entrancelogs | and it's harder than you think [OPEN]

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and it's harder than you think [OPEN]

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. ]

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[A few years ago, talks like this ended with Fitz sighing and reluctantly accepting whatever silliness Steve thought his friends needed. He'd build some toy, they'd come back a different kind of broken. It was a ridiculous cycle. He's endlessly thankful to the patient mutants who helped him pull free from it.

They aren't children anymore. They need to live in the real world, whether or not it's satisfying.]

We might as well be. There are more findings every day to support what the mutants have known to be true. We might as well be dolphins for how closely we're related to them on the genetic level.

[Dolphins are highly intelligent as well, and yet nobody objects to keeping them locked away in tanks with regular fish feedings.]

[ It always comes back to the science, doesn't it? But there's no science in the words that are flung at them like barbs, there's no science in their pay rates. ]

Who cares about genetics? Sure, we don't have powers, but it's not like those define who you are as a person, or whether you're good or bad.

[ Steve's seen countless humans that are worth ten mutants, people with heart and conviction and everything that makes someone decent. On the other hand, he's seen mutants who are the ugliest parts of humanity, who see themselves above it all and trample on anyone who doesn't fit their view of what's perfect.

Steve huffs out a breath, his mouth thinning into a line. He frowns with something like pity. ] Don't let them brainwash you like this, Fitz. Please.

[It comes down to the science because the science informs social change. In terms of raw genetic evolution, homo sapiens are genetic dregs. They're just another wild animal pending domestication.]

People we thought were good humans a few years ago are rioting now. They're destroying buildings, setting fire to mutant homes. It's not brainwashing to think there might be something to these findings.

They think there might be a chamical misfire in the human brain that's triggering this. It might be from exposure to mutant radiation -- nobody's sure yet. But it's not as simple as you think it is, Steve. It's not worth dying over this.

[Sometimes, he wonders if those reports of small-mindedness aren't frighteningly accurate in some cases.]

Why are you so against the idea of your own safety?

[ Of course humans were rioting. How else could they be expected to respond, given the way that they've been treated? To try and boil it down to some sort of synapse or reaction in their brains is oversimplifying it.

The very idea that Steve's righteous anger is really just the response to some kind of radiation is ridiculous.

Isn't it? ]

I don't care about being safe. I care about being free, and the way we're being treated right now, it's not freedom. [ This is a social issue, not a scientific issue, and Steve doesn't know how to make Fitz see that. Or if there even is a way to do it.

Steve heaves in a breath and then lets it out again, his frown still in place. Though this time his voice is a little quieter as he questions Fitz. ] You really don't think that the humans who are rioting have good reason to be upset...?

[He chews thoughtfully on his bottom lip. Steve seems so earnest. It's a little heartbreaking to know that all his passion is so wildly misdirected.]

I think... You all think that you have a good reason. But -- we probably shouldn't trust the way we feel about things. It's misguided, violent.

[His own voice grows softer, eyes beginning to shift around them. He knows what it sounds like to people who aren't ready to hear it.]

It might not be a terrible thing for us to have less freedom. Mutants are able to think at a level we can't even comprehend. Our choices are flawed. We're starting to unravel and become less civilized. They can help us, if we let them.

[ Steve knows that he should just let this go. He and Fitz think so differently about this issue that there's no way that either of them are going to change their stance. There's no point in having an argument like this, as it's just going to upset them both.

But he's never been capable of just letting go, and it's Fitz's last comment that draws him back into the discussion even as he'd been thinking that maybe they should simply agree to disagree. ]

Have you been watching the news? Does anything that they're doing to us make it seem like they want to help? Fitz...

[ Steve heaves out a sigh and shakes his head. ]

Maybe some of them want to help us. But most of them don't.

[The more he learns about the human condition, the more he pities people like Steve. He tries so hard to stand up for what he believes in, and for what? So he can drive himself into such a frenzy he goes rabid and needs to be put down?

It's not right. It's not right that humans can't even recognize their genetic inferiorities until it's too late to do anything about it.]

There's a group at the university. They're doing research that might help fix what's wrong with us. But they need human volunteers for the study... Why don't you come with me?

[Steve could stand to be around more right-minded mutants who can straighten him out.]

[ The offer's unexpected, mainly because Fitz usually seems content to simply argue ideology with him rather than putting something bigger behinds his words.

Steve takes issue with the implication that there's anything wrong with them, but he has to admit that he's curious all the same. For the first time since their conversation started, he relaxes slightly. ]

What do you mean, fix what's wrong with us?

[ What would that even look like? Steve gets the sneaking suspicion that he's not going to like it, but he'll hear Fitz out for now. ]

I mean... most of the details are too complicated for us to understand. [So of course he hasn't even tried to read them.] But they've mentioned working with our genetic imbalance. Some people seem to think they'll end up with powers of their own, but that might be a bit reductive.

Whatever it is they plan to work out, it'll end the fighting if it goes well. I'm sure of it.

[He genuinely doesn't see the holes in that logic. Mutants always know best, so why would they ever develop a research project that doesn't keep everyone's best interests in mind?]

[ Too complicated? It's true that science isn't Steve's subject, but Fitz should have all the knowledge to wrap his head around whatever the mutants might be doing. While he isn't that interested in getting his own powers (they seem to be more trouble than they're worth), Steve can't help but be curious.

The thing is, Fitz is probably being overly optimistic about all of it. Steve's too cynical to not assume there's some sort of catch, which means that he can't let Fitz walk into this on his own, completely unprepared.

For all that they fight, Fitz is still a friend. Of sorts. ]

Okay, I'll go with you. [ Steve nods, and this is as close to a concession as he can get. ] There's probably no harm in checking it out, at least. [ That's a big probably, though. ]

[Fitz should have, but he's been more tentative about knowing too much. It's just not proper to look too smart around mutants. That's as much of a target as Steve's usual shenanigans.

But when Steve says he intends to come along, Fitz's eyes light up.]

You will?? Oh, I hadn't really thought you'd even give it a try. I just know you'll appreciate what they have to say once you've given them a proper chance!

[He should have stopped there, but even that small concession has him bursting with rambles.]

I mean, I know I'm not supposed to talk to you at all anymore, but we just happened upon each other and it's probably not accidental that today was the day things happened and oh I've gone on quite long enough haven't I -- so sorry...

[ With how rocky their interactions have been lately, Steve hadn't expected this sudden burst of excitement from Fitz, and it quickly takes him aback. Was it really that important to Fitz that Steve try to meet him halfway on this? Huh.

Steve's quiet for a few seconds, blinking up at Fitz as he tries to process everything he's said. Maybe it was a sign that they'd run into each other after not talking for a while, but there's something else about Fitz's words that get under Steve's skin. ]

What do you mean, you're not supposed to talk to me?

[ Steve frowns and tilts his head to one side. According to who? ]

[He's this excited because he misses human contact. It's so rare to find someone likeminded, he'll take anything offered his way.]

Oh -- oh, that's just because...

[Oh, Steve's not going to like this part is he?]

Well. I -- was starting to show symptoms of the madness, back when I was making things for everyone... I kept having dangerous ideas. It was for the best that I stop spending time with you and everyone. I mean... Think about how many of them died because nobody rescued them in time.

[If it sounds like he's talking about humans the way some people scoff about stray cats, it's probably not wrong.]

[ Funny, that they live in a world where thinking for yourself is seen as madness. Steve misses the days when it felt like Fitz was actually on their side, when he'd wanted to help them. He has to wonder if maybe some mutant used their powers on him to influence him, to veer his thoughts into a different direction.

If that were the case, Steve wishes he knew how to undo it. But it's probably not that simple. No, this is much more insidious. ]

I happen to like dangerous ideas. [ Steve quirks a smile. ] So... if you ever want to come around again, don't hesitate.

[ For now, Steve will go check out this "study" with Fitz and see if there's anything to it, or if it's just another trap. He doesn't want Fitz getting himself into trouble because he thinks he's doing the right thing. ]

[He smiles weakly at that.]

She gets angry with me if I try to warn you about things. But... Maybe keep your friends away from the piers for a while, yeah? Won't be the good kind of dangerous if they get caught.

[ "She." Steve already knows that Fitz means Caitlin. She seems to be the one responsible for his shift in mindset, or at least, Steve finds it easiest to blame her. But he doesn't speak her name now, knowing it will only lead to another argument.

The warning isn't something that Steve brushes off or takes lightly. He nods, knowing that Fitz must have some insider information. ]

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Fitz.

[ He lifts his hand for a moment, intending to give his old friend a pat on the shoulder, but ends up just placing it into his pocket instead. ]

Take care of yourself, okay? And I'll see you soon.

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and it's harder than you think [OPEN]

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