A Wayward Groom

[gointothechapel]

 It'd happened in the blink of an eye, one moment he was on the trail of his darling bride to be, the next he'd stepped through a door and was faced not with the bitter winter cold of the Colorado mountains or the vision of concrete, wire fences and barbed wire. It was bright, there were people. And these people were not the same people he was used to seeing. No lab coats and cold stares. No mutilated Variants skittering around and attacking anything that moved out of some panicked sense of self-preservation. He hadn't seen anything quite so inviting in what felt like years. Even before the fall of Mt Massive to Billy Hope.  

Eddie could smell the coffee in the air. His stomach knotted. This wasn't right. No matter how his delusions tried to wrap it, there was a gap in logic that even it couldn't grasp at. He had nothing.

What had meant to come out as calling to his Bride to be through the crowd came out sounding somewhat strangled and muted.

"Darling? Where are you?" 

Comments

[gointothechapel]

Eddie's gaze fixated upon the small man in front of him. The twin aspects of him battling for dominance. The Groom was thankfully still fixated upon capturing Waylon to be his bride and as such despite seeing Steve as a 'her', to him, he looked far too small and sickly to bear his children. Terrible genes. He could hear his voice rattling around, a low muttering. Words but almost incoherent.

It was still fuzzy for Eddie, trying to work out exactly how he wound up here. Murkoff was capable of a great many thing, but this? This was new. Maybe this was it. He'd finally cracked beyond the point of no return. He needed to sit down. The pain he was in was finally starting to kick in. The Groom was able to ignore it from his mania, but Eddie was aware that the vision in his right eye wasn't quite right. It stung. The entirity of the left side of his face stung. And God above his mouth felt raw.

I came from my beautiful home- He grimaced and shook his head. "The Colorado mountains. Mt. Massive..." Despite his huge frame and broad build, the voice that came out was meek and quiet. "No.. it's for the best she didn't get sent here. It keeps her-- him away." He looked down at himself. It wasn't the ward's jumpsuit he'd been issued. It was hideously sewn from spare scraps. It also reeked of old blood.

[juststeverogers]

It's probably for the best Steve doesn't realize this man sees him as a sickly woman or there would be some hurt prides and snarky remarks being slung this guy's way. He's scrapped with people your size before, buster (and gotten beat half to death as a result of it).

"I've not been to Colorado before. I'm from Brooklyn." Steve's also just now taking in everything this guy is wearing and his expression is steeling slightly. He really really hopes this is an overenthusiastic and somewhat time displaced Halloween costume. Otherwise. Well, this guy might need to be someone Steve keeps an eye on.

"She didn't come through here. Just you. I can walk you back to your door, if it's still there. Do you know which one is yours?'

[gointothechapel]

His brows dipped, there was more than one door? Oh Christ. He took a steady breath and looked around, a new fresh wave of panic seeping through him. He didn't want to go back there. He needed to be away from the hellscape that was Mount Massive Asylum. Everyone needed to keep away from it. They said they'd help, they did the exact opposite; smiling and jeering the entire way through.

The comment about being from Brooklyn flew right over his head. Now more concerned with the thought of whether the other was trying to make him go back or was offering help.
"I'm not going back." Don't shout. Don't raise your voice. He's not one of those jack-booted fucks. "I'm not- I won't." He backed away from Steve, mind already starting to make war over his meaning.

He wants to return us to our Darling~

[juststeverogers]

There's something not right here. Steve turns around, watching the larger man cowering away, holding back emotions Steve isn't sure he understands. But he's beginning to suspect this man's Colorado isn't a place to be visited, and isn't the kind of place he wants to return to.

Was it a prison? it's the first time Steve's even questioned criminals possibly having access to this place. But look at his outfit. No one would let him walk around wearing something like that, surely.

"Okay...that's okay." Steve holds his hands up as placatingly as possible. "You don't have to go back. I thought you were worried about the girl, is all."

[gointothechapel]

What's not right is everything. This entire situation. But the other wasn't making any rash moves, maybe he didn't work with Murkoff then. No, this place couldn't have been made by Murkoff, it was too beautiful. All that company could bring was death, misery and a fundamentally flawed understanding of science.

The girl? Our Bride. Our beautiful-- Eddie shook his head. Waylon.
"She isn't one." He tried to correct himself, but The Groom wasn't having any of it. "She's-- He's trapped there too. He helped them make me like this." Now it made sense why The Groom was so fixated upon Waylon. He gritted his teeth, focusing more than he wanted to on his words just to make sure that they came out right. "He can rot there for what he did."

[juststeverogers]

"She...he? He hurt you?"

Steve doesn't really understand, but he's trying to. And he's suddenly very glad for the Anti-Violence field in the Nexus. He doesn't want to know what it would look like if this guy went berserk. Not with the state of his dress.

"So don't go back then. You...you can get help here."

[gointothechapel]

Whoever this person was, it was apparent that he wasn't communicating effectively enough to him. But focusing was so difficult. One minute stalking the decrepit halls of the asylum and now... it was idyllic by comparison. Something that he could have only conjured up in his dreams to stay.

"No doctors." He grimaced, looking over his shoulder at the door he came through. Selfishly he wished that no one else from Mt Massive would come through there either. He wanted to block it up and keep the sickness that place brought out. "They lie. All of them. They won't help."

[juststeverogers]

"I'm not sure how to help you then. The people here are very nice, but..."

Steve's hands are wringing in front of himself, looking between the man and the door he'd come from several times. What to do? He could call for help, but that might put this guy into a bit of a panic and that's the last thing he wants to do. At least he's calm right now. Best for Steve to just play along and be as calm as possible.

Probably?

He has no idea what he's doing.

"A..are you hungry then? Thirsty?"

[gointothechapel]

From spending all his time observing the mannerisms of the doctors and directors at Mt Massive, reading people was easy. This man was clearly unnerved by him, but it wasn't his job to placate him. Not after everything he'd been through.

"Yes, thank you." He exhales slowly, trying to keep himself in check at the very least. "Then I must find-" My Darling-- he grimaced, "some supplies. Something I can treat myself with."

Not that he knew the first thing about first aid, but he'd just dab it with antiseptic and hope for the best.

[juststeverogers]

"Well, first aid kits are easy to come by. Not everyone who ends up in the Nexus does so gracefully."

Steve's already walking off across the Plaza to one of the many such kits hung up on an inconspicuous wall. He pops it open to check that the contents are all in tact before clicking it shut and hurrying back over with it. Steve jerks his head toward one of the many Nexus couches in the plaza.

"Come on, let's get you patched up."