and it's harder than you think [OPEN]

[assembles]

Who: Steve Rogers and YOU
Where: All around the island of Genosha
When: Throughout the event (08/05 - 08/09)
Rating: Mainly PG-13, possible R for violence
Summary: Steve is a Human outraged by the way that his kind are treated, and he isn't going to stay quiet about it... even if he is under 100 pounds and asthmatic. Responses will come from preserum.
The Story:
Tensions are rising and Steve is as ready as he can be.

He's already come to terms with the fact that he's hardly a key player in the Human Resistance Movement, but that won't stop him from contributing however he can. Some of his fellow resistance members don't hesitate to take him along when they plan an attack, while others are more insistent on him remaining back at their hideout to serve as support. Steve does what he can to make it into the action whenever possible — and well, if a mutant happens to get in his face while he's going about his life on Genosha, he isn't about to let them get away with it. He won't take their abuse, or curl into himself like a scared animal and whimper until he's left alone. He's going to give them a piece of mind, consequences be damned.

It's not like he hasn't paid for his boldness a number of times already. He's got some nasty scarring on his abdomen from burn wounds from a pyrokinetic — that would be the worst example, but he has plenty of other scrapes, bruises, and scars littered across his body like a map of all his bad decisions.

Whether Steve's back at the hideout checking in with other members of the resistance (which is also where he usually sleeps these days), or out on an assignment with them, or simply wandering around the island minding his own business, he won't make a secret of the issues he has with the way Humans are treated. With the Queen's remarks about them, he's more fired up than ever, and someone should either take advantage of his unruly temper or try to talk some sense into him.

He's got plenty of friends — supporters in his fight, people who are just as ready to fight for their rights. But he's also made plenty of enemies, and all it takes is one careless statement about Humans to get him seeing red.


[ OOC: I will respond to prose or brackets! Feel free to find Steve at the resistance hideout or wandering around the island making trouble. ]

Comments

[breacher]

[ Harrison glances over at him as he works, narrowing his eyes critically. It probably wasn't really necessary — after all, how many times had he been over all the nuts and bolts of the machine himself? But it would eventually be attached to a generator, so. Better safe than sorry. And it keeps Rogers out of trouble.

He gives him a smirk at that reply, shaking his head. ]

Forget it, Rogers. We're not going there. [ He waives his screwdriver in the general direction of his bruised eye. ] I meant that. Who'd you pick a fight with this time?

[ And though his words are rough, there's something almost relaxed in his tone. It's light, easy conversation for him. But then again, it's all par for course for him. ]

[preserum]

[ They're absolutely going there, as far as Steve is concerned. He'll keep bringing it up over the course of the conversation, if that's what it takes.

Still, he figures that the best way to get onto Harrison's good side (if such a thing exists) is by humoring him and his questions. Steve doesn't know why anyone bothers to ask him about his various injuries at this point, though -- the story is always the same. ]

Do you really have to ask? [ He wipes some sweat from his forehead as he continues to work on tightening the bolts. ] Some mutant was being a jerk on my way home from work and picking on this human girl.

[ Sure, Steve might have a black eye and some other bruises, but he got the mutant's attention off of that girl and onto him, so he considers it a success. ]

[breacher]

Yes, Rogers, I really have to ask.

[ Someone does, anyway. Logically, Harrison knows that Rogers must have a number of friends around Genosha — he's a likeable sort. Then again, compared to himself, anyone is a likeable sort. Someone should be questioning him, both to keep him out of trouble and for his own well-being. If that someone has to be him, so be it.

Though truth be told, he can't really argue with that logic. Helping a young girl out . . . well. Harrison knows in the back of his mind that he would've had a hard time keeping his mouth shut if he were there. Maybe that's why he's kept cooped up with the machines more often than not. ]

I see. [ There's a pause as he glances at that, before he gestures idly with the screwdriver. ] Just the eye?

[preserum]

[ Staying cooped up is a surefire way to avoid having to deal with the prejudiced behavior that so many of the mutants are known for, true, but Steve isn't willing to do that. Hiding away in here, avoiding the situation, that's not going to change things. He has to hope that at least a handful of the people who he lectures about their behavior end up thinking twice the next time.

It's such a common occurrence for Steve to get into a scrap and come back with injuries that some of the people around here have stopped asking. But Harrison hasn't, at least not yet. Steve should probably be grateful for that instead of annoyed by it. ]

I've got some bruises too, but that's about it. Nothing serious. [ Not like the times when he's injured his ribs. This hadn't deteriorated to him getting knocked to the ground and kicked a few times, thankfully.

He pulls away from the machine, having successfully tightened all the bolts as far as he can tell. He looks back to Harrison. ] You said maintenance. So you really don't have any new ideas in the works?

[breacher]

I have a few.

[ It's said casually, without any indication of what exactly he might have up his sleeve. If anything, the way it rolls out of him seems to imply that he has no intention of showing his cards any time soon to anyone in particular, let alone him.

In truth, Harrison's been picking away at a few ideas. Some of the papers strewn around his workshop seem to indicate as much — different mutant abilities scribbled here and there, with possible ways to counter them etched into the margins. The blueprints for a gun are buried beneath several piles of scrap notes, with the beginnings of ideas for different elemental bullets sketched on scraps pinned to it. Various other sheets show the stages of a planned power suppressant, in forms like a cuff, a boot, even a collar.

He pays them no mind as he pushes his glasses up, focusing on the project in front of him. ]

None for you though, Rogers. All the ideas in the world couldn't keep your nose clean.

[preserum]

[ As much as Steve might want to flip through Harrison's notes to see what he's got cooking in that head of his, he won't go that far. He may be a pain in the ass more often than not, but he has a sense of right and wrong, and going through people's things without permission is over the line.

That doesn't mean he won't argue his case, though. Steve settles back in his chair and watches Harrison with determined patience written onto his face. He can do this all day. ]

That doesn't seem fair. Look at it this way — you know I'm going to get into tussles with the mutants no matter what. Doesn't it make more sense if I can sort of defend myself? Because fists against powers doesn't work out so well.

[ Obviously, given the number of times he's dragged himself back here beaten and bruised. ]

[breacher]

[ That only elicits a soft sound of irritation from the back of Harrison's throat. He rolls his eyes, not even looking away from his work when he speaks again. ]

You know what would make more sense? If you would just— [ He twists the screwdriver. ] — stop— [ Another twist. ] — getting into— [ twist twist twist. ] — trouble all the time and find another way.

[ At that, he slaps the screwdriver down on the table, turning to eye Rogers flatly. ]

You're like a gnat to them, Rogers. You can't just give a gnat a laser and expect that to go even remotely well. Instead, what you need— [ He waves the screwdriver idly at that. ] — is to change your tactics.

[preserum]

[ It's not often that someone just tells Steve how it is like this, and while it's not exactly easy to hear it, he also appreciates Harrison's honesty.

Steve would never admit it out loud, but he knows that his way of doing things isn't that effective. If it were, there would be less mutants out there behaving the way they do, and yet it seems more like they multiply by the day.

He's silent for a while as he runs his hands over the edges of the wrench he's still holding onto for some reason, then looks back to Harrison with a hardened expression. ]

And how would you suggest I change them?

[breacher]

[ That's the question, isn't it. Harrison shrugs his shoulders, throwing a hand in the air. ]

Stop getting yourself punched in the face, for starters.

[ He figures that Rogers was lucky to have never suffered any real damage from his skirmishes — at least, nothing that wouldn't heal as time passed.

Harrison furrows his brows as he stares back at the device he's working on, deep in thought now. If Rogers couldn't fight hand to hand, then what could he do to help? Come to think of it, did he know what he was good at? . . . shouldn't he? The thought troubles Harrison briefly before he shrugs it off with a huff. ]

Find something that you're good at and use it.

[preserum]

[ While it doesn't often progress past a punch to the face, it definitely has in the past, but Steve doesnn't advertise that. His fellow humans worry about him enough already without knowing about the burn scars hidden under his shirt.

When Harrison offers that solution, he makes it sound so easy. Steve isn't convinced, though, and he frowns down at his hands. ] Something I'm good at...? [ Nothing immediately comes to mind. ]

Well, I'm decent at drawing, but I don't see how that's going to help unless I draw some pro-human posters.

[ That would be likely to get him into just as much trouble, depending on where he posted them. Steve doesn't really see how to avoid conflict short of holing himself away in here like Harrison does, and he's not willing to do that. ]

[breacher]

Schematics.

[ The answer comes almost instantly. Harrison pulls back from the device in front of him, waving a screwdriver idly. ]

Designs, Rogers. Maybe you can't be on the front lines, but you can draw. You can design things that people like me— [ He gestures at himself with the screwdriver. ] — can make. Weapons. Armor. Defenses. That is something you can do.

[ And something that could potentially keep him out of trouble, too, though he doesn't voice that thought. Instead, Harrison considers that for a moment before continuing. ]

Besides, you've been hit enough by the rest of them that you'd have some idea of where more padding would be needed.

[preserum]

[ There's a long stretch of silence as Steve stares at Harrison. How is it that he'd never thought of that before?

Well, for one thing, he's always done a more creative kind of art. Portraits, landscapes, that kind of thing. Some of it's become more abstract as he's grown more angry and discontent with the world around him, but...

Harrison makes a good point. Steve's got the experience, he knows what kind of gear they might need to survive out there. He knows what kind of power sets they'll have to defend against and disable. ]

Okay.

[ He stands up, suddenly filled with the need to take pencil to paper. ]

I'll start drawing some stuff up. You can tell me if they're any good.

[ And who knows, maybe Steve can snatch a prototype or two for himself. ]

[breacher]

[ Harrison gives him a bit of a smirk at that. Good. That lit some kind of fire in him, at least. Maybe it would even keep him out of trouble for an hour or two. He nods in response. ]

Alright. Show me what you've got later on, then.

[ He turns back towards his device, which is as good of a dismissal as any. Besides, all this talking had been wearing on him, anyway. ]

[preserum]

[ Steve's known Harrison long enough to realize that he only tolerates people in small doses, so he figures this is as good a reason as any to take his leave.

He'll come back later, as indicated. He's ready to endure Harrison's critiques, or at least he hopes he is. ]

Sure thing. I'll see you then.

[ With a firm nod, Steve leaves the workshop, ready to get down to business himself. ]