Back then, maybe? I did what I was supposed to. I went to war, fought to try and stop the bad guys. Then the bad guys made me into one of 'em for a while. Now I just do what I can, when I can.
It's a museum. They like to keep old stuff there.
[ Now he is being funny, making a joke at his own expense about being an old man because of the exhibit for his best friend being in one and how he was a feature in it as well. He doesn't even know how old Hel is in comparison to himself, but he was raise with some manners not to ask that kind of thing. ]
Or he's the good one out of the three.
magic letters sounds so awesome though. even if she'd probably have to decipher some chicken scratch
Alright, maybe a little. You got a problem with it?
[ Now he's turning up the punk charm, puffing his chest a little but he's also seen Steve try to pull the wool over on the recruiters' eyes by falsifying his records, so it's equal parts flirting and caution. Maybe it's 70/30. ]
You will, but I'll bet you'd look good in a potato sack.
Where do they have you?
[ She might have seen more war than him, but she knows there's only so far she'll be able to go being a dame and all. He doesn't think it'll lead her to the front lines, anywhere near the infantry. But he could be surprised. ]
Edited (exCUSE you DW, i did choose a 40s icon damn it) 2024-03-18 22:42 (UTC)
handwave handwave she had magic dwarven paper in her pockets and now they can write from anywhere
[ Story of her life. But she gets that he's flirting. Mostly. Especially with the potato sack comment. Ha. He's cute. Almost likeβ
Damn it. Of course she's aware of why she's so drawn to this man. She might've even convinced herself that he is Hodr, in this world at least, and this is all part of Odin's grand plan to continue to make her suffer. That she finds him only to lose him again.
She's not going to let that happen. ]
Back office. My job description is basically to sit behind a desk, smile, and look pretty. And occasionally type something. You guys on the front are really missing out.
[ She's not entirely upset. She does need to learn more about this world and how things work around here, and what better way than to be in the position to access confidential information? Besides, the SSR seems to be on to something. She doesn't know what it is yet, but she has a gut feeling. ]
"Bad" and "good" is sometimes just a matter of perspective though. [ Her father is definitely not bad. Just misunderstood. ] You sound like a good guy.
But I might need to let Garmr give you a sniff test to be sure.
[ Now she is being funny. He seems to get it. Even if she doesn't get the "old" jokes... yet. ]
Where is the Smithsonian? I've never traveled outside of the woods. [ Except Asgard, but even then that's not official. She'd snuck over there when her father had been drunk out of his mind, but nobody's supposed to know so she doesn't talk about it. ]
I might even look forward to it, if it keeps you comin' around.
[ He's stuck on the front lines with a buncha men, Hel. He hasn't had anyone to aim all his charms at in a minute so he can't help it, flirting with her. It keeps his spirits up or something. ]
Sounds like. Not that I'd like sitting behind a desk, doing nothing. That's never been my kinda thing.
That mean I get to hear from you more with this here paper? I think the rest of the boys are jealous I've got someone to talk to other than them.
[ In a roundabout way he's making sure that she knows she can ask him anything as she tries to get to used to things here, because he's helpful like that. ]
And if he bites me? That could mean he thinks I'm "bad" or just that he's lookin' for his next meal, after you said you had to threaten him with a steak knife.
[ His is a joke as well, even if she can't see the slight upturn to his lips into a smirk. And he won't argue about the "good" and "bad" labels that get thrown around because he's slowly coming to terms with the fact that people might actually view him as a little heroic but then he waits for the other shoe to drop and for them to look at him in horror when they realize what he used to do. It's a daily struggle, but it's getting better the more he tries to integrate himself into the world. ]
Sounds like you need to leave the woods, see some things. It's in D.C. - Washington. I don't know where these woods are you're at, but it's about five hours from here in Brooklyn.
Guess we'll have to find out which of that you are. If you're a bad guy or you just smell nice.
[ Wait, is this flirting? ]
I think I can ask my brother for my address, he goes out into the world more. But I don't think he or my other brothers or my parents will allow me to leave. [ It's a long story. ] Do you have transportation?
[ She's stuck in a foreign realm with no way back home and everyone she loves is dead. Flirting's saving her from drowning in despair right now. This at least she knows she won't fail at. ]
I have nothing better to do anyway. Dame behind the desk, remember? Might as well talk to you. You're at least somewhat entertaining.
I think I smell nice enough, but I don't get a lot of people close enough to me to tell me otherwise. I'll have to hope he doesn't go and rip my other arm off, I don't think the Wakandans will gimme another one right now.
[ The comment about him smelling nice, it kind of gets away from him and he's reminded of how out of practice he is when it comes to flirting, even if that had been the aim. He really does hope her dog doesn't decide to make a meal out of him though. He's sure that will only give Sam more ammunition to give him shit, probably stating that his people skills are so terrible that even a dog doesn't wanna deal with him. ]
I have a motorcycle. But I could probably rent a car or borrow something. [ He actually means borrow, not liberate a vehicle from somewhere with the intent to return it later. ] They couldn't be convinced to give you a temporary discharge? Or would this be like breaking you outta jail?
Between you and me, doll? I'd prefer spending time with you than the ones I'm stuck with these days. But I know how to be patient.
[ It doesn't take him long to work up to bringing out his best work -- not that it's work because he would like to see her again -- but he really can't help it when she's not exactly backing down. But if she told him to, he'd stop ( or try to, god willing ) because he was a gentleman like that. ]
Only somewhat entertaining? I'd show you some real entertainment but we're lacking a bit here at the moment. I'll make sure I owe you, when I see you next.
Edited (dw why do you do this to me and not take my 40s icon selection?!!?) 2024-03-20 06:30 (UTC)
[ Patience is not her middle name. Case in point: this harebrained scheme to infiltrate the US Army. She's not even sure what her endgame is here. Or at least, that's what she tells herself. Not that it matters. Like him, she can't just sit around and do nothing. She has to be moving, doing. ]
And what sort of entertainment would that be? Poetry? Dancing?
[ She does enjoy bearing witness to a good flyting. Dancing is more communal where she's from, but she enjoys that too. ]
You only have one arm? [ And he's like, an Avenger? Fighting and all that? ] That's so cool.
[ Oh no, he's offering to break her out. He sounds perfect. ]
More like rescuing a princess from a tower guarded by a dragon in a forest in the middle of nowhere. [ While all that is true, to a certain degree, she hastily adds so he doesn't get some inflated idea about her: ] But an ugly, scary princess.
[ That's the simplest way to explain his vibranium arm without getting too far into it. If they actually meet in person, maybe he'll give up more of the tale then or maybe she won't care. So far it's just nice to talk to someone where it feels kind of normal in spite of the both of them being not all that normal themselves. ]
Sounds like something I've read in a book. You've gotta be shitting me about the dragon, unless these woods are far enough out of the way people haven't noticed it yet.
[ He's teasing, because he can be patient enough when he needs to be. He's had plenty of time having to deal with the pain in the ass that is Steve Rogers ( along with his three siblings ) that he knows how to be patient when it's needed. ]
I was thinking dancing. You any good? I'm not much for poetry myself but maybe we could find something.
Too bad we can't find another science expo like the one we met at. I'd have to take you to another.
[ She actually has to take a moment to text her brother how she could look things up on her phone because she's not familiar with prosthetics. Then she gently starts to pry him about museums, in a careful, roundabout way to determine where her location is in reference to the Smithsonian. She's stubborn like that when she wants to get something done.
In the meantime: ] That's weird. I like it.
[ Hey, normal is boring! ]
Okay, fine. He's actually a giant snake, and he doesn't breathe fire, but he likes to pretend he does because that scares humans. His venom is more lethal than fire though. Thor's afraid of him because there's some prophecy that he's going to kill him someday.
[ Has she mentioned that the giant snake is also her brother? Not the one who gave her the phone, but another one. And their eldest is a horse. ]
I look like a scary, ugly princess. But I'll wear a disguise when we go out, so I don't make it weird.
Thanks. This one's a lot nicer than the ones I had before.
[ It's easier to say that, than the self deprecating thing about how she might not like it so much if she saw it in person. Sometimes people thought it was cool, other times not. He'll let her reserve her final judgment when ( if? ) they actually meet face to face. ]
Good thing I'm not scared of snakes.
Is the snake part of what's keeping you in the woods?
[ This was a jailbreak after all, so he wonders if that is just part of the measures to keep her from venturing out or if it was just something that was living in the woods. ]
Doubt you'd make it weird. Most people are paying attention to what's going on in their own world to notice other people that are around 'em anyway.
I'm usually the guy keeping others out of trouble. I might know how to find it better 'cause of that.
[ Flirting isn't much trouble, even if it might be heavy flirting as things carry on. The stupidest things he's ever done are usually in the name of impressing a girl, as he recalls using money he needed to get back home to try and win a girl a bear. ]
Didn't plan on dying, but now I gotta hang on since I don't wanna disappoint you.
What dances do you know? They have different ones where you're from?
Of course, there's a part of her that's screaming in warning, that she shouldn't jeopardize another poor soul given that she already has a track record for ruining other people's lives, but... she can't help holding on to whatever this is she's found. She hasn't smiled, hasn't laughed, in a long time.
I won't let you die, she wants to promise, but didn't she fail the last time she did? ]
I don't know what they're called, we didn't really have names for them. We just danced around fires for the most part. Though there was this one partnered dance the Fae liked. Very intimate, lots of touching.
Ha, no. I can outsmart them all if I wanted to. [ The giant snake, the giant wolf, the giants, the wolves, even her parents. Even Odin. ] I just...
[ There's a long pause. Just those dots. Typing... ]
I'm human shaped, but I don't look like you. I'm marked by death. And humans hate ugly things.
[ She's never really admitted that to anyone. Even to herself, she'd always chalked it up to her parents not permitting her to leave because her presence might anger Odin. But deep down, this is the reason why she's never left the woods. She's not sure she can take being rejected by the world. ]
[ Bucky's used to not talking a lot, being the guy who sits there and stares, listening. Texting isn't any different. So he lets the typing dots do what they need to because so far Hel's one of the only people outside of those he knows through Steve, been court mandated to talk to or been on a list for him to set things right with ( there's probably others, but those are the main categories he has to go with ), that he's talked to and he's finding that he...enjoys talking to her? Even if it's through text and not even face to face. ]
I've noticed not a lot has changed in the past several decades that people can be assholes sometimes, but I dunno, some of 'em surprise you from time to time.
And some can have a little bit of "ugly" that they hide from everyone else too.
[ A beat, a pause, since he doesn't really know what "marked by death" means but he knows what can get people looking: ]
If I keep my vibranium arm uncovered they'll pay more attention to that than they would you.
[ He's not a stranger to smooth talking be it to keep a fight from happening or when it came to talking to a dame. She's still flirting with him, so he takes it as a sign that he's still got it over paper too.
It helps keep his mind off the shit he's seeing here, on worrying about what Steve might be getting himself into and about his family back home, on if they're doing alright. ]
Maybe you can teach me that one and I'll teach you the Lindy Hop.
I mean, you don't have to, I have magic and I can hide my face. But that's really kind of you.
[ Maybe he's lying? There's no way for her to tell. This texting thing is so limited. But if he is, truly, Captain America's best friend, then he must at least be a decent human. He certainly sounds like one. ]
Yeah. I'm used to people staring if they realize who I am or if they notice the arm. It stands out a lot.
[ When what he used to do relied heavily on him being quick, efficient, gone as unnoticed as possible - blending in isn't difficult for him but he also knows the ways to bring attention to himself all the same. Someone expressing gratitude to him is still different, even if he isn't as dazed by it as he was before. While she's unaware of it, he nods a little because he doesn't want to call attention to it and instead decides to make it sound like she has options now. ]
Now you can decide if you wanna use your magic or not.
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