[Video | Open to Both Courts]

[wipedclean]

[He looks slightly nervous. He still... doesn't do this talking thing well, and he doesn't really see the point of introducing himself to everyone. Making himself known to the entire network... showing his face on a recorded device... he's not supposed to, and it's just a bad idea for an assassin but...

But Steve said he should, so... well. He is.]

...hello.

[He swallows, his gaze flickering off to the side, where, unseen to the camera, Steve is nodding and giving him a thumbs up.]

I'm... Bucky.

[He hesitates when he says it, because... it's the first time he's said it. That he can remember.]

I was told I've been here before, but I don't remember.

[He frowns.]

So I'm sorry. If you knew me before. I don't remember you.

[He glances over to the side again, shifts, shakes his head. He's done, he doesn't want to do this anymore.]

That's it.

Comments

video;

[desperate_times]

Bucky? Really?

I wouldn't have guessed.

[He didn't have a name when they last spoke, and now the one he has is so... well, it doesn't really match the exterior.]

video;

[wipedclean]

[He does his one-shouldered shrug.]

James Buchanan Barnes.

Bucky.

[It feels unfamiliar in his mouth. He's still not sure he likes it.]

video;

[desperate_times]

James is a handsome name.

Bucky is... cute.

[She's not sure cute fits him, but maybe sometimes when he's got that lost look on his face.]

But you say both of them like they taste funny. Are you not convinced it's who you are?

[wipedclean]

It's who I was.

[But there's such a disconnect from who he is and who he was that he's still not sure he can bridge the gap.]

[desperate_times]

Are you trying to be who you were, again?

[wipedclean]

[He's quiet for a long moment, looking away. Because that's a question he's been asking himself a lot. There's a bigger problem in the way of that though.]

I'm trying to remember.

[desperate_times]

Did you find Steve? Could he jog your memory?

[That was the only person Bucky knew here, so that's probably Bucky's best bet.]

[wipedclean]

Yes.

[To both, but he realizes that's unclear.]

He... yes. He helps.

[desperate_times]

[Her lips quirk to the side. Yes, Bucky most likely has found Steve.]

I'll bet he has.

Hello, boyscout. [Obviously not directed at Bucky, even if Steve is off camera.]

Maybe some magic can help get your memories back. Or those boons people get from time to time. You could ask to have your memory restored.

[wipedclean]

[After glancing once over to where Steve is, he looks back. He's heard about the boons of course, but he hadn't really thought about applying them to his memories.

He wonders if that's actually a good idea.]

Maybe.

[desperate_times]

Just think carefully on it, gorgeous.

I don't know anything about you, but anyone can tell by just looking at you that you've been through a lot.

You might not like what you remember.

[wipedclean]

[He nods.]

I know.

[But he has to take the bad with the good. Whatever it is.]

[desperate_times]

Well, try to keep your chin up. A person's past doesn't make their future.

[She winks at him.]

We've all got things we'd rather forget.

[wipedclean]

[He does his one-shoulder shrug and shakes his head.]

But not everything.

[desperate_times]

Awwww. Don't look so glum.

You'll get it back. With all the monarchs and magic, more is possible here than a lot of places.

[wipedclean]

["Don't look so glum?" Wow, that's easy for her to say.

...she's trying to help. Probably. He sighs and nods.]

[desperate_times]

[Yeah it's easy for her to say! She's not the icicle assassin. She means well, though. Sometimes meaning well also means poking fun at you a bit. That's just her way.]

So what are you going to do now? Catch up on old times? [She images he and Steve could talk about quite a lot.]

[starspangled]

Chloe.

[He nods, not surprised that she figured it out.]

[desperate_times]

[It wasn't that hard to put it together. She'd spoken to Bucky twice already.]

I met your friend at the unseelie feast. I'm starting to think you know more people on my side than I do.

[Not that she really thinks of sides in all this.]

[starspangled]

IF it helps, he was Seelie once before. Maybe he will be again.

[desperate_times]

Ooooh, is that your plan?

Sneaky.

Can people do that?

[starspangled]

There's no plan. I just have to believe that anything's possible in a place with fairies and magic.

[desperate_times]

Have you ever known it to happen?

[starspangled]

No. Bucky's changed now, but the guy he was before is still in there too. Either way, he's still my best friend.

[wipedclean]

[He hears that, it's impossible for him not to, and he shifts in his seat slightly. It's still hard to see himself in that light, but Steve's overwhelming faith in him is... it's intense.]