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[lefthandfree]

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NAME
JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES
@bucket

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@ENTERTHEDRAGON

[ryuji]

Yo! How ya holding up now that we're back at base?

[lefthandfree]

Hey. Not too bad, actually. Having a proper bed to sleep on is pretty nice.

How’re you holding up? Making lots of new friends?

[ryuji]

Dude, a proper blanket. It's so nice.

I mean, maybe it's not like, a proper blanket, but it's close enough. I can cocoon all night long and awake like a moth in the morning.

Eh, I'm doin' alright. I've been pretty chill just hanging around, honestly. What about you? Have any weird dreams lately? They're all the rage these days

[lefthandfree]

Oh, you do that too? I had a sleeping bag a while back, and honestly, that’s probably the most comfortable cocoon I ever bundled myself in. It’s squishy all around, and you don’t run out of covering. I recommend it.

This is definitely better than nothing though. Getting a decent blanket in France cost an arm and a leg, and I sure as hell didn’t wanna carry one around everywhere. [Meaning that, yes, he did in fact sleep everywhere without a blanket.]

But, yes. The dreams. Y’know, I always wanted to go to space when I was younger, but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

[ryuji]

You ever see those star trek movies?

Lol don't tell anyone but I thought it'd be like this.

Minus... y'know the jumpsuits. They look snagged as all hell

[lefthandfree]

No, though I was interested in them. There was a TV show before that did really well, and you’re supposed to watch that first to appreciate the new ones properly, or so I heard. I didn’t want to go in blind, but I wasn’t really in a country that had the older stuff either, so...

But, hey, if you ever see them around on this wacky trip of ours, do let me know. I found some novels for it in the book-tablet machine thing, but as much as I love a good novel, I think they’re only supposed to make sense when you watch the TV shows. [He tried reading a few pages of one and didn’t know who the hell was who; the assumption is fair.]

And I hate to say it, but they’re already worse than before. I had to rip off the left sleeves of my clothes, so I could even wear them at all.

[ryuji]

[He didn't understand the nerd culture behind star trek, but heckie it was a good movie. Lots of boom.]

Reading's kinda boring. You ever just read a paragraph and then like... put the book down and think "ah shit, what just happened?" it's like that every time for me

Guess I could get into the tv shows though.

You... hunk smashed out of your own clothing? Damn.

@ENTERTHEDRAGON

[ryuji]

I would literally trade my left arm for some deodorant rn

[lefthandfree]

[Goddamn did he laugh way too hard at that. He’s needed something to laugh about though, so thanks, Ryuji.]

Okay, but I’m not giving you mine when you start missing yours. It’d be too long on you anyway. Probably drag on the floor. [Cause you’re so much shorter, get it???]

I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen when we all rush to the showers after all this. Are there even enough stalls?

[ryuji]

Nice of you to offer me a hand dude. No worries, I'd learn how to walk around with three legs no prob. Total jungle animal, so... not much different than usual :)

lol

Well

I know what I'm doin when I get into the shower

[lefthandfree]

Considering our current living conditions, I’d say we all are at this point. Bet you really miss the blond now, huh?

And if it’s anything except shower, then I’m concerned.
I’ll admit I might have to stand under the shower head for maybe an hour though. For good measure. Pretty sure I have lice at this point too. I’m just trying not to think about it.

[ryuji]

Yeah, man it's like my war paint. Lookin at it like this is just damn depressin.

I hope the lice stay here when we transport back. Fuckers are ruinin everything

[Ryuji has sores on his head from scratching so much... god, a hot shower would feel so good right about now.]

Yeah man, I gotta take care of my business in there. I've been bottled up for like weeks and it aint healthy I tell ya

And sides

Like

You know when you take a shower so hot that your skin turns all red n shit? I always hated that, but now I'm thinkin it'll be pretty nice

[lefthandfree]

[War paint, huh? Bucky can’t help but feel it’s really a reflection of Ryuji punk-like tendencies. Most of the people Bucky knows that have that inner spirit are blond, after all.]

As long as you aren’t really burning yourself doing that, then I’m sure it’ll definitely be nice.

Did you never go off into the tunnels alone to take care of business? It probably would have helped. [Not that Bucky did, but he’s old so he doesn't need to. Or. Rather he’s accepted his blue balls as fact and doesn’t bother. Whatever.]

Agreed on the lice though. I did good with keeping them away for a long while, but then we had to hide out in that one section a long ass time, and all bets were off.

[trample]

[ You know those kinds of coworkers you only know in passing? Maybe you've had a chat once or twice, introduced yourself - and you think to yourself, "I should probably know them better than I do." But there's little opportunity to do so, and so you're left with one option - observing them from a distance and gauging their personality from those little snippets.

Eren was a bit of a stalker - attentive when he felt like it, and in the case of a man he knew as James, and others knew as Bucky, he very much felt like it. So when it comes time to watch how he deals with the locals in their latest mission, it comes as a surprise to see him acting so out of the ordinary.

Once a moment of Bucky's faux douche-baggery passes by (whatever that happens to be), Eren just so happens to be within talking distance in the dark and spacious hallways that make up the city. He speaks plainly: ]

That's not like you.

[lefthandfree]

[He’s known of the man from a distance of course. They’ve spoken before, a long, long time ago. And with everything that’s happened since his arrival, it feels like ages have passed, their time in France feeling such a distant memory even if it’s not even been a year.

The frankness Kruger always has is appreciated though, even if the situation they’re in doesn’t exactly lend itself to the safety of this conversation.]

Sometimes sacrifices are necessary when the walls have eyes and ears, friend.

[It’s not in his usual vernacular, though whether or not Kruger can catch the disparity is unknown to Bucky himself.]

[trample]

Are we friends? [ His tone is just a little curious - it's more assertive than anything, but he still manages to come off as deadpan like anything else he would say. ] The James I know wouldn't be so impolite.

[ He gets what the man's trying to say - that you have to harden yourself for whatever situation arises - he just wishes it weren't this way. Even if he himself does the same thing on a daily basis. ]

[lefthandfree]

Possibly. Certainly allies at least. [And that much is true for him, anyway. He doesn’t really know enough of Kruger, but the man is a soldier like him, and there’s still certain aspects of survival in war that soldiers understand better than most others can.

At the latter remark he releases a wry huff though. It’s not that he doesn’t understand the notion either, that this is jarring and unlike how it would preferably be, but the situation isn’t wholly in their hands either. Whether or not they ascribe to COST’s full message, they’re still pawns in a larger game.]

I’m not so kind at war. There were moments in Gallipoli.

[trample]

You're right. I shouldn't expect anything less. [ He shrugs. ] It was foolish of me to get caught up in all the glamour and forget how high the stakes were.

[ That said, Eren wasn't sure whether or not merely acting tougher was gonna make much of a difference. But he wasn't in much of a place to be commenting here - after all, his attempts to better COST's efforts had gotten him killed, and from what he can tell, James' approach hadn't yet done him in.

Maybe having a big bark was more important than a big bite, here. ]

[lefthandfree]

[There’s a hum as he moves closer, not really wanting to continue at normal volume from such a distance, even if there’s no real secrets being said. It’s standoffish and will look strange.]

High stakes or not, that doesn’t mean time can’t be enjoyed. Though, in my experience, glamour isn’t always worth the investment anyway. Power is.

@mellon

[verumdicit]

I hope you haven't died.

[lefthandfree]

Funny thing. Nearly did, but my skills won out in the end. Got into this gun club for it. Not sure what to make of it yet though.

How was the moon? Provolone? Havarti? Swiss?

[verumdicit]

I recognize your joke but I can't continue it.

Gun club? Moving up in rank?

[lefthandfree]

Oh. That bad? [Is that the sound of a grown man’s heart breaking? Possibly.]

Yeah. Been doing that a while now. It’s been a rather productive time while you’ve been gone. I definitely favor blades more, but guns are efficient too.

[verumdicit]

On the contrary, I laughed.

What type of blade is the question - I've yet to spar with you.

[lefthandfree]

Oh. Why not continue it then? [???????]

Well, that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Come by my room when you're next free. We’ll knock it off the list. For the record, I tend toward knives and daggers myself.