Twenty five, don't recall a time I felt this alive (open)

[tookthewheel]

Who| MCU!Bucky Barnes and YOU
What| Bucky's back in the Capitol and dealing with things
Where| Anywhere around the Tribute Center, specify the location of your choice
When| After arena 12 goes boom
Warnings/Notes| The usual with this guy

Waking up was easier this time.

Maybe it's because he'd accepted and waited for death to come rather than fighting against it as he had before, with the same resignation and understanding of what was going to happen that had made it easier to go into the ice when his missions were done. He can count it as a bonus that waking up in a warm bed was far more pleasant than from the cryostasis tank.

Bucky gets up calmly but still with the feeling something is wrong, more than just how weak his limbs feel again after living a month with his full strength back. A feeling that persists as he heads for the shower first, then irritably shaves off the beard he always wakes up with and is coming to loathe, discovering at the same time that the brand has now gone from his cheek. Venturing into the kitchen area yields leftover casserole from the fridge which he wolfs down quickly before heading out of District 1 with Toro the tribble safely in his pocket. He needs to see his friends, check for himself that they're still here and make sure no more of them have vanished like the first Widow did.

He goes down to District 9 first, then down to the common area to start working his way upwards, choosing to take the stairs rather than the elevator as he moves through the training and district levels before finally emerging up onto the roof. There he habitually heads for his favourite spot to try and let the cold winter air blow out the still persistent cobwebs in his head.

Comments

[tasermaiden]

"He probably will," she shoots him a watery smile. "I mean, he's a warrior. He gets that shit happens out there. He'll probably boisterously forgive you and demand you share in a night of drinking mead and singing war songs to make it up to him." Okay, that's overly idealistic, but she can't help it when it comes to Thor.

Of course, maybe she's being overly idealistic about him coming back at all.

[tookthewheel]

"I think that would be an entirely new experience for me." Bucky says, with full honesty behind it. "Pretty sure I never had mead before." or sang war songs. Did they have those in his war? The only music he knew were the pieces that Albert had played for him in a bid to try and help his memory come back.

It's a better thread of conversation than the one they had going before, one that might make her a little less sad so he's going to encourage it.

[tasermaiden]

Darcy resists saying how many things are kind of new experiences for him. She cares about him too much to want to accidentally open that wound. "Mead's alright. It's sweet. Of course, I've never had Asgardian mead." She doesn't bring up that the one time they had mead at some sort of celebration at Jane's mom's place, Thor accidentally insulted Midgard's take on the drink. "I don't even know if they know how to make mead here. I mean, considering what they've done to pizza, I don't exactly have high hopes."

[tookthewheel]

"I don't know if there's anything they don't have here." Bucky counters with a minute shake of his head. God knows he's constantly overwhelmed by the amount of choice on offer in this city. The sheer amount of... everything.

He frowns, "What did they do to pizza?"

[tasermaiden]

"I can think of a few things," she says, doing her best to keep her voice light and cheery, leaving it at that.

Though, that's one dark, disappointing thing she can't keep from him. "The crust's wrong. And the idea of a plain pepperoni pizza with extra cheese seems to be beyond their comprehension."

[tookthewheel]

"Oh." he says, obviously less than knowing about what she means. Pizza hadn't been on the approved Winter Soldier menu. Most food hadn't been on the approved Winter Soldier menu. MRA's and protein shakes had made up most of his diet from before. He has no idea if pizza was a big thing back in the forties the way it is now either.

"You could make your own?"

[tasermaiden]

Had Darcy known that, she...probably still would've brought it up because it's one of those things that just keeps turning out wrong here. Like tacos, or crappy romance novels without a trace of propaganda.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be the same. There isn't that satisfying moment of opening the box and pulling out a slice of totally unhealthy, greasy, cheesy pizza." Okay, saying it out loud makes it sound disgusting. "It might be worth a shot, though. Ever been to a pizza party?"

[tookthewheel]

It sounds disgusting to Bucky, who makes an odd facial expression as Darcy describes it to him. The one time he'd tried pizza before coming to Panem had been back when he'd been detoxing after escaping HYDRA and he'd thrown up. That probably hadn't been the pizza's fault, given how unused he was to eating any food other than processed protein shakes and the nutrient-rich gruel the techs would feed him.

"Don't think so." Not in any memory he can recall, that's for sure. Who knew if they were actually a thing before he went off to war.

[tasermaiden]

Darcy is used to pizza being the thing that can gap any bridge from her years spent at Culver (and being an American teenager, but mostly at Culver), so seeing him make that face...okay, not the thing she was hoping for. But she'll try, oh my god will she try, to make Bucky warm up to pizza.

"We should fix that. We could do it after the next Arena, make it a huge 'oh my god, we all survived, let's eat, drink, and be merry' party." Of course she's being painfull optimistic that they'll all come back, but she refuses to believe otherwise.

[tookthewheel]

"Sure." he finds himself saying, anything to stop Darcy's face from falling again. It hits him for a moment how strange that concern is for him, or maybe not that strange at all. "We can do that."

It's likely something the others would enjoy by his observation and that cements it for him.