IC Inbox - Duplicity

[lednikovyy]

Comments

text. un: srogers /sneaks in here before it's ready shh

[etch]

[and immediately following his conversation with caitlin--]

bucky i think ihave a date tomorrow night i need your help thisis important

[lednikovyy]

is that why you can't type?

[etch]

[sometimes he really does wonder why he calls bucky his friend.]

Shut up and help me find somewhere nice to take her.

[how's that for typing?]

[lednikovyy]

okay. are you trying to get to know her or are you trying to have sex with her?

[ Look at him, asking helpful questions! ]

[etch]

What do you think?

[actually, no. he doesn't want to know what he thinks.]

Should I take her to a restaurant, or should I cook?

[lednikovyy]

you should take her to a restaurant because no one wants 1940s cooking anymore. trust me.

[ No really, even Bucky doesn't want it. ]

just wear a tight shirt and ask her questions about herself. the shirt is the important part.

[etch]

I wouldn't do that to her. They have premade meals in the grocery store.

[because he's still trying to get used to the fact that they don't have to live off of rations anymore.]

I should've known it was a back idea to ask you for advice. You're ridiculous.

[where ridiculous really means "an asshole but i still love you anyway"]

[lednikovyy]

how is that bad advice? it's exactly what I would do and the tight shirt looks a lot better on you, which is unfair because you won't even take advantage of it.

people like talking about themselves. they like feeling like other people are interested in them. ask her about herself. smile. be yourself, because if someone doesn't like that, they're not worth your time. happy?

I've had sex once in the last 70 years, by the way, so I don't know what quality of advice you were expecting here.

[etch]

[he makes a point of ignoring the first part because, alright, bucky may have come through for him in the end. the advice is something he can actually work with, this time.]

Happy.

[now to just remember how to be himself.]

Do you need me to ask her if she has a friend?

[lednikovyy]

low blow.

I can get my own dates. I'm 3/4 of a reasonably attractive guy and there have to be at least a few ladies around who will be into the metal arm/tragic past thing.

[ Or fellows, but he's not broaching that topic just yet. ]

[etch]

I'd say you're more 4/5. Though you're still 100% an ass.

[lednikovyy]

all I got out of that message is that I have a nice ass. thanks.

[etch]

[the response has him laughing, and it's abrupt enough that he has to take a moment to apologize to the woman nearby who he'd just made jump.]

One day I'll remember why we're friends.

>> tex; un: bbarnes

[carrytheshield]

Hey, you got a minute?
Wasn't sure who else I could talk to.

[There's a faint edge there that this is maybe important.]

[lednikovyy]

you can always talk to yourself.
you okay? relatively speaking, of course.

[lednikovyy]

shit now you have memory problems, too? hit your head?

then I guess you forgot that you owe me money. a lot of it.

[carrytheshield]

Yeah. Relatively speaking.
Maybe even good, I dunno.

But there's something I feel like I should probably tell Steve. My Steve. But it's weird.
Figured maybe it'd be easier talking to you first.

[lednikovyy]

probably. you know I'm not going to judge you for anything, right?

[ He's too busy judging himself. ]

[etch]

Maybe I wanted to try and forget you telling me about your sex life. I must have hit my head a little harder than I thought.

[carrytheshield]

yeah, thanks. same goes, you know. I won't judge you.
I mean, as long as you weren't a Dodgers fan.

[Look, he grew up on a military base in New Jersey, he's totally a Yankees fan. The Yankees were amazing back in the 40s. Also, it's easier to deflect how much that means with a joke.]

I'm gonna contract with someone. And that's more or less public knowledge, which means he's gonna find out eventually and then he'll give me that look for not tellin him.

But it's another guy. And I haven't talked to him about that part yet.

[lednikovyy]

what sex life?
(the kids call that a self-burn)

[lednikovyy]

1. fuck you I'm from Brooklyn

2. contracts aren't always sexual, right? cause me and Steve aren't having sex last I checked.

3. clearly yours is, because otherwise you wouldn't be worried about this, right? I don't really know what to tell you to do with that, because I had something going on with a guy Steve and I were both friends with back on that planet I told you about and I never told him, so I'm maybe not the best person to ask about this stuff. I guess even if I had told him, the Steve here wouldn't remember it, but I haven't told any version of Steve. so.

I don't think he'll care in a bad way, though. I didn't tell him back there because he'd just married the love of his life and then she went back into cryo and then the world was ending. never seemed like the right time to mention I had a crush on someone. now, Steve's barely adjusted to the fact that it isn't 1945. still seems like bad timing.

There's no version of Steve who'd ever stop loving you cause of that, though.

4. fuck you I'm from Brooklyn

[etch]

They call it a what?

[lednikovyy]

[ Oh, no. ]

a burn is an insult. so I insulted myself because I don't have a sex life to tell you about.

[etch]

Why would you need to insult yourself? That's what I'm here for.