worthallthis: (cautious)
worthallthis ([personal profile] worthallthis) wrote in [community profile] apocalypsehowcomm2021-11-18 07:59 pm

[Log] November Catch-all

Who: Bucky Barnes AKA Winter and OPEN
When: All of November
Where: Various, see prompts
Summary: Working, training, and having a breakdown in Dogtown
Warnings: Nothing so far, just the usual internalized depersonalization



I. Suspicion in Early Days - ADI Headquarters

After sleeping surprisingly well for most of a day on the first of the month, Winter spends the next several days of his patrols in the ADI buildings and apartments walking more carefully than usual, with his hand closer to his gun, half-expecting a new nightmare around the next corner. Did they really wake? How would he know?

Even afterwards, he ducks his head at the sight of many of the ADI employees-- more than usual, even. He shot some of them, in the dream. Without hesitation. Did they remember? Did they care? Did they fear him now? (They should. He is dangerous, clearly.)

Catch him sitting as far from everyone else as possible at lunch with his tray, or walking steadily through the halls looking for potential trouble, or having an extra cup of coffee after a bad night.


II. Teacher - ADI training room

Every day after his shift patrolling the ADI buildings or part of the city, Winter is in the training room in the basement levels of ADI, either working through a routine himself, or available to anyone who comes in and wants instruction. He has some regular students, at this point; he also has some people he's invited to come and learn. He hopes they come.

When they've finished a session and are just hitting the point of being too tired to continue without making more mistakes, Winter says, "Walk around the room. Cool off. Then I will walk you home."


III. Cloudy Day Blues - Dogtown

After the whole thing with the pigs, Winter has kept an eye on Dogtown. On days he isn't working, and sometimes in the mornings on days he does when he can't sleep and needs to walk, he circles the district. Dips into the streets to prowl and look for signs of trouble. When he's told of the monitoring at the park, he visits there, too.

Clouds don't make him run, though they do make him start to back away slowly. He feels the building pressure, the building dread, and remains steady. He lives with fear every day, he's learned how not to run away from it. It's when the certainty hits him that he's just going to kill everyone he ever cared about-- it only took the slightest provocation to make him shoot his fellow employees in that nightmare, didn't it? he shot Steve and punched him six times in the face, didn't he? he's killed more people than he will ever remember, hasn't he?-- that he finally buckles and bolts.

He ducks into an alleyway as soon as the oppressive sky lifts again, backs himself into the corner of the wall and a dumpster, and shudders, trying to catch his breath against the fear. The despair. Who's next? Who will he kill next time? Meredith? Strange? Yelena? He stays in that alleyway for a long time, crouched down, head in his hands, until the sun goes down or someone else finds him.


IV. Wildcard

Got another idea? Hit me up on cacopheny @ plurk or just reply here and I'll roll with it!
musicdied: (smile)

[personal profile] musicdied 2021-11-27 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
She notes the subtle shift in his expression, and despite her lingering edginess, it warms her. Getting a hint of amusement or pleasure out of him still feels like a victory, and doubly so after the events of the previous month.

"How many people have signed on to learn how to shoot?" she asks, and then clarifies, "I know you meant for your own practice, today. You wouldn't be leaving if you had a student. But I'm curious."

Both about how many students he has, and about how it can be extrapolated to how many of their fellow otherworlders are taking all of this truly seriously.
musicdied: (Default)

[personal profile] musicdied 2021-11-28 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"I like him," Yelena says, expression shading thoughtful. "He would be a good ally. Clever, and good under pressure, but not as much ego as some of the people here."

She lets her pace slow a little as her breathing and heart rate begin to descend towards normal.

"Do any of your defense students seem promising?"
musicdied: (distant)

[personal profile] musicdied 2021-11-29 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Small can be compensated for," Yelena replies, with a slight, crooked smile and a brief gesture along the length of her own not-that-large frame.

And then the humour gutters and dies, and something hardens in her expression.

"Is Monika one of the children?"
musicdied: (:()

[personal profile] musicdied 2021-12-08 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
"I think the only part that surprises me about that is that they do it openly," Yelena says, quiet and weary.

She casts a bitter look around them at the training gym, lips pursing. "You should teach her to use guns," she finally adds, words dragging a little, as though she's reluctant to force them past her lips. "If she wants to learn. ADI will not protect her from the monsters, and things like the boars or the creatures from the last dream... Knowing how to shoot might keep her safe from those things until someone can take her out of harm's way."
musicdied: (distant)

[personal profile] musicdied 2021-12-16 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"Slightly," Yelena agrees. "It is at least possible to use those without lethal intent."

Because no one - no one - should be shooting anything they're not willing to kill. (No one, in her opinion, should be less than 100% willing to kill any monster pigs or other patchwork horrors. But there are many less obvious monsters in the world, ones that walk on two legs and are indistinguishable at a glance from that friendly neighbour. Those may require a gentler touch, for people less broken than she.)