fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

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!event: welcome picnic

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

As the picnic continued, there were tables and chairs arranged on the lawn, the food smelled delicious and inviting, and no one was going to be bitey without explicit consent. Hopefully, everyone would take some time to enjoy themselves!

[OCD is up! This is the picnic post for general mingling. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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Steve would give just about anything to make that look disappear from Bucky's face and he took two steps forward, hand reaching out.

"Buck?"

It didn't seem like the look was going anywhere.

Bucky didn't move away. But he shook his head again, and breathed a single word.

"Don't."

His left hand was curling into a fist again. Not for punching, not even on purpose. Just a stress reflex.

"I'm not gonna do anything you don't want," Steve promised softly. "How can I help? Need something to eat? The diner does a pretty decent cheeseburger."

"I already told you what you can do."

Which was to leave him alone.

Funny how he couldn't force himself to actually repeat the words again, though.

"Well, other than the part where you avoid me forever," Steve said. "I already have a Bucky who does that."

Yeah, the sad wasn't going anywhere. By the expression on his face, Bucky was a hundred years old and exhausted to his core, to his heart.

"I just came here to figure things out."

About what this place was. To him.

He wasn't sure he'd actually found answers.

Steve ran a hand through his hair, looking almost as tired. "Yeah. I can answer questions you're ready to ask, Buck."

"That's not how this works."

He didn't really want to say more than that. And yet for some reason, he did anyway.

"'S more like I already have the answers." His voice got quieter. "Tons of 'em, and finding the right questions to go with them is the thing."

"Is that what brought you back here?" Steve asked.

Oh look, a question that was actually easy to answer.

Not that it brightened up Bucky's face any. If anything, his tone just got more flat. "Yeah."

Steve frowned thoughtfully, trying to think what would lead Bucky back here. "Letters?" he guessed.

Bucky's nod was a littl stilted, somehow. He glanced towards the ground.

"To Rebecca."

A ghost. When he spoke her name, he saw -- felt -- remembered flashes. A red dress, a laugh, sunshine on city streets.

But just barely a face.

"Oh, Becca," Steve murmured. "She was a such a pistol."

"Yeah."

Oh, that was small. Helpless.

Bucky's expression hardened almost immediately after, as he looked up again. "I can't stay here."

"Maybe not forever," Steve agreed, "but you're safe here for a while." He turned the full weight of his puppy dog eyes on Bucky. "Please stick around for a bit. I miss you."

"This isn't about you, Steve," Bucky told him flatly.

That was... definitely a lie.

Steve deflated slightly. "Yeah, I know."

Bucky watched him for a second, his gut twisting uncomfortably. His memories felt like they were screaming at him in the background, as if from the next room over.

Through gritted teeth, he said, "I have to go."

Whether he meant just leaving this situation, or the island? Even he didn't know.

Steve didn't even mean to deploy the puppy eyes this time.

"Stay safe, okay?"

Yeah, Bucky looked away immediately. Like he was hit with a wave of guilt. He wasn't going to dignify that with an answer, either. And it definitely didn't have anything to do with how strangled his voice would've sounded if he had.

He didn't look up again as he turned to go.

Steve watched him walk away and didn't tackle him to the ground and demand he stay. He felt very adult about doing that.

Lonely as hell, but adult.

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Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

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