1964-08-21 - Beach Bucky
Summary: A day at the beach, and Bucky can't keep the women off him.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
tanya bruce coulson loki harper amora kai bucky 


Kai has dragged Loki and Bucky to the beach. Summer will be over soon, and he hasn't gotten to swim more than half a dozen times! He's in swim shorts, which leave his torso bare, so his strange tattoos are visible. On his back, there's a dark silhouette of a stylized ash tree. Around his shoulders there's what looks like silver netting etched into his skin, shimmering in the sun. He's knee deep in the water, regarding Loki and Bucky like a dog with its hackles up. Oh, someone's going to get splashed. Speaking of dogs, there's an ugly little creature that nominally qualifies standing on the shore looking forlorn because Kai is out of reach.


He wasn't up for going to Coney Island again, so soon. But it's been a long while since Bucky just went to the beach. So here he is with the elf and the Prince of Asgard - he's wearing a loose white linen shirt, still down to his wrists, that black leather glove, old jeans. But as a concession to the warmth of the sand and the temptation to at least go wading in the water, he's got his boots off and has set them aside, along with the towels they brought. His hair's untied, for once, loose past his shoulders, and he's laughing at poor Kevin the dog and his pitiful expression.


Well, Amora was bored. What did the goddess of desire do when bored? She trailed around after her favorite forms of entertainment. The Princes of Asgard. Seeing as Thor didn't look as if he was up to anything interesting.. Amora choose Loki. That was always promising. She materialized in a poof of green smoke that glittered with sunlight and smelled strongly of strawberries.

It was a miracle that she'd donned a swimsuit, if one could call it that on the buxom blonde, a strappy green thing that left little to the imagination. She came up behind Kai in the water, throwing her arms around him with a gleeful shout. "Kai! Daaarling! Tell me you've missed me!" Did she just kill Kai's ability to splash people? Possibly.


For a man in his forties, Phil Coulson has an impressive physique! It's not often he's seen with anything less than a suit and tie on, and usually, that suit and tie is replaced by a SHIELD Field uniform. Not today. Today, he's wearing a pair of classy, tight-fitting Italian swim trunks, a pair of sunglasses, and nothing else. He's had his time in the water, and is currently lounging upon an oversized beach towel, with a transistor radio nearby that is squawking the evening news. Sitting dug into the sand next to him is a fancy drink with two umbrellas and a few pineapple chunks skewered upon a wooden stick.

He's not here keeping an eye on Bucky. Nope, not at all. He's officially off the clock.

(Of course he's keeping an eye on Bucky.)


Sometimes you just need to clear your head. And while the city is a great place to lie low and avoid searching eyes, the press of people can be its own threat. So this morning, Harper took the train out to the beach, and now that the day is ending, she's jogging through the sand, exercising out whatever thoughts may have been plaguing her. For once there's no shimmer of magic or changed appearance about her - dark eyes and hair, with nothing to hide the thin sheen of sweat over her features. Although the fact that it comes from distance rather than true exertion isn't immediately notable. Going for a true run in public when you can go at Olympic speeds is unwise when you don't want to draw attention, after all.


Loki holds the leash of the dog, moving along and wearing a snug shirt, and full-length pants. He has a towel over each shoulder, watching with some bemusement as he picks out a spot on the beach to drop their things. "I had no idea that you Midgardians do not swim in the nude. So strange..to not be /free/ in the water, and on the sand." He lids his eyes at Bucky. "So…are you not going in?" he asks elegantly. "Will you rust in the water?" He chuckles. "Just hold Kevin and all this stuff." FWOP, WOP, jingle. He dumps all his belonging off on Bucky if the assassin will let him. Then he pulls his shirt over his head. Bare chest…totally not tan at all. He's whiter than Coulson. "Be with you soon, Kai!"


A little farther down the beach a man is sitting cross-legged on the beach, staring out into the water as if he is meditating. Bruce tries not to look, but the splashing and loud noise makes him look. He rather expected it wouldn't be totally quiet. It is a beach after all. He smiles a little and looks back at the water again, reaching for a bottle of water. This is nice. Close enough to other people that he almost feels like part of society, but not close enough to hurt anyone. His eyes follow Harper for a while as she runs along the beach.


The waitress at her latest pie haunt mentioned the place. With Roy off doing something involving archery and dare-doing, it leaves Tanya with a free day to herself — and she decides to check the place out.

"Jones Beach." A beat and she grins, tilting down her sunglasses to take in an unshaded view of the long expanse of white sand. "Huh. I like it." She's brought a towel, wrapped about her waist, and it's a daringly-low cut shirt for her…well, more a women's button-down shirt tied up about her chest to reveal the dancer's physique. No shame here, none. Flats to match the top. She minces her way down from the boardwalk to one of the logs lying strewn far up the tide line and settles down to simply people-watch. That's always entertaining. People cavort in the water, reveal all shades of skin and musculature, and indulge in whatever pursuits they wish involving beach-time.

Wait a second. Is that a black glove? …it is. Tanya can't help the somewhat toothy smile. Still…she chooses to watch, marking the interactions of those nearest to said glove-wearer and gathering relevant details. How weird. That blonde chick appeared to show from nowhere. Hmm, must be a play of the light. No such thing as magic, after all.


Kai starts and lets out a yelp that carries down the beach as Amora comes up behind him. He flails, then relaxes once he realizes who it is. "Lady Amora," he says with a laugh, "You startled me." No, really? He eyes Loki, his prey. Only now he's in no position to do the splashing. "Jack," he says to Bucky, "Will you take Kevin off Serrure's hands? I need to talk to him for a minute." Water ripples around him. He doesn't need hands to move water.


There's Amora, out of nowhere. Bucky's blinking at her, in utter bemusement. And that bikini. To Loki, he says, drily, voice low, "No, it's waterproof. But I'll have cops all over me if I show that thing off. I need to have someone make a cover for it." And then he's accepting both Kevin's leash and all their gear, moving back to their towels and folding down to sit cross-legged on it. God only knows the last time those ankles saw the sun - he's as pale as Loki, it seems. "Sure, Kai," he adds. Coulson gets a wry look and a faint upnod. Could be worse. There could be more babysitters.


Of course, his eyes are on Bucky and company, but it's difficult to tell, given the dark shade of Coulson's sunglasses. He laughs quietly to himself and reaches for the fancy drink, taking a nice, long, slow sip of it, before crossing one foot over the other and leaning back against arms crossed behind his head. However, before he can really hit pay dirt in the relaxation department, something odd happens. Amora appears. He tilts his head up once more, one eyebrow cocking upward beneath his sunglasses.


Amora flashed Loki a grin over Kai's shoulder. "I know darling, I had to learn that after a while down here. Tis terribly conservative of them." She let go of Kai and reached up to snap the elastic of her own halter topped swim suit. "They're so utterly pointless." She glanced toward Bucky as the man spoke and she blew him a kiss and winked in his direction.

"Oh darling, you simply must come in. The water is delightfully cool." She wiggled her fingers in a beckoning motion. "And you know I can help you with your.. cosmetic issues." She grinned suggestively.


It seems like there aren't any real quiet places in the vicinity of New York. Harper slows to a jog, then a walk as she recognizes Bucky in particular, but there's some familiarity in both Kai and Coulson as well. Thankfully, Bucky's the only one who's seen this face. Her path takes her right by Bruce as she raises a hand to the beach-goers.


Tanya is not the only person watching the others now. Bruce pulls on a white tshirt. Not that he will burn. He starts to observe the others in an unobtrusive way, he hopes. It's an odd mix of people. No one he has ever seen before. He would remember them.


"Damn, woman," Tanya mutters to herself, looking Amora over and filing the blonde away as some very serious competition. There's no missing that flirtation towards the man she knows as the Winter Soldier and the brunette leans some of her weight back on her palms. It's like her own personal soap opera! A glance towards Bruce and to Harper, both marked as present and civilians.

Coulson, with his fancy drink, is also noted and something twigs to her about him. Maybe it's the air of watchfulness about him in turn. Maybe the sunglasses? She tucks her chin slightly to better watch the unfoldings before her overtop her own shades.


Amora's assertion has Bucky's eyes going wide, and wary. "…..really?" he asks, coming a little closer to the water's edge, Kevin's leash loose in his hand. The dog looks pleadingly up at Bucky. This enormous puddle is scary, keep it away from me, human who smells like a flatware drawer. He dances back from a wave hissing to nothingness on the sand, and then bites at it. Take that, strange water! Then Kevin's sputtering and pawing at his face. Buck hasn't yet noticed either of his fellow assassins. Not when AMora's luring him with the prospect of actual public shirtlessness.


A signature Amora hair flip follows and Amora stands tall and statuesque in the waves. She grinned, ruby lips pulling wide as she held her hand out to Bucky in a beckoning manner still. Her other raised to her lips, where she muttered against her palm, pressed a kiss there and then blew in Bucky's direction. A faint glimmer of something sparkly played over his skin and instantly faded.

"For you my darling, dear? Of course." She rolled her shoulders back, arching a blonde brow upwards. "Now come along into the water."


Outside of his professional circle, most people don't know much about Phil Coulson. This is by design, of course; he keeps quiet about his personal life, to the point where most of his colleagues just assume that he doesn't have one. The truth is, he's as warm blooded as the next man, but there's a line. He watches those coming and going, chuckling just a bit as Harper waves at random people. His attention is momentary captured by Tanya, and he even goes so far as to nod his head in her general direction. That's… certainly something. However, the radio is pretty damned interesting, far more interesting to the Senior Agent of SHIELD than chatting up beach girls, at least one might assume.

Another sip of his drink, and he casually shifts his shade-covered attention back to Bucky and party. If Bucky's upnod was noticed, Coulson doesn't respond to it; let's allow the guy to believe that, for once, the leash wasn't so tight.


"There are places in Europe where you can go naked," Kai says. He offers Amora a puckish smile, then he kneels in the water so he can cut his hand through it, angling a splash at her knees. Then he scuttles back into deeper water. "Who did that? The cad! Serrure, that was mean." His gaze skims the beach, and he takes in the people watching people. Surely there is some trouble he can cause.


Curiouser and curiouser. And Harper rarely misses a chance for a little indulging in curiosity. For a moment she almost calls out toward Bucky herself - she's done her own disguise job on the arm before - but then she'd miss out on whatever's going on here. The blonde in the water seems awful showy for someone who tries not to draw attention. Instead, she stays roughly where Bruce is, moving toward the edge of the water to lean down and scoop up a bit for splashing on her face. Nothing to see here, just cooling off.


Bruce gets up. Too many people now. Too many interesting people. The fathers and mothers with the kids are fun to watch and make him feel nostalgic. This group just makes him nervous. Too pretty, too fast, too strong, too…tattooed… He picks up his backpack and shoves in his journal. He moves towards the group, to make his way past them and to the entrance of teh beach. Just a puny guy. Don't mind him, anybody.


Bruce gives Harper a nod, jumping a little when he realizes she is so close.


The watchers are treated to the prospect of Bucky Barnes looking down his own shirt in confusion….and then promptly stripping off both it and his jeans. There are dark blue swim trunks on underneath, as if he'd come in hopes that they could find a part of a New York public beach private enough for him to swim. Hope springs eternal, it seems.

He deposits Kevin on the beach towel with a firm order to sit, and stay - the dog, for his part, looks very happy indeed to be away from the water. Bucky then turns and wades in. Amora's illusion doesn't extend to giving him a tan. He's about as pale as a brunet gets. The water's just chilly enough to have him flinch at the first wave that gets him, but then he's diving under for a moment. There's no metal arm in sight; to all appearances, he's just a fit young man.


Oh — oh, the guy in the sunglasses and fancy drink acknowledged her. Tanya smiles faintly to herself and glances down at her sandy toes as she tucks hair behind one ear. Preen-preen, even if it's all subconscious in the end.

Her next glance finds that the Winter Soldier appears to be considering swimming. Hmm. But…that metal arm. Sitting up in interest, the brunette waits to see exactly what the man's going to do.

Heyo, shirtless, score. Something to tease the very serious man about next time she attends Lux. Biting her lip, the assassin continues to enjoy watching it all.


Loki pulls off his pants, too, in dramatic fashion, then abandons the dog and their towels on the shore as he comes closer to Kai. Loki's long, coltish legs are on display, too, for he has a slice of a grin as Kai splashes Amora, and then he comes closer, feet digging in to the water. "Why do I think that the discussion you wish to have with me…involves splashing?" He looks over to Amora, then back to Kai, then to the suspicious Bruce, scuttling out of the scene. Mmmhmm. And who is that guy in the glasses? Loki does a glancing notice of all of them, before looking back to Kai. His swim trunks are forest green, and snug short-types with a wide, gold belt, in the fashion of the day. In all truth…they are probably just illusion and he's MOST LIKELY just freeballin' it up in here. So, if one can see through illusions, then, those poor folks are getting an eyefull.


Amora glanced toward Kai and grinned, "Oh I am well aware. Still cannot fathom why the Americans do not do likewise." She shrugged and glanced back toward the shore where Bucky stripped down. She pouted and sighed, propping her chin up with her hand. "So utterly unfair that I am a taken woman these days." She sighed most dramatically, only to break off and squeal at the splash of water.

She twisted around, and hopped deeper into the water after Kai. "Don't make me dunk you!"


Life would be easier if Harper could leave well enough alone. But she can't.

Someone - someones - else is making illusions on this beach, and she's just had a very frustrating and fruitless conversation with a certain wizard about why it is that she can make illusions. So of course she has to poke it with a stick, figuratively speaking.

Still crouched at the edge of the water, she extends her senses toward Bucky's arm and the illusion around it, a magically-induced play of light just to test what's been done.


One might wonder if Phil Coulson might actually entertain the idea of speaking with a woman. At a beach, no less! He cracks a brief smile at Tanya's response, but then something clearly unusual catches his eye; Bucky Barnes without a metal arm.

The smile fades at once, replaced by his usual curiosity. Without a word, he switches off the transistor radio and sets down his fruity drink, before rising to his feet and making for the waterline. What on earth…

He nearly collides with the scuttling Bruce Banner, and pulls up short with a sound of surprise. "Goodness," he tells Bruce, quite honestly surprised at his lack of attention. "I do beg my own pardon," he says, raising hands to show a sign of apology.


Kai yelps again and ducks under the water. Maybe not the best hiding strategy. He does swim away from Amora though, then he surfaces and moves in large slogging steps toward Loki. "No way, man, I just want to tell you something important." He's already getting his splashing hand ready. His tactical error might be pausing to give Bucky a thumbs up. "Looking good," he tells him. On the shore, the sad little dog comes sniffing at Coulson's feet. Will Coulson be his friend? He's dry, unlike the elf who has abandoned him.


Which is when Bucky turns back to the beach to notice just who Kevin's decided to befriend…..and then there are other watchers. First Tanya….and then Harper. The grin he's wearing fades into confusion, and then he lifts his hand in a tentative wave. Hello, stalkers, lovely evening, isn't it?


Amora bobbed in the water, up to her waist after Kai as he ducked under the water. She arched a brow as he scuttled back, her hands settling on her hips. "Do not make me ask the nymphs to get at thee Kai! For I shall if you attempt such again!" She wagged a finger in his direction, her lips pursed together as she eyed the elf.

Then of course, her focus shifted rapidly toward Bucky where she sensed the play of Harper's magic over her own illusion. Her stance shifted and she practically prowled forward in the water with a swing of her hips. She made her way toward Bucky, reaching out to run her hands over his illusioned arm, muttering under her breath some manner of spell to trace who was looking over her magic.


Loki looks over at Amora and chuckles, "I did NOT do that." Then he rushes at Kai and tries to close the gap quick enough that the splash will hit him in the torso instead of sprinkle all over him, and his goal seems to be just bowling Kai over into the surf. /Boys/. If he can sense the illusion war, then…he does not seem to react to it, but it could be that, for him, the stakes are too high to get involved.


Bruce holds the strap of backpack onto his shoulder, lifting his own hand to Coulson. "Oh, it's okay. No harm done." He smiles. If he knew that a SHIELD agent were right in front of him, he probably wouldn't be smiling. He's still on the wanted list.


Wait, the guy in the sunglasses and fancy drink…is…nearly walking into another guy and the silver — wait. WAIT. Tanya sits up ramrod straight in shock on her beach-log. WHERE'S THE SOLDIER'S ARM.

You don't just go replacing arms like some demented toddler rearranging Ken doll limbs.

The assassin returns Bucky's wave ever so weakly, a half-hearted twiddling of fingers, and her smile is equally half-intense, more concerned than anything else.

Metal arms just don't vanish like that. The world got intensely weird. …magic doesn't exist?


It's probably a good thing Coulson is paying much more attention to whatever it is that's happening around The Mysterious Disappearing Metal Arm, for he just isn't paying Bruce enough attention to recognize him from said wanted list. And yes… he would recognize him. Quickly.

"I hope so," he says, and is about to turn back toward Bruce when there's suddenly a weird dog sniffing at his feet. Once again, he diverts his gaze and looks down. "Oh, hello."

He crouches down then and goes about scruffing the canine on his ears. "Hello, little buddy. Out enjoying the sand?" he asks, but his eyes remain on Bucky and the woman who is… is she caressing the Winter Soldier's not-so-real-but-real-looking arm?


Well, that answers the question of whose magic it is in the first place. Harper shuts down her own rather quickly, but the truth is that she just found out days ago that what she's doing is magic and not some sort of mutant power, which means she has exactly zero defenses to hide that she's the one who was fiddling with things.


For those not aware of just how magic is in play….it looks like a possessive gesture on Amora's part. Buck looks as if he's about to say something to Tanya, but then the goddess is there, touching his arm, and he looks up at her in concern. Not precisely the delight you'd expect on the face of a man who's got a beautiful woman's hands on him…and he's blushing, it's clear. Shoulders and up, in fact. "Something wrong?" he asks her, voice pitched down to carry only to her, beneath the sounds of the wind and sea. "Do I need to get out, get dressed?"


Amora flashed Bucky a sharp lipped smile, her green eyes glittering with a knowledge of just what sort of mortal magic was sniffing around her own. She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Bucky's cheek and patted his arm gently. Her long nails skimming against his not-really-there skin. "No. Worry not. Simply a hedge-witch peddling her own awkward playthings." She fluttered her eyelashes up at him.

"Your illusion is secure. Enjoy the water, my darling." And like that she sashaying out of the water, golden curls bouncing with each step as she made a bee-line toward Harper. Green eyes narrowed like a cat about to pounce.


The little dog wags and licks Coulson's fingers. He's not much to look at, this wiry brown mutt, but he makes up for it in sheer friendliness. Coulson is his new best friend ever. Meanwhile, Kai calls out, "I'll be good," to Amora, as he's splashing Loki. He doesn't seem inclined to test her further. Not that it matters, because Loki bowls him over, and he falls into the surf, limbs flailing. He sputters in the water.

And Coulson's new best friend? Freaks. Out. Bark bark bark! He breaks away from scruffling to pace the edge of the water nearest Kai and Loki. Bark bark! Whine. He looks uncertain, takes a step in the water, withdraws, then goes splashing in, swimming toward Kai. He'll save you, master!


Bruce chuckles at the little dog and continues on his way up the beach. He can do this. He can control the other guy. He hitches the backpack up, veering back to walk along the waters edge once around the group of people.


Coulson's hand is now empty, and the dog is running off toward the water. He stands up, briefly considering whether he'd just encountered someone he'd met before. He's tempted to look after the departing Bruce, but no, this whole affair with Amora and Bucky is far more pressing and interesting for the moment. He settles back, taking a few steps forward so that the water laps at his toes, and turns to watch as Amora makes her way toward Harper. Ever the curious people-watcher, he seems to be.


So…the blonde is with the Winter Soldier? Wait, no, the blonde is appearing to sashay-stomp towards that younger chick who's a little farther down the beach and that ratty little dog is attempting to pull a Lassie…?

Oh. This is good. Despite the trepidation of not knowing where that silver arm went, Tanya just keeps watching. Her and Coulson - people-watchers extraordinaire.


OH NO, not Kevin in the surf! Will Loki be attacked viciously? He's not sure. He is also soaked and pops up laughing and then sees Kevin sputtering through thr waves. "Ahhh…Kevin," He waves. "Go back, go back…Gah…Kai…why did we bring him?" He stands up to his thighs in the water and tries to trudge to the dog to stop him from…terror-drowning.


She kissed him. Apparently her lipstick was set to 'stun', because Buck looks flummoxed for a moment. Then he's watching Amora head straight for Harper….and he's diverted enough to follow, first swimming and then wading after the Asgardian goddess. What's gonna happen? When he catches up with Amora, he notes, quietly, "I know her. I'm sure she didn't mean any harm." Even though he has no clue. A glance at Coulson, but then he's looking back to the two women. There will be pointed questions later, surely.


Aw, hell. Harper knows enough to know when she's been caught. She has a few options here. Flee? Maybe, but if her invisibility is a magic trick and this woman can do the same thing, then she's not going to get far. And she doesn't look like the sort who objects to causing a scene, so slipping away quietly won't work. Which means…stand her ground. Whether that will draw more or less attention is yet to be determined.

Harper straightens up from the surf, already holding her hands up as if to show she's got nothing in them, an apologetic smile at one corner of her lips. "Sorry," she says quickly. "Was just curious. No harm done?"


Amora glanced only briefly in Bucky's way, but made no comment as she came up to a stop before Harper. She leaned in, invading the other woman's personal space as if the concept had never been described to her. She reached out, attempting to slide a hand toward Harper's chin. "Oh darling, what a cute little hedge witch you are. Meddling in the magic of the gods. Tsk, tsk. So very clumsily done. But.." She tilted her head and took a step back, looking Harper up and down.

"I suppose the fact you sensed it at all makes you a rather step above the other mortals.. Hmm?" She flashed the woman a sharp grin.


Slipping away quietly is what Bruce is good at, and it is just what he does.


Kai sits up, laughing as he sees Kevin paddling desperately toward him. "Hey, mate! I'm all right!" He grins at Loki, then gets to his feet and trudges toward the dog as well. He scoops the little animal up and says, "What a good boy, poor little fellow." The dog licks Kai's face, not just waggling his tail but wiggling all over with his relief and glee. He punctuates the licking with a bark once in awhile. Kai keeps a steady hold on him. To Loki, he says, "Because he'd be bored at home." Instead of terrorized outside. Kai heads for shore and the towels so he can sacrifice one to wrap the trembling canine in.

The Alfheimian frowns as he sees Bucky following Amora. "Oi! We wanted to hang out with him today." He's missed all this magic happening except to see that Bucky's arm looks normal which, come on, is pretty handy.


Coulson spares a glance Bucky's way, before turning his attention back upon the two women. Oh, he can smell a fight brewing, and quietly hopes that it does not boil over into such a thing.


Harper doesn't flinch away from Amora, so at least she's made of sterner stuff than some. "Gods?" she echoes, quirking a brow over at Bucky as if he's going to offer some further explanation. In fact, she sounds more intrigued than worried. "What kind of gods? Also, I have it on good authority that I'm not clumsy. With that. At least. My own, that is, poking at someone else's probably is pretty clumsy, but I've never tried before, so. Learning experience?" Charming smile.


Amora fluttered her eyelashes and with a flourish of her hand gestured to herself. "Lady Amora The Enchantress, goddess of desire, of Asgard. Lovely to meet a little mortal playing at magic. How delightful." She murmured, her gaze narrowed faintly on Harper as she shifted her weight upon her feet. A hand coming to rest upon her hip as she considered the woman.

"And take no offense, darling, mortals are generally clumsy. It comes from not living long enough to learn the finer things of magic."


Loki puts a hand on his hip, black hair dripping wet as he looks over at Bucky and Amora. "Didn't they…go off one time before? Or was that just flirting? Lets let him have fun. Where's the girl that Amora was…" he glances to Harper. "That's her. Have you ever seen her before?"


IF only it'd been the actual fun the Prince and his companion imagined. Buck's still sodden, himself, dripping on the sand as he looks ready to interpose himself between sorceress and demi-nephilim. Heaven forbid there should be a catfight. He glances back at Loki and Kai, giving them an apologetic look.


"How did you do that?" Harper steps past Amora to get a closer look at Bucky, as if she's going to be able to figure it out. "When I do it…" She pauses, then moves to Bucky's normal arm, layering a delicate illusion over the skin to give it a tan. "That's what I do." It's intricately woven light, built with a thought and tethered to a near-molecular level to the skin itself, even properly measured for reflection and opacity. She wasn't kidding about knowing what she was doing with that, at least. "Yours feels different, though. Like it's less…tied to physics? But I learned it as physics, so I guess that would make sense."

She doesn't even seem to be upset about being called clumsy. She's much more interested in learning something new. Poor Bucky just gets to be the blackboard.


Okay, there's now a conversation going on and she can't stand it. Plus, the guy with the fruit drink and sunglasses seems to be simply observing too. Might as well see what he knows. Nosey assassin is nosey.

Plus, she can wiggle her eyebrows at far-too-serious Jack Frost himself since he's shirtless. Hello, pecs.

Rising to her feet, Tanya makes her way over to nearby Coulson, close enough to engage in small talk but no closer and most definitely out of immediate arm-grab reach — safety first and all. Who knows if she's on SHIELD's radar as the Black Mamba — not that she knows that he's the preeminant senior agent of the government agency.

"What are you drinking then?" Her olive eyes twinkle the slightest and her smile is turned up in single-digit wattage. Bucky is given a quick glance and…a wink.


Amora smirks, glancing side long at Bucky as she stepped closer to the man, only casting a brief glance in Loki and Kai's direction and back. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder as Harper laid her own magic over things. An eyebrow hooking upwards as she considered the woman for a long moment. "You draw on mortal magics. Tis a different magic entire. Your source is different. As is your base of creation. Asgardian magic works on will, on belief. It draws power from Yggdrasil, as all things do." She murmured, looking over Bucky.

Her hands reached up to press over the man's arm once more, gliding smoothly. "There is a great deal more, but tis the basics, little witch. Where I come from all young women are taught and practiced in such mundane magicks. A pity that most of your people lost such knowledge so long ago."


Kai shakes his head at Bucky. He wouldn't dare blame Lady Amora for this turn of events. No, she is a lady and despite Kai's familiarity today — blame the nice weather — she must remain blameless. So it's Bucky who gets the 'dude, what the hell' look. He towel dries his dog, who sneezes repeatedly, then tries to lick Kai's face some more. "You've had one hell of a day, little man," he tells the dog." He looks to Harper, then shrugs and shakes his head to Loki. He's never seen this face of Harper's before.


"It's called a pina colata," Coulson answers Tanya in a most casual way, his head turning slightly in her direction without diverting his attention from Amora and Harper. "Ever had one? I find them delicious, especially on a hot, summer evening." He then gestures casually toward the other women, watching the magic at play on Bucky's other arm. "If I'm hearing this right, they are practicing… magic." He then glances toward Tanya with a disarming smile. "I don't suppose you believe in such things though. Preposterous."


Loki presses his lips together. "And she seems busy too. I suppose I am left with just you. SO terrible. I was hoping to avoid being alone with you for much of the day." Loki clearly says this in jest, his tone overly dramatic and put-upon. He stands at the edge of the surf, the sand between his toes. "It seems…Kevin has used my towel."


Witches are *touching* him. There's something about it….Bucky's going still, and he looks as if he doesn't know how to feel about this. On one level, hey, pretty girls. But on another…..for just how many people (for varying definitions of 'people') has he been a plaything? This is a far cry from having some Soviet scientist turn up the voltage and then ask him a question to see if he can speak, but still. He shoots Tanya a pleading look, and then Coulson….and then his buddies.


Well. That's one thing ruled out. Not Asgard. Harper purses her lips slightly, then fades the illusion of a tan away from Bucky's arm by degrees, rendering it transparent before she dispels it completely and turns away from him with a brief, apologetic smile. Totally have this under control, see? Not turned into a newt! "Sounds more like Billy," she grumbles, letting out a bit of a huff before she turns a sidelong glance on Amora. "You said it's different from yours. Have you ever seen anything like it before?"


Tanya shakes her head, adopting a rather similar level of attention in regards to the scene unfolding before them.

"I believe in pina coladas on a hot day, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I believe in magic," she replies, resting her hands on her toweled hips. "Does he need to be rescued?" she adds, fully looking to Coulson now.


Kevin wriggles and Kai lets him down. The dog shakes, and his damp fur sticks out in spikes. And to think he was ugly before… The dog trots down the beach toward Tanya and Coulson. Now that Master is safe, let's see about those ear scrufflings. Kai watches him go, and he starts in that direction, laughing at Loki. "I know, I'm such a drag, daddio." With a glance toward Bucky, he says, "Should we rescue him?"


Amora shrugged with a light toss of her hair once more, the wind coming off the sea seeming to play with her hair in just the right way. It was down right unfair. She smiled, seeming to not notice or care about Bucky's discomfort. "Tis mortal magic, I know not beyond that. I made little point in spending my time learning from Midgardian mages. The magic here is typically so very weak and under developed. The realm here draws magic to it like a parched man lost at sea." She murmured, dragging a hand through her hair.

"I find it all the same after a while." She murmured.


With a click of his tongue, Coulson shakes his head a bit at Tanya's response. "Magic, my girl," he tells her, "may be little more than…" He gestures with a free hand. "…energy, manipulated in a manner we don't understand scientifically. Yet. Or, energy we don't understand scientifically, being manipulated in a way we…"

At that, he stops himself and shakes his head, glancing toward the woman with a bemused grin. "I'll begin to ramble. That won't do." As for rescuing him, he turns his attention Bucky's way. "He does look as if he wants a rescue, doesn't he?" He nods his head toward Bucky. "You go for the fella, I'll distract the ladies."

With that, Coulson moves forward, reaching up to withdraw his sunglasses from his face, and tucks them into the waistband of his swimwear. "Fancy evening, isn't it?" he asks of Amora and Harper. "I think you're making the poor chap feel like some kind of specimin in a high school lab class."


Loki moves with Kai, falling silent as he watches the others….Amora and apparently anothter magic user…Coulson hitting up the ladies…Tanya trying to rescue Bucky, "Either way…he is doomed." But there's just this LOOK on Loki's face, like he is privy to a joke that NO ONE else gets as he saunters his way down the beach, following their wayward pup.


It must be a remnant of the conditioning, that Bucky neither extracts himself nor thinks to directly ask for help. Because it always ended badly when he did, even if a sandy beach is a far cry from a lab beneath the permafrost. Even as Coulson steps in, he says nothing.


Harper's eyes narrow slightly with a tilt of her head as she considers Amora. Could be true. Could be false. Chances of pressing the information out of an Asgardian goddess? Slim. Best to let this one go. "Well, it was nice to meet you," she smiles faintly to the other woman, turning to seek out a drink and finding herself face to face with Coulson instead. "Oh, hi. Sorry. Nothing to worry about, he was just making sure we were all getting along here," she says lightly. "And we are, so. C'est bon, oui?" The words may be French, but the delivery is all New Orleans southern charm.


Tanya most definitely gives Coulson the quintessential Eyebrow to go with her Humoring Smile. Oh, energy. Yes, she knows all about manipulating energy.

"I've got him, boss." Hey, the term is somewhat snide, but he probably hears it all of the time, that senior SHIELD agent. Walking over to Bucky, she stands beside him and murmurs, "You're supposed to come with me, apparently. Care to escort me farther up the beach? The water's cold on my poor toes."

Indeed, the surf licks at them and the dear thing might catch chill. The shirt certainly forecasts it.


"Ooh, this is going to be good," Kai says. "Kev, come here, boy." The dog, his new friend moving off, turns and trots back to Kai, who picks him up. "I need to get his lead," he tells Loki. Which Bucky has. They seem to be converging on the trio, too. It's like a Gaiman story where different groups of characters have their adventures but all come together at the end.


"If you require me, darling, call my name. I shall hear you." She murmured toward Harper, an amused tilt to her lips as she smirked. Amora looked over Coulson with a sort of bored and dismissive air. A brow hooking upwards as she looked over the middle aged man and found him.. lacking in the muscle department. A department that Amora frequently shopped at and enjoyed.

A sniff, and she glanced toward Tanya and Bucky with a brief narrowing of her eyes. That was her man-toy.

She reached out to try to snag Bucky's arm with a deceptively delicate hand. "Oh darling, do you truly wish to leave me here all alone?" She pouted, fluttered those dark eyelashes of her's and leaned toward him.


"Oui en effet," Coulson answers cleanly. Not fully fluent in French, but he's familiar enough with the language for some basic chit chat. He watches Amora as she moves off toward Bucky, unflapped by her hooked brow. "Well, then," he says to Harper, before casting a brief look toward Tanya. "I do believe my pina colata is waiting for me." He smiles coyly toward the lot of them, and pauses long enough to give Bucky an encouraging nod of his head.

You see, to the analytical mind, a little love-making might do the guy some good.

Without another word to offer, he begins padding his way back through the sand toward his transistor radio and the pina colata. It'll still be lukewarm by now.


The Asgardian mischiefmaker watched as Coulson peeled away from the group and as Kevin returned to Kai. So, all was right in the world, though how Bucky was now having a 4-some with 3 laides…beyond him. "I think Jack is doing /just fine/, though…I did not really see Amora as being a sharer…"


Harper is so not getting anywhere near a show-down between Tanya and Amora over Bucky. Nope. Instead, she follows Coulson's path away from the edge of the water and over to a stand to buy herself a bottle of coke. Because she should have something to enjoy from the peanut gallery for that cage-match. That said, she's not quite finished toying with dangerous things yet.

So once she has her drink, she moves to sit cross-legged not far from Coulson. "He a friend of yours?" she asks, nodding toward Bucky.


Well, Buck's hardly as built up as post-serum Steve. God knows Cap's got mass and muscle on him. But he's still in excellent shape, at least. However, he still does not look in any way delighted by Amora's attention. If anything, he looks wary, like a schoolkid caught out by the teacher. "Oh, no," he offers, quickly. "'course not. But you'd hardly be alone, Kai and Serrure are here, too." Old fashioned manners overriding self-interest….and he doesn't want to seem ungrateful. It's her illusion he's wearing, after all. Tanya gets a wan little smile. The Winter Soldier, the terror from beyond the Urals, pretty much entirely subdued by a blonde in a bikini. How have the mighty fallen.


While Harper is getting herself a drink, Coulson has reclaimed his spot and is fiddling with his transistor radio. It… appears to be broken, and, oddly enough, he's talking to it.

"Keep an eye on Balatika." A pause. "But… not too close an eye. Just this once." He hits the radio on its side, and it suddenly comes back to life. Because he surely wasn't murmuring into a SHIELD communication device that moonlights as a simple transistor radio during the daytime.

Setting the radio back down, he leans back down onto his towel and collects the pina colata once more. When Harper comes over, he doesn't pay her much attention until she acknowledges him.

"Oh," he remarks casually, "from work, yeah. He gets… awkward around women." He looks toward Harper with a wry smile. "Some of the boys take bets about whether he's actually ever been with one, which… I find quite rude, not to mention offensive, and prying."


Tanya purses her lips and goes flat-eyed at Bucky, not too unlike the snake of her nom de guerre.

"Really? Really, Soldier? Get to goose-stepping, she's probably as air-headed as the rest of the blonde bimbos on this beach." With an abrupt move, she links arms with the man and begins to lead the way herself, regardless of the movement of sand underfoot or the possible response on Amora's part. Dancer is not impressed with Asgardian witchcraft because, after all, magic isn't real.


Kai picks up his pace and says, "Hey, hey, hey, before you walk off with him…" Kevin's ears flop as Kai breaks into a jog to catch up. "He's got all our stuff." He flashes a smile at Bucky. "We can't take you out without the ladies pulling you away from us. It's like we're not even in the room." Not that he and Loki aren't definitely worth looking at. It's just that Kai tends to arouse thoughts like '…as a Christmas tree.'


Amora seemed to look mollified at Bucky's words, her lips pulling into a confident smile as she fluttered dark eyelashes in his direction. "Stay with me.." She murmured, a breathless manner demand in her voice. All silk and satin. All smooth and filled with promise.

That is until Tanya stepped in and snagged Bucky's arm to begin to try to tow him off. Green eyes narrowed, her lips twisted into a silent look of disgust as she glared at the mortal woman. Her posuture shifted, shoulders rolling back as she threw out her hand and magic flowed from her fingers into the sand.

Unless Tanya was very quick or something interupted her.. Tanya would very quickly find herself being pulled under by the sand.


"Oh yeah?" Harper quirks a brow over at Coulson, taking a sip from her bottle. "You work at Lux?" When she overhears Tanya, though, both brows go up with a low whistle. "If that's the case, I hope you do bouncer work too, because that looks like it's about to turn into a throw-down."


He does not let himself be pulled off-balance. Instead, with an oddly eel-like motion, Buck extracts himself from Tanya's linked arm. Nothing brutal about it. "Hey, ladies, hey," he says. "C'mon, this is silly," Without a word, he hands off Kevin's leash to Kai. T hen Amora's breaking out the sorcerery, and he hides his face in his hand for a moment. It was supposed to be a nice afternoon at the beach. Then he's reaching to keep Tanya from being dragged down into the quicksand.


"Not exactly," answers Coulson. "I run the books, from time to time," he explains. "It's not…" He trails off though, for he can smell a fight brewing, especially one this close. He turns to watch carefully, eyebrows rising. "Can't say I've ever done bouncer work," he murmurs. He may be a mere mortal, but he's in good shape for one, regardless.

"You know," he says casually, "I might define that as, 'cheating'."


"Hey, what — " Where did that arm go? She just had an arm. Where did his arm go? The normal one, she means, not the silvery one that disappeared and reappeared and you know what, the sand feels reeeeally funny under her feet, like it's moving. Tanya has all of a moment to frown down at the white granules before it goes fluid beneath her.

A squeak of surprise? Some high-pitched yelp?

Nope. "FUCK!!!" She never was a lady at heart, this Black Mamba. Pretty face and terrible language. "What the everliving fuckery is this?!" Bucky's offered helping hands are grabbed and she tries to pull her legs from the sucking mire that's around her ankles now.


"It's definitely not in the standard girl-fight rules," Harper agrees with Coulson as Tanya starts to get sucked into the sand. She's her own sort of super-soldier, but even she's not getting in the middle of that one. Not when Amora is on the other side. She doesn't know the first thing about defending herself from magic. "You know, I feel like he doesn't have trouble with the ladies so much as he has trouble with the sheer volume of them he seems to attract. Maybe he just can't pick."


Amora let the spell settle as Bucky snatched the woman out of the jaws of a sandy fate. She sniffed, tossing her hair back of her shoulder as she looked down her nose at Tanya. Her hand settling on her hip as she watched and waited imperilously for the young woman to be yanked out entirely. "T'was my attempt at being at mercy, mortal." She checked her nails over, sighing as she turned her hand this way and that in the sunlight.

Her gaze sliding toward Kai and Loki briefly and back. "You are most welcome."


For the duration of the incident, Phil just looks on with a watchful eye. Oh, he's willing to jump in and help if need be, but he doesn't want to show his hand. Fortunately, the crisis is averted. He takes another drink, then settles it back into its sandy home with a grin. "It's the hair," he remarks, and casts a rueful smirk Harper's way.

"Trust me."


Kai snaps the lead on Kevin's collar. He gives Loki a wide-eyed look. Women, man. But he inclines his head to Amora with all due gratitude. "And your mercy is a gift, my lady." Kevin sniffs around, utterly clueless to anything going on. Kai guides him away from the sucking sand and the quarrelling in general, and he just shakes his head at Bucky. "This is what you get for taking your shirt off," he tells him.


Loki drops his jaw as the ladies actually begin to tug Bucky around. "What is going on? Kai? They are actually…playing tug o war with our friend. Hmmm. This can't be right. There must be a mind controller around here." He looks at Coulson. "You." he points, "Are you doing something here? Take your mind out of these ladies…" Nothing like accusing the innocent.


"His hair, or their hair?" Harper smirks back at Phil, taking another sip from her bottle. "I think the hair's a bit much, personally. His. But I can see where he might have a hard time picking between the ladies, because he does pick up a lot of different types." When Loki calls out accusations, she raises her hands innocently.


"I just wanted to swim," Bucky's voice is plaintive, even as he sets Tanya aside on firmer sand. He turns a despairing look on Amora, and then Loki's piping up from the peanut gallery. "No, it's not him," he tells the prince, sounding aggrieved. "Can we all just calm down? C'mon, it's not too long before it's gonna be too late to get in the water."


"All of them, really," Coulson remarks. "That much hair, it's sure to get to a person's head."

At the accusation, Phil points at his chest with a mock expression of innocence. "Hey, I only work with telepaths, I'm not one!" Without missing a beat, he asides to Harper, "I know. That was bad."


Tanya doesn't exactly climb up the Winter Soldier, but there's a solid moment there where she certainly attempts it in passing before finding the sand she's set upon is much firmer than the quagmire that occurred randomly beneath her feet.

"Okay, well, it looks like you attract the crazies too, Soldier." The banter between the guy with the pina colada and that dark-haired dude in the swimtrunks isn't missed by her and she goes a little more pale. "Yep, no more for me, I'm gone. Good luck." The well-wishing is to Bucky.

And with that, the assassin seems to hug herself as she walks briskly away across the expanse of white sand, back towards the boardwalk and safety of its solidity. Meanwhile, the repetition within her mind is, of course, "Magic is not real, magic is not real, magic is not real!"


Kai regards Loki with a quiet sigh. The Asgardians, always making him be the sane one. An elf could get to resent this sort of thing. "Can we just swim?" he says. "When is Jack going to have an opportunity like this again? Let us swim, and then you can all behave bizarrely over him after we get out, okay?" He gives Coulson and Harper a wave and an amiable, "Sorry! For everything."


Amora sauntered back up to Bucky's side, crooning softly as she waved at Tanya's departing figure. "Bye bye." She wiggled her fingers in the air, looking all too pleased with herself. Her gaze swung back to Kai and she flashed the elf a full on grin.

"See? This is why you are my favorite, darling. You recognize the pains I take to be kind. No one appreciates my kindness. Tis a true pity." She sighed most dramatically, patting Bucky on the arm once before making her way back into the water.


Harper raises her bottle in salute toward Kai and the others in the water, a faint, amused smirk curving at one corner of her lips. "The hair, or the telepathy dig? I mean, that's not one of those things you can prove in the negative. I promise, I'm not a telepath. Oh yeah? Guess what I'm not thinking about!" She shrugs, drinking again. "Not much of an argument there."


Loki still isn't sure he believes Coulson isn't involved in this, but he does chill out when Kai seems to step up to argue for the return of their Bucky, or, at least their stuff. "Kai, we could just…swim…regardless. I barely got wet. I am rather chilly at the moment, actually. And sandy. Yessss, I could use going back in the water." Another look is spared for Tanya as she backs off.


Okay. Water. They're going to swim and he can stop blushing and enjoy the fact that it's the first time he's been swimming for fun in almost twenty years. Bucky takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, then pads after Amora….but not without a backwards glance at the departing Tanya. She's going to find him and she's going to make him pay. He can already just about feel the crosshairs tattooed between his shoulderblades.

Actually getting back into the water does seem to soothe his embarassment, and he floats. IT's a calm evening, the sea is fairly still.


Lifting is pina colada, Phil tips it in a mock salute to Kai, before laughing at Harper's answer. "Both?" he asks. "Really, I hope I never do meet a telepath. Everyone has their secrets, and that's right where they belong." He turns then, now that it seems the whole situation is settling out. "I'm Phil, by the way."


Amora chose to ignore the mortals, well save Bucky. He was her amusement after all. She winked in his direction as she dove under the water and seemed to vanish for a moment. She reappeared coming up in the water some distance away, tossing her hair back and looking for all the world like every swim-suit model's dream. And then, she well and truly vanished.

A green burst of magic followed and she was gone in a glitter of sparkles. Amora was anything but subtle. She was Asgardians after all. What did she care about revealing herself to mortal eyes?


Harper doesn't have time to decide if she's giving out her real name. Luckily, she made that decision before she even sat down. "Mary Elizabeth," she introduces herself in kind, smile faint. "Nice to meet you, Phil." She looks back to the water just in time to catch Amora's disappearing act, shaking her head. "More things in heaven and earth, hmm?"


Kai follows Bucky back to the water, but he pauses midway and brings Kevin over to Coulson and Harper. "Would you watch my dog?" he asks. I want to go for a swim, but he doesn't like the water." Kevin, his fur having dried funky, look even homlier than before and now smells like a wet dog. "He's really nice," he adds.


"Well met," Coulson offers, before his attention is also caught by the disappearance of Amora. He raises his eyebrows and sighs. "We do live in strange times."


For final proof that perhaps Bucky's not as utterly steamrolled by Amora's beauty as he might be….he looks wistful, but also relieved when she's gone. The fact that he's still being watched by at least one SHIELD agent doesn't seem to bug him. Coulson's the devil he knows, after all. He's content to play in the waves a bit - not like he can sneak off of a public beach when all he has on is a swimsuit. Then Loki's zapping out with the dog, and it's Bucky and Kai. "He's not mad at me, is he?" he asks Kai.


Kai blinks a little as Loki takes the dog and goes, but really, there is very little that surprises him anymore after months of hitching his trailer to this guy. With a shrug, he says, "I guess that's taken care of." Then he pads down to the shoreline, watching Bucky with a warm, fond smile. As the soldier floats near, Kai waves his hand and some of the water bloops over him, dunking him under. Kai can't help it.


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