The Right Partner

If there was one thing Bucky failed to understand in the run up to the war, it was the propaganda. Recruitment drives were popping up everywhere; fairgrounds, cinemas, and now there was the obscure idea of recruitment dances. A 'chance for recruits old and new to meet'. Apparently, it was a Sargent's duty to attend such events. He'd rather not have. Spending time with friends and family seemed much more appropriate before he was shipped off to God knows where. Yet, there is was. The recruitment dance. Stood at the bar with a few friends, or rather colleagues, he had taken to watching those who had elected to enjoy themselves. He couldn't help but quietly sigh at the comments made by the men around him, which girl they wanted to take home just in case it was their last opportunity. The way the ice stirred around in his whiskey seemed much more interesting than them... He just needed something new to catch his attention.

Clara looked around in pure amazement. She couldn't believe that she was actually in New York City: yet another place she had longed to see that she could finally check off. But it wasn't just any New York City. The year was 1942. It was a time where war propaganda was nearly endless, and new forms of technology, namely by Howard Stark himself, were on the rise. The World's Fair was the following evening, and the day after that, soldiers from the 107th were shipping off to London. "This is amazing!" She exclaimed as she looked around at all the people mingling and talking before looking back to the Doctor. Most of the men wore uniforms, though that was to be expected seeing as this was some sort of a Recruitment dance. She'd decided to have a little fun with all of this and was posing as an American woman named Connie. She'd always sort of hoped she'd have the chance to try out an American accent, and it wasn't likely she'd see any of these people again afterwards anyway.

@matty healy.

It was a hard slap to his chest that caused Bucky to finally look up from his drink, one of the other men pointing out the two women posing for a photo. Undoubtedly, that would end up in some news report about support for the troops. He would have ignored it, gone back to his drink and encouraged his friend to go ahead and try get their attention... But there was something, just something about the brunette in the photographer's sight that grasped his interest. His body immediately straightened, and he didn't even attempt to hide the fact he was looking at her. His friend seemed to stand from his chair just as Bucky had straightened, but the Sargent's hand soon came down on his shoulder, gently pushing him back into his seat. Bucky shook his head, a small smirk on his face. "Not this time, soldier." He stepped away from the group, carefully weaving his way in and out of excitable people as he tried to cross the floor to find the woman.

Clara ended up talking to a lovely blonde woman named Bonnie after a while. She'd convinced her to take a picture with her, claiming that she didn't want to be the only one seen showing support for the troops. And at first Clara was sort of hesitant, but Bonnie was extremely persistent, and although she wasn't so sure that the Doctor would be too happy if she ended up making the news report, she agreed. With a wide smile on her face, she posed for a photo before walking off, laughing at something that Bonnie had said.

[I think it's really funny that the girls are Connie and Bonnie...that's literally what it says on the imdb page for The First Avenger. Did they decide to make the names rhyme on purpose or...? ]

[As if they actually did that. ]

His path came to an abrupt halt as people walked across him, and he could only stop for a moment and watch the girls again. He knew it wouldn't be too much of an issue to catch up to the brunette, but he didn't want to risk someone else stealing her attention first. Picking up his pace slightly once he was free to move again, Bucky managed to match pace with the two women, his hand lightly coming to brush against the girl's elbow. "Excuse me, ma'am," Ever the gentleman, Bucky refused to simply pull the girl away from where ever it was she was headed. His voice was smooth, almost welcoming as he addressed her. "I'd hate to interrupt your evening, but at the same time, I can't help but bother you for a dance..."

[I looked and was like, "Connie...Bonnie? What the---" How original ]

Clara laughed at something that Bonnie said, a smile lighting up her face. She wasn't all that sure of where the Doctor was at the moment, though she was sure that he would find her if he needed her. Her attention was drawn away from her newfound friend when she felt someone's hand brush against her elbow soon followed by a man's voice. Looking up, she a rather handsome looking soldier. Her eyebrows rose in surprise at his words. "Me?" She asked, nearly forgetting to use her American accent. She hoped that it sounded right. She was really only going off of what people sounded like on TV shows and in movies, so she didn't exactly know how accurate it was. It was apparently convincing enough though since Bonnie hadn't questioned her about it, although her blonde friend seemed to be a tad bit tipsy, so that could easily play a role as well. "You want to dance with me?"

A warm smile came to Bucky's face as the girl spoke, a sense of amusement finding him as he realised just how surprise she seemed to be that someone was asking her to dance. Of all things, he found it particularly endearing. He'd never been the time attracted to the bad girls, or the ones who knew just how gorgeous they were... They tended to be more trouble than they were worth in his books. He cast a brief glance at the blonde stood with Connie, his tongue briefly touching his top lip as he tried not to smirk or smile too broadly. "Well," His voice was a bit more hushed this time as he leaned in slightly, as though he was about to tell the girl some sort of secret. "Your friend doesn't look like she can dance too well at the moment..."

Clara couldn't help but smile. "I think you're right." She said, letting out a quiet laugh. "And I don't think she'll mind if I disappear for a few minutes anyway." She added soon after, realizing that the blonde was continuing on towards the bar as though Clara was still with her. She assumed that Bonnie hadn't even realized that she'd stopped. Shaking her head slightly, she focused her attention back on the soldier before her. He was dressed a bit differently than some of the others, and she assumed it had to do with his ranking. Maybe he was a...sergeant? "So, what's your name soldier?" She asked with a slight grin.

Now that he knew she was willing to dance with him, he gently took her hand in his own, leading her towards the dance floor. "Bucky," He smiled down at her, finding that people were much more willing to part from his path when he had a girl on his arm. Admittedly, he'd taken note of the blonde she'd been hanging around with. She wouldn't be too bad a girl to try get Steve to go out with. "Bucky Barnes, and yours, ma'am?" He came to a stop at the dance floor, turning to step in front of Clara. He held one hand up for her to take, the other resting on her waist high enough to be polite, but also perfectly placed to create some sense of intimacy between them.

Clara allowed him to lead her through the crowd of people towards the dance floor. She suddenly wasn't so worried about finding the Doctor anytime soon. In fact, that was honestly the last thing on her mind at the moment. And it was kind of strange, because she normally wasn't one of those girls who got easily distracted by a cute boy, but there was something about Bucky. He was definitely charming, and a gentleman, something that one didn't see much of anymore. "Connie. My name's Connie." She smiled, taking his hand.

"Connie," He repeated after her, the name rolling off his tongue easily. Taking a small step forward to lead her into the dance, Bucky looked as though he was seriously contemplating the name for a moment. "Connie... I like it. It suits you." The wide smile game back to his face, his body naturally moving in time to the music. At least these events kept the dancing dignified, nothing too over the top or extravagant. It was a time for the men to enjoy moments they would soon long for when they were sent off to the front line. He knew in a few weeks time, he'd be dying for a slow dance with a gorgeous woman.

"You think so?" Clara asked, unable to help the soft laugh that escaped from her lips. And when she saw the smile on his face, she couldn't help smiling herself. She loved going to all of these crazy places, some that she didn't even know existed until recently, with the Doctor, however, it was nice to do something slightly normal for once. Granted, most girls didn't get a chance to dance with a man well over half a century before they were born, but this was definitely more normal than some of the things that she had experienced recently. "So, do you do this often?" She asked randomly, wanting to keep the conversation going. "Charm girls into dancing with you, I mean."

Despite his hesitancy to come to the dance tonight, he was glad he had. It had been a while since he'd actually taken the opportunity to do something as simple as dance with someone. He'd been so caught up in recruitment, and training. It felt normal, pleasant. He didn't have to worry about anything in that moment except not stepping on Connie's feet. Raising her hand in his slowly, Bucky led her into a gentle spin, his smile softening to one of genuine pleasure. There was something about this girl that just made him feel so light, and free. He couldn't help but smile around her. "Only the pretty ones."

The smile on Clara's face only seemed to widen with every second that passed where she was with Bucky. He was sweet, charming, a gentleman, and he definitely knew how to dance. And it wasn't the horrid dancing that people did nowadays either. It honestly all just well, perfect. "Only the pretty ones?" She repeated, amusement evident in her voice. "Don't you think you're laying it on a bit thick?" She raised an eyebrow, the smile still tugging at the corners of her lips.

Connie's comment caused him to raise an eyebrow of his own, a mix of amusement and pretend shock coming to his face. "Layin' it on thick, huh?" A small laugh escaped his lips as he shook his head every so slightly. "You got me there, laying on the charm thick..." He seemed momentarily lost in his thoughts before his eyes came to meet with hers, a rather cheeky grin spreading across his face. "Is it working though?"

"Possibly..."Clara said, a wide grin on her face. She really did enjoy his company. She hadn't laughed this much with someone who she had literally just met in, well, ever. There was just something about Bucky that she liked. Really, there were quite a few things that she was beginning to find that she liked about the man. And she was really hoping that tonight wouldn't be the only time that she saw him either. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that wanting to see him again probably wasn't a good thing. But she didn't want to think about that right now.

"So, I have to ask how you found yourself here tonight?" His eyes still fixed on hers, Bucky slowly slid his hand around to rest on Connie's lower back. He made sure that he wasn't invading any sort of personal boundary, carefully paying attention to her body language. As far as he could tell she liked him so far, and he didn't want to push his luck with a girl like this. He could practically feel the envious eyes of his friends as they sat at the bar and watched the two of them. "I'm not gonna have some angry little soldier coming over and challenging me for dancing with his girl, am I?"

It was a good thing that Clara was quick at thinking on her feet, because she hadn't really thought of much of anything past being an American woman named Connie. No backstory or reason for being there tonight at all, but she wasn't going to sweat it, because she wasn't someone who usually stumbled over her words or made it overly obvious when she was lying through her teeth. "Nope, definitely not." She laughed softly. "Though, my cousin's around here somewhere...I kind of wandered away from him earlier even though he told me not to. I never really listen to him though, and I needed to keep an eye on Bonnie, though I think she's otherwise occupied now anyway."

"Ah, right, your cousin." A mockingly stern expression came to Bucky's face as he nodded, as though he was trying to look as presentable as possible in case said cousin came over to check on Connie. "And he's not gonna tell me off for dancing with you?" It was nice to keep the conversation so lighthearted. There'd been no mention of the war, or the impending damage that would come along with it. It was just Bucky and Connie, dancing together much to the dismay of a few jealous men. "Don't worry about Bonnie," He shrugged a shoulder casually, "She headed to the bar, so my guys have probably got her."