It has been 57 hours 23 minutes and 34 seconds since Tony got back from the press conference. He spent all of that time in his workshop.

Now don't go accusing him of animal abuse. The dog's smart enough to go up to an elevator if he wishes to go somewhere else. FRIDAY brings the German Sheperd to the common room and the dog chooses to bark at the door, something else, or someone else however much he desires to.

Julien's a spoiled brat, but everyone loves him. Much like Tony. They're kindred spirits.

Speaking of Julien, he hadn't seen the dog since -Tony looked at his watch- 8 hours ago. He realized it was probably time to be a responsible adult. He also should be around his service dog since that was essentially the whole purpose of one.

It was 1:00 PM, he had to be cautious when going into the common room. No one wants to be forced into a conversation with Steve Rogers.

When Tony poked his head to look at the conjoined kitchen and living room, he spotted Rhodey, Sam, and Clint chatting away at the dining table. He couldn't make out what they were saying so he turned his head to scope out the living room. There resided Barnes and apparantly his dog.

The man was lying on the couch with his left shoulder facing out towards Tony and his right arm tucked neatly underneath his head. If you saw Bucky, you'd assume he was peacefully sleeping. Well, besides the fact that his eyes were open and his breathing was extremely uneven. Julien was the complete opposite. The dog was curled up at the ex-assassin's feet, his fluffy form just shouting 'come snuggle with me.'

Once Tony spotted Steve chatting with Wanda on the couch next to Bucky's, his breath caught in his throat. Tony looked down at his feet for a moment and forcibly swallowed the lump in his throat before he stepped out from the hallway. He'll just have to feign kindness to the guy. Act like everything was cool and like they were buddies again. Or ignore him. Yeah, that would work too.

Tony walked towards the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee before turning around and facing the dining table. He leaned his hip up against the counter right as Rhodey addressed him.

"Tony, a cup of coffee is not the only thing you should be having for lunch." His best friend reprimanded. After the rogue Avengers heard Tony's name their eyes -excluding Bucky's- shot up and stared at the billionaire. Tony was too busy looking down at the warm mug of coffee to even notice.

Tony looked up to meet Rhodey's gaze before he gave a knowing smirk. "I'm not having one cup of coffee, I'm having two." He threw up his right hand in the form of a peace sign.

Rhodey shook his head and gave him his best 'bitch face' mixed with his 'please' eyes. Tony wasn't sure how those two expressions could correlate, but they did in this instance.

"Fine." Tony muttered, grabbing a piece of buttered toast and an apple before heading towards the couch. He intentionally kept his eyes to the floor due to Steve watching his every move as he sat on the arm rest where Julien was along with Bucky's feet.

Tony met eyes with Bucky before he leaned down towards Julien and comically whispered "traitor" before taking a bite out of his toast.

The dog sat up at the sound of Tony's voice, his tail thumping loudly against the seat of the couch as Tony pet his head. While Julien sat up, Bucky was quick to do the same. A small and restrained grimace adorned the ex-assassin's face as he sat up, his feet were pulled up against his chest as his body faced Tony but his actual face did not.

"You're fine." Tony spoke in a nonchalant tone. His eyes narrowed at Bucky's left shoulder. There was still the beginning of his metal arm attached to the skin but nothing more.

Barnes' realized what Tony was looking at and gave a small frown. He swung his legs off the couch and began to sit up. Quick, think Tony, think. Don't scare him off, you idiot.

"I can take a look at that for you." He blurted out as he watched Bucky stand up. He mentally face palmed and wished he could phase through the arm rest he was sitting on.

"Your shoulder." Tony gestured with his left hand that still had a piece of toast in it. Yes, good clarification, Tony. Wait, he still looks like he's going to bolt off.

"If you want me too?" He said it almost like it was a question but also a plea. Bucky gave a curt nod and Tony took that as a victory. Cancel defcon two, everyone.

Barnes walked towards the elevator. Once inside, he turned around and stared with an expecting expression.

Well, okay. Tony guessed now would be an okay time to start. He stuffed the rest of his toast in his mouth, setting the apple on the coffee table, and jogging over to the elevator. Julien only payed attention for a moment before curling back up again while Steve watched out of the corner of his eye, trying to convince Wanda he was still listening to her story.

-

Before the elevator doors opened to reveal what was known to all as Tony's workshop, Bucky eyed the silver steel doors with apprehension. He was terrified.

There were some things he couldn't remember. Things from his past.

But there some things he remembered so vividly. Things he wished to forget.

He expected the hard concrete floor of the Hydra lab once those elevator doors opened. The floor that always seemed to be spattered with something. His blood. Or the blood of a technician that got too close.

He remembered getting beaten for that. Nothing too harsh. Hydra technicians were expendable and he was sure they had known that themselves. The guards always joked about how the soldier needed to let off some steam.

His tongue felt dry yet soaked in iron after the thought. It tasted awful. He swiped it over his suddenly dry lips.

"Hey,"

Bucky took a sharp inhale of breath through his nose, taking a quick step back before looking at the man in front of him. Tony was partly turned so he could face Bucky. The billionaire gave him a small half smile.

"We're here." Tony spoke softly before turning to fully face the workshop and heading towards a workbench. Bucky noticed that his footing wasn't quick. It was very careful with where he was walking. Probably due to the vision loss, the man assumed before felt overcome with guilt.

Bucky was glad the man had left him to pull himself together. He took another deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts before he stepped out of the elevator.

Safe to say, it wasn't like a Hydra lab.

Every wall of the large room had a few futuristic looking wall lamps hanging that kept the whole room well lit. Said walls were light gray and didn't radiate the feeling of being in a hospital much like the lab did.

Bucky took a few more steps towards Tony's workbench before being bombarded with two- robots?

"Butterfingers, Dum-E, leave him alone or he's not going to come down here again." Tony said sharply but Bucky could deduce that it was in a joking manner.

The robots chirped and beeped sadly before going back to whatever they were doing prior to the ex-assassin's entrance.

That was when Bucky's eyes settled on Tony.

The man was sifting through different files, blueprints and images. They were all holographic. Floating around Tony's form in a gorgeous dome of-

Blue.

It all dissolved once Tony turned around in his seat to look at Bucky.

"Hop on over, Bucky bear."

That was the only assurance he needed to step forward and take the open seat next to Tony.

Tony worked quietly for 30 minutes excluding when he would explain what he was doing to the confused soldier and when he would ask if he was hurting Bucky.

"I apologize."

Tony was looking at the results of the scans he did on Bucky's left shoulder when he heard the quiet apology. He turned his head to look at the man who was sitting in the chair behind him.

"What for?" He questioned as tried to seem nonchalant about it all by still staring at the scan results.

There was a small pause between his inquiry and Bucky's answer. "For everything." The ex-assasin huffed.

"For Siberia. For-" Bucky seemed to choke on the words he was about to say and Tony stiffened. He knew what words the man was about to utter and he visibly flinched at the revelation of it.

"For your-" Bucky tried again before Tony swiped the holographic images away from his view and turned around to face him.

"Don't say it." Tony interrupted firmly with a surprising amount of hostility. He pointed the index finger of his right hand towards Bucky as he took a step forward.

"I don't want to hear that from you." He sighed loudly before continuing. "Hell, none of this was your fault. I'm guessing you didn't know shit about the arc reactor and that you were leaving me to die in Siberia. You were fucking brainwashed to-" Tony stopped himself from saying anything more. He didn't want to touch on that topic yet.

But that outburst seemed like enough to convince Bucky that he shouldn't be guilty. The ex-assassin nodded his head though by the looks of it, he still looked pretty guilty.

"If anything I should be guilty for attacking you in Siberia."

Bucky opened his mouth to protest but Tony butted in before he could begin to protest.

"Let's just not talk about that. We're both sorry for things that weren't entirely our faults. We both accept those apologies. We're good to go, right?" Tony gestured loudly with both his hands as he talked.

Bucky nodded his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. The first shot Tony had at seeing a smile from the guy since they'd met.

"Okay then. Let's see if I can help with that shoulder of yours." Tony swiped the holograms into his view again but didn't turn around to where he was facing away from the soilder, giving full view of it all to Bucky.

The holographic images came to life, creating a wall of blue that wrapped itself around the two men.

Vibrant. Gorgeous. Blue.

~

Two blue boys in love. 💙

Idk how that became the theme of their relationship, but it has.

Thanks for your love and support. I love you guys so much. <3