Sam and Tony fighting over a bowl of mashed potatoes wasn't something Bucky had in mind to stop Steve from fussing over him.

In fact it must have fueled the fire even more. Bucky snatched the plate of mashed potatoes into his hands. The heat of it burned his right fingers as he shuffled towards the dining room. He convinced himself to walk a little faster once he heard a whispered "Tony, you good?" from Sam which he was sure he could only catch due to the super soldier serum.

Tony looked more than a little tense. Bucky could tell by the squared shoulders, head down, narrowed eyes at nothing in particular. The ex-assassin favored that stance when under Hydra's control.

Bucky's eyes danced across the room to find the reasoning behind the drastic mood change. The only culprit seemed to be Steve glaring at his plate. Don't get him wrong, he liked Steve. They were great friends, but it seemed like he favored the old Bucky. The one that didn't freak out over taking showers and loving touches.

James opened his mouth to speak up but someone else beat him to it.
"Have you finished up on the new web shooter design for Spiderman? I really want go see it." Peter shifted in his seat, playing the act of him looking excited. Bucky could tell he wasn't as he was angrily stabbing his food.

It took Tony a few seconds of him staring blankly at nothingness before Julien set his paw on his thigh from under the table. He blinked, turning his face in the direction of Peter's.

"Yeah, sure thing, kid." Tony was hasty to get out of his seat and left the room guided by Peter and Julien.

Bucky watched them go, deciding that it would be best if Tony was with Peter rather than himself who he felt was only just an acquaintance.

The ex-assassin decidedly went to his room, grabbing the hoodie on the back of the dining chair before he did so. The bed looked as if he hadn't slept in it since he got there and there wasn't anything in the room to differentiate it from a guest room. He dropped the hoodie on the floor before walking to the foot of the bed, tentatively running his hand along the bedspread.

The soft texture made him cringe, peeling his hand back before rubbing his thumb over the tips of his fingers. His hand reverted into the form a fist for a moment before he sat down on the floor, letting his head rest against the foot of the bed. He looked almost like he was asleep though his hand was still held tightly into a fist.

After a few moments Bucky heard a fairly soft knock on the door. Steve was the only one in the compound who would be nice enough to knock and do it so softly so Bucky grumbled out a "come in."

Once he heard the door open the ex-assassin opened his eyes, lifted his head, and peered at the super soldier.

"Hey, Buck." Steve mumbled. "Am I bothering you?"

"Hey, Stevie." Bucky mumbled back in a joking manner. "No you're not."

"Can I come in?"

"Jus' said ya could."

"Oh."

Moments later Bucky heard the door click shut and seconds after that Steve was sitting next to him.

"Look," Bucky turned to face Steve as the super soldier spoke. His eyes were very—blue. Yep, very blue. Great description there, James. They were also narrowed at Bucky's own eyes. One main factor Bucky caught onto was that they seemed—apologetic?

"-and uh, yeah." Steve finished off with uncertainty. Bucky blinked, having missed the entire one sided conversation.

"Huh?" He was an ex-assassin for God's sake. Why couldn't he keep up a normal conversation without getting distracted. It angered him at how confused he was.

Steve only gave Bucky a warm look before repeating what he had said. Bucky had done it a few times since he got out of Wakanda so the blonde was fairly used to it by now.

"I wanted to apologize for my pestering, I guess you could say..." Steve looked to Bucky, searching for something. Bucky only had a hardened look on his face with narrowed eyes, expecting him to continue.

"And I'm sorry for what happened with Tony."

"I don' even know what happened with Tony. Enlighten me, Steve."

Though Bucky had a hard time remembering what Steve was like, the star spangled hero remembered the tells that Bucky still kept after his time as an assassin. He could tell by Bucky's face and tone that he wasn't very happy. Steve sighed before speaking.

"The nickname he called you just happened to be a reference I understood. Look, I found it insensitive. I get that it probably wasn't my place since you guys have buddied up." Steve rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Jealousy doesn't look good on you, Steve."

"I'm not jealous, you jerk. I just didn't think he should have been calling you that." Steve grumbled.

"I take jokes just like I did then. I laughed at them while you did that." Bucky pointed at Steve's light glare.

Once Steve realized that Buck had remembered those moments his glare softened.

"I didn't think you'd remember that."

"Remember a couple things."

It was silent for a moment before Steve spoke up again.

"Okay, so I was being a bitch. I admit that now."

Bucky's mouth gaped open jokingly. "I heard that still you don't curse much either."

"Er, only when it's necessary?" Steve offered with a smile along with a hand after he stood up.

Bucky took it and stood up with a smirk. "Huh, I can't wait to see when you're really pissed off then. I remember you always being a little complaint with me when I did stupid shit. By the way, I expect you to try and apologize to Tony yourself."

Steve gave a timid smile. "Not sure he'll want to talk to me."

"You're puppy eyes haven't gotten you out of the dog house yet, pal."

~
Though I'm not to happy about how I made this chapter turn out, here you go. I'm in a bit of a writer's block I guess you could say. I'll be sure to make this next chapter more eventful, I swear. I'm doing ya'll dirty like this. Late updates, near story abandonment, crap chapters. I'll try and make it up to you.