you don't know me

[insertusername]

bad rap

The things we become known for aren’t always what we’d like to be known for. Reputations are hard to run from. Sometimes they’re not even deserved. So here’s your chance to set the record straight. Clear up some misplaced assumptions, debunk any rumours about yourself and defy your stereotypes.

how to play:

Top level with something(s) your character is tired of people assuming about them, blaming them for, or pigeonholing them about, etc. Say it in person or over text.

Comment on any surprising, or not so surprising declarations.

Comments

[lawyerbyday]

You do realize you just issued me a challenge. My father was a boxer. He got back up. That tends to be genetic.

[counterstep]

( huffing sheepishly, ) That's not what I want. I mean, I get it. But. I don't think that's good, for anyone to do. A relationship shouldn't be about. Fixing someone. Or whatever.

[lawyerbyday]

What makes you think I want to fix you? Help, sure. But the baggage comment... I mean we all have baggage. So maybe we help each other carry it when it's needed. That's what I meant by handle, Barnes.

I think maybe you're the one that can't handle me. I'm too cagey for you.

[He was teasing now, the smile curling the corner of his mouth.]

All my Louis Vuitton premium baggage. My amazing assets. My ability to kiss someone to swooning. I'm just too much for you.

[counterstep]

( oh. right. ) Sorry, that's just. Usually what people mean, so I was. Assuming a bit, I guess.

( but then he laughed, matt's offered bit of silliness much more comforting to focus on. )

Yeah, no one more high maintenance than you. I'm gonna be losing my mind trying to keep up.

[lawyerbyday]

I learned my lesson about fixing someone. It just leads to a lot of heartbreak.

[A little sadness there, but he's grinning again because at least Bucky was playing along.]

Not sure you can come close to keeping up, Pops. Only one cane in a relationship allowed.

[counterstep]

Who said I use a cane? I've got me an electric chair, pal.

[lawyerbyday]

Shouldn't that be 'sonny'? 'Young punk'? Do you want me to get off your lawn?

[counterstep]

Me? Using your new-fangled terms for things? Never.

[lawyerbyday]

I'm going to walk you into a sex store just to hear your expression.

[He imagined the spluttering. Foggy had blushed while having to have a discussion with a client who worked there. Matt just stood and put his hand on a pair of fake breasts, pretending he'd had no clue. No one dared to tell him elsewise. He'd commented on the interesting mouse pad. Foggy had almost hurt himself trying not to laugh.]

[counterstep]

( the sudden shift in topic made bucky turn red anyway, having never been the most salacious in the first place. sure, he'd been around the block and then some, in his youth, but bucky had always been reserved, in a sense, gentlemanly and polite.

propriety ran too strongly through his blood for him to give in so easily to carnal interest. )

Th- that's. I'd rather we didn't.

[lawyerbyday]

[Matt chuckled because he could definitely pick up on that blush, even if he didn't tell Bucky that.]

I bet you look adorable when you blush. And Bashful is your favorite dwarf.

[counterstep]

( augh. bucky dragged his gloved left hand down his face. )

N- no. I don't. I'm not.

[lawyerbyday]

[Matt's laugh was answer enough.]

I'm starting to think that with all the blushing I'm making you do, you might just fall under the category of bisexual, Bucky. Or at least bicurious.

[counterstep]

Bicurious?

( this word he genuinely hadn't heard of before. )

[lawyerbyday]

The step before deciding if you're bisexual or not. If you're curious about what sex with the same gender is like, then you're... well, bicurious. Some people never test past that because of ongoing relationships or just fear.

[counterstep]

( honestly, he hadn't even thought about the sex part earlier, only entertained the romantic notion and the idea of kissing a man. a pensive silence fell over him as he then considered the point further, nodding after a few moments pass before he continued, )

Yeah, I think I'm definitely that bit, at least. Right now, I mean.

[lawyerbyday]

That's generalizing, but sex, romance, all of that. If you're curious about it for both sides, then bi kind of fits.

[He gave Bucky's shoulder another pat.]

I won't take it personally if you're not interested in me. That may be because you're straight or maybe I just don't float your boat. Either way, it's okay.

[counterstep]

( he didn't know yet, still. wished he could know so he could answer better, but when his brain decidedly offered nothing with regard to what he might feel of matt intimately, his mind did return to another thought. )

I wonder if maybe the reason why I never thought about it much is cause it never came up before. When I was younger, I mean. I knew people who were gay, sure, but. That was still just. Isolated. It was who they were, not who I was. ( sighing tiredly, he continued, ) Then, after getting my memories back and all that, my agency was put into question by all the gossip columns saying Steve and I were sexually involved, and that just felt. Wrong. I mean, I love Steve to pieces. Loved. But he's like. He's not that, to me. I couldn't. It'd be cruel, if I ever thought of him that way, the things he went through. I could never do that. It'd be cheap.

[lawyerbyday]

People love to gossip. It makes them feel better about what they don't have. You and Steve are hot topics. Not that it's any of their business whatever you feel. But some... more conservative types, particularly the loud ones, seem to be incapable of understanding a closeness outside of family or sex. You can be close to a brother, but not a member of the opposite gender or even your own because it crosses some kind of imaginary line.

[He let out a soft sigh, then nudged Bucky a little.]

You don't owe anyone an explanation.

[counterstep]

( the words were permission he didn't know he needed. he never said anything anyway, never knew how to, didn't think it'd matter, but that he's allowed to, isn't being expected to, is a weight lifted. )

I don't know why people try to make it their business when it's not. It's so. It's selfish.

[lawyerbyday]

People are a lot nosier now than they used to be. Especially about people in the spotlight. Now, everyone wants to know who you're dating, what underwear you're wearing, if you're cut or uncut... very invasive things that they'd be very upset to be asked themselves. Well, most of them. Don't get me started on influencers.

[He and Foggy could spend most of the day ranting about it.]

[counterstep]

( bucky didn't understand influencers at all, which was all the more reason why he didn't push the point. )

Celebrity gossip really went on another level over the decades. It's. A shame. That people have nothing better to do with their time.

I don't want to be in any spotlight though.

( that was why he worked solo, didn't consider himself an avenger or part of any group. )

[lawyerbyday]

I can understand why. Ah, my place is just up ahead. You're welcome to come up for a drink. Or not.

[Pushing didn't help with discovery or figuring oneself out. Matt was likely to scare him off if he came on too strong, so he tried to balance between showing interest and leaving the door open.]

[counterstep]

( he'd of course let matt guide them, as they'd walked, similarly to how his mother used to take him through the department store. the offer to head in came as a surprise, after the way matt had encouraged him, earlier, but the soldier realized it was likely more to do with allowing him the space rather than pressing too fast, too quickly. )

You wouldn't scare me away, you know. I don't think you could. ( very little scared him anymore, for better or worse. even embarrassed, he still did the things he needed to, what was expected of him. ) I'd only worry about potentially losing a friend.

( not a lot left. and new york is still a lonely place, with no one. )

[lawyerbyday]

I wouldn't be much of a friend if I got pissy over boundaries, Bucky.

[Not that he was always the best friend, but he tried.]