04 | I Need A—

[sinistral]

WHO: Bucky "Captain America" Barnes (sinistral) and you
WHERE: In and around Superhero City (or, you know, whatever we're calling it)
WHAT: Shenanigans. No seriously there's some SHIELD stuff but then also some open stuff
WHEN: At the start of the event so this is going to be a little low key to be honest; I went for light and a little campy in places but if you want to hit the ground running with the heavy stuff, you know I'm all in and I will absolutely bring the pain
WARNINGS: None; will update if that changes the thread with Poe gets a little bit racy...ngl, I'm as surprised as you are

---

SHIELD
→ Interior/closed to SHIELD members;

Bucky strides into the meeting room, shield at his back, rolling his shoulders and tossing his head from side to side to work out a kink in the neck. He's not quite all smiles because this is business, but it's not doom and gloom either.

He turns a chair around and straddles it, arms crossed over the backrest. Will the action cause eyerolls? Possibly. Will it be the day someone tells him to sit properly? Possibly. Will be listen? Well, that depends entirely on who's asking.

"What've we got?"

[Anything from run-of-the-mill meetings to post-mission debrief to planning an appearance at the local fundraiser are fair game! Also SHIELD peeps can use this as a mingle with each other, I'm cool with that.]

→ Lobby/Outside/open to all;

Business done there's no further need to hang around headquarters. He's traded uniform for jeans and a leather jacket; the shield is still at his back and a mostly-finished coffee in his hand as he walks through the lobby. Most people get a smile or a nod of the head, but if anyone looks really determined to get his attention he'll stop, or at least invite them to walk with him to the parking garage where his motorcycle is stored.

Or perhaps he's already on the bike and has eased it out of the garage, one foot propped up on the curb as he talks to you. Did you flag him down for a little conversation or to ask a question?

CITY
→ Crime;

Bank robbery? Hijinks at a local school bake sale? A bank robbery with deadly baked goods? Brownie bombs?!? This is the obligatory Super Heroes Being Super Heroes™ prompt. Or perhaps you're the villain and Cap has just thwarted your plans? Or did you escape with what you really wanted, and all this is just a distraction? Perhaps you're an innocent bystander, or someone needing rescue. Either way this is the shield-throwing, bad guy punching, action scene option.

Pop up fight words are entirely optional.

→ Coffee;

Maybe it's a trendy, hip coffee shop. Maybe it's a corner bodega. All that matters is that it sells good, strong coffee — for Bucky and his heightened metabolism, coffee is more about the experience than the caffeine content anyway.

"Coffee, black." Whether he's been here enough times for the barista to know his order or this is the first time, it doesn't matter; he'll slide a few bills across the counter and tuck another one into the tip jar, then shuffle off to the side until his drink is handed over. Time for small talk?

→ Up a Tree;

The obligatory my pet cat/snake/robobird is stuck in a tree. Maybe it's full Captain America gear, maybe it's just jeans-and-tee Bucky Barnes, but either way he's jumping to catch the lowest branch, swinging himself into the tree and starting to climb.

"What's its name?" he calls down as he climbs. Hopefully the thing isn't too scared or injured and thus in a lashing out mood, but he won't be able to tell for sure until he gets closer to it.

ELSEWHERE
→ Wildcard;

Got an idea? Drop something below and I'll roll with it, or hit me up here or at sometimesamuse or Discord for more in-depth plotting. Note that while I write starters in prose, I'll match brackets if that's your preferred style. Bucky has no secret identity; he's Captain America, he's from the 1940s, and a decent amount of his history is probably touted in a museum somewhere (he hates that exhibit). So feel free to have your character recognize him, know things about him (and make assumptions based on those things!), and generally give him a hard time. Villains and heroes: whether or not he knows your secret identity is up to you, but if it's a secret and you've told him, he'll keep that secret.

Comments

Crime!

[beepbeepmotherfucker]

Hey, Cap. You know how your shield tends to stick in things? Well some poor schmuck had the misfortune of parking his car too close to a hero fight.

He's standing, staring helplessly at the shield sticking out of the side of his rental car. Sighing, he scrubs his hand over his face. "This is getting ridiculous."

[sinistral]

Look it's not his fault if the bad guys he's flinging the shield at dodge at the last minute. Seriously, he hadn't expected that one dude to be so spry! Dude's out cold on the ground now at least... that counts for something, right?

Anyway, here comes Cap in all his uninformed everything, looking half apologetic and half like it's just another day at the office. "Hey man, sorry about this. You know what to do for insurance?"

In this city, that's a normal question.

Up a Tree

[deal_me_in]

"Uh...Tony?"

Not the most convincing response, and come to think of it, that voice sounds a little strange. Then again it might be strange altogether because the person who had implored that Cap come rescue their kitty had been a little girl, who had vanished just as soon as Bucky was up that tree and she'd claimed her five bucks from the guy in the hood who was now standing beneath said tree.

The cat is sitting there on one of the upper branches, an orange tabby that pauses in licking its paw to regard the man up in the tree with him. This wouldn't really have been a difficult problem to have solved, given Cayde could have hopped up there in one good leap, but that would have defeated the purpose. ...whatever that purpose is that he's concocted in that metal head of his.

"Honestly I have no idea, he's kind of on loan," the Exo adds helpfully.

[sinistral]

Bucky notices the shift in voice, sees the little girl scampering off out of the corner of his eye. But that doesn't change the fact that there's still a cat stuck up this tree, and he's already in the tree, so of course he's going to finish what he started.

And, well, Tony is as good a name as any. "Here, Tony. C'mere boy." Not that calling a cat has ever worked, but it's always worth a try. Bucky keeps his voice gentle as he maneuvers higher in the branches — which also gives him a better view of the hooded guy below. Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried to distract him like this.

"So, loaner cat?" Who seems to not be moving at least. Maybe the cat's done this before too. "Where'd you get him? The Rent-A-Pet on Fifth? Or is he one of Gary's?"

[beepbeepmotherfucker]

Well it's not every day he gets to meet one of the big name heroes. That's something, at least... kind of...

He looks up, waving a hand. "Yeah, yeah. This is... was... my fourth rental car so far this week."

SHIELD

[no_applause]

The Queen of Thunder has her arms crossed over her breastplate. Her helmet sits on the table nearby. She's no need to hide her face from those in the room, after all. She raises an unimpressed eyebrow at the Captain.

"You could at least pretend to take this seriously and sit properly."

I am so sorry for this asshole

[sinistral]

That look just makes Bucky grin. Not only does he respect his teammate, he genuinely likes her. But that's not going to stop him from being himself — at least, not right away.

"Gonna make me?" He takes things very seriously! When there's a need for it, anyway. Speaking of: "so what's going on? I didn't see a meeting on the docket this morning."

That usually means one of two things: the shit just hit the fan, or there's paperwork. Bucky hopes it's not the latter.

[sinistral]

"Man, that is some bad luck." Which is definitely stating the obvious, especially considering the mess is only going to get worse when Bucky wrenches the shield out of the car. It's got to be done though.

"I am sincerely sorry about the inconvenience here. You work nearby? I can have our people handle removal and delivery of a replacement loaner." Okay so it'll be pulling some major favors, but four in a single week is kind of extreme.

[beepbeepmotherfucker]

Tell him about it. He's met more heroes this week than any other, and one of them was just a dick.

His eyebrows fly up at the offer. "Really? You could do that? That's... wow, thanks!"

lol don't be

[no_applause]

"I could." She smirks, a little lightning crackling around her fingertips. She wouldn't, of course, but she enjoys the banter. The two of them get along better than she and Tony.

He does bring up a good point, though. She shrugs, shaking her head. "Nor did I. I do have other things to do, after all." Being a mom as well as a superhero does have its drawbacks... "Though I suspect it's got something to do with the sudden increase of activity in the city."

[sinistral]

Tell him about it; some people are just Like That. Bucky has wondered if it's the luxury of secret identities.

And seeing how it's made this guy's day a little easier? Yeah, he'll make it happen. "Absolutely gonna make it happen. I mean, you're probably still gonna have to call your insurance, I'm not that powerful, but this end of things? I got it. Four in a week is kind of extreme, after all."

❤

[sinistral]

"That a threat or a promise?" Banter between them has always come easily, as does their teamwork in the field. It's one of the best parts about their relationship.

"Interesting." It remains to be seen if that's the good kind of interesting or the bad, but knowing SHIELD, they're unlikely to get the information any sooner than the higher ups want them to have it. Bucky's tried.

Padme brings up a very good point though: there has been an uptick in activity lately. "Good to know it wasn't just me imagining it. Doesn't seem like it's organized though. Could be too early to tell."

[deal_me_in]

The cat has resumed licking itself, seeming to accept that there will be a new resident here with him.

"Oh, definitely Gary's," Cayde says with that sort of carefree air that makes it clear he has no idea who Gary is- outside of those he's established as Garys who are in fact probably not. For a brief moment Bucky might catch a glimpse of his face as the Exo looks up to watch, immediately tucking his head back down when he realizes the man's looking in his direction.

"So um, you been doing this sort of thing long?" he asks.

[sinistral]

"Interesting." Very interesting, as Bucky made both of them up. Whoever this guy is, he's hiding more than just his face.

The cat, meanwhile, doesn't care. Typical Tony cat.

But getting back to the guy on the sidewalk, Bucky can't help but frown at the flash of metal. A mask, perhaps? Could be. Wouldn't be a surprise in this place, anyway.

"Could say that. Why?"

[deal_me_in]

"Oh, no reason, just curious," Cayde shrugs. "You must really be devoted to rescuing cats from trees."

He hadn't taken that seriously enough, it seems. Getting a cat and having him sit up in a tree had been more of a 'well let's just see how this goes' sort of thing. Now he's having a bit of an awkward conversation with a man in said tree. Not that the whole matter doesn't tickle him.

Right, stay on target.

"Soooo...you've always lived here?"

[sinistral]

"Not gonna leave him stranded up here." Honestly, the cat would likely come down on its own eventually anyway. But Bucky's already here, and he holds out a hand for Tony to sniff. Which he does, then goes back to washing himself. Typical, really.

And what kind of question is that anyway. "Don't go to museums much, do you?"

[deal_me_in]

Cayde stifles a snicker. Cats.

The response he gets for his question has his shoulders sag a little, his sigh too soft to be heard as he mentally adds another tally mark to an invisible list. "Nah, not much for those," he says. "Anyway, this place is kinda new to me."

[sinistral]

C a t s.

"It's all there, if you do. From Brooklyn, now I'm here. Bunch of stuff happened in the middle." Blah blah Captain America blah. Bucky doesn't really talk about it too much with the public, mostly because they all already know the museum story bits and the rest of it is the stuff he definitely doesn't like talking about. But if this guy is new in town, well, that probably explains some of it; Captain America has been based out of the city for a while, and like all local celebrities, Bucky's history is part of a point of pride for the locals. "Yeah? Like it so far?"

[deal_me_in]

"Bunch'a stuff, right," the Exo nods. Not that he really ever got the whole Captain America story from anyone, nor even Bucky's story although it's kind of weird to even have a name for him now, or rather a confirmation that there actually were two of them running around on Temba at one point.

"Huh?" He blinks from his thoughts before giving a nod. "Oh yeah, nice place. Food's great, weren't too many choices back in Temba- and there's ramen. A lot of ramen places, actually, I am little by little making my way to each and everyone. Haven't found one that matches my favorite from home yet but it's been mostly good."

[sinistral]

"Yeah it's—" He waves his hand in the air, indicative that it's a whole thing. Just. A Thing. But Tony the Cat seems interested — in Bucky's fingers, that is. Well, it's fine, if it brings him closer, then Bucky stands a better chance of getting them out of the tree sooner rather than later.

"Temba? Never heard of it." He makes a mental note to Google it later. Ramen Bucky can agree on though; there are quite a few excellent establishments in the city. "Place on Chestnut is my favorite, if you haven't tried it yet."

[deal_me_in]

Another swing and a miss. And Cayde's gotten no closer to figuring out what's happening. He tosses his hands as he turns and walks a small circle there beneath the tree. Oh well. At least he can get something out of this.

"On Chestnut, huh? I'll make a note of that," he promises. Maybe he'll even pop on by the museum and see what that 'bunch of stuff' is about. He cranes his neck around to see if there's been any progress in retrieving the cat he borrowed from Echo.

"You got him yet?"

SHIELD

[happybeeps]

Poe's lips quirk, sparing the Captain a quick glance as he finds his seat. Outside the Director there's not too many brave enough to tell him to behave, and Agent Dameron's certainly not to going to say anything, he enjoys it.

"'Bucha terrorist threatening to pilot the GoodYear blimp into the Empire State building. We gotta add that one to the betting pool, that's new," he mutters, filling him in as the head agent continues to explain. "You're going to be late you could at least bring coffee you know."

[sinistral]

"That is new." Which in their line of work is something of a novelty, especially as the unofficial betting pool (no gambling at work!) has brought about an amazing accuracy of record keeping. "How'd they plan on getting the keys to it?"

Just once, Bucky wants a villain to hold a press conference, just to ask these questions.

He offers the agent a crooked smile. "Would've made me even later. But if you ask nice I'll leave and come back."

Maybe. He'll maybe come back.

[sinistral]

"You do, tell Shin that Cap sent you. He'll laugh, but he's good people." Good people, good food, a good neighborhood. Bucky helps keep it that way, as he can.

As for cat progress, well, yes. Tony the cast seems to like wiggling fingers, and it's allowed Bucky to get close enough to get an arm around the animal. "Watch out, I'm jumping down." Much faster than climbing, and Bucky can certainly handle the drop.

[happybeeps]

"I'd guess either they plan on taking someone hostage or they've given away a massive clue as to who to look into first." Blimp pilots weren't exactly a dime a dozen group, shouldn't be too hard to do some background checks.

"How nice are we talking?" he asked, before hushing up for a moment as their muttering earned a reprimanding look. "I'll keep that in mind next time I think about saving you the last donut," he teased softly.