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“The hell is this, Stark?” Bucky asked.
Tony rolled his eyes and shoved the gray rectangle into Bucky’s hands. “It’s a marvel of modern technology. Ask me what it does. Go on.”
“What’s it do?” asked Bucky. He turned it over in his hands to find the underside glossy. It slid against his metal fingers, and he twitched, trying not to drop it.
“It’s the most complicated thing you can remember ever holding. Technically, it’s a phone, but it’s a million other things first. Here.” He grabbed it, but still held it out, pointing out an indent at the bottom. “That’ll turn it on, you just press it, and.. voila!”
The light suddenly shone in Bucky’s face. He jerked back, unexpecting. “You said it’s a phone,” he said cautiously, taking the thing back. “Can I call Steve with it?”
“Think big, R2D2. You can call anyone in the entire world with it!” Tony clapped his hands and looked at Bucky, clearly expecting something.
“I’m probably only ever gonna call Steve, Stark,” Bucky said, shrugging.
Tony huffed. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you need to check up on your partner in codependance. Here, if you hit that button, the blue one - no, you gotta use your fleshy hand, sorry Sputnik. Yeah, there you go. Steve’s number is already in there, just tap his name. And then put it up to your ear, like-”
“We did have phones in my day, Stark,” Bucky growled. Tony put his hands up. Bucky listened to the ringing, and then - click - “Hello, Steve Roger’s phone.”
“Steve!” Bucky grinned.
“Oh hey, Buck, what’s up?”
“Stark set me up with a fancy phone, figured I’d call you.”
“Don’t got a girl waiting for you to drop ‘em a line today, huh?”
“Not in this century,” said Bucky.
“No time like the present.”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up. I gotta go. Stark’s still standing here,” said Bucky. He watched Tony point at himself and mouth, who, me?
“See ya later.”
“Bye.”
Bucky pulled the phone away from his head. “How do I - oh, red button?”
“So you can teach an old dog a new trick,” said Tony. “Your fellow geriatric still kicking?”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
“Lovely. Now, I’ll show you - texting is pretty much the same as calls, but, y’know, with text, so I’ll assume you’re literate and can figure it out. I’ll show you the camera though - hit the bottom button again.”
Bucky followed the instruction. “Where’s a camera even fit in this thing?” he wondered.
“Don’t doubt the wonders of modern technology,” Tony admonished. “You see the camera icon? There you go. Point and click, don’t put your finger over the lense, easy peasy.”
Bucky lifted the phone up, pointed it at Stark, and clicked. It made a noise. He tapped where he could see a little version of the picture in the corner, and it sprang up big on the screen. It was rather unflattering.
“Delete that,” said Tony. “I have an image to maintain.”
“Yeah, an ugly one,” Bucky cackled.
“Remind me not to show you Instagram,” sighed Tony. “You have learned much, young Padawan. Go, be free. I have tinkering to do.”
“Thanks, Stark,” Bucky said. He snapped another picture on the way out. Tony, at his workbench, instantly focused. Not bad.
He looked around the hallway, snapping a picture of the end of it. Boring. He looked himself up and down, and snapped a picture of his left hand. The light hit each of the metal panels on it differently - he’d never noticed.
Bucky strode forward, ending up in the elevator with the intention of finding a window on the common floor.
He took pictures of the view there. He even oriented the phone sideways, to get more of skyline in the frame. Then he discovered a setting called panorama, and if that wasn’t just the bee’s knees.
“Whatcha doin’, Buck?” he heard.
Bucky turned around to see Steve, in his civvies, looking like he’d just popped in from their Brooklyn apartment in 1939. Excusing the big muscles, anyways.
“You dress like an old man,” Bucky said.
“I dress the same as I always have,” Steve said.
“I know, I was there when it made sense. Now you’re just giving the elderly a fashion icon.”
“I see your point, but I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Dunno, you look pretty swell to me. Can I take your picture?”
Steve smiled. “Sure.”
Bucky held up the phone, pointed, and clicked. “There. Perfect.”