IC Inbox

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This is the IC inbox for Bucky Barnes at Riverview.

Network name: user.name

This is the place to contact Bucky over the network. Contact by voice or text is perfectly acceptable, and there is no need to plot with me prior to posting in this inbox.

Note: As of the end of December 2017, Bucky has no phone, he has destroyed it. Consequently, this inbox can only be used for in person interaction. You are still more than welcome to post here without plotting with me first.

Comments

[signifies]

[ Clark looks at him in surprise. ]

No, I didn't. I found out there's two of Captain Rogers, and someone else by the name of Dr. Strange.

[advanced]

[It's obviously not something he's particularly comfortable with.]

We're pretty different, different pasts, different presents. The only things we share are our name, the arm, and the Soldier. And even that's different in some ways.

[signifies]

Your arm doesn't sound the same either.

[ If it did, it would confuse Clark when he was searching for Bucky.

He can see Bucky's uncomfortable, and he'd rather not press this subject. He tries to keep it to a generic statement. ]

I don't know if I'll ever get used to the alternate universe stuff. You never really what's going to happen.

[advanced]

[That's interesting, but maybe not that surprising. The arm has a different design on it, it stands to reason that it might have been updated and modified by Stark when the other him joined the Avengers.]

Yeah, but they're better than the people from your own universe in the future.

[signifies]

Yeah.

[ He's been lucky with Jon. Clark's not sure about the others. ]

[advanced]

Have you been told about your future, too?

[At least it wouldn't just be him, if so.]

[signifies]

Something like that. My first week here, I met someone who knew a lot about me, and he said there were more. [ Dick had been very gentle about it. It hadn't taken Clark long to see why he was friends with the other Clark. ] I asked about the rest. There's a few things I had to know.

[advanced]

Like what?

[He might share himself in a minute. But despite being friends now, he still likes having the safety net of information gained before given.]

[signifies]

[ Clark knows to receive a hand, one has to extend it first. He's happy to share. ]

My worst enemy is a man named Lex Luthor, the CEO of LexCorp and subsidiaries. He just about owns Metropolis.

[advanced]

You already knew that, or they told you about him?

[Being told you have an arch enemy must be weird, unless it's something that's happened with Lex Luthor that's the news.]

[signifies]

They told me about him and a few others.

[advanced]

Do you think that knowing about it will change anything?

[That's been weighing on him for a while.]

[signifies]

[ He ponders this. ]

I don't know. I think the future is ours to live out, but does it really hurt to know about the bad surprises beforehand?

[advanced]

Maybe. If you know what's coming, you might try to change it and make things worse.

[That's what he's bothered about.]

[signifies]

That's always the risk, isn't it?

[advanced]

[It's not really an answer, but maybe there isn't one. Maybe it's individual for everything, so he just sighs and changes the subject as they enter the trees.]

Okay, hand to hand, can you make yourself less strong for a sparring session?

[signifies]

There's a way... but I don't have the equipment for that.

[ It involves green kryptonite. Clark has never seen it, and already feels uneasy thinking about it.

The other way involves red sun radiation. ]

We could build it.

[advanced]

Build what exactly?

[He can't deny that he's curious, but that's a true test of how much Clark trusts him. Giving someone knowledge and possible access to your weaknesses is a lot different than knowing they exist.]

[signifies]

[ That's very true. Clark knows he can trust Bucky. He's kept the secret, and Clark believes wholeheartedly that he'd fight a Kryptonian if they threatened him.

He's comfortable telling Bucky, and would have except for Kara. Her weaknesses are the same as his. If she doesn't trust Bucky, then she wouldn't feel comfortable with him knowing. ]

I'll think about it. Until then, could I watch you?

[advanced]

[He can't really ask for more than that, even if he's burning with curiosity to know what could be built that could weaken a Kryptonian, so he just nods for now.]

Might get a bit boring for you.

[But he launches into it all the same. He starts with some simple shadow boxing and muscle warm-ups, just getting ready, before launching into an acrobatic set of moves, pushing off trees and kicking the air with intense focus. Even a super soldier has to keep their skills sharp somehow.]

[signifies]

[ Dick could help him with it and disguise the red sunlight. Bucky can't see through walls. Clark's also sure Dick would know how to conceal any equipment from unwanted prying. Kara would be kept safe and Clark would be able to learn. ]

I'll be the judge of that.

[ He smiles and finds a place to sit where he can watch attentively. ]

[advanced]

[Bucky might be terrible at interpersonal skills, and have huge gaps in his memory about even the most mundane things, but if there's one thing he's excellent at, it's fighting. Even before the Soldier he had been a boxer, then a sniper. Seventy years of specialist and elite training had followed, turning him into nothing more or less than a human weapon.

His forms are flawless, but vicious. He obviously fights with a manner that is far more aggressive and focused on dealing damage to others, rather than protecting his own vital areas or defending against attack to himself. He trains for about an hour, focusing first on strength and then on dexterity, finally on speed.

When he finally stops, about four feet from Clark, he's panting and flushed, but he looks more peaceful.]

Bored yet?

[signifies]

[ Bucky fights with perfect form, like he was a machine in flesh and blood. His movements speak violence like its own language. (It's an echo of the vicious style he'll see in Bruce, later.)

This is a conversation Clark has avoided participating in all his life. He has many incidents of digging his nails into his palms and swallowing down the words and actions of bullies. He can't solve his own problems with pre-emptive strikes, or not care who he hurts with his power.

Faora and Zod didn't have the same qualms. It'd be worth learning how to defend against. ]

No. [ Being around Bucky is never boring. ] I understand what you mean now, when you say you were conditioned.

[advanced]

[Wariness sets in at that unexpected statement, though he doesn't tense up completely. He's learning to trust Clark, little by little, and it's paying off when he doesn't clam up right away at these sorts of conversations.]

By watching me fight?

[Did his fighting style really give away that he had been conditioned? That's worrying, he'll need to address that.]

[signifies]

[ Clark will try to explain. He pauses to collect himself and choose his words wisely. ]

I can hear the muscles in your body moving. [ He can also see them, but he hasn't been looking without Bucky's explicit permission. ] It's not what I'm used to hearing from a soldier.

[ And his shoulder is a very grating noise. Clark can't always ignore it. ]