can you write a lil thing where steve gets hurt somehow and bucky's gotta fix it pls? Bonus points for All The Fluff.
"Okay, easy--" Bucky grits his teeth, tying a knot around the last stitch. "Been a long time since I've had to do first aid...which I wouldn't have to do if you'd just go to a fuckin' hospital like I asked--"
"No hospitals," Steve clenches his jaw, his eyes hard. He looks down at his chest and stomach, a mess of dried blood and wounds that Bucky had been working on for hours to clean up. "It'll heal up on its own in a few hours anyways."
Bucky knows Steve's had a thing against hospitals since being subjected to many doctors visits during his sickly time in the 40s, but it doesn't make him any less irritated when Steve refuses medical help.
"You're goddamn stubborn as a bull," Bucky retorts, though his fingers are gentle as he finishes stitching up the last wound.
Steve cracks him a knowing smile for that one, and then rolls down his shirt. "And you've still got steady hands. Aren't we the perfect couple?"
"Unfair advantage," Bucky shrugs, wiggling his metal fingers. He earns a breathy laugh from Steve for that one, which ends in Steve coughing and then wincing. That coughing sound sends a chill of dread down Bucky's spine, even though he knows that a cold wouldn't stand a chance against Steve. Old habits, he supposes.
"Whoa, alright. Let's get you to bed."
"I can walk fine," Steve grunts, sliding off of the bathroom counter onto unsteady feet. He staggers a bit--likely dizzy from all the blood loss--but Bucky catches him easily with an arm slung low around Steve's hips.
"I gotcha," Bucky hums, secretly glad to feel needed as he notices Steve's weight sinking against him. It's been a long time since Bucky's been able to take care of Steve like this, like he used to do 24/7. So whenever he gets the chance to take care of Steve, he relishes it, just a little.
"Your hand is a little low there, Sarge, ain't it?" Steve snickers as Bucky helps him to the bed. "You tryin' to get fresh with me?"
Bucky rolls his eyes fondly as he lowers Steve and then helps him take off his shirt and jeans, suffering under the suggestive look of Steve's blue eyes as he does so.
"I ain't getting fresh with you 'till you're free of all those terribly done stitches," Bucky eyes Steve's torso, and his own handy work. It's not bad, really--it stopped the bleeding, and Steve's body will do the rest of the work while he sleeps tonight, to knit the remaining flesh together and get rid of all bacteria that would otherwise cause infection. "Nothing sexy about a GSW."
Steve sticks his tongue out at Bucky, but Bucky can read that exhaustion in his face. They've both had a long night.
"You comin?" Steve pats the bed to his right--Bucky's side, marked by his silk pillow case because it's better for your hair, Steve, this shine doesn't just happen on it's own.
"Yeah, yeah, m'coming, big guy," Bucky snorts, unable to deny Steve anything. He climbs into bed and reaches over to shut out the light, letting the room flood with moonlight instead. A quiet peace settles over his exhausted muscles. "How're you feeling? You in any pain?"
"Well...I'm a bit cold..." Steve trails off dramatically. "It's such a big bed, I can barely feel you all the way over there..."
Bucky hides his smile in the pillow. "Are you trying to seduce me with 6 bullet wounds in your abdomen?"
"I dunno. Is it working?"
"I'm tempted," Bucky says, just to see the way the silhouette of Steve's shoulders shake with laughter. "Come here. You can be the little spoon."
Steve, always eager to be snuggled up as if he were still 5'6 and 110 pounds, backs up happily into Bucky's chest. Bucky's arms snap around him and he tucks his face into a tuft of blond hair.
Steve doesn't fit there like he used to, but they make it work, their legs tangled together, their breathing synced.
"Thank you for taking care of me," Steve whispers in a groggy voice.
The words fill Bucky with a kind of warmth.
The night is quiet, they're safe, and Steve is in his arms. Everything is as it should be.
Bucky presses a sweet kiss to the back of Steve's neck, right where it meets his spine.
"Always."
