Chapter Text
Alexei sprawled out over an impressively extensive section of the sofa in what Bucky thought Yelena would call a “manspread”. He watched Bucky as Bucky paced back and forth across the room.
“So,” he said, eventually, “Yelena told me you were biting at yourself again. Said she thought at first was minor issue, but then saw later you were bleeding.”
Bucky stopped and faced the sofa. “She’s wrong,” he said, and pulled his lip forward with his hand. “See? No blood.” Also, she’s a tattletale and snitches get stitches, he thought but didn’t say. He started pacing again.
“Yes,” Alexei said. “I know how serum works.”
Bucky rolled his eyes. “Look, I can see where you’re going with this, but you can’t punish me for punishing Bob. Especially when you’re the one who ran off and left me to deal with it.”
“No,” Alexei said, “you are right. And I would not want to. But I can punish you for punishing yourself for punishing Bob, you know you are not allowed to do that.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Bucky said, and whirled around on the path of his pacing, stalking a bit faster.
“No, it is ridiculous that we have to have conversation so frequently. I would like to just be silly friendly comic relief man, and yet no, because you do this.”
Bucky spun and glared at Alexei and his arms jerked at his sides, trying to fly up in a dramatic gesture. “Yeah, well, I’d like not to be - ” He cut himself off mid-sentence. “We can’t always get what we fucking want, Alexei,” he said, and resumed pacing.
“You are not just Winter Soldier, or weapon, or machine, you know this, Bucky,” Alexei said. “You are helping, and you are kind. And soft, I will not lie. I know my Yelena tries to work her way into being spanked by you instead of me, she is not subtle.”
Bucky’s mouth twitched up a little. “She does, yeah.”
“She said also you are a rabbit? Possibly we are all rabbits? I was confused at that part.”
Bucky sighed. “She picked a really great time to forget that spies and assassins are supposed to specialize in keeping secrets.”
“She has never been very good at keeping secrets other than by killing the people who know them, I will be honest,” Alexei said. “But she said to make sure you know you are a soft bunny too, not just a strong bunny.”
Bucky felt very lucky that some combination of serum, trauma, and brainwashing had made him incapable of blushing. Not that he would have. Of course.
“Now are you finished pacing?” Alexei asked.
“No,” Bucky grunted, and whirled again to start another circuit.
“You are. Come.”
“Fuck,” Bucky muttered, and stopped, and took a breath. He reached up with his right arm to remove the vibranium one.
“I have told you you do not need to do that.”
“Yeah,” Bucky said, quietly, looking at the floor, and then out the window at the city very far below, and not at all at Alexei. “But it’s easier if I’m not having to focus on not breaking things with it.”
“Fair,” Alexei said. “As you like. Now are you ready?”
Bucky almost bit his lip, and caught himself just in time. “Yeah,” he said, and made his way to the sofa.