[log] caught in a snowdrift [closed]

[advanced]

Characters: Flynn and Bucky
Location: Between houses
Date: Day 380
Summary: Flynn gets caught in a snowdrift, Bucky helps, they bond
Warnings: None

[Bucky had really thought that Flynn wouldn't come back, he'd stick with his other friends and his woman, so why had he come back? Bucky isn't exactly a personable travelling companion, he's quiet a lot of the time and doesn't invite confidences, but somehow Flynn isn't put off. It's made him thaw just a little, in small ways, like turning his back while they're travelling without worrying that Flynn might plant a knife in it.

Turns out, turning his back was a bad idea.

There's a crunch and soft thwump of snow, and when he turns around Flynn is half buried under deeply compacted snow. He's not sure whether to be annoyed, concerned, or laugh. In the end, he goes for a mixture of the first two, walking back a couple of paces and looking down.]

You okay?

Comments

[cahooted]

Not... helping.

[But the reminder to breathe does, a little. Flynn tries to focus on that, tries not to hold the breaths but when he's lowered he quickly falls back into explosive, hissed exhales.]

Am I gonna... make it? Be... be honest, I can... I can take it...

[Please excuse him getting a little melodramatic down here. Pain does that to him sometimes.]

[advanced]

[He gives a tiny snort of amusement, levity coming a lot easier now that they've made it in for the night.]

You've got a busted leg and maybe some ribs, you're not gonna die from that.

[cahooted]

[Oh. Well, that's good to know. He relaxes somewhat.]

Feels... a lot... worse.

[He's just going to lie here for a moment, trying to catch his breath and being whiny about it.]

There's a bottle of... gin in my backpack. If it didn't break. Could really... really use a drink right now...

[advanced]

[He slides Flynn's backpack over and starts to go through it, eventually locating the bottle of gin which, though slightly cracked, is in one piece.]

My Ma gave me whiskey the first time I broke my leg.

[It's one of his rare memories that he doesn't mind sharing.]

It tasted so bad that I forgot how much it hurt for a while, I think that was her plan.

[cahooted]

Y-yeah?

[Flynn manages to force a small smile despite the pain because that one hits him right in the mama boy feels.]

Mine would... when I hurt myself s-she'd bake my favorite cake and I'd get the... the biggest slice. L-like a triple slice. With some hot cocoa.

[He beckons towards the gin.] Y-you should have one, too.

[advanced]

Why don't you tell me about her?

[Focusing on other things until the alcohol numbs the pain is probably for the best, and if those are pleasant memories then all the better for Flynn. And perhaps a tiny selfish part of him hopes that hearing about someone else's Ma might bring some of his own memories back into focus.

He'd settle for just remembering his mother's name. It feels sacrilegious that he remembers Steve's Ma's name, Sarah Rogers, and not his own mother's name.]

[cahooted]

My mom? Y-yeah.

[Sure. He can tell him about his mom.]

S-she raised me by herself after my dad died and she's amazing. Kind and... and very sociable. She's got lots of friends, I... I think she knows the entire neighborhood somehow? She knows so many people. She threw me a surprise birthday party once and the house was packed, I didn't know anyone there, how d-do you even m-meet so many people, seriously? She likes her flowers and we used to do a lot of gardening together or w-watch movies.

[He takes another sip of gin. Oh man, that is so good? He's still shivering but the chattering of his teeth gradually lessens over time.]

She's really obsessed with getting... getting me in relationships, too. Sh-she'd try to set me up all the time, like, I would come home and there'd be a girl, daughter of one of her friends... or when we're at a café she'd just talk to girls nearby, trying to fix me up right there, it was mortifying...

[advanced]

[He doesn't quite smile at the description of Flynn's mother, but something in his expression softens. She sounds like a good woman, like a lot of other mothers that he must have known growing up.]

You didn't want to be set up?

[Or was it just that his Ma was picking the wrong girls?]

I think my Ma had a different problem with me, I used to step out with a lot of dames.

[cahooted]

I b-bet you did. With your d-dancing card.

[Flynn chuckles.]

Not really, not like that, just tossed into these situations with total strangers at a moment's notice. It was just awkward, I... was very awkward back then, social things weren't really my forte. I was all about my books.

["Was." "Back then."]

Wasn't really interested in a relationship until... until I met Nicole.

[His smile warms considerably.]

[advanced]

[Bucky doesn't remember if he was ever interested in a relationship with any of the women that he stepped out with, they're just a blur of indistinct faces and bright lipstick.

But he remembers how awkward Steve used to be, how hopeless with all the girls Bucky set him up with, so he can kind of picture it.]

What made her different?

[cahooted]

Uh, she's amazing? I met her when I was on a plane to the Amazon jungle, my first mission. She walked into the room and I saw her and, and...

[His hands come up, gesturing indistinctly.]

... and wow. She, of course, thought I was an idiot.

[It's said lightly, without insult.]

Then suddenly the plane was full of cultists that were trying to kill me – well, stick me with a truth serum and get information, actually, but I definitely think killing would have been involved at some point – and she swooped in to rescue me. She beat up all the goons by herself.

[His face lights up with a proud smile that says let me tell you everything about how super cool my girlfriend is.]

And then she kicked me out the airplane.

[advanced]

Sounds like the kind of gal that anyone would fall for.

[He remembers Peggy Carter and her efficient danger, and how every single guy for miles around was a little bit in love with her. Of course Steve bagged her, and rightly so, but he'd be lying if he said that he'd never harboured a flame.]

I hope she at least knew you had a parachute or something.

[cahooted]

You have no idea.

[Flynn takes another sip of gin, trying to warm himself up.]

What? Oh, no, no, she absolutely knew I didn't have one. She did, though? Jumped after me and caught me. ... It was a lot at the time but you kind of get used to it. Like, we jumped off a cliff soon after and fell down a waterfall? She does this thing where she smiles when we're about to do something really dangerous...

[advanced]

Sounds like you really love her.

[It's nice.

He doesn't get a lot of opportunities to just sit with someone and watch their face light up as they talk about good things, and he's going to hold onto this moment for as long as he can.]

I used to know someone like that too, she was fearless and I'm pretty sure everyone was a little bit in love with her for it.

[cahooted]

I...

[He laughs, a bit high-pitched and embarrassed but then... he just smile.]

I do. I really do? What can I say.

... Yeah? Who was she?

[advanced]

Her name was Peggy Carter, she was an agent working with the US military and she went on to found an organisation dedicated to help keeping the world safe.

[It hadn't been her fault that the roots of HYDRA had taken hold there and eventually turned her dream into a nightmare.]

[cahooted]

She sounds great. Reminds me of Charlene. She sort of runs the Library and the accounts, coordinates everything and you really don't want to mess with her...

Did you ever dance with Carter?

[advanced]

Me? No way.

[His lips actually twitch in amusement at that idea.]

She was gone on Steve, and he was gone on her. About time someone saw him for what he was worth, and he couldn't have done better than her.

[cahooted]

[Flynn smiles because there's something endearing about hearing Bucky talk about his friends.]

He's a lucky guy then. ... So what about you? Do you have anyone you like? Like-like?

[advanced]

[He looks surprised for a moment before snorting.]

No, definitely not.

[He's barely functional as a person, let alone dragging romance into it.]

[cahooted]

[What was that just now, did they almost make it into laughter territory? His smile widens to a grin, the gin passing his malnourished, teetotal body and going straight to his head.]

Too bad, I was sooo ready to pester you about the details.

[advanced]

Sorry to disappoint you, I'll be sure to let you know if that ever changes.

[Which it never will.]

[cahooted]

I'm counting on it. Hey, you, uh, you want some more? I think I'll have some more because this really hurts. It's bad, isn't it? Like, for this town.

[He takes another sip.]

Peter got injured really badly once and me and John dragged him around for a really long time but at one point he died because this town is just not made for injuries like this and I guess that was a really stupid accident to have? I once almost fell off a cliff in the Himalayas, Nicole saved me and I guess this time you saved me, you would probably make a great Guardian, you have all this annoyed-at-me part down, it's kind of like a prerequisite for the job, I guess...

[advanced]

I've had a lot of practise.

[He takes the bottle and downs a mouthful of his own, the burn of alcohol an unfamiliar one after so many years without, and then hands it back.]

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always watched out for Steve, idiot got himself in more trouble than anyone else I knew. I guess it's something they never really managed to remove from me.

[cahooted]

It's a good trait to have. I was never really good at that.

[He puts the bottle aside and sinks back, just resting some more on the floor.]

I've been mostly going solo the past two years and I learned how to look after myself but it's actually... nice, not having to do things alone all the time.