milliways_bar | oom + dual ep: a door from wakanda

Entry tags:

james 'bucky' barnes

oom + dual ep: a door from wakanda

OOM: The morning after this:

During his first morning as a free man, Bucky speaks with Steve, makes an important call, and does his best to express his gratitude to T'Challa before heading to the lab for a consultation. And then...

"Did you mean what you said last night? About wanting to find a place for a drink, or to go dancing."

Featuring NPC versions of: King T'Challa, Princess Shuri, Okoye, Natasha Romanoff, and Steve Rogers (written prior to Steve's return to the bar).

The first figure to step through the door and into the Bar proper is a familiar one – tall, a little scruffy, shaggy brown hair, neatly pinned sleeve where his left arm would be – though the lightness in his eyes and in the way he carries himself is something new.

So is the woman whose hand he holds as he guides her through the door. She's tall and slim, dressed casually in light pants and a white tank top, and the look on her face is one of such comical surprise it's nearly dismay.

"Holy shit," says Sharon Carter. "You were not kidding."

Tinytag: Sharon Carter

OOC: After months of OOMs leading up to this point, here we are as Bucky and Sharon enter the bar together! Two pups, two muns, two wildly different timezones. Ask for either one or both. Slowtime is, as always, welcome, especially as we head into a holiday weekend in the States. Ping Lorna or Aspen if you have any questions!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“Thanks,” he tells Lucifer, dryly, and “Sure,” he adds to Sharon. “He’s a hell of a guy. Owns a nightclub.”

His grip is just the right amount of firm and the skin on his hand is smooth. His cuticles hint at manicures and oil treatments.

He looks at Bucky, when she asks him and maybe, just maybe, Lucifer had been a bit - not worried, he never worries, but - if the rot had spread, had seeped in here too, had made people distrust him. He'd have hated that.

So Bucky's introduction makes him grin widely. (Relieved).

"I do. LUX. It's an amazing place. You'd love it."

And no, he doesn't know her, but obviously she would. Everyone would. It's LUX.

His clothes are obviously expensive, as is his cologne.

Business must be good.

Whether she would or not is irrelevant: he looks so pleased when Bucky confirms that they're friends and is clearly so proud of his place that she has to smile. "I'm sure I would," she tells him.

"Interesting line of work. You must enjoy people-watching."

“I can honestly say that he has some of the most unique observations about people that I’ve ever heard,” Bucky puts in.

Lucifer looks even more pleased at this.

"Thank you. Yes, I do enjoy observing people. You're absolutely fascinating. Humans I mean. And I have to say, L.A. is a great place to do so. As is this place."

He smiles at Sharon. "Is this your first time here?"

"That obvious, huh?"

She studies him with equal interest, taking in the exquisite clothing and grooming, the impossibly lovely symmetry of his face, remembering how he'd introduced himself.

So... not human. Actual Morningstar, maybe. The way Thor is the actual God of Thunder.

Okay. She lifts her glass. "The wine is helping."

Bucky runs his hand lightly up and down her back in a single quick, reassuring touch.

“I’m hoping she’ll want to come back,” he says, dryly, “so be nice.”

"Don't listen to him. I'm always nice."

He stops himself.

"Well, not always. Obviously. But mostly. When I'm here."
Another brilliant smile.

"This place is amazing. I certainly hope you'll want to come back."

Is he flirting?
Yes. Yes, he is.

It's the default, really.

The last time anyone flirted this blatantly with her was at a frat party in undergrad. "Thanks," she decides, giving Lucifer a slightly incredulous smile that turns amused and a little wry as she glances at Bucky.

"Is everyone here this friendly?"

Edited 2021-07-03 13:52 (UTC)

“No.” He’s visibly amused. “Lucifer’s in a class by himself.”

"I like to think so too," Lucifer replies, modestly, before leaning in to order.

He gets a glass and a bottle of Scotch. Bowmore 25 years, and looks at the both of them, asking, "Could I tempt anyone?" before pouring a glass.

He's got to have picked that word on purpose, right?

Sharon tips her wine at him. "Thanks, but I better just stick with this if I want to be functional later."

You know what? She likes him. He is clearly well-versed in teasing Bucky and that's a skillset she's spent a lot of her own time perfecting. "So, your nightclub," she invites. "I'm guessing it's a top-shelf kind of place."

Not that it takes an intelligence agent to come to that conclusions.

“That’s a slippery slope,” he observes, “but I might allow it. Just this once.”

He’s curious to hear the answer to Sharon’s question.

Lucifer gives him a grin and a wink as an extra glass appears.

If he flirting? Yes, and - so on.

He pours four fingers (the fingers in question clearly belongs to a larger individual than himself) as he answers Sharon's question.

"It is. I take pride in both the range and the quality. I like my creature comforts."

He hands the glass to Bucky as he continues, "It's ended up just the way I imagined it. Filled with people enjoying themselves. I like that."

And there's the tiniest crack in his cheerful demeanor as he says that, there and gone in the blink of an eye.

"Quality alcohol, quality drugs, quality music. Sturdy towel racks in the bathrooms."
Obviously.

Back to cheerful.

Edited 2021-07-03 16:08 (UTC)

A small frown flickers between her brows, but he smoothly continues and it's not like she knows him well enough to comment. Or at all.

That little furrow deepens, bemused. "Towel racks? Are those important?"

He lifts the glass to Lucifer in silent appreciation, which increases after he takes the first sip.

His eyes narrow a little at that crack in the cheer, but he doesn’t call him on it. Instead, he asks,

“Do I even want to know where you source the drugs from?”

"You don't want to have a nice shag ruined because of a flimsy towel rack," he tells Sharon seriously before waving a hand at Bucky's question.

"I leave that to the free initiative. I only procure for myself."

He takes a ship of his drink.

"Did you know that you're not supposed to take anything from the evidence locker at the precinct? Even if it's quality coke and it's just laying there?"

Honestly!

"I'm a private consultant for the LAPD," he explains to Sharon. "Mostly murder cases."

Edited 2021-07-03 17:38 (UTC)

Sharon chokes on her wine.

"That's a hell of a moonlighting gig," she says, weakly, after coughing for a moment. "How – ?"

Why. "I'm sure there's a story there."

“I’ve heard that the authorities frown on that kind of thing,” he says, with perfect aplomb. “Including your Detective Decker, I guess?”

"Well, the LAPD is not really a shining beacon, you know," he tells Sharon. "A - someone I know got killed and I wanted to make sure they caught the guy behind it. And it turned out that I'm pretty good at that sorry of thing. I have a skill set that's just what's needed."

And then Bucky mentions Detective Decker and he just says, "She probably does," sounding - off.

She's desperately curious to know what kind of skillset a nightclub owner (and potential Prince of the Underworld) has that would be of use to the LAPD, but that oddly flat note in his voice makes her frown again.

"Your partner?" she asks, glancing at Bucky for confirmation.

Uh-oh. Bucky frowns. “You two get your wires crossed?”

It’s the nicest possibility he can think of, really, that there might just be a little… confusion. Given Lucifer’s plan last time, it’s certainly possible, he figures.

Lucifer visibly pulls his optimism together and shoves it to the forefront of his face.

"It's just - it'll work out. We've just, the Detective and I , my partner, our latest case seems to have involved Satanist. And some people seem to think I'm somehow involved."

There's a lengthy pause and then he says, "It would have been nice if she'd seemed a little more convinced that it had nothing to do with me."

And then he empties his glass and refills it. And empties it and refills it

And it's all done so smoothly, like he's not even aware that he's doing it. (He isn't).

Ohhh. Kay.

(The Devil is sensitive. She wouldn't have called that one.)

"I'm sure she's just trying to consider all the possibilities," Sharon says, carefully, watching as he drinks. "It can be tough to not let your personal feelings affect an investigation."

She says it just as blandly as if she hadn't tossed her whole damn career out the window for her own sense of right and wrong. And as if she hadn't misled her bosses for months on the whereabouts of the Winter Soldier.

Bucky gives her a sideways look at that, but forbears to comment.

To Lucifer, he says, “A lot of people have a warped view of that kind of thing. Does she, uh, know you’re not just a guy with the name?”

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