OOM: Bucky, after the cells

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve isn't sure when Bucky will be released from the cells, and so is passing the time at the Caribbean inlet, wondering how to get Orpheus's boat here. If it's possible, which he isn't sure about at all.

(There are boats floating on the perfect blue water. That seems promising.)

Boots off, pants rolled up, face turned up to the sun.

(Remembering, too, days spent at the shore, drawing sunbathers and flirting couples and Bucky as a boy, as a young man.)

His sketchbook is tucked in his coat. He may take it out before much longer.

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[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve looks right back, an expression that's both touched and heartbroken on his face.

"You don't need to, here. You don't."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head in denial, but doesn't say anything aloud.

After the danger he himself brought to this place, how can he not keep watch?

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

It's pointless to argue, Steve supposes. Bucky will just have to see for himself.

"Well, let's go inside. It's warmer, anyway."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay."

He falls in on Steve's left once more.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve watches him sometimes as they walk back to the bar.

"I want to tell you stories. Do you want to hear them?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I ... do. Now," he adds.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Okay," Steve says.

He taps his left ear. "I used to not hear so well out of this ear. You'd walk here to make sure nothing snuck up on me. The sidewalks of Brooklyn could get pretty crowded, and you'd just...put yourself in my weak spot."

[nerves_of_ice]

He considers that for a few steps.

"Was I good at it?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Yeah," Steve says. "Nobody would mess with you, and so nobody would mess with me while you were around.

"Which isn't to say," he adds in a self-deprecating tone, "that I never got into any kind of trouble. I was small and weak, and I had a mouth on me ... well, I had to do a lot of standing up to people who really enjoyed knocking me and a lot of other people down."

[nerves_of_ice]

James looks over at him, studying him.






"... that's ... how we met."

He sounds a little uncertain, but only a little.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve nods. "We were eight."

He pauses.

"Want me to tell you, or...let it come?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"There were -- kids," he says, slowly. "In a - playground, or something like it."

A beat.

"Bunch of punks. All on one."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Again, Steve nods.

"They'd tied tin cans to the tail of a stray dog," he says quietly.

[nerves_of_ice]

"And you... called them on it. And they jumped you."

He sounds a lot more certain now.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Yeah. And then you..." he prompts gently.

[nerves_of_ice]

"... jumped in." He looks at Steve for confirmation, but there's no real sense of doubt in his voice.

"To fight them with you."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Like a knight in short pants."

[nerves_of_ice]

The corner of his mouth quirks slightly.

"Some knight."

They're approaching the door now. He scans the area, and on seeing no one, moves slightly ahead to open the door for Steve.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I always liked those stories," Steve says. "Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad."

He pauses to let Bucky open the door, though the gesture makes him frown. Even if "we're safe here" isn't quite true, it's more true here than anywhere else.

[nerves_of_ice]

Unlike last time, he doesn't hold the door for Steve - at least not from the outside. James steps through, gives the room a quick once-over, then steps to the side and props the door with his foot so that Steve has space to enter.

"That... doesn't surprise me," he says.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve steps through. Hypervigilance is a sign of PTSD, isn't it? Is that what this is? It wouldn't surprise him.

"Orpheus calls me Galahad. I don't remember if I ever told you that or not."

[nerves_of_ice]

Every sign of his thoughts vanishes from his face at the mention of Orpheus's name, leaving nothing but a smooth, blank expression.

"I don't either."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve catches the expression--it's hard to miss.

"He told me about you--coming here. During that whole thing."

He takes a deep breath. "I sent him here, Bucky. I knew HYDRA would come after him and I begged him to come here so he'd be safe.

"Please don't think less of him because of that."

[nerves_of_ice]

There's a beat of silence. It lengthens.




James scans the room once more, slowly, then turns with deliberate movement to face Steve full-on.

"You don't want to know what I think of him."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Yes, I do," Steve says quietly. "The two of you, you're my family."