August Catch-all

[worthallthis]

Who: Bucky Barnes (AKA the dude who doesn't have a proper name right now) and OPEN
When: August catch-all
Where: ADI headquarters, ADI apartments, around town
Summary: Just working, training, and being quietly creepy
Warnings: Internalized depersonalization


I. Patrols - ADI headquarters, ADI apartments

Working security is not entirely mindless, but it's close. Patrol around the outside of the ADI building complex, patrol through the buildings, prod the occasional air vent in the ceiling or panels in the wall just in case there's someone hiding in there, then repeat. It's familiar. It's comfortable. It's not quite mindless, but it's close enough to let him settle into diffuse focus where he doesn't have to worry about lack of orders and going home to not having anything to do there, either.

He's not averse to company on the job, but he's not... exactly chatty.

Sometimes he gets restless and repeats the process around the ADI apartment complex, too. Spot him at night, whether shortly after dinner or in the small hours of the morning, walking at a regular pace around the apartment complex fence, eyes alert but tired. He might be more chatty now-- maybe, a little-- looking over anyone who approaches and nodding in greeting.


II. Keeping or Offering an Edge - ADI headquarters

A lot of his spare time is spent in the target range and training rooms at ADI headquarters. Patrols are easy, but they don't keep you sharp. And he needs to keep sharp, especially as he's found his strength and speed... a little lacking, around here. So he can't depend on it without maintenance. Plus, maintenance helps with the pain from the arm.

So he maintains. Strength exercises, shadowboxing, practicing his aim with guns, flipping and throwing knives.

And if he sees anyone in either room looking lost or clearly struggling, he drifts over. Clasps his hands behind his back and ducks his head. "I can help train," he offers.


III. Exploration - Around town

He doesn't want to be taken by surprise by any path he'll be asked to take for ADI or for a person who needs rescued or killed, or ever be unaware of ambush points, so he does a lot of exploring around town, too. Poking his nose into shops, prowling around suburbs and apartment complexes, and looking up at trees in the park. He doesn't ever sit down in a restaurant or on a bench, but he loiters outside the former and watches the latter like he expects them to bite him, though someone could possibly convince him to try either one.

More than once he gets the cops called on him, because he does most of his wandering around in his full mask and goggles, face comfortably obscured. It helps him feel stronger, for some reason, and it means he doesn't have to deal with making eye contact or controlling his expression. Fellow ADI transplants might find him staring in stony silence at a well-meaning police officer stammering through a warning to stop hanging around residential areas.

Wanna help out?

Comments

[sorser]

“Wanda is,” he confirms. “I managed to run into her earlier, and she said as much. Time is a funny thing even in normal circumstances; I’m not sure it plays by any individual rule here. But it’s…”

A shame in your case, he almost says, sorry for the discrepancy and how… complicated it makes it now. But Stephen allows that thought to drop off.

“…it doesn’t matter. A lot’s happened between then and now, but it doesn’t change anything. We were allied against the same enemy once. I don’t see why we can’t be allies here, too.”

[worthallthis]

That's a satisfying answer, if it can be trusted. There's something in him that says "allies" in the past have not actually been properly allies-- were not to be trusted. And yet Yelena and Wanda, he thinks, can be trusted as allies. Kate, too, to some extent. Maybe this one can be, too.

So he nods once. "Acceptable. Allies are objectively better than enemies. Less time spent on internal fighting and more in cooperation. Do you know my skills?" If Strange knows him from some other time and place, it's possible he does.

[sorser]

Winter’s answer wouldn’t have changed anything. Stephen would have made the executive decision to slot him neatly into the “ally” category, or at the very least the “make sure to check-in on their well-being” category. But his willingness to work together only makes it easier, and he’s glad for it.

“I’ve seen you fight,” he admits matter-of-factly. Granted, he’d seen him fight very briefly through the throng of violence of two armies clashing in a battle for half of the universe, but holding his own in the midst of that speaks for itself. “I know you could knock me out cold in a matter of seconds in hand-to-hand combat.”

Stephen’s no stranger to physical training thanks to his time in Kamar-Taj. But he knows what level he exists on, and it is not Barnes’.

“And then there’s your…” Here, a general motion to indicate at the other man. “…arm. Again, could knock me out cold and then some.”

[worthallthis]

"Hand to hand combat is one of my skills. I am primarily a sniper and saboteur, however. Those do not rely on strength and speed that may be erratic." Yes, he has noticed that he's not quite as impressive here as he normally is. It's frustrating, and he doesn't honestly know why, or why sometimes it's better than others.

Some of that may be willful ignorance, part of his whole "not a person" shtick.

"I speak many languages and have training in handling a wide variety of vehicles," he adds, which may possibly wind up of use at some point.

[sorser]

“Sabotage and vehicle handling might especially be useful in this world, though that depends solely on how much ADI’s willing to trust us. As I understand it, the work we’re given is less field-related and more reconnaissance.”

He pauses, considering, weighing his options here as though there’s anything to weigh. It’s still much better to be prepared than not.

“My magic is stifled in this universe, and I can’t promise that’ll change anytime soon. Still, if you run into anything magical or mystical, and need someone to consult, I’m at Bonnie’s. Not hard to find, just ask after me.”

[worthallthis]

"I can steal cars, too. Hotwire them." Which requires no trust. Though he thinks that ADI would probably give him a vehicle if the mission required it, and isn't sure he could go against orders to steal one if told not to.

He considers Stephen for a moment, though, then nods. Magic. Ugh. He is not fond of magic. "What does your magic normally do. When not here."

[sorser]

The ugh, magic sentiment will definitely be questioned if ever spoken aloud — for now, he’s more than willing to expound upon his abilities. Or at least the extent of what he could do if he bothered to inflict fear on others to a substantial degree.

“My magic allows me to do many things, and we’d be here all day if I listed them all. But in terms of practicality relevant to our current situation…”

His mind filters through the possibilities, which still feel endless — but for Barnes’ sake, he parses it down.

“I can create shields, as well as weapons from magical energy. I know spells which can duplicate, or conjure, or conceal. And I have two relics; one that allows me to fly, another which allows for the creation of portals, which makes traveling long-distances exceptionally easier.”

[worthallthis]

It's purely due to not knowing how to combat it. The unfamiliar is dangerous when your job is killing things and you can't let the things you're supposed to be killing get away.

Having it on his side might be pretty useful. However, he has been lectured on the limited use of powers around here, even if he doesn't believe he properly has any. So he has to ask: "Do they work here? The. Relics."

[sorser]

"Yes," he replies, holding up a hand with a golden sling ring nestled against his fingers. Though Stephen is dressed plainly, no sorcerer's garb for him today, this is the one object that stands out as odd in shape and design, far more archaic than his modern-day clothing. "This is for the portals. Not something a sorcerer ever wishes to lose. There are... side-effects, though, in this world that didn't exist before. Sometimes it creates spiders upon exit."

Which was not a very fun realization when it happened the first time, but. Well. Might as well banish any surprise right now.

"The other is a cloak," he continues, the relic that allows him to fly. "You'll know that one when you see it. I'm told it's hard to miss, even if it didn't have a mind of its own."

[worthallthis]

"Spiders." He doesn't like that, nope. He also doesn't like: "Your cloak has a mind of its own?"

How does that even work? A cloak is... it's fabric, right? Like a coat only bigger and more flow...y. It doesn't have a brain. Is that a magic thing, too?

[sorser]

“It does,” he confirms, and though Stephen has long accepted what he would not have believed possible years before, he knows how unbelievable—and maybe a little dubious—this can sound to those not steeped in the Mystic Arts and its relics in the same way.

“It’s helped me on its own accord more than once during a fight. And it’s liable to help allies, too, if they need it. So if you see a bright red cloak flying your way someday, don’t be too alarmed.”

[worthallthis]

He tries to imagine a cloak flying on its own. Like a great red bat. Not actually that hard to picture, actually. Sounds like there has to be some kind of downside, though. He can't help but ask, "Does it make spiders or something, too?"

[sorser]

He huffs at the very thought.

“No. Not that I’m aware of. I don’t need more than one relic spilling out spiders when it’s used.”

He pauses, though, which might be telling.

“I haven’t used it enough to be completely sure, but I think it gives me nightmares. Of being dropped from high up.”

[worthallthis]

"Nightmares." Winter clearly dismisses that. Falling from very high up is barely a nightmare at all, especially not compared to his usual nightmares. "Worth it to fly."

[sorser]

Stephen is inclined to agree. They’re not fun in the moment—what nightmare is?—but falling from impossible heights is far better than what he has, occasionally, faced in the waking world. At least he gets to wake up from a nightmare.

“I think so too. We all make sacrifices now and again. The trickier issue is feeding a patron in order to use it at all. Otherwise, it’s a very normal cape.”

If one can subscribe normal to anything Stephen wears as a sorcerer.