[oom] let's go dancin' in the light

[from_the_outside]

She's late to the lab, having cited an errand she needed to run once they made their way up to the Citadel from the hut by the lake, and her footsteps ring out quick and firm as she makes her way down the walkway from the train platform. Shuri's voice is clear as she makes her way into the lab, and Sharon can't help but smile at the note of gleeful triumph in the princess's voice.

"Good," Shuri's saying, as Sharon walks into the side room where Shuri has been conducting her design fittings and reviews. The princess stands in front of Bucky, who wears a white sleeveless shirt that clearly shows the new vibranium shoulder joint Shuri had constructed... and a new left arm, gleaming beneath the lab lights.

"The dimensions are perfect. How does it feel?"

Comments

[from_the_outside]

Sharon smiles to herself, then lets go of Bucky's hand as they enter the main lab area, where Shuri is already calling up the sand spar.

"Go ahead and warm up using any stances or sequences you prefer," she tells Bucky. "Would you like me to program the sand spar with anyone in particular, or simply set it to a generic target?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"A generic target's fine," Bucky tells her, taking position across from the opponent-to-be. He considers for a moment, then starts going through a standard training pattern, one his previous handlers' technicians had often had him perform to test repairs.

[from_the_outside]

"Impact tests first," Shuri calls, once he's cycled through several routines. She taps her tablet and a monolith approximately Bucky's height lifts from the sand spar, the sand hardening until the surface looks almost like concrete.

"Whenever you're ready," she says, keeping one eye on the dual diagnostics running on her tablet.

[nerves_of_ice]

He nods, and eyes the sand block with interest. Bucky shrugs, then tries a basic punch at half-force.

Sand cracks and radiates around where his fist lands, and he raises his eyebrows in appreciation.

The next strike is much, much harder.

[from_the_outside]

Cracks spiderweb from the point of impact, as the sand target absorbs the impact, and Shuri makes an impressed sound.

"Try some other punches," Sharon suggests. "Hook, shovel; you know."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky glances over at her. "Ever called the shots in sparring? During a training exercise?"

He assumes she has, but it's best to be sure.

[from_the_outside]

"Sure," she says, easily. "Want me to call them out for you?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky grins.

"Okay, Carter, show me what you got."

He drops into a ready stance, focusing on the sand slab.

[from_the_outside]

"Pay attention, then," she says, grinning. "I don't like repeating myself." She walks over, slowly circling the sand spar and watching him the way she'd watch a trainee running pads.

"One," she says. "One, two."

She takes him through each set of punches, assigned one through six: left jab, right cross; left hook, right hook; left uppercut, right uppercut. Once he's performed them all to her standards, she starts mixing up patterns, making him use his right arm as much as his left, having him duck to come up with a body blow; put everything into a crushing left hook-right cross-left shovel to the floating ribs combination. Midway through, Shuri changes the target from the monolith to a faceless, generic human shape, and Sharon calls out new combinations accordingly.

"Looking good, Wolf," she tells him, after she's run him through a few rounds. "Looking real good."

[nerves_of_ice]

He follows each pattern's call with trained ease, paying attention both to Sharon's instructions and to the performance of the arm itself. Shuri's probably catching all the little pieces and details, but he notes each one as well, just in case.

It reminds him of boxing with Steve, a little, although the fighting style is different. Maybe that's why when Sharon calls out encouragement, he calls back, "I can do this all day."

[from_the_outside]

"I know you could," she tells him, grinning. "But I've got other plans."

"And we should not stress the arm too much during these initial tests," Shuri says, but she sounds pleased. "But it is performing well, very well."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Looks like," he agrees, straightening. Bucky rotates his shoulder a few times, then swings the arm back and forth.

"You said you wanted me to go through the day with it?"

[from_the_outside]

"Yes," says Shuri. "Test it however you like, and let me know your thoughts. Come back again in the morning – or earlier, if it grows uncomfortable."

"See how many of the kids you can pick up with it at one time," Sharon laughs, and Shuri grins, quick and bright.

"Yes," she says, "that would be an appropriate test, I think!"

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head at that, amused. "Okay. I'll see what I can do. And, Shuri... thanks."

[from_the_outside]

Shuri waves him off, but there's a pink flush of pleasure high on her cheeks as she does.

"Do not thank me yet," she tells him. "There is much still to do. Now – " She makes a pushing motion with her fingers. "Leave me in peace to begin my analysis."

"I think we're being dismissed," Sharon says, amused, and comes over to Bucky. "Ready?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure," he agrees, and starts out of the lab beside her. Bucky slants a glance at her. "For anything in particular?"

He's eyeing her carefully, looking for the signs of mischief that he's learning to recognize. "You said you had plans?"

[from_the_outside]

"Mmhm. Well, maybe not plans, exactly."

She gives him a blandly innocent look over her shoulder as they walk. "You free?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I don't know, I guess I could check my schedule, shuffle a few things around... seriously, who do you think I am, Tony Stark?"

Bucky laughs, quick and soft. "Yes, I'm free."

[from_the_outside]

"Good," she chuckles, and steps onto the waiting train.

"Then let's go back to the hut."

[nerves_of_ice]

He joins her on the train, leaning against the wall as usual. After a moment, he crosses his arms in front of him, largely just because he can.

The arm whirs softly, but works as expected.

[from_the_outside]

She smiles to see him crossing her arms, then comes across the car to tug his new left hand free and lift it up so she can spin herself beneath it, like they're on a dance floor.

"Looking snazzy, Barnes," she tells him, eyes alight with pleasure. "I like it."

[nerves_of_ice]

He chuckles at that and spins her again.

"It feels a little strange, I'll admit," he says, after a moment. "I'm not sure if I can explain."

His metal arm has never been only an arm, after all; it's part of what made him the Winter Soldier for so long.

"But it's not bad. Not that."

[from_the_outside]

"Does this one have any bells and whistles?" she asks. "Or is it the basic model?"

Or as basic as anything that comes out of Shuri's lab could possibly be.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Not yet. She wanted to ensure standard function first before starting to add stuff. Probably a good idea."

He looks more than a little aggrieved. "I've definitely seen things go really, really wrong when adding stuff in the past. Although none of them were Shuri, so..."

[from_the_outside]

"I'm sure she'll do everything she can to make sure it all goes smoothly," Sharon tells him, and grins as the train slides into the platform at the Citadel.

"This is our stop."