[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

OTA

[st_ranger]

Bucky Barnes wasn't normally a skittish man. In his past, he had been precise, trained and able to handle anything. This place, though, was surely testing his limits. There was a reason that he'd wanted to just run away and hide. Here, in this place, he wasn't sure hiding was going to be an option.

The woman he'd met had been helpful, if a bit troubling. She'd been able to give him the information that he needed, most of it anyway. He even wouldn't mind speaking with her again. He still wasn't sure about her, but he could relate to her on some level. They both were running from something. Tony, on the other hand, was not someone he has planned to run into. That was why Bucky was skittish. While he had not been hurt, the potential for it was there. If he could, he would surely give Stark a wide birth as much as he could.

Shrugging his shoulders, Bucky turned and made his way through the rest of the hotel. He would need to find his room, eventually. He had no idea who else he would run into in this mad place.

Bucky and Peter

[st_arkintern]

Peter was on his way to the vending machine when he spotted him.

A new person.

But not just any new person, a new person he knew.

Knew may have been a bit generous. The two of them had fought on opposite sides in Berlin. All Peter knew of him was that he was tough and strong and had a metal hand and was probably one of Cap's friends if he was fighting on his side.

Maybe he wouldn't have remembered him nearly as well as he did if he didn't have the metal arm. Or if he hadn't had Karen replay the whole fight in Berlin for him on the regular. But Peter was certain of it: this was definitely that guy he was fighting alongside the Falcon. The one whose identity was of much speculation on the superhero subreddit.

"Hey!" Peter says cheerily, trying to bite back the urge to start gushing about his arm right off the bat. He quickly pads towards Bucky, closing the space between them, and stops before he gets too close.

"You're new here, right? I'm Peter," he says, extending a hand for Bucky to shake. "Peter Parker."

HEEEEEE

[st_ranger]

Bucky blinked. His head turned and he forced a smile at the man in front of you. He tried to guess how young the man actually was, but he wasn't sure. Not very old, if he had to wager on it. The man is, well, very cheery. It was a contrast to his other encounters so far.

"I... Am?" Hesitantly, he reached out his good hand to Peter. "Bu..." He sighed. He was still hesitant to use his name, afraid people would find him. Knowing Tony was here, he wondered if it was just a lost cause at this point. "Bucky Barnes," he murmured.

He gave the kid a firm shake, trying not to squeeze too hard. "You... You live here too?"

Re: HEEEEEE

[st_arkintern]

When Bucky takes his hand into his own, Peter's grin grows even more. He looks down at Bucky's arm, taking it in for hte first time outside of the throes of battle. "It's so cool," he says, trying his best (and failing) to reign in his excitement. "I mean, I thought it was cool the last time we saw one another, but I didn't really get that good of a look last time."

[st_ranger]

"We saw one another?" Bucky blinked, watching the kid stare at his arm. He was almost sure that Peter was going to drool over it, the excitement he was seeing in his eyes. It was an odd feeling. "Last time?"

He thought about something Stark said. "You're from the future." It wasn't a question. Peter, whoever he was, clearly knew him. He even knew about his metal arm, strangely. "It... It's just an arm?" It really wasn't just anything, but he suddenly felt self conscious about it. It was different when he was fighting with it.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, but it's cool! I mean, you've seen Star Wars, right? Luke only has a cybernetic hand and that's, you know, that's amazing. An entire arm is even cooler."

So Peter assesses.

"There's been a lot of advancements in prosthetics over the last couple of years," he says. "Some of them are even being published online and 3D-printed. But your articulation is so natural. It's like holding a real hand."

Peter finally relinquishes his hold on Bucky's hand. He remembers seeing Bucky in Berlin, but there was definitely something familiar about his name that he couldn't quite place.

"What time are you from?" Peter asks.

Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

Loki had missed the next check-in day after his own (busy actually checking in), so this was the first one to which he'd actually paid attention. He wasn't exactly sure how social he really wanted to be - there were enough people who knew who and what he actually was that any attempt to charm new arrivals would have to be conducted carefully - so he'd skulked around invisibly to get a feel for things. See if there was anything interesting enough to occupy him.

And sure enough! Interest presented itself early in the form of one of the new arrivals, and not just that: one who voluntarily separated himself from the herd. Loki recognized much of the way he moved, checking corners and watching everything: that was training. And of course, the metal arm added to the danger. And yet, the man practically bled worry, fear, anxiety.

Loki dropped his invisibility just inside of the man's peripheral vision. Not technically sneaking, but not exactly calculated to be soothing. When one expected something to happen, it was almost comforting when something did, even if it was a small thing. It made the anxiety familiar. "It may take a week or so to learn where everything is here. Are you looking for something in particular?"

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

Words could not describe how Bucky felt. He felt off. This place, everything that was happening. He wondered if this was some sort of retribution or penance for the things he'd done as the Winter Soldier. He wasn't even sure that he believed in that sort of thing, but yet those thoughts were plaguing his mind now.

He blinked, feeling a tingle around him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt like he wasn't alone. It was his training, for preparing the unexpected attack. He turned, suddenly, arms raised as if to grab whoever was behind him. He stopped himself just at the last second, remembering that he needed to not attack everyone in this hotel, as much as he wanted to. People behind him were just that, not necessarily trying to get the jump on him.

"No," he murmured. "I..." Bucky hesitated. "They don't really give you a map, do they?" Bucky eyed the man in front of him, taking in his appearance with a curious expression. "Just... Trying to get acclimated." A pause. "Settled."

Bucky raised his human hand and motioned around him. "Is this place always so... busy?" He wasn't sure that was the right word. "I think I should just try to find my room. Or a drink." Even if he couldn't get drunk, he could feign it.

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

"I spent my first two weeks here as a kitten," Loki said, in the tones of one confiding a secret, complete with smile. Sharing confidences was a good path to a quick bond, even if the confidences weren't actually secrets. "I wanted to explore and settle without having to deal with people." One person, specifically.

"My understanding is that arrival days are busy, but for the most part it's a fairly sleepy sort of place." Which was likely to be worse, if he judged the man's instincts right. He wasn't used to a quiet life and might not settle in unless he had similar prison experience to Loki. Which wasn't impossible. "But both your room and a drink can be managed quite easily, I think. Do you know which room we're looking for?" Also a good ploy: assume inclusion even if you haven't been invited.

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ranger]

"A kitten." Now, he was sure he had heard everything. Bucky gave the man an awkward smile, nodding his head as if he understood when he was not really sure that he did. Though, if there was a way to explore and not have to deal with people, shifting into an animal would do it. It sounded so impossible to him. "Huh."

Arrival days. He had arrived. Why had it been so easy for him to believe he was the only one? "I've already seen strange people and watched a mirror shatter, so, not really quiet." He turned, looking around the room again. Slowly, Bucky pulled the key out of his pocket. "204." Bucky turned back to Loki, shrugging his shoulders. While he wasn't sure he trusted this man, he wondered if he could use him to his advantage.

"Can you show me the way?"

Re: Bucky and Loki

[st_ratagem]

"I can indeed." As a rule, Loki stuck to Midgardian clothing most of the time in the Inn; the only thing Asgardian attire would do was remind people that he wasn't one of them. There were occasions when that was best, but they hadn't occurred yet. "It's the same building I'm in, so I know it better than the others."

Loki turned and started to walk, casually putting his back to the metal-armed man and beckoning an easy follow-me. A trusting sort of gesture, which would help sell him as something like harmless while also putting himself at virtually no real risk. Win-win. "What happened to the mirror?"

Re: OTA

[st_onecoldfox]

Most check-in days, when he wasn't helping out in the kitchens, Mildmay tried to stay outta the way while keeping an eye on things, which wasn't much different from any other day at the inn. Except for the weight pressing on him, sometimes making it hard to breathe, like a echo of the obligation d'âme. Only this time it wasn't no spell, just hope he hadn't been able to shake, that this time, Felix might show up. Although powers help the people here if he did.

About the only the thing new guy walking down the corridor had in common with Felix was being a guy and the corpse-white skin that'd made Mildmay and Felix both stand out Mélusine, but was the norm around here. If anything, he reminded Mildmay more of himself when he got spooked. Trying to watch out for everything at once, braced for something bad to happen at any time.

Looking up from the atlas in his lap, he didn't smile – the scar running the left side of his face from lip to hairline meant he never smiled – but he was relaxed at least. "Learning your way around?" he asked, the words slow, careful not to slur too much to be understood.

Re: OTA

[st_ranger]

Bucky turned, glancing at the man who had called out to him. If he was shocked by the man's visage, he didn't show it. Dark eyes looked down at the atlas, before back up at the man's face. When he spoke, his words were soft, murmured just loud enough that someone could hear him.

"I am." He blinked, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "This place is... It's off putting. Or the... Situation is?" He still wasn't sure about it all, but he was trying to get there. The idea that he couldn't go home again gave him the most pause.

"Looking for something," he asked, motioning to the atlas.

Bucky & MIldmay

[st_onecoldfox]

"It's too fu- too much. Or it was for me. Takes awhile to..." To what, Milly-fox? Not feel like someone's playing in your head? Making you see and feel and think things that weren't real? Not like you ain't been there before. He didn't say any of that, though. Instead he looked around, gave a half-shrug. Either the guy would get it or he wouldn't. If Mildmay'd been placing bets, he woulda gone for would.

"I like maps." Going back to the guy's question was easier. And maybe a reason Mildmay'd picked an atlas if he was gonna have a book out in public. "And where I come from, it ain't, it ain't the world this place is supposed to be from."

Re: Bucky & MIldmay

[st_ranger]

"To settle in." Bucky knew what he was saying, the idea he was trying to convey at least. His head tilted and he glanced down at the atlas, looking a little closer at it. Bucky was getting it, for the most part. He really didn't have any choice in the matter, either.

He had to admit, he liked maps too. "The information is factual. Resolute. Doesn't change. Very few variables." He turned to Mildmay, nodding his head. "She said we were out of time and space. Wouldn't be in any atlas." He frowned, hating the idea of just being stuck somewhere that nobody would ever find them.

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.

Steve and Bucky

[st_evengrantrogers]

It’d been a whirlwind couple of days for Steve. Peggy’s funeral came and went, and before he’d had a chance to figure out those feelings, he’d met up with Sharon Carter again. The pretty nurse who lived across the hall. Turns out Agent 13 was Peggy Carter’s niece? Steve had taken the weekend, flown back out to California, and gone on a road trip to clear his head. But that road trip ended in a strange imprisonment, as he’d nearly ran out of gas and stopped to ask for directions. What sounded like the start of a strange horror film, was actually the next adventure in Steve Rogers’ life.

After a few conversations with the local residents, and spending part of the day walking as far as he could in every direction, Steve had started to come to terms with his current situation. As much as one could. He’d tried getting his cell phone to work, but having left the charger back at his motel in Los Angeles, he was rapidly running out of batteries. There were phones at the hotel, but none of them connected to any numbers he remembered.

Steve had to figure out what to do. But he also had to survive. Eating, sleeping, and connecting with other people were his top priorities while he wrapped his head around this new, whole mess.

So he was outside the restaurant looking at the day’s specials. “Roast chicken,” he read aloud. He wondered if there were vegetables available. Or bread. Or anything besides chicken. Then the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and a shiver went down his spine.

Re: Steve and Bucky

[st_ranger]

Bucky had to admit, he was exhausted. His day here had been full of interactions with people he'd never met, including one who wanted to shoot him. He'd shared words with the young girl, River, over coffee and sweets. Slowly, he felt like he was starting to understand the place and the predicament he was in.

He froze when he saw him there as well. Why did he think he would be able to escape Steve Rogers?

Bucky stared, not sure if he even wanted to approach Steve. He knew that Steve was Steve and he was almost like a mountie or ranger, someone who never stopped until the got their man, regardless of his innocence. He'd been hard to avoid, stepping left and right, trying to give Steve and the others the slip, always moving to another safe house before Steve and his falcon could find him.

Unfortunately, he wasn't going to be able to get away this time. So he stood there, waiting to see what Steve would do. He really didn't want to make the first move. A part of him still really wanted to run.

Re: Steve and Bucky

[st_evengrantrogers]

Steve turned around, unsure what he was going to find. But there was something behind him there, something he couldn't ignore. His eyes went a little wide when he caught sight of Bucky standing there. Not moving.

"Buck?" He asked as he turned his body completely and took a step forward. "Is... is that you?"

Re: Steve and Bucky

[st_ranger]

"I..." Bucky paused. "I am the one you used to call Bucky." His words were soft, his head tilted to the side as he stared curiously at Steve. It's odd, the way that he is speaking. He'd cognizant of it, and yet he doesn't stop himself. He's not sure he wants to be the man Steve remembers, not sure if he can be.

His eyes move down, glancing at the floor as he struggles not to take a step backward. Steve gets closer, approaching him and he doesn't know how to react. He's shy, nervous even. He had not want to be found, but this place just keeps making sure everyone would find him.

"You... You're the man from the museum," he tries to say.

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: OTA

[st_rangepalette]

Lillith felt the pull of Curnen's magic and, recognizing it for what it was, she put down the necklace of prayer beads she had been laying spells into and ventured out to listen. Although she missed both Scanlan and Pike after a fashion, she could not help but note her own relief at not having to walk a careful line between her family from home and the family she had chosen in Curnen. It seemed even moreso right that she should come out to hear Curnen's song and share a smile with her in gratitude for the offering.

What she had not done, because she felt it would dishonor her departed friends, was veil herself, although she most often did on check-in days so not to frighten the newcomers. She had not intended to stay long, nor did she, but as she left the front lawn, she had immediate cause to regret her choice not to veil, for there before her was a newcomer, one with sad but pretty eyes, who looked about as though he mistrusted everything he saw.

She could drop a veil over her Tiefling form, but to do so would likely only challenge his perception of reality more. In lieu of attempting deceit, she softened into a gentle smile (one that did not show her fangs), and paused to thank Mystra that her dress obscured most of her inhuman legs, if not her tail.

"Hello. You are new, I think. I am Lillith. Please do not be frightened. I mean you no harm."

Re: OTA

[st_ranger]

Bucky felt like he was in a daze. New place. New people. A room with his name on it. Being pulled out of time and space. The more information he collected from everyone, the more unsure he felt about his own situation. Friends. Enemies. New people. All his senses felt like he was on high alert. The worst part about it all was he had nowhere he could run to. Four hours and he'd come back, that's what he'd been told.

He was trapped.

Tempted to just go to his room and disappear, Bucky turned and came face to face with Lillith. He tried to smile for her, tried not to look as awkward as he felt. At least, with the others, they had all appeared human. This one, there was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on. It wasn't just the pale skin or the eyes, but the fact that she opened with the fact she didn't want to hurt him.

How badly could she hurt him?

"Bu... Bucky." He nodded his head, trying to keep his features neutral. "I... Okay." He nodded his head. "Yeah, I... New. Uh, as of today." He looked around the room, then back at her. "You're not, huh?"

Re: OTA

[st_rangepalette]

"It is all right. I am used to people staring. I know that I look like the demons of most worlds," she reassured him although he had said nothing of it.

He was trying not to stare, but she understood. A Tiefling with her horns and fangs, claws and hooves and tail, was an unusual sight for most everyone. An albino Tiefling...she was doubly marked.

"I am not new and I do not often appear in public on arrival days such as today, so not to frighten the new arrivals. But I had need of listening to Curnen's song. I apologize that I have caught you off-guard. Would you like for me to appear to you as a human?"

Re: OTA

[st_ranger]

"No, just..." Bucky frowned. "Don't be something you're not, for me. I... I'll manage." He struggled with the words, shaking his head slightly. He didn't want her to have to hide anything. Hell, he was the man with the metal arm. "You're fine. Honest."

"I... I don't know what demon you think you look like. To me, you look like one of those things out of mythology." And to him, those things weren't demons. "I... You, er... You're pretty."

Shaking his head, Bucky looked at anywhere but her. "So, the song..." His shoulders slump a little as he relaxes around her. "The song. I... I heard it. It was beautiful, but I didn't know where it was coming from," he murmured.