these are the times that try

[deadthenred]

WHO: Bucky Barnes + various
WHERE: Red Wings, the safehouse, ???
WHEN: Late March.
WHAT: Catch-all log for March, with some open prompts.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: N/A, will update if it changes.

[ Prompts are in the comments below. PM or message me at lightfellows if you'd like a closed starter. ]

Comments

[unlucky7]

[Ginia holds up a finger and begins to look through some of the listings for open apartments. She's quiet for a few minutes, expression drawn as she focuses. Finally, she throws a few overlays out into the public space so he can look at them.

One is a fairly minimal private room with shared common areas for the bathrooms and kitchen, though there's on-site cleaning. Three others are various studios or one bedroom apartments, in the lower end of price and space.]

I'm not sure what your money situation is so I skewed for a lower end.

[deadthenred]

Thanks. It's a start.

[ It's a start, anyway. He'll have some money when he auctions off the artifact took from Everest. Probably enough for a few months rent, if his ambitions are modest enough. ]

I haven't seen you around the safehouse.

[ He says that mildly, even-keel. But if she's listening close, it's also an admission that he's been looking. ]

[unlucky7]

I moved out awhile ago.

[Ginia signs with a smile, hands even. She picks up the hint and, strangely, it bothers her less than it should. Maybe it's the fact he let her leave without a fuss. Maybe it's because reporting her to the police brings as much trouble onto him.]

I don't think we've met before. I'm Angela.

[She lies without missing a beat. Her smile doesn't change. Ginia knows she stands out too much between her signing and her height, but if anyone is going to bring up that night, it won't be her.]

[deadthenred]

[ So that's how this is going to go, huh? Honestly, it never occurred to him to report her. Maybe that's because of his own lifetimes spent with masks, or maybe he's just not a snitch.

He grabs a nearby dishtowel and dries his hands. ]

Bucky Barnes.

[ He offers her his left hand, to shake. Normally he wears gloves, but not when he's scrubbing dishes. But even without gloves, there's no danger of triggering the empathy bond with his left hand. ]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia's opinion on the empathy bond swings more into neutral indifference than negative these days, but she still recognizes most people don't like it. Can't blame them. It's a deeply personal and invasive thing, especially when unexpected. She returns the handshake, noting with light curiosity the metal hand, though not remarking on it.]

Do you prefer Bucky or Barnes?

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky's thoughts on hand holding are that no one deserves to feel what he does, so. ]

Don't care much. [ It's more about what other people want to call him, what they're comfortable with, or so he figures. ] My Christian name is James, but no one ever bothers with that.

[ But it is his name on the network, so he feels he oughta mention. He isn't trying to hide. ]

[unlucky7]

Barnes then.

[First name, last name, Ginia rolls with it all the same. Going with a first name isn't overly familiar with her as it might be for others. She's not sure she could call someone Bucky without cracking a smile each time though. No fault to him though.]

Been here long?

[She's pretty sure he didn't show up in her cycle, would have been hard to miss. There have been a few more since then though. Or maybe he's been around longer and moved back in.]

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky is a perfectly cromulent name. ]

No. I was with the group before this last one.

[ That's probably the easiest way to keep track, until enough groups come and go by that loses count. He hasn't, yet. ]

You must've gotten here before me.

[unlucky7]

Beginning of February, dreadful masquerade party.

[Ginia pulls a bit of a sour expression. Even with all the time since her arrival, there's still a degree of bitterness around the method and timing. Personally, she wouldn't have minded a hoodie instead of a ball gown.]

Guess that means I have seniority over you.

[deadthenred]

[ Yeah, fancy dress parties aren't really his thing, either. Masks, though… ]

I didn't realize there was a chain of command.