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The last couple of days had been eventful.
But the moment they spotted an opening to leave, Jesse and Bucky took it. Jesse's first instinct had been to walk until they found the nearest Portalocity station, but somehow the universe - or the Oldest House - had intervened.
They walked, and the world slowly warped around them. The smell of pine trees permeated the air, hot coals and warm coffee. For a moment, it was as if the ocean itself lapped gently through the skein of the heavens around them, washing away the taste of rough and jagged Russia.
Then that, too, faded.
And suddenly there was asphalt under Jesse's feet, the school's spire towering not far from her view.
"Huh," she said quietly. "Thanks, Ahti."
[[ for him, and nfb ]]
But the moment they spotted an opening to leave, Jesse and Bucky took it. Jesse's first instinct had been to walk until they found the nearest Portalocity station, but somehow the universe - or the Oldest House - had intervened.
They walked, and the world slowly warped around them. The smell of pine trees permeated the air, hot coals and warm coffee. For a moment, it was as if the ocean itself lapped gently through the skein of the heavens around them, washing away the taste of rough and jagged Russia.
Then that, too, faded.
And suddenly there was asphalt under Jesse's feet, the school's spire towering not far from her view.
"Huh," she said quietly. "Thanks, Ahti."
[[ for him, and nfb ]]
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Date: 2024-06-21 11:00 am (UTC)Looking the same as he remembered it. The same it had always been.
He felt too tired to really feel any kind of way about it, and yet the only word that rolled out his mouth was, "Shit."
Quiet, like a sigh.
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Date: 2024-06-21 11:15 am (UTC)She turned her head and looked at him. "I don't think anyone's taken over your apartment?"
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Date: 2024-06-21 11:23 am (UTC)He frowned. "After this long?"
Jesus, what was wrong with this island?
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Date: 2024-06-21 11:32 am (UTC)... She might have had something to do with it, yes.
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Date: 2024-06-21 12:23 pm (UTC)And he'd had time to process... any of the past two days.
Actually, that might take a while.
"I don't even have the keys." Wasn't even sure what he'd done with them when he'd left. Maybe he'd just left them in the apartment?
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Date: 2024-06-21 12:26 pm (UTC)"Do you want to sleep in my guest bedroom? We can figure out where the keys are in the morning."
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Date: 2024-06-21 12:40 pm (UTC)And yet Bucky found himself saying, "That works." Quiet again, and a little softer too.
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Date: 2024-06-21 12:45 pm (UTC)"How's your shoulder?" she added quietly.
She resumed walking. The quicker they got to the apartment, the sooner James could rest.
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Date: 2024-06-21 01:05 pm (UTC)At least the serum ever-present in his body was working hard enough that he could actually walk without help, by now. It didn't do shit to the exhaustion, but it helped otherwise.
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Date: 2024-06-21 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 02:08 pm (UTC)He shook his head, either way.
"It's fine," he said. (Her saying the aspirin thing was fine. The shoulder was not.) "I'll figure something out."
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Date: 2024-06-21 02:11 pm (UTC)"We can take you to the clinic tomorrow, too," she said.
At least MCA wasn't far? She had this weird desire to put him to bed and heat up some chicken soup or something.
That's for flu, not for amputated metal arms.
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Date: 2024-06-21 02:29 pm (UTC)Or maybe they could? He hadn't been around for years, guess they could've gotten someone in that knew how to handle something more than flesh.
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Date: 2024-06-21 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 02:36 pm (UTC)It was beginning to set in where he was.
He didn't even know who all still lived here. Hell, he was half surprised Jesse still did.
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Date: 2024-06-21 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 02:53 pm (UTC)Bucky followed, regardless. Sooner he was off the street, the sooner he could stop feeling exposed.
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Date: 2024-06-21 02:55 pm (UTC)Jesse was silent for the rest of the journey, taking them up to her apartment. That door opened quickly, too, and she held it while she waited for him to step inside.
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Date: 2024-06-21 03:00 pm (UTC)And the memories from here were as quiet and calm as they had been buried.
He didn't know what to do with it. He just felt something clenching.
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Date: 2024-06-21 03:08 pm (UTC)Jesse wasn't sure what to do about the stillness - and so she deferred to the idea of action. Literally, in another sense: she closed the door. "I'll get you a towel," she added. "And I'll grab a blanket for you once you're in there."
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Date: 2024-06-21 03:16 pm (UTC)He'd move, in a... in a second.
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Date: 2024-06-21 03:40 pm (UTC)Jesse reached out. Carefully.
Pressed a hand against his shoulder. The one made of skin and bone.
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Date: 2024-06-21 04:08 pm (UTC)Swallowing something more down.
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Date: 2024-06-21 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 04:27 pm (UTC)But it sounded different from her, and so he didn't want to.
"It's fine," he tried, his gaze falling towards the floor. "It's fine."
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