scars [o]

 even if it's not there

It occurs to Chase a few moments too late that perhaps he should have been paying a little more attention to where he was going. He doesn't really blame himself, though, even if it's completely his fault. He's had a lot on his mind, lately, and he's been known to get distracted and completely lose track of where he's going. It's not really the time to be thinking about all that, though, he thinks, as he slams into someone, and falls backward, butt hitting the ground with a painful thud.

"Oww..." he groans, rubbing his sore bottom. Luckily he had avoided hitting his tail, which was hiding down one of his pant legs. Now, that would have been painful. It's then that he realizes that he hasn't even checked on the guy he ran into to make sure he was okay! Bad, Chase, bad!

Upon looking up, though, he finds that the man he had run into is...still standing. Huh. There aren't many people that can survive running into Chase, since usually it's Chase barrelling into them, and he tends to do that at alarming speeds. Mom had called him 'Bullet' for a reason, after all. "It's fine- I'm fine," Chase insists with a laugh as he gets to his feet, brushing dust off his pants and shoulders. "See? All good. No need to apologize!" Chase looks the man up and down, making sure that he's okay, but also making sure that the man is made out of flesh, since nobody usually survives having Chase run into them. "Aaaare you okay? Nothing broken or anything, right?" he asks, just in case. "I have a tendency to run into people at surprising speeds, so I just wanna make sure."

 even if it's not there

"Well- I mean, it's not like I do it on purpose..." Chase shrugs, somewhat nervously. "I guess I'm usually just...really eager to get where I'm going, haha." Or just very, very affectionate. He had a lot of love to give. "It can be problematic, though, yeah." He laughs a little, then smiles at the man.

Chase cringes a little when Bucky mentions the 'richer' part of town. His hotel room hasn't exactly been as temporary as he would have liked, and it's certainly not a luxurious living, but it's something. "Am I that obvious?" he asks, innocently oblivious to the fact that he is not where he thinks he is. He only then notices that his surroundings are not any that he recognizes, though, and it quickly dawns on him that not only is he lost, but he definitely doesn't blend in with his current company. He also finds that his current company doesn't seem quite as friendly-looking as he would have like.  "Oh- oh gosh. Yes, it is that obvious," he laughs, nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks around uneasily. "Haha- um. Yeah, I definitely stick out. Wow."

"Well. It appears I am lost," he admits, with a shrug and an awkward smile. "That's...kind of embarrassing, actually. Oops." Oh well. What're ya gonna do? He'll find his way back somehow. "Oh! God, so sorry, I didn't even introduce myself yet," he suddenly remembers. "I'm Chase. Chase Anderson." He smiles at the man warmly, offering his left hand (as he was a proud leftie) for him to shake.

 even if it's not there

Chase can't help but smile a little more brightly when Bucky laughs. Somehow he has the feeling that he doesn't do that all too often, and he's proud that he's made the man happy, at least for a moment. It's short-lived, and almost immediately after, Bucky's face seems to grow a little colder, but now Chase is determined to make him laugh again. In a weird way, Bucky reminds him of his mom. They have the same eyes, he realizes, eyes that can be warm, but are often clouded by something darker.

There's something about his outstretched hand that seems to make Bucky nervous, Chase notices, even if the man is quick to hide it. He doesn't ask why, and he pretends not to see it, but soon he finds out the reason Bucky was hesitant. Cold metal meets his hand, instead of flesh, and Chase flinches slightly at the touch, but doesn't jerk away. After the initial shock of realizing that Bucky doesn't have a left arm, he stares at it for a moment, more in awe than in horror. "Woah..." He can't help but wonder how the thing works- in all his studying he's never seen a prosthetic arm that advanced and lifelike, and even though he only gets a glimpse of it for a second, he's really impressed. "That is really cool, man. Your arm, I mean-" he says, looking back up at Bucky's face with a sort of lopsided smile. "I hope it's okay that I said that, but seriously- it's super cool." He decides that it's probably best not to ask where it came from. Bucky seems like a good guy, but he also seems like somebody that has a past he'd prefer to hide, and Chase doesn't want to be the one to push him into talking about anything traumatic.

He raises an eyebrow when Bucky calls uptown 'the richies' but nods in understanding when he explains the term. "You'd do that? I wouldn't want to be a bother," Chase tries to show that he'd totally understand if Bucky didn't want to help, but at the same time, he secretly hopes that Bucky will. He'd be able to find his way back on his own- it'd just be a matter of following his own scent trail back and being part dog helps with stuff like that -but he's wary of being alone with the people here. He's noticed how Bucky seems to stare down every stranger passing by, and Chase has never been good at scaring people off. It just doesn't feel right to him, if they technically haven't done anything to him, yet. But Bucky seems to know how to to get them to back off, and in all honesty, Chase also would like company. "That'd be great. Thanks."

He starts to turn around, but waits for Bucky before he starts walking. "So...you live around here?" he asks. He wouldn't ever say it out loud, but honestly, Bucky kind of looks like the type of guy who would be homeless. Technically, so is Chase, so he really shouldn't judge, but the question would start a conversation, so he asks it anyway. 

 even if it's not there

Chase's smile falls when he realizes that he really shouldn't have brought up the arm at all. He should have realized that the subject was probably really sensitive before opening his big mouth. "Oh- god, I'm so sorry," he apologizes, avoiding the man's eyes out of guilt. "Shouldn't have brought it up at all, huh?" Leave it to Chase not to know when to shut up, he thinks to himself, bitterly.

Luckily the conversation changes so that he doesn't have time to dwell too long on his own idiocy. "Means a lot to me that'd you'd help, really," he smiles at Bucky again, earlier sadness seemingly forgotten, and yet still lingering at the back of his mind. "I mean, I would have found my way back eventually, but- this neighborhood, haha. No offense, I'm just not used to this kind of area." He's glad that Bucky isn't homeless, even if he still looks like it. At least he's doing better than Chase is, even if it's in a less than friendly place.

"Ah- well, live is sort of a strong word," he admits, somewhat sheepishly, though his train of thought stumbles when he stops to stare with a sort of dumbstruck expression at the drunk trying to attack Bucky. He's more concerned by the fact that Bucky doesn't seemed remotely phased by the occurrence, like it's totally normal. "Umm? He just- really? You didn't even blink at that guy?" he sputters, and makes a mental note to himself to keep an eye out before somebody aims at him. He's scooting away from the drunk who is still nearby, but he tries to remember what he was saying before all that began. "I'm in a hotel room. So- technically homeless, now that I think about it," he laughs at that, but it's bitter around the edges. He'd gotten a room with two beds, out of habit, and hadn't bothered to change it. "I wasn't expecting to move, and was hoping not to be in town this long, but hey, what're you gonna do? Life happens." It was supposed to be a joke, but it only reminds him how long he's been gone. Chase really needs to call his mom, make sure she's okay. He used  to everyday. He shoves one hand in his pocket, and runs the other through his hair absentmindedly, forgetting that he's not alone for a second. A worried frown settles over his face for a moment, eyebrows furrowing. What if she's not okay, because of him?

He remembers that the real world exists and returns to it, pushing his worried thoughts away to make room for a smile, even if it seems a little less genuine than it usually would. "Sooo....how're you? How's life?" he asks, wondering for a moment if he's already said that. It's probably not a good question to ask, but Chase needs a distraction from his own troubles, and this is as good as any.

[[ I have a tendency to write really loooong posts if you haven't noticed, sorry xD ]]