IC Inbox/Overflow - El Nysa

[lednikovyy]

@barnes

Comments

[lednikovyy]

what about the eye patch? don't leave me in suspense.

[ At least someone thinks this is funny. Granted, he wouldn't be laughing if he hadn't met Natasha first. That had softened the blow. ]

[deadthenred]

Only missing the one limb.

[lednikovyy]

missing or metal? serious question.

[ Not that it likely seems serious after he just tried to pretend to be a cartoon pirate, but that's fine. ]

[deadthenred]

I wear a prosthetic, yeah

[lednikovyy]

this is really weird, right?

[ He just wants to check in on that. Then he'll go back to covering with humor.

It's one thing to accept that there's another Natasha or even another Steve who isn't here and who he doesn't have to meet in person, but this? This is some wacky funhouse mirror shit. ]

[deadthenred]

I don't think I know what that word means anymore

[lednikovyy]

have you met other Buckys before? this has to be a new level, right? do we look the same?

[deadthenred]

Yes. [ More than once, and in a couple different circumstances. ]

And I'm not the best judge of that I don't think

I'm also not taking a selfie

[lednikovyy]

then I'm going to assume that I'm the hotter twin

how many of us are there? do we all have metal arms? are we all vampires?

[ An innocent test. ]

[deadthenred]

Probably not.

And I'll explain all about Baron Blood and how I became a vampire, but not on this.

[ Or well, his actual life story. He's enough of a paranoid SHIELD vet to not trust public networks. Or private ones, either.

Be glad Bucky hasn't ever encountered the actual canon universe where he is both a vampire and a monkey. ]

(sorry just getting back from hiatus)

[lednikovyy]

where are we meeting up, then? does it have to be at night? I'll avoid Italian food, right?

[deadthenred]

Sunscreen works.

You live with Steve, right?

[ He'd say he's not a creepy stalker but that would be lying. ]

[lednikovyy]

I'm guessing you already know the answer and you're just asking me so you seem like less of a creep. come on over.

[ Because that's 100% exactly what Bucky would do and he now sees that it's not a very successful tactic if that was the goal. ]

[deadthenred]

I was thinking of the place across the street.

[lednikovyy]

that works, too. ten minutes?

[ He's just going to assume other Bucky is already in the area. ]

[deadthenred]

[ He's not, exactly. He didn't know how his "meet up" suggestion would play. ]

<span style="font: 1.05em Courier, monospace;>Give me an hour?</span>

[lednikovyy]

alright, but you'd better be a looker.

[ Miscalculation. Maybe they aren't so similar after all. For some reason, that idea feels like a relief to Bucky. The idea of a guy who can read him that well makes his skin itch. ]

[deadthenred]

No comment

[ Is this what internet dating feels like? He'd only recently discovered internet dating.

In any case, it doesn't take him quite an hour to get there, and he isn't wearing anything to make him look more distinctive. He did cut his hair when he got back to Olympia, so it's shorter than he sometimes wears it. ]

[lednikovyy]

[ Bucky heads down about an hour after that text. His metal arm is covered, save for the hand. As far as he knows, there's still at least one HYDRA agent around looking for him and he's not taking chances flashing the whole arm around until he sees proof to the contrary.

Once he spots the person he's reasonably sure is the other Bucky (and that's still weird) he walks up to him like this is just two friends grabbing a coffee. ]

If I touch you, will it rip a hole in the very fabric of existence? Or is that not something you have to worry about after the world ends?

[deadthenred]

[ He raises an eyebrow, but only barely looks up. ]

I got no clue why you think this is my normal paygrade. [ It sort of is, but he doesn't like admitting that, even to himself. ] I'm not alternate universe Tony Stark.

[ The first name his mind comes up with. Reed Richards would have probably been a better namecheck. ]

[lednikovyy]

[ There's an almost wince at the name, but otherwise Bucky doesn't comment. The idea of there being multiple Tony Starks is little more than he thinks he can handle right now. Maybe it's not as weird as this is, but it's still somehow worse. ]

So we should find out, right? For science.

[ And he's just going to go ahead and cover all of his discomfort with another joke and a raised eyebrow. This is going well so far. ]

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky is totally oblivious to the history between his other self and the other Tony Stark. But he reaches his right hand out into the space between, offering a handshake. His left arm is visible, too, but it doesn't look fake. ]

I don't think I'll disappear.

[lednikovyy]

[ Bucky wants to make a joke about reading too many pulp novels, but he's starting to feel like he shouldn't press his luck. He really does want to figure out this whole twinsies thing, so he takes the hand in a firm but friendly handshake. ]

Well look at that. We're both fine. Bucky Barnes. Nice to meet you. I think.

[deadthenred]

I get pretty mixed reviews.

[ He says it like you'd tell a joke, and it is, but it's also nicer than what he'd have said about himself a year or two ago.

The silence lingers on for a few awkward seconds. What is he supposed to say next? ]

[lednikovyy]

[ There's a din of emotions around them that Bucky's still learning how to block out. He hasn't had the powers long and they're more overwhelming than they are insightful most of the time. Even now when he makes contact, the other man's emotions aren't something he can interpret, even though he knows he can feel something. ]

Me, too.

[ There's something warmer in his eyes now, because he isn't joking. It's a sentiment he understands a little too well. Before he'd woken up here, his only positive review had been from Steve. Even now, plenty of people seem to like him fine, but he doesn't let too many of them see who he really is. Other than Steve and Peggy, who'd known him before everything, Brock had been the only person he'd really been all that honest with and even then he'd had to pepper everything with lies to sell the truths. ]

I think I might be an acquired taste.