[for Steve] a little less conversation

[onlyapassenger]

Follows this.

Bucky is silent, but fuming as he stalks away from the site of Thor's future home, his body language so tense it's a wonder he's even standing straight instead of crumpling under the weight of his own bad mood. That he wouldn't have left the scene without Steve's wordless request is abundantly clear, and Bucky makes no attempt to hide his distaste for the decision. His mouth is twisted in a frown and his eyes are hard as he pointedly stares ahead, not daring to look over at his friend lest he explode before they're well out earshot from their earlier company.

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[onlyapassenger]

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asks with a scoff, his face twisting in genuine confusion, ignoring Steve's question entirely to focus, instead, on what Bucky views as an accusation. "Do you think I have a list of people I dislike, now?"

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

"No, Buck, but I think if you did, Tony Stark would be on it twice," I tell him evenly.

"This man didn't put the Registration Act through. This man didn't get me arrested. This man didn't-" betray me. Turn against me after more than ten years of fighting side by side.

"-isn't that Tony Stark. He may be unfathomably smug and push every button you have- and most of mine, it's uncanny- but he's not the same guy. And I don't know about you, but all of that, all of it, is still raw for me. I know you've had more time, maybe you see this Stark more clearly than I do. In fact, I don't doubt that you do. But every time I see him, for a split second I still think it's the Iron Man I know, and if I haul off and hit him, Bucky, I might not stop."

[onlyapassenger]

There are times Bucky becomes acutely aware of the fact that he knows a different Steve Rogers than everybody else. Most people see the legend, the icon -- and whether they see him as a relic or a hero doesn't matter, at the end of the day, because all they're really seeing is the flag. The symbol, not the person. But Bucky...

Bucky sees both, and knows, in this moment, that there's probably no other soul on this island with whom Steve would be so candid. The content of the confession isn't, perhaps, surprising, not to anyone with passing familiarity in regards to the Civil War, but that he's said anything at all is worthy of note.

"He wouldn't," Bucky says, when the silence has stretched on for long enough. "Doesn't mean I'm a big fan of the guy back home, but you're right. I've had more time. I've had my tussle."

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

"It might be I never do. I'm not looking for revenge on Tony, but the Stark on this island doesn't make it easy to remember that. Though he is a very different man." I find a place to sit on a moss-covered boulder that's protruding from a thicket of jewel green ferns.

"Does he bother the hell out of me? Yes. Have I forgiven the Iron Man I knew for what happened? No. These facts together mean I have to be careful. I will not blame him, will not lash out at him over something he hasn't done. I'll just..." I run a hand over my face and heave a sigh.

"Wait until he makes the wrong quip-" Probably about Bucky, "-and fight him over his own merits."

[onlyapassenger]

"And what part of that wasn't the wrong quip?" Bucky asks, staying his ground, and folding his arms where he stands. "That's my point, Steve. The guy has given you plenty of his own merits to hate him. Hell, the only reason I held off was because I thought you deserved first dibs. If you don't want them, though..."

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

"No," I say, "to be hacked off? Sure. To dislike him, yes. But not to hate him. And in all honesty, Bucky, if you hadn't made a move I probably would have lost it on the guy just now. If I hadn't already been in motion myself, I doubt I'd've been able to get between you."

[onlyapassenger]

"Well," replies Bucky, barely trying to keep his smirk in check, "that'll teach me to be patient."

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

"Nothing else ever has," I point out.

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky barks out a laugh, lifting up a hand without uncrossing his arms to rub at his jaw, affecting an air of sheepishness he'd never actually feel in regards to the matter at hand.

"Touché."

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

I smile a little, grateful for the momentary levity.

"The rate we're going, things will come to a head eventually. I'm doing my best to give him the benefit of the doubt and he's showing an active unwillingness to return the courtesy. He doesn't respect anyone, and I'm done with it."

[onlyapassenger]

"Then you might consider shying away from sarcasm in the future," Bucky replies voice light, for all that the suggestion is meant in earnest. "You're not going to beat him at his own game, Steve. Make him play yours."

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

"Since when are you a strategist?" I ask lightly, though I smile as I do.

[onlyapassenger]

Rolling his eyes, Bucky scoffs, then shakes his head. While his version of planning has often been described as reckless, if not downright foolhardy, he'd argue he's picked up a thing or two over the years all the same.

"Funny."