After that, it seems silly not to try to sleep. He can't concentrate on his book and Bucky's sleeping above him and that thought is more comforting than it has a right to be, so he crawls back under the blanket and lets himself drift off to the sound of Bucky's breathing.
This isn't like being in the army. He isn't part of something bigger. He isn't fighting for anything other than himself. It's foreign and new, but he finds some comfort in the familiar, anyway. Maybe that's why so many of the vets stick together here. There are things they don't have to say and on the rare occasions when they do say something, it's met with understanding.
In the morning, he says nothing about the night before, because in the harsh light of their fluorescent day, it still seems dangerous to talk about anything that leaves either of them vulnerable. Most of the men in here are trying to serve out their sentence, but there are still a few troublemakers around who seem to eye Bucky like he's someone worth going after. Steve won't give Alex or any of his people an inch and despite those ground rules Bucky had laid out when they'd first met, Steve would absolutely have Bucky's back if anything came of it.
The longer Steve pay attention, the more he notices that Alex really does seem to have an eye on Bucky more often than he should, but Steve doesn't want to bring it up in front of anyone. Bucky probably already knows and Steve isn't going to assume that Bucky wants anyone else butting into it, but he keeps an eye out, anyway, as a few of them are playing their home-made off-brand scrabble around a plastic table. Steve doesn't want to make it obvious that he's watching Alex, but he isn't the most subtle person on a good day.
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After that, it seems silly not to try to sleep. He can't concentrate on his book and Bucky's sleeping above him and that thought is more comforting than it has a right to be, so he crawls back under the blanket and lets himself drift off to the sound of Bucky's breathing.
This isn't like being in the army. He isn't part of something bigger. He isn't fighting for anything other than himself. It's foreign and new, but he finds some comfort in the familiar, anyway. Maybe that's why so many of the vets stick together here. There are things they don't have to say and on the rare occasions when they do say something, it's met with understanding.
In the morning, he says nothing about the night before, because in the harsh light of their fluorescent day, it still seems dangerous to talk about anything that leaves either of them vulnerable. Most of the men in here are trying to serve out their sentence, but there are still a few troublemakers around who seem to eye Bucky like he's someone worth going after. Steve won't give Alex or any of his people an inch and despite those ground rules Bucky had laid out when they'd first met, Steve would absolutely have Bucky's back if anything came of it.
The longer Steve pay attention, the more he notices that Alex really does seem to have an eye on Bucky more often than he should, but Steve doesn't want to bring it up in front of anyone. Bucky probably already knows and Steve isn't going to assume that Bucky wants anyone else butting into it, but he keeps an eye out, anyway, as a few of them are playing their home-made off-brand scrabble around a plastic table. Steve doesn't want to make it obvious that he's watching Alex, but he isn't the most subtle person on a good day.