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Seems like there's been a lot going on during the couple of months since I got here - good things. New ideas, beginnings. I've also had the pleasure of talking to several of you who've been here for awhile yourselves. Most have talked about Keeliai like it's home now.

[Steve smiles at that word, but there's something almost sad about it. 'Home' will always be a complicated subject for him.]

I just celebrated my first birthday here, but I think it might take a bit longer to feel that way to me. I do have an idea that I think might help. I wanted to talk to those of you who've opened businesses here, get some advice. I have an idea for something, and a heck of a partner, but I haven't exactly amassed a fortune. [Where's a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist when you need one. He sighs, but when the little bird nearby starts to sing, his spirits are lifted again.] As much as going in debt goes against my better judgment, it's an option I'm willing to consider to get the ball rolling. The question is, is there any place that even gives loans to Foreigners?

Until then, if anyone needs some one-on-one training, I've got the time for it. Unless you'd rather be trained by the three-time YMCA welterweight boxing champ.

[He knows you used to pull your punches, Barnes. Steve doubts that he will the next time. His smile turns a little bit sly before he ends the feed.]

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If you pursue it, I'll give you an idea where to get supplies from the various sectors that I use for replacement material in the dojo.

... why does one's weight matter for something like that, and why is it so specific?

Really? That would be a big help.

Well, in general, it's to keep things fair. Bigger guys usually punch harder. At least the ones I knew could.

The businesses will be different enough.

[ Steve's free to decide whether that meant that if he felt they weren't, the offer might not have happened. At Steve's explanation however, Bakura actually laughed. ]

That's the most inane thing I've ever heard. If someone knows what they're doing, they can beat lots of people who are larger. And if they don't, then they deserve to have a few enforced knockouts until they smarten up.

It's a sport where a couple of guys throw punches at each other while wearing protective gloves.

It must sound pretty simple.

My friend Sam, the one I named him after. He was in the Air Force - paratrooper. I bet you and he would have a lot in common.

[They're both definitely the friendly types.]

Likewise, Poe. I'm Steve. You must miss flying.

I've got no plans.

[He always feels better when Bucky's around. When he smiles, it's not just for the sake of politeness. He feels like he has a purpose, and that purpose is to make up for lost time.]

Could just walk and see where we end up?

I think I got that much of it from the movies.

[ It's all right, it's not like Bucky's made any plans beyond filling in details of the day in his notebook, and marking down all the interesting things of note he'd come across.

Steve lights up like a little sun, and he wonders if anyone's told him that -- he wonders if he's ever looked at anyone else that way; if they'd thought the same thing. ]

Sure. [ He falls into step with him, decides that this, too, isn't a bad way to pass the time. Steve is here and no one else is coming after him (for now); one can get used to this, right? ] Where did you find the bird?

That one's a risky job. Most are in the military, of course, but that especially.

If he ever gets to this city maybe we will have the chance to share experiences. I can fly all sort of things but usually, I'm out of a planet's atmosphere.

[Very true.

Poe smiles at the question.]

Like you wouldn't believe. I think I was made to be in the sky, it's kind of a family tradition too. And I've been told that time at home doesn't advance while we aren't there but I can't help but wonder if it's really true and how my people is going. You can't take chances when you are at war.

[No one's ever told him, and there's a reason for it. Falling into step beside Bucky is the closest he's ever felt to home.]

He found me. [Steve glances at Sam, lifting his hand to rub its head and little horns with one finger.] I was trying to sketch him and he just stuck around. [His attention turns to Bucky then.] That reminds me, I saw you writing in something the other day.

[He leaves it open, waiting to see what he'll volunteer first.]

Welterweight is just a weight class. They put guys of a similar weight up against each other.

[Steve always has mixed emotions when he thinks of his other friends being here. It doesn't seem fair to wish that they were. On the other hand, isn't this better than what they were facing? Steve doesn't know if they'll win. He doesn't even know if they'll survive. All he knows is that Sam Wilson's smile would be a welcome sight, and not just so he could introduce them.]

Same here. I know how it's supposed to work, but...it's like you said. The idea of not being there when my planet and team needs me the most has kept me awake a night or two.

Huh, I guess I just never realized it was that complicated. I always just thought it involved punching each other.

That depends on how big you make the cake! I'm not as good as Haruse at baking but I could totally make one!

A boxing gym? I don't think I've been to one before. Sounds exciting.

[ Sam trills contentedly, rubbing against Steve's finger. Bucky's distracted for a moment, before he registers Steve is asking about something else -- the notebook in the backpack that he carries everywhere, one of the very few belongings that he has. ]

Yeah? [ He knows what Steve's doing, of course, and he takes a few moments to decide. Would that invite more questions he can't answer? ] What about it?

[The last time Poe saw Finn he was unconscious in a medbay bed, recovering. Seeing him here would probably be a good thing for them both.]

Knowing how it works doesn't stop us from wondering. It makes me restless, mostly. I'm not used to having 'vacations' and I hate feeling like I am wasting time doing nothing useful.

What sort of team you had back home, if you don't mind me asking?

[Bucky turns it back on him, which Steve knew was a very real possibility. It's his move now, and he weights it carefully.]

Nothing. It's just...that's new. I don't remember you ever doing that before.

No, I haven't.

[ It's his little secret, his lifeline, the one thing that will help him to remember. But the thing is -- won't Steve help him, too? He's the one who cracked him open and showed him who he had been even though he's very sure he probably won't be anything resembling himself ever again.

He's quiet for a long moment. ]

I'm writing things down.

[ Bucky doesn't respond for a very long time, weighing the response in his mind, contemplating the outcome of it. What should he tell him? He remembers being able to tell him everything once -- but that was a long time ago, a memory that barely registers anymore.

But he has an impression of it; how he had trusted him, how they'd gotten into trouble together, thick as thieves. It's long minutes later that he finally says, ]

It's how I remember things. People.

[ You. His brothers-in-arms. Family. Because they can be taken away from him anytime, these memories, these moments, the things that slip from his grasp that he doesn't yet know about. He doesn't want to lose them again. ]

To tell you the truth, I haven't felt like this since Brooklyn.

[Not since he was skinny and sick, unable to help despite wanting nothing more.]

We're called the Avengers. Each one of us brings something different to the table. We use those skills to help, to protect.

[He won't lose them. Not if Steve has anything to say about it.

He feels a little spike of hope in his chest, but he proceeds with more caution than he's ever shown anything in his life. Bucky's built like a tank, broad-shouldered with an arm that shouldn't be messed with - he's been on the receiving end of it, he knows. But there's still something vulnerable about him. Fragile. Steve wouldn't endanger that for anything.]

Anything I can help with?

Like what?

[ Bucky's curious -- not for himself, but for Steve, who seems to take this as another burden to bear, even when he sees the hope in his eyes. He wonders if Steve thinks it's his fault, too; and if it matters anymore, either way. What's done is done, there's no way to turn back time.

He's gathering the shredded tatters of what he was before to figure out just what he is now, and Steve is an immense part of that narrative, that image. ]

That's where you come from? What is it like? [A sincere question. Poe likes to know more about people' home-worlds.

That's the worse feeling, wanting to help people and not being able to do so. Poe understands the frustration.]

You all know what's important then. And what are you Avenging? Justice...?

Yeah, 's the bar I run in the Sky Sector. You're welcome to drop by.

[Sorry, Steve, the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist didn't bring his billions with him. Anyway, the exchange rate is probably terrible.]

Sure, it's not that hard to open a business. Jackie's got a bar, Iroh's got a tea house, Pepper's even running her seamstress...ing... stuff [what the hell do you even call that] out of our place. And there's the dojo; you could ask to Bakura or Gene about that. Relations with the kedan have been good for a while, so it shouldn't be hard to get loan.

Who's your partner? [Tony grins.] Is it the bird? I didn't know birds were any good at finance.

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