No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 1
Chapter Twenty-One: Did I Let You Know (Part 1)
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Wow.
Steve dipped out.
Tony wasn't sure how to take Steve's behavior, but he left him there all alone with his wonderful friend. Tony kept focusing on his coffee.
Bucky was still processing Steve's stunt. He found it funny. It amused him, and he continued doing a balancing act with his chair.
The not-so-winter soldier kept looking at Tony. He always labeled him as Steve's "bambi-eyed" lover. Well, his ornery little lover didn't look too happy in that moment, so Bucky kept smiling.
Had they ever been alone like that before? One of them wondered about it. Tony took a slow sip of coffee, then his eyes migrated over toward the chair legs that Bucky had elevated.
"Soooooo, when's your next show?"
Bucky broke the silence. The last thing they discussed was Tony's music, stuff. The not-so-winter soldier figured bringing that back up was his safest bet.
He heard about the musical fantasyland that Tony had cooked up over the years. Bucky never attended a single event, and he had no idea why Tony decided to randomly sing and dance, or whatever.
He had no idea how personal it was, or why Tony was very apprehensive about answering his question. The smaller brunette thought about what that question implied, and he glanced at the chair legs again.
"Why would I answer that?"
Tony didn't have a reason to answer Bucky's question. He felt tormented by him, and unacknowledged for centuries. Tony held his warm coffee, and he watched Bucky shrug. He simply gave a slow shrug and smiled.
"I guess I wanna see what the fuss is all about."
Bucky was told that Tony's little event had caused a commotion. Steve was supportive of course, and he mentioned that Tony had "concocted" quite a musical journey.
He figured that seeing Tony's show was the only way in. It was basically a chip in his fancy armor.
Tony brought his foot up to one of the exposed chair legs, and he tried to shove Bucky Barnes backward. Tony wanted to knock him on his ass, but a strong hand immediately snagged his ankle.
Tony stood in place. His ankle was caught in Bucky's hand, and they both noticed something. It was an interesting moment between them, and it seemed to play out at a very slow place.
The only common ground between them had been Steve's skin. There had never been any physical contact between them, ever.
Bucky understood that in that moment, and he looked down at his hand. He stared at Tony's ankle for a bit. He was wearing red shorts, and a black shirt. Tony wasn't going to lose his balance either, and he just waited for Bucky to remove his hand.
He was very strong. Bucky noticed that as well. Tony looked very controlled where he was. The smaller brunette took another sip of his coffee, then he tried to pull his ankle back.
Bucky held on to his leg, just for fun.
The power play ended very abruptly. Bucky dropped his hand, because that apartment door opened. Steve returned to the scene, but he missed the encounter entirely. He started saying something about his text exchange with Stephen Strange.
Tony was listening, but he turned away from Bucky. He kept holding onto his coffee, while he started hunting around for some food.
Chapter: END
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