a tale of the White Wolf
NO SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR.
780 words, none of them naughty.
[also at ao3]
Once Bucky’s able to walk around without needing a nap, they move him out of Central Wakanda to a rural part of the Merchant Tribe’s lands. For his recovery and safety, they tell him. If there are going to be spies in Wakanda, they will be in the capital. And the pastoral life will help him heal, although he is not so sure about that. Before he was a weapon he was a fireman’s kid from the part of Brooklyn that didn’t have much nature still left standing. He doesn’t know anything about livestock apart from what was on view at the butcher’s, but now he’s bunking down in a place where the animals outnumber the people. Which is apparently the point of the exercise - to separate him from all that has come before so that he can figure out who he will be now.
He’s pretty sure he’s not gonna be a farmer, but for the time being he is.
There is an arm on offer - Shuri promises something spectacular with a dangerous gleam in her eyes - but for the time being, he wants to try out life with nothing but what’s left of what God gave him. Because with the triggers gone, he finally can.
His Xhosa is terrible and is mostly restricted to the vocabulary of war, so Themba has to translate almost everything because while Wakandans can learn western languages in school, everyone forgets what they know because it’s not used. Themba’s fluent in a dozen languages because she’s a War Dog; she’s on sabbatical and the village he’s living in is mostly her extended family. He doesn’t think she was chosen by accident, but he’s also pretty sure that the reason has to do with her and not him. She doesn’t live in the village full-time, however, and when she’s not around, communication is a lot of hand gestures and pointing and a polyglot of words that might be correct and then, if that doesn’t do it, a sigh and then “Themba” and a nod of agreement that whatever it is can wait until she gets back.
Which is why it takes him a couple of weeks to figure out what the kids are calling him. White Wolf isn’t an insult, he’s assured, even though that’s a dog in a country that worships cats. Themba tells him it’s because he’s white and furry, which is funny and he goes with it because of that. He doesn’t find out until much later that it’s really because he screams out in his nightmares and one of the village moms told her scared kid that it was just a wolf. Which is less funny, but by that point it’s too late to do anything because even T'Challa’s calling him that.
Between the language barrier and the agricultural incompetence and the fact that he’s still recovering from a revival from stasis that wasn’t aided by a bucketful of hard drugs, he is essentially the village idiot for his first few weeks. He is treated kindly by everyone, led by the hand to meals and to wash and someone shows up to help him dress in the mornings. The caretaking isn’t new - he’s had caretakers for seventy years - but the gentleness and consideration for his dignity is and he knows he reacts to that. That he’s overwhelmed and not embarrassed is another explanation that has to wait for Themba to return to be understood. And maybe longer to comprehend. The villagers were never told why he was in Wakanda, just that he was an ally of the king who needed somewhere to heal. Themba asks him if it’s all right for her to tell the elders that he is an escaped slave, which is technically true but just feels like the wrong way to explain the white guy in their midst. Themba pointedly tells him that that’s exactly why it’s a useful shorthand.
After the first month, things get a lot easier on all fronts. There are tasks he absolutely cannot do one-armed and tasks he initially can’t do but learns how to manage to do, like wrangle animals and plant seedlings, to make himself feel like less of a burden on the community. He can feed and dress himself, but the hair remains a problem. He wants to shave it all off for convenience, but they tease him about lacking other requirements to be a Dora and he’s certainly not a priest, so instead it’s a messy knot that he usually needs help to secure.
By the time Steve gets out to visit him, Bucky’s still not a farmer, but he’s a lot less skeptical of the idea.
Also posted at DW.
780 words, none of them naughty.
[also at ao3]
Once Bucky’s able to walk around without needing a nap, they move him out of Central Wakanda to a rural part of the Merchant Tribe’s lands. For his recovery and safety, they tell him. If there are going to be spies in Wakanda, they will be in the capital. And the pastoral life will help him heal, although he is not so sure about that. Before he was a weapon he was a fireman’s kid from the part of Brooklyn that didn’t have much nature still left standing. He doesn’t know anything about livestock apart from what was on view at the butcher’s, but now he’s bunking down in a place where the animals outnumber the people. Which is apparently the point of the exercise - to separate him from all that has come before so that he can figure out who he will be now.
He’s pretty sure he’s not gonna be a farmer, but for the time being he is.
There is an arm on offer - Shuri promises something spectacular with a dangerous gleam in her eyes - but for the time being, he wants to try out life with nothing but what’s left of what God gave him. Because with the triggers gone, he finally can.
His Xhosa is terrible and is mostly restricted to the vocabulary of war, so Themba has to translate almost everything because while Wakandans can learn western languages in school, everyone forgets what they know because it’s not used. Themba’s fluent in a dozen languages because she’s a War Dog; she’s on sabbatical and the village he’s living in is mostly her extended family. He doesn’t think she was chosen by accident, but he’s also pretty sure that the reason has to do with her and not him. She doesn’t live in the village full-time, however, and when she’s not around, communication is a lot of hand gestures and pointing and a polyglot of words that might be correct and then, if that doesn’t do it, a sigh and then “Themba” and a nod of agreement that whatever it is can wait until she gets back.
Which is why it takes him a couple of weeks to figure out what the kids are calling him. White Wolf isn’t an insult, he’s assured, even though that’s a dog in a country that worships cats. Themba tells him it’s because he’s white and furry, which is funny and he goes with it because of that. He doesn’t find out until much later that it’s really because he screams out in his nightmares and one of the village moms told her scared kid that it was just a wolf. Which is less funny, but by that point it’s too late to do anything because even T'Challa’s calling him that.
Between the language barrier and the agricultural incompetence and the fact that he’s still recovering from a revival from stasis that wasn’t aided by a bucketful of hard drugs, he is essentially the village idiot for his first few weeks. He is treated kindly by everyone, led by the hand to meals and to wash and someone shows up to help him dress in the mornings. The caretaking isn’t new - he’s had caretakers for seventy years - but the gentleness and consideration for his dignity is and he knows he reacts to that. That he’s overwhelmed and not embarrassed is another explanation that has to wait for Themba to return to be understood. And maybe longer to comprehend. The villagers were never told why he was in Wakanda, just that he was an ally of the king who needed somewhere to heal. Themba asks him if it’s all right for her to tell the elders that he is an escaped slave, which is technically true but just feels like the wrong way to explain the white guy in their midst. Themba pointedly tells him that that’s exactly why it’s a useful shorthand.
After the first month, things get a lot easier on all fronts. There are tasks he absolutely cannot do one-armed and tasks he initially can’t do but learns how to manage to do, like wrangle animals and plant seedlings, to make himself feel like less of a burden on the community. He can feed and dress himself, but the hair remains a problem. He wants to shave it all off for convenience, but they tease him about lacking other requirements to be a Dora and he’s certainly not a priest, so instead it’s a messy knot that he usually needs help to secure.
By the time Steve gets out to visit him, Bucky’s still not a farmer, but he’s a lot less skeptical of the idea.
Also posted at DW.