[Open] And outside, the world slipped over the brink

[communish]

WHO: Bucky Barnes & others
WHAT: Catch-all, open & closed starters, continued TDM
WHEN: April
WHERE: Free Cities, Nocwich, maybe Horizon
WARNING: None yet, but discussion of violence seems likely with this guy.
OTHER: Brackets and prose are both fine.

ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ
ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴏᴜᴛsɪᴅᴇ ɪs ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ʙʀᴀɴᴅ ɴᴇᴡ ʟɪɢʜᴛ
ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ɪsɴ'ᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇs ᴍᴇ ғᴇᴇʟ ᴡᴀʀᴍ
ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ɢᴏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴡɴ

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[assembles]

As soon as Steve had been able to, he'd left the hospital in Cadens and returned to the Sarstina to finish the last of his convalescence there. This has been way too much to spend as a patient, being fussed over by friends and medical professionals alike, and he's eager for the return to (relative) normalcy.

He'd only just reclaimed a room back at the inn before he was taken, but it seems that Sam had held it for him. Not that he would expect anything else.

Steve isn't content to just sit around in the inn, though, and he eventually sneaks out to go on a walk and really stretch his legs for the first time in a month. He's not back to the routine morning run with Sam yet, but within a couple of days, maybe.

After so long spent in that cavern, there's something nice about just being around normal daily life again, which is why he ends up wandering toward the markets despite not really wanting to buy anything. He would have been happy to just drift through and people watch before moving on, but then he spots someone. Someone strikingly familiar.

It isn't just the cybernetic arm, but that also catches his attention. There's just something about the stranger that makes him feel not like a stranger at all, as Steve watches him go back and forth with one of the merchants.

He knows about the multiverse, having even met someone from another universe (Wanda's son) who'd quickly recognized him as Steve Rogers, if not his Steve Rogers. That's one thing. Staring at someone and knowing deep in his bones that it's Bucky Barnes, if not his Bucky Barnes, is something else.

And before he knows it, he's been staring at him for a good twenty seconds.

[communish]

Bucky's years of paramilitary training -- first as an army recruit and then as the Winter Soldier -- had taught him to recognize and pay close attention to certain things. He was very quick to spot movement and recognize change (be it a break in a visual pattern or a deviation from a routine). He could usually clock a person who was in disguise or otherwise out of place. And he could almost always tell when he was being watched.

As the newest resident in a small fantasy village, and one whose cybernetic arm had become a lot harder to hide since the fountain lost his luggage, he'd felt eyes following him all day. So far, it had been no cause for concern. Mostly soldiers who seemed (rightly) to regard Bucky as a potential threat, or curious locals who wanted a better look at the bionic man. But this was different -- a pair of eyes were fixed on him, and while it wasn't registering as a threat, it still made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention.

Slowly, so as not to draw attention, Bucky averted his gaze to chance a look in his watcher's direction. And he spots the person he most -- and least -- wants to see.

A one-two punch of sudden relief and impending dread hits Bucky in rapid succession. His best shot at getting out of here alive is probably a rescue party. But since their last encounter involved Bucky shooting Steve, fighting him to a standstill and then fleeing the scene, Bucky's not so sure a rescue mission is what Steve has in mind. Every time Bucky does something like this, something he knows Steve hates, he's a little worried there won't be a next time. One of these days, he'll come to bury Bucky, not to save him.

Bucky quickly scans the marketplace for an exit strategy in case things turn dicey, deciding on a path that would take him from a nearby donkey cart to a low thatched roof and away from the center of town.

Steve is stronger than Bucky, but Bucky is faster -- or he was, anyway. Given how long it took Bucky to clock him, he could be at a considerable disadvantage.

"Steve?"

[assembles]

It doesn't take all that long for Bucky (and Steve isn't questioning it at this point, he just knows it's him) to realize that he's being watched. When their eyes meet from across the crowded marketplace, there is an immediate flash of recognition on Bucky's face, but also wariness, like he isn't entirely happy to find Steve here of all places.

To be honest, it reminds Steve of when he first tracked Bucky down to that apartment in Bucharest. He'd tried to act like he didn't remember a thing about Steve, but there'd been little tells, even if the underlying emotion had also been dread at what would come next.

And, well, to his credit? What came next had been a giant mess.

With no further context to pull from with this Bucky, Steve has no clue where they might stand. Is this Bucky's memory also spotty? The metal arm says a lot on its own, especially since it doesn't seem to be the Hydra model.

And then comes his name in a voice that's just a few degrees off of what he was expecting. It's weird, there's no doubt about it, but Steve decides to just trust his own instincts on this. So he crosses the distance between them in a few quick strides, nodding in confirmation.

"When'd you get here? It's..." He cuts off, glancing around them for a moment and nodding to the merchant, somewhat awkwardly. "Well, for me it's been a while." This is surreal, but he's still glad to see him, his hands twitching with the urge to reach out for a shoulder clap or something, but not knowing if he should assume that kind of familiarity. He realizes he hasn't shaved yet and his hand comes up to his beard for a moment, wondering what Bucky will make of it.