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Bucky squints down the field, aims, and shoots. The ammo in his hand arcs gracefully through the air –
To bounce off the vulnerable, unprotected target that is the back of Tony Stark’s head.
“Dude, what the fuck!” he shouts, haphazardly chucking the football at Bucky’s feet and rubbing at the back of his head at the same time. “What the fuck Barnes, I thought we were cool after the bonding thing!”
“Sorry Tony,” he mutters, stooping to pick the forlorn ball up. It looks kind of lonely and pathetic just lying on the ground like that. Like him. Sitting here. Without Steve. “I’m just – frustrated.”
“Oh, yeah?” The scientist perks up, sore spot forgotten as he trots over to seat himself by Bucky on the stone bench. “Wanna talk about it? I mean, pfft, I’m no good at feelings, we’ve covered that already, but Janet puts up with so much of my bullshit I feel like I gotta pass the karma on, y’know?”
*
“Can Stevie come out to play?” Bucky asks, grinning. He has a football tucked under his arm, which he may or may not have snuck out of the bins at the stadium – Steve eyes it enviously.
“Buck, I can’t,” Steve sighs. “I have a History paper due next Friday, and I don’t even have an outline done yet.”
“Aw, but Steve,” Bucky pouts, “you just came back from a mission! Learn to live a little!”
“Fifty percent of my final grade is riding on this, Buck. Fifty.”
*
“Oh, wow,” says Tony, eyes wide. “Oh, wow. Which douchebag professor does that? What kind of – Extensions are a thing that exist, right? Does Steve know that extensions exist?”
*
“Can’t you get the deadline pushed back or something?” he asks, flopping down on the bed. “You’re Captain America, Steve. What good is your costume if it can’t get you out of shitty deadlines, eh?”
Steve looks at him with a mournful whine.
*
“Oh, wow,” says Tony.
“Six hours,” says Bucky, just because he’s still trying to wrap his mind around it. “Six hours, Tony. What the fuck kind of extension –”
“What an asshole.”
“Six hours?”
“What an asshole –”
“That paper was due at midnight, pushing it back six hours isn’t helping anyone, it’s not like he’s fucking gonna check his email at 6 fuckin’ am –”
“I’m calling in Pepper,” says Tony suddenly, a manic glint shining in his eyes. “She’s in charge of student wellbeing, she won’t stand for this – oh my god, Barnes, can you picture the look on his face? Pepper’s gonna pulverise him. Get your camera ready, we’ll get so many upvotes for this –”
*
“I don’t believe you,” Bucky groans, dropping his football. “Stark and I go to all that trouble to get you an extension, and what do you do?”
Steve has the audacity to look sheepish as he quietly stuffs his textbook back into his bag.