07 | We All Have a Face That We Hide Away Forever

[sinistral]

WHO: the Soldier/the Winter Soldier (sinistral) and you
WHERE: Sh'Ka
WHAT: after helping Beck escape, the Winter Soldier was sent off-world for a mission; he's physically returned but mentally there's still a battle...
WHEN: conspicuously after Calibrations ended, for which he was conspicuously absent
WARNINGS: possible violence (please don't make me write a fight scene I'm not good at it); possible mention of violence; possible mention of mind control and actions performed without consent

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SH'KA
→ Δ; Delta; Closed to Billy;

Sh'Ka. Or what appeared to be Sh'Ka; the Winter Soldier recognized that his current location didn't match his previous, but in trying to catalog the details of that previous locale he found he couldn't clearly capture them. It frustrated him, one of the few emotions he could feel. He needed to focus though; he didn't know how much time had elapsed since his last visit, or even since the start of the day. His main concern was shelter: hidden and defensible, and unknown to others.

He had equipment here in the city. Supplies. None of that could be trusted. No one—

He rolled his shoulder, the motion causing a ripple in the plating all down his left arm, and rose from his crouch behind a half-collapsed wall. He could still manage for half a day without sustenance, making the search for a place to shelter the highest priority. Enough of Sh'Ka was rock and rubble, grey and green and red—

Red red blood on the rocks on his hands on his face and it should be warm but all he knows is cold, cold, cold—

Red but not blood; the flutter of fabric on a breeze and a body wrapped in (impossible!) stars, a figure so viscerally real it hit the Winter Soldier as a physical blow.

→ η; Eta; Closed to Reeve;

The quiet hours of twilight and predawn, with the night in between, felt the most comfortable to him. The days seemed too unnaturally long; the alien sun had too piercing a gaze. Night harbored the dangerous things; he belonged to it.

Night let him slip into the greenhouse when he needed food. Not enough for his metabolism to truly be satisfied but enough to remain functional, especially supplemented with what he could gather from the trees. The big house seemed to hold some amenities but too much in activity; he ruled it out quickly. That left the fountain— or—

He sat on the lip surrounding the basin. The fountain, or something related to it, was important for some reason. He didn't know why, or to what part of him it pertained. Water, but that didn't feel right. Power, but again it didn't resonate completely. Something of a sense of watching, but also of physical work. That he really couldn't reconcile.

Too soon he finished eating the meager meal — and not soon enough, as true morning was nearly upon him. He still needed to secure a place to rest, and to perhaps attempt to sort out the new confusion sitting by the broken fountain caused.

→ ε; Epsilon; Open;

It didn't matter which personality had control; both were highly skilled in moving covertly and Sh'Ka's landscape certainly aided that pursuit. When the Soldier didn't want to be found he could evade most people, and right now he didn't want to be found.

Except—

He shook his head and pressed his right hand to his temple; the migraine from this morning showed no signs of abating. Add to that the feeling (paranoia?) of being followed; he committed to a circuitous route to his temporary shelter and already cursed the distance. But a straight path would lead his pursuit right to—

Boots on pavement; harsh voices; crisp winter air. Training exercise, training exercise, training accident——

A sharp inhale; the exhale a curse emphatically muttered in Russian. Look right, look left, step—

And whirl around, knife in hand to meet the threat.

→ μ; Mu; Wildcard;

Open to other ideas. Please reach out to me at sometimesamuse or via PM for plotting needs. As always while I write starters in prose I'm happy to match brackets if that's your preference.

Comments

[sinistral]

"You can't trust me." After a long moment he reached for the second plum, hunger insisting not to refuse. The first went into his pocket; the second he bit into, trying to eat slowly. It had to last; both had to last.

"I can be made to hurt you. I wouldn't be able to stop." Did Reeve understand the danger? Even with intervention from the Agrii, a lot of pain could result.

[plate_builder]

"I think that's my choice to make, don't you?"

Plums given, Reeve moves to sit, looking at the dangerous man as he does so.

"Perhaps you can. In fact, you likely can. But do I not get to choose the risks I take? And you should know, the other man, the other you, he is trying to find a way to protect you from that. I'm trying to help him too."

[sinistral]

He couldn't argue that statement, and Reeve probably knew it just as well. Free will was important; even in his impaired state, he fought for it. And he felt so tired; a single plum couldn't take the place of proper food and rest.

"Don't—" He shook his head, biting off the words. What right did he have to tell others what they could or could not do? "I do not believe it possible. Your efforts are probably better spent elsewhere."

[plate_builder]

"Perhaps," Reeve said, "but I get to choose who I'm going to spend time with. Where my efforts belong. And they belong with you, my friend."

And he knows that his friend needs something more. Perhaps he can't be the one to give it, but he wants to try.

[sinistral]

He caved then, a combination of the lack of food and sleep and Reeve's insistence. He'd warned the man, and hopefully Reeve would stay on his guard. But he also felt familiar, and not in the uncomfortable way.

"No one comes to Sh'Ka," he explained, finally. "I thought it best for keeping distance between myself and everyone else."

[plate_builder]

Oh, he was warned. That didn't mean he'd act on the warning.

"People come to Sh'Ka," he counters. "But less. And distance is good. But right now you clearly need space from others. How about I help you find somewhere to rest, and I guard you. Not close, so you can have space, but close enough that my magic would no only protect you, but give you a chance to wake up and flee."

[sinistral]

"Not as often." Not as many spent the night, or an extended stay. Sh'Ka didn't have as much in amenities or community resources as Temba; there was little reason for most people to spend the time.

Reeve apparently knew how to frame an offer to make it enticing though, to tempt the feral beast to his side. Food, and shelter, and an arrangement that also felt familiar. "I guarded your sleep once..." the end of the sentence trailed off, half questioning and half mumbled to himself, unsure of the memory. Still, now that he'd allowed himself to think about food and sleep, the Soldier was hard pressed to refuse it. "I'll come with you."

[plate_builder]

Well, Soldat would absolutely be accurate in that.

"Indeed you did," Reeve said. "And I've some experience, even from a distance, serving watches for Avalanche back home. You would probably prefer someone like Bucky, but I can still try."

But the acceptance makes him sigh in relief.

"Alright then. Perhaps we should go to where you watched over me? It remember it being sheltered, and you don't have to take me to wherever you would normally stay."

[sinistral]

"No," he replied. "I prefer... someone who feels familiar." He couldn't call it trust, not with his mind still fighting itself, but Reeve felt better than the idea of the man who shared his face.

He nodded in agreement; he hadn't chosen a permanent shelter since his return to Sh'Ka, and hadn't made any effort to regain his small amount of belongings. They might even be in that old shelter to which he'd brought Reeve; he didn't know. Either way it suited him as defensible and not having to bring Reeve onto the holes he'd recently used for shelter. "Acceptable."

[plate_builder]

That's welcomed then. Reeve can do that. But with the agreement he offers a smile.

"Alright then, shall I lead? Because I know where it is."

And he doesn't know if Soldat does. What all the trauma has done to him, Reeve doesn't know.

[sinistral]

"Yes." He probably could find his way there. But if Reeve led, then all he had to do was follow and the Soldier felt tired enough that he didn't mind doing so. The less he needed to focus on things around him the more energy he reserved for the battle in his mind.

"I...am sorry," he offered up eventually. "For putting you out of your way."

[plate_builder]

"I came out here just to find you, my friend," Reeve said, starting out right away. See, this was something he could do: get them going.

And to shelter was something worth doing, because it would get late sooner or later.

"I have brought a bit more food, if you need some."

[sinistral]

"You—"

No. He shouldn't try to argue, or tell Reeve that the Soldier wasn't worth his time or effort. Reeve could make his own decisions and the Soldier needed to respect that. And he couldn't shake the feeling of having allowed Reeve relatively close to his person; that had to mean something.

He followed closely behind the other man, eyes constantly scanning their surroundings for potential threat. His vigilance was ultimately unnecessary as nothing threatened but still he couldn't help himself. Hopefully Reeve wouldn't comment negativity on it.

Food, though! A powerful motivator, as the Soldier hadn't truly been taking care of all of his body's need. Food and rest; he had a deficit of both. Perhaps even some of the simple stores he'd left would still be good.

"I... do. Yes." Hard to even admit that much.

[plate_builder]

Well that was good to hear. Quite good actually. It meant Reeve hadn't brought extra supplies for nothing. From his bag he produced a sealed plastic container.

"The replicator made this for me. It says that it is 'butter chicken curry with rice.' I've had it before, quite lovely. The chicken tastes a bit like chocobo. The curry I am unfamiliar with. Perhaps it will suit you."