst date in the universe if her best friend was having fun, which meant that they both knew that her threat about disappearing off to a bar was nothing more than bluster.

Lucille's lack of investment (and shorter stature) left Edith to be on lookout. And look out she did, letting out an immediate "I see them!" the moment the two men were visible. A second later though he blonde's face fell and she looked down at her shorter friend. "Oh Lou I'm sorry. James didn't tell me that... well, you're not really looking to date right now anyway, right? Because I was told that he was a great person to talk to." Lucille, curious about why her friend's tone had switched to one of sympathy, stretched up onto the tips of her toes to get a look at where her friend was staring. Oh indeed. There was the man she had to assume was James, and next to him was a short, scrawny blonde who looked like he might blow away if a breeze picked up. “I’m underwhelmed.”
“I’m so sorry Lou, he barely counts as a date, if you don’t want to do this, we can—“
“—what? I was talking about James, you were talking him up but I'm unimpressed.”

She laughed as Edith tried to hit her with her purse, dodging out of the way easily and taking a few quick steps to put herself ahead of her friend for 'safety' before they came to a stop by the men who were waiting for them.

 

[Risky]

Steve Rogers had been dragged around by his buddy, Bucky Barnes, on a whole lot of double dates over the years. They were complete opposites, though Steve really seemed to get into more trouble than Bucky did, people never really wanted to mess with Bucky because of how big and strong he was but Steve.. Well, he was practically a punching bag for any prick with a mind to hit him. However, his determination was unmatched by most people, having already tried to enlist in the United States Army multiple times, despite not being physically fit due to many conditions he had, such as a weak skeleton and a multitude of other physical deformities that stopped him from being able to go to war with the Nazis or the Japs.. If the Army wouldn't even take him, he doubted that the Marines would even look at him with a straight face, not that he would want to join them anyway, what with his best friend already enlisting in the Army.

Bucky looked damn good in his uniform, wearing it practically every opportunity that he had, having already passed basic training and having orders to go on with the first wave of soldiers to go to Europe, though only the soldiers going knew exactly where, there seemed to be Nazi spies everywhere nowadays, something that they were always on the lookout for in case any secrets are spilled. Little did the population know, orders to wherever in Europe the Boys were headed to was the least secret thing that the government had their hands in at the moment. Steve wanted to find a date just about as bad as any guy did, but truth be told the real reason he had accepted going on the date was to visit the recruiting station at the amusement park they would be going to.. He had a feeling that this date would end like every other one did, with Bucky having his arms around both girls and going off to a hotel or to his home for some fun with the two, they would leave him alone to do his own thing. He had honestly lost count of the amount of names he had used to try and enlist, but it was definitely enough to earn him some jailtime if he continued.. He just wasn't the type of man to stand by while everyone else was shipping out to fight the good fight, the war that everyone would be known as heroes for fighting. This war against the Nazis was like a fairy tale coming true, the heroes going off to fight the villains and winning, because they had to. They had already kicked the Italians and Germans out of Africa, now it was time to take the fight to the Japanese in the Pacific and the Germans in Europe, Steve had to get in on this thing if it was the last thing he ever did.

He takes a breath and pulls his cotton jacket to straighten it, having dressed casually nice for the double date, while he didn't expect it to go anywhere, he was still a gentleman at heart, and would dress to impress like any sane man going on a date. Bucky practically towered over him, standing at six foot something, while Steve was around five foot eight, making him hard to see in a crowd and often forcing him to use Bucky as his lookout when around a lot of people.

"There they are." Bucky grins while motioning to the two that were whispering to one another, prompting Steve to look them. "Don't stress too much, Steve, I made sure she was pretty." Bucky grins, though Steve knew that was probably more for his friends benefit than his own, it was pretty hard for him to even talk to women, not being confident or having the looks or body that attracted women of this day and age. On top of that, he didn't have the panty-dropping uniform that Bucky now donned, scoring bonus points with any woman who felt like doing their patriotic duty of sending off a soldier before he went to go to war.

"Which one's mine?" Steve asks while glancing at Bucky.

"Redish hair, blonde's mine." The soldier gives the two a wave while they started to close the distance.

Steve takes a nervous breath, straightening his jacket once more as they got closer, at least this one was shorter than him, Bucky had often forgotten that Steve stood a little on the shorter side, which had led to a few awkward encounters of a generally taller woman.. in high heels.. He shudders at the thought.

"Heya girls, you ready for this ferry." Bucky gives that dazzling smile while almost immediately taking Edith's hand, they had hit it off pretty fast beforehand, unlike Steve and his date.

"I'm Steve." He offers out his hand to Lucille, a sort of awkward gesture for someone you were going on a date with.. Then again, he wasn't quite sure how else to greet a date.

 

[Virginia Greene]

The auburn haired woman's nose wrinkled, not towards Steve but towards Edith and Bucky, who were already holding hands and heading towards the ticket booth. She glanced back at the skinny blonde man and reached out, grasping his hand firmly to shake it like it wasn't odd at all. She wasn't sure if that was his intended gesture or not, but that was what she was willing to offer at the moment. "Lucille." He was taller than he looked from a distance - part of that was probably because his friend was tall, but he was also just so skinny that he seemed smaller than he was. Still, their eyes were nearly level when she was wearing her heels.

The other two already knew each other and knew they were interested, this was always what happened. Edith and the guy she definitely wanted to kiss would dart ahead while Lucille had to meet and gauge whatever stranger she'd been presented with. Steve had a nice face, and he had the bonus of being slotted immediately into the category of 'safe', which was more than some men she'd been introduced to got. "Should we go get tickets? I'm sorry your friend was so willing to humor Edith." Ferries weren't romantic, they were like... water cabs. "She gets... ideas in her head, and it seems like everyone just sort of goes along with it. So let's go get to know each other on the tourist boat, I guess?" She was interested in talking to Steve, at least. It would be boring if they just ignored each other the whole time. "She'll figure out it's not romantic when it takes three times as long to get to Coney island as it would have if we took a cab over the bridge and everything smells like fish." Her lips quirked upwards a little, green eyes bright with amusement but also a little bit of mischief like the fact that she thought this wouldn't work out the way her friend wanted was their little secret.

Carefully, she dug into her small white purse to find the money that she would need for the ferry. She had cleaned it out recently, so now it only had her lipstick, wallet, and a pocket knife. Should she always have a knife on her? Maybe not. Did she always have a knife on her? Yeah, pretty much. It was a useful thing to have.

"But the theme park will be a nice place to be, I think. I sort of like the games - I know some of them are rigged, but that's just extra challenge." Another little spark in her eyes, and an easy grin. Lucille was going to give this a shot, at least in the way that she could have a sort-of friend to hang out with until the date was over. It would be more fun than silently walking with him or trying to ignore him, and as long as he didn't do anything weird or rude she was willing to give him a chance.

 

[Risky]

Steve and Lucille seemed to fall a little behind as Bucky and Edith immediately started to make their way towards the 'romantic' ferryride that the group was supposed to take together, though Steve had a feeling that it wouldn't be very fun, really the amusement park was meant to be the main attraction of the night. Bucky had probably just picked the ferry to have plenty of time to lock lips with the gorgeous blonde that he had met beforehand. "It's nice to meet you." He gives her a sort of nervous smile, having never been really good with these sorts of situations, Bucky had always managed to drag him into double dates that ended poorly for him, it was just routine at this point.

Lucille seemed different though, like she wasn't interested in Bucky at all.. That interested him, considering his 'date' was normally all over him just like Bucky's date was. So maybe this could work, or at least he would be able to just talk to her and get to know her a bit.. He could be social! Right? Steve bites the inside of his cheek while looking over to the mentioned ferry and laughing. "I think Bucky only agreed so that they would be stranded together." He admits while looking at the two already getting on the boat. "What if we didn't get tickets?" He looks to her while stuttering a bit, it was a bold idea, to separate from his buddy and his date. "They already know each other and.. Honestly it gets a bit depressing to see your buddy end up with the girl every time." He admits with a small smile on his face. "We could get a cab, beat them to Coney Island.. And not smell like fish." He offers, using the words that she had used to describe the ferry ride, truth be told there seemed to be nothing romantic about it, and if they were away from the already happy couple, maybe they could do their own thing.

"And still get to know each other in a vehicle of some manner." He slips his hands into his pockets and looks to the beautiful woman in front of him, Bucky often found him beautiful dates, but none of them had ever been interested in really even talking to Steve past an introduction and firm handshake, they always crowded Bucky.

"You'll not believe it, but I'm really good at carnival games." It was true, his philosophy in life was to not give up, he had practiced those games every time he had gone to the carnival with his parents and had gotten pretty good at the games, maybe he could win her a few prizes before going to the recruiting center.. That wouldn't be so hard. "Or we could always just ride the slow water cab and talk there." He offers, having already put his options on the table for her, not being the one that enjoyed making decisions.

 

[Virginia Greene]

Take a taxi instead of the ferry? "Oh no sir," she said, tone gently chiding, "it's entirely too soon to start on the separation tactics. Ma put too much sense in me to agree with that." So they would take the ferry. "We're on a double date, you can try your luck at turning it into a solo one once I've gotten to know you." Or at least a friendly hangout, she still wasn't sure how she felt about this whole 'date' thing. Lucille had things to do eventually, and she figured she'd get into the whole... dating thing properly after the war was over. The whole thing appealed to her, and she liked the idea of settling down eventually. Just probably not with anybody Edith set her up, that was the sort of thing she'd have to figure out for herself.

The auburn haired woman paid for her ferry ticket with a sort of firmness that didn't leave much room for arguments about a gentleman's role during a date. She wasn't necessarily opposed to being treated to things, but that could be saved for at the amusement park, if he insisted. Money was tight for a lot of people and she knew that, and she wasn't going to put burden on anyone just because that was what social standards dictated. She had a job, she had her own money, she would take care of herself for now.

Ahead of them Bucky and Edith boarded, with him guiding her up the ramp as though it were ragged terrain that she needed support through. It was cute, honestly. Did she think that this was going to work out, as her best friend already seemed to be convinced that it would? No, absolutely not. Time would tell, but it seemed like every time Edith dated anyone who seemed at all like her, things went south somewhere. Obviously, since the leggy blonde wasn't already married, but it never seemed like things ended well - they were explosions of drama and hurt feelings and Lucille was already half sure that was the direction this would go. Not for any particular reason she could tell about her best friend's new squeeze, just because she felt like she could sort of predict things at this point.

"Go on a lot of dates?" She asked Steve curiously as they boarded the ferry. The answer was probably going to either be 'no' or something along the lines of her experience - a good number of double dates that ended in nothing. He probably wasn't getting dates out of flirting with women on the street, unless he had an absolutely irresistible personality. Though he had some pretty catching eyes, she had noticed that already. "You don't seem super thrilled." But she probably didn't seem super thrilled either. "But hopefully you're at least willing to prove you're good at the games, we can at least make sure we're not bored." Anything that involved darts or shooting, she could win at. "If you're particularly charming I might let you buy me a hot dog later."

((super apologies, I had to settle into my new job ( x . x ) ))

 

[Risky]

Steve laughs and rubs the back of his head, hoping that he hadn't sounded creepy by suggesting that they split off, though honestly he really didn't want to be near Bucky when he was with this girl of his. He nods his head when she solidifies this decision by telling him he could try his luck once she knew him better. "R-right, I'm sorry Ms." He says while keeping in step with her to board the ferry. "I'm sorry, I'm not a very smooth talker." He admits to her, having the feeling that things already might not be working out... Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing, after all he could just get to the recruiting station a lot easier if he wasn't with her. But she surprises him by buying their tickets, maybe she was still interested in talking to him after all.

Not really having a stable job, it was kinda a relief that she wanted to buy their tickets to the ferry, honestly he had thought that Bucky would set him up with another girl who wouldn't like him but would try to squeeze every bill out of him possible. He gives her a nod as they board the ferry. "I really appreciate you buying us tickets." He says, still trying to choke down his nervousness as he talks to the very beautiful auburn haired woman that walked next to him to get on the slow water cab that would take them to the carnival.

Seeing Bucky help Edith up the ramp made him roll his eyes, Bucky was probably gonna get pretty far with her tonight, but he doubted it would last past that point, especially with Bucky having orders to go to war now. He walks with Lucille to a spot on the ferry a bit away from Bucky and Edith, sitting down next to her and staring down at his feet until she started her conversation with him, making him jump a bit before looking to her with those eyes that she liked. He gives her an apologetic smile before shrugging. "Bucky always sets me up with someone whenever he finds a date, but they never end up talking to me.. And most of the time they go for Bucky." Steve admits while rubbing the back of his head. His physical deficiencies seemed to be a bit of a turn off to most women in this age.

"I'm thrilled that you want to talk to me." He admits with a laugh, his hands awkwardly in his lap while he sits next to her, not super close to her as he wanted to give her personal space. "I think I'll be able to win you something.. I get to pay for the games though.. Since you paid for the ferry." He says while giving her a small smile, maybe this would not be as bad as he thought, he was obviously just really awkward and a bit hard to get to open up when it came to talking to total strangers.

((You're fine! No worries))

 

[Virginia Greene]

"No 'miss'. Just Lucille. Lou, if you want to be informal." She'd called him 'sir' first so he was probably responding in kind, but she hadn't actually intended for them to be formal with each other it had just sounded funnier. She made a dismissive gesture when he said that he wasn't a smooth talker. "I understand you and you're not making me uncomfortable, so you pass. If I wanted somebody to just flirt at me I would be dating one of the other guys Edith introduced me to. All you need to do is be good at conversation." She didn't want to be bored. Her standards were low but her long term expectations were non-existent so it didn't really matter.

She had expected him to make a fuss about her buying tickets, it tended to give her an out quickly where she could say that the guy was rude and didn't respect her independence - definitely an excuse she would pull out just to get out of things since the expectation was that men pay and it was weird for her to - but Steve just thanked her and moved on, probably respecting the fact she'd done her best to make it seem like she wasn't going to argue about it. Point in his favor.

They sat down with a little space between them, though Lucille did turn a little in her seat to angle herself towards him for better conversation. It would be weird to talk while she was facing away from him, after all. "You don't have to agree to go on them." He could just say no, so why didn't he? "Can't be great gals if they're going after their friend's date, either." It didn't matter how terrible her own date was going, nothing in the universe would have her trying to get attention from Edith's date. "So maybe you should consider that actually you're just avoiding women who don't care who's dating who when they want somebody." Didn't sound like the sorts of women worth getting to know, at least in her opinion.

"Thrilled? That's flattering. I don't think anyone's been thrilled about anything I've done... maybe ever." Which might have said something about her life choices? Who knew. She wasn't going to put too much thought into it. "Won't fight you on that, I'm all for fair.” And she might like to be won something, by somebody who wasn’t going to be show-offy about it. She wondered what he’d be good at though, throwing didn’t seem like a thing the guy was gonna be impressive at and a lot of them were that. The ferry took off from the docks and Lucille glanced out the glass-less window nearest to her lazily, not particularly interested but able to appreciate the experience at least a little. Being able to look at New York was always nice, it made her think. Now more than ever, thanks to the things happening overseas. The world was big and dangerous and it put things in a different perspective to look at where her city fit into it - just one small little piece of a big and much more volatile picture.