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[mansplane]

[ Well this network post is a mess from start to finish. It opens on a blank ceiling, followed shortly by someone’s hands getting in the way of the camera. Clearly this belongs to someone who has gotten a crash course in how to use a phone but still doesn't really get the whole portable camera thing. For all that he’s clearly struggling with this damn piece of … whatever it’s made out of, he can’t help but look a little bit amused with himself. One thing he’s learned is to accept weird things as being possible even if they’re really weird. A blur of blond hair and blue eyes comes into view for a moment as he tries to line himself up where he thinks the camera is. ]

Look, this isn’t my first time waking up somewhere new and mildly terrifying. But last time I got a better welcoming party.

[ Focus, Steve. At least the swear-in helped him realize that there's basically no point to keeping most of his secrets, so he might as well introduce himself. And fess up to being super lost. ]

I'm Steve Trevor. And last I checked it was 1918, so - uh - this is all kind of overwhelming.

[ A beat. And just the slightest hint of longing. He knows it's a longshot, but he's got to ask. ]

Anyone know a gal named Diana Prince? Tall, muscular, Amazonian?

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[mansplane]

[ He leans down just enough to pet the dog, gently. ]

No one'd seen anything like it. The war to end all wars.

[trouvaille]

( that's the stuff. )

We wear poppies every year, to remember. I saw them used in a recruitment ad, a couple of years ago. On children.

( she wants to be able to say: look, things got better. it feels kinder - in the only way she knows kindness - to try to prepare him for the ways in which they didn't. )

[mansplane]

[ Better he hears it from her. The thought of using his war to recruit for a new one makes him feel physically ill. ]

Figures you'd see both sides of the coin. Diana was right about us not deserving her.

[trouvaille]

It's supposed to be, you know, what you said. ( the war to end all wars - they're supposed to remember the awful reality, and fear it, and never repeat the mistakes of the past. )

But every year it gets a little bit further away, and people get a little bit more romantic because you're not confronted by the wreckage if grandad's dead anyway and there's new wars they need public support for, so you slap a poppy on something and call it patriotic to support our boys, nevermind what you've sent them to do.

( if gwen actually gave a damn about half the things she can intelligently discuss, she could make a real difference in the world, probably, but the truth is she's so rarely motivated to apply it, feline in her inhumanity, not malicious but callous and fey and concerned most of all with what affects her.

but steve is in front of her, right now, and when she lays out what she sees in his context, it bothers her. after a beat; )

Nobody deserves anything.

[mansplane]

>[ Is it a good sign that the world can forget so much that it repeats its own mistakes? He's all for peace, but it doesn't seem that history got that either. God, what a mess.

He finishes the last dregs of his drink and sets the glass aside. If he has any more, he'll drown. ]

No. You're right about that. It's more about what you believe.

[ But it's hard to believe too right this second. ]

[trouvaille]

I believe, ( in the deliberate voice of someone who is a few drinks deep, ) that people are people.

( for better or worse. if she's honest, mostly worse - but she's been surprised before. )

[mansplane]

Good way of putting it. [ He's a bit drunk too by now. ] And I believe in helping people. Even the shitty ones.

[trouvaille]

Do you?

( it isn't a derisive question; it might have been, in another conversation with another man, but it's like faith. when it's real it's fascinating. something she doesn't know how to touch with her own hands, but understands to be admirable.

if he can still believe that after everything. )

As a shitty person I appreciate that, ( with a lazy french salute. )

[mansplane]

[ He means it, he really does. Not in some idealistic way though, oh no. He's way too familiar with the shitty side of humanity for that. ]

You? Shitty? Not convinced.

[trouvaille]

( that's what makes it worth respect, in the alternate reality where gwen is the arbiter of what's worthy; when someone can't be dismissed as naive and they still think and act that way.

she's not met a lot of those people, in her life. she's long suspected the people whose sins she can't see are just better at hiding what monsters they are - but she keeps being challenged. lately it keeps not being the case. )

You're understandably biased in this moment but I'll still take that, thank you- ( tilting her glass toward him like a toast. )

[mansplane]

[ He raises his own in response. ]

Unless you had an ulterior motive with the drinks, I'd say this still counts.

[trouvaille]

You're in no condition, ( glibly.

that's definitely one of those jokes she might have at least thought before cracking a glass and a half ago. )

[mansplane]

[ He snorts a bit at that. ]

And what, you're not? Bet your tolerance is worse'n mine.

[trouvaille]

( she laughs, unexpectedly hard, catches herself; )

Well, I have the tolerance of a malnourished toddler, so that's fair.

[mansplane]

Yeah? Why's that? Don't tell me you're secretly an Amazonian princess or something.

[ That said, he's pretty sure Diana's tolerance is way, way, way better than his. ]

[trouvaille]

( a beat. well- she's been trying this honesty thing. and she's drunk enough that the set up for what definitely might lead to a funny reaction is too tempting to pass up; )

Germanic faerie, not a princess. My grandfather's a rhinelord, not a king, but I did nearly get off with his king if that counts--

( it 110% does not. )

[mansplane]

[ Steve just. Blinks a moment. Blinks again. And then turns to look at her, his face screwed up again. Not in disbelief? No, he's ready to believe just about anything. But - ]

Aren't you kind of tall for a fairy?

[trouvaille]

That is -

( gwen, who is 5'3" and weighs probably a hundred pounds soaking wet, starts giggling; ) that is the first time anyone's ever called me tall.

Also nymphs can be any height. Actually.

[mansplane]

Well, okay, you're not real tall for a human. But the only fae I ever heard about were -

[ He gestures with his thumb and forefinger, indicating about six inches. ]

At the risk of sounding like a pig, what's the difference?

[trouvaille]

Fae is like...it's a really broad term. For a lot of different species.

( an expansive gesture- )

Like I am a great dane and the little ones are like, chihuahuas.

( aight. )

It took me over a year to find any kind of useful information. There's a lot of bullshit in mythology. And fae are secretive because keeping your head down means not going extinct. But I didn't believe in magic, growing up, so -

I relate. To the mind fuck.

[mansplane]

[ Okay, he can grok that metaphor. Great dane. Got it. ]

Wait, so you didn't know?

[trouvaille]

( big shrug hands. )

I did some magic by accident when I was abducted. The next thing I know I was walking back to London carrying my heels like, what the fuck just happened.

I didn't tell anyone when I got here in case they might dissect me. But then people started finding out and it doesn't seem as much of a thing here, just getting black bagged, so now I am trying -

( a sigh )

Not being a drama queen about it.

( specifically what she's trying to do is control her own narrative; not allow anyone else to beat her to the punch. or to have the opportunity to define her independently. )

[mansplane]

[ A secret faerie. Steve doesn't think he'd take it half as well if their positions were reversed. ]

Guess that's the good part about people coming from all over. A nymph and a time traveller don't stick out that much.

[trouvaille]

I'll drink to that.

( she clinks her glass against his. )

A friend of mine here is from a place where they still fight wars with swords from horseback and are actually governed by their monarchs.

[mansplane]

[ A low whistle at that. Appreciative and familiar at the same time. ]

Magical or just old-fashioned?