turn back time;

[advanced]

who: Bucky and OPEN
what: Various prompts spanning Prijata, the AU, and just random things.
when: The month of June
where: Around and about
warnings: Panic attacks

notes: Because this spans pre-AU and during-AU Bucky, I don't mind if anyone wants to tag in more than once to interact with both bits. Open to new or existing CR. If there isn't a prompt you like, just PM me and I'll work one out with you!

[i: Prijata; around the abandoned city and Quarantine]

[Bucky has been delivered a lot of unexpected things for the Prijata celebrations, gifts from people he never expected to get anything from, and gifts from anonymous sources. They're all thoughtful - food vouchers, clothes vouchers, survival equipment - but there's one gift that really takes him by surprise. A dog. An actual dog. The letter that comes with it states that this is a service dog designed to help veterans, she's his to borrow for six months and then either give her back or take her full time.

The things is...

He has no idea how to take care of a dog. It's not something he had as a kid, and the Soldier certainly wasn't given pets. He knows common sense things, like that she'll need to be fed and walked, but that's about it. Which is why he can be found in one of several places:

a) skulking around the various pet shops of Quarantine with a black lab trotting at his side.
b) sitting out in the outskirts of the abandoned town, throwing a stick idly for her and watching her return it.
c) awkwardly hoisting said dog into his arms so that he can climb the side of a building.]

[ii: Good and bad; at night down an alleyway; cw: panic attacks]

[Maybe it's being given the dog that's meant for a specific purpose that brings it to the surface, but Bucky has been dwelling more and more on his time as the Soldier. It leaves him on edge, tenser than usual, and less willing to mingle with the crowds. He doesn't sleep for as long as he can, unwilling to leave himself vulnerable to attack, but in the end he's only human.

Whenever he does manage to get some sleep, his dreams are far from pleasant, enough that he's not exactly a silent sleeper. The occasional moan might draw attention to his hiding spot, and anyone who tries to disturb him will find that he's not in the mood for it at all.]

[iii: Sergeant Barnes; AU plot; the park]

[It's absolutely amazing!

Of course he's been here for a few months now, but it's still mind boggling that he could be living in a place where there were people from all sorts of places and times. It's like one of those dime novels he used to read, all aliens and fanciful technology. He can still barely believe cell phones are a thing, he can only imagine how much this might have enhanced the war effort back home.

The only problem is... he doesn't seem to have a place to stay. All of his stuff was down an alleyway with him, and that's not exactly ideal. He's dressed in world war two uniform, having not quite got round to getting changed yet, with the insignia of a Sergeant clearly visible. Though he's obviously still Bucky, same face and same body, there are differences that might make him hard to identify. He's clean shaven, he doesn't walk with the wariness of a predator stalking prey, and he's smiling.

He even raises a hand in a friendly and lazy sort of greeting, friend or newcomer.]

[iv: Wildcard; anywhere; anytime]

[Got something you want to do with Bucky or Sergeant Barnes? Put it here, and let's do it!]

Comments

I

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar's still mad at Bucky for how their last conversation had ended. Not that he can entirely blame the man. Ivar knows just how far from the range of normal thinking he resides.

Still, he decides to find a way to repair what's been broken between them. The gift is an olive branch, as much as an apology as Ivar is willing to make without actually having to swallow his pride and say anything. He goes tracking again, finding one of Bucky's other hiding spots around the city. He doesn't check to see if he's actually there or not. That's not what this is about.

He leaves the gift where Bucky is sure to find it. It's a ballistic knife, thoughtfully wrapped up in a white ribbon, with a card attached. There's Bucky's name in runes (ᛒᚢᚲᚲᛃ) and Ivar's own beneath that. Spelled out in laboriously and childish looking English letters (he had to ask Letha for the spelling) is a single word. Sorry. Ivar leaves the gift and hastily goes before he can be discovered.]

[advanced]

[The knife is a good present, but he doesn't know whether the apology is sincere. It's possible that Ivar is only apologising to get his way, the path of least resistance to the training that he wants.

He decides that, for now, he'll give Ivar the benefit of the doubt. Which is why he drops in on Ivar the next time he's alone in a less travelled part of the city.]

I told you not to follow me.

[It's not an accusation, just a statement.]

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar nearly throws an axe at Bucky's chest when he abruptly drops down beside him as he's wheeling himself home after a Perimeter Guard shift. His hand remains on the axe as he looks at Bucky, eyes wary.]

You know, one of these days, I'm actually going to throw something at you that you're not going to be able to dodge.

[He assumes this is because Bucky found his gift. He shrugs at the other man's words.]

How else was I supposed to leave the knife for you? You don't exactly have a permanent address. It wasn't like I was actively seeking you out again.

[Not like Bucky was apparently doing to him now.]

ii; (cw for... mention of eating pets???)

[pundemic]

[She's not looking for him. She likes to keep her word where James is concerned. If she wants to talk to him or... whatever, give him food or the lumpy sweater she's knitted then she'll call him or text him or something and let him decide on the terms.

He's probably the only guy she's ever met she'd make those concessions for. Joel earned it from her, but so has James.

Instead, it goes like this: she watches some dumb cat wander out into traffic, and narrowly miss getting hit by a car. It escapes this fate by running into an alleyway and Ellie opts to see if she can chase it down and bring it to a shelter or something. There were so many missing pet pamphlets still tacked up on so many walls in all the cities she's been in - she's pretty sure most of them were eaten, honestly, but things were just civilized enough then that people kept pets for other purposes - that she feels badly about some little kid potentially missing Fluffy (or whatever) and is compelled to do something about it.

The cat evades her by climbing up a stack of trash cans and escaping through an open window she's not even sure she could fit an arm through and Ellie just wrinkles up her nose.]

Fine! Stupid cat, see if I care.

[And she kicks an empty can for emphasis!!

That can is, rather incidentally, going to knock right against whatever little makeshift shelter James has built himself. Wake up, pal.]

[advanced]

[The sound of the can rattling against the sheet metal he's used to prop against the side of the building has him awake in a half second. It's got to be gunfire, someone coming for him. He knew it would happen, he had been an idiot to think otherwise.

He surges out of the darkness with rapid efficiency, aiming to grab his assailant by the throat and pin them to the wall with his metal hand, the other one already pulling a knife from his waistband to try and place at their neck.

His eyes are cold and hard, completely devoid of any mercy.]

[pundemic]

[Things Ellie doesn't react well to: being grabbed by anyone, anywhere, much less the fucking throat. She doesn't even scream - or react immediately to who it is, it happens so fast it doesn't even register that it's someone she knows - she just straight-up aims a kick at the guy's balls while scrabbling for her Beretta.

She has it drawn and pressed up under the guy's jaw before she recognizes him. Her eyes widen and she-- just has an utter deer-in-the-headlights moment.

She doesn't lower her gun, but she does lick her lips. Hard to talk with her windpipe choked off, but she tries it anyway:]

James!

iii 8)

[followhim]

[poe was just walking around, minding his own business, maybe going to the cafe to get a cinnamon roll, when he sees … a familiar face? maybe? at least, he thinks it might be. it definitely looks like the "philip" he met at the memoria festival, but … way different. besides the obvious difference in appearance, he seems … lighter in the way he carries himself. less paranoid.

so obviously poe's gonna go in and investigate that shit. ]

Hey! [he waves back, friendliness at max.] It was … Philip, right? You changed your hair. It's nice, I like it.

[advanced]

[Oh yeah. Now that it's mentioned, he does recall telling Poe that his name was Philip... that was a dumb thing to do, why had he done that? He chuckles a bit awkwardly.]

Actually it's Bucky, I think I must have been thinking of something else when we met.

[followhim]

[it's a little jarring at first, but then he thinks of cassian, who felt safer using an alias. maybe it was a similar situation with bucky? in any case, bucky being a different alias seems unlikely, so he decides to just be happy that bucky feels comfortable enough with him (or maybe just riverview in general) to use his real name.]

No worries. I was just going to the cafe, would you like to come with me?

ii

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Sleep?

What was sleep? Will had an uneasy relationship with the concept at the best of times, and current events could not be couched in those terms.

After jolting awake for the fifth time in four hours, the profiler had given up on the attempt and gone to help himself to a shower. If he kept trying to force the issue, he ran the risk of sleep walking and that was a dangerous habit in a world he knew, let alone this place.

Washing off the stink of nightmare sweat, he cleaned up and changed clothes before heading outside into the dark. Some may have argued that walking around a strange city (world) in the dark wasn't high on the list of good self-preservation tactics, but Will already felt better as he walked along.

He made a couple of turns, no exact destination in mind, simply learning the city at this point. His path drew him along an alleyway that seemed completely non-descript except for the soft moans he heard echoing from the dark. Tilting his head, Will paused and waited a moment, gauging if those were moans of distress or moans of privacy please.

It sounded like the former, rather than the latter and so he turned and began to pick his way down the dark lane.

Letting his ears guide him, when he got to within five feet of the shadow that appeared to be the source of the cries, he stopped and crouched down on his heels. ]

Hey. [ He called out, voice low but firm. ] Are you alright? Hey!

[advanced]

[There's a dog that makes it out of the shadows first, standing between the sleeper and Will like a guard, though it doesn't make any aggressive moves.

Unfortunately, the call of a voice isn't enough to rouse him at the moment. He kept going until his body near collapsed of exhaustion in the hope of staving off this sort of situation, and he's in deep with his memories. His voice, low and hoarse and cracked, mumbles pained sounding Russian from the darkness.]

Failed to-- target was-- No. Please.

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ When Will saw the lab, his body posture softened and he relaxed the features of his face. He was careful not to smile, aware that the gesture could be interpreted as aggressive when working with canines, but instead he kept his movements slow and calm. ]

Hey there, [quick check] girl. You keeping watch over someone? That's a good girl, it's alright I'll stay right here.

[He held his hand out, palms up but otherwise made no motion towards the dog. He didn't speak Russian, so the words meant nothing to him, but the growly voice was familiar.][ Will spoke the man's name (or the name he was given) waited a moment and then spoke to the dog again. ] Are you looking out for Peter, girl? That's a good girl, I didn't get to meet you when Peter and I met the other day. Do you remember Peter?

[ He continued to speak in a voice pitched at a normal tone, alternating between talking to the dog and to the man, deliberately using the name over and over. ]

Peter showed me some interesting places to visit, outside the city walls. Has he taken you to any of them? I think he might have a hard time getting you up in a tree. Peter, this is your dog, yes?

iii.

[shadowstepped]

[Quentin is jarred from his spooling thoughts when he nearly walks right into the uniformed man, stopping short just as their paths cross and the shape of the other solidifies in his distracted gaze.]

Pardon me, sir.

[The olive color of the uniform he does not recognize, as the army still sports the khaki that replaced the blue borne by the Union during what his people, still with wounds fresh enough, honor as a lost cause. The brassy American insignia catches him, however, and his brow furrows as he tries to reconcile familiar and foreign.]

[advanced]

[Bucky does a neat little sidestep to avoid being walked into, easy grin spreading across his face. He appreciates good manners, but he's much more easy going about the whole thing.]

No harm, no foul. You didn't even scuff my boots.

[He glances around.]

What was it caught your eye?

[shadowstepped]

[The grin that spreads over Bucky's countenance does not spread to Quentin's while he puzzles over the peculiar uniform, the sharp authority of which endows the man with the sense of being older, although he has perhaps only a few years beyond Quentin's nineteen.]

Wasn't nothing in particular that caught my eye. I was just thinking, is all.

[The more he speaks, the more apparent his accent becomes, its slow steady cadence tracing him back to Mississippi. He in turn has the soldier pinned for a yankee, although without the wild crackling edges of Boston - perhaps New York or someplace else he has never been and never will go.]

I-c

[livingsymbol]

[One thing Steve did not expect to see in Riverview is Bucky carrying a dog. His limited interactions with the other man made it clear he wasn't fond of company, and he couldn't imagine him being that fond of pets either. But what is even stranger is the fact Bucky is apparently trying to carry a black lab up the side of a building. Steve approaches the wall where this action is taking place, eyebrows raised above blue eyes in a look of bemusement. He stops a short distance away, just taking in the way Bucky seems to be working out the best way to hold his companion while climbing.]

You know, it might prefer taking the stairs.

[advanced]

[He freezes against the base of the wall, almost as if he thinks that by staying still then Steve will leave and he can pretend this embarrassing situation hasn't happened. But eventually he sets Sasha on the ground again and turns to look at his unwelcome spectator.]

Maybe, but I don't want to take the stairs.

iii

[manmade]

[The Sergeant's friendly attitude does nothing to charm Tieria. In fact, it seems to have the opposite effect.

It's the uniform that puts him on guard. He's already skeptical of this place and the intentions of the people who run it, so seeing someone who's clearly military doesn't help alleviate those suspicions. And while he doesn't know who Bucky serves (there's something familiar about the style of his uniform, but Tieria can't quite place it), old habits die hard.

So pardon him if his eyes narrow at being greeted so casually by someone he considers suspect.]

[advanced]

[He's just trying to be genial to the people he passes, he's not expecting to get such a suspicious look in return. What's that even for? What sort of person eyes up a man just trying to be sociable like he's some kind of threat?]

Everything okay, pal?

[His voice is light and friendly enough, but his eyebrows are raised, half challenging.]

iii

[yokunaru]

[It's that much of a surprise when Yuuri sees someone waving at him. The people here are friendly--for the most part--so Yuuri lifts his hand to wave back at him in greeting.] Hello.

[When he's closer, though, Yuuri pauses and tilts his head, looking a little puzzled. Yuuri had passed him off as a stranger at first, but now... he's not so sure. The man in the uniform looks a little familiar to him, somehow.]

[advanced]

[It's good to see this guy, Bucky remembers him as being compassionate and willing to help with the injured in the tunnels.]

Yuuri, right? How've you been doing?

[He does not, however, remember his own less than friendly performance down there.]

III

[ragnarsson]

[The tension that has defined Ivar and Bucky's relationship up until now has mostly eased with the two of them with the difference in their personalities. Ivar's lost that hard edge, the anger that's so quick to rise to the surface. There's still something within him that isn't able to fully connect and empathize with people, but he's learned to hide it, watching how his father behaved as a good king even with people he hated for the past sixteen years.

When he sees the Sergeant, he smiles, and waves a hand back in greeting. There's definitely something different about Bucky, though Ivar can't precisely put his finger on what it is. Then he partially figures it out. He's lost that tension he always carries himself with and look in his eye like he's going to take off at a moment's notice. Kind of annoying when that happens at the drop of a hat.]

You look....pleasant. That's a first.

[No matter what timeline Ivar is from, some things remain consistent. Being sarcastic and insulting the people he gets along with the best is one of them.]

[advanced]

[It's good to see Ivar, especially looking genial enough to wave back. He feels sorry for the kid; he can't imagine what it's like to feel no empathy for someone else and what kind of life must have led him to being that way, he hopes that being surrounded by friends here is helping to give him back some of what he's lost.]

Hey, now.

[He chuckles, rubbing a hand at the back of his head.]

There's no call for that, aren't I always pleasant?

(iii)

[signifies]

[ He hasn't been keeping track of everyone's changes. There're a lot. and the city is managing instead of scrambling. The solution is urgent, but not so urgent that he can't walk outside to get some coffee. The walk should help him clear his head (in theory).

He's so lost in thought that he bumps into Bucky on the street, not realising who he is. He's never really seen Bucky walking like this or smiling, that he thought it was a different person at first. ]

Oh, I'm sorry. Pardon me.

[ Then the man's heart-beat comes into focus. Clark freezes.

He's stares. It's because he's so used to being polite that he's not slack-jawed in disbelief too.

Clark recovers as fast as he can and whispers to Bucky. ]

Are you okay?

[ He recognises World War 2 fatigues from history books, but there could be any reason why Bucky would dress up like this. It might be that he's changed.

Or it could be because he's remembered something. ]

[advanced]

[There's more that's different than just the clothes.

Clark would note the absence of the whirr from his left arm, it's flesh and blood just like its counterpart, and the way his muscles move is completely different. He's obviously a trained soldier, and he's still seen combat, but he doesn't move like a paranoid predator any more.

He grins, the smile easy on his lips.]

Sure.

[He drops his own voice to a whisper as well.]

I know you're built like a tank, pal, but you're not going to hurt me just walking along.