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]

"I wish for the best for you and for them, then," he says, quietly.

[from_the_outside]

There's a lot going on here that she doesn't quite understand, but she can take her cue from the clear quiet sorrow in Elrond's voice and the way Bucky reacts. "That sounds hard," she says. "I'm sorry. It's difficult when you and your family take different paths."

(She wonders how her parents are, if they're worried, if they're angry, if maybe they believe what the government is saying about her.

She wonders when – or if – she'll see them again.)

[starrydome]

"Thank you," he says to the both of them.

"It is difficult to see the full consequences of that choice. It was that way for me and my brother and although we were younger than they were, we had seen more hardship at the time. My children lost their mother when she sailed West, but they still had a home."

And they'd still been loved.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Will they still have your brother’s family? After?”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon frowns.

"What do you mean, 'sailed West'?"

[starrydome]

He answers Sharon first.

"A long time ago, my wife was waylaid by orcs, evil creatures in service of the darkness. Her party was traveling from the home of her parents and many of them gave their life for her."

There's an almost imperceptible pause.

"She was - hurt. To find peace, she traveled West, across the sea, to the Undying Lands. The place we came from. She waits there for our arrival."

And he shall arrive alone.

"Arwen, my daughter, has married a descendent of my brother's line. His people will thrive."

But once Arwen is gone -

[nerves_of_ice]

He is quiet, listening, giving them the space needed to address this difficult subject.

[from_the_outside]

"Sounds like she'll be happy to see you," Sharon says, her voice soft.

"I'm sure she's missed you."

[starrydome]

"I have longed to see her face again every day since she left," he replies, quietly.

"She is the moon and I am her tide."

And then he smiles a little. "We shall travel light when we leave, but one of the first time I was here, I met a lady who had a clever tool used to shape her nails. She offered one to me when I told her of Celebrian, so now I shall bring the gift of an emery board from the house at the end of all things."

[nerves_of_ice]

"That and the stories you'll have of this place --"

It strikes him, visibly.

"Do you think you'll be able to return here from there?"

[from_the_outside]

She looks at Bucky, taking in the way the thought hit, and turns back to Elrond, questioning.

[starrydome]

"I do not know," he says, quietly.

"And so I find myself stretching my last days by visiting here. The lands beyond the sea may be our ancestral home, but it was never mine. I hope that there will be doors elsewhere."

But he doesn't quite believe there will be.

[nerves_of_ice]

“They say that if you have something from here with you, it’s easier to find your way back,” Bucky tells them. “Like a matchbook or napkin.”

[from_the_outside]

"Is that how you do it?" Sharon asks Bucky.

"With a matchbook or something?"

[starrydome]

"I might have to try," he says, thoughtfully.

"Though I doubt it. The Straight Road that our ships sail to reach Eldamar, leads into the skies. It was made that way to make sure that only those permitted to reach the shoes could. And you cannot go back."

Except in certain, exceptional cases.

[nerves_of_ice]

“I took one once, but I forgot it,” he says. “Sort of. And then I used it in a message drop. Long story.”

He looks at Elrond. “Doesn’t hurt to try, though.”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon looks a little doubtful.

"It seems like there are a lot of rules in place for this trip," she says. "Who made them?"

[starrydome]

"The Valar. They made the world and those who live in it and they lifted their own land away from the world, curving its rim."

He gestures, one hand Palm down, the other moving away as he curls his fingers. From flat to round.

"The Undying Lands are barred for mortals. The only Man to have travelled there was my father and after he reached the shore he was not allowed to return."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Return to that world,” Bucky insists. “This place is between lots of worlds.”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon nods to show she understands, though she's sure it's still much more complicated than she can really get right now.

"This place does seem to break a lot of rules," she agrees. "Or bend them, at least."

[starrydome]

He smiles.

"I shall try. For I would be sad to lose the friendships I have made here."

As he leaves his life behind.

[nerves_of_ice]

"People here would miss you too, I'm certain."

Himself among them.

[from_the_outside]

"I hope you'll be able to come back," Sharon says. She doesn't know him, but Bucky does and clearly cherishes the friendship.

That's enough for her. "Sounds like you won't be leaving for a little while, though, right?"

[starrydome]

"Not as you reckon time,l think," he replies.

"It will be a year or two before we are ready to leave for The Grey Havens. But I have seen more than 6,000 round of the sun already, so two more is little enough."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Little enough, long enough," he says. "I guess seize the moments you have, right?"