InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Who took my meat pillow?"

otherbuck (otherbuck) wrote in spinningcompass,
@ 2021-06-22 03:20:00

Entry tags:

!open, bucky barnes (au), wanda maximoff

Who: Bucky (AU) and OPEN
Where: One of the stores in Wheel 3
When: Evening, June 22
What: Searching
Status: ongoing/open
Warnings: none yet

Bucky was probably pushing his (somewhat self-imposed) boundaries a little bit. He'd agreed to stay with Bryn to help until she was back to normal and in doing so had agreed to stay with her on Wheel 3. It was the big one he'd been banned from so he'd done his best to stay under the radar. He moved in with only what he could fit in a backpack, carefully locking away the rest of his things in the apartment he'd taken up in Wheel 5. And he hadn't really left Bryn's apartment until now, figuring the less he was seen the better. Despite the fact that he'd been given permission by her, invited to the food court by Bucky, and Astrid had tried to convince him out a few times, he was still reluctant.

But that was a little bit impractical too, he couldn't just stay in one apartment for however long this lasted. So he'd ventured out. He'd only gone as far as a little shop not far from Bryn's club, where he was poking around a little bit. He didn't really need anything so he likely wouldn't take anything back with him, but he was enjoying the few minutes looking around at new things and being somewhere different from what he was used to on Wheel 5.

He eventually came upon a few packets of sweets, things he didn't recognize but that looked good. He fussed with the packaging for a little bit. It was labeled with the alien language so it had to have been stocked by the station itself, not someone who lived there. It was safe. It was also something he hadn't acquired on his own or been offered specifically.

He opened the packet.

He ate slowly. It was something he had to make an effort to do, but that he was careful of. The package was filled with little bits that were sort of chocolatey and sweet, with a crunchy bit in the middle made from some sort of nut that he didn't really recognize but enjoyed all the same. It was delicious so he picked up a second packet to tuck in his pocket before sitting on the floor nearby to finish the one he'd already opened.

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wanda_the_witch
2021-06-22 10:59 am UTC (link)

Her old life seemed far removed by now. She still hadn't let go of the idea of her family. But it had become a dream more than a realistic reality. Wanda had forgotten her phone in Bucky's shop when she had helped him earlier. She could have done without it. But the walk did her good. She had pocketed the phone and left again. There was something wrong with the food court. She felt it in her bones. A presence that had not been there when she first came across it. It was unsettling. It also made her angry. Bucky and Lacey were two of the people she had grown fond of since her arrival here. Whatever was happening, she wouldn't let them come to harm.

It took Wanda a moment to realise that someone was close by. Her mind had been so full of thoughts and she almost never came across anyone in the corridors. The jolt of realisation made her gather energy in her hand. A reflex she quickly remedied when she spotted the familiar face.

"Hello Bucky," she said. "I am sorry. I did not expect you to see you here."

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otherbuck
2021-06-22 11:30 am UTC (link)

Bucky had noticed Wanda before she did him, but he'd just gone still, watching to see if he would be noticed or not. If she wanted to. She had been kind the last time, but she had been new. He didn't know if she'd become close to people who disliked him or didn't trust him in the time since.

When her hand started to glow his good arm came up to protect his chest reflexively, dropping one or two of the sweets in the process. In his mind, he knew it wouldn't do any good, but the reflex was hard to deny.

"I...it's okay," he murmured, picking up the candies that had fallen and tucking them into his pocket. He'd eaten worse, and she would probably understand more than most, but he didn't want to seem like he was still so desperate. "I'm jumpy sometimes."

But she'd spoken to him, apologized even. Maybe her thoughts hadn't been tainted by the court of public opinion. He stood carefully, his only hand still occupied. His clothes fit better than they had the last time they'd spoken, but he was still much thinner than she would have been used to seeing at home. He was so careful about rationing his food in case another door didn't come for a while that putting on weight had been slow. "I'm still not welcome here, by some at least."

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wanda_the_witch
2021-06-23 04:30 am UTC (link)

His sight was pitiful. She knew the haggard sight. It was one that had dominated the streets of Sakovia all her childhood. Here, she had only seen snippets of conversations. Many people here seemed kind and accepting... but there were also some who seemed less so. She would have offered her help but somehow she doubted he would accept it, at least, easily.

"I am sorry to hear that. Are you... okay?" she asked.

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	otherbuck 2021-06-23 05:02 am UTC (link)
	Bucky nodded. "I'm staying with Brynhild, to help while she's a wolf. She's promised to keep them from doing anything...extreme, while I'm here." He stuffed his hand into his pocket. "Have you found a place?" He asked, the question implying more than just a home. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

wanda_the_witch
2021-06-23 05:44 am UTC (link)

"I-" She hesitated for a moment. Her hands folded together in front of her hips. "I am getting there." Her loss could never be replaced. But a life of grief was not an option she could let herself slip into. Nonetheless, she took things slow. No day had gone by without something she had wanted to tell Vision or Pietro.

"May I ask who it is that does not want you here?" Bucky had been nothing but polite to her. But that did not mean that there was no justified story behind it. There had been one in her world.

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otherbuck
2021-06-23 06:06 am UTC (link)

Bucky just nodded. He didn't know what she had come from, but he knew of at least some of the loss in her world, stories told by others who came from different places on their timeline.

"Maryanne mostly." He looked away from Wanda then, his eyes wandering over the hall. He hadn't intentionally meant to scope the area for anyone else but found that's what he was doing. "She was my mother once." He told her, "Or some version of her was. I took her son's place here, for a while. She hasn't forgiven me." Bucky didn't entirely blame her, which was why he'd not fought anyone too hard when they tried to keep him away.

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wanda_the_witch
2021-06-23 09:49 am UTC (link)

Maryanne - she had heard that name before but never spoken to the woman. The explanation, however, surprised her. It wasn't one you came across very often and it left her confused as to how she should feel. Her instinct and the feeling she gained from him told her that he was not a bad person. But she had been a mother - if only shortly - and she could understand the protectiveness that came with it. So, she asked.

"Why did you replace her son?"

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otherbuck
2021-06-23 10:09 am UTC (link)

"It wasn't...intentional." he sighed softly. "We knew that there had to be a version of us here, a kind of tether I guess. Higgs told me we would join them, and some of us did, but some of us replaced them instead." He hesitated then. He knew the rest of the story did not paint him in a good light. Because he hadn't been. But he wanted to be honest. Wanda had been kind to him here and had meant a lot to him once.

"I was supposed to take his place but not literally. I assumed we'd isolate them and fill in for a while. Just enough to...earn trust. But once I got here it was pretty obvious that never would have worked anyway."

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