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.

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[He would very much like an explanation, but not over the network where text can hide a multitude of lies that expressions might not be able to conceal. Now that he has a name, it's not too hard to track the man down.

It's a couple of hours later that Bucky will just show up wherever T'Challa is, keeping a safe distance as he stares at the stranger.]

I've come for my explanation.

[kumkani]

[He does not know if Bucky will respond and when no more messages come through, he gives the man his space. If he does not know T'Challa then it will take time.

T'Challa isn't far from where his assigned rooms are, exploring the area to cut down the adjustment time. When he hears Bucky's voice, he slowly turns to face him.]

It is a long story, but I will shorten it so that you can decide what you do or do not want to know more about. [But he'd give it all over. T'Challa clasps his hands behind his back, cants his head.] My father was murdered and you were blamed. I let vengeance consume me and I wanted you dead. I learned that you were framed for his death.

There were those that wanted you captured, locked up for crimes you did not commit. You and your captain, both. I promised to keep you safe. To help clear your mind of what was put inside of it and to protect you if they tried to come for you.

You and my father were both victims. This place is different but how I feel has not changed.

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[It's the same story that he's heard from others before, but with a different focus and a different face. So this is the one who pursued him? He sounds sincere, but that doesn't mean anything, the best actors are excellent at sounding what they're not and he has no reason to trust that anything being said is true here.]

The people who want me captured, want that for crimes I did commit. Maybe it wasn't my choice, but the blood is still on my hands.

[It's a strange middle ground of guilt and being a victim, and he hasn't managed to untangle it in his own head yet.]

I want to know who are you. Not just what you think you owe me.

[kumkani]

[He clasps his hands behind his back, looking Bucky over as if he's trying to determine what to say next. He's careful with what he says and does, mindful.]

I will not argue with you. How you feel is your own. But I do disagree. You do not blame the gun for taking a life. It is the person who pulled the trigger who is at fault.

[Ah. That was understandable.]

T'Challa. King and protector of Wakanda.

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[Wakanda is a country he's never actually been to, even as the Soldier, and that's unusual. He's been most everywhere in the world by this point in his life. How did he get an actual King to want to protect him, even if he had wrongly believed him responsible for the death of his father?]

Seems like you should have a lot bigger problems, being a King, than the fate of one guy.

[kumkani]

No, I do not.

[Bucky wasn't a problem. Neither were his people. He chose to do this and he'd do it until the debt was repaid. Only the two of them would know when that was.]

Will you allow it?

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Will I allow some stranger that I never met, who's apparently a King, to babysit me?

[Excuse his dry tone.]

No.

[kumkani]

Very well.

[Unfortunately, he was on the stubborn side.]

Then you'll forgive me for still trying, when circumstances allow it.

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No, I won't.

[His expression finally gets a little more forbidding.]

I don't like people following me, and I can't guarantee your safety if you try it. You don't owe me anything, understand?

[kumkani]

[T'Challa doesn't flinch or move at the change in Bucky's expression. He wouldn't be here, now, if he wasn't convinced it were the right thing to do.]

I'm not going to follow you around. But if there is trouble, I will be there.

[He inclines his head.]

That is not so simple, Sergeant Barnes.

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Don't call me that.

[He's barely managed to reclaim Bucky for himself, he certainly hasn't managed to reclaim Sergeant Barnes.]

That's a dead man's name.