[GP/EP] Check-in Day

[st_oneswidow]

The woodwinds in her collection were for noodling mostly, and the violin was for memory of her family, but when Curnen really wanted to play she turned again and again to her guitar. This would probably always be her best instrument. It was the first of the month, she’d been here over a year, and it was probably a check-in day. So she sat on the lawn with her instrument in her lap, sending out a subtle magic to call anyone stranded in their little world this way.

At one point, though, she set aside the guitar and turned her face to the sky. For just a few minutes she required a different kind of magic.

It had been a week now since Scanlan had vanished in the battle. And Pike, too, though Curnen honestly couldn’t have cared less about her going away if she tried. Still. The two of them were family to people very dear to her, people who missed them. And Scanlan had been her friend. You marked something like that with a song.

Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

It was a traditional Irish goodbye, a farewell to friends said with love, drinking, well wishes, and the hope of meeting again. She couldn’t think of a better one for the occasion. And as she sang she twined her magic into her voice in a new way, sending the song to any ears that needed it, ears of those who knew and missed the departed. Not all of them might understand it, not all of them knew what she was, but she didn’t particularly care about that right now. The song was more important than the hiding.

Once the last note had dissipated she picked up her guitar again and resumed her work. If there were anybody out there, they had to know where to go.

Comments

[st_ranger]

"I... I'm understanding you? Mostly..."

He wasn't really sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was he broken too?

Digging into his food, Bucky took a few bites, using that as a way to distract and buy himself some time. He tried to think of just what he wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure. "I... I don't know you're name. I'm... People called me Bucky."

[st_arkintern]

Peter isn't sure what Bucky would have done to believe that he deserved to die, but Peter doesn't believe that anyone deserves to die. Even if they did really terrible things.

"It'll be okay, though," Peter says encouragingly. "I didn't know anyone at first. People knew other versions of me, but they didn't know me-me. Just alternate mes. Things'll get easier once you start making friends."

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

"Four," Loki agreed pacifically, making a mental note to keep an eye out for this 'kid'. Not that it was a problem, but because he was curious. Anyone from the future might accidentally provide details that Thor wasn't inclined to talk about. Loki didn't need to know yet, but more information was never a bad thing.

"And yes, let's." He continued leading the way up to the fourth floor, where there weren't many rooms - the comparative isolation of the Sky Room was another bright spot, in Loki's view - and into the Sky Room itself.

The exit to the balcony, with the roof overhanging slightly, was obvious; he didn't bother to point it out. Instead he beelined for the little wall-nook by the bed to retrieve two small glasses and a bottle. Whiskey, probably. It likely didn't matter much. "Feel free to explore or what-have-you. I personally find the roof most calming."

[st_ranger]

Oh, if he knew. If Peter knew, he wouldn't want to be friends with Bucky either. And the former asset can accept that. People had been rough with him over lesser atrocities. Tony had every right to hate him and want him dead. Bucky toyed with the idea of just going up to his room and staying there for a while.

He really wanted to at least scope out the hotel and make acquaintances. Trust meant trusting and he wasn't sure he was ready to do that yet, even with the kid. "You sound like him, Rogers." There was a hint of positivity in his eyes and in his smile that he could see in Steve too. Rogers had never given up, not really and truly. He would always be the kid on the ropes.

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

"With possibly more to come," he said softly. Bucky followed Loki up to his room, taking in everything that he saw, he also mapped out where to run if he felt the need to. This time, however, he didn't. The room was no different than his, Odd colors and layout. At least he didn't feel like he had to run just yet. The corners of his lips twitched and he made his way out to the balcony.

His head nodded in agreement. He can feel the feeling of calm as well. At least he was blessed that, with his gifts, he couldn't hear someone else's thoughts too.

"I..." He shook his head. He really didn't want to explore Loki's room either. It wasn't a safe house, it was his room. There should have been some small modicum of privacy. "Done enough for today," he murmured.

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

"Fair enough." There were enough different ways to translate that that Loki didn't bother. Instead, he poured a generous amount into each glass and made his way out to the balcony to offer one to his guest. "Last time I was imprisoned, it was a box with one glass wall. A sort of museum display, I felt. Humiliating, really." More than just being imprisoned, the sense of being on display had been aggravating. "Before that, a glass tube over a very long drop. I rather enjoy reminding myself that I can't actually see the walls of this one."

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

Bucky nodded his head. "I was..." He shivered, the memory still one he did not like to recall. He glanced over at Loki, raising an eyebrow at him.

"HYDRA imprisoned me. Frozen. Take out to complete mission and then return. Wipe. No memory." His voice was soft, quiet as he told his tale. "Poked. Prodded. Wiped. Repeatedly." He hoped that his story was making sense, as he really didn't want to go into too much detail. He would, however, if he had to.

Bucky took the glass from Loki, staring down at the amber liquid. "Walls not seen, but at least there is more room to breathe."

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

That much alteration should have negated his usefulness to this HYDRA group long before. There was only so much any person's mind could bend and twist without breaking outright, as Loki knew very well. That Bucky had any discrete personality at all was genuinely impressive. But he just nodded; compliments were suspicious sorts of things, and he wasn't trying to crank that back up quite yet.

"Four hours in all directions, I'm not sure if anyone told you. Roughly a kilometer up, I've been told. Though of course I can't fly, so it's nothing to me." Loki sipped his drink, then continued. "All walls have holes and cracks somewhere. I intend to find them, in time."

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

Bucky sighed and stared out in front of him. HYDRA had used him their own personal weapon and asset. When the mission was over, he was taken care of and prepped for the next mission. He never remembered doing it. He'd been housed in ice so many times that it all blurred together, even now. He really was much stronger and more resilient than even he was aware of.

"It was mentioned." His hand trembled as he lifted his glass and took a sip. "Go out, come back. Go up, come back. Can't get far." Bucky shrugged his shoulders, looking over at Loki. "If they exist, you have to find them. Probably very remote." And yes, he was offering his help if Loki wanted it.

[st_makemeastone]

"River." He might be broken, but she didn't tell him that. Of course she was learning that most people had broken bits. Her bits were just more obvious.

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

"There are always holes." Asgard, for example. Most had believed that the only way to other realms was via the Bifrost, but Loki had explored the edges of the realm and found the paths elsewhere. They were difficult and dangerous, most of them, but they were there.

This place would be no different. There was always a way out. "I wouldn't mind the company. That arm of yours doesn't have any sensor apparatus, does it?"

[st_ranger]

"River." He gave her a small smile. "Suits you." Bucky nodded his head and took a few bites of his food. "How long have you been here?"

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

"Holes." Bucky took a sip of his drink, staring out in front of him. His mind whirled. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to get back home. "Maybe find a way to send the others home and I just stay here," he muttered more to himself than to Loki directly. He really had been torn up by his encounter with Tony. His grip on the glass tightened when he thought of himself staring down the barrel of Stark's repulsor, so to speak.

His eyes narrowed and he stared down at his arm. "Yes," he murmured. Bucky closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the Winter Soldier knowledge. It was still in his mind, but the brain had become foggy with the Bucky memories coming to the surface. "There are sensors for stabilization. Balance and accuracy for throwing," he murmured, remembering how he had thrown Steve's shield with ease. "Sensory array. Undetectable by metal detectors. Able to hide weaponry from being detected."

His eyes opened and he looked back over at Loki. "Can any of that be useful?"

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

It seemed mostly internal - highly useful, in certain circumstances, but in terms of external detection.... "Perhaps, perhaps not. I'm loath to disregard any possible advantage." If nothing else, Bucky would be more than decent backup, on occasions when he needed a quieter companion than his brother.

Thor was many things. Subtle wasn't generally one of them.

"If you'll take my advice, never stay in a cage if you have the opportunity to leave it behind." There was something almost bewitching in the idea of being somewhere untouchable and untraceable... but there were many such places in the universe, surely. There was no reason to stay on one so pink. "But I'm sure we'll have time to convince you to my point of view on that."

Re: Steve and Bucky

[st_evengrantrogers]

Steve held his hands up in a placating gesture--a calming show of his palms, as if to say I'm no threat. He stepped forward again. "It's me. It's Steve."

The Bucky in front of him looked a little better than the one he'd battled on the airship--the one who had pulled him out of the river, then fled. The one he'd imagined finding. This Bucky still looked terrified--like a mangey hare about to take off at any moment. Steve didn't want that. He wanted his friend back. He'd do whatever it took.

"Yes. Well. Yes, there's a museum." He admitted it sheepishly. "What do you mean... I used to call...?"

Re: Maria & Curnen

[st_rongliketeflon]

"That obvious, huh?" Maria said with a half laugh. "Yeah. Just got here like an hour ago. Still don't really know if I'm just hallucinating or not, but I heard you singing and thought I'd take a look. Whatever you were singing sounded really nice."

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_rongliketeflon]

"Months?" She repeated.

Maria had no idea what Vax meant, but she had a feeling it might not be the best news.

"You know all this sounds like it's straight from a sci-fi movie, right?" She asked.

[st_arkintern]

"Really?"

There's no mistaking the light in Peter's eyes when he utters that word. He looks down, grinning, then manages to (mostly) push that smile away to look back at Bucky's face again.

"We only kinda talked once," he says. "During the fight. He said I had heart. He also asked where I was from. We're from neighboring boroughs."

Re: Maria & Curnen

[st_oneswidow]

Curnen shrugged. "Ain't many of us here. Couple shy ones'll keep you on your toes, but 'side from that you'll see pretty much every face inside a week. But," and here she leaned forward lightly on her instrument, "where and when're you from that you haven't heard 'Wayfaring Stranger' before?"

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_abby]

His expression turned puzzled. 'Sci-fi.' Wasn't that- "Like the Star Wars? The ones with the glow-swords?"

He shrugged, not understanding the comparison. "I don't know about all that. But I do know it's a lot to ask you to believe, and who am I? Just a weirdo in feathers. Doesn't mean I'm lying though." He nodded in the direction of the front desk. "Let's introduce you to Darryl."

Re: Bucky & MIldmay

[st_onecoldfox]

Maps here, Mildmay had found mostly by comparing them to places he went when the portal-whatever opened on 'Europe', were way more accurate than maps in Méduse. You could actually use 'em to figure out how to get places without a ton of surprises. So what the guy said about maps made more sense here than it would've at home.

She who, he wondered but didn't ask. There were lots of women here who helped with the new arrivals. He flipped to a map of California. One finger, the back of it spider webbed with the hair thin scars of a knife fighter who'd lived, came down on a point roughly a third of the way up. "Out of time and space, yeah. But when it wasn't, where we are now woulda been here. A place called California. In the... United States. Do you have them where you're from?" 'Cause Mildmay didn't.

Re: Steve and Bucky

[st_ranger]

Bucky sighed. He was going to have to explain. He didn't want to explain. He really wanted to just turn and run. His head tilted and he eyed Steve up and down, taking in his demeanor and body language. "I know who you are. You..."

Bucky nodded his head, frowning slightly. "I'm Bucky, but... I'm not the man you want me to be." Slowly, Bucky raised his metal hand, waving the fingers at Steve. "I... I can't be the man from your past. He is not me. I saw him, at the museum. I..." Bucky stammered, having trouble putting the words together.

He didn't want to fight with Steve.

"I'm broken."

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

Bucky nodded his head slowly. "I... I'm not sure I want to go back." His head tilted to the side and he stared at Loki. "There were people looking for me." He shrugged his shoulders. There would always be people be looking for him, no matter where he went.

Glancing down at his metal hand, Bucky flexed it, making a fist and letting it out slowly. It was his arm, something he couldn't change about himself. He wasn't sure what Loki meant, what he'd been asking about in regards to his arm, but it clearly wasn't what Loki wanted.

"I have the feeling we have lots of time. We're both stuck here," he said softly.

[st_ranger]

"Oh, you're a New Yorker." That made Bucky smile, just a little. It was a very small smile, but it was there. "New York. The city lights up at Christmas." His voice was soft, quiet as he remembered how the streets used to light up. When they were younger, Steve and Bucky would to take it all in. A free show was a free show.

His head nodded and he gave Peter a fond look. "He'd like you. When he wasn't fighting you." They both grinned just like a kid at Christmastime, that was what made him trigger his memory. "I miss New York."

Re: Bucky & MIldmay

[st_ranger]

His eyes lingered on the atlas, flicking to the finger and then back to the map in front of him. "California," he murmured. That would make sense. He paused, thinking it over. A hotel in California, if they were not out of time and space. He'd try to go and get away, but he would just come back. There was no escaping. "I did, yes. That's... A different country than where I was, but yes. I know it."

"Bucky," he said softly. "I... I'm Bucky. I wasn't from California, but... Yeah." Yes, he understood because yes, that was the world that he was from. He guessed, from the way that the man was speaking, that he did not. A place called California? Someone from Earth would not have phrased it like that. "Where are you from?"