[Bucky doesn't mind the touch to his knee as he does some deep breathing, but for a reason other than panic. He's not the type to get emotional. He doesn't do emotions, but the sense of gratitude is so profound he can't help but eek out some uneasy laughter in an attempt to vent some of the pressure under the surface. Bucky still focuses his gaze on the floor, but he nods anyway.
He's just shy of exhausted coming out of the other side of the mental ordeal and food sounds like a great idea, even if he thinks he doesn't deserve it, any of this.]
[ Emotions are hard, Sam gets that. But he's come a long way to believe that the good ones are worth all of the bad, even if the bad are real damn shitty. As far as he's concerned, Bucky feeling emotions is a new success.
He'll just maybe try to ease Bucky into them a little, because he knows they can be overwhelming - hell, he can feel it a little, through the mental link. So he doesn't call attention to that laughter, just lets Bucky do whatever he needs to in order to feel a little more comfortable, as though it were normal. It is normal, really, at least to Sam.
Sam gives an amused snort at hot dogs, but he's definitely not gonna veto something if Bucky's actually volunteering a preference. ]
Hot dogs it is. [ He pushes himself up to his feet, absolutely using Bucky's shoulder to steady himself, and then offers him a hand up. ] If I make you a root beer float to go with, that gonna count as the drink I owe you?
[Spoiler alert, he and Steve love hot dogs. Bucky doesn't realize he's made a request until Sam acknowledges it, but the fact that Sam's not making a big deal of it leaves Bucky under the pressure of more emotions. Another venting chuckle escapes him as he nods. He bites down on his lip to try and keep more of those from escaping.]
That mean I gotta challenge you? [He doesn't really know how to initiate a challenge anyway so this might be a touch difficult.
Bucky first tucks the coin into his pocket before accepting the hand up.]
[ There's another smile when Bucky takes his hand up, and Sam lingers, just a little. Gives his hand another brief squeeze, strokes reassuringly over the back of his hand, before he lets go. There's a faint hint of understanding that bleeds over from Sam's side of the mental link. You're okay, man, it's okay to feel. Judgement free zone up in here.
Well. About emotional stuff, anyway, no promises on how much Bucky and Steve love hot dogs or anything else. ]
You just gotta pull it out and show it off, or drop it on the table to make a challenge, so I'll call this one a freebie.
[Sam sends more comfort over the link and Bucky can't help but silently marvel at his broodmate's temperament. He must be one hell of a counselor back home. When Bucky first arrived here with Sam as his broodmate, he hated it and the thought that Sam would always have some kind of backdoor into his head, but now? Now, it's not so bad and maybe he even likes having the support, shocker.
Whatever, two Brooklyn boys who grew up on nothing had to eat to survive and hot dogs were surviving.]
Wait, pretend to be Air Force? [Yuck. Gross. Clearly the worst part of this whole situation.]
[ Honestly, Sam had been the same. It's not like he wanted anyone to be in his head as much as his brood is, and he definitely hadn't been thrilled that one of them was Bucky Barnes, but they're making it work. He might even acknowledge that he's glad it's Bucky, instead of someone else - maybe - and he'll at least admit that it's easier to be the kind of support he wants to be, to do the kind of things that he'd done back at the VA, with the connection between them.
It's his experience at the VA that means his own sense of inter-branch rivalry has faded a little since he was younger. They all got the same problems, when it comes down to it. That, and it's easy to be gracious when everyone knows pararescue is the branch response for saving your dumb ass.
But it's good to see Bucky identify with something, to take pride in being in the army enough to hassle Sam about being in the air force, and he's got no problem dishing it back out. ]
Brother, I was pararescue, you'd be lucky to pretend to be one of us.
[Bucky raises an eyebrow at Sam. Last he knew, pararescue was still Army, but it's been a while since he was Army. Still, this feels good, more comfortable than the overwhelming radiance of Sam's warmth of a few minutes ago. This is infinitely more familiar, too; Steve and he had memories like this from back in New York. He hopes there will be more, but quiets the blossoming emotion in his chest. None of that, now.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sizeofyourbaggage) wrote2016-05-22 03:26 pm
no subject
He's just shy of exhausted coming out of the other side of the mental ordeal and food sounds like a great idea, even if he thinks he doesn't deserve it, any of this.]
Hot dogs? [Okay he's not a man with fancy taste.]
no subject
He'll just maybe try to ease Bucky into them a little, because he knows they can be overwhelming - hell, he can feel it a little, through the mental link. So he doesn't call attention to that laughter, just lets Bucky do whatever he needs to in order to feel a little more comfortable, as though it were normal. It is normal, really, at least to Sam.
Sam gives an amused snort at hot dogs, but he's definitely not gonna veto something if Bucky's actually volunteering a preference. ]
Hot dogs it is. [ He pushes himself up to his feet, absolutely using Bucky's shoulder to steady himself, and then offers him a hand up. ] If I make you a root beer float to go with, that gonna count as the drink I owe you?
no subject
That mean I gotta challenge you? [He doesn't really know how to initiate a challenge anyway so this might be a touch difficult.
Bucky first tucks the coin into his pocket before accepting the hand up.]
no subject
Well. About emotional stuff, anyway, no promises on how much Bucky and Steve love hot dogs or anything else. ]
You just gotta pull it out and show it off, or drop it on the table to make a challenge, so I'll call this one a freebie.
no subject
and maybe he even likes having the support, shocker.
]Whatever, two Brooklyn boys who grew up on nothing had to eat to survive and hot dogs were surviving.
Wait, pretend to be Air Force? [Yuck. Gross. Clearly the worst part of this whole situation.]
no subject
It's his experience at the VA that means his own sense of inter-branch rivalry has faded a little since he was younger. They all got the same problems, when it comes down to it. That, and it's easy to be gracious when everyone knows pararescue is the branch response for saving your dumb ass.
But it's good to see Bucky identify with something, to take pride in being in the army enough to hassle Sam about being in the air force, and he's got no problem dishing it back out. ]
Brother, I was pararescue, you'd be lucky to pretend to be one of us.
no subject
You mean out of anyone in the Air Force?