frostythehitman

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JAMES (BUCKY) BARNES

Hey, this is James. Text me if you need me. Or leave me a message if you want, but I'm probably not going to listen to it because, seriously, this is 2017 and no one uses voicemail any more.

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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[Hey. James.

There's a golden retriever coming your way.

He has a collar and tags, but more importantly, he has a leash, with no human on the other end. It's just dragging behind him as he trots up to various people. He raises a paw to gently tap their leg, but when they shift aside or walk away, he moves on to the next person rather than follow.]

[ James feels the light tap on his leg and looks around to see...a dog. One that clearly has an owner and is clearly trained. He looks around for anyone who might be looking for a lost dog, but can't hear or see anyone that might fit that description. Everyone is ignoring the dog, calmly going about their day, no sign of trouble or concern.

So James leans down and pets the dog lightly. Because how can he resist? ]

Hey there. Are you lost? Looking for help? Can't find your owner?

[The golden retriever accepts the pets, then gives a soft woof in reply to his questions. Once he's certain he has James's attention, the dog trots a few yards in the direction he'd come from. Then he looks back at James to make sure the man is following him.]

[ Well, alright. If the dog wants to show him something, who is he to decline? James sure enough follows the dog, keeping a few steps behind. ]

[Satisfied that James is following him, the golden retriever leads him around a corner and down a couple blocks, stopping for traffic when needed. After a few minutes, they arrive at a bus shelter where Tatsuo is sitting, elbows on his knees, head resting on his hands. The dog walks up to him and sticks his head between Tatsuo's arms, causing him to sit up. Tatsuo ruffles the dog's ears affectionately.]

Hey, boy. I'm okay. I just need a few more minutes.

[And then he notices he's got company.]

Oh, hi James.

[ James blinks, surprised. ]

The dog's yours?

[ Then he realizes that Tatsuo wasn't exactly looking all that great when he first walked up to him. No one holds that kind of pose when they're having a good time. ]

What's going on?

Yeah, this is Yujirou. I adopted him last year.

[as opposed to getting him from Retrospec]

As for what's going on... I got a few memories back to back, and the childhood ones always hurt like hell. S'what I get for repressing all my childhood trauma in my past life.

[Tatsuo ruffles Yijirou's ears again]

So I guess someone got worried and decided he was going to get some help, huh?

[Yujirou let out a woof of agreement and gives James a tongue-lolling grin, looking quite pleased with himself]

[ Well shit, how do you expect James to resist a grin like that? He can't help but smile back and ruffle the fur on top of Yujirou's head.

He's pretty quiet aside from that though, for a few moments. Petting the dog is easier than figuring out how to respond to Tatsuo's words. ]

Well...now I can't let him down. What's this all about?

[ He's intentionally phrasing things vaguely because he's not quite sure how to talk more directly about this. So instead, he'll just...express the intent to help and let Tatsuo figure out what 'help' means to him, and how James can do it. ]

[Yujirou's tail thumps against the sidewalk. Right behind the ears pls James.]

Basically, there was a murder I was trying to solve in my past life. It was a twenty year old cold case where a woman in charge of a foster home was shot and killed. No one was ever charged with her murder, and as far as I can tell, no normal police record of the case existed. At least not where a regular detective could access. So I've been trying to put the jigsaw puzzle that are the memories related to this case together, while I'm still missing pieces.

[While he talks, Tatsuo digs into his jacket pocket and produces a ziplock baggie of boned shaped dog treats. Homemade dog treats. He palms one to Yujirou, who happily scarfs it down.]

[ And behind the ears James goes. But even as he scratches Yujirou's ears, his expression grows less happy and more conflicted. Like he's not quite sure what to make of Tatsuo's words. ]

Huh. Why?

[Why is he try to solve the murder in his past life? Why was the murder committed in the first place? Why is he even trying to figure out what happened now? All good and valid questions. Tatsuo knows he could just sit back and eventually the various pieces of his past life's memory will fit themselves together into a picture he can make sense of. But half the fun of a jigsaw puzzle is visualizing what the missing pieces look like.]

Because there was one witness to that murder. Me. Well, past-life me.

[Yujirou appreciates the ear scratches James. So much so, he decides to bestow a further honor on you. His belly. The golden retriever lays down and then rolls against James's leg, paws splayed wide so the man has clear access to his belly.]

[ James can only focus on so much at once, and right now the dog belly takes precedence. He's silent for a few moments--but still listening!--as he goes in and scratches Yujirou's belly like the good boy he is.

After a few moments of that, he finally looks up to address Tatsuo. ]

Okay, but why does that matter here and now?

[ It's not like that murder happened in this life, after all. ]

[Yujirou pants happily, tongue dangling out the corner of his mouth. His tail sweeps the sidewalk clean beneath it.]

It's how I process all of this. I try to see how everything fits together. Pick them apart, so I don't get swept along by every single one. And so I can make sure I don't repeat any of the mistakes he made in his life.

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