victory_road | Confused Soldier Seeking Work (OTA Catch-all)

Entry tags:

bucky barnes (mcu)

Confused Soldier Seeking Work (OTA Catch-all)

Who: Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier, and OPEN
Where: New Bark Town, Route 29, and Cherry Grove
When: May 31 through June 5 or so, first leg of the journey
Summary: A new breeder gets his bearings and is very confused by... everything
Rating: PG-13 at least, he kinda swears a lot

I. "Mom"? - Closed to Entrapta

It takes everything in him not to punch the woman who shoves things at him and pushes him out the door. While the whole "mom" thing and the house were all unfamiliar (Some kind of new handler? Some twisted way to try and win me back? Did they catch me again?), being outfitted and sent out on a mission isn't. And he doesn't want it.

The only things that keep him from doing it is the fact that there are no guns for this mission, and the white furry thing pressed to his leg. She's... comforting. He has no idea what she is, but he's pretty sure she's not going to hurt him, or let him be hurt. There aren't cute, white, furry animals in HYDRA.

So he's shooed out the front door, which closes and locks soundly behind him, and he has no idea what his mission is supposed to be, and-- there's a woman on the lawn in front of him tugging on her own long hair. He stares in consternation for a long moment, the plates of the arm shifting and buzzing.

II. The Tiniest Town

"Ma'am. You. I. Can't take that."

"Don't be silly, someone needs to take care of him, and you look perfect for the job."

"But I--"

"No buts! He's my last one, and I can't be toting him around all summer. Here, his name is Fuzzlebutt."

So the Winter Soldier can be seen prowling around New Bark Town with an Absol padding at his side, and a very tiny Skitty clinging to his shoulder with all four sets of claws and chewing on the collar of his tac vest. He's looking vaguely bewildered and a little nervous-- the Soldier, not the Skitty. The Skitty looks bitey.

He spends the whole day systematically mapping out the town, and then at a campfire just outside once the sun sets, reading through the shit in the two books he's been sent off with. The Skitty (Fuzzlebutt, Christ, what kind of a name even is that? ... Probably not much worse than Winter Soldier. Or. Fucking Bucky.) is curled up on his (black) backpack, and the Absol is sprawled against his leg while he tries to figure out how in the hell this place works.

And try to wrap his brain around the idea of no handlers.

III. On the Road

There's no work in New Bark Town. And there's a crazy lady claiming to be his mother. Got to get well away from that. (Even if the meal she made was pretty good.) The Soldier has no real idea what kind of work he could even do when he's not allowed any guns or knives or anything (Don't want to do that again. I'm done. I'm done. But. What else do I even know how to do?) but he knows there's none of it in that town. So, on the road it is. The map claims there's a bigger town to the west, and he knows how to make camp and scrounge for food, so off he goes.

With two animals who say a single word each-- pokemon, according to the device and the books, and everyone back in New Bark; weird name, but he's uses to just accepting things even if they're weird-- alternately bounding around him investigating things or begging for rides. He'll sigh and carry the pokemon in question whenever they do, though, so anyone passing by or lying in wait for new trainers and breeders will have a nice view of a big guy in tactical gear, carrying a furry pokemon in the crook of one arm.

IV. Capturing is Not Like Cryo

Running into wild pokemon is... an experience. He's read about catching them. That you're supposed to use the little red balls. That you're supposed to have plenty of them for battles (Hell no am I making these cute things fight if I don't have to. Even if Fuzzlebutt seems to want to.) and for breeding (Which is supposedly the mission, now.), so he's supposed to catch them.

He's not entirely sure what's supposed to happen, but the first time the Absol swats down a Starly that had been dive-bombing his head and he actually throws the little ball at it and it disappears inside-- well. Anybody with him, or just nearby, gets to enjoy watching him have a small panic attack while he tries to get the creature back out again.

"No no I'm sorry I'll get you out I'm sorry it's okay--"

He is never doing that again.

V. Too Cutesy to be Real

Cherry Grove is... pretty. Cute, even. Calm and quiet. And hopefully nobody deciding they need to fight his small furry friends, Jesus Christ. There's no way he's wasting money on the inn, either, so he'll just camp out on the beach. Eat at the cheapest restaurant he can find. Quietly and only somewhat guiltily "borrow" a steak knife that immediately makes him feel more at ease, hidden safely in a pocket where no one can see it, wrapped in a scrap of leather like a makeshift sheath. (Not gonna use it. It's just... just in case.)

Thus secretly armed and feeling a little less like every pair of eyes on him is a threat, it's time to explore the town and watch the people, see if there's work for an (ex-)assassin and a couple of furballs, and maybe move on if there isn't.

He even feels just barely safe enough to come up to someone and ask, haltingly and without any eye contact, "Excuse me. Is there. Work here?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That sounds both extremely useful and extremely horrifying. That much hair is going to be very strong. She could strangle somebody with that, easy, especially if she could just move it. Christ. His hand falls from hers to dig into the Absol's fur, letting her lean more heavily against his knee.

But beyond the wariness, he can make a connection. He knows his own stats; he knows the exact extent of what he can and cannot do. And he knows the extent of what he can and can't do right now. "I should be able to hear your heartbeat," he says. "From this distance, it should be loud. And I can't hear it. So it's not just you."

She's really understating the capacity of her hair's strength; she's just too used to not thinking about it as she works to consider the actual capabilities it has.

"Fascinating." She steps forward, but her Impidimp leans forward and tugs both of her ponytails back hard - it doesn't seem to hurt her, despite how it yanks her head back, but she does stop sharply and pause for a moment. "Oh, right." She still beams at the soldier. "Do you have other powers along those lines that you notice are missing? Other superhuman abilities that have been dampened?"

The Soldier officially likes her creepy little demon friend. What a good little creature. He doesn't smile back-- he's not actually sure how, at this point-- but he does tilt his head and think a little. "Haven't tried breaking anything yet. Seemed. Rude. And I don't know what this place is supposed to smell like. But I don't think I can smell as much, either."

Which is to say, it's probably other things have changed, too, but he hasn't had much chance to test them. It's been like fifteen minutes and he's spent all of it confused and, frankly, fucking terrified.

"Oh! We should try breaking something!" Of course this is a good idea, this is For Science. She tilts her head up to look at her Impidimp. "What do you think, Leslie?"

The Impidimp points towards the wide path at the edge of the small town. "Oh, we should try it outside the city? Alright let's go!"

And she immediately darts away, ponytails flying wildly. She only gets a few metres away before she skids to a halt, looks back at the soldier in confusion, and blinks. "Oh, right. No hair." And she bounces back to him to take his flesh hand again. "Come on, let's go!"

"Leslie?" he repeats, kind of under his breath. Is that what the little demon thing is called? He files that away.

And then watches her march off, kind of bewildered by the speed all of this is going, but not quite as afraid when she's clearly just... weird. He can handle weird. He's probably a little weird.

He twitches his hand back out of reach, mostly out of reflex because, hell, nobody has touched him without violence in... ever, that he can remember. Not even the "mom" ever actually touched him (smart woman). But he does nod at Princess Entrapta's semi-order. "Sorry. I'm coming. We can. Find a tree to punch for you." He hasn't actually punched a tree ever, that he can remember, but he knows the amount of force the metal arm can swing with, and knocking over a tree shouldn't be too hard.

She lets out a joyous little squeal, and rushes off without him again towards Route 29.

It's a long stretch of wide open path surrounded by dense forest on either side, and thick patches of tall grass that, when Entrapta rushes into one, come up well above her hips, and a rush of movement has her covering her face with her arms as a flock of small, brown and grey birds burst out of the grass and fly away, and Entrapta laughs gleefully.

"Oh, this is gorgeous! I mean, I'm not much of a nature person," she adds, turning idly back as she looks up at Leslie, "that's more sort of Perfuma's thing, but this--" she spins and spreads both arms at the nature scene before them. "--is so neat!"

... well, fuck, she's actually kinda cute. In a kid sister kind of way. Not that he knows anything about kid sisters, because he doesn't exactly have family, being, as far as he knows, a thing that doesn't really live or die, let alone be a person. But she's cute. (Better keep her safe. Damn.)

"I'm. Not really a nature person, either," he admits, looking around feeling more uncertain than impressed. "I guess it's pretty enough."

He'd rather be able to tell where the threats could come from. Out here it's so... open. It might be better if he were higher up, in a tree maybe. He's not sure if the Absol can climb, though.

Leslie leans down and paps on Entrapta's forehead, and then she claps her own cheeks with her hands. "Okay, focus! Uhh..." She looks around quickly, and lets out a gleeful bark of delight. "Here, this one!" She rushes back towards Soldat and puts both hands on a thick-looking tree nearby. "Punch this one!"

It's possible he won't be able to knock that one down, even at his best. Which is probably better, anyway, as he's not sure how deforestation-by-punch would go over around here. He motions for the Absol to stay put, not wanting her to accidentally be hurt, and she sits calmly to watch, then he comes to stand in front of it, looks it up and down to gauge the best spot.

Steps forward, draws back the metal hand in a fist, and gives it his best punch, all his weight behind it.

The tree barely rattles, leaves and branches rustling a little, and there's barely a handful of cracks in the bark, rather than the big fist-shaped dent he'd have expected. Worse, his back is all on fire under the skin from the force of the hit rattling back into his shoulder and the anchors under the skin.

Ow. Fuck. "Yeah. The. Strength's gone." Ow. Jesus, that was dumb.

Entrapta hasn't stepped back at all when Soldier throws his punch - she's actually still gripping the tree, and seems somewhat disappointed at the lacking reaction his attack gives it.

She steps around, looking at the tiny dent he made - it looks like he mostly just cracked old bark - and she traces it with one finger, picking a chunk off to look at the mostly unharmed freshness underneath. "So not only does this place restructure us on a magiophysical level, but also a technological level... Ohhh, I wish I had my recorder on me!"

She turns her attention back to Soldier then. "How did that feel for you?" There's an intensity that makes the question sound purely analytical, rather than concerned.

Sounds like techs. They didn't care much about his actual condition, either, just how much he could do. How field ready he could be. "There's a notebook in my bag. Might be one in yours." If she really wants to record something. He backs up, out of hitting range for Entrapta, and gives the plates in the arm a vigorous recalibration ripple, swinging the arm around for a reboot when one of the plates tries to stick on him. That fixes it. Doesn't do anything for the pain, though. Actually makes it a little worse.

"Power from the swing didn't go into the tree. Went into the supports for the arm. That's. Gonna take a while to heal." A pause. " ... longer than usual. If that's gone, too." Good thing he's used to being functional through pain, ain't it.

Her eyes sparkle watching the arm ripple and reset - but she doesn't miss that one plate sticking whatsoever, and that seems to shake the sparkle out of it a bit. Now she looks genuinely concerned.

"That... hurt you." She doesn't seem shocked, but she's definitely upset. "I thought... I recognised that your arm responded to patterns in your emotion, but I didn't realise it was directly wired into your nervous and adrenal systems in order to support that connection... I-I've never actually had a chance to study a connection quite like that. A-and without your secondary biochemical systems that got shut down, you're..."

At some point she took her hair in her hands and is wringing it anxiously as she looks away. "I'm sorry. For asking you to do that."

Now that sounds nothing like a tech. (Well, the words do. Not the tone.) She's only just met him, she's not even his tech or handler or anything. Why would she even care. The Soldier looks at her in clear confusion. After a moment of trying to come up with a response, he settles for: "I'm used to it."

The Absol comes to join him again and bumps at his metal fingers, getting him to scratch behind her crest. The flesh hand wants to rub at his now-aching shoulder, but he's not sure if that will get her more or less worked off.

"That doesn't make it okay," she says quietly. "And then I made it worse."

Navigating being a friend is hard. Is this what they are? She's barely met the man and now she's gone and seriously injured him, even if it was incidental. He was willing to try, for the sake of science, and that means he can't be... too bad a person, right? He seemed nice. Awkward, like her. Maybe he just had to find his niche, too.

She claps herself on both cheeks again, and seems to sober up a bit. "Okay! I got this, We've got this! I'm..." She seems uncertain, but she looks back at the Soldier with determination. "Mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process! I'm not going to ask you to do that again. And- and if you think something's going to hurt you, you should tell me! That way we'll both know that it's a bad idea!"

The Soldier knows exactly one (1) thing about friends, and it's that they'll let you hit them in the face a lot rather than hurt you. Once the mission is complete, anyway.

But he does know about protecting, it's probably the deepest imperative in his programming. Pre-HYDRA and everything. And he's already deciding he's not letting anything hurt this weird, enthusiastic, apologetic dame. She's just. Earnest. And nice. And he can't even remember anyone being nice to him pretty much ever, except for "mom" and she was creepy more than endearing. Even the stupid Target wasn't exactly nice.

It takes him a minute to properly process her babble, recognize that she's actually serious, blinking a couple times. Then he says, kind of quietly, "Okay." Then, after a pause and a shift of his feet, he adds, "Thank you."

She tilts her head, almost dislodging Leslie, and her shoulders bunch up as she grins widely at him. "Okay!"

But the winning smile is short-lived - not because of emotions, just because she's looking out on the route again. "So, I suppose we should start following this one, huh? To get to the next village."

He's getting the impression that she's not great at thinking ahead. Technically, neither is he, because the idea of next week is too far ahead to contemplate... but he can plan through a mission, at least. Be practical. He had a few minutes inside to check the contents of his backpack, and he knows it doesn't contain enough food for even a full day. How does he know this? He has no damn idea, because the last thing he remembers "eating" came through a tube and IV combo. But he knows it.

And from the size and shape and heft of her own bag, Entrapta's doesn't have much more in it. Unless the next town down the line is very close, by foot, they need more supply.

Because it's definitely a "they". The Soldier's not letting her get lost on her own. "We should. Can you wait a little, though? Gonna scout the town, get some more supplies. For both of us. In case the walk is long."

She's not the worst at it, but her foresight definitely doesn't extend terribly towards self-preservation. She looks back at Soldier when he speaks again, and nods firmly - after another few moments, she looks down at her hair, and lifts both hands to give him a double thumbs-up. "Sure! Leslie and I can stay right here! Promise!"

Leslie gives Soldier an uncertain look.

Yeah, he's not sure he believes that promise, either-- not that he thinks she doesn't mean it, just he's not sure she's capable. (Also, pretty sure she meant to thumbs up with her hair. Aw.) So he exchanges that look with Leslie, and says, "Just don't wander too far. We can probably find you again." At the very least, he's sure she won't be quiet, no matter where she goes.

"Will do!" And she immediately jumps up to grab at a low branch on the tree, so she can swing her legs up with ease and start climbing it. "See you when you get back!"

He has the brief urge to give a half-mocking little salute. Weird. He doesn't do it. Instead, he nods, then turns back to the village. There's got to be a store, right?

He's back an hour and a half later, with his backpack and a second bag full of edibles-- a loaf of bread, some cheese, a box of cereal with nuts, a jar of peanut butter, and some little plastic cups of fruit-- and a very small, cat-like creature on his shoulder chewing on his collar and lashing his little flower tail.

Somewhat predictably, she's not in the tree where he left her.

Luckily it's hard to go very far in an hour and a half, and there's obvious purple hair in the near distance - Leslie is still standing on her head, and when he sees the Soldier he lifts an arm and waves. Entrapta's talking, but it's hard to make out more than just delighted giggles from this distance.

And there she is. And Leslie is, too. What a good demon thing. Pokemon. Because one of the things he did while prowling the town was poke at the pokegear a little, discover the map, and learn a tiny bit about the creatures with them. He still needs to read the books but, well, it looks like they've got some time to kill on the road.

He pads on over to see what's got her so interested, trying with little success to detatch the Skitty from his collar. All that happens is he starts trying to chew on a metal finger, instead, growling very ferociously for such a small thing.

Entrapta doesn't seem to notice his approach; she's very distracted with the Whatever It Is, and as the Soldier draws closer there's a loud bzzap! and electricity visibly runs through the huge ponytails, making Leslie jump off her head with a startled yowl and Entrapta falls out of sight into the grass with a yelp. Followed quickly by even more delighted laughter.

Electricity. For a beat, he freezes, terrified, thinking cattle prods and stun batons and the fucking Chair.

But he told himself he'd protect Entrapta, so he charges over the last dozen or so steps, raising the metal arm and with the Absol hot on his heels, only for her to start... laughing?

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