[oom] let me lead you to the promised land

[from_the_outside]

 It is intensely weird to step back through the door into the bright Wakandan afternoon, but the denizens of the strange-as-hell Bar at the End of the Universe were right: no time has passed at all.

She wishes it had. This just makes it seem even more impossible, a dream she can't begin to explain.

Bucky's had coffee and she's had wine and both of them are full of Sunshine's cinnamon rolls, which is all good except for how her go-to busywork of making coffee to give herself a second to think is even more unnecessary than usual. She goes into the hut to grab the wool throws instead, taking them over to the shade tree as her mind whirls.

There's a lot to take in. And a lot to think about.

"So," she says, once she's sat down. She loops her arms around her knees and studies him. 

"That was interesting."

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

He nods. “Yes, her. And yeah. I did, a few times.”

Something else occurs to him, and he tells her, “That’s where I got the plant. The one I had in Bucharest.”

[from_the_outside]

"From a friend," she remembers.

"One I met today?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head, smiling.

“No. Her name’s Ysalwen Surana. You can’t miss her - she’s got white hair and a tattoo on her face. She’s a mage, from a world called Thedas.”

A beat.

“It was a housewarming gift.”

[from_the_outside]

She hates that she relaxes a little. "Sounds striking," she comments, trying to picture it. Her?

"I guess a mage isn't too surprising, considering it's a magic bar."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Pretty much,” he agrees. “She’s got a giant dog, too. His name’s Liranan.”

[from_the_outside]

"Okay, that's great," Sharon says. She's a dog person, herself.

"Maybe I'll meet her next time. You could ask for a new plant," she points out. "Considering you have another house to warm."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Maybe,” he agrees. “I think you’d like her.”

[from_the_outside]

"I probably would."

Although he'd been slightly optimistic about her liking some of his other friends. To that end, there's something a little cautious in her casual tone when she adds, lightly:

"In the interest of avoiding any other surprises, is she a friend like Lucifer? Or a friend like Zinda?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky eyes her.

“Neither,” he says, mildly.

[from_the_outside]

Her eyebrows lift, just a little.

"What does that mean?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Exactly what I said,” he returns, still mild. “We’re friends. We’re allies. She understands what it’s like to be imprisoned and used. I went to Thedas with her to help out with a couple of things. Her partner, Zevran, is an assassin too. He’s a trip.”

[from_the_outside]

It's been a while since he's decided to willfully misunderstand her or talk around an actual answer, and her mouth twists a little unhappily.

Fine. She can drop it.

"Sounds like you've all got a lot in common," she says, instead of anything else. "So what's Thedas like?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Kind of like a medieval world crossed with what we think of as a fantasy one, I guess,” he says, watching how her mouth twists. “Elves, dwarves - wyverns to fight—“

He stops.

“Sharon, what is it you really want to ask me?”

[from_the_outside]

She watches him back, calm.

"Are you seeing anyone else there?"

[nerves_of_ice]

His eyes narrow.

“No.”

[from_the_outside]

"It's not an unreasonable question," she says, now just as mild as he'd been a few moments ago.

"it's not like we've talked about it."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Do you seriously think I’d be seeing multiple people without —“

He breaks off there and makes himself think it through from her perspective.

[from_the_outside]

"Honestly? I'd hope not, but like I said, we haven't talked about it."

She sits back again, cross-legged. "It hasn't really come up because there hasn't been anyone around here it seemed like you might be interested in."

[nerves_of_ice]

“You’d hope not,” he repeats, carefully. “Hope not.”

[from_the_outside]

She sighs and sets her chin on her hand, watching him.

"I don't think it," she says. "I'm just trying to make sure we're..."

On the same page hadn't gone over well earlier. "I don't want to make any assumptions. And I'd rather not run into anymore surprises like Zinda Blake. If there are any."

[nerves_of_ice]

He sighs, long and slow. "I don't know what Peggy told you about me," he starts. "I don't know what kind of person you think I am. And I know things are different now than they were back then."

"But Sharon, dating around's different from being serious about someone. Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I'd have said, if there were anyone else?"

[from_the_outside]

"I do, yeah," she says. "Why do you think I was so surprised?"

The smile she gives him is a little rueful. "It might be dumb to be deluded bumblebees, but I'd still rather be one with you. Is that what you want, too?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Forget the bumblebees," Bucky tells her. "I'd rather have a partner. So, yes."

[from_the_outside]

"Okay."

The smile she gives him is very sweet. "Sounds good to me."

[nerves_of_ice]

He smiles back, then sobers.

“Zinda’s a friend,” he says. Both expression and tone are absolutely serious. “Yes, we spent some time together, but without anything serious. We both agreed on that. And once you got here - once I knew - I haven’t been with her, or anyone, like that.”