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June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2024 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. It’s even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
Peggy Carter | Marvel Cinematic Universe | Legend
The wildfire ravaging across the land was of grave concern for Peggy. She had witnessed firsthand the colossal damage a city under siege from gunfire and bombs could endure; it wasn't quite the same, but the aftermath and the suffering of the people was. Her first instinct was to get others away from the fire, to find a source of water to help put the fire out.
She was interrupted by a cry for help which seemed to be at her feet. Looking down, Peggy noticed a fox nearby who wanted her attention. Bizarre of course, but then being here was already starting to feel like a bloody fever dream. Listening carefully, a frown creases on her forehead as she chews on her bottom lip.
"I have to confess something and the fire will go out?" She asks, making sure to clarify. The fox nods and Peggy sighs, getting the impression that it had to be deep and not superficial.
"Alright. I will do as you ask."
Should another person be nearby, they will hear Peggy confessing out in the open in a loud, clear voice.
((ooc: Note - choose 1 or 2! :D ))
1) Colleen was a sweet woman who did not deserve her fate. They had only been roommates a few months, but Peggy enjoyed their brief chats when they had them. As they both worked different shifts in different jobs, they only saw each other at certain times.
On the night that Peggy infiltrated the club for information, their shared apartment was broken into by a member of the Leviathan organisation. He killed Colleen in his search for a bomb and Peggy returned hours later to find him still looking. They engaged in a fight and eventually she got the upper hand, throwing him out of the apartment window.
She went into the bedroom to find the body of her dead roommate - there was nothing Peggy could do. Falling to her knees, Peggy sobbed openly and mourned the loss of Colleen.
"I blamed myself," Peggy said softly as the memory came to an end and the fire died down. "If I had come home sooner, maybe Colleen would still be here. It was never my intention to put any civilian in danger, but there were other forces at work. Evil forces. If I could go back to change it, I would."
She is quiet after that, her gaze fixated on the dying embers.
2) Erskine's project had to work if they wanted to turn the tide in the war. The research had shown great promise and the army was assured they would be given super soldiers after the serum passed its test on a human subject. All they needed was the perfect subject.
Brute strength was simply enough. The perfect soldier had to have guts, fortitude and a willingness to sacrifice himself for others. Some had displayed at least one of these attributes, but it wasn't enough.
Until the day the Colonel threw a dummy grenade into the crowd of soldiers. Peggy ran towards them, stopping short when she noticed Steve Rogers, a short, skinny recruit diving on top of the grenade and telling people to keep away. It was the bravest thing Peggy had ever witnessed someone do and unexpected, given Steve's appearance. At that moment, she felt proud. Maybe they could win the war.
With that incredible action, there was only one outcome from it: they had found their man.
"I knew then that Steve was someone special. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of him. He was earnest and enthusiastic, wanting to do his part. I had my concerns that he wouldn't be a right fit, but I was proved wrong. We grew closer after that, working together on missions and slowly but surely, we beat the enemy back. I thought we would have had more time after the war -" A pause "- But it wasn't meant to be."
Wildcard!
[ Something else you would like? Drop a prompt below or send me a PM or reach me
Flames to Embers #2
He's heard the story before, through many lenses too, though Steve's version is always the closest to what really happened. And now seeing through Peggy's eyes, Bucky isn't surprised to see the same story Steve has been telling. Still, seeing the small Steve curl around a dud makes him think of the small Steve in this world, and how this moment would probably feel so simple after all they have gone through. All of them who shares a similar past.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Bucky leans against the wall, the hint of an amused smile on his lips:
"You forgot to add extremely stubborn and unbearably optimistic to his qualities."
The man might have long hair now, and a full beard, but his voice hasn't really changed, nor the way his eyes twinkle slightly when he's teasing Steve since the 40s. He might be broader and sporting a black and gold vibranium arm, but Peggy shouldn't have too much trouble recognizing him.
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"I- ah, yes. That is quite true about him." Peggy replies finally, still taking Bucky in.
"Forgive me, but please tell me I am not imagining things and you are indeed Sergeant Barnes. Different to how I remember of course - although there is no mistaking your face or voice."
Referring to him by his rank seemed appropriate right now, she had never really been informal with a lot of people. Except perhaps Steve.
cw: mention of brainwashing, description of torture
"I am," he starts as he pushes himself off the wall where he's been leaning on, slowly walking to Peggy, "but it's been decades since anyone has called me by my rank." With the exception of Vision, who's always been just as formal as this Peggy.
He stops a few feet short of Peggy, blue eyes unreadable as he looks at one of the wildfires still licking at the building, and Bucky sighs inaudibly, knowing that at least his retelling of his past sins will at least going to help with the fires.
"It's been about seventy years since I fell off that train. I didn't die because Zola had experimented on me with his own version of the Super Soldier Serum. Lost an arm in the process though," he adds, showing off the black and gold vibranium of his left arm.
"HYDRA found me at the bottom of the ravine, and they whisked me off to Siberia, where they brainwashed me and turned me into their living weapon." The fire beside them wavers slightly and shadows in it come into focus on one of his memory of that damn chair, and Bucky's gaze turns away from the scene as it plays out:
He sits in the memory-erasing machine, body convulsing as electricity courses through his brain, painful screams escaping him with each wave of electricity. In the background, a soldier speaks in Russian, seemingly one word at a time. Even as the machine releases him from its painful hold, Bucky's body violently shakes, and with each word pronounced, the light in his eyes seems to fade rapidly, leaving a shell of the man he used to be. The soldier seemingly greets him still in Russian, and Bucky looks up and replies something in a monotonous voice.
The fire slowly dies after that, and James shrugs lightly, as if to shake away the memory even if he hasn't looked at it.
"Eventually, HYDRA got cocky and sent me after Steve, but he managed to break through my conditioning," he offers, not wanting her to think he's a pawn of HYDRA. There is more to the story, clearly, but Bucky knows just that is a lot to take in.
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“Zola. That bastard.” She says with a scowl, tone dripping with venom. Then she is quiet after that, noticing a shift in the fire. It would appear that he was sharing a memory of his own with her.
Peggy can only watch in silent horror, her hand flying up to her mouth as she tries to cover the shock. She had heard stories about the evil experiments that HYDRA had conducted, but to see it first hand made her feel sick to her stomach - especially when it was someone she knew.
When the fire dies out, she looks at Bucky with an expression of sympathy.
“I am sorry that you went through that. Truly. But I’m glad that Steve was able to get through to you. If anyone could, it would be him.” Her expression changes into something more hopeful.
Flame to Embers #1
Had she chosen? She wasn't sure at the moment. Her life was great, perfect even, so why now? Why would she leave now? It's a giant mystery to Maddie, as she suddenly hears a confession.
"I don't think you should live like that," Maddie mumurred quietly, risking a glance at the woman. "It doesn't help. It will drive you crazy."
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Turning around, Peggy nods at the other woman in greeting, smiling faintly.
"You're very wise. But I will admit, I did feel like that for a time. Have you gone through something similar?"
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Peggy didn't know anything about her though.
"Sort of, yeah. It was always just Evan and I... us against the world, well mostly against our parents but pinkie promises pretty much cover everything," She smiled softly at the memory of her brother.
"I... I killed my ex-husband, um. before he could kill me," She finished softly, as she watched the flames soften.
"I'm Maddie, by the way."
wildcard
But Peggy - one look at her and the memories crash into him like a wave. He feels pulled to her, breath caught in his throat. "Hi," he says, all other words lost for the moment.
And then, because of the strange scenes he'd seen earlier, other obstacles to remembering his time here, he asks: "I uh, I'm not a ghost, am I?" It's an earnest question.
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She was currently on a walk when Steve came across her, stopping short as she stared at him. "Hello." Peggy replies quietly, feeling a knot in her stomach. She didn't know what else to say.
Thankfully, he broke the silence with a question. One that made sense to her actually, given the spirits she had noticed earlier.
"You don't look like a ghost. You seem...solid." Taking a step forward, she reaches out with a hand to touch his arm and it doesn't go through him. "See? Solid."
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To him, she died a handful of years ago, in her old age, surrounded by loved ones. She'd loved her life. So he knows she's alive, he's confident if anyone's the one who's dead, it's him: this must be some sort of afterlife, after all, to get to see her.
There's more to it, he knows. Something in his brain is telling him that the information's all there, it's just locked away. But it's not important, for the moment. "I missed you," he says.
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"I missed you too." She replies, pulling back to look up at him but not too far away. "You look - your hair seems different. Is it?"
It wasn't like the style of the men back home, maybe he decided to go for a new look. It seemed like such a silly question, but asking something serious was too much for her right now.
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"I've got a long story to tell you," he says, voice heavy with emotion. "Why don't we find someplace to sit? I - there's lots of cafes around here, I know it."
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Flames to Embers #1
Though judging from her posh accent she's not from the coal mining country. She's some sort of agent or military from her confession. Even worse, really. John's never been good with authority figures.
His hands in his pockets he thinks really, really hard about walking away. He really does! He really wants to.
"You engage with evil and it'll bring evil into your life," he says from a little bit behind her. "And evil will go after anyone. Doesn't matter what she deserved, luv."
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Peggy only became aware of John's presence when he spoke - maybe she was getting sloppy - but she was also distracted by the fire and the memory.
"She never - Colleen was innocent. She didn't fight in a war, she didn't try to bring down an evil regime, she-" Peggy pauses, thinking about the rest of his words. "So I shouldn't blame myself for her fate? I suppose it didn't really matter where I lived, anyone who was there would have gotten caught in the crossfire."
Releasing a breath, she turns to look at the man who spoke to her. The familiar accent was comforting in a way, given how long it's been since Peggy went home to England.
"It is Peggy by the way. Peggy Carter." Her polite way of informing him that is what she preferred to be addressed as.
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She seems a little too upright, too good for that sort of coping.
"John Constantine." He doesn't offer her a hand but keeps them in his pockets, smirking slightly. "Luv."
John's not going to pretend to be anything other than the bastard he is. He doesn't know if she'll recognize the name. He's known well enough in his own universe but there are a mash of universal energies here. So many mixed together it's almost difficult to tell where everyone comes from.
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That was how she coped, burying herself in her work.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Constantine." There's no offered hand from her either, and Peggy has to bite her lip from not smirking in return. He's a cocky one alright.
"Are you newly arrived like myself or have you been here a while?"
If he wasn't new then maybe he would have more insight into this place.
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2
There had been reports, of course. Movies. Eye-witness accounts. But seeing it is different. It's funny how she wants to stop him, throw him out of the way and take the hit herself even though she knows she's watching a memory.
"Time is a funny thing," is all she replies, at first, watching the fire shrink lower. "I can see why that memory means so much to you."
Natasha waits to see if that's all it will take, or if she'll have to offer bits of herself into the flame.
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"It is, isn't it?" Peggy agrees with a sigh, trying to keep her emotions in check. "You can? I imagine other people who witnessed what he did might feel something different, but that moment changed the course of both our lives."
The fire dies down a little more, but it's not quite out. Peggy chooses that moment to look at the other woman directly, offering a smile.
"Did you see the whole thing?"
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Well, it should be... topical, she supposes. And it's a way to break the news more gently than just... saying it, she supposes.
"I know Steve Rogers," she confesses. Zero vulnerability is involved in this, and so the fire does not go down, but the embers focus in on Steve's face - then Steve, jumping out an airplane without a parachute. "He's one of the few people in the universe that I trust."
The image shifts to a bunker, surrounded by a computer lining every wall. The point of view suddenly narrows; you grab a small stick out of a container and run, just making it in time to an indentation in the ground. Steve is right behind you, on top of you, holding up his shield as the room begins to fall on top of you. It's hard to see, there's so much dust clouding the air as Steve holds off the whole building while it falls down on top in giant chunks of debris.
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She continues to watch the scene unfold, wondering what the stick was - likely important. The technology though seemed beyond what Peggy knew, not impossible, but it would take a lot of resources to make it a reality. And of course Steve would take the full brunt of a building to protect someone else, much like how he dove on the grenade - and he didn’t even have his strength or shield then.
“Old habits die hard, hm?” Peggy says with a slight laugh. “I’m glad you had him in your corner when you needed it.”
Holding out a hand, she offers it to her without question. “Peggy Carter.”
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2
For a moment, she thinks it's a strange dream, or a memory of her own playing in the fires. In a way, it's both. It's not long after she caught sight of the familiar scene in the flames that she notices the other woman, herself as she vaguely remembers from prior to the serum. It's the same face, but the height and build's much different. This must have been how the other Cap had felt meeting her Steve.
Captain Carter steps over to stand next to the other Peggy Carter, a respectful distance, watching the flames as they dampen, but remain consumptive. "That was the moment," she agrees. When she fell for him. One of many that cascaded into something timeless and enduring. And more importantly: "He's here you know. Well, a Steve that received the serum instead of me."
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She hears footsteps nearby, becoming aware of a presence beside her. It felt better to not be alone in this moment as she reflected on her past. What Peggy did not expect was to hear her own voice.
Slowly, she turns around to look at the other woman. She soon realises that she has to look up to see her face because of the height difference.
“I - you. Bloody hell.” Peggy exclaims, needing a few moments. "Steve is here? My - the one I know? And you, you come from a place where you took the serum instead?"
Clearing her throat, she tries to keep it together.
"Apologies. I just never expected something like that to happen. You look amazing."
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When the other Peggy turns and stares, Captain Carter stands patiently, allowing them both the space that they need to gather themselves. Though she at least has the edge there, what with having met several others from across the multiverse.
"Two Steves are here, actually. Honestly I cannot be certain if he is from your specific universe, what with how many universes there are and no Watcher to confirm, but he did receive the serum." She doesn't want to guarantee anything, but at this point she just doesn't want to dash they joy that's being felt.
"That's exactly it. I'm from a universe where I decided to stay in the room with Steve when he received the serum." She explains, a warm smile quirking over her features at the compliment. "Thank you, and at the risk of sounding self-serving, so do you."
The crackling of the flames pull her attention back to the higher priority issue at hand. "Do you suppose us discussing the differences between our lives can count as confessing?"
Two birds, one stone. Only one way to find out.
Flames To Embers #1
Clearly, she was from a much earlier point in time given her appearance and the fact he knew the Peggy Carter of his world had died the previous year. "Well, I mean you can't control what other people are gonna do, especially if they've already decided murder is the only solution to a problem. Only what you do yourself."