A Boy Who Likes a Boy Is a Dead Boy

Bucky watched as his friend scrambled to find his key, leaning against the wall beside the door as he waited. There was something oddly endearing about watching Steve, despite how difficult it would be if he had lost his key... It was just the quirky, disorganised behaviour of his friend that always brought a smile to Bucky's face.The longer Steve searched for the key, the broader his smirk seemed to become. "Hey, never said you didn't." He laughed, holding his hands up defensively.

"That smirk on your face says otherwise." Steve said, shooting a pointed look his friend's way before unlocking the front door. He pushed it open and walked inside. "You definitely thought that i didn't have it, and that I was going to have to climb in through the window again. But you thought wrong. I had it this whole time."

Bucky laughed once more, following his friend into the house. "I'm just disappointed, is all." He shrugged, kicking his shoes off beside the door. They'd become considerably scuffed at some point during the raid on the bar, and it was an odd reminder of just what he had been running away from when he bumped into Steve. "Climbing through your window has made me one hell of a contortionist... And I'm gonna need all the practice I can get before I run away to the circus."

"Is that the plan now?" Steve asked, letting out a quiet laugh as he shut the door behind them. "You're running away to join the circus?" He slipped off his shoes, noting the amount of scuffing on his friend's in comparison to his. He'd done a number on them. Steve didn't think he'd ever seen them that scuffed before. "Shining those shoes of yours might not be as effective as it usually is."

"It's better than actually getting an education and doing something with my life." Bucky scoffed sarcastically. "It's either the circus, or bat for the Yankees." It was no secret that Bucky loved the idea of becoming a baseball player. It was his favourite pastime, whether that was with an improvised bat and ball on the streets of Brooklyn, or on the high school's team. He cast a quick glance down to his shoes, noticing just how scuffed they had become in the attempt to flee the bar. "Yeah, well..."

"I'm pretty sure you have a better chance at joining the circus than you do at batting for the Yankees, Buck. Hate to break it to you." Steve said. He knew how much Bucky loved baseball, and he wasn't saying that his friend wasn't a good player, he was a great one actually, he just didn't think that the odds of him playing in the major leagues was very likely. "I don't think I've ever seen them that scuffed up.

Bucky let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Thanks for the support, Steven. I truly appreciate it." He reached over, ruffling his friends hair as a playful punishment for his comment. "I suppose Bendy Bucky has a better ring to it than Batter Bucky..." He mused for a moment as he looked down at his shoes. Steve was right. The shoes were... all sorts of messed up. "Batter Bucky sounds like some sort of candy bar..." It would take him hours of hard work for him to even begin to come close to affording new shoes. "Eh, it's fine." He shrugged, waving a dismissive hand at his shoes. "Nothing some polish won't fix."

Steve chuckled softly. "Hey, if I'm not honest with you I don't know who will be." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Bendy Bucky...yeah, definitely better than Batter Bucky." He gave a slight nod. "Enough about future jobs and shining your shoes, why don't we set up that fort and get to reading." He waved the comic as a reminder of what they were planning on doing before they got off topic.

Scoffing, Bucky moved to peel the cushions from the couches so they could begin setting up the fort. "You mean, why don't I set up the fort whilst you watch?" He didn't mind building it for them both, considering he was in fact the one who usually set up the fort when Steve was sick. It had been a tradition for them both, and it always brought a smile to Steve's face when he'd been ill. "Guess I should add Builder Bucky to that list of nicknames."

"Hey, it's not watching, it's supervising. There's a difference." Steve said, chuckling slightly. He knew that Bucky actually didn't mind building the fort for them, he always did it, and that he was just busting Steve's chops. They ragged on each other like this quite frequently, it was just how their friendship was. Steve didn't think there was a single thing about it that he would change. "I guess so."

He couldn't help but smirk as he dropped the couch cushions on the floor into a pile. Bucky rolled his shirt sleeves up, looking at Steve still with a smirk before he turned to take the back cushions off the couch as well. "So we've got Builder Bucky, and Supervisor Steve... We sound like the worst superhero team ever." He laughed, tossing the cushions onto the floor with the others. "How about Supervisor Steve gets me a bowl of hot water and a washcloth so I can clean up my busted face?"

Steve laughed. "Hey, I resent that. We could be the next Batman and Robin. You never know." He said, punctuating his words with a shrug of his shoulders. "We might want to come up with better names though, you're right." He watched his friend for a moment as he set to work on building them their fort. It brought a smile to the smaller boy's face. They hadn't done this in a really long time. "I suppose I could manage that." He nodded, walking over to the kitchen.

It was only when Steve left the room that Bucky finally let the severity of the situation crash down over him. The bar, the cops, the desperate look on the face of the guy who rushed him out before he received too harsh of a beating... All the fists, and the kicks suddenly felt raw against his skin once more. He ran a hand over his face with a soft groan, his lips sticking as he felt the sticky blood against them. He was growing so tired. Tired of hiding things, tired of pretending to be stronger than he actually was. Dropping his hand, he snuck it under his shirt to feel the swelling and tender skin around his ribs. Nothing felt broken, just severely bruised... But he'd never let Steve know just how much agony he was in.

Steve had no idea of the state his friend was actually in. Bucky was good at hiding it. Steve didn't realize what his friend was going through and he certainly didn't know the full extent of the injuries he'd sustained either. A towel and bowl of warm water in hand, he walked back into the front room a few minutes later. "Here ya are, you jerk. So you can clean up that messed up mug of yours."

Bucky straightened as best he could when Steve came back into the room, letting out a short, tired laugh. "Yeah, yeah, pick on the beat up guy, ya punk." He just needed the night to go by without too many questions. There was barely anything that Bucky didn't tell Steve about, but this was just something he needed to keep close to his chest for a little while longer. He just needed to wait for it to pass, and then there would be nothing for them to talk about... There was no point in freaking Steve out over it as well. He had his own things to deal with at the moment.

Steve could tell that Bucky was exhausted. Even when his friend was trying to hide the pain and exhaustion, Steve could kind of just tell. They were best friends after all, and he liked to think that he had Bucky figured out for the most part. Of course, there were a few things that he didn't know. One very big thing actually, but that obviously wasn't something factored into how Steve saw Bucky because, well, he didn't know that it was something to know about his friend at all. He still honestly hadn't suspected a thing. "You'll have a bunch of dames thinking you're extra tough now with that shiner." He said, handing his friend the bowl of water and the cloth. "Hey, I actually think you might look better this way." He chuckled.

The mention of dames was a fresh punch in Bucky's gut, hard enough to make him feel nauseous as if someone really had just thumped him again. It seemed like a sick twist of irony; that women would fawn over him when it was the last thing he wanted. He did want to deal with the idea of fake affections. He'd spent enough time sat across from girls, feigning interest in them. Bucky took the bowl from Steve and sat down on one of the couch cushions he'd tossed onto the floor. Setting it down, he tried to get himself as comfortable as possible before he picked up the warm, damp cloth. Without much grace, he pressed it to his face and breathed out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, well..." He murmured, "Maybe McCluskey will stop picking fights with me..."

Steve was oblivious to his friend's reaction to his words. He didn't know that what he'd said was actually nauseating for Bucky to think about. He didn't realize that the last thing that his friend wanted was for women to be swooning and fawning over him like they always had. He figured that was something that Bucky liked. "He only picks fights with you because you're constantly butting in when he goes after me." Steve reminded his friend. He knew that Bucky meant well, but he honestly felt bad whenever his friend got into a fight with someone as dumb as McCluskey when it was over him. He wished he was more capable of defending himself against bullies like that so Bucky didn't have to fight his battles for him.

It wouldn't surprise Bucky in the slightest if McCluskey started spreading a rumour that he was the one to give Bucky the shiner forming on his face. It wouldn't bother him either... If anything, it would be the perfect cover for how he actually got it. It was certainly less damaging to his reputation than the truth. He would let McCluskey have his pathetic little victory lap if it meant everyone else would leave him alone. "I'm hoping one of these days I might actually beat some brain cells into him." Bucky let out another long sigh as he pulled the cloth away from his face. It hadn't done much in removing the drying blood, but it certainly relieved some of the pain he was feeling. "I'd be doing him a favour."

"McCluskey actually having a few brain cells? I don't think that's ever going to happen." Steve said, punctuating his words with a quiet laugh. Steve tried to keep an open-mind with certain people, but McCluskey wasn't one of them. He was just a bully and there was nothing else to it. It didn't help that Bucky ended up getting into trouble for getting into all those fights with the doofus for standing up for him either. McCluskey just wasn't someone Steve would ever like. "You would be doing him a favor but I don't think that'll ever happen."