voidtreckerexpress | Event: Abort! Part Two (day 25, Egret). Luggage carriage

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Event: Abort! Part Two (day 25, Egret). Luggage carriage

They are on world world#27462947582 for about five hours, helping, ushering people out of the city, fighting monsters, keeping guard. All seems well in the city itself, peaceful even except for the slight panic of people being told to move south.

Wherever they are, north in the desert, travelling through the countryside to the south or still in the city itself they will notice from their peripheral vision a darkening of the sky. Looking up they will see clouds. Strange clouds, appearing in the blue sky out of nowhere.

Their SCA’s start beeping, rapidly, flashing red. The clouds are too weird to be clouds, dark shapes in the sky. It might be that the Voidtreckers heed the warning and tap their SCA to evacuate to the train. It might be that they do not.

If they don’t then there is a moment, a moment of absolute stillness as those around them notice the shapes. A confused pause. Children stop their chatter, people stop their complaining, even the monsters seem to sense something and pause in their attacks.

The remaining voidtreckers are yanked away, even without pressing their SCA, they glow gold and disappear.

They all appear in the luggage carriage and not even a second later, with no warning the train lurches, flinging everyone off their feet as it enters the void.

It’s not really easy to tell speed in the void, but they will get the sense that they are moving fast. Faster than before, leaving that world and whatever those shapes were behind.

(OOC: Information on this event is here and part one is here)

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At least the memories of his own past are shoved back a little as he listens to Bucky's story and tries to imagine all that instead, using the parts of it he did get to see in that dream as a basis - but that might be a worse momentary replacement. Inigo can't feel anything but horror at just how much they did to Bucky.

And even moreso since Bucky was still so Bucky throughout it. Trying to resist even when the odds were so clearly stacked against him. Still wanting to do good and not hurt people, even when he was at his worst. They still tried so hard to mold him into something else, even when it sounds like he was trying so hard to cling onto those last parts of himself.

He can't stop the tears that already started when he was talking earlier. His heart aches for the man holding him. So Inigo sniffs as Bucky reaches that apology at the end.

"You don't have anything to apologize to me for." Even that dream had been something Bucky couldn't have helped, and honestly, Inigo is kind of glad he was at least able to comfort Bucky back there in the end. "And.. it's okay to be scared. After all you've been through? Anyone would be scared."

Inigo feels like he would have been a lot worse off if it had been him in Bucky's shoes. He's sure of it.

"Even if you had to endure all of that, and even if you're scared.. You still smile. And you joke. And you're so nice to everyone here. You're doubly amazing for still being an amazing person even after all that."

He reaches up, rubbing his sleeve against his eyes. "I'm scared of tons of things too, you know..? Even though there's no fighting on the train itself, and there's definitely no Risen, I'm still terrified of other things. Like waking up one day and finding out everyone I know is gone. Or that people might find out more about me and judge me for it. Rightfully so, since I've just.. turned out awful." Inigo laughs hollowly. "I wish I could've ended up more like you."

He holds Inigo against his side, smiling sadly as he listened, even shaking his head a little at parts but when Inigo finishes, Bucky can't help the quiet laugh that comes out. "God, you've got no idea what you're really like, do you?" he says warmly. "Inigo!" It comes out on an exasperated sigh.

"Inigo," softer this time, more serious. "Everything you just said about me could easily have been me talking about you. Why do you think I call you my brother?" He gives his head a shake. "It's not just about being close to you, being your friend. It's because I see the parts of myself that I want to have more of, whenever I look at you. You're strong, bold, brave, and you always go out of your way to make people feel better. Whenever I stand next to you, I feel like a better man than I was before, and that together we're stronger, able to stand up to whatever this train pits us against. Even when it's our own fears or insecurities."

He let go of Inigo, long enough to peel off his shirt, letting the younger man get a look at where his metal shoulder disappeared into his chest, thick ugly scars covering the edges. "Who else could look at this and see anything but a monster?" He sighed, looking down at the metal, the scars. Immediately, he was overcome with the urge to put his shirt back on, to hide his mangled chest and back, but he made himself keep it off. "You remind me that I'm human. So if you need me to, I'll remind you of the same thing, any time."

Inigo looks a bit like a mess when he listens to Bucky speak. There's the remainder of the tears from a moment ago still making his eyes watery, and then on top of that he's starting to definitely look flustered at what Bucky is saying. The compliments feel more believable especially since they're coming from him, but that's what makes them more overwhelming at the same time.

Thankfully he can stop focusing on them for a moment once the other's shirt comes off. Inigo can't help but stare at the point where metal meets flesh - a lot of strange things may be common where he comes from, but metal prosthetics sure aren't one of them. It's new. And a little strange.

But not monstrous. It's Bucky. Nothing about him could ever be monstrous to Inigo.

He slowly reaches out, putting his hand on the scars, fingertips grazing the metal next to it. For a moment he's quiet, but then he adds with a still slightly watery smile: "I mean.. I might be biased, but this sure still feels human to me."

Still.. he gets it. He really does. He pulls his hand back. "But.. you know. I guess I have to keep things fair." If Bucky is going to be this vulnerable in front of him, the least he can do is do the same in turn. Even though Inigo can feel his hands shaking as he reaches for the bottom of the dumb tunic he's still wearing. But he tries to pull himself together the best he can, just long enough for him to be able to pull the shirt up over his head and then off. Underneath the skin is littered with scars - old battle scars of all shapes and sizes, some looking like a halfassed attempt was made to patch them up. A few parallel ones run all the way from his shoulder down his torso, like a near inhuman claw struck there.

"I haven't even shown this to my sister," he manages to force out in a quiet voice. "I couldn't afford to show anyone my pain back home. Or fear. Or insecurities. Even here I have trouble with it. But I-- I trust you enough to show you."

Bucky lets out a little laugh, reaching his flesh hand up to rap a knuckle against his metal shoulder. "Yeah, totally human," he teases, but he knows what Inigo means, and as much as he thinks of himself as a monster, he knows it's just his own fears and anger talking.

When Inigo removes his shirt, Bucky's stomach ties itself up in knots. He's certainly seen wounds from battle before, but the sheer number of them is enough to have his eyes burning again. Inigo is so young, but he's already been through so much. He knew it, but seeing the proof is a whole different beast.

"Thank you," he says softly when he's sure his voice won't crack. "And I'm sorry that you went through all that, that your world put you in that position," he shook his head gently. "War, no matter what kind or why it's being waged, is a hell of a beast. The only good thing is knowing the soldier standing next to you has your back," and he offered Inigo his hand with a weak smile. "Till the end of the line?"

It's another one of those good things about Bucky - or at least good in the sense that it makes him able to understand everything so well. Even before all of the awful, awful things that came after it, Bucky understands what it's like to be a soldier. What it's like to just keep fighting, not knowing whether or not you'll make it home at the end of it all. Not knowing whether the people alongside you will make it as well. Despite the number of people here who have experience with fighting, there don't seem to be a whole lot who understand that very specific experience.

But Bucky does. It's like he can understand anything, and it's so weird and new for Inigo for someone to see to his core as thoroughly as Bucky does that he has to duck his head for a moment as he listens to the older man speak. It's so overwhelming. But in a good way, he thinks.

And of course Inigo grabs the hand the moment it's offered to him. He doesn't even have to think about it. Bucky could offer it to him under any circumstances and he'd be there to grab it. That's what brothers do.

"Till the end of the line," he repeats. And smiles too. It's very vulnerable, but also very genuine. "I will always be there for you."

That gets a little grin, and Bucky has to look away to stop the tears from welling up in his eyes again. "Same here," he agreed quietly, looking down at his chest and the scars again. "Y'know, till the end of the line is a train reference," he muses quietly. "But falling off a train is how I ended up with this arm in the first place," he lifts the metal hand, looking at the way it catches the light. "I'm glad it's a whole lot harder to fall out of this one." He's trying to lighten the mood a little, after all the tears and the heavy conversation. To make things a little more normal even though they both have all their scars on display.

"But on the subject of unusual body modifications," he thinks he's clever for that, he does. "How'd you get the fancy eye?"

It's definitely a reference Inigo wouldn't understand, so it's actually a good thing that Bucky mentions it. The attempt at lightening the mood slightly makes the edges of Inigo's lips curl up. "Even if you could fall out of this one, I wouldn't let that happen." He says it lightly too, casually, like he's just going along with some private joke between the two of them, but Inigo also fully means it. It might be a dumb sentiment, since Bucky certainly is much stronger than him, but.. if he can help it, Inigo isn't going to let anything happen to him.

Although then there's the question about his eye. It seems to catch him off guard, making him look surprised and then shy in rather quick succession. No one else has asked about it on this train, and it's so easy to forget it's even there when you can't exactly see your own eyes.

"Ah, that's.. It's not really a modification.." Not in the way Bucky's arm was, anyway, if he's learned anything from what the other has told him about it. It's not like they took Inigo's eye out only to replace it with this one. His hand rises up to briefly cover the eye before moving away again. "That mark is the Brand of the Exalt. It's a reminder of the ancient pact the royal family of Ylisse has with the Divine Dragon. Though it's not necessarily present from birth, it appears somewhere on the body of every member of the royal family over time. My sister has it in her other eye."

Yes, there sure is An Implication in what he's saying, isn't there. Even though Inigo seems to choose not to voice the obvious.

He huffs out a chuckle at Inigo's promise, grinning a little as he replies. "Well, as long as you promise to go look for me if I do fall off, even if it seems like there's no way anyone could survive..." He says it lightly, but the grin doesn't quite reach his eyes.

The explanation about Inigo's eye gets the warmth back in his eyes as he laughs, though. "Oh, is that all? You're just a literal prince but it's no big deal." He believes Inigo, of course, and it makes sense to him that a prince might want to keep that detail to himself in a place like this but the reluctance, the beating around the bush before putting it out there, is entirely too cute.

"You realize I'm gonna have to start calling you Your Majesty now, right?" he teases.

"Bucky!"

Does Inigo realise Bucky is just teasing him? Probably.. But that also means he could definitely tease Inigo in the future by actually calling him that at some point! And apparently the very thought of that by itself is enough to get Inigo all comically worked up.

"Bucky. Bucky. Bucky." His intonation changes every time he says the name, growing from sceptical to pleading. "You're not actually going to do that, are you? You can't do that! I promise I will always go look for you whenever I can't find you, no matter what, as long as you don't actually call me that!"

He laughs, all the way from his toes, as Inigo repeats his name. "I promise not to do it in front of anyone else?" he replies helpfully, his grin wide as can be as he looks at his younger friend. "But you can't expect me not to tease you a little. What kind of friend would I be if I just did nothing with this information?"

That's absolutely not helpful to Inigo at all!

"The kind of friend who respects the last shreds of dignity I have," he says, almost kind of dryly. Because Inigo is already starting to suspect this is just a fate he's not easily going to escape from.

But while that part is going along with the teasing and the jokes Bucky is making - though very reluctantly! - Inigo seems to turn a tad more serious as he speaks on.

"I mean, there is a reason why I don't tell anyone that in this place. I don't want anyone treating me strangely, or thinking of me differently than they would have otherwise."

"Dignity?" Bucky parrots. "Never heard of it," his grin is wide and warm, but when Inigo's tone turns serious, he shakes his head a little.

"I figured as much. I promise not to go around telling everyone, but you can't hold a little teasing in private against me, can you? Besides, I was an assassin, remember?" His grin widens a little. "I could be your humble and loyal servant in all things murder." He knows Inigo would never ask him to do such a thing -- or that if he did, there would be plenty of good reason for doing so.

Inigo isn't too sure how to feel about that joke, since he sure doesn't like thinking of Bucky that way. On the other hand, maybe it's for the better that he can make jokes about that at this point instead of only feeling crappy about it.

So he lets out a small, half-amused sigh, before gently letting himself drop sideways enough to rest his head against Bucky's shoulder.

"I guess I can't hold that against you, yes. Though I'd prefer having a big brother to having a personal assassin." Then again, Bucky is fulfilling that big brother role perfectly exactly because of the teasing, isn't he.

Edited 2020-08-06 20:53 (UTC)

Bucky grins, giving Inigo a gentle squeeze and rubbing a hand up and down the younger man's opposite arm. "Well, if your Highness insists," he replies with a chuckle that almost turns into a full laugh. "You know, I didn't realize princes were ever that close to the front lines anymore. Usually they're in cushy little offices directing troops without risking a hair out of place," even if it's the cultural norm where Inigo is from, Bucky is still at least a little bit impressed. It takes a lot of courage to run towards a fight, especially when you've been badly hurt in one before. He knows that on a very personal level.

"Some do that," Inigo admits. Okay, sure, they're not exactly offices back in Inigo's time, but he gets the general gist of what Bucky is trying to say here. Inigo has heard of plenty of kings who left pretty much all of the fighting over to the soldiers, never bothering to head out to the battlefield themselves.

Even the thought of that doesn't feel right. Especially when Inigo thinks that those soldiers out on the field - they're like Bucky. They have their own hopes and dreams and future.. if they're putting all of that on the line, then the guys up top ought to do the same.

"But that just never felt right to me. I mean.. there were people out there struggling to survive every day. It wouldn't be right for me to do any less than them."

Bucky huffs out a little laugh, smiling at his little brother with a shake of his head. "No, I don't imagine it would've. You've got too much heart for that. But prince or not, it's still important to look after yourself, too. If people can rely on you, then you can rely on them." He knows, very personally, just how hard that advice is to take, but he can't help himself from offering it.

"And you can rely on me to make lunch, because I'm starved. Get your shirt back on and we can head down to the dining car." They've shared a lot, and it's starting to feel a little weird, so he's just trying to inject some normalcy back into their day. With an abrupt change of subject, and a noisy growl from his stomach.

It's advice that Inigo is notoriously bad at following.

But.. somehow when it's Bucky of all people saying it.. he can tell himself to at least try a little bit to hold himself to it. To try and reach out. Maybe not to everyone, but at least to Bucky, who now knows pretty much everything about him.

He wants to try relying on him a bit, if he can.

"Bucky-made lunch?" He smiles, easily going along with the lighter subject. He moves to pick up his shirt and put it on again. "You're spoiling me."

Hey, he likes Bucky's food. It's why he endures the cooking lessons he gets dragged into every now and then!

"Let's do it."

Bucky is very reliable, so long as no one is mind-controlling him. At which point he's really not very reliable to anyone because all it takes is a good whack on the noggin for him to snap out of it. But the point is that he's more than happy to have Inigo relying on him.

"Well, you're family," Bucky replies as he pulls his shirt back on, too. "It's my job to both spoil you and tease you endlessly," he flashes a grin and gets up, opening the door for him and gesturing with far more of a flourish than usual. "But you're gonna have to help me decide what to make for lunch, because right now all I'm thinking up is sandwiches." And sandwiches are boring.

Inigo walks through the door, though the moment he's gone through it, he turns around so he can make sure to smile at Bucky.

"I'm sure we can think something up once we find out ingredients await us." Inigo reaches out, grabbing Bucky's flesh hand to hold it with his own without hesitation. A moment later he's already impatiently tugging him along. "Come on, let's go, let's go!"

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Event: Abort! Part Two (day 25, Egret). Luggage carriage

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sounds like a good place to wrap this one? c: