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

[preserum]

"Well, it's not like I knew what his power was before I started fighting him," Steve mumbles, bowing his head and lifting a hand out of his pocket to rub at the back of his neck. He knows a lot of people would see his actions as foolish, but this is the only option he has. It's the only avenue that exists for him by which he can fight back.

Glancing up again, Steve decides to ask his question, invasive as it might be, before it's too late. "How about you? How'd you get hurt?"

[mettatonvevo]

The wry grin that comes up on Mettaton's face is accompanied by him shaking his head at Steve. "I bet even if you knew he could do that, you still would have fought him, right?"

He's a little taken aback by the brazenness of the question, but he doesn't hold back in his answer.

"Would you believe me if I said it was from an assassination attempt?"

[preserum]

Steve can't help but look both guilty and sheepish at that. It looks like Mettaton has his number already, which is pretty surprising given that they've only been talking for a few minutes. Then again, Steve isn't exactly shy about his beliefs.

Although he's quickly distracted at the mention of an assassination attempt. Mettaton is in the public eye, so maybe it isn't so surprising that he'd be targeted, but Steve's still taken aback.

"Wait, really?" he blurts out. "But who--"

He cuts himself off. What if it was a human who had gone after Mettaton? That would reflect badly on them, given that he's obviously sympathetic toward them. On the other hand, that kind of behavior could have gotten him in trouble with his fellow mutants too.

Steve forces himself to slow down, waiting to see what Mettaton will tell him about it.

[mettatonvevo]

At Steve's guilt, Mettaton laughs a little. "It's not hard to read you. You seem like the type that goes in swinging if you think the cause is worthwhile enough. Why else would you have fought someone so much larger than yourself, abilities notwithstanding?"

He laughs again at Steve's question, crossing his arms.

"It was some washed-up resistance hack who wasn't close enough to the group to realize that I was one of their top spies. He didn't believe me when I tried to tell him."

Oh Kralie. What a tool.

[preserum]

That's exactly the type of person that Steve is, though he isn't quite ready to just outright admit to it like that. He doesn't deny it either, though, so Mettaton can take that as his own kind of victory, if he wants.

When he explains that it had been one of the humans who was responsible, Steve's face falls and he looks down toward his shoes. It's not like he isn't aware of just how extreme some of the resistance members can get, and he isn't exactly innocent himself, but...

"I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but I'm sorry that happened. You're trying to support us. Good deeds shouldn't be punished."

Too bad there isn't much Steve can do to fix it. He eyes the bandages on Mettaton's side with a frown, as if he could will the wound to get better. But no, he's no mutant.

[mettatonvevo]

That was not at all the response Mettaton expected. Why does he seem to take the failures of the resistance so... personally? What is he, some beacon of morality?

"I... well, thank you. It's appreciated, all the same."

He's still a little off-kilter over how nice this human is, but then realizes... he never asked his name.

"In all this talk about me, I never asked about you. What's your name?"

[preserum]

Steve had been a little too distracted to remember his manners, but he at least has the decency to look sheepish when Mettaton points that out.

"Oh! Right. I'm Steve Rogers." He extends his hand (still bloodied), a little curious to know how it'll be to shake with someone made of metal.

While he doesn't expect that Mettaton will recognize his name, there's always a possibility if he's really so closely tied to the resistance.

"How'd you get involved with us, anyway?"

[mettatonvevo]

Steve Rogers? Doesn't ring any bells, though he's sure if he asked his cousin about him, they'd know. His liaison to the resistance has to keep their ears and eyes open after all.

"It's good to meet you, Steve." He says the nicety almost like a placeholder as he considers how to answer Steve's other question. How did he get involved? Well, there's the Mansion answer, aka: Because Wonderland Demanded It and now he Knows Too Much, but... once again he is hit with whether convincing people this is all fake is worth it or not. They'll know in a couple of days after all, won't they?

He hums a little, lost in thought, but eventually settles on the Genoshan truth.

"I have some... personal connections to the Resistance. Someone I want to protect. You know. The usual fanfare for this sort of thing."

It sounds cliche and boring, and if this was real life, down right dangerous. But the consequences for this "Secret" getting out aren't real, so he isn't worried... too much.

[preserum]

Still caught up in Wonderland's "spell," Steve finds a simple way to explain why Mettaton takes a little longer than he should to reply to his question. If he's connected to someone in the resistance, and if that person is important to him, it makes sense that he'd be reluctant to speak about it somewhere public like this.

So, as curious as Steve might be to know who exactly Mettaton's looking out for, he doesn't put him in the awkward position of having to dodge answering that sort of question.

"Yeah, I guess that would do it," Steve says as he returns his hand to his pocket. "But, uh..." His eyes drift to Mettaton's side again. "You'll be okay?"

It might sound ridiculous, a human asking a mutant something like that, but Steve won't let that kind of thing get in the way of his concern if someone's a decent person.

I totally forgot that Steve tried to shake Mettaton's hand and I'm laughing omf

[mettatonvevo]

Mettaton pauses again, though this time it is surprise at Steve's worry for his well-being that creates the beat. Idly he hopes that he isn't a resident at the Mansion. Someone as kind as him doesn't deserve to be stuck anywhere against his will.

Then again, that would be all the more reason for his abduction wouldn't it? Wonderland does have a nasty sense of humor.

He realizes belatedly that he never shook the man's hand and left him awkwardly hanging. Whoops. That was unintentional. He grips the other man's hand, his metal "skin" being oddly cool to the touch. It's not smooth however, thanks to the dozens of articulated joints in his hand designed to allow it to bend and move like a human. Though in the case of Genosha, not designed but born.

"I will be, yes. I got it checked out at the hospital and they removed the bullet."

He looks to Steve, deciding to ask a question of his own. "So why did you join the Resistance? Human status notwithstanding."

LMAO IT'S FINE

[preserum]

As they finally shake hands, Steve can't help but stare down at Mettaton's as he registers how it feels. It's definitely almost as if he's made of metal, and Steve can only assume that his mutant genes are to blame for that. Then again, it can't be a full-proof armoring if he'd had to go to the hospital to get a bullet removed.

Steve might be curious, but he doesn't think that badgering someone too much about their mutant abilities is particularly polite. Some mutants enjoy bragging about what they can do, but those are generally the sort of mutants that Steve wants nothing to do with.

Besides, Mettaton's asked him a question, and it's one that takes some thought to answer. Steve rocks back on his heels as he thinks it over.

"Most mutants aren't like you. They think that humans are inferior and that we should be treated like we're slaves. They don't care if we live or die, either. I couldn't just stand by and let the people I cared about be treated like that. Fighting back seemed like the only option."

Maybe there's another way to do it, but Steve hasn't found one that works. So he shrugs, hoping that will serve as a decent enough answer.

[mettatonvevo]

Most mutants aren't like you he says. If he actually knew him, truly, he would never have said that. Sure, he sounds good and heroic when he says that he's fighting for someone he cares for... but if that someone didn't exist, or if they had become a mutant like he always thought they would, he would never have thought twice about defending humanity. It's just not who he is, intrinsically.

Mettaton has always taken whatever advantages given to him, regardless of who else may suffer because of it.

"So you took that quite literally, hm? Fist fight every mutant in the street who looks at you cross-eyed?"

He says it with a bit of a teasing air, hoping it takes the edge off what would otherwise be a scolding. When he lets go of Steve's hand he idly thinks that he should remember to wear his gloves next time. He wouldn't want to potentially pinch someone in the future.

[preserum]

Defensive as Steve may be, he can tell that Mettaton's question is well-meaning and isn't intended as some kind of judgment, so he doesn't take it the wrong way.

"I'm not that bad," he insists as he crosses his arms tight over his narrow chest. "But if someone's being a bully or talking a bunch of bull, I'm not going to let them get away with it." As if Steve is so fearsome. He absolutely isn't, but that's never stopped him and it won't going forward.

"Anyway, you shouldn't worry about me. Go get some rest, you probably need it." Steve's not the one who recently got shot, here. Some bloody knuckles he can absolutely deal with.

[mettatonvevo]

Steve crosses his arms and Mettaton smiles a little. He's so small that it's amazing he can hold that giant heart of his inside himself. It's very cute, all things considered.

"Only if you promise to take care of those knuckles of yours. I'd hate to hear that they got infected."

He wonders if Steve will stay out of trouble after this. He supposes that he probably won't.

[preserum]

At the mention of his knuckles, Steve glances down at them, frowning when he realizes he's gotten a few bloody stains on his shirt. Bucky's going to give him a hard time again while both of them try to scrub the stains out, isn't he...

"All right, it's a deal. I'll clean them and wrap them up." That's really all he needs to do. This is nothing compared to some of the other injuries he's suffered over the years.

"Maybe I'll see you around again." Maybe not, though. It's not always safe for humans and mutants to interact, especially in public and especially lately. All the same, Steve lifts a hand to wave and then heads down the road, back toward the resistance hideout.