Jingle bells, Batman smells—!

[taintedcrimson]

Happy Holidays Meme

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Wherever your character is, whatever their feelings on the plethora of holidays found in December, they're bound to be caught up in the festivities. It's up to you what kind of holiday they'll experience! (Feel free to exchange Christmas for whatever holiday your character celebrates.)

Directions
1. Comment with your character, series, preferences, etc.
2. Roll a number between 1-17 (gen) or 1-4 (smut) for a prompt.
3. Reply to others and play out the scenario!


Gen Prompts
1. Tree Shopping — There's nothing like a freshly cut tree at Christmas. Do you go out into the woods to find one yourself, or do you stroll through a lot while it's snowing, looking for the perfect tree?

2. Ice Skating — Do you skate at rink or out on a frozen pond? Have you ever skated before? How many times do you fall?

3. Pinterest Fails — You're set on making your own gifts this year, so you try out some adorable Pinterest ideas... And fail miserably. How do you salvage Christmas?

4. Secret Santa — The names have been drawn and now you're tasked with finding the right gift for someone who you may hardly know. Is it easy, or do you have to do some reconnaissance before making your decision?

5. Christmas Market — There are stalls of handcrafts and delicious goodies lining the streets, with crowds of people out walking in the snow and drinking mulled wine.

6. Decorating the Tree — How will the two of you decorate the tree? Do you spend a half hour untangling the twinkle lights, make popcorn strings while listening to carols, argue over who gets to put the star on top?

7. Road Trip — The snacks are packed and you’re ready to go to grandma’s house. But what happens when you lose GPS signal and get lost in the middle of nowhere or the car breaks down?

8. Stuck in the Airport — You’re snowed in and the hotels are full of fellow delayed passengers. Why don’t they make these chairs more comfortable for sleeping in?

9. Avoiding the Family — You’re obligated to go home for the holiday, but there’s only so much you can take of your family. Go for a walk, stop by the bar, whatever it takes for a little peace and quiet - and meet someone along the way.

10. Christmas Party — Are you hosting the event, or just bringing an extra bottle of wine? Is it a work function? How many glasses of spiked eggnog have you had?

11. Baking Shenanigans — How long does it take for the two of you to destroy the kitchen, either with forgetting to put the lid on the blender or simply starting a food fight?

12. Burned the Turkey — Well, the main course is a little blackened. Time for Chinese food, or is it pizza this year?

13. Mistletoe — The little sprig of green strikes again! Are you the one stuck under it, or the lucky finder ready to claim your prize?

14. Last Minute Shopping — Are you out fighting the crowds for the best deals? Or are you behind one of the counters, stuck in the annual retail holiday hell?

16. Turbo Man — You have one last thing on your shopping list, but it's the hottest of the season and everywhere is sold out. There's only one left — but they've spotted it too! Who will walk away victorious?

17. Taking in a Show — Who doesn't love going to the theater during the holiday season? The shows always seem a little more magical this time of year, and that new musical sounds like just what you need to get in the spirit.

18. Write-in Option — Is there something we missed? Is there another scenario you want to play out? Go for it!



Smut Prompts
1. Present Under the Tree — You've wrapped yourself up and are waiting for that special someone.

2. Sneaking Away at a Party — No, you can't wait until you get home or the guests leave, you need them now.

3. Keeping Warm During a Snowstorm — The power's gone out and you have to stay warm somehow...

4. Baking Surprise — How on earth did you get chocolate there? Oh well, can't let it go to waste!

Comments

[armeyets]

Huh. Well.

[ The problem with the past ten years is that he's only been around for less than half of it. There hasn't been much room for living in his years since leaving HYDRA, especially considering his time spent on ice in Wakanda and then dusted out of existence; plus Bucky's been puttering along in a kind of half-life even outside of that. So he chews over the question. ]

So, to be totally honest— it's not like I have that many recent stories to fall back on. Like, five of those years, I wasn't even here.

[ Silver lining of Bucky's strange life: blinking and finding that the world had slid five years in the interim was, actually, pretty par for the course for him. That particular chapter hadn't been quite as traumatic for him as others. He was already a man out of time, so what was one more blip? ]

I don't really have one big embarrassment. Maybe just a bunch of small ones. Like my first real mission with Sam, I made the really smart decision of jumping out of a plane without a parachute and just bouncing off every tree on my way down. Or maybe— okay, so, he made me a dating profile without me realising and set my preferences to women over sixty?

He wasn't enough of an asshole to actually match with them, but I had to figure out how to change those settings. And update my bio. And that, Daisy Bernardine Johnson, is how I learned what 'cougars' were.

[chuju]

[ She'd picked the ten year span to make it easier for him, hopefully spare him from stories that would bring up the kind of grief she's sure he still carries with him, but as he struggles to find a story, she worries the tactic had the opposite effect. It's a relief when he starts the telling, and she's smiling when he mentions his life-sized pinball game (would he understand that reference?) and the dating profile. The latter is just the sort of thing she might do to troll one of her friends, to be honest. But then.

Cougars. The very idea sends tears back to her eyes as the laughs spill out, though she reaches up to wipe the corners of her eyes before they get too far. ]

Okay, but you totally got off easy with the whole not being matched thing. If it had been anyone else...

[ She shakes her head, rubbing at her eyes again. She's tired but not tired enough for this night to end. Especially not before she's held up her end of the bargain. Smile fading to an open but weary expression, she sighs heavily. ]

I'm only gonna say it once, and if you ever tell anyone, cougars will be the least of your worries. [ Stealing herself, she pouts like a child and glumly gives him the information he's been waiting so impatiently for. ]

Mary Sue Poots.

[armeyets]

[ It takes a moment for that to sink in. For him to parse the syllables, and put the three names together. And it is, gloriously, just as bad as Daisy promised. Maybe even worse. He stares at her, agog and dumbfounded as he near-gasps: ]

No.

[chuju]

Yes.

[ Her pout somehow manages to grow in comical intensity and she leans forward, raising both hands to frame her face as she props her chin in her palms. Another heavy sigh, followed by a complaint she's repeated far too many times over the years. ]

As if being an orphan wasn't bad enough.

[armeyets]

[ Say this for the nickname 'Bucky': at least James liked it. ]

How early did you pick 'Skye' for yourself? Was there a period of time where you did answer to Mary? — or, uh, Mary Sue?

[chuju]

I answered to it for sixteen years. I didn't really have a choice; I was never in a foster home long enough to convince anyone to call me anything different, and the nuns never even considered it. But as soon as I left and got my hands on a laptop, I erased every trace of that name I could find.

[ Sixteen-year-old Daisy had been pretty damn thorough, too. Other than the odd written record buried I'm a dusty basement filing cabinet, she'd erased any trace of herself prior to becoming Skye. ]

[armeyets]

[ He shakes his head, still disbelieving, a bemused smile trapped on his face which he keeps trying to bite back, and failing, but not wanting to be caught bursting out into actual laughter at her plight. It's still bubbling under his voice though as he says, ]

Your secret's safe with me. And I'm sorry, but man, that really was horrible. Thanks for making me fight for it.

[ And then after a pause, Bucky's blue eyes linger and trawl over her: a long, assessing look from tip to toe of what he can see of her across the table. A measured gaze, to a purpose, and that purpose becomes clear a moment later as he concludes: ]

You don't look like a Mary Sue Poots. I like 'Daisy Johnson' way better.

[chuju]

[ As much as it pains her to have one more person out in the world who knows that name, Daisy can't begrudge Bucky's amusement at her horrible childhood fate. But she's glad she made him work for it too — the best things in life are worth the effort (as are the worst secrets).

The weight of his studying gaze is a comforting one, the feeling at odds with her nerves at what he might find. She doesn't expect the explanation he gives, but a heat creeps up her neck to her cheeks. ]

Thanks. So do I. [ She tilts her head, studying him in return with a small smile. ] You look like a James... But you also look like a Bucky. Which would you prefer I call you?

[ After the evening they've shared, she wonders if his answer will have changed or stayed the same. ]

[armeyets]

Probably because I go by both. [ He drums his fingers thoughtfully, unconsciously, against the side of his whiskey glass, but realises there's a metallic clink clink clink from his vibranium fingers. Perturbed, Bucky switches hands to hold it in his right one instead, and tucks the left hand beneath his elbow again.

It is a good question. They'd mostly gone by Barnes and Johnson when they were on the op together. The cops, authorities, SHIELD, people he works with in official capacities, they tend to call him Sergeant Barnes as a measure of respect. How he introduced himself mattered; for a while, he'd groused about how Sam hadn't earned the right to call him Bucky yet, although they were long past that now. Zemo had been assiduous about using James.

But in the end, it's easy enough to answer for her. ]

Most people call me James, but friends can call me Bucky.

So I think we can safely say you can call me Bucky, by now.

[ A flash of a smile. ]

[chuju]

[ Sitting up properly, Daisy folds her arms on the table again, smiling softly in return. It's touching that he's willing to let her call him that — she knows better than most how important names can be to someone. ]

Well, I feel special now. [ She tilts her head to the side, blonde hair falling over her shoulder as she watches him with affectionate interest. It still feels like such a surreal thing to be sitting here with Bucky Barnes, of all people, but she's starting to accept that this is really happening. She's really becoming friends with a hero who's been through just as much horrible shit as she has... and they might even be inching toward something more. ]

You never said what your favorite flower is.

[armeyets]

Don't have one, much. Flowers are meant to be given to pretty ladies.

[ He finishes off his drink while he thinks it over again. But a question does deserve an answer. So: ]

In a pinch, though... maybe sunflowers. There were some nice sprawling yellow fields in Italy, on our way to the front. Really great sight.

[ And then it had all been miserable mud and shelled-out roads and grey-brown everywhere, like the world had been leached of its colour— but it meant he still remembered those sunflower fields, as a startling glow of colour before the world sank into black-and-white. ]

[chuju]

That sounds beautiful. [ And it really does, something in his description giving her an almost wistful longing to see those sprawling fields. Do they still exist? Have they survived the tests of time or were they paved over for a shopping center or residential district? Would he like to see them again or would it be too much of a reminder of that time of his life? Is the time-smudged memory enough for him?

She takes a deep breath and shakes her head, something almost melancholic settling around her. ]

You know, I feel like I've missed out on the whole traveling-for-fun thing. There are so many amazing places on this planet and I've only seen most of them while I've been running to stop a bad guy or averting some kind of crisis. I can't even imagine what an actual vacation would be like.

[ She studies his face, knowing his situation is so much like her own in that regard. It's yet another thing they share. ] Can you?

[armeyets]

[ He shakes his head, although that headshake means agreement; means he understands; means he knows exactly what she's talking about. ]

Me either. Not really. Vacation back in the day meant hopping the train to visit my sister out in Indiana, maybe every few years, if I was lucky. And now the world's so much smaller and we can go all over in the blink of an eye, but it's not like I've gotten to take it in. Doesn't feel like it counts. I've been all over Europe, but I was always looking over my shoulder or working a mission. Romania, Germany, Latvia. Me and Sam were in Madripoor for an op, which was— an experience— but you don't really get to take in the sights. Wakanda was probably my closest thing to a vacation. [ A beat, his head cocked. ] Actually, I don't even know if that information reached the public — but I was under sanctuary in Wakanda for a while, and even that was more like... rehab, I guess.

[ Somehow it is so, so much easier to talk to Daisy than it is to talk to his therapist. Probably because she's been through similar nightmares. ]

Where would you go? If you just wanted to travel for fun?

[chuju]

[ He'd had a sister. He'd had a whole family who'd been left behind. They'd mourned him as a fallen soldier but it was only seventy years later that he'd been able to mourn them. She wants to ask about them, to hear any story he'd be willing to share, but that seems like a better topic for another time. Maybe when they're at the start of their drinks instead of near the end. ]

China. [ There isn't even a hint of hesitation in her answer, no moment of consideration needed. She's thought of this before. So many times. ] I was born there. My mom was Chinese but I don't really know anything about the country or its people. May's shared bits and pieces of her family's culture but there's still so much I don't know.

[ Grinning, she inclines her head in his direction. ] I'm jealous of your getting to stay in Wakanda, though. I'd love to hear about it sometime. The good and bad.

[armeyets]

Yeah, it was— good. I didn't even realise at first how isolated the country was. They're not big on tourists there, to put it mildly, so in hindsight it was pretty special.

[ Daisy's answer — so quick, so immediate — is a good one, though, and Bucky seems to light up in curiosity. ]

Do you speak any Mandarin? [ he asks in the language, and then he reins himself back in, sheepish. ] That was totally showing off. Sorry. Call it one of the only silver linings of my training. But that's great— that you've got somewhere to look forward to. A personal connection to the place, a reason to learn more about its culture. That's cool.

[ 'Training' was a paltry word for what they'd done to the Winter Soldier — it was more like breaking him apart and reforging him over and over and over, picking up languages like additional tools in his arsenal — but at the end of it all, at least he can browse the market in Chinatown with impunity. So. Hey. Bright sides. ]

[chuju]

[ The foreign language spills from Bucky's lips with perfect inflection and tonal range and Daisy's eyes go comically wide. She'd heard about his 'training' and how it likely included a good number of languages but seeing it in action was something else. Also, he was, in fact, totally showing off. When she recovers from the bit of shock, she shakes her head in playful exasperation. ]

Well, I think you just talked yourself into going with me if I ever do go. May's tried teaching me a few phrases but unless they're based in computer code, I think learning languages is beyond me. So, [ she waves a hand across the table at him ] you'll just have to come along and be my translator.

[armeyets]

[ Bucky grins, stupidly pleased with himself. He'd been on the verge of making a translator joke, so he just enjoys that she beat him to the punch. And maybe Hey, let's go on vacation somewhere together would've been a far too impulsive offer to most people, even when offered partially in jest — but they could think of it as safely relegated to the future, someday, sometime. Considering neither of them had really gotten to have those trips for fun, it was just fun to imagine options for the future.

And besides. He's a little more lackadaisical about the idea of travel companions when somehow, at the drop of a hat, he'd wound up on a private jet with noted terrorist Helmut Zemo. Traveling somewhere with Daisy instead would be a downright dream compared to that company. ]

It's a deal. And hey, maybe if this whole 'professional sidekick' thing doesn't work out for me, maybe I could try my hand at being a translator-for-hire, [ he muses; half-joking, but maybe there's some merit to it too. ]

[chuju]

[ Just the idea of potentially one day taking a vacation with Bucky is enough to send Daisy's spirits soaring. Hope, that's what it is. Hope that they might have that chance one day, that they might get close enough to take such a trip together. Hell, she'd be excited to go anywhere with him, but this... She really does hope it happens.

He's joking, at least in part, but she approaches the subject seriously, a smile on her lips but no hint of humor in her voice. ] I think there are a lot of things you could do with your skills and experience. Things that don't involve having to punch or shoot your way out of a situation. If you wanted another kind of life, you could have it. You've certainly earned the chance to try.

[armeyets]

And you, Daisy Hildegarde Johnson, [ he says with equal seriousness and false gravity (and apparently he's keeping up that name schtick too), ] could probably get a good gig as a motivational speaker.

[ It's not a malicious tease, though. He means it, even if he's skirting a little away from the topic at hand. She's been buoying him ever since they first met, even when they were complete strangers to each other; it was a kind gesture. ]

So. Coding languages. Sixteen. Did I hear you right that you— left, at sixteen? Did you run away, or...?

[chuju]

[ Looks like she's stuck with Hildegarde. Could be a lot worse. He's cute when he says it, and she can at least be certain it'll never be official. And the compliment is nice — she's given her fair share of motivational speeches before, so she's had plenty of practice. ]

Yeah, basically. I left a note so they'd know I hadn't been kidnapped or something and then I just left. Won a laptop in a bet, taught myself to code, and made a name for myself in the hacker world. I ended up working with the Rising Tide after a few years, a hacktivist group trying to share information for public good, and that's how I got on SHIELD's radar.

[armeyets]

[ Once upon a time, pretty much none of those words would've meant anything to him. How times change. But now he is at least vaguely familiar with hacking, or at least the concept of it — and he remembers Nat and Steve and how they'd blasted SHIELD's own records out into the open. For the public good.

(And it had done good, like pricking an infected wound and bleeding it out— even if it had inadvertently meant Zemo being able to pull on that thread and find his way to the Soldier's trigger words.) ]

Does that mean you guys, like, broke into... information vaults [ oh god he's old, please forgive his lack of terminology ] and shared it publicly when people were trying to hide something shady?

[ Fuck it, might as well reveal where his thoughts are circling. ]

I'm thinking about Steve's SHIELD data dump. Sorry.

[chuju]

[ Hearing Bucky try to describe hacking is nothing short of delightful. She'll have to remember that phrasing for later when she needs some material to tease him with. ]

That's exactly what we did, yeah. Big corporations, people with way too much money and dirty secrets to hide, shady government organizations... Everyone was fair game. We felt the people deserved to know every bit of information out there.

[ Everything had been so different back then. She'd been different. Then the entire world had changed — again. ]

But then I joined SHIELD and realized that some things are better kept secret. People wouldn't be able to live their lives if they knew half the stuff I've dealt with, even after what Thanos did.

[armeyets]

Spoken like a true SHIELD agent.

[ Bucky says it dryly, but he doesn't really have anything against the organisation. He likes working with them; he's harmed them more than they've harmed him, and he'd been fond enough of the agency's predecessor. He's pondering that philosophy, though, and ruminates his interpretation of why Daisy would prefer to keep those things classified: ]

You think they would freak out? Public wouldn't be able to keep it together if they knew about all the things that go bump in the night?

[chuju]

[ Given everything he's been through, she doesn't blame him for... is that skepticism? Plain old doubt? Or maybe just a healthy wariness because of the types of secrets the agency used to harbor? Daisy's quiet for a moment, her eyes falling to the tabletop, and she sounds so very tired when she finally answers. Weary to her very bones. ]

I think they wouldn't be able to sleep at night, and someone deserves to, if not us.

[armeyets]

[ There's a knowing twitch at the corner of his mouth, at her tip of the hat to their mutual troubles with insomnia. ]

"We carry the burden so they don't have to", that sort of thing?