❛ white-- off-white. nuance. just pick, ❜ he sighs into the receiver, finger hovering over the end call button as he watches his lead slink into a brothel with two thugs in tow. 

@accipitrinae​ said: ❛ we aren’t having a lot of S-E-X right now. ❜

whoever clint’s talking to on the other end of the line, it’s not him, but it’s about him. them. whatever. bucky steps back down from the ledge he had been crouched on for little over a half hour now. he recognizes the muffled voice in the background, the snort that follows clint’s little quip. at least nat’s keeping clint company in the meantime.

finding clint is easy enough-- tracking was like second nature to someone of his calibre; the couch is always his first go-to and then the kitchen. given they  [ pretty much ]  live together it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. lo and behold, he finds barton in front of the tv, probably watching some modern comedy he couldn’t guess the name of. without hesitation or consideration, bucky grabs the remote and the picture disappears in a flash. from somewhere beneath the pile of decorative cushions shoved to the other end of the sofa, alpine mewls in protest. 

❛ i need your help. ❜

he knows this argument won’t go anywhere, it’s been had a thousand times and clint takes it seriously. he does. but this round, he just won’t win. bucky’s not wrong, but it still doesn’t feel right. his mouth turns downward into a frown and he looks away. ❛ yeah, but i would’ve been fine. ❜ it ignores bucky’s point as much bucky had ignored his.

❛ this is serious, ❜ he warns, though his tone is far from genuinely stern. it’s not the sort of thing clint wants for bucky, or anyone else, for that matter. 

what glimmer of playfulness there had been quickly withers and a frown pinches at his features instead. whether clint is actually annoyed at him or mad or disappointed -- perhaps all of the above -- doesn’t matter to him in the present moment. he’ll certainly dwell on it later but for now, he’s just thankful he had been here, whether clint needed him to be or not. the act hadn’t been to discredit clint’s abilities.

❛ hey--! ❜ it’s reflexive, the way his arm darts out to snatch at her wrist; caught red-handed. rarely is he the target of a thief, his guard always up. she’s good-- his arm whirrs silently, gloved silver fingers slowly release the wrist in hand one by one, when he realizes the she in question is a young girl likely no older than ten. pickpockets came in all shapes and sizes, if not for the initial shock of the situation, he might have felt a pang of sympathy. that'll come later, no doubt. ❛ s’ nothin' in there but lint, kid, ❜ thank god.   

“Come now, Bucky. You know we rarely have to choose.” He lets the truth of that statement hang in the air a moment or two before finally following up. “Thankfully, however, this time it’s just a kind gesture from one friend to another. No horrid revelations to follow, for once.”

he stares at bucky for a long minute. he doesn’t know if they’re dead, but bucky’s aim is far from questionable and clint doesn’t really want to look. there’s the same conflicting emotions there always are when the violence gets serious and clint frowns, itches to fold his arms over his chest in judgement or maybe — he doesn’t know. god, he’s turning into steve. this is a nightmare. bucky’s reasoning is unfortunately fair, even if it’s also a crock of shit. he can handle himself and even if bucky was feeling protective (a can of worms he’s so unwilling to open right now, even if it settles heavy in his chest) he can hit— clint lets out a slow, measured breath and settles for his ego, the easiest of the emotions to handle. ❛ i can handle myself. ❜

he can practically sense clint’s discomfort on the matter, if his body language was anything to go by, at least. bucky braces himself for some form of lecturing. steve’s had a tendency to dig deep, like being scolded by a disappointed parent. he could usually brush clint’s off, but it always made him want to do better. or be better. 

❛ i know, ❜ there’s a subtle lift to his shoulders, like he’s shrugging. ❛ but they were behind you, ❜ it’s more an ‘i got your back, don’t worry about it’ kind of explanation without saying the actual words. some people -- like himself, like natasha -- do the bad things so other people -- like clint, like steve -- don’t have to. it doesn’t need to be a big deal.   

@cryostore·

He approaches with a small smile and two cups of coffee, one of which he silently holds towards Bucky when close enough.