anotheroldsoldier | aefenglom ic inbox

[When the video clicks on, Bucky is bruised up from scuffs, hair wet from the shower, and he's rubbing a towel through it. He spent those three days of the mist trying to detain those going feral, keep them from hurting anyone.]

Been better, but I've also been worse. How are you doing? How's Steve?

[Tony is visibly relieved when Bucky answers. That's one at least. He makes a face when Bucky mentions Steve though.]

I can't get him to hold still. Usually I'm the one distracted by work, but he keeps disappearing. I don't think I've seen him for a full night for a while.

[Honestly, Bucky is just too exhausted to try to run. Tired, and thankful that he didn't really do anything he regrets during that mess. He wasn't affected by the mist, and if he has any new changes, they're small, subtle, and are part of his natural changing form. Well, "natural". As natural as anything gets around here.]

You want me to trail him? He was never very good at subtle. [Because that's the logical thing to offer here.] That mist, it did a number on him. He even had it out with me. If he's doing the 'running from his problems' thing, it doesn't work forever, believe me.

I know, believe me. I remember.

[He's tried to run from his issues several times. Never with any success. And he does remember when Steve asked him to help track down Bucky. He'd been busy at the time and had to limit his direct involvement, but he can remember how Steve had acted then. Tony can only imagine what happened when he finally caught up to his friend.]

He'll be mad if we start following him everywhere...

[Not that that has stopped him either, apparently.]

Do you think we should?

[They're all pretty bad about running from their problems. Bucky is just thankful he doesn't have any major problems this time around - he'd rather be here for his bondmates, especially if Steve is going to be stupid about things.]

He'll only be mad if he finds out we're following him. [Bucky points out. Which, Steve might notice Tony, or maybe the Bond would work against them, but Bucky himself is not known for being found out when he's trailing a target.] I don't know. What happened was... We don't really have any past experience like it.

He did chase me down for half a year when I didn't want to be around anybody. We could call it payback. [He doesn't like the thought of doing nothing when Steve might need them.]

[They've all had their moments, but Bucky's are the most recent and biggest in Tony's mind. If anyone would know the best way to deal with something like this, it would be the new Cap. And it doesn't hurt that he's good with reading Steve either.]

Well, we can't leave him alone.

[That he's certain of. Whatever the fog is, it left people in bad shape. They don't have their usual doctors to go to here and sticking together seems to be the one solid option there is. But they don't have experience with it. Bucky is right about that too.]

If we let him stew too much, he'll just keep being stubborn. Do you think we can distract him?

[Yeah Bucky is the biggest offender when it comes to literally crossing the globe to run away from his problems. Luckily, Aefenglom isn't nearly as large - fewer places for Steve to run.]

It's been a couple days, he's had enough space. We all have to get used to close quarters here, bein' in each other's heads and all. [Steve doesn't get half a year to run away. Nope.]

Possibly. One suggestion, though. The more you tell him it wasn't his fault, the more he's probably going to dig his heels in an' close off. That's how it was for me. Guilt doesn't know logic. Maybe we can drag him out to rebuild houses, give him a chance to feel like he's making it up.

[Tony would have run from a lot more things if he could get away with it. Luckily he's learned to adapt over the years, but that urge never really goes away. He gives Bucky a dry smile when the other hero says Steve has had enough space. Tony wouldn't have lasted this long if his friends didn't act the same way with him, pulling him out of his head when he needed it most.]

It's not his fault. It's the magic.

[He knows it's not logical. He knows how guilt can eat at people. But Tony is stubborn in his own way too.]

And I was brainwashed. Still feels bad when you know it was your hands that did it. [Unfortunately he has a lot of experience here. Bucky has worked through a lot since Steve first used the Cosmic Cube on him, but he still wakes up in a cold sweat some nights, remembering and feeling guilty.]

Hopping on that train won't be productive. You know how he is. Thinks he's responsible for the whole damn world sometimes.

Yeah, I know. No one is as stubborn as Steve Rogers.

[Apparently he tried to be and that turned out to be a complete disaster. Tony knows himself well enough to know he had to have a good reason, a good justification for it, but he is also practical enough to see the reality of results and accept what it means. There's no good way to push Steve.]

We'll just have to keep him busy, then. How are you feeling? With the changes, I mean.

Not a damn soul. I've never met someone as hard-headed as he can be. [For all his words, though, Tony can probably feel just how much affection there is behind them. They're family, always have been, ever since the war.

There's a moment of hesitation when Tony asks about how he's feeling. That's a much trickier subject, always is. He drags a hand through his hair.] Not fantastic, now that I got a better idea of what's going to happen. I'm startin' to feel some changes in my arm, the hairs are gettin' thicker, and I can feel the vibrations in the floor every time you two get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.

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