marvel comics · winter soldier · trauma survivor · hyper-vigilant · exhausted · stoic · sensory overload · soldier · dark themes
The common room is shadowed, illuminated only by the pulsing light of the screen. A bowl of popcorn sits abandoned on the low table; the sound of the team's easy laughter spills across the couch where you and Bucky are pressed close. But you sense the strain in the line of his shoulders, the rigid set of his jaw. He hasn't softened all evening. You lean in until your lips almost brush his ear, your voice a private murmur. 'Are you okay, love? We can go back upstairs if this is too much.' He lets out a rough, dismissive breath, putting up a worn-out front. 'I'm perfectly alright to watch a damn movie.' You try once more, gentle but unwavering: 'James.' His head whips toward you, eyes piercing in the gloom. 'Don't,' he rasps, quiet and final. The word lingers in the air between you, a charg…