InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Everyone's a winner."

sᴀɴsᴀ (winterfelled) wrote in somerealityrpg,
@ 2021-03-14 20:16:00

Entry tags:

active: bucky barnes, active: sansa stark

sport without violence?

it's certainly not jousting

what. an amateur baseball game
where. goodland parks
when. at the weekend
warnings. mild; update if needed
status. closed; in progress

Sansa had never been terribly taken with sport entertainment at home. It was all jousting, sword fighting, fighting-fighting. Just needless violence for the sake of entertainment. And usually someone died somewhere in the event.

Her former betrothed and her second husband had, obviously, been partial to the violence of things, but she doubted either really cared for the actual sporting events. Tyrion was more about intellectual interests, which honestly bored Sansa just as much.

Baseball, in general, seemed a lot less violent—they weren't meant to come into contact with each other—and a lot more about skill. Which was interesting to think about, training in more than just hitting people, the possible factors that needed to be thought about. She wasn't sure yet about the scoring system, but it seemed like you had to hit the ball and then get back to where you started after running around a little triangle on the field... pitch... grounds.

Sansa was mostly just glad she'd decided to let Diana help her get more suitable clothing, since everyone else was in casual attire and her leather and wool dresses would likely suffocate her out there. Ghost and Lady seemed okay, but she already had a gallon of water aside for the Direwolves should they start to pant.

"So... Do they just get one point for running around the field, no matter how many stops they need to make?" One of the players had already run around the whole set up in one go after whacking the ball miles away, figuratively speaking. While the current one was on his second spot as another got ready to hit the ball with the bat.

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assignment
2021-03-14 09:20 pm UTC (link)

If there was one normal activity that helped Bucky feel like his old, younger self again, it would be watching a baseball game. The teams, parks, and circumstances might be completely different to what he knew back then, but the simple act of sitting out in the open air and listening to the sound of a bat crack after making solid contact with the ball was one of his favorite memories of his life before the war.

So, the decision to take and introduce Sansa to the game was an easy one. Bucky had gotten to know her and the others in the apartment over the last several months, and he'd felt at ease when around her most of the time, even including with the Direwolves. They could be intimidating, but after a couple meet and greets, sniffs, and briberies of fresh butcher meat, he felt as comfortable around them as he did most.

"That's right," he nodded in confirmation. He pointed to the new batter that was coming up to bat. "That one is 'home plate,' and the others in order are first, second, and third base. The object is to work your way around the bases and back to home for a point -- or runs is what they call the points here."

Explaining the rules and answering questions about the game he loved was almost as enjoyable as watching the game itself. It had been a long time since he'd caught a live game, and plus, it gave him the chance to wear the Brooklyn Dodgers cap he'd wished for a couple weeks ago.

"Each batter has three chances to get a hit," he paused just as another pitch came in with a swing and miss. "After the third miss, or strike, the batter is called out."

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winterfelled
2021-03-14 10:34 pm UTC (link)

Growing comfortable enough to be outside with strangers had taken something of a journey for Sansa; it started with Diana, then involved Margaery's suitor, then Diana's, the breakfast gatherings. She'd started to get to know a small group of people she started to feel wouldn't stab them in the back at the first chance and the gradual acceptance that people weren't utterly terrible came with that.

Which she was grateful for, given she had some friendships outside of Arya and Margaery to rely on.

"But no one kills the batter that's out, right?" There was always room for random violence after all. People seemed disappointed as the batter missed the ball, but no one was throwing anything or chanting about a beheading at the moment. "That would probably have been what happened around our time." It might've made more people like a sport.

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assignment
2021-03-14 11:36 pm UTC (link)

"No killing," Bucky said with a small smile. "Some jeering maybe from spectators at the batter or the official making the calls, but nothing more." Baseball wasn't a no contact sport exactly, but it was about as close to it as one could get. "Anytime the ball hits a batter is accidental, usually, and the one throwing the ball is penalized by the batter being able to go to first base without hitting." There were instances when a pitcher might intentionally hit a batter, but that was a different set of circumstances.

"There are other modern sports that can be more violent than this one, but not ones that go as far as killing their opponents." The version of sports she'd described sounded a lot like the tales and stories from the times of knights and the Middle Ages. Or even during some of his training in Russia.

He reached over for the water bottle next to him and took a small drink. "Small things about the game have probably changed over the years, strategies and statistics, but I like that it's not changed too much since I was first watching."

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winterfelled
2021-03-14 11:59 pm UTC (link)

There was something of a relieved huff and smile at that assurance that no one was going to be brutally murdered on the field for screwing something up, Sansa was fairly sure she'd seen enough of that to last anyone a lifetime, and she wasn't really expecting that Bucky would enjoy a sport like that either.

Jeering seemed like the most people went to here, shaming someone for something without taking it to the point of abject humiliation. "I think Arya would like the violent ones," Although Sansa did enjoy how involved the crowd seemed to get, yelling in encouragement as people took their positions, getting excited as the balls were hit halfway towards the Heavens and across the park.

Sansa's hand settled into the tufts of Lady's fur, fingers stroking over her head to scratch lightly between her ears as she watched things unfold. "I like things you can rely on, that stay the same as time passes." So much had changed around her, her world completely turned on itself, possibly why she was grateful that Arya and Margaery were the same, "It's like as much as things change, something is there, just as it was."

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assignment
2021-03-15 02:51 am UTC (link)

"She might enjoy football," he offered. "American football, that is. There's more bashing into one another and tackling opponents to the ground. The rules are a little more complicated than baseball, but the basic idea isn't too hard to understand." There were other more obviously violent sports such as boxing or other fighting competitions, but those weren't sports he'd had any interest in watching in a very long time.

Bucky cast a glance down at the wolves after a fly ball and saw that they seemed mostly content where they were and not inclined to go chasing after the ball high in the sky. Now that would have been a sight to see.

"There's a comfort in that," he agreed. "Especially when other circumstances change so much." There weren't many constants in life, but he felt the same in a lot of ways -- wanting to hang onto the few things that did stay the same. It had helped him in the months after his defection while regaining his memories and in spite of how much he'd changed, it later had helped him hang onto a few pieces of who he used to be.

"It can be hard to trust what's around you if you don't have that familiarity to hold onto at least long enough to figure things out."

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winterfelled
2021-03-15 03:29 am UTC (link)

Bashing into one another most certainly sounded like something Arya would at the very least appreciate. Although her younger sister didn't really seem prone to caring for rules, least of all if they were complicated. Finding things they were interested in didn't seem to be high on Arya's list of objectives, although Sansa knew that Colin was assisting Arya in basic things, she wasn't aware just how immersed in modern life her sister was getting.

Glancing at Bucky, hearing something in his voice at the comments, Sansa considered how it must be to understand something of this world, but miss so many huge leaps. Coupled with the unfortunate fact that she doubted her trusted much of his own mind at this stage.

"It must be different, for you, I mean. This is all new to me, I trust only that I don't understand it, that it's new and odd. But..." Bucky had experience with some of it, right? And yet it was still unfamiliar in ways. "Apologies, you likely don't need to be reminded that this is difficult for you." Even if Sansa wanted to help, or listen, or just quietly support a friend, it was cruel to expect Bucky to accommodate that unless he was willing.

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assignment
2021-03-16 04:38 am UTC (link)

Taking in a breath, Bucky leaned his head to the side as he considered Sansa's words. He smiled softly with a shake of his head, "No, it's alright; I don't mind." Talking about his past had become easier even if still didn't go into detail very often. For some reason, it didn't seem quite as hard talking to someone who didn't know the history. They didn't know Bucky the kid from Brooklyn, James the Winter Soldier, or whomever he might have turned into during the months he was in hiding. It was just a conversation with no expectations.

"In the beginning, it was overwhelming. Struggling to learn about the world, about myself, and about the people I'd either left behind or were still here. For me, adjusting to the times was the easiest of the three. The other two were what I struggled with sometimes." For a handful of different reasons that he didn't always understand at the time.

"I did at least have training and exposure to modern technology and systems." Adapting was instilled firmly into him no matter the decade, and he knew what they wanted him to know. "It was the history of the times that I later read and learned a lot about. Trust for me was... maybe the opposite? I was quicker to trust my environment but less so myself."

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winterfelled
2021-03-17 10:25 am UTC (link)

People were a lot more friendly here; there wasn't the same deceit and lies around Goodland as there was in Kings Landing, people stabbing people the moment weakness was presented. There was an openness that Sansa was still getting used to, but greatly appreciated. If people like Diana and Bucky, who were clearly exceptionally strong but faced so much, could still be engaging and talk about things, Sansa was hopeful she'd feel less closed off and stony like Cersei.

"That's like relearning everything all over, and things you just... know." Things like what you liked, what you knew, what you wanted to do. She knew a small amount about what Bucky had been through, but she understood that he still struggled to believe he knew who he was—Sansa could understand losing yourself to the trauma, although not quite in a way Bucky had.

There was a loud crack from the game, the ball colliding solidly with the bat, having Ghost and Lady taking note but not shifting.

"Hard to trust what you don't know." For Sansa that was the environment, she knew herself, knew where her own strengths and weaknesses were. Having Arya was a strength and a weakness, the same with Margaery. But more and more, they felt just like strengths. "Time is probably the only way to test your growth, too. I find waiting deplorable, so I doubt it's a fun wait."

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assignment
2021-03-22 01:56 am UTC (link)

"Sometimes. Once I began to remember, there were things that came back easier than others. People, events, old habits, or sense memory." The latter tended to be memories would take him by surprise -- the good, the bad, and especially the ugly. A song on the radio, the smells of nearby restaurant, or maybe a car backfire that equally put him on the defensive and caused his mind to recoil with a new memory of a mission.

Now it wasn't so much as remembering new things as it was reliving the ones he did remember.

"No, waiting is never fun," Bucky agreed with a small smile. "Even if the eventual payoff is a favorable one." Their situations were different, Sansa not trusting her environment and Bucky not always trusting himself, but it still held a lot of similarities.

There were time he wondered what it must have been like for Steve waking up in the modern world. For Bucky, it hadn't been so much of a sudden lurch into the future but a relearning of himself. But Steve had gone down in that plane and woken up with basically everything he knew to be gone.

"Time has a way of moving faster than we realize, so it might happen faster than you think."

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winterfelled
2021-03-24 08:30 pm UTC (link)

There were a great many things that Sansa wanted to forget, some that she wished would be wiped from her memory. But the idea of those things coming back to her, so suddenly and unexpectedly, from a smell or sound—Sansa wouldn't wish that on anyone. Which made it a little achy that Bucky quite clearly dealt with it constantly.

"You blink and sometimes years are gone, and other times," Sansa considered Kings Landing, the years she was there just waiting for time to escape, or die. It almost felt like they'd just kill her and be done with it, the fewer of her family were left, the less relevant she became. With Robb dead, the need to hold her as a hostage dwindled, not that it stopped the Lannister's cruelty. It felt like she'd spent an age in Kings Landing rather than just a few years. Even if they were the years that shaped her the most.

She was stronger for it, that much was true. And while she didn't fully understand what Bucky had been through, she understood a fair amount about good men and bad men by that stage; he didn't fall into her category of men to be wary of, even if he thought differently of himself at times. "Some would say it's foolish to rush time forwards." She turned her eyes from gauging Bucky back to the game, although she wasn't sure what the scores were at this point or who was winning, "You miss things when they blur past." Sometimes without noticing.

"I'm not sure what would be better, yet."

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assignment
2021-03-30 01:14 am UTC (link)

Even though Bucky's circumstances were hardly one for ideal comparison of days or weeks that dragged on or blurred by, he did remember moments or phases in his life that shared that sentiment on both sides of the coin. The days soon after his defection while he was in hiding came to mind. Remembering who he was and faced with who he'd become had made for some long weeks and months on his own. And, in hindsight, given what they all knew now, those peaceful days in Wakanda had passed by too quickly.

"I'm not sure if one is better or worse than the other," he said after a moment. "It's usually the days we want to hold onto that go by faster than we'd like, and the hard days that move at a snail's pace." He knew only a little of the life Sansa led before she and her family had been brought to Goodland, but he could recognize that almost haunted look every once in a while because it was like looking in a mirror. Still, they at least had the mostly steady days here... more or less all things considered.

Lost in thought, he was only half paying attention to the game, but there was a sudden crack of the bat with the ball hit out to right-center field. The outfielder was going back, back, back towards the fence, and Bucky laid a hand on Sansa's arm to catch her attention and smiled while watching the ball clear the fence. Some of the spectators in the stands nearby whooped and cheered, and the batter trotted around the bases.

"A home run," he explained. "When the ball is hit far enough that it clears the outfield fence, he hits a home run, and that hitter and anyone else already on base automatically come around to score."

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