| open | You can't wake up, this is not a dream

[readytocomply]

Who: Bucky and You
Where: All over the mansion
When: After the event
Rating: PG; will update if needed
Summary: An arm and a cat
The Story:

ɞ Closed to Alphys: stark's not an option

[They've discussed Alphys helping him replace the arm he'd lost for the second time, and today's finally the day they attach it. It meant Bucky had to open up and tell her about some of the concerns he had; being put under, triggers, restraints, and other things, but he was ready to do it. He'd already had it worked out with Steve so that if something goes wrong, he doesn't hurt her.

He meets her at her room, knocking.]

It's Bucky.

[Yeah, this is fine.]

ɞ Open to all: i don't know what to call her

[Wonderland's doing its best to mess with his head, but Bucky's found himself in the middle of a group of people that seem to know how to help even when he doesn't know exactly what's wrong. But when they aren't around, and his head's doing all the work on its own, Bucky realizes he could use some company. He borrows Steve's dog, Dodger, sometimes and pets him or catches an hour or two of sleep with Dodger's head in his lap.

It's what bring him to the conclusion that he should ask the closet for a pet of his own. Something strong, he asks. Something fast. Something that can take care of itself. He opens the door and this comes out. It looks sad and lonely and Bucky loves her immediately.]

I didn't do anything to her. She always looks that way.

[He tells the first person who greets him as he makes his way down the hall with the cat in his arms. She's curled up, wary of everyone that passes.]

I wanted to find someone that could tell me if she's healthy.

ɞ Open to all: there's two now

[Now that Alphys has helped him out in the arm department, Bucky heads out into Wonderland in search of something to do. He'll look for someone to spar with, or talk to, though he takes a bit of time to warm up to strangers still. Mainly, he'll want to test out the arm in small ways.]

[ooc: If you want to plot or hash out any details, just hit me up at what_he_needs. Feel free to come across Bucky with the cat or his new arm anywhere in the mansion.]

Comments

omg Bucky has a kitten HOW CUTE

[mettatonvevo]

[Things have been quieting down after the last event, and Mettaton is grateful for the breather. He's been feeling so many negative emotions lately that the urge to relax and let go is overwhelming. So a pleasure stroll was in order! Maybe he'd see people he knew and have a nice conversation.

He turns the corner of some hallway or another and spies Bucky as he carries... is that a kitten? Oh goodness, it's adorable!]

Bucky! Who is your delightful new companion? Other than me, of course.

[Bucky is a welcome sight these days. With a new arm! Well well!]

I don't know much about cat care, unfortunately. I won't be much help there.

[readytocomply]

It’s..

[He hasn’t named her yet. Bucky assumes it’s a female, but he also knows a visit with a veterinarian will help him out with that.]

I don’t know. The closets gave her to me.

[Bucky steps up, gently rubbing his fingers under her chin. His expression is softer than normal, more relaxed with the cat in his arms, purring quietly.]

Isn’t she something though?

[He could spend quite a bit of time playing with her, he’s already done the math. Wonderland isn’t the busiest of places, and he kind of wants to make that sad expression, which is probably permanent, fade from the kittens face.]

Real sweet.

[mettatonvevo]

[The soft look on Bucky's face as he looks down at the kitten in his arms is like a balm to a troubled soul, and Mettaton finds himself mirroring the expression on his own face, though it's directed more at Bucky than the kitten.]

They've given you the cutest cat I've ever seen. If you don't have a name yet, she's gonna need an extra cutsey one to match.

[He reaches out a hand and gently touches Bucky's new arm, careful to not disturb the sleeping kitten.]

I see Alphys fixed you up nicely. It looks good on you.

*shoves this ghost out of their room*

[rlynotfeelinup2itrnsorry]

[The ghost recognizes the man in the hallway instantly. So many people in Genosha had been created by Wonderland that seeing him takes them by surprise.]

....Mr. Barnes?

[Their voice is the same as in Genosha but they forget that the rest of them isn't]

i.... what happened.... to your arm?

[readytocomply]

[Bucky’s met some people here that don’t look like him, and he’s really good at hiding any surprise or confusion he might feel. He sure as hell feels it looking at the ghost calling his name, but he doesn’t show it.]

Do we know each other?

[The voice is familiar, but not the rest of them.]

I got it replaced. Alphys has been working on it and she finished recently.

[rlynotfeelinup2itrnsorry]

but.... you had... is it better than your old arm? did you....

....oh, uh, you don't remember me? we were-

[Oh. Wait.]


[They have maybe a little more to explain than an arm]

i uh.....

i was a.... human.... before, sorry....

i'm not... actually a human....

um, my name is napstablook, if that helps...

SAUNTERS ON IN HERE

[sciencelizard]

[She's been working on this piece for months, and after the first lab explosion, she (probably wisely) moved it into her private workspace on the second floor. She's never made something this human-accurate before- obviously, her project for the better part of the last long-ass time was Mettaton, who, while wanting a body that was humanoid, still allowed for her to build from the ground up. Matching something, and especially to someone else's already made body, is much, much harder, especially because monsters don't have a lot of advanced prosthesis, since most go to dust after taking too much damage. But he's been cooperative, and after casting his flesh-and-blood arm the build was much easier. After that all the work went into getting the mechanics fine-tuned and making it not work on magic, which was... a little more complicated.

She's in her room, making sure all the top bits fit together. Her only real regret is that she can't really make it look like flesh, but from what she's been told, this isn't too different a plating to his old arm, so... hopefully it'll work out. She jumps a bit on instinct when he knocks, but slides herself out of her desk chair and answers the door.]

Hey! G-Good to see you. Come on in, it's p-pretty much done, I'm just, uh, g-getting fussy with it.

[She always gets fussy with her work. It's why she's so hard on Mettaton when he cracks himself doing something stupid.]

[readytocomply]

[Bucky trusted Alphys to take care of him, something that surprised him and relieved all at the same time. He didn’t trust people easily and Steve helped him with that. They both liked her, thought she was sweet. He’d hated having to tell her about himself, kept waiting for her expression to change to disgust, hatred or fear, and he still waits for that now.]

I’m sure it’s perfect.

[He steps into her private workspace, closing the door behind him. Bucky doesn’t know where or how she wants him, so he stays there, his arm hanging loosely at his side.]

Should I remove my shirt?

[Guide him Alphys, he’ll try to not disappoint.]

[sciencelizard]

[She jumps a bit at his question, because. Oh. Right. He has to be shirtless. How is this somehow harder to deal with than the actual robotics part??? Why is she likes this. She blushes, looking away from him a bit and pretending she's getting supplies.]

Y-Yeah, uhm, that'd be helpful, I mean, uh, f-for everything. Yeah. You can, uhm, f-feel free to sit down over there, uhm, get comfortable!

[WHY IS SHE LIKE THIS. She shakes her head a bit, tries to get her blush down, gathering screwdrivers and tools in her arms and bringing them over to the table near where she gestured him to sit.]

How're you f-feeling?

have a wild card

[assembles]

[ While there may have been a few stragglers after the second mansion disappeared and the string of parties came to an end, for the most part all of their additional visitors have vanished as if they'd never been here at all. Steve had known it was coming (that amount of people couldn't possibly be sustained long-term), but saying goodbye hadn't always been easy.

It had been ultimately been for the best, though, getting some closure from the Bucky who'd been here before. He'd essentially received his blessing, which will make it easier to press forward without any lingering doubts or concerns.

Of course, that leaves Steve with a Bucky who's still on a desperate search to find himself, who still looks at him and primarily feels unworthy instead of at home. But Steve has done this before. Seeing the other Bucky had only reminded him of how much progress they'd made, and he can make that happen again.

When Steve dreams, though, he doesn't dream of Bucky. Not this time. No, tonight it's Tony who takes center stage in his dreams, spitting out every thought Steve's ever had about his inadequacy, tightening a metal gauntlet around his throat while demanding to know why Steve was so insistent on tearing apart everything they'd built.

He wakes up gasping, like he can't breathe, covered in a cold sweat and not in a state of mind to remember that he's not alone in the room. Dodger reacts first, standing from his bed to pace over and paw at the side of the mattress in concern. ]

[readytocomply]

[They’ve come a long way in the past few months, made progress that Bucky can be proud of, and even if he’s nowhere near anything that he’d consider better, it’s not bad. Steve makes it good. Always. Even when they’re doing nothing, it’s still good. He knows they have a long way to go before it’s as easy as it used to be, though he’s not so sure that it’ll ever be that way again, but there’s a little bit of hope curling up in his stomach and it’s slowly changing the way he sees things.

He still has trouble with touching. With saying exactly what he means to say when he wants to say it, but Steve never pushes him. He’s patient and when Bucky can’t see past his own guilt, or how undeserving he still feels, Steve doesn’t push. He gives Bucky the space and time he needs and Bucky tries to do the things he actually can do to make up for all his shortcomings. He offers to take Dodger out and he keeps their room clean. He does a lot of things but what he really wants to do is to touch Steve, just once, and he can’t figure out why that’s so hard.

Then there’s the times they have nightmares and Bucky doesn’t want Steve anywhere near him because the fear of hurting him is too overwhelming. But when Steve sleeps and he wakes up gasping, Bucky usually keeps his distance, but for the first night in a while, he’d actually been asleep himself and instinct takes over before his brain catches up.

He's up and crossing the room, kneeling down beside Dodger, his hands braced on the edge of the bed.]

Steve. You okay?

[assembles]

[ The thing is, Bucky does spend a lot of nights in Steve's room, sleeping on the couch. Sometimes he isn't there when Steve falls asleep, but he'll find him passed out when he wakes up in the morning for his run, even though he doesn't remember hearing him come in. (Bucky moves like a ghost, even now -- it's not surprising.)

The point being that it takes a second for Steve to register that he's not still asleep, that the sniffling of a worried dog and the rough voice of a friend are part of reality rather than the fading edges of his nightmare. He doesn't respond at first, just focuses on catching his breath.

When he finally looks up at Bucky, Steve's face is tight and beaded with sweat. Even then, it's hard to find words and he lifts an arm to wipe that sweat away before he manages a nod.

It's always hard, forcing himself to realize that a nightmare that vivid hadn't actually been real. He thinks about Tony, sleeping in a room on this very same floor (or more likely, awake and working on something), and it at least does some of the work in helping him reach a level of calm. ]

Sorry. [ He pushes himself up until he's sitting. ] I didn't mean to wake you. Just a bad dream...

[tattooedredheads]

[Kay had decided to head on out to the gardens today. He hasn't looked at the plants for a while and he wants to see if he can find anything useful there. While the closets might provide anything he could wish for, there is no guarantee that they always will.]

You weren't thinking of a sad cat? [Truthfully, Kay hadn't thought anyone did anything to the cat. It probably would be putting up a fuss if someone had.]

I thought I saw a place you could take her to on the first floor.

[Kay reaches out to scratch the cat behind her ears.]

[readytocomply]

No. I don’t think I was.

[He was still working out the idiosyncrasies of the closets, but he’s honestly okay with having a cat that looks perpetually sad. It’ll just remind him to work harder to make her happy.]

There’s a vet?

[Bucky tips forward to let them pet her, more at ease with meeting new people while having her in his arms.]

I just wanna make sure she’s okay.

[tattooedredheads]

Something for animals. I haven't actually met a veterinarian. [But there are also a lot of people in this mansion.] It's a bit further down the hallway then other things on the first floor.

so how 'bout a metal arm buddy...

[actualdad]

[ In all honesty, it's actually the arm that Shiro notices before the cat. He hasn't run into anyone else here before now who has a prosthetic arm remotely similar to his own, so this is new. There's something almost comforting in finding someone with the similarity, even if he hasn't been particularly worried about standing out. Flexing the fingers of his own right-handed metal, cybernetic arm instinctively, his attention drifts to the cat with the comment about her. ]

She always looks sad?

[ He doesn't think he's ever seen an expression like that on a cat's face--she really does look upset. ...It's actually kind of cute. Eyebrows raising, he glances up to meet Bucky's gaze. ]

I couldn't tell you that but I have to assume someone here probably knows enough about cats to help. Are you worried that she's sick?

yesss

[readytocomply]

[Bucky hasn't met anyone else with an arm so similar to his own before. Mettaton has metal, but he's completely made of metal, so he's not so sure that counts. It's oddly reassuring, but in a way that reminds him that he's not the only one who has been through something like that before. Bittersweet, that's how he sees it.]

She does.

[He assumes she was born that way, the shape and tilt of her eyes giving her an upset look.]

She doesn't seem sick, but I'm not really sure she's a she either. Or that she isn't sick.

[Pulling her from the closet after wishing for her worries him a little.]

Better safe than sorry.

[circlejerked]

_{[Did someone say there's a new cat in the mansion? As a fan of all felines big and small, it's only a matter of time before Anders' sixth sense for cats draws him toward Bucky and his new charge.]}

Well, you look different. Did you do something with your... hair?

_{[It's rude to comment on someone's shiny new appendage, isn't it? The second best thing he can offer is a playful greeting, and it's the first thing out of his mouth when he spots Bucky in the hall. Then he notices what the man has in his arm(s). (The plural is a good look for him, honestly.)]}

Relation of yours? She looks just like you.

_{[It had to be said.]}

[readytocomply]

[Bucky almost rolls his eyes, it’s a close thing. Considering that they train together, and that Anders was helping him learn to function without an arm, he knows that the playful greeting is his way of acknowledging the change without trying to make it weird.]

Parted it down the middle.

[He says it lightly, moving forward to show Anders the cat. Bucky’s arms are protectively cupped around her, but he angles his body so Anders can pet her if he wants.]

Looks like me? [Oh. He does roll his eyes then, huffing lightly.] Do you like cats?

I’m tryin’ to name her, and make sure she’s healthy.

[circlejerked]

Wow. What a dramatic change. I can really see the difference.

<sub>[Is there a day when Bucky doesn't part his hair down the middle? That's the real question.

To answer Bucky's, is the Earth round? You bet he likes cats, even sad ones that look scared just to be breathing the air around them. With a delighted smile at the tabby, he holds his fingers up to Bucky's arm so that the pretty miss can acquaint herself with his scent before he tries to pet her.]</sub>

I've owned a few over the years--never met a more loyal pet. _{[Okay, so there's mabari, but shhh, cats are up there, too.]} Aside from looking like someone just pulled her tail, she seems healthy. A new look, and a new cat. What's the occasion?

/shows up so very late oops >.>

[widows_kiss]

[ Natasha's in the Training Center when she spots him coming in the door. She knows he's been here for a bit now but other than spotting him at a distance a few times, their paths haven't crossed directly. Now, though, the Training Center is mostly quiet and she pauses in the routines she was practicing against one of the dummies in order to straighten up and turn towards him, lifting a hand to brush a damp curl out of her face. ]

Exploring?

[ Her lips curve in a faint smile as she eyes him curiously, carefully, as if testing to see just how he will react to her. ]

it's never late

[readytocomply]

[Steve, back when he’d first arrived, had told him who was here that Bucky might know. He hadn’t sought everyone out, because he didn’t know that they’d want that. Tony, especially, he gave all the space the man could want, and everyone else, he just assumed they’d come to him if that’s what they wanted.

It was partly out of self-preservation; there were very few people that he knew from back home that would actually want to see him. With him and Natasha, черная вдова, there were bad memories and some good. The most recent being that she’d helped him and Steve.]

Always.

[He pauses by the door.]

How’s your training?

:D

[widows_kiss]

Well, there's always plenty to see, even after being here a while.

[ She'd learned that early on. If it wasn't a new location to explore, there were always new faces and each often came with a unique story, some more outlandish than others. Often that's what she found so fascinating about this place. ]

It's as it usually is. it works better when the dummies punch back, but this works in the meantime. [ She crosses her arms over her chest and regards him. ] Is that why you're here or were you looking for one of the others?

action;

[thecourier]

Wasn't wonderin'.

[He was, because his familiarity with cats comes completely from his time here and he's sure never seen one with that kind of expression on its face, but he also knows that when they're not happy they let you know, so he figures this one is fine.

Still, maybe it's a good thing that he doesn't have his dog with him right now.]

She's kinda cute. I ain't no vet, though.

[readytocomply]

I’m sure she’s fine. Thought I’d be responsible and get her looked at.

[He didn’t think anything was wrong with her, not really, but he’d rather know for certain. Bucky sizes the man up briefly, curious, but suspicious whether he wants to be or not.]

I’m Bucky.

[He extends his free hand in greeting.]