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

"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?”

"I've told her. I tell everyone. I've even tried showing her, but it didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to."

He huffs a sigh.

"She thinks it's some kind of persona that I've invented to -"

He holds out his hands.

"I don't even know. My therapist says the same thing. And as for Detective Decker I'd say it'd be fitting for her to let personal feelings cloud her judgement a bit. She's clearly not coming to the right conclusions when she is not."

"Sorry to hear that," Sharon hazards, after a short internal struggle. And, honestly, he seems upset enough that she does feel kinda bad for him.

"But since you weren't involved, the evidence should exonerate you, right?"

“It might help to know that a lot of people don’t believe in anything supernatural,” he tries. “And cops see a lot. She’ll figure it out eventually.”

"I certainly hope so."

He slants a look at Bucky as he takes another sip of his drink.

"I was half of a mind to just - go back. It's probably Dad who's behind this. It always is. But I've changed my mind."

His jaw sets.

"I'm not giving up on LUX. I'm not a puppet on a string."

He's not letting them win.

"Attaboy," Sharon says, encouragingly. She's pretty far out of her depth with this conversation, but it's not like that's ever stopped her before.

"With any luck you'll get to say 'I told you so' later."

That's always her favorite part. Except when she's the one they're saying it to.

“Listen to Sharon,” he agrees. “She knows what she’s talking about. Most of the time, anyway.”

"That's my plan," he ensures them.

"We'll find the real killer and she will realize that it never could have been me. Because I'm not like that and she knows it."

She's just gotten - unsure.

She gives Bucky a flatly exasperated look – only most of the time, huh? – and shakes her head as she turns back to Lucifer.

"Just work the case," she advises. "And when you crack it you'll be able to distance yourself from these idiots giving you a bad name."

He raises his hand, ceding the ground to Sharon.

"That is a very good point," he agrees. Brightly.

"Our first lead didn't go anywhere but once I have my hands on someone who might know something, we should be good."

On account of the skillset. And this time it's really personal, so -

He's been pretty literal so far. Does he mean he actually gets his hands on someone?

She decides she doesn't want to know. "Good luck with it," she tells him. "If your partner's any good I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it in no time."

“Seems to be, from what I’ve heard,” Bucky tells her. “Which reminds me —“

He looks at Lucifer. “How’d that last case turn out? The one where you got some help from that shrink?”

"The dead cheater therapist? The killer turned out to be a fellow therapist, who wanted to get with the dead one's wife," Lucifer says.

"It was a great example, by the way, of what I just told you. I went to his support group and told them everything, like how I had to go find my wings are they'd been stolen and so on. And his reaction?"

He makes a face.

"It's not all about you, Lucifer."

Come on!

"Wouldn't the whole wing situation warrant at least some curiosity?"

"He sounds like a bad therapist," Sharon says.

For a lot of reasons! "He probably thought you were being metaphorical."

"... also if he was the murderer he probably didn't want you there at all," he can't help but point out.

"They all seem to think that!" Lucifer says, exasperated. "But you're likely right. I did make him nervous. And then he pulled a knife on me and Defective Decker showed up. It was all very dramatic."

"Sounds exciting," Sharon says, after a bewildered moment.

"Too bad about the wings, though."

"Did he stab you?"

Inquiring minds want to know.

"I don't need them," Lucifer says, flippantly, and again there's the tiniest hint of a crack in his facade.

Then Bucky asks about stabbings and he shakes his head. "No, he stayed because I untangled the whole retaining behind it. He loved a woman he couldn't be with and her partner wasn't worthy of her. So he was jealous, only it was mostly about her not seeing him for what he was."

He smiles. Brightly.

"And that made me realize that I wasn't jealous because the whole thing with me and the Detective and her ex was totally different."

...

"And then she talked him and he bit get and she gave him an elbow to the face. So no stabbing."

Edited 2021-07-04 13:46 (UTC)

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