The suit wasn't the problem, it was the fact that he had to shave his stubble and be forced into a gentleman's hair cut, that he was finding difficult to let his temper go. Although he had refused to attend or be involved with the prancing around, Steve made it clear that this was one event he couldn't afford to skip.
His attendance would be seen to the world, as his way of trying to write his wrongs from his past. Although he had yet to contemplate the word acceptance, he was having an excruciating time trying to control the memories that wanted out of his perfectly happy blockage of his past. The few memories that would escape only made it clear the revolting monster he had become. All the faces, the feel of their pulse slowing beneath his palm as he constructed their airway, or the sharp Crack of their spinal cord being forced in a direction that would break their necks.
All his senses held a weight of a different story of the missions he had accomplished, few were from his childhood or early adult life. Most, however, we're from his brutal massacre throughout the past 70 years. This was the reason Steve was currently camping outside his door every night. Apparently the inhabitants in the three floors above him were having difficulty sleeping through his random shouts in different languages and the screams of torture that plagued him. Steve in all his heroic glory would stride in and help ease the pain, but it only helped for so long before Steve began to feel insomniac as well.
Therefore when the day arrived for the Winter Gala, the last thing that Bucky wanted to do, was get dolled up and go spend the night mingling. Steve on the other hand was ecstatic to take Bucky out and show him how the world had changed.
"This will be good for you Buck! A new look, new suit, new-"
"New attitude. I know, you keep repeating the same thing. I don't know Steve, it's just, too soon." Bucky turned away from his friend and caught a glimpse of his new hair cut and let out a sigh of defeat.
"Don't think on it too much, let go of the past for tonight. Tomorrow we'll wallow. But right now, think of yourself as Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. The ladies man" Steve gave a bright wink that made Bucky chuckle with good humor. He had been a ladies man, over 50 years ago, now he was just an old man with a young man's body.
"Come on Buck, I'll be there with you in case of anything. Just.. give it a try. I'm sure there's a good girl with impecable taste at the gala. Just try." And with that speech and a good clap on the back both friends were out the door and ready to make an entrance.