worthallthis | The Last Voyages: IC Inbox

you know more about me than i know about me rogers. maybe talking to her will help

but shes okay. dont think shes a threat

[He's still scared but that's a thing that's going to happen no matter who it is, he's pretty sure.]

If you don't think she's a threat, then I don't think she is, either.

[Of the two of them, Bucky's definitely better at assessing threats. Maybe especially right now, but it's always been true.]

But maybe I'll send her a message, then. [Just to confirm, so Bucky knows he's doing it.]

Every warden is different, so if you have questions about how she plans to treat a temporary pairing, I'd say just ask her.

[Steve, in his infinite wisdom, maybe doesn't realize how hard it is for Bucky to ask questions. Possibly because he gets so excited when Bucky asks him things, he can't see past it.]

[The communicator does get a flat look that Steve thankfully can't see. He even debates spilling the beans on how hard it is asking for things, but decides... he'd rather not. He'll deal with it without relying on Rogers for every damn little thing.]

sure

and ill find her. she doesnt know that name so wont know who i am unless she follows her item thing

I'm sure she'd appreciate that.

You tell her to call you whatever's comfortable, though. I'm sure she'll understand.

[Steve's been trying to remember, when he talks about Bucky to other people. He still slips up sometimes, though.]

she calls me buddy because i couldnt tell her the other thing

its kinda cute

[Okay it's super good you can't see his face, it looks really dumb right now.]

That does sound kinda cute.

Does that work okay for you? I can tell her to keep it up.

[There's an almost 20 minute wait before Steve gets a response, this time.]

the one i said was okay for you. tell her that one.

[He can't, he can't say it, can't ask her anything remotely related to a name, but he should... experiment. See if anyone else can use it. And he made Ellie laugh. She might be safe to experiment with, maybe.]

[That's okay. Steve can wait. Texting is convenient that way; he's finally getting some paint into Lark's place.]

Okay, sure. I'll tell her to try, but that if you don't like it, to maybe go back to the other one.

yeah if i freak out itll be pretty obvious

tell me how it goes

[This text comes quite a bit late, after Steve's had some time to actually exchange some words with Ellie.]

I like her.

good

what did she say

[Excuse you, trying to get information out of him like a pro.]

She asked if I was a superhero.

no wonder you like her

[That was the point of this, after all. Get intel on the new warden. Maybe give her some idea what to expect. Of course he wants to know.]

[Yeah, yeah.]

I mean, I'm not anymore.

[But fine:] She says she'll try the name, see if it's okay. But she'll go back to something else if it's not.

She's young, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I don't know what the other guy she's got to look after is like, but hopefully he won't give her trouble, either.