riverviewlogs | music and mayhem

Entry tags:

music and mayhem

who: Bucky and OPEN
what: A variety of prompts, serious and more light-hearted, for existing and new CR
when: The month of September
where: Quarantine and the ruins
warnings: Minor injury/blood discussion

[i: thief at the hospital]

[Bucky has used the last of what Steve brought him on the night he was pulled from underneath the girder and patched up, but the wound still isn't completely healed and he doesn't want to risk it getting infected from substandard care. The bastardised serum he has might help keep infection at bay, but he's still human and he knows better than to risk it.

So clearly the best thing to do is head on over to the hospital, right?

Anyone passing by the hospital on a few days throughout the month might catch sight of a man subtly climbing in through one of the upper windows, and then climbing out again a few minutes later with his hoodie noticeably more full as if he's been pilfering supplies... mostly because that's exactly what he's doing.]

[ii: a stitch in time]

[Following the hospital raids, Bucky can be found out in the ruins tending to himself.

He has his shirt off, meaning that his metal arm is exposed to view for once, and is dealing with a nasty looking gut wound. It's already been stitched up, he's not in danger of keeling over any more, but he's cleaning out the dried blood and wrapping with fresh bandages.]

[iii: kiss and tell]

[After the disaster with Obi-Wan, Bucky has been keeping a very close watch out for those stupid little lights, determined not to get himself trapped under someone else's influence again. But they're more numerous than he'd like and sometimes one doesn't get seen until it's just a bit too late...

A warning to anyone getting themselves caught with Bucky in the kiss and tell, he may not react well and it could lead to fighting rather than kissing.]

[iv: songs from the old days]

[Bucky doesn't have much of a solid base, more a few bolt holes that he uses in a random pattern to keep him from being easy to track down, and that means that he doesn't have much in the way of possessions. It has to be easy to carry and flee with at a moment's notice, after all. But he has one or two indulgences that he's picked up on a whim, driven by half remembered days from before the Soldier.

He has a kite that he can sometimes be seen perched on a rooftop flying in the breeze, looking unaccountably peaceful. He also now has a record player. He found it in a little curiosity shop, a proper old one with some vinyls to go with it. He doesn't play the music too loudly, but anyone passing by some of the abandoned buildings or ruins might hear the quiet strains of the Andrews Sisters.]

[v: wildcard]

[Bucky can also be found at nights having nightmares, skulking around at the gun range watching others play, or generally observing the world around him. If you would like to play any of these, or have a completely different idea for a prompt, just go for it and I'll follow your lead! You can also hit me up on

bibbety for plotting.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The thing is, Tony can get distracted pretty easily. There are a million things going on in his head at any given moment, and his focus tends to fade in an out on them depending on what else he's doing. So it stands to reason that he might not always be paying complete attention when he's just walking down the street, trying to get to his workshop before the idea taking form at the back of his mind fades away

And then there are those bubble things. He can at least feel when one of them closes in on him this time, at least soon enough that he doesn't walk face first into the all-too-physical wall.]

Not this again.

[It's a low, annoyed grumble as he turns to see who's stuck with him this time.]

...ah.

[Figures.]

[No.

No, damn it, no!

He feels it as soon as the invisible barrier comes down and he's immediately tensing up, the response to being trapped, but that just gets a thousand times worse when he sees who he's trapped with. The expression tells him that Stark knows who he is this time, has his memory back, and that's going to make this a hell of a lot more awkward.]

Keep back.

[It's a low warning, eyes hard, as he presses back as far as he can against the invisible wall.]

[The last remnants of dry amusement fade from Tony's expression as he registers that he is very literally trapped with not only someone he has uncomfortable history with, but someone who could very literally kill him without breaking a sweat. Because Tony has nothing, right now. No armor, no tricks, not even a goddamn screwdriver. He may still be Iron Man without all of it, but that's not going to help much against a goddamn super solider.

He goes completely still on pure instinct, ignoring the way his breath has sped up as the look in Barnes' eyes hammers on his fight or flight response.

So this is going to be a fun hour, he can tell.]

What, you don't want to kiss me?

[It's thin and not really his best material, but the day Tony can't manage anything smartassed is the day he's actually dead.]

[It might surprise Stark to know that he had actually kissed the last man he found himself trapped in here with, but only after pulling a gun on them and a near fight erupted. He doesn't want that to happen again, especially not when the man stuck with him this time is this particular Avenger.]

I didn't want to in the bar, still don't want to.

[He brings it up, not to lighten the mood, but as a test to see if Stark actually remembers what happened during his period of amnesia or not.]

[From the grimace that flickers over Tony's face, it's pretty clear he knows exactly what Barnes is talking about. That had been a delightful week, but Barnes reaction was still a puzzle. When Tony let himself think about it, which wasn't often.]

Yeah, well I'm not exactly drinking right now.

[Interesting. He's not sure if Stark remembering that is a good or bad thing, but it does make him glad that he hasn't been back to that particular bolt hole since that day.]

I'm still not going to kiss you.

[His eyes just warn Stark to try it.]

Just stay back and wait, I don't want to hurt you.

[Some of that instinctive tension is fading the longer they just stand there talking, though Tony is still holding himself a little warily. For good reason, considering the warning.

Not that it stops him from giving a little snort that's aiming for amused and mostly gets there.]

So don't. There's nothing making you do anything.

I don't like being trapped and the conditions for release being someone else's control.

[Even something as comparatively harmless as a quick pecked kiss, it still pushes at his buttons in uncomfortable ways.]

I nearly shot the last guy I was trapped with, I don't have perfect control.

Wow. [It's slow, drawled and completely dry.] It's almost as if nobody likes that.

[In which case Tony really shouldn't be antagonizing him, but never let it be said that he can't make incredibly stupid decisions when he's uncomfortable.]

Look, what's worse. Getting up close and personal with me for three seconds or being stuck in here for a goddamn hour?

[He's honestly not sure what the answer to that question is, because they're both bad in different ways, but one thing tips it over the edge... if Stark comes near him, he's in more danger.

He genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone else.]

I'd rather wait.

[And then, totally deadpan:]

You're not as irresistible as you think.

Now that's a damn lie. [Accompanied by a look of greatly exaggerated offense. Mostly to cover up his own uncertainty about the situation, but still.]

You're the one who decided to take me home. Or do you only like me when I'm drunk?

[Sadly for Stark's uncertainty, Bucky's expression is pretty much locked forever in a slightly menacing frown.]

I didn't like you then either.

Way harsh, Tai.

[Part of Tony does genuinely want to ask what the hell that had all been about, but the rest is pretty sure that he doesn't want to know.

But it seems like they're locked into an impasse here, Tony lets out a sigh and lowers himself to the ground to sit with his back against the bubble wall. It's a little weird, leaning against something invisible, but not too uncomfortable.]

You owe me for all those drinks I apparently bought you, incidentally.

[He has no idea what that reference is, though he can at least assume that it is a reference, so he just lets it flow over him.]

I warned you what would happen.

[He does, however, pull out a sheaf of vouchers for free food and drink and holds one out.]

[Tony just snorts at that, though the pages of vouchers get a much more bemused expression.]

Where did you even get all that?

[And why was he holding it out? Tony gestured vaguely between them.]

I thought you didn't want me to come any closer.

You can take one and back up again.

[Don't be pedantic, Stark.]

Some people like to keep giving them to me, seem to think I won't eat otherwise.

I cannot imagine why people might think you need to be coaxed into eating.

[Considering the semi-feral hobo chic thing Barnes has going on. And absolutely no acknowledgement of the fact that people tend to do the same thing to Tony himself. That's completely different.

But he arches an eyebrow as he leans forward to pluck the thing out of Barnes' hand.]

Y'know, I don't really get this whole acting like I should treat you like a bomb thing. I've worked with bombs, they're much less touchy.

[He pushes the rest of the vouchers back into one of his many pockets. If he's looking closely, Tony might see the glint of something metal in that pocket too, but it's covered over fast.]

You worked with a bomb that has a broken detonator?

[Because that's more like what he is, a bomb that could go off at any moment whether he wants to or not. He still doesn't know all of the stuff that HYDRA put inside him and what might set it off.]

As a matter of fact I have.

[Because Tony can ruin a perfectly good metaphor if he feels like it.

Not for the first time, he finds himself wondering where exactly this Barnes is from in the timeline. The man he'd met in Siberia -- for as short a time as it had been -- hadn't been anywhere near this jumpy. Though maybe that was just Cap's presence smoothing him out, who knows.]

I'm just saying, treating yourself like a land mine probably isn't helping anything.

[It's almost like something Clark has said, though that brings with it its own set of bittersweet complicated emotions. Some flicker of it shows on his face, regretful and lonely, but it's gone again very quickly.]

I've already stabbed someone here, hurt others, and held a gun to people's heads, you think I should treat myself another way?

I think you're a self-fulfilling prophecy. You expect yourself to lash out, so you do.

[Not that Tony is or should be the voice of reason on psychological issues. Not to this man, especially, and not to anyone else either.

But they're here, and they're apparently not going anywhere for a while, so what the hell. What's the worst that can happen?]

I've hurt you. Pretty literally. So what does that make me?

[Has he? Interesting, this must be from the nebulous point in the future that a lot of the others seem to be from.]

A grieving son meeting his parent's murderer.

[Fairly understandable in that situation, he's honestly surprised that Stark has left him alone as much as he has here.]

[One of Tony's eyebrows quirks as he fights down the roil of conflicting emotions. His jaw clenches for just a second before he forces himself to relax.]

Maybe so. But I'm as dangerous to you as you are to me.

No, you're not.

[It's said so flatly.]

If I really wanted to stop you from hurting me, then I could. I know how to work against things like your armour.

[The smile Tony gives him has very little actual humor in it.]

You'd think so.

[He'd managed it, anyway. But Tony just shrugs, a roll of his shoulders that's half a gesture, half trying to loosen them from the sudden tension.]

If I really wanted to do damage, believe me I'd find a way. [And then, because it probably needs to be said:] I don't, incidentally.

iii

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject