rain, rain, go away

[memeshikute]

the rain meme

Ah, rain—the precipitation that the whole world has a love/hate affair with. It waters the garden for free and ruins baseball games. It cools you off in the summer and it causes more ice and sleet to appear in the winter. Sometimes it is lovely and falls at a decent pace for a few hours, other times, it blasts the whole eastern seaboard away.

Poems and songs have been written about it, people have danced in it, others have cursed its entire existence, and still more refuse to go out and drive in it.

Now it’s time to roll some dice and see what the weather will have in store for you today.

directions

1. Comment with your character, series, preferences, etc in the subject.
2. Roll a number between 1-5 with the RGN for an intensity.
3. Roll 1-15 with the RGN for a situation.
4. Reply to other comments and play the scenario out!
5. Don’t catch a cold!


intensity

1. DRIZZLE ☂ It’s not too heavy or too light of a downpour, just enough to wash away stuff in the air, water the ground, and clean up the streets.

2. MONSOON ☂ It’s horrible and awful! Rain is coming down in buckets, no one can get anywhere, the wind is whipping everything about, and now the cable is out.

3. SHOWER ☂ Reminds you of early spring, doesn’t it? A nice shower to make everything all green and smell fresh again. Lovely.

4. FLOOD ☂ While rain is good, it can sometimes be bad. Grab a boat!

5. CATS & DOGS ☂ You’re lucky with this one. It’s not the worst storm in the world, but it’s still pretty heavy. Be careful when driving!


prompts

1. A DARK, STORMY NIGHT ☂ You know all those stories that start off with a stormy night before something goes wrong: a murder, an attack by ninjas, a crime. It is one of the best known clichés in the world, and you’re stuck in the middle of it.

2. HUMIDITY ☂ It’s that time of the year again when the humidity rises and the rain has two options: make it worse or make it go away. Good luck getting the latter.

3. GRAY RAIN OF DEPRESSION ☂ We all know this one. Stuck in the middle of no where, or right after an argument, or something that leads to angst, the rain decides to express someone’s feelings in a physical form, serious or over the top.

4. QUIET MORNING ☂ Nothing to do, nowhere to be… sometimes the rain is a welcomed addition to a quiet day. Gives you an excuse to stay in, curl up in a warm blanket and a book, maybe a loved one or a cup of hot chocolate. With sprinkles.

5. PUDDLES ☂ After it rains, what is the number one thing you have to do? Go put on some rubber boots and splash around of course!

6. SUDDEN STORM ☂ It might have been predicted, but sometimes storms just sweep in and do their thing with little to no warning. Hope you’re not outside.

7. THUNDER & LIGHTNING ☂ Loud, surprising, scary, ominous, comforting, fantastic to watch or listen to… some like thunder and lightning, others not so much. Of course, if this happens before a big confrontation, the universe is telling you something.

8. CAN’T GET WORSE ☂ You did not say that. You did not just say that. How many times does this need to be seen in movies and books before anyone learns?

9. STUCK ☂ No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. What happened to the ten percent chance of rain? You forgot your umbrella and now you’re stuck in it!

10. RUINED PLANS ☂ You had all these wonderful plans to go outside, have some fun in the sunshine, do some errands, maybe a date… and the weather goes against them.

11. DANCING ☂ Sometimes rain is a cause for celebration, or you just feel like doing something spontaneous. Grab someone to join you and get wet!

12. RAIN BATTLE ☂ The most intense, important battles happen in the rain. Verbal spars, punching someone in the guts; it’s all dramatic and climatic. And no one slips.

13. DATE ☂ Aww, don’t let the weather ruin your date! It can be really romantic, being out in the rain, and it’s always fun to go with the flow.

14. A DAY INSIDE ☂ Sometimes, it’s just better to stay inside and enjoy something simple and easy like board games or catching up on TV shows, or maybe the bills.

15. WILD CARD ☂ Was there something I missed? Did you want to roll again or choose your own adventure? Go for it!

Comments

James Buchanan Barnes | MCU | OTA

[kolodnoykovki]

7?

[stands_for_hope]

There's a geeky looking guy with glasses running for the bus stop just as the lightning strikes, the crackle of thunder following close behind. He skids on a puddle and ends up bumping into the only other person waiting there.

"Sorry about that."

Sure!

[kolodnoykovki]

Public transportation had revealed itself to be easy. Shelters to stand under when the weather got too bad, and the bus system didn't ask many questions, even if you looked homeless. It was a system he'd learned to game.

What he didn't expect, though, was to get bumped into so strongly. He considered himself lucky that the man didn't run into his arm. At least it was covered with a sleeve and glove. What he was supposed to do was reach out and steady the man, so he did - carefully. Cautiously. "No problem," he managed in a modicum of sociability.

Re: Sure!

[stands_for_hope]

Clark's a little surprised at the strength in that grip, but he shrugs it off and offers a smile at the other man in appreciation.

"First day at a new job. I know I shouldn't be nervous, but I can't help it."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Seems natural." He wasn't really sure. Nervousness wasn't something he felt anymore. Not really. He watched over his shoulder, but not out of nervousness. It was out of tried-and-true wariness that had, so far, paid off more than once.

[stands_for_hope]

"You're probably right. I'm overthinking it."

He sways a little, entirely under his own power and not due to any slippage or wind.

"Headed anywhere fun?"

He hopes so. The man seems... a little off.

[kolodnoykovki]

That answer, anyway, was simple. "Lunch." He'd learned just where the soup kitchen was in this city. As long as he was suitably polite, he could count on at least one meal a day. "Close enough to fun."

[stands_for_hope]

"Where you going?" he asks, glancing around to try and see if there was anything that looked good around here.

"I'm new in town, so I'm always looking for new places to try."

[kolodnoykovki]

The man asked, and he had no shame in answering, "Saint Catherine's Community Outreach Food Mission." Lightning struck one of the tops of the many buildings clustered around, safely funneled away by a lightning rod. The thunder followed almost immediately. This rain wasn't going to let up.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark nods, and it's pretty clear that his judgement of the other man hasn't changed one iota.

"That's actually where I'm heading too. Doing a story for the Planet about some of the problems the outreach program's had lately."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Problems?" That was news to him. He'd been eating there for about four, five days now, and he'd not noticed any problems - but he'd not hung around, either. He knew better than to let anyone too close.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark nodded.

"Some funding problems, and a few thefts. The people running it haven't been reporting it to the police because they figure if anyone's stealing what they have, they obviously need it."

He ducked his head a little.

"I grabbed it because I want to make sure that the story isn't sensationalized into something it isn't. The best thing I can do is to get people to want to donate to help them out, not go after the thieves. I agree with the sisters on that one."

He runs a hand through his hair and fixes his glasses.

"It'll get me stuck on human interest stories for a while, but I figure it's worth it."

[kolodnoykovki]

He knew better than to steal. That was the fast way to get noticed, and what he needed was to stay beneath notice. The fact that someone was drawing attention to the mission with theft, though, was counterproductive. "What kind of thefts?"

If it as clothing, even bedding, or food, that, he could wave off easily enough. If the thefts were causing the funding problems, however - thefts of money or equipment - that was something he'd need to find a way to stop before he moved on.

[godofasilvertongue]

Loki had been watching Earth. After escaping the battle of New York, he'd been laying low, hiding in the dimensions that only he knew about thanks to his magical talents. If the Avengers thought they'd seen the last of him, they were very much mistaken. He would take the world his brother loved so much, if it was the last thing he did.

And as he'd watched, he'd seen the events unfold around Captain America and the Winter Solider. With HYDRA agents fleeing in every directions like rats deserting a sinking ship, it was almost too easy for Loki to catch a few. He didn't need the scepter to get information the old fashioned way. Usually, once they realized who he was, they spilled almost too easily, taking the fun out of it.

But soon, he had all the information he needed to make a decision. The Winter Solider was lost...it was about time he was found. A god needed a champion.

The lost man he was looking for was holed up in a small town, seeking shelter from the cold rain in an old warehouse, that may have been a barn before that. Whatever it was, it leaked horribly and was hardly a shelter at all. It was terribly primitive, much like the rest of this planet. The first thing Loki did was use his magic to stop the rain from entering the building, standing in the door way for a moment to observe what would soon be his.

[kolodnoykovki]

The sound of rain on the tin roof had become white noise to his state of half-sleep. He didn't trust sleep anymore. Sleep was an opportunity for enemies to catch him off-guard. Rain like this was the only time he dared to even rest. Most people tended to avoid inclement weather in remote areas where there were no overhangs or awnings to shield them. It made even a leaky structure like this something of a haven.

He had been almost on the edge of sleep, dozing against his will, when the rain just stopped. Where there had been the distant sounds from high above of raindrops striking corrugated metal and the sounds much closer of heavy drops and patters of water making unpleasant puddles among whatever was stored alongside a Hydra castoff, there was suddenly silence.

Rain didn't stop like that. Rain faded, slowed, and eventually petered out.

Instantly alert, he shifted his weight to one hand, staying in his sheltered corner though he moved with trained silence - up to one knee, then one knee and the ball of the other foot. What he'd managed to read had told him stories he wasn't sure about, but he'd understood one thing: There were things in this world that could threaten even him. And that something had stopped the rain - that was reason to be on his guard.

Step by step, he crept along behind his chosen cover until he could look from one entrance to the other to find his caution had paid off. A tall, slender figure stood silhouetted against the light from outdoors, and rain fell behind them. Unthinking, his fist clenched. This would take skill.

[godofasilvertongue]

Loki knew the Solider was hiding and he waited, arms held loosely at his sides. While the Solider would no doubt be able to do damage if he struck, he had not intention of letting him. Which is why, an image of himself strode into the middle of the building, while he hide in the shadows to manipulate it.

The image looked around the barn, a small on his face. "Winter Solider. I know you are here. I am Loki of Asgard and I've been looking for you." The tone of his voice spoke of power and opportunity. Better to use a strong front first, to see how the mind wiped man felt about authority at the moment.

[kolodnoykovki]

Loki of Asgard. It was a name he'd read amongst all the news archives. A man, a god, from another realm, leading a strike from another dimension. New York had almost been decimated. He'd gone to look and seeing so many buildings obscured by scaffolding had made him sure that the reports had been true. But they had said he'd been captured.

Apparently not.

But one other thing those reports had made clear was that Loki had power. Even he couldn't stand against him. He wouldn't have even a fraction of a chance. The thought put him in mind alleyways and a face that swam out of recognition just as soon as it had come to mind. There was a familiar sort of hopelessness in that. That no matter how he tried, against this opponent, he couldn't win. That meant it made no difference if he remained hidden or not.

And what purpose did his life serve now, besides? If Loki was here to see him to his end, he may as well make it fast and painless. Making his choice, he stood, face serious, expressionless, and passive. "Why?"

[godofasilvertongue]

Purpose. Life always had purpose, even if it changed more often then not. Loki himself was looking for a new purpose, his last stolen by his brother and his friends. But he would find one. And when he did, he planned to share it with the man before him.

The lack of attack was surprising, as was the passive expression to both face and body of the warrior as he stood. Loki was visibly shocked, but he kept it off the image he was creating. How low had this man gotten that he would give up so easy? Though he had an idea, more so then most.

"I come to help you. I know what it is like to be a pawn in a bigger game. To be meant for great things but kept low by those who should be cowering before you. To be someone else's asset, paraded out when needed then kept down when not." The bitterness in his tone was very much real as he relieved the moments of Odin's betrayal, when Loki had discovered his true parentage. "We are very much alike, you and I."

[kolodnoykovki]

It was one detail in Loki's speech that made him discount it all immediately. "I was never meant for anything great."

No, the man he had been had achieved more greatness than he ever deserved. A hero in death. "Bucky" Barnes had been a good man. Lauded, mourned. And now what was he?

"I just went from fighting one war to fighting another."

[godofasilvertongue]

The image shook it's head, clasping it's hands behind it, it's armor gleaming and impressive. "That is where you are wrong. Why do you think they wiped your mind, kept you downtrodden. Treat you like nothing more then a weapon? They knew you were capable of far more then they so they had to force you below them."

It took a step forward, towards the mentally wounded man, the hands staying behind its back to pose a lesser threat. "I want to help. I want to give you purpose. To give you new life...if you so choose it." He had ways of being persuasive...but it always helped to given the illusion of choice.

[kolodnoykovki]

His shoulders tensed - or one did, anyway. The one that still could. He could almost feel himself trembling with the tension, his right fist tightened for a purpose--

A purpose. The emptiness inside him, waiting for orders, waiting for memory, nearly screamed to be filled with some cause. How could he trust Loki, though? How could he put the weapon he had been formed into, into the hands of a man who had come with the intent of ruling the world?

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said through a clenched jaw, lapsing away from English and into Russian, a language that felt more instinctive, even knowing that he was born in America.

[godofasilvertongue]

The image cocked it's head before shaking it lightly. Even from his place in the shadows, he could see the wheels in the other's head turning, but in the wrong directions.

Taking a gamble, he let the image drop as he stood from the shadows. The image had been every inch of an Asgardian prince, with armor that gleamed and a stance that spoke of power. Loki himself was dressed more plainly, or as plainly as an Asgardian could, a bit slighter in frame and stance.

"You misunderstand." He said as he spread his hands in supplication, using his magic to understand the Soldier's change in language. "I do not want you to be who they made you to be. I do not want you as a weapon in my arsenal." He was lying of course, but that was besides the point. Lying was what he did, after all. His greatest power. "I come as a friend, if you would let me."

[kolodnoykovki]

The sudden change heightened his awareness. He should've expected inexplicable tricks, and now, with this demonstration, he would. Yet what he saw now was so much less formidable. His brows lowered as he tried to evaluate just what it was he saw. Less threatening. Less authority. Somehow no less powerful.

And mouthing friendship. He wasn't even sure of the definition beyond the simple meaning of the word. James Buchanan Barnes had been a friend. Whomever he was now, was he a friend? He had walked away from one man who would have called him friend. What about this one?

"Why? If not for a weapon." A pawn in a bigger game. Yes, that was him. He'd shaped the century with careful bullets and surgical strikes. Brought out only when needed, then hidden away. That was a possible kinship, but what was kinship worth to him?

[godofasilvertongue]

"As I said...I have been where you are. An asset," he spat the word as the vile word it was, "kidnapped from my home as a child and raised as a lesser son by the enemy in some vulgar attempt at peace. I know how it feels, when the veil is ripped away and you find yourself searching for meaning."

He takes another stab at the source for the Soldier's reluctance. "I use the word friend but there is another who would call you such. The Captain Steven Rogers." It took every once of his mental control not to sneer the name. "He wants you to be the person you were. The person you know you can never be again. You can't go back to the time you were ignorant, no matter how much you or he wish you could."

"My brother would wish the same from me." Loki took another step forward, palms up and outward. "But I know it's not possible, for you or for I. When I say friend, I want to help you find yourself, your new self, whoever that may be. As I did."

[kolodnoykovki]

He had come up against those thoughts before. Not long after looking at the exhibit at the Smithsonian, in fact. After reading the text, hearing the voiceover, seeing the video clips of Captain America and Bucky Barnes. The man with his face had looked happy in film. Stubborn, tired, but happy when he was near Steve, and it had hurt to see it. He couldn't even remember happiness. Seeing his own face smiling felt like a caricature. Like something inherently wrong.

That was what Steve had wanted him to go back to, just like Loki said, and while he seemed to remember some things, like distant reflections, none of it quite seemed to connect. Seeing that friendship had put doubt into him, unlike anything he could remember. How could he go back to that, with how he felt now?

It was why he still thought of the name in its entire. James Buchanan Barnes. The name 'Bucky' seemed too young, too innocent. Even with his limited memory, he knew he was neither of those things. And James Buchanan Barnes was a hero who had died. He was... he was someone who didn't have a name. How did Loki understand that?

He clenched his jaw, bit his tongue, tried to steady his breathing, and finally said, "I'm listening."