(closed) how does a tree get onto the internet

[1943]

Who: Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers
What: Upon arriving in Hadriel, Steve and Bucky reunite for the first time.
Where: Outside the Colosseum
When: backdated to 2/14
Warnings: n/a

[ It’s not the worst day of his life.

Or at least, that's what Steve's telling himself right now, his bare feet aching from wandering around for what has to have been at least a couple of hours. Maybe more. Long enough for him to have become covered in bramble scratches and dirt in his panicked flight from the colosseum, sweat beading down the back of his neck and under his arms, getting into his eyes and making it harder to see than usual. It stings his back, and Steve knows without looking that the blow he took there earlier left a hell of a scratch.

He tries not think of what that means, ignores the weariness settling back into his limbs, the return of all the familiar aches and discomforts that would've been gone by now if only the serum—

No. There's more important things to worry about, like the fact that he's stranded in the middle of goddamn nowhere as far as he knows, surrounded by stuff that wouldn’t be out of place in the world's most bizarre nightmare: moving, angry trees, intent on giving him a beating worse than any bully. He has no idea what's happened to Erskine and the others, where Peggy is, if she's all right. If they all are. One moment he'd been in the chamber, agony burning through him, his every nerve screaming — and the next he was stumbling upward to avoid the downward slash of a murderous oak, as unsteady on his feet as if he'd been up drinking all night.

And he hadn't been, Erskine hadn't let him touch a drop. Otherwise, things might make a lot more sense right about now. Or maybe it was the serum that did it, Steve thinks bitterly, finally giving into the urge to limp. Maybe it worked just enough to send him into the inside of his own brain. Maybe all of this is just some sort of hideous dream or hallucination, and in reality he's still back in Brooklyn, wasting away on a hospital bed while the war— while Bucky—

(It might not be the worst day of his life so far, but it's getting there.) ]

Comments

[freewilling]

[ from bucky's perspective, the strange new surrounding and the stranger yet new people have actually been an upgrade to his previous predicament. at least none of them seemed intent on bounding his limbs or doing him harm - okay, so the trees seemed pretty intent on the doing harm part of it, but he's gotten help fairly quickly and walked away from the whole ordeal feeling frankly better than he has any right to. he's even got some food in his belly and an oversized coat and patched up hat to stave the cold.

frankly, it's all been seeming a bit too...easy. while he's been trained to trust the chain of command the particular command he's meant to be subordinated to doesn't seem to have ever been anywhere near this place. he's been informed the 'guard' will take care of the trees and rescue any others in need of it, but it wasn't no guard that helped him, it was civilians, and a part of him is still not ready to give up on torching the damn things inside the stone compound being the best plan of action.

he heads back to the place from which he came, hoping to maybe find some of his unit, and to make sure the trees haven't broken through (he still can't really see why they wouldn't). of all the faces bucky expected to see standing before him - steve rogers was never an option. in fact, bucky was fairly certain that the night before shipping out was the last time he'd ever lay eyes on it. he's seen some damn crazy shit today; hell, he's seen some damn crazy shit since azzano, but this is the first time he genuinely starts wondering if he didn't just lose his mind.

for the slight chance, though, that he really is seeing what he thinks he's seeing, bucky rushes his steps towards the familiar figure, and calls out. ]

Steve? [ it can't be. it shouldn't be. steve's in brooklyn, nowhere near hydra's experimental garbage, he should be safe. there's pain and anguish at this sight, as well as elation. if this is a trick, then well played emotion sucking vampire aliens, well played. he's definitely doing a whole lot of feeling now. ]

[1943]

[ The approaching footsteps grab Steve's attention in an urgent way — shirtless, shoeless, and in an unknown place is not the state he wants to be caught off-guard in — but it's the voice that stops him in his tracks, registering in his mind even before his widening eyes realize what they're seeing. It's a voice he'd know among a hundred others, a voice he'd recognize in his damn sleep. Here, though? That's impossible, it can't be — ]

Bucky?

[ Steve can't keep the shock out of his own voice as his feet move of their own accord, closing the rest of the distance between them as quick as he can. It's him, his gut reiterates stubbornly, but Steve can't hear himself beyond the blood suddenly loud in his ears. Bucky can't be here. Steve knows for a fact that he's overseas, remembers seeing him off the day Bucky shipped out to England as if it'd been yesterday. And yet that's him right there, plain as day, even if he does look ... different.

Steve swallows, taking in the tattered hat on Bucky's disheveled hair, that shapeless coat hanging off his shoulders, still unable to believe what he's seeing. ]

I think I'm dreaming. [ Hushed. ] It is you, right?

[freewilling]

You and me both, pal.

[ bucky takes off his coat and wraps it around steve's shoulders, first thing first. the shape revealed beneath the coat is thinner than the man who said his goodbyes to steve in new york; his uniform pants and undershirt are tattered, worn out, dirty, and not really supplying much defense against the cold, but he doesn't seem to shiver, his exposed skin doesn't seem to react to the elements. ]

Jesus, Steve - what the hell are you doing here? [ he doesn't have any shoes on. he doesn't have any shoes on, did someone bully him already? anger begins to seethe through him, but this isn't the place for that conversation, steve needs clothes, probably food, and a roof over his head. he turns, to allow steve to hop onto his back. ]

Come on, I'll take you to get some shoes.

[1943]

[ If there was even the slightest doubt left in Steve’s mind whether this was truly his best friend or not, it’s immediately dispelled as Bucky shrugs off his coat only to put it around Steve's bare shoulders. It’s an unmistakeable James Buchanan move and there’s a quiet protest ready at the tip of Steve’s tongue at it.

It dies as he takes in Bucky’s appearance — the ragged undershirt and slacks, standard issue but dirtied and worn, the gauntness to his cheeks, and something around the eyes that's never been there before. Something Steve can't pinpoint but knows instinctively to be ... off, and it sets off an alarm in the back of his head. This is not the sharp-looking, healthy man he bid farewell to, and he's about to echo Bucky’s words right back at him, when his friend turns around.

Nope. Nope, no piggy-backing’s gonna happen, and definitely not when Bucky’s in worse shape than Steve’s seen him in years. ]

Bucky. [ Mild exasperation displaces the disbelief and worry in Steve’s voice. ] I can walk, I’m not gonna —

[ Fighting off the knee-jerk response to drape Bucky’s jacket right back over him, he plants two hands on those shoulders and tugs at him to turn around, instead. ] Don't need your jacket neither, you're gonna get cold without it.

[ He mutters this last bit, suspecting that Bucky's not gonna budge on this. ]

[freewilling]

[ he expected a stubborn refusal, expected an argument, even his coat being returned to him but fortunately it remains around steve's shoulders still. he may not look his best, but he knows his body is nowhere near as frail as steve's. truthfully, he took the coat more out of good sense than actual need, he doesn't really feel the cold, but he knows it's there - there's snow everywhere, that's a sign of cold if he's ever seen one. ]

Steve. [ his voice is exasperated, but also incredibly fond and dammit - grateful. he didn't think he would ever get to argue with his friend like this again, get to take care of him, get to see him. he just wants to wrap him in a hug and never let go again, but it's cold and he won't have steve lose any toes on his account. ] I only got one pair of boots and I don't think you can carry me. [ he may have lost weight, but steve hasn't gained muscle. ] It's a piggy-back now to get shoes, or a chair the rest of your life for not having feet.

[ he'd walk barefoot for steve if he had to but they have a perfectly good option that completely skips over that unpleasantness, and bucky is not about to inflict unnecessary pain on himself. he also very sincerely doubts steve would even entertain such a notion. ]

I'm fine, see? No goosebumps. [ he shows off his bare arm as proof, and the skin does indeed remain smooth along it. he's been cold for so long, he wonders if his body's just used to it by now. ]