driftfleet | ★ 2 | video, action ★

Entry tags:

★ 2 | video, action ★

Who: Bucky!Cap Barnes
Broadcast: Private to Natasha Romanoff
Action: Bishop, planetside on Lyndia
When: Shortly after the last shuffle (for video & Bishop), anytime during their stopover in the Bix system

[Video: Private to Natasha Romanoff]
Hey, so when's a good time for a fight and a drink?

[Action: Bishop]
[Bucky's new on the Bishop, but it's not like he's never been here before. Anyone who's been here for a week or two might have seen him coming and going from Steve Rogers' room. In fact, now that he's on board, that appears to be where he's headed now, with an armful of clothes and a strange, circular red, white, and blue shield tucked under one arm.

Actually, since his hands are full, he very politely(?) kicks at the hatch to Steve's cabin once he gets there.

Later, he can be found walking the ship, familiarizing himself with the bridge, bathroom, and kitchen - where he's also digging for the coffee grounds and means to make it into actual coffee, because that's really important. Seriously. Coffee is magic.]

[Action: Planetside]
[Bucky also takes the opportunity to stretch his legs on Lyndia. In fact, he takes the opportunity to spend some time outside, because no matter how much the natives of this world warn him, it seems fine to him. Not even a sniffle. So he ends up earning some extra cash, running errands and ferrying supplies from the surface, including hacking away at vines, gutting old wooden buildings, and maybe even seeing if he can't track down said reptilian beast.

Bucky spends his significant earnings largely on food and clothing, because a) he wants to eat things that are not gel and b) he wants to wear things that are not jumpsuits. He is also willing to share the riches with friends, should they run into him.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I usually go to the Space Bar. The Mallum always seems a little too sharp to me.

[Picking up a bottle of water in the meantime.]

But either's good.

[Bucky at least grabs a towel to run over his face, but given that they haven't been at it for hours, that's fortunately about all he needs.] Space Bar's fine. Let's go there.

[He makes a little motion toward the door; he'll follow her out.] I still feel like there's a lot on this ship I haven't really seen.

You're probably right about that. [She goes, watching him over her shoulder as she walks.] An augment malfunction turned me into a twelve year old once, a couple years back. I spent most of the time hiding in crawl spaces and exploring.

[When she omits trying to stab Steve or being in minor awe of the Winter Soldier, it doesn't sound like such a bad memory.]

[Bucky blinks a little, but -] Huh. No one told me they could do that.

Betcha were exactly the right size for fitting all kinds of places. [He still remembers some of those weird panels and displays from Calibrations.] Were you... was it like being twelve again, then? Mentally?

[Sorry for that minor oversight. It's hard to list all the ways that the Atroma can mess with you.]

Yeah, it was. I didn't remember any of this. Or anyone.

[Bucky just shakes his head.] I guess that's probably the better option. Dunno if I'd want to be twelve again, but think I was twenty-eight.

Guess that's just one more thing to look out for, though, huh? I haven't seen any kids running around here recently, at least.

I don't think there's a good answer to that, but it would have been easier if I remembered the fleet. As it was, I was convinced it was a test.

[What else could it have been? Based on her experience at the time, it was the only thing that made sense.]

Luckily no one got hurt.

[Bucky doesn't know a lot about Natasha's past - his Natasha, or this one. Still, he looks like that's something he's very willing to believe.] Honestly... maybe it was. Who knows.

[He smiles a little, though:] Guess that probably means you passed? If it had happened to Steve, there'd be a lot of black-and-blue knees, I bet.

It only happened the once?

[Probably it's better he doesn't. Natasha rarely voices it. Generally, she prefers to leave her past behind her.

Which is why it was so frustrating to have her past suddenly manifest in the present.]

Only the one time. It's happened to other people, though—happened to Steve once. The last Steve.

No skinned knees.

I meant more other people, actually, [Bucky counters, with a little half-grin.] He mighta punched a lot of kneecaps.

[Although,] There've been... a lot of versions of us here, huh?

[That is just. Weird. Still.]

Well. No kicked shins either. And only an attempted stabbing.

[She doesn't really mind dropping hints to him. She might tell him more if he asked...

It's a strange situation, though.]

More of some of us than others, but seems like there are. You'd be amazed by some of them. There was a girl here at one point, Kate, who was Clint's protege in another universe.

Her world was even stranger than ours.

Only one - well, that's a relief.

[Bucky very, very clearly wants to ask about that. And maybe he will, although the rest sort of takes precedence just for a moment.] Yeah, I talked to - Kitty Pryde? Her world sounded pretty strange, too. I'm honestly not sure if I should feel jealous or lucky - or something else entirely.

Then again, it doesn't matter where we came from - we're all here, and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, either.

[It got him Steve - in more than one way. But it's still a prison, and that's certainly not ideal, either.] I think there are a lot of things about this place that worry me, and maybe most of all is the fact that there are parts of it that I like.

It doesn't have to be all one thing or the other, does it? It can be bad, but there's always people who will find space to make the most of it.

[And the most of it is pretty good, honestly.]

[Bucky huffs a little, but it's a sound of agreement.] I'm trying. Feels a little selfish, but then, sometimes a little selfish is good, you know?

It's still a little hard to get over being watched.

Can't argue with that. I could stand to get a little more privacy.

[It's frustrating, but at the same time, they have to live their lives, right. She lets her gaze wander, apparently casual, as they make their way to the bar.]

Imagine you and Steve could too?

[Pointed.]

Edited 2019-06-14 01:13 (UTC)

I feel like you might say that if you were the last person alive.

[He's teasing, though, and it's clear in his voice.

He does make a sound that's just this side of too polite to be a snort, a second later.] You know, a guy's not supposed to kiss and tell.

[A pause, but,] So yeah. We could.

[Another pause, though, before he murmurs,] Is it... okay with you? Me and him.

[Is it kind of him to ask? Natasha's not sure. How is anyone supposed to know the dating etiquette of doubles and alternate realities.

Either way, Natasha waves it off.]

I don't have any reason not to be okay with it. Not like I have a claim to either of you—except I'd like to you happy. Both of you.

[What Bucky does know is Steve is closer to Natasha - to all the Avengers, and some non-Avengers from the same world, too - than Bucky is to any of his. What they think matters, whether or not it would dictate what he does.]

It's not about claims, [he says, maybe a little dissatisfied with that reasoning, even if he's not unhappy with the response.] And you don't have to say that about me - I know you don't know me. I'm not your Bucky. Or his.

[Okay, now it just sounds like he's being argumentative.] But thanks, [he amends. It helps to hear that. It does.]

[Natasha's expression softens. It may be unfair—carry over from conversations she's had with Steve and concerns she has about the third James Buchanan Barnes in the mix, that he thinks she's been grooming him as a replacement.

But if this Bucky has concerns, she shouldn't dismiss them that easily.]

I don't mean it like that. I just know better than to saddle someone with the wrong expectations. It doesn't work out well for anyone. [Which doesn't walk back her answer, exactly, but she hopes puts in a better light.] What were you asking about?

[Bucky just shakes his head, sighing softly.] No, it's -

[Not something he really wants to talk about, but,] I meant me, specifically. Because I'm not - his Bucky.

Depends what you mean by his. [Considering the situation, that could taken a lot of different ways.] If you talk to Steve, his Bucky isn't really his Bucky either.

It's not as straight forward as who's from who's timeline.

I dunno, maybe it is that straightforward, [Bucky points out.] After all, if we get sent back home... I'm sure not gonna see any of you ever again, no matter what happens.

If we get sent back home, the other version of you is dead. There's only one of him, and none of us remember any of this.

[So, you know. That might be a distinction without a difference.]

Sounds pretty bleak, no matter how you look at it.

[Not that that's a concept he's overly unfamiliar with. None of them are.]

I just don't wanna make things worse for Steve. [He cares about him too much to do that.] But that doesn't mean I wanna watch him be unhappy here when I can do something about it. [Like be with him.

Not that Bucky doesn't have selfish reasons to want that, too. He wants Steve just as badly as Steve seems to want him. He just... tries to think about the consequences a little more than Steve, maybe.

He waves a hand, though,] Anyway, I didn't mean to dump on you. This whole situation is just - weird on top of weird. I don't really have to tell you that. [He laughs a little.] Guess I just need to get it out before we get drunk and I turn all morose.

It's all right. We all need to vent sometimes. Not like you're wrong either—it's weird.

[It's weird, and it's bleak, and the truly amazing thing about Steve Rogers is that somehow, he still acts like it can be better. It's not just optimism or hope, though that's a part of it, but determination.

If he just never accepts what's wrong, maybe eventually the world will realize it was the one making the mistake.

Natasha respects that about him, even if she can't do the same.]

Get it all out of your system, because if you wait until you're drunk and start crying about it, I'm making you pay for drinks even if you did win the sparring match.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject