lefthandfree: (ghosts)
James Buchanan Barnes ([personal profile] lefthandfree) wrote2016-07-16 07:08 pm
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allusive: bungalows (Default)

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[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-18 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
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allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-18 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alysia hasn't made a good many friends in this new world yet, preferring to keep to herself and to keep others at arms' length. Being allied with them, proving to be a worthwhile companion...those are things she'll certainly do. She would be foolish to assume she could survive in this world without anyone to help her should she be in peril. She makes nice with the new arrivals and offers to help where she can...but much of it is an act of survival more than true kindness.

Bucky is someone who's...strange. He walks like a ghost might, in and out of crowds, and carries an undeniable weight that she can see in his eyes more than in his countenance. They've spoken before and while somewhat low-spoken, he doesn't seem a cruel man. Not one that should need to be punished.

She finds him outside of the tavern she's gone to play at for an hour or two, the money good enough to buy a bed and a hot meal at the least. He looks lost.

Gently, with a firm tone, she calls out as she gets closer. ]


You look out of place, stranger.
Edited 2016-07-19 05:23 (UTC)
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-19 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Or at least enjoying some comfort by the fire. It looks like rain.

[ But he doesn't seem to care either way, not if he's standing out here. She doesn't know how long he's been there, staring at nothing, mind elsewhere. Any length of time is too long. She knows that far off look, knows it too well. She gives him a brief, small smile, one that's more for show than anything else. They both know that he doesn't need platitudes or little pats on the back with, 'It will be all right'. He needs a distraction to keep his mind focused. ]

For a time. Coin doesn't fall from flowers or in rain drops, more's the pity. At least most people can appreciate music enough to spare a copper or two.

[ She nods towards the door. ]

Come inside. Nurse a tankard or two, then we can talk when I'm finished.
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-19 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She gives something of a huff. ]

It's good to know my playing is only mildly preferable to being caught in the rain. I'll remember that when I attempt to laud my performances to other employers.

[ Drinking doesn't help her much but when it's social, when it's about making connections, it suits her just fine. She gives a dip of the head. ]

I've a little hovel not far. A hole in the wall, if nothing else. We can walk there when I'm finished and share food and drink. [ Whether he has coin or not is of no object. Alysia has enough saved up. She gives him a smile as he opens the door for her. ] Such a gentleman. Meet me by the back door when I'm finished, will you? We can head out then.
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-19 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
They would be poor employers if they did that alone. Better that they ensure talent and competence first.

[ But he's being flattering and a little bit kind, and she does give a little smile, even if only for show. Bucky doesn't flatter to get in her bed or to get a peck on the cheek like men in her homeland, the rich sons wanting a pretty girl on their arm or as a prize. She appreciates him on that much.

She glances around inside, takes stock of those who are seated. Her eyes briefly fall on a trio in the corner, older men who seem sour and important. Her gaze flicks back over to Bucky. ]


You can bang the table, perhaps. A whistle or two wouldn't be unwelcome. [ She smiles. ] You might have the best view from over there.

[ She nods towards the appropriate table, a little nudge to seat him close to the men speaking business. He'll understand her reasoning. They're up to something. She hasn't seen them there before. ]
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-20 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Whatever Bucky's planning on doing, she trusts him, and so she lets him go without another word. Alysia finds a place by the fire to begin playing the lute, going through several songs. Some are somber in tone, others gentle and whimsical. Others, still, are ballads, and Alysia sings tales at times to keep her audience captured. All the while, some of her attention is on the table of gentlemen making deals.

What Bucky will overhear is talk of the movements of knights headed toward Draichurith, and the storm brewing that could bring war. But he will also overhear more sightings of 'Flaws' in the streets, a gaggle of them that are bringing trouble where they go. People like Bucky and Alysia. The men never openly acknowledge either one of them being in the tavern, thankfully, but no knight is there for drinks this night. They are lucky.

The crowd mostly likes 'Sorcha', the bard alias she's been using in taverns, a woman with hair tightly wound up to give the appearance of her hair being shorter, even curled, than how Alysia wears hers. Little things that give Sorcha an identity beyond Alysia, something that will make her memorable and untraceable back to the real woman behind the mask. She's given quite a few coppers throughout the night, deposited in the pouch she leaves out. A group of two men eye it often and Bucky will notice that it's become obvious that they're contemplating making a move to grab it before 'Sorcha' goes home for the evening. ]
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-21 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ The show goes as it usually does, and Bucky plays his part well enough. A few people give her some extra coins, nothing much, but it will pay for the room she has for another two nights. If she takes to travel, she can save it for other supplies. Bucky will get a cut for himself - not through any arrangement but because Alysia refuses to have a debt, even a friendly one - to ensure their continued relationship, if nothing else. And he will be welcome in her pseudo-home tonight, if only to keep him out of the rain.

His performance, at the last, surprises even her. It ensures that no one watching them could ever assume they work together at times, that any of this might have been planned. Her eyes are wide as he stumbles with the drink and even gives her a coin, and a few people look uncomfortable at the gesture. Once he leaves, she garners a few extra coppers, even a silver, as if in some terrible recompense for the display such a fine lady had to witness.

It's grotesque, really. She'd take the silver and shove it down the woman's throat if she didn't wish to cause a scene. It will go to a beggar child later. Alysia wants nothing to do with a noble's charity.

When all is said and done, she leaves through the front and circles around the back through the mill of people leaving to escape the rain. Thunder rumbles in the distance, certain to be troublesome later. She finds Bucky easily enough. ]


That was quite a show. What brought all of that on?
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-22 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
Is that what your act was all about?

[ The two at the table. She'd seen them and they'd been eyeing her, but she hadn't thought... Well, he's done her a kind turn. So much for not wanting to be indebted to anyone. Alysia shakes her head with incredulity but there is a faint smile on her lips. He's skilled. She can't deny it. ]

We'll find somewhere else for you to go. There are finer establishments that will serve you better ale or rum, if it pleases you. Say the word, and I can find them.

[ She's kept out of the richer sectors for the moment until her fame grows a bit more. The last thing she'd like is to be removed from a tavern before she even has a chance to play. With a glance up at the sky, she nods. ]

If you are. Come, let's go.

[ The rain doesn't particularly bother her but she'd like to keep her dress neat. She avoids the back alleys where she might dirty the hem of her skirt, taking him the quickest route she knows. Her hovel is just that: a flat with two rooms interconnected, partitioned off by a partial wall that obscures the shallow tub she's been given. It's a cheap room but she's made it as cozy as possible with proper blankets and a few candles for lighting, some incense by the window to burn and keep the flat smelling nice. How she manages to carry all of these items around is unknown (she actually has an enchanted bag that stores anything that can fit in it) but it's allowed for small luxuries even when she has little coin. Alysia allows Bucky inside and sets about to lighting the lanterns and candles to bring light into the flat. She also pulls out the bottle of wine she's been keeping and two glasses - the latter of which she's been given by those she rents from. ]

I can get us food from across the street, something simple. Do you have any particular requests?
Edited 2016-07-22 03:15 (UTC)
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-25 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
It's not about being picky. You have choices.

[ If it was about liquor, that'd be another story. She can't afford anything very expensive or refined and the wine came as payment from another tavern she played at about a week ago. She can't get much else. ]

They have stews, soups, cheese. They have some bread and certain cuts of meat. I have enough for something for each of us.

[ And she's not going to hear any argument about paying for his share. He ensured she didn't lose her coin purse tonight. That's enough. ]
allusive: bungalows (Default)

[personal profile] allusive 2016-07-26 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sausage and gravy? It shouldn't be too hard, she assumes, and she's seen sausage in the restaurant nearby. ]

I'll have a look and see what I can find. Make yourself comfortable.

[ Alysia ducks out with little preamble, heading across the street. Since finding her place in the city, she's done her best to go out of her way to be nice to a few of the locals who could aid her, and the neighboring restaurant is no different. She's played there twice - once for free - and they are pleased to give her food. Much of it will go out tonight anyway without use. She sits around a little longer for fresh gravy and purchases a whole loaf of bread and some cheese as well. She gets some eggs for herself, sausage for him, and is back a little over twenty minutes later with two bowls of hot food, bread, and cheese.

She brings both to the table and sets them out, then goes to continue making preparations around the room for the potential oncoming storm, closing the shutters and moving candles from their places. The lantern goes closer to the table so they can eat; the candles are moved from the windows and placed in better positions to bring light to the flat. ]


Here. They had what you wanted but didn't quite know how you might like it prepared.

[ Alysia gets out a few knives and two forks, and sets about slicing the bread. ]
battletested: white tanktop. pensive. ([ tws ] 30.)

[personal profile] battletested 2016-08-12 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ He goes back to the empty grave on Buck's birthday. Arlington's nearly always deserted in the evenings, voices carrying from guys talking to their buddies and the odd sniffle of a family member. The air rings heavy with solemnity. There's flowers on the grave — his sisters send them regularly. Steve traces the 1 from the year of birth, and he stays there long after the sun sets. ]

[ It's nothing close to a routine. Grief always crashes down like an avalanche — someone on the street with a swagger, someone who looks similar from the back in the distance. Little things, that brick by brick, become something impassable. Steve treads water. He leaves a beer bottle by the grave. Buck pulled him from the river and Sam trails behind him, worrying and solid. The years pass — he starts to wonder, when he's alone, if that empty grave holds more of his friend than the man they're searching for. It does nothing to his resolve. Bucky Barnes never picked and chose the parts of Steve he cared for, and Steve has no intention of doing anything less. That love was tested once in war and again on the helicarrier: Steve knows who he's looking for. He knows who they found and who he chose over the Avengers. ]

[ They're put in the same corridor in Wakanda; separate rooms, though Steve tries to spend as much time with him as he can. Breakfast, trying out everything they can and talking about the flavours. Out in the gardens, with the sunshine and fresh air. Little pieces, for the wall. He's hanging on now. ]

They have Casablanca in the movie room.

[ It's morning just before sunrise, and there's a faint mist drifting in from the east. Steve is sitting with his sketchbook open, the page empty, twirling the pencil. ]
Edited (missing word) 2016-08-12 06:05 (UTC)
battletested: greens. looking offscreen. thoughtful. ([ tfa ] 20.)

[personal profile] battletested 2016-08-13 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ They saw it together in 1942 at HQ, Bucky got real thoughtful, after. He had his quiet moments in the War, and Steve tried not to push then, but it hurt. His best friend who never seemed to care much about the state of his collar or the smell of his clothes when at home he wouldn't have been seen dead like that. Steve always thought there'd be time to talk to him, after. There would be an after. It was the two of them, it was war, but there was nothing they couldn't get through together. ]

[ Buck's lying on his back, Steve is — deliberately — the first thing any assailant will see coming into this corner of the garden. They're not left to their own devices: the Dora Milaje are always around. There should be two of them silently prowling around, but Steve can't really bring himself to complain. They're here on T'Challa's charity, and every concession is small compared to the fact that he will — without hesitation — send his people to die if anyone comes looking for them. It doesn't sit right, which is why they're leaving as soon as Buck's comfortable walking outside in the world. ]

[ For now, Steve nudges Bucky's toes with his own in a lazy motion, and hums the next two bars absently as he starts outlining Buck's body on the page. Being in his space is like breathing — he stumbles without it. Steve has been recalibrating in response to any request, verbal or otherwise, for space. Seventy years they were apart; over three times longer than they were together in life. ]

I think Sam might get annoyed you're not catching up on Harry Potter with him.

[ Sam, who's taken full charge of both their film and music education. ]

You didn't hear that from me.
battletested: knew you had 'em on the ropes, buck. ([ tfa ] 05.)

[personal profile] battletested 2016-08-14 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ The body knows. Steve's leg moves in a slow, pendulum motion, stopping only when he shifts to one side of the smooth rock he's sitting on to make the contact permanent. The sketchbook slides down on his knee, but there's no self-consciousness — Bucky judged all his drawings back when and bought him pencils with the shared money they kept aside for luxuries, which Steve had been planning to use to buy him a new cologne. Buck never said — Steve had just caught him eyeing it once too often. ]

[ He can't draw Buck from memory — and won't. Part of this is learning where the new currents of tension move in his body, when, exactly, the smiles reach his eyes. The iron, too, untransmutable, of his soul. Bucky was always the best man he knew; nothing can tarnish that. ]

I think you might like Ginny.

[ Steve's favourite is (predictably) faithful, loyal Ron. ]

There's also Star Wars. I ain't seen it yet.

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