.: WINTER SOLDIER. ★

Demons, like mutants, have a lot of unfair and unjust assumptions made about them. Although there are unkind and arguably 'evil' mutants and demons, neither one should be feared for simply being what they are. Bucky's horned and tailed visage has most people avoiding him. But not Scott. Scott judges on appearance, not character. Besides with his mutation he can only see Bucky's thermal signature. He's never seen a thermal signature so bright and beautiful before.

Bucky isn't the first demon Scott has met. In fact demon seems to be a bit of a demon magnet. There's something about him that makes him recover from an incubus feeding faster than most that makes him attractive to demons. Bucky isn't the first demon he's had sex with, but he'll likely be the last. Scott hasn't had much interest in anyone other than Bucky for a while now. He loves how hones Bucky is. It is through Bucky he learned that incubi can feed off physical affection too. Scott's a bit pissed that previous partners made it sound like sex was the only way to feed. But that's in the past now. Now he has Bucky.

Scott feels Bucky's tail shift at the question, coming to press soothingly, almost possessively against his back. He feels warm and safe embraced by Bucky. Before he can speak again clawed hands tenderly cradle his cheek, angling his face to meet Bucky's. Scott can't see his expression but Bucky's voice sounds raw and vulnerable. "You're always worrying about me. I worry about you. You haven't fed properly in a long time. I make you feel full. I can keep you healthy." But this is about more than Bucky's health. Scott loves Bucky.

"I don't want you to be hungry anymore. I want you to be healthy and happy. And the idea of you feeding off anyone else, even through nonsexual ways makes me feel..." makes him feel sad, angry, like is going to hurl. "I don't want you to feed on anyone else. I want to take care of you." Scott shifts his hands so he can guide the hand upon his cheek to his mouth. Scott gently kisses Bucky's palm before speaking further.

Scott wasn't wrong. He hadn't fed in a while, but it was mostly since he had been avoiding seeking out other possible targets. It felt wrong, knowing that it wouldn't be with the other, but the demon also felt bad asking for it at times, thinking that it would be a bother despite chances were that it wasn't going to be. So when the mutant guided his hand from his cheek only to press a kiss against his palm, the incubus found himself sighing softly, eyes falling shut as the tip of his tail moved, seeking out to press itself against the side of Scott's head.

That second question, it gave him pause, made him think.

Love wasn't something usual with his kin. There was a few rare cases where it would happen, but other demons usually didn't bring it up, or if it was, it was denied endlessly. They had a strict code, they couldn't coexist quietly with mortals. But James didn't believe in that, not after figuring out how he felt around Scott was just proof that it could happen.

“ Scott, “ the mutant's name rolled off his tongue with such ease, “ It's… something I've been trying to grapple with, seeing that concept is rather foreign among most of my kin, if not shunned entirely. I've been thinkin' about it a lot lately. ” He murmured, his hand lowering from the other's face, traveling downward to his waist as the demon leaned his head forward, pressing a light kiss to the mutant's forehead. ” I can tell that there's something more.. special, between us. More than what we've been doin' for the past months. It leaves me feelin' with a comforting warmth that I've never felt with anyone else before. ” The kind of warmth that left you wanting more, to the point that he had ignored his own needs - something he only did when he wasn't satisfied with his current so-called ‘partner’ but this time? It was different, it wasn't because his level of satisfaction was not reached, it was because he started doubting himself.

He didn't feel like that he was good enough - in many more ways than one. A soft sigh left him as he tried to pull the other closer, clearly not wanting to let go, fearing that if he did, the mutant would walk away and forget about him. No, he didn't want to be forgotten.

“ I know that I've.. been avoiding feedin', and I'm sorry I made you feel that way. ” Could he be fully at fault for it? “ But I do appreciate that you're lookin' out for me - it means a lot, even for someone like me. ” Scott couldn't see it, but he could feel the fact that a smile was slowly showing itself on the demon's lips. “ So to answer you, in full honesty.. Yes, yes I do love you, Scott. ” It felt so strange to say those words. A feeling so familiar yet so.. unknown. It left him warm inside, not that he would complain about it, it was nice compared to the usual cold.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ROY CERTAINLY DIDN'T MIND hearing it, over and over again. he returned the grin, arms looping around his partner the second james stepped close enough. anything just to touch, to hold.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎maybe he was a bit clingy after all. but really, who could blame him for it ? the kiss only makes him all the greedier. “ mmm, think i'll need about a hundred more kisses. you can take that time to think of the one thing you'd pick if you had to choose. ”

This closeness always had been something he could never get enough of, and it always seemed like Roy couldn't, either. A pleased hum left his throat as his hands moved, allowing him to pull the redhead even closer than before, leaving their faces inches apart. A hundred more kisses? Someone was feeling a little greedy, but James didn't mind, instead a soft laugh left him before leaning his forehead against the archer's, a smirk finding its place upon his lips.

“ Only a hundred? Here I thought you'd ask me for a thousand..~ “ He teased, one hand coming to rest between Roy's shoulders while the other hung out at his lower back. ” You know I don't mind showerin' you in them, either. Though might want to be careful, otherwise it'll be more than kissin' that's goin' to happen. " Words were given emphasis with an upward twitch of his brows, clearly hinting that he was feeling a lot more amorous than exactly shown.

Sadly though, Bucky was a part of the Avengers or at least the roster. Which meant even if he broke into the lab Tony couldn't do much. Now, if it was a stranger or a real bad guy? Oh alarms and toys would be blazing.

He pulled himself from the fantasy of watching Bucky get tormented by machines back toward the issue at hand. His head tilted curiously as his eyes narrowed at the problem - his arm. The stuttering movement wasn't exactly ideal. "Have you tried some WD-forty?" He asked as he crossed the room, "Sometimes it's as simple as that." He shrugged and stopped right in front of him and put his hands on the arm to lift it in the light as if it weren't still attached to a whole person. Though the sparking left him to believe that this was more than just "it needs a little grease".

He moved it around, testing the movement himself as he looked up at Bucky briefly and asked, "Hurt?" If it did he might have to test that spot a little more. "Let's find out where it's stuttering first," he continued and looked back at the arm with a scrutiny of a man picking apart an anthill tunnel by tunnel. He'd raise it, straighten it, rotate it to a point that wouldn't break it off but if it hurt he'd make a mental note to stretch that a little more. He wasn't even sure Little Miss Brainwashed could feel pain in that arm.

When he was done he grabbed the screwdriver and began to tinker away to get it open. "Am I gonna be able to see the mechanism if I get this off or am I gonna have to go digging?" He asked with an almost dull tone in his voice as if this were more inconvenience than helping a friend. His features full of annoyance already.

Bucky knew that if it had been that simple, he wouldn't be here trying to find something to get this damned thing off - the comment from Tony only managed to make him frown even more than before, but he would have to put his own feelings on the side, just as the other seemed to be doing, considering the look he was being given just a few moments ago. His reflex was to try to step away when Stark moved closer but he managed to stop himself from it, instead simply staring down at his arm for a moment once the millionaire's hands came to rest upon it, then ocean blues would flick up toward the other's face when he moved his arm.

Oh, how the motion itself sent quite the spark of pain through his nerves, a mere hiss leaving his mouth. Hurt? Yeah, like a fuck ton, but James had dealt with worse in the past, this was just an annoyance, a big, big annoyance. Yet, when Tony tested the movement himself, the soldier found himself turning his head away, bottom lip catching under his teeth.

" Like a thousand bullet ants trying to rip me apart, really. " Well, a bit of an exaggeration, but at the same time? He'd rather deal with the ants for one second than days of non stop jolts and flare ups that would keep him awake at night even more than nightmares ever did. But he would endure every movement that was made despite the increasing frown on his face. He hated it when people touched him without a warning, hated it with a passion, yet for his own sake, he would step on his own needs to pull away.

No point of pissing off Tony even more, too.

“ You know how Wakandans are with their technology. ” He exhaled out, now realizing that he had been holding his breath for a bit. “ Chances are you'll have to go diggin', but you can do that once it's not stuck to me like someone applied super glue to their fingers. " He then added, glancing back over toward Tony, taking note of how exactly annoyed he looked at the moment - he didn't have to do any of this, Bucky knew that he knew that, but considering that he vaguely recalled Steve telling him how the other had made a remark about his bionic arm in the past and wanting to see what was inside of it, perhaps it was just some stars aligning for just a moment.

Plates near where his shoulder connected to his body shifted, some raising up to reveal part of the mechanism that constituted the first layer. Oh, how that did not feel great at all when it was attached - like skin being pulled apart. No, he wasn't going to comment on it, instead the fingers of his right hand would dig into his palm while the ones on his left hand twitched as they tried to copy the movement, failing to do so.