"Well, the Wakandans are here – they want Zemo." Bucky states as he comes walking through the door twenty minutes or so after Zemo has dropped his towel on the floor for the third time and strolled off to the kitchen to make himself (perhaps) the slowest brewing cup of tea in the history of mankind.
And Sam can't remember the last time he has been this fucking relieved to see another human being.
The events in Madripoor has exhausted them all, especially Zemo who is looking even paler and more hollow-eyed than usual so Sam and Bucky decides to wait till the next morning to hit the streets and gather information about Donya's funeral.
If they are going to face Karli and the other Flag Smashers and come out of it alive (not to mention victorious) they surely need some rest.
Besides it is so late in the afternoon anyway and therefor highly unlikely that a funeral or a wake will take place on that same day – at least according to Zemo whom Sam and Bucky reluctantly has to trust knows more about East-European customs then they themselves do.
Zemo parks himself in an armchair near one of the mosaic windows facing the street and watches people passing by below whilst drinking his cherry blossom tea and nibbling on some vanilla-flavoured cookies he has hoisted from the kitchen cupboard earlier.
He doesn't speak much after that and neither does Bucky or Sam, who has occupied the couch and are busy with their respective phones, texting friends and family in Sam's case or playing the Untitled Goose Game in Bucky's.
After half an hour or so of staring out the window at strangers, Zemo gets up and paddles past the couch and into the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerges again and walks by Sam and Bucky, past the kitchen-counter and over to a twin door at the southern wall, leading into the apartment's only bedroom.
"What time do we leave?" he asks while turning the doorknobs and opening the doors.
"07 a.m. sharp." Bucky says, never looking up from his phone.
"Very well then…goodnight gentlemen." With a light thud,Zemo shuts himself inside the bedroom.
"Guess his majesty got dibs on the bed…" Bucky mutters, sounding slightly irritated. "…and I call dibs on the sofa - that leaves you..." he looks at Sam, "…on guard duty. You can thank me later."
"Aw, hell no!" Sam protests, tossing his head in the general direction of the bedroom,
"I ain't bunking with him! Forget that!"
"Listen…" Bucky leans forward, knitting his brows together, "…I might accidentally strangle him in my sleep if I have to share a room with him. It's too risky and you know as well as I do he can't be trusted in there by himself. We need an eye on him at all times."
"Uh-uh", Sam shakes his head, "no fucking way, Bucky!"
"Why not?" Bucky's face twists into a look of puzzlement, "You don't need to cuddle with him, just watch him…why are you being all weird about it?"
"I'M NOT BEING WEI-…!" Sam snaps, realizing too late how loud the outburst was, "…*weird*…Jesus Christ…it's just that…" he lowers his voice and leans closer to Bucky "I can't fuckin' stand that guy!"
Bucky takes in his words with a sceptical looking mien, "Yeah, no one really can…that never stopped you from doing your job before!? Someone still has to go in there and it sure as shit ain't gonna be me!"
He leans back on the couch, continuing his game for half a minute before the farmer spots his goose and its game over.
With an annoyed sigh, Bucky lets his human hand with the phone in it drop down in his lap and looks back over at Sam.
"Why are you suddenly like this, man? Did something happen while I was out?"
"Nothing happened, you asshole!" Sam sneers, "I-…".
For a fleeting moment, Sam actually considers telling Bucky what transpired between Zemo and himself, to clear his conscience but then decides against it. It is just too strange and outlandish for Sam to trust Bucky to ever be able to understand and too embarrassing for himself to share with anyone except maybe a shrink one day.
"…you know what? Fucking forget it! I'll do it! I don't care!"
Sam lifts himself off the couch with a sneer and begins to walk towards the bedroom, Zemo has occupied minutes before.
"Sweet dreams…" Bucky adjusts his pillow and lays back on the couch, then picks up his phone and starts a new game of the rowdy goose, out to deceive the farmer, "…and try not to kill anyone."