( 001 ) ➶ ( voice )

[arches]

Okay, so not to be ungrateful--because I really appreciate being fished out of the ocean and given a crash course, really, I do--but the whole time thing? Things are just frozen, back where we came from, is that it?

_{( He pauses for a moment, and huffs. Perceptive listeners will be able to tell that he sounds exhausted, more so when he continues. )}

Yeah, I find that a little hard to swallow. More than this place, even. Has there been any verification, on that? Or am I just supposed to assume the nice people fishing me out of the ocean were telling the truth?

_{( Another pause, some muttering that isn't quite audible, though there may be a curse or two in there. Something about deserving this? Who knows. And then, just as unceremoniously as it began, the feed cuts. )}

Comments

audio;

[trainwrecked]

There don't seem to be a verification to any of it. Other than, for some people, the in-between part.

[arches]

The in-between part?

[trainwrecked]

Between life, death, and dreaming. One of the descriptions of the place everyone seems to have heard as part of the welcoming speech.

[arches]

Oh, I heard it. I just wasn't sure what to make of it.

[trainwrecked]

We-ell, mostly that some of us ain't waking up, back home.

[arches]

...you know, that actually follows.

[trainwrecked]

Mm-hmm. Doesn't seem to make it any easier for some of the rest to buy it, though.

[arches]

The rest, but not you?

[trainwrecked]

[eyeroll, even if it can't be seen, right now.]

The rest as in those who have not died, where and when they - we - come from, not the rest as in not-me.

[arches]

So I'm talking to a zombie. That's new.

[trainwrecked]

... pardon?

[Sorry, Barton. Zombies did not get linked to the undead until 1968. A bit after Bucky's time.]

[arches]

Don't worry about it. Unless you start craving human brains.

[trainwrecked]

... thanks, but no, thanks.

[arches]

Uh-huh. Be sure to watch that, though.

You seem well-adjusted, though. For a dead guy.

[trainwrecked]

Yes, sir. [Half-... self-mockingly.]

Always been adaptable, I guess. And the other options didn't seem all that good, to me.

[arches]

_{( Options like freaking out. There's some sense, there. )}

Good for you.

[trainwrecked]

[He tries.]

Thanks.

Try to watch your step. Locals are stronger than you'd expect.

[For one reason or another, that looks like a reasonable warning. Just a hunch, on Bucky's side.]

[arches]

Thanks for the warning, but I can take care of myself.

[trainwrecked]

Yeah, that seems to be the general attitude, around here.

[They'll... see if that lasts.]

[arches]

Then I guess we'll see who falls first and adjust our scale accordingly.

[trainwrecked]

... most guys I've been to war with have a brighter outlook on life.

[And that's not even counting Steve.]

[arches]

I'm sure they do. It's easy to be a soldier, that way.

_{( yup he just went there. )}

[trainwrecked]

Is it.

[arches]

Yeah, it is. You do what? Put on a uniform, go out in a line, shoot until you die or your enemy does. Then you go home and wait for the next war.

...'m not saying it's not worthy, or that they're not brave, or whatever. They're heroes, alright. But it's not as twisted as some other things.

[trainwrecked]

That... may be the wars some people fight. When you're in it for years, you kind of get a lot more than that.

[Especially if you get to be both a PoW and fighting by Captain America's side. Steve's courage never was limited to the fighting alone.
And not when the war is the WWII. And all that it held.]

Not that I'm trying to up anyone on the twisted aspect. But the killing and the dying, bad as they are, aren't the worst, no. Nor is that all there is to being a soldier.

[Morbid turn of the conversation, much?]