oom + dual ep: a door from wakanda

[from_the_outside]

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!

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

“One piece at a time?” he teases. “That’s usually how I do it.”

[from_the_outside]

It's worth it to haul herself out of her despondency, she thinks, smiling at the way he teases her.

This place is important to him. It's important that she like it. "Okay," she says, unwrapping the foil-covered heart and taking a bite.

"So where did you start?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Right here at the bar,” he tells her. “I thought Steve was playing a joke. So I asked for—“

As he starts to explain, a glass shimmers into being in front of him, and he laughs as he picks it up and takes a sip.

“—yes, that. Exactly that.”

[from_the_outside]

She laughs, too. "That would have been a hell of a prank to pull off," she admits.

At least she's used to a world where the God of Thunder shows up every now and again, traveling along a bridge made of rainbows. This hardly seems weird after some of the things that have happened at home over the last few years. "What then?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Then he started introducing me to people - oh, and showed me the window.” Bucky’s expression turns solemn. “Before you look, know that whatever shield they’ve got keeps everything here safe, okay?”

He nods over her shoulder.

[from_the_outside]

She gives him a startled look. "What? Why?"



... except it all becomes clear when she turns around and sees it. A window stretching nearly the length of one wall, and beyond it: the death of everything. "Holy – "

She jerks back on instinct and almost falls off the bar stool.

[nerves_of_ice]

He’s bracing her in an instant, his arm behind her back.

“If you watch long enough it repeats,” he tries to reassure her. “It cycles.”

[from_the_outside]

She stares it down, watching as planets crumble and stars fail.

"It really is the end of the universe, huh?" she says, after a long second of trying to get her heart rate back under control. "Literally."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Looks that way,” he agrees.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, to be honest.”

[from_the_outside]

She gives the window one last incredulous glance, then turns back to him.

"Well, I can see how it could be kind of a downer."

[nerves_of_ice]

“More like it’s out there and can’t get in here,” he says. “And if someone tried to break or blow up the window - well, I figure it’s pretty well protected from what I can tell.”

A beat of silence.

“And it’s kind of amazing to watch.”

[from_the_outside]

She gives the window a faintly doubtful glance. "Well, it would be over pretty fast if it did break," she admits.

"So I guess there's not much use in worrying about it."

Who knows? If she manages to come here for seventy-plus years, maybe she'll just enjoy watching it, too.

[nerves_of_ice]

"That's the spirit." He laughs, quick and soft. "I know I'm not usually that much of an optimist, but something about being here's like being back before... before everything, sometimes. I don't know. It's hard to explain."

[from_the_outside]

He's relaxed and pleased and comfortable, and that's down to this place, strange as it is.

She can love it for that alone, honestly.

"I can get that." Sharon puts a hand on his leg and squeezes fondly and briefly, then pulls it away again as she looks around. "It seems like..."

Not like a regular bar, that's for sure, but it takes her a second to put her finger on it as she watches the other patrons. "Everyone looks really at home here."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Like a local. A real local,” he agrees.

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah."

It's soothing to sit and talk with him and to sip at her wine, and she shakes her head a little at herself. Between him wanting to bring her here and the night before –

Well, she's got a lot of reasons to feel pleased and secure and none to worry. A grin tugs at her lips, then flashes, crinkling up her eyes.

"Not much like any local I've ever seen before, though."

[nerves_of_ice]

He grins back at her.

“That’s for sure.”

[from_the_outside]

It's still a nice grin, and it still does weird things to her stomach, even after weeks.

"Do I want to know how a bar at the end of the universe has a lake and woods and an outside?" she asks. "Or is that more 'it's magic-slash-it's a mystery'?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Sounds like you already figured it out,” he says, deadpan. “But yeah, that’s the only explanation I’ve ever gotten.”

[from_the_outside]

"Considering how weird things have gotten at home over the last few years, that's as good an explanation as any."

She swirls her wine and takes a swallow, then lightly taps her own forehead with her palm, exasperated. "I can't believe I forgot to ask; how did your chat with T'Challa go?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“It went well,” Bucky promises. “I made the offer, and he reacted pretty much how we thought he might. But I had to do it.”

[from_the_outside]

"Good."

She's not surprised – the only real surprise would have been if T'Challa had reacted any other way – but she's glad anyhow. "One less thing to worry about. Maybe you can just focus on Shuri's designs for your arm, for a while."

She pauses, amends. "And the goats. And the kids."

[nerves_of_ice]

“We’ll see, I guess,” he murmurs. “I haven’t thought much past this. I never really let myself imagine it.”

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah."

If it hadn't worked...

But it had. It's worth the weeks of waiting and worry, worth everything, just to know he's free. "But you can now."

The smile she gives him is inexpressibly fond. "The future's looking pretty bright from where I'm sitting."

[nerves_of_ice]

He grins, tired but warm and happy. “From here too.”