Settling In [OTA Catch-all]

[worthallthis]

Who: Bucky Barnes AKA Soldat, and OPEN
Where: Each prompt will have a car listed
When: Jelly 2 - 5
What: Getting settled in, working out chores, discovering movies
Warnings: Amiable disassociation, possible discussion of trauma, probably swearing :P


I. Sleep Schedules - Sleeper car, specifically 4:A

Generally, to foil nightmare-laden nights and to split up their day, Soldat used to sleep twice a day: once right after lunch, and once after midnight. They don't know if that will work here, but they're definitely going to try it.

Walk into the cabin to clean it or to get to your things, and you might find a supersoldier bolting awake, with a metal arm held up between you and them, or a supersoldier sitting curled on one of the bottom bunks with a notebook on their knees, hastily writing something down and looking hunted.


II. Hi, Red Team - Kitchen car

So Soldat has swapped their cleaning chores for Otoha's cooking chores, and here they are, showing up bright and early on their second day to the kitchen car, looking uncertain of their welcome but absolutely ready to work. "I did a lot of the cooking," they say earnestly, "back at my last place. Traded with one of your guys."

And they'll dive in with all apparent happiness when given ingredients, a new recipe (they've never worked with avocados before), and tools. Might even kind of quietly hum to themselves now and then, when they forget they're not surrounded by strangers.


III. Sadly, No Muppets - Cinema car

The first thing Soldat looked up when creeping into the cinema car to investigate was a movie, or show, or set of movies, or something that Misty had told them about. They look vaguely confused when they find something... similar... but with a slightly off name. The Moppet Show? The remaining inbox conversations on their tablet says "Muppet" but... maybe it's a different universe thing?

Either way, find them taking up some time here and there when the cinema car is otherwise unoccupied, watching wacky puppet shenanigans and being at turns delighted, annoyed, and confused. "I'm not sure if that is supposed to be funny or not," they muse aloud, frowning at a puppet rabbit flailing over a puppet wolf's joke act going badly, while a pair of puppet old ladies in a balcony heckle them both. (Seems like it's supposed to be, but I don't get it. Yes. Was that agreement with us or with the show? No.)


IV. Common Train Passtime - Gym car

A lot of people on this train seem to like spending time in the gym car. Well, Soldat isn't necessarily one of them, but they also can't lose their edge, either, not if there are missions where people need help. So they stop by once a day, looking kind of shy and keeping out of the way until there's room, then settling into a routine of hitting dummies and dancing around against invisible opponents.

It's clear from their motions that they're used to having a knife, or multiple knives. (They miss their knives so bad.)

Anyone wanting to spar, or wanting to critique, or wanting help themselves-- Soldat's there. They try to keep to themselves unless asked, though, knowing that their role as a teacher in Beacon was familiar and accepted, but it probably isn't here.


V. Wildcard

Soldat can be found poking around pretty much anywhere but the medical cars. Feel free to run into them wherever, I can work with it!

Comments

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven listened patiently and quietly. Giving him her attention, and trying to recall if she'd ever learned of a dimension like what he described. There were elements there of a few, but she'd have to consult her books back home, and possibly at Temple Azara---oh right. Azarath was no more.

"For what it's worth, you seem pretty alive to me."

[worthallthis]

"Magic-tech-something clone body," Soldat reiterates with maybe half a smile. "Still eat, still sleep, still breathe. Just. I died to get there." The smile fades off, and they debate again indicating their lantern-- ugh, they're out of the habit of not trusting people, with so long in a very small town where everyone was working towards the same goal. But it's only been a couple of days, and they don't know how these people are with secrets yet.

They shake their head finally. "It probably won't matter. Not that different from being all the way alive."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"Good point. I think most of us would just consider you 'alive' though."

[worthallthis]

"Close enough," Soldat shrugs. "Like I said, probably doesn't matter much." There's not anything else really to say about it without getting into the lantern problem, so they ask, "What was it you came from? Pulled from something important."

(Buddy. You can't just ask that.)

Uh. "You don't have to answer, if you don't want to," they add. "Just curious, is all."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"Sort of." Raven hedges, then quiets for a moment. She trusted Bucky, before--although he didn't know the reason why she was glad to be on the train, than back-home. Only Luke had known, but he wasn't here anymore. Madoka knew now, but only the bare facts.

"It's better for my world that I'm here, instead of there. Someone very bad was hunting me, and willing to do whatever it took to get me. If I'm here, they can't get me, and my world is safe."

[worthallthis]

Soldat simply nods. "Reasonable. I'm glad your world is safe, Raven. And you can do good work here, instead." They can imagine she must miss her friends and family, but they also know saying that might make her more sad-- bringing up the people in Beacon makes them sad. And if there's no way to go back anyway... no point in harping on what everyone knows.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven was kind of relieved that he didn't push further--although she wasn't surprised. Soldat seemed to have his own things he didn't want people pushing against. Then again, Raven had a feeling Bucky wouldn't have pushed either.

"As far as I'm aware, they can't get me here even though they can do dimensional travel." A pause, before more quietly. "There was a question and answer session with the train--I asked it if I was safe here, and it confirmed my enemies can't get to me here. Given other information it told us, I'm not entirely sure how reliable that is." But it had been reassuring, so Raven hoped it was reliable.

[worthallthis]

"Oh. Yeah, Cassie told me about that," Soldat says with a little perk up. This is something they know about! "About how the train is a she, and can't talk to us easily, and is maybe driving herself. What other information was there?"

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"It allowed us to ask 3 questions. Some of the questions relating to time, and what's going on back home, sounded contradictory though. Either to themselves, I gather, or to evidence--what little we have anyways."

[worthallthis]

"Is there a record somewhere?" Soldat asks. "Of all the answers?" They're still definitely in need of intel, here, and while they doubt they've got the brains to work out any kind of pattern, maybe they can at least learn something.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"I think someone was trying to compile all the answers into a document, but I'm not sure who, now." Raven tilts her head slightly while she thinks. "Kaiba might know, if you want to ask him. It might've been Nita, too."

[worthallthis]

Soldat nods thoughtfully. "All right. I suppose I'll wait until after the next mission. I'm told it's likely to start in a couple of days."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"They seem to come about 2 weeks after a platform visit. But time is weird here."

[worthallthis]

"Weird?" That's the first they've heard of time getting strange. Occasionally a lantern malfunction would do strange things with time in Beacon, but that was personal, not applied to a whole train. "How so weird?"

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"No clock gets the same time really. Probably since we're traveling through the Void between realities. We also have people from the same world, but from different points in the time of that world."

[worthallthis]

"Oh. Yeah, that happened in my last place, too," Soldat says with a nod. "Not the time thing, all the clocks were the same, when they worked. But people from different points in time."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"From what I can tell" From her limited research and overhearing of snippets. "it seems to be a thing in places that grab people from the multiverse."

[worthallthis]

"Makes sense. Since I'm not the same. One who was here before," Soldat nods, skipping over saying the actual name. They can hear it, but saying it? Still too much. (Coward. Shut up, Sarge.)

More on track: "And there are two people here who I knew, from the place I got pulled to before." They sound a little wistful at that. Having Crowley and Aziraphale not know them is hard, but helps them understand how the people they don't know feel, too. "So there's definitely different versions of the same universe out there."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"I'll have to check the library to see if anyone's bothered to order books specifically about multiversal paradoxes, timelines, and theories." Raven wasn't looking forward to another headache.

[worthallthis]

"Oh, all of that is. Way over my head," Soldat says with a small smile. "I can deal with the practicalities. But the theories? The science?" They shake their head. "Way above my area of. Expertise." If one could even call killing things an area of expertise.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven had a hint of a smile on her face too. "It's kind of out of mine too, but that's part of why I want to look into it."

[worthallthis]

They wrinkle their nose at her, but it's in good humor. "Yeah, okay, point taken. Still not something I enjoy, then. Maybe you can dumb it down for me if you find anything."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"I'll see what I can find." Raven replied dryly, even for her. "You've been settling in alright?"

[worthallthis]

"Yeah, it's okay." Soldat looks around the tiny cabin, and the good humor fades a little. Not a lot, but a little. "Gonna be harder to fill my time here. Can't cook or practice in the gym car all the time."

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"No, I understand." Raven said softly. "The Library is nice, and there is the games car, but it still can be hard."