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[ettersberg]

TEXT, VOICE, VIDEO, ACTION

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text; un: glaive

[ceding]

You free tonight?

[ettersberg]

I am. Why do you ask?

[ceding]

Lets go out.
On a date.

text; un: barnes - (backdated to a few days after they banged)

[lednikovyy]

in the interest of full disclosure, that is exactly what happened the first time I slept with you, too.

are you okay? are we okay?

[ettersberg]

[ he's been - thinking about it. a lot. it seems difficult not to. he's taken everything that happened apart and put it back together in his mind.

the need hadn't been his, at least not as strong as that, but it hadn't been entirely foreign. everything that had happened, he'd wanted. it was good- more than, really, if he's honest with himself. ]

I am and we are, thank you for asking.
By "that", what exactly do you mean?

[ the need? thomas going down on his knees? ]

[lednikovyy]

I'm not even sure how to describe it. that weird desperation we both felt?

[ it had been good sex, though. Really good. Thomas had a sort of sexiness to him that Bucky thinks is subtle but undeniable. Maybe he wouldn't have seen it for what it was before, but now he knows it's attraction, physical and otherwise because he likes talking to Thomas just as much as he likes kissing him. That hasn't changed. ]

and I'd be a lousy friend if I didn't check in after that.

text. un: srogers. FINALLY

[etch]

[its been a long time in coming, and frankly, steve knows he has no excuse for putting this off so long. bucky had been nothing but open and honest to him about just who thomas was. what the man meant to him. and sure, there will always be a part of steve that believes that bucky may one day change his mind about seeking out a different happy ending. one that may even include somebody like thomas. but for the time being, as long as they're all trapped here, it's a feeling he knows better than to indulge.

when he pulls up thomas' contact details, steve spends far longer than he'd admit to in trying to work out what to say. how to even begin. but, with the sounds of bucky doing...whatever it is in the other room, his motivation is there. he's doing this because thomas is important to bucky. meaning he's important to steve too.]

Afternoon. I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I'm a friend of Bucky's, and I thought I should say hello.

My name's Steve. I don't know if he's mentioned me before, but I know him from home.

[ettersberg]

[ well, this is - a surprise. the fact that it's a surprise is a reminder that he doesn't actually know bucky, or at least that he doesn't actually know very much about bucky. (he feels like he has some measure of the man, at least.) ]

Good afternoon.

[ has bucky ever mentioned a steve? perhaps in passing. not enough to get a sense of who this man is, at least. ]

Thomas Nightingale, but I assume you already know that. A pleasure.

[etch]

For what it's worth, we haven't met before. I wasn't with Bucky in that other world either.

[which he's hoping makes things a little easier here. they're both having to start from the beginning, rather than building on a one-sided relationship here.]

The two of us grew up together. Though it was more like he kept me alive long enough to grow up in the first place.

text; un:barnes

[lednikovyy]

so what's the likelihood that you've got some kind of painkiller potion up your sleeve?

[ yeah he has no clue how magic works, but it's worth a shot. ]

[ettersberg]

There are no potions in Newtonian magic.

[ there is a spell for dulling pain, something terribly complicated and usually ill-advised. ]

Are you all right?

[lednikovyy]

I'm not dying or anything. just a little more damaged than the last time you saw me.

[ and okay he clearly doesn't know shit about magic, but he's learning! ]

unless that was going to earn me a sympathy BJ in which case I'm dying and it's terrible.

un: thearchivist; text (10/7)

[compellingstatement]

Martin's been murdered by the Creator's men.
I'm sorry.
I'm going to try to destroy them as best I can.

[ettersberg]

[ if he had to hear from the archivist, he's not sure this is the best or the worst way for it to happen. best because the message at least makes it impossible to focus on any of the complications between them, worst because — people are dying again. someone he's responsible for, however little he knows martin, has died and he did nothing.

what is there to say? ]

I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you for telling me.

[ he means both of those things, even if the sentences are formulaic. ]

[compellingstatement]

Stay safe.
You can come to my Archives if you need shelter.
Stay inside.
Don't die.

BACKDATED to.. a few days before they contract..

[buffeted]

Hi Mr Nightingale. After talking with my boyfriend, it's become apparent that I should probably let you know who he is before we consider contracting any more closely. His name is Jonathan Sims, and he says the two of you had an encounter during that shared dreams nonsense.

[ettersberg]

Hello, Mr Blackwood.

[ politeness and propriety give him a moment to compose himself after reading about the identity of martin's boyfriend. that it's a text conversation helps, too. ]

We did. And we've met before that as well. [ while nightingale had been entirely unable to tell a lie. ]

I appreciate you telling me this.

[buffeted]

Of course. I don't want you contracting with me without knowing all the relevant details. If this makes you uncomfortable with the idea, I certainly won't blame you. Jon is a good man, but he does have a very pushy patron, and he can be a little bit abrupt.

[ that's.. probably putting it a little kindly. ]

forward-dated to the 11th.. since i'll be gone..

[buffeted]

Hello Mr Nightingale. I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you in a few days. Apparently I've been dead.

[ettersberg]

Mr Blackwood. Welcome back. Do you remember anything of the last days?

gift delivery; 12/25

[craftylikea]

[On Christmas day, Nightingale will find a small package on his doorstep with a crisp, cream-colored card attached. The text reads:

"Mr Nightingale,
Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year. I hope these are to your taste.

Best Wishes,
Randolph Lyall"

Inside, there is a dark green tie in a subtle, tasteful pattern and a box of very fine tea. Loose leaf, of course.]

continued from the truth meme!

[withinreach]

((from here!))

I meant the fireballs and how you use them more than the war. 'Interesting' isn't the word I would use either. I've seen enough of it, I doubt that it's all that different on Earth or wherever you're from.

[ettersberg]

Quite. That is simply magic.

I am from Earth, yes. I take it you are not?

@ nighttemplar

[ettersberg]

[ it's so frank and forward. he doesn't really have any defense against it, isn't sure he'd want one. (propriety is one, of course, but the dream tore down some walls between them long before he'd ever had a chance to erect them.) ]

You sound like you have something specific in mind.

[ it's not a no. ]

[ from here. ]

[nighttemplar]

[ Surely he knows that this is how Sandy rolls. He's nothing if not boldly forward about the things he wants. Right now, what he wants is to see this man the way he had in that dream. Warm and happy and free to enjoy himself. But he knows how the man likes his privacy. He's a lot like Lyall like that. ]

Oh. I believe I do. I believe I wish to steal you away on my motorized bicycle to a lovely summer beach or perhaps to another city completely. One of those other ones, where there's a place where men like us can do as we wish without anyone looking at us twice.

Will you come with me?