[ He's been in Diana's company often. There's an echo to those words that reminds him Friendly and the Princess came in a set.
A broken one. ]
One of yours is alone, now. [ Bucky takes a sip of the tea, keeping his eyes on Foster. ] I'm not designed to fill his shoes. [ A caveat. A careful reminder. ]
[ Two where there should be three on their coffee dates (of course he's watched). He thinks grief will come first, but it's guilt. Clark, alone, asleep, alive. ]
[ His fingers tighten on the mug. ]
You're not designed to fill anyone's shoes.
[ As though no cloud passed over him. There's no one like Clark, but that's not the point. The point is Bruce doesn't do replacements, he is not that man. ]
[ Corrupted. Twisted. Monstrous, he settles on that word because it's the one they share, but it says more about Bruce than it does about Bucky. ]
[ He's never seen a broken machine he couldn't fix or a poison his mind didn't wish to purge. But sometimes those things can't be weeded out, they grow, and all they can do is be tempered. ]
What do you want to be?
[ Same question, different context. Not a team, but as a person. He doesn't need an answer, he just wants that to take root, to be nourished if it's already there. ]
[ And everything possible. He nods, he can accept that even if he never understands it. Bruce finally drinks some of his tea, his posture conversational. They are both always prepared, but some of the tenseness has melted away. They could be lying. There's always that possibility. ]
[ But one monster to another, there's no need for intricacies. Teeth and claws will do. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
A broken one. ]
One of yours is alone, now. [ Bucky takes a sip of the tea, keeping his eyes on Foster. ] I'm not designed to fill his shoes. [ A caveat. A careful reminder. ]
no subject
[ His fingers tighten on the mug. ]
You're not designed to fill anyone's shoes.
[ As though no cloud passed over him. There's no one like Clark, but that's not the point. The point is Bruce doesn't do replacements, he is not that man. ]
no subject
I am designed, though. Even if the Natha removed some malware.
[ He places his mug down, leans forward, one elbow on his knee. ]
You understand, right.
[ Don't let your firewalls down. ]
no subject
[ Everything malfunctions. Things fall. ]
I'm prepared.
[ The answer Bucky needs. Bruce has his own question, ]
I'm not the man who pulls you back.
[ They aren't that to each other — they can't be. So this best friend is his last resort. ]
no subject
[ That's the simple answer. ]
His design is the same base code. I'm just the bootleg version.
[ A deformed splinter of the prototype. So flawed there was a recall issued. ]
That's how we manage.
[ That's how he handles me when I'm not myself. ]
no subject
[ He's never seen a broken machine he couldn't fix or a poison his mind didn't wish to purge. But sometimes those things can't be weeded out, they grow, and all they can do is be tempered. ]
What do you want to be?
[ Same question, different context. Not a team, but as a person. He doesn't need an answer, he just wants that to take root, to be nourished if it's already there. ]
no subject
[ Nothing much. Everything possible. ]
no subject
[ And everything possible. He nods, he can accept that even if he never understands it. Bruce finally drinks some of his tea, his posture conversational. They are both always prepared, but some of the tenseness has melted away. They could be lying. There's always that possibility. ]
[ But one monster to another, there's no need for intricacies. Teeth and claws will do. ]
I started young, [ he says, in turn. ]