( open )

[redactions]

| characters | Bucky and you.
| date/time | Thursday afternoon.
| location | Around
| rating | G.
| summary | The best way to greet your neighbours is to feed them.
| note | I wrote in prose but feel free to use brackets.



He falls asleep instantly on the moss bed, the smell of it familiar and steadying. Combat lends sleep of no restful kind but he barely dreams at all, waking up as soon as the first ray of light peers through the window. There's a moment of bewilderment, and then reality introduces itself to him all over again as he notices the wings are still there when he picks up his gem. He flattens them self-consciously, before finally deciding they take up too much space and leaves the gem carefully tucked under his pillow.

Breakfast, however, is the immediate problem. He saved some water from the rains and an edible mushroom, and it's boiling away merrily on the stove. The glow worm is unusually cooperative, but Bucky supposes that if he's now the size of a dragonfly it's not the weirdest thing in the world.

It's actually nice. He could get used to it.

Once the worm's been sent off with an appreciative scratch on the head, he picks up the large bowl of stew and starts knocking on a few doors.

'Hello?'

Comments

[redactions]

Dogs are better.

[ He says it without any real force. He's just a dog person. ]

[dissemblance]

[Privately, she agrees. But Anna is a cat person, so--]

Depends on what you're looking for in a companion.

[millionyearsentence]

[ It isn't her choice. No one had a choice. Not even Simeon. ]

We're working on that. There is hope, but it needs hard work to make it a reality.

[ The Casket had been one way. Now she only needed to bide her time until Simeon is ready to launch the assault for On High. What other grand plans that man had, she did not know. ]

No. sorry. [ A frown, and then: ] Which year?

[redactions]

[ Loyalty. But there's no direct question, so he makes an agreeable noise, steps aside and lets her try. ]

[dissemblance]

[Well all right then. But she doesn't ask, and he doesn't clarify.

He's a good cook, as it turns out.]

[redactions]

[ He nods. Hope is scarce, and sometimes it's all people have, but they can still walk for miles and dream. It's powerful. ]

1945...?

[millionyearsentence]

[ 1945, 1945.... uhh.... ]

Are you using the old calendar? It'd be about a million years, maybe even more.

[ It was 1002014, the last time she remembered. ]

[redactions]

Holy cow.

[ It's out before he can stop it, and then he remembers to close his jaw. ]

Wow.

[ A million years. That's one way to meet the future. ]

[millionyearsentence]

[ If he truly was from her world's past, then she supposes she'd need to give him a run-down of the whole situation. ]

Yeah. It's... not easy, honestly. [ She tilts her head, examining something on her hand for a moment before continuing. ] America, Asia, those names - they're of the old world, right? It's almost been forgotten completely.

[ The old world, when resources were still plentiful... It's something that her people can only envision in dreams. ]

I'm from Tokyo. It's the one name that's left, I think. [ Simeon skipped that part while telling her about the past, and the databases only had Japanese names. ] We don't live in nations anymore, only Panopticons. There aren't enough resources to go around anymore, so all the fighting's involved in taking them.

[ It's a dog eat dog world. ]

We get by, but once in a while Abductors from On High come to steal and pillage. That's when most of the fighting is. [ And most of the casualties, too. ]

[twilightlegend]

Conspirators would imply that they planned it this way when, at most, they just happen to be reincarnations of each other with the same taste in food! ... Okay, so maybe labelling them conspirators was infinitely easier. Still, Link turns to look at his ancestor(?) in mild surprise before turning his attention back to Bucky.

Or rather, the pot of soup in Bucky's hands. There are jokes here to be made of that we are certain.

It's probably a good thing that Link doesn't turn around and immediately hold up his bottle of soup in victory, isn't it? That might have been too much, but he looks incredibly happy for the soup, even if it's not quite pumpkin soup.

[sleepwardsnored]

And if anything, this Link's smile just grows wider between his... descendant?-- And Bucky with the soup. It's a perfect way to start a morning, really!

There's an excitable little bow of the head-- a thank you of sorts-- as he cradles his own bottle of soup with an equally pleased expression.

...What they wouldn't give for pumpkins here.

[betterthanwu]

Kuvira opens the door out of her armor and most of the heavy outer garments that come with it. She looks younger and more feminine in a tank top, her hair in a long braid, bandages around her arms, but those are the same strong features and direct eyes, and that same low voice. Her cable spools are still at her hips, and her armor is propped up on sticks against the wall inside.

"Sergeant. This is a surprise."

[alley_kit]

Kit smells the stew before she even opens the door. Thus, Bucky has already made a positive impression before she's even set eyes on him. When she does open the door, Bucky is greeted by the sight of a little girl about eight years old, with purple faerie wings on her back. Unusually, though, the girl has some features that look decidedly feline. Especially the short fur covering most of her body and the long, fluffy tail.

She doesn't seem the least bit intimidated talking to a strange adult man, though, so that's a plus. "Hi!", she says cheerfully. "Were you looking for somebody?" Cause even if that soup smells really good, it's not really polite to just assume it's meant for her.

[redactions]

Oh hel-lo pretty lady — and then his brain catches up with him. Whoops. To his credit the almost slip doesn't show on his face, and he smiles pleasantly, nodding to her, holding up the bowl as though ready for a spot inspection.

'Captain. I have soup, if you'd like some.'

[redactions]

At this point the obvious feline aspects don't even serve to make him blink. Why should they - when he's dead, in a place where he's about the size of a pixie, and has a stone that gives him wings? Plus, at some point one just had to accept all the weirdness and move on with one's life. Compartmentalise. It saved a lot of headache.

He smiles at her brightly. 'I'm lookin' for the lady of the house,' he says, with a wink to let Kit know he definitely means he was looking for her in particular and not a roommate. 'See, I have this soup, and I can't eat it all myself.'

[betterthanwu]

She looks at the bowl, and then at him, quirking extremely expressive eyebrows like this is something serious she's not impressed by. "Getting to know the neighbors?"

Then, Kuvira twitches one side of her mouth, letting her face ease, and gestures with her head back into the room. "All right, you have permission to come in. What's in it?"

[redactions]

'Soup,' he says brightly, like he's just scaled Everest, absolutely undaunted by her initial disapproval. He spares a quick glance downwards at his boots to make sure they're clean - the rest of his uniform isn't pressed but passes muster - and walks in carefully, not looking or going where he might not be wanted. This is her space, after all, young as she is she's still a captain.

[alley_kit]

Well, that sure makes her smile. And maybe even blush a little, though probably not enough to be visible through her fur. Even if he is joking a bit, no one's ever really called her a lady before.

"Well then, I'd be glad to help! I'm good at eating soup," Kit says, stepping aside to allow him to come in, then closing the door behind him.

"You can put it over here," Kit said, indicating the house's dining table. "And I'll get us bowls and stuff. Just look before you sit down; my glow worm likes to curl up on the chairs."

[redactions]

Bucky watches them with poorly disguised amusement. Do they not talk? Well it ain't the weirdest thing around here. 'You're welcome,' he adds, after they've both enthusiastically finished half of their respective servings. 'I'm just downstairs if you kids want more. Just ask for James Barnes. Hey, what d'ya know, I might be famous by then and I can start chargin' ya.'

A joke; he'd refuse to charge anything or insist it be paid back another way. Some people didn't like being indebted, and while he was in that category, some things were an inherent right and had to be given freely. Soup's one of 'em, even Al Capone knew that.

[redactions]

Mission accomplished: a smile. Maybe he'll try for another few before the morning's out. He steps in deftly, careful to follow her, and glances around to take in the room. The windows are letting in a lot of sunlight, which makes the place look especially bright and warm. It's a home, when his have been dark foxholes or a barn, or some poor family's abandoned house.

'So you've got one of these too, huh?' he says, pulling up the chair next to the one said worm is snoozing on. 'They're pretty friendly.'

[redactions]

[ He nods when she names the continents. Still a lot to wrap his head around, and he's outdated in more ways than one. His expression darkens as she continues: it's a harsh world, and it seems to have made people who'd survive in it, viciously. Can't blame 'em, if killing's what keeps you and yours alive. Had a few of those folks during the War. It led some men down desperate paths, and while he and Steve had gone without enough to know the pain of hunger, they'd never truly starved. ]

Nobody besides a few folks are fighting 'em?

[millionyearsentence]

Well... not really. [ The harsh conditions of the future led to the development of the Panopticons' harsh rules. And it's all they will ever know, unless she did something to change it all. ]

See, there are two classes of people. The Citizens, people with brains, and the Sinners, who are the brawn. Sinners fight to protect Citizens, and Citizens work to keep our Panopticon running.

[ Citizens are valuable resources, after all. She imagines their life can't be easy either. ]

I'm one of the latter. Usually we can wreck a good part of their raider machines, but not all of them. [ And it's a sort of counter-current thing, given that they did make use of whatever ruined parts they could salvage. ]

They've been coming less often, though. [ Maybe that's a good thing... but it also meant that the Dionae would be razing some other poor Panopticon more often. It's just how things are. ]

[alley_kit]

He probably won't have to try especially hard. Kit's generally fairly cheerful, and is taking the whole 'kidnapped to a giant tree and given fairy wings' thing remarkably well, especially for someone her age.

"Uh-huh," Kit says, returning from the kitchen area with two bowls and two spoons. "I've been trying to figure out a name for him, but well... it's hard coming up with names for a worm that don't sound bad, you know?"

[redactions]

[ It's a good thing if it means their forces are being weakened, bad if it means they're withdrawing and planning to mount a larger attack. He nods, filing this away to think about later. Compartmentalise. When nothing can be done, plan, and wait. ]

If you want, you could share what them raiders look like and we'll figure somethin' out.

[ Tech a million years in the future can still be broken or compromised. That's one thing he's sure will never change. ]

Anyway. You want some soup?

[redactions]

A little too suspiciously well, he'd have thought, if everyone else wasn't doing exactly the same thing. Seems like fairy wings weren't the weirdest thing around for most people. Sure, the ability to fly helped things along.

He scuttles over to pull out a chair for her to sit, still looking at the worm. 'I hear ya,' he remarks, wryly. 'How about - Joe? He seems like a Joe.'