tushanshu_logs | open; out and about.

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Entry tags:

open; out and about.

Characters: Bucky Barnes and open
Location: Around - outside the city included. State if you have preference!
Situation: Bucky is out and about, now that he's got a lot less excuse to be reclusive...
Warnings/Rating: None for now.
A/N: Prose and actionspam both welcome.

Bucky was... well. One word he couldn't quite process in conjunction with 'dead' was 'happy,' but for all intents and purposes... all right. Maybe not happy, but the brooding, the feeling of doom and despair that he'd had to struggle against during the first weeks after he showed up had greatly receded. He was brighter, lighter, and found himself with a lot more time - a lot more genuine willingness, he guessed - to be out and about.

Of course, he wasn't crowding his friends. They hung out, as they tended to, but this place... (and Peggy) required that they do some work, and some exploring, on his own.

Bucky kept up with the lessons with Rikki, and the occasional patrol with her; also kept his own schedule and routes across the rooftops. And, sometimes, just walking the streets, trying to blend as much as a non-shapeshifter could. Sometimes, being quiet and unobtrusive (or charming) worked well enough, to get information.

And he even ventured outside the city (the last couple of years had cured a lot of his reluctance to visit the countryside), to explore the whole of the surface that was available to him. He hadn't quite managed to save enough to buy a vehicle, but he did rent a sturdy bike. He thought it suited him.

Anytime, anywhere, he stopped to talk with people, or to help them, or to just ask questions or lend a hand.

He was - not completely gone. Steve was here - even more, Steve seemed... happy. That was plenty good enough for Bucky.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Favrielle still hadn't entirely gotten over the events at the end of the festival. It had been her first brush with violence of that manner. Oh of course, there had been the war a few years back, but she hadn't been involved in it. She hadn't had a knife pressed to her throat. Nita had been a great comfort, and Favrielle thanked Elua for her luck that she'd been placed next to someone who not only was someone she could consider a friend in this foreign place, but whose mere presence next door made her feel safe.

Still, she hadn't quite gotten over nearly being killed. Favrielle had been spared nightmares, but it wasn't easy to go out alone. With sewing projects to keep her busy, she kept to her suite a great deal, like today.

The weather was lovely, and so she'd taken her embroidery with her out into the yard. It wasn't really a full yard so much as a small fenced in garden space. With a mixture of sun and shade, and carefully landscaped plants around one of the sector's many waterfalls, it was peaceful. With the waist-high fence around the edges, it gave the illusion of being her space, but didn't close her off entirely from watching anyone who strolled by.

After finishing a branch of the coral design she's putting into fabric for Nita, Favrielle sat back in her chair to give herself a brief break. She watched kedan walk back and forth along the small lane next to the suites, when she noticed Bucky enter into view.

"Sergeant Barnes?" she asked lightly, lips already curved up at the corners.

"Ma'am!" There was nothing formal or distant in his voice - only a cheerful greeting. Yes, the whole situation left little room for joy - and yet he had managed to find some. Or, rather, a lot.

"How have you been, Favrielle?" Since... the excitement started.

Her smile grows broad and welcoming, though it fades a bit at the edges when he asks how she's been. It's been rather eventful for her since the the festival's end, and not in many pleasant ways.

"As well as can be expected," she says, which is to say she's fine, though her near death still weighs heavily on her. "And yourself?"

She pauses briefly, and then tilts her head toward the gate.

"You're welcome to come in if you'd like."

"Thank you, I think I will." Imposing is one thing; being invited - totally different.

Bucky shrugs, entering the yard and - of all things, flopping in the grass at her feet. (What. He's always wondered if sitting on the grass in a home's garden was different from the grass in the park. Other than less danger of dog droppings, of course, although bird droppings are everywhere, here.)

"I don't think I'm a fair example to compare to. Anything here is moving up from what I'm doing at home, so. Doesn't count."

It's totally not a good idea do be all bright and shiny at her because Steve showed up when she clearly hasn't been having as good an experience. But what he says is still truth.

Her lips quirk up in a smile as he takes a seat in the grass, there at her feet, but all Favrielle does in response is adjust some of her things to give him a little more leg room.

"You might compare it to how things were when we first met, before the final festival day," she prompts, picking up a string of embroidery floss, deftly threading her needle, and sliding it through the cloth stretched taut in a hoop. "For instance, I hope you haven't been accosted while venturing outside your suite. It's not entirely safe in some districts lately, from what I understand."

Which is a shame. There were places she would have gone, things she would have explored more if it hadn't been so risky for her to go alone.

Bucky's face darkens. "I haven't been accosted, no. In fact, I've been trying to make sure those instances are few. I'm... sorry."

That he wasn't there - here - when it happened to her.

"If you'd like to go somewhere and would like company... you could let me know?"

Favrielle shakes her head immediately.

"There's nothing to apologize for," she says firmly. She isn't his responsibility, though she does appreciate the sentiment. "I wouldn't say no to company, however. I've been keeping to my suite when possible but it would be nice to get out more."

She doesn't ask if it would inconvenience him, assuming that he wouldn't offer if it was or that he minded, after all.

"I'd like to do that, then. For all this place offers in exploration, I'd rather make sure as many people as I can are safe."

Bucky nods, yes. This should be a good thing to do, overall.

"Any places you want to find out about, in particular?"

Favrielle pauses, needle piercing the fabric stretched in the embroidery hoop. Her mind works quickly, weighing the pros and cons of the first thing that came to her mind. Bucky already knows a great deal about her world, including the Night Court which she explained carefully.

She's perfectly aware that most cultures don't have the same regard for such things that D'Angelines do, but Favrielle's far too stubborn to hide or pretend shame for something of her culture to keep friends.

"There is a place, in fact," she states, voice steady and without any lingering hesitation. "Though if you wouldn't be comfortable escorting me around there I'm certain I can find someone else."

"Hmm?" It takes him a moment to think around to where he might be uncomfortable escorting her to...

... and then it comes to him, and he straightens up. "Oh. I... are you sure you'd want to go? I would go with you if you do, I just... want to be certain."

Because... well. Not all such establishments that he's known are at all safe. Or healthy.

"Yes, I'm sure," she replies easily. "It's certain to be different from anything the Night Court offers and I find myself curious."

Favrielle studies his expression carefully, wondering if perhaps it's too much to ask of him.

"Not that I have any interest in partaking, but I'd like to speak with those who manage the establishments or work in them if their time permits," she adds after a moment, to make it clear to him what her intentions are. "But you shouldn't feel any obligation, of course."

"No, no, I'll be - fine. You want me to go ask around for such places, or have you already done that?"

There is no way possible he's going to let her go alone. An unaccompanied woman, from what he knows, is highly unlikely to fare all that well alone - even in the better brothels he's known, patrons high on their booze are unlikely to mind their own business.

"You do know that... things are prob'ly going to be far less - regulated than you're used to, right?"

"I'm expecting it," she replied, "I've heard stories of the brothels outside Terre d'Ange, and of course it would be different. If things were the same here as they were in my world, there would be little purpose in me visiting."

Favrielle had a few remaining friends at Eglantine house of course, but she didn't prevail upon them for such things. In truth, she rarely allowed herself such involvements, but poured her energy into her work instead, even after her debt had been paid.

"As for where, I have a few advertisements I was given at the Fire sector festival," she added. "I thought to start at one of them."

Bucky's mouth twitched up. "Nevertheless, I kinda suspect that you'd have found a reason to check on things in that case, too, only later."

Nostalgia is a strong pull, he knows. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

He nods, though. "Just let me know when, then. I'm not sure whether you'll want to show up in the 'business' hours or not, but mornings are prob'ly going to be a bad idea. From what I know."

Mornings, from what he knows - less from visiting such establishments and more from knowing girls who went to work in such (and one boy who never told him that's the kind of work he did, but Bucky suspected) - are not good times for a brothel. Resting, sleeping the night off, crankiness. Mending any damages made.

"Perhaps," she says after a moment. Nostalgia is a strong pull indeed, but if things were as in Terre d'Ange, she might be tempted to partake and she's not entirely sure that's a door she wishes to open.

"I thought perhaps early evening might be best, before they're likely to get a great deal of business," she said. "Out of courtesy I plan only to inquire as to a good time to visit as opposed to asking for their time once I've stopped in, but it's likely some will be able to accommodate me immediately."

Her gaze slides back to him as she tilts her head, considering him.

"I'll have to think of some way to thank you for the escort," she added after a moment, lips curving into a smile. "I'm certain this wasn't what you had in mind when you made the offer."

"We-ell. Don't think too hard. Knowing that people who've done nothing wrong are safe is reward on its own, too." And since he has some ideas about beautiful women, he strongly suspects that she would have gone anyway, sooner or later.

"Besides, I don't mind that much. Way less than if you'd asked somebody who would be shy of the places themselves."

"You don't consider yourself shy of such places then?" she asks, smile deepening as she sets aside her embroidery for a moment. While he seemed surprised at first by the way her world worked, she'd be pleased to discover he wasn't opposed to such things. Pleased for personal reasons, she notes with some surprise to herself. "That is good to know."

"No..." Bucky shakes his head, then shrugs.

"I mean, back home, and I'd guess here, or I'd have heard about it, it's nothing like the kind of honorable position it is in Terre d'Ange. Some people think it... shameful, really, or degrading. Me? I've seen enough girls get to work in such places to know that sometimes, it's just a thing to do when there aren't other options. Sure, it's selling their bodies, but..." Another head-shake. "Some of them're good girls. People you can rely in, with big hearts and quick minds, just down on luck. More worried for them than ashamed, to be honest. And, yeah, I know this sounds all wrong to you and all, but I don't know how to say it otherwise."

Can't really shake the way you've been raised all that easy. But he's gone used to the idea of her take on things enough to at least accept that it's not the only way things are.

The picture he paints isn't one that she's not heard of before. It's different in other countries, so of course it's different in other worlds as well.

"It's...disheartening to know it's that way," she finally says honestly. "With not just a different attitude toward such service but a different way of handling such transactions, all could benefit."

Considering the friendly nature of the kedan who approached her during the festival, she can only hope that it isn't the case here, quite certain it would weigh heavily on her mind if it is.

"I guess. I suppose people don't wanna change, not even when it'll make things better."

Or they just liked having others - like whores, or even homeless urchins - to look down on. But he's not going to bring that one up.

"I hope they treat each other better here, anyway. I mean, it's on the back of a turtle. All things are possible, right?"

"That is my hope as well," she agrees, for once minded toward optimism. It would be well indeed if there was a more respectable presence in Keeliai. Such a small thing would go a long way toward alleviating her homesickness, just to know it's there.

After a moment, Favrielle offers him a small smile.

"Have you elsewhere to be at the moment?" Favrielle continues, thinking that it might not be a bad idea to get a meal if he's amenable.

He nods, not really sure what else to say to that. They'll learn, soon, right?

"Nope. Done with work, open for anything you have in mind?"

"A meal, if you've no objection to allowing me to repay you for your escort services with lunch," she replies easily, smile curling her lips up with ease.

He was a soldier, and before that he was an orphan. Not like he's likely to turn down food!

"I'd love to share a meal with you. For the company, first and foremost."

He offered to escort her without thinking of repayment, after all.

[Pleased, Favrielle takes her embroidering inside and gathers her things to head to a nearby restaurant. Hand settled in the crook of Bucky's arm, she gives him directions to a quiet, family-owned place she frequents often. They eat and speak of many things, Favrielle of home and more details of the Night Court, the small things of how children were raised in the lifestyle and such. Bucky seems content to listen, or ask questions when he has them.

After, they move on to the brothel district of the Fire sector. Unashamed, Favrielle doesn't walk through the streets with her head covered, but rather looks around with an air of quiet curiosity. Bucky, if watching her closely, might notice her interest is more obvious by the look in her eyes.

They head to the brothel she has a flyer for first, finding it well lit from the outside and, upon entering, seemingly clean on the inside. It hasn't the elegance of any of the Thirteen Houses, but Favrielle's pleased that at least at a glance that it doesn't seem like a nightmare she's heard of in countries outside Terre d'Ange. Once the purpose of their visit is explained, it's in short order that the Madame of the house comes out to greet them. Favrielle once more explains her purpose, perhaps in more detail, and they're soon given a tour of the place. At least, as much as can be done while still giving the brothel's clients their privacy.

She soon finds herself absorbed entirely in their conversation, discussing how things are handled in one instance or another, where their worlds differ and where they are the same. When discussions of techniques come up, Favrielle keeps her language polite and clear, but not crudely detailed. That many acts and toys involved are labeled differently in Terre d'Ange, such as aides d'amour or performing a languissment, requires her to go into more depth than she initially means to.

Their meeting eventually draws to a close and as the madame walks them to the door, she catches Favrielle's arm with a touch of her hand.]

When you have more time, we might both benefit from exchanging trade secrets, if you're willing of course.

[Favrielle's lips curve up into a smile as she considers.]

I wouldn't be opposed if you've some interested in learning.

[The Madame nods.]

We would be happy to partner you with someone to work with in demonstrating, of course, unless you'd prefer to choose someone else...

[The Madame's gaze slides toward Bucky, and a moment later Favrielle's gaze follows. Her lips curve up into a small smile. There's a tilt to her eyebrows as they lift that's ever so slightly mischievous.]

I'll be in touch and let you know when we make arrangements.

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