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So, Bucky Barnes does not really like drinking. Even at his swanky job at Lux, if he gets the barman's comp drink, it's nursed all night until it's about as powerful as a Shirley Temple. And often as not, it *is* a Shirley Temple, or something like.
But there are situations that demand drinks….and what he's been through in the last two weeks definitely warrants it. Once out of SHIELD custody (with the understanding that he's basically on retainer while they deal with the 101 Bucky Puppies of Vietnam)….well, there's nothing to do but grab one of the few he does trust to be with him while he's blackly drunk. That would be Kai the elf….and they're working their way through a bottle of vodka, sitting at one end of the bar. Buck doesn't look happy to be free - he looks like a man who's trying to down his troubles by sheer volume.
*
The scent of whiskey and cigarettes is firmly imprinted upon Kwabena Odame's black skin; the negro has been here for at least two hours already. He's here to drown some feels, yes, but he's also here to keep those mutant, silver eyes out for one particular person. He's carrying that look; not quite a thousand yard stare, but the expression of a man who saw something he didn't exactly want to see.
*
Surely Sharon wasn't following him? Nope, just strange luck and a preference for the diviest of dive bars to continue the multi-day binge she's been on since the news about Vietnam came out. She really only sobered up to go visit Bucky in prison so, the fact that she's stumbling here after more than one somewhere else, is probably enough to prove she's not following him. She's not stumbling drunk, but she's probably only a level or two above that.
Tonight, it's not working clothes. It's not fancy clothes. It's comfortable, summer, hot f*cking night clothes. That means high waisted daisy dukes (also good things to hide a gun down the back of) and a loose cream tank top. Leather wedge sandals hug at her feet and she's all lanky, scarred limbs covered in lithe, dangerous muscle. She slips into the room and heads straight for the bar, barely checking the place out.
*
Harper doesn't take a lot of jobs. The process of building a reputation while also trying to stay under the radar of certain military programs is a delicate one. But it never hurts to network. And since her favorite bartender has been missing from Lux for some time now, she's come out to mingle with the other denizens of the dangerous waters. As is her habit, she's played fast and loose with her appearance, trading out dark hair for deep auburn curls and brown eyes for blue, sharpening her features more with skillfully-applied make-up than with illusions. Black capris and a cropped yellow shirt finish it all off.
*
Kai, for such a slight fellow, is putting away the vodka like it's water. He's made no attempt to conform to the concepts of highbrow style and class, but he's in all black, and that's like a uniform of sorts. Tactical beatnik. "Don't worry about anything, mate," he tells Bucky. "I'll carry you home, so you might as well get snockered." He tucks a cigarette into a sleek black cigarette holder and lights it, then he slides the pack across to Bucky. "Here," he says. "You're out. It's a start."
*
No argument from the Winter Soldier. "Thanks," he says, simply, as he takes a cigarette out of the pack, pats himself down for a lighter. And then there's Sharon, and he's unguarded enough to look genuinely startled. "Hey," he says to her, almost abruptly. "Sharon." Then he's waving her over. "Kai, this is Sharon. She's the niece of an old war buddy of mine, and a personal friend." The Brooklyn accent's strongly in evidence, and he's a bit flushed with drink already. Harper….even though Buck knows a little of her talents, he's not looking out for her, and thus doesn't spot her entrance. Then he actually looks down at the pack he was given, and says, "Damn, Kai. Pall Mall unfiltered? That's enough to make a man wanna quit."
*
As for attire, Kwabena doesn't often switch things up. Black tank top, plain grey pants, and a pair of beat up boots. He flashes a cigarette from a pack sitting on the bar, lights it with a beat up, charred zippo, then downs the glass of whiskey following the first drag. He's not exactly seated straight on; he's angled just so that he can keep an eye on the bar as a whole, watching it's comings and goings.
*
"…Shit… I'd say you're followin' me but… no one follows me. And you were here first. Hey, handsome." Sharon's husky voice drawls out casually, definitely a bit in her cups, but now that she recognizes someone here, her pale eyes flicker arond behind her to take in a few of the others. Apparently, she can't go and just disappear in shadows anywhere these days. She tries to shake off the last whiskey she had as she looks around the room, but it's dark and she's not a brick shit house when it comes to booze — just a whole lot of other things.
"…Here. I know the best way to kill ya…" She pulls her pack of Lucky Strikes out of her coat pocket and offers the crumpled thing in Bucky's direction, a knowing smile across plain, thin mouth. "…Kai? It's good to meet you. Sharon Carter." She then looks to the bartender, "…Jack, double, two rocks. And whatever they're getting. My tab."
*
A woman steps into a bar. Well, not just any woman, but than there really isn't anyone in this place save perhaps Bucky himself, with any shot at all of recognizing who she is. Standing at 5'7", the blue eyed blonde is wearing a fashionable beret, and a short casual white dress with a blue floral design. She might look a bit too fine for this establishment, potentially a tourist who was given the wrong address for a bar, possibly as a terrible prank. She looks a bit aghast when she sets foot inside, hesitating just past the threshold, as if uncertain if she should even walk inside. She does take a close look at the 'high class caliber' clientle as she ponders, clutching her purse tightly to her side.
*
Harper's steps pause as she catches sight of Bucky at the bar, brow rising. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," she drawls as she passes behind him, smirking a bit even as she heads to claim a seat at her own table. Sharon has met her, and was in the cell the other night. Better to give a little bit of space just now than to get caught. No matter how much she wants to know just what he's doing out.
*
Kai flashes Sharon a broad, dimpled grin. "What's shaking?" he asks, his jive at war with a Londoner accent. He flits a glance to Bucky, then. "Don't look a gift fag in the mouth, 'handsome.' These are a classic." The Lucky Strikes get a nod of approval. "I like this lady." His attention shifts to Harper, and he inclines his head amiably. "I'm that cat. Our boy needed a night out. I'm Kai, nice to meet you."
*
High caliber? Well, Bucky is very happy with 7.62 - the big .50s won't hit the market for a few decades. He accepts the packet of Luckies with almost feline satisfaction, taps one out and lights it. "Girl after my own heart," he says, nodding at her. "Paying for my drinks? Don't mind if you do," he says, after taking a deep drag." Then he's glancing over at Harper, and grinning, almost rakishly. "Hey, you. Don't you usually drink somewhere else, with nicer looking bartenders?" He's gotta be drunk already. The newcomer has him glancing over - with his luck, it'l lbe Steve. But no, this is a new face…..and someone who doesn't belong here, that's readily apparent. No recognition in the pale eyes. Kwabena…..well, the cabbie's face is one he's encountered before, even if things were a bit hectic at the time. So he gets a nod, too, but mostly he's looking at Kai….and he grins that absurd, bright grin. No bitterness this time. At least he isn't a mean drunk.
*
It seems clear to Kwabena that a handful of these patrons seem to know each other. Naturally, this draws attention, and it seems to be centered around Bucky. It's a face he doesn't recognize, but at the nod, Bucky receives a casual upnod in answer.
The African turns to rap on the bar, getting the tender's attention. "Anodah Bulleit," he requests, while cigarette smoke plumes around his head. It's not often he allows himself to be seen without sunglasses, but recently, he's found himself a bit more open about his mutant nature. Besides… why hide, when, in his mind, he's invincible?
Those gathered around Bucky draw his attention, from one to the other. The Widow receives a lift of his eyebrows; he'll have to keep an eye on her, not just for eye candy, but to make sure none of these scamps try to pull something on her.
*
The words from Kai are enough to get a wry smile from Sharon and a lift of her whiskey glass in turn towards him, once the bartender has her drink set down proper in front of her, "Feelin' is mutual. After the shit he's been through, anyone deserves a night out. Good to meet you, Kai… And Buck, I'm glad to see you've got one friend who can appreciate a night of drinking and cursing, at least." Sharon sinks back into her barstool, long, bare legs crossing right over left. She looks more like a *woman* in this outfit than the fancy get up from Lux, or perhaps she just looks far more comfortable and made for summer.
Then Harper is noticed, and the other blonde who has come a bit uncomfortable close to their personal space bubble at the bar. She nods to Harper…"…you…from the bar, right?" She vaguely remembers that, but there is something else pinging at the back of her mind. She's just too damn tipsy to catch onto it right now.
*
The uncomfortable blonde, having made her quick survey of the place, seems to gravitate towards Bucky's company for one simple reason. Harper and Sharon, two women who look nice and not like most of the low lives around, make for a perceived safer area. Nevermind the fact she knows precisely who Sharon, and more importantly, Bucky are. Edging a little closer, she asks somewhat timidly, her accent placing her as potentially from the UK. "I do beg your pardon…but would you terribly mind if I stick closer to you lot? I seem to have found myself in the wrong part of town…"
*
"I'm from a lot of bars, sugar," Harper laughs to Sharon, letting the New Orleans accent slip deeper into her voice. Her hair and eyes are different than they were at Lux, though the bone structure is the same beneath the makeup. She drops down into a chair at a nearby table, smile easy as she nods to Kai. "Nice to meet you, Kai. I'm Lux." At least that's the name she uses here. It's easier to use at the bar that isn't called Lux, after all.
*
"I'm as fun as I am obscene," Kai says agreeably. Then he nudges the vodka bottle toward Bucky. "Here we go, drink your dinner. His quick eyes spot the strange blonde, and he flashes her a warm smile, too. Kwabena gets an upnod. The eyes, very cool. "Lux," he says. "Nice. I'm not classy enough for the place called Lux, but you seem like you know how to let your hair down and have a good time." To the uncomfortable blonde, he says, "Come have a drink with us. I'm Kai, this is Bu—lucky Jack, this is Sharon, and Lux."
*
He lifts his right hand in affable greeting. "One drink," he urges the new blonde. "And then we'll call you a cab, if you like." She's likely never seen him like this, Natasha. Whoever's in the driver's seat behind those blue eyes, it's not Winter. "Lux, huh?" he teases Harper, tone mock-skeptical, but he leaves it at that. To Sharon, he says, "Kai's one of my best friends." How many does he have, in this day and age? Steve? Sharon? Rogue….
*
That makes two nods. Kwabena eyes Kai for a moment, non responsive at first, but then he looks back to the bartender with a motion of his cigarette. Another bill comes out, this one similarly marked as his last one, with the word 'CARL' in black ink. It's tossed forward, and with his thickly accented voice, he provides instructions. "One round, fah dose peopah ovah dere."
The bartender eyes Kwabena darkly, at seeing what's written on that bill. The two seem to exchange a silent dialogue, before the bartender nods and gets to pouring drinks for those folks drinking with Bucky and Kai.
*
Then, sadly, someone who doesn't belong in a place like this at all comes in. They practically scream cop, but are in plain clothes, so half the bar goes silent and half looks like they are ready to kill the man. However, he doesn't seem to care about anyone except for the tipsy blonde at the bar. Marching up towards the group, the stiff man gives everyone a look over before grunting out. "Carter, gotta report back. Now. Close up, get out of here, clean up. This is not a request." They *tracked her down here*, which is probably not a good sign at all. Sharon curses rather vividly beneath her breath.
But, with a low groan, she does pull herself out of her barstool. She grans a ten spot from her wallet and tosses it down on the bar, "For the drinks… thanks…" Then back to the new and old friends. "…Sorry. Work. Just when it was lookin' to be a good night. You kids play safe, okay?" She teases that with a wink in Bucky's direction, because she knows he's no kid, and then she's headed out the door with the stuffed shirt.
*
Harper watches Sharon escorted out, head tilting, before she looks back to Bucky with a smirk. "Hey, there are things I like to keep to myself sometimes, you know. Some people disappear for a week or two, some people just like to go by another name. Better in this line of work," she adds with a tip of her head toward the rest of the bar. Natasha is out of place enough that Harper gives her a long look, but she assumes that, like Sharon, things will out themselves given time.
*
The hesitant blonde seems to cheer up considerably, flashing back warm smiles as she gets them, her lipstick a radiant red, "pleased to meet you, Kai, Bucky, Sharon and Lux…" she twirls her fingers in greeting, before introducing herself, "I'm Lesley, not quite from around, as I'm sure you've gathered…I do thank you profusely for letting me join you! This place seems a bit…erm…on the rough side?"
Then the very officious and quite likely law enforcement type come to fetch Sharon, and once again Lesley looks taken back, "my…is it customary for people to just snatch other people out of a bar like this? I hope you're not in trouble Sharon!" Lesley calls after her with concern.
*
Kai waves a cheery so-long to Sharon, then looks down the bar at Kwabena and the bartender with keen interest. What do his elf eyes see? Many drinks being poured in front of one person. He perks up a little, ever hopeful. "You'd be surprised what can happen in bars like these," he murmurs, half-distracted. He takes a puff from his elegant cigarette holder that's completely at odds with the lung-scalder brand he smokes. He angles the thing so the smoke trails away from the others around him. With a grin, he adds, "I wouldn't be worried. Sharon looks like the kind of woman who can handle trouble."
*
Aforementioned bartender excuses himself from his duties, long enough to bring a collection of drinks over toward the table housing Kai and Bucky. He sets the drinks down one after the other; if asked, he'll simply nod his head toward the negro with a cigarette and silver eyes at the bar.
Truthfully, Kwabena didn't come here to make friends. This has nothing to do with why he bought drinks for that table. That… remains a secret to him, and, likely, to the man named 'Carl' who has his name scrawled across every bill in the mutant cabbie's billfold.
*
"Demanding work," Bucky says, neutrally, even though his eyes are feverishly bright. "Pleased to meet you, Lesley, I'm Jack," he adds, putting out his right hand to her, the one ungloved. "Yeah, you find new friends," Bucky teases. Is this where he met Kai? Surely not. Then he's glancing over at Kwabena , as the bartender offers his explanation. "You're welcome to come and drink with us," he tells the silver-eyed man, motioning for Kwabena to come down the bar to them, if he prefers. "Sharon's tough, she'll be fine," he adds, over his shoulder. Harper…..she gets a wink. He gets it.
*
Harper isn't sitting alone for long. Before a drink can even arrive, there's a nervous-looking man in a suit who comes up to her table, and in short order, that's what has her attention. Anyone listening in may overhear that there have been threats against the man's business, and he's just looking for a way to make them go away.
*
Inclinging her head towards Kai, Lesley murmurs in confusion towards Bucky, "Jack? Didn't Kai over there just introduce you as Bucky? Is that a nickname? Or a last name?" Lesley asks curiously, ever so casually moving to take over the seat next to Bucky, that was previously occupied by Sharon, "you don't mind if I join you, do you?" So perhaps Bucky does have some of that famous, infamous, or not at all ever discussed charm. Lesley sure seems attracted to him at first sight. "I wish I was tough…must be nice feeling safe all the time." Looking like a person who just set foot in a bar for the very first time, she asks Bucky, "I'd like to drink with you, is there any drink that's good to try?"
*
When beckoned, Kwabena turns his eyes toward that table. He shakes his head and lifts the cigarette in something that might resemble a salute. "Anodah time," he tells them. Cryptic, to be sure; the negro downs his whiskey and pushes off, heading for the door. He's clearly an experienced drinker, for there isn't a stagger in his step as he makes for the door.
*
"Did I?" Kai says. "I must have meant lucky. As in lucky with the ladies." He chucks Bucky on the arm and says, "Look at those big blue eyes? Who wouldn't love a mug like that?" Yeah, he's not the best liar, but he plays it off light. Then Harper takes her leave and booze comes down their way, and he perks up. "Boozy treats," he says. Kwabena gets a wave. "Thanks, mate!"
*
Not the smoothest save, but Bucky simply says, after a long drag, "What he said. First name is John, but I go by Jack. Last name's Frost." The name of the false ID he was sent here with, as the Widow might well know. Has he gone so far into cover he's forgotten who he is? He lifts his glass in farewell to the departing Kwabena, before saying to Lesley, "No, plenty of room. And….I dunno what your tastes are. I tend to drink jack and coke, when I'm not drinking vodka."
*
"So you take after the late President Kennedy?" Lesley asks Bucky after Kai's correction, "lucky with the ladies, Jack, did you happen to have an affair with Marilyn Monroe as well?" Small talk, think nothing of it, but Lesley is certainly taken with this lucky ladies man, she's studying his features so closely. He could likely get away with a lot that others in this place wouldn't. "You're a handsome fellow, lucky Jack." Seeing how Bucky does go as far as delivering a hint, which may or may not be incidental, Natasha decides to try a similar play, asking ever so casually, "do you like the ballet, Jack?" Because the two have never been on dozens of operations under the very cover of prima ballerina and her agent.
*
"I hope he doesn't take after him too much," Kai says, sensitive soul that he is. He takes another puff off his cigarette, eyes dancing with mirth as he glances between Bucky and Lesley. "Not one of your ladyfriends has even given me a second glance, you dog." He ribs Bucky, then repours his drink.
*
That makes him raise a brow. "Pfffft, no,' he says, ruefully. "Not lucky on that front. That nickname's more ironic than anything else. Not me. And thank you," The question makes him eye her a moment, more uncertain. "Can't say I have an opinion on it," he says, more slowly. "I think I may've been once…." Then he's turning that grin on Kai. "They're not *mine*," he says, amused. "It's all for show, Kai. YOu know I go home alone every night."
*
"I wish we didn't have the cold war," Lesley remarks with some remorse, "I love ballet and would dearly love to be able to witness a Bolshoi performance, they're quite famous, aren't they?" Another tracer left for a reaction, quite a few jobs within the Mother land were done in the famous Bolshoi theatre itself. But than as much as games of clues are fun, this is not the setting to learn more, certainly not with Kai around. Still, if Natasha had to make a wager, she'd say she's much closer to Winter Soldier's track than she was a week ago. "If you'll excuse me…I've noticed some rather leery stares my way….I don't feel quite so comfortable in here. We should meet again in a more civillized locale…I'm on vacation here in New York, so we should have some chances, right?" Lesley blows Jack a kiss and a wink, while offering Kai a twirling of fingers, "ta ta," she says and heads towards the exit.
*
Kai lifts his free drink to Lesley and says, "A pleasure, mon amie." He's been pounding down the booze all evening and doesn't seem the least bit drunk. Tipsy maybe? Or maybe that's just his personality. To Bucky, he says, "But it's nice to know you wouldn't have to," he says. "Never cared much for going home alone, myself."
*
"Do you want us to walk with you until we can get you a cab?" Bucky asks. Ah, chivalry. He gives Kai a look, all deadpan amusement. "Or I can do it," he offers to the elf. Something must've sunk in.
*
Kai shakes his head. "And that is why Jack gets the ladies," he says. "But that's all right, because Kai is screamingly homosexual." He stabs out his cigarette, exhaling a last plume of smoke. "She was into you, mate. Totally groovy chick giving you the eye and you don't even notice."
*
"No, she wasn't," Bucky says, and all the boozy good cheer is gone. "Not like you think. I bet you dollars to doughnuts she was a Soviet agent. Those comments about the Bolshoi….cultural exchange stuff is almost always a pretext for movement in espionage." And he's back to being haunted again, by that pale confused reflection confined in SHIELD's basements.
*
Kai's brows lift and he glances off the way Lesley came. "Well, that shop's closed so she'll just have to move on," he says. He frowns, but then says, "The other two seemed to like you, though." Trying to reel his friend back from the haunting. "I'm not used to being invisible, you know. I would say come to my part of town and see what it's like, but the boys would fancy you too."
*
Bucky's lips have thinned out again. "I knew they'd come," he says, with a kind of resignation. "I signed on with that new employer just in time. 's why I did it." Then he blinks at Kai. "Sharon's almost family - Peggy and I, we go way back. And….the other one just enjoys teasing me. She shows up at the bar I work at, now and again." Is he really that oblivious? "And you think so?"
*
Kai regards Bucky blandly. "Okay, you," he says. He pats Bucky's hand. "And I know so. A sweet face like yours? Those big blue eyes? And you're stacked. I'd be fending them off you with a stick. Don't chance your ways and go for men, man. We're pigs."
*
"I know, I am one," he says, wryly. "I remember how it used to be." …..used to? Surely he hasn't…."Well, I guess so. Though I was so sure you picked me up out of kindness…." Now he's teasing Kai.
*
Kai grins wickedly. "You're on to me, Frost. It was all about that pretty face." He shoulder-nudges Bucky. "Don't undersell how sad and bedraggled you looked, though. I picked you up because I took one look and thought someone has to take care of that boy or he won't make it through the week."
*
"You know what's funny?" Bucky says, as he drops the smoldering end of the cigarette into the ashtray….trying for humor, even as his eyes go sad. "Now I know exactly what you mean. It was crazy. I'd always wondered why that seemed to happen to me, that people would just immediately jump to pity….and now I know. It happened to me today."
*
Kai shakes his head and says, "Don't mistake compassion for pity." He finishes off his drink, then finishes off his other drink. "I didn't pity you. I felt for you. I thought about all those times I was in a bad place, and what it would've meant if someone had been there, you dig me, man? It's not the same thing as just feeling bad for you."
*
Bucky looks for a moment as if he's inclined to argue….and then he subsides, nodding. "I get it," he says, quietly. "It is different. But….yeah. I…this kid. It's like he's had all the bad parts of my life, with none of the good. Even if they'd erased me completely, James Barnes existed. People loved him. He had a family. What does he have? He's got no memory of light…and you'd think ignorance would make it easier, but it didn't. And…the other guy was trying to play bad cop, to get a response, I know. Not for cruelty's sake, but I just wanted to jump in, anyhow. IT's like when Steve was a stupid fucking kid and he'd just go gunning for a fight, even though he weighed like seventy pounds. If I'd been smart, I'd'a stayed out of it, but I never could, even when the odds were so bad. I couldn't deal with seeing him hurt. Not ever."
*
"That's what makes you one of the good ones," Kai says. "You can't deal with seeing him hurt, not Steve, not this kid. You should connect with him now that you're out, by the way. We hung out at Saganaki last night, but it would've been even better with you there. Let him know you're out, okay?" He stretches, then slides off his bar stool. "We should be heading back, my inebriated friend. I'll make you a bacon sandwich."