That's something Bucky's had to really adjust to in Wakanda. He's always been much more the protector than the protected. It's not an easy roll for him to take, especially not with Steve, because he's always protected Steve most of all.
"It was never like that." The words are mumbled into Steve's shoulder. "We keep each other safe."
Steve keeps kissing him in these chaste pseudo-platonic ways, though, and it knocks Bucky even more off-kilter. He wonders if Steve is just losing his own self control in worry or if he knows what he's doing to Bucky, how every gesture like that pulls at Bucky's heart in a dangerous way.
He feels like he's unraveling a little, like he's on a roller coaster stopped right before the big drop and he can see it in front of him and it's terrifying, but he's already strapped in the car and there's no getting off and he knows that because he's been tied up in Steve Rogers his whole life, but he can't let himself take that last step to close what little space remains between them.
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"It was never like that." The words are mumbled into Steve's shoulder. "We keep each other safe."
Steve keeps kissing him in these chaste pseudo-platonic ways, though, and it knocks Bucky even more off-kilter. He wonders if Steve is just losing his own self control in worry or if he knows what he's doing to Bucky, how every gesture like that pulls at Bucky's heart in a dangerous way.
He feels like he's unraveling a little, like he's on a roller coaster stopped right before the big drop and he can see it in front of him and it's terrifying, but he's already strapped in the car and there's no getting off and he knows that because he's been tied up in Steve Rogers his whole life, but he can't let himself take that last step to close what little space remains between them.