[AU] these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul

[from_the_outside]

They've all entered a kind of tense détente after the ill-advised dinner party. Tony throws himself into work, Sharon and Pepper mostly avoid each other, and Steve, Vision, and Nat continue with oversight duties.

And the thing is... Tony's working it out. 

Not a removal, exactly, but he's getting close, he'd told them, to at least blocking the commands. It's not perfect and it's not a permanent solution, but it's a step in the right direction. It's also a step in the direction of Tony needing to test the words on Bucky himself, and so Sharon and Steve are on extra high alert, keeping an eye out for any indication that Bucky's retreating into himself again. Sharon's mostly moved into the room they share in Steve's apartment for that very reason, though she still isn't wholly comfortable with being in Steve's space all the time.

He's away today, working with Sam and Rhodey on a veteran's outreach program, so it's Sharon who walks with Bucky through the halls of the compound towards Tony's rooms. "It's you and Vision with Tony today," she tells him, and glances across the distance they're careful to maintain when not alone behind closed doors.

"How are you feeling about everything?"

Comments

[from_the_outside]

Wanda looks a little flustered. "Everyone makes mistakes at first," she points out. Her glance flickers to Sharon, a little cautious. "I think it's nice that you tried."

"Obviously we didn't have the first idea of what to do," Sharon tells her, aiming for comfortable and conversation, trying to put the younger woman at ease. "But it was still pretty fun."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Agent Carter's very patient with me," Bucky observes, casually. "And a lot nicer than people sometimes think. Unless you're Helmut Zemo. But that was a little personal as well as professional."

He slants a look at Sharon. "That's what he gets for trying to trap you."

[from_the_outside]

"Plenty of people think I'm nice!" she says, defensive, then huffs a laugh.

"I maintain he deserved every one of those bullets. I only regret not shooting him more times."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky shrugs, point made, and on second thought decides it'd be a good idea to shift the subject back away from Zemo, given the other man's claimed motivation.

"Anyway, you haven't shot me yet," he says instead, "so I figure that's a good sign."

[from_the_outside]

"I'm a little concerned that you think I might be likely to shoot you," she says, amused. "That seems like a pretty low bar of niceness."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'm not saying I wouldn't give you a reason," he returns, blandly, before his glance shifts back to Vision and Wanda.

"But I'll try not to."

[from_the_outside]

"I'm sure that would be appreciated by more than Agent Carter," Vision says, and Sharon grins.

"I think you're probably right," she says. "So how should we pass the time? Anyone feel like a hand of cards?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"There are a few decks in the wall cabinet," Vision offers. "Along with other games," Wanda adds, softly. "'Things to do together besides train and eat,'" I think the idea was.

"Let's see what they've got," Bucky says. "Vision, show me where, and I'll help sort and carry if you want."

[from_the_outside]

"Happily," Vision says, all pleasantness as usual, and leads Bucky over to the cabinet in question, which is, it turns out, absolutely stuffed to the gills with games of all kinds.

"Game night with the Avengers must be a good time," Sharon says, smiling at Wanda. "Probably a pretty competitive bunch, though, huh?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Maybe," Wanda says, a little cautiously still but less so than before. The agent seems nicer than she'd expected, and she's not picking up any indication of concealed suspicion or dislike of her, Wanda, in her manner or outward emotions.

"Everyone's nice about it, though. Although sometimes Nat can be pretty sneaky."

[from_the_outside]

"That's Nat for you," Sharon says, laughing. "She plays to win."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I didn't know you knew her," Wanda murmurs, as across the room Vision and Bucky start back their way with a few decks of cards and three boxes.

"Jenga, Clue, and Scrabble," Bucky announces when they rejoin them. "Plus cards. There's lots more stuff over there, too."

[from_the_outside]

"Oh, yeah," Sharon tells her, pleased to have found a topic of conversation they can connect on. "We worked together at SHIELD, back before Fury kicked off the Avengers. You won't ever find a better mission partner than her."

She turns to see Bucky as he comes back, her expression delighted. "Jenga! That's always fun. Clue would be good, too."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I tend to figure out the solution in Clue fairly rapidly," Vision says, sounding a little apologetic. "It is similar in reasoning as to to why we did not bring over any of the trivia games."

"Let's try Jenga first, then," Bucky says. "Although I'd be willing to go toe-to-toe with you on mystery solving. Looks from the instructions like that might be a more even playing field."

[from_the_outside]

"Fine," Sharon says, and cracks her knuckles, grinning. "Prepare to lose, Sergeant."

[nerves_of_ice]

His slight smile is a little enigmatic as he dumps the box on the table and starts dividing the pieces into four piles, one for each of them.

Wanda blinks at Sharon. "Are you competitive?"

[from_the_outside]

"It's a family trait," Sharon says, her mouth twitching.

"But don't worry. I promise I'm not a sore loser."

[nerves_of_ice]

He can't confirm that without talking about Virginia, so instead he just raises his eyebrows a little and says, blandly, "Guess we'll find out."

Bucky finishes dividing blocks, double-checks the instructions, then promptly grimaces and starts loading blocks from the various piles he'd carefully laid out into the base of the v-shaped 'sleeve' instead.

"That's what I get for not paying attention," he mutters. Finally the tower's ready in the middle of the table and he carefully eases the sleeve away.

"There. Much better."

[from_the_outside]

"Go ahead," Sharon coaxes Wanda, who smiles shyly and taps a block from the middle of the tower and place it on top, then nods to Sharon, who selects one from the side, a little lower.

Wanda doesn't seem comfortable enough with her for Sharon to ply her usual bag of tricks, and she can't tease Bucky too much without it becoming obvious that there's more to them than is officially sanctioned, so she settles herself in for a friendly game, unsurprised that the first few rounds go smoothly.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky removes and places his next block, watches the tower shift a little, then nods to Vision to take his turn.

Vision studies the tower intently, pulls a block, sets it carefully on top-- and phases his hand through the tower rather than lift it away. "Vis!" Wanda scolds. "That's cheating."

"Apologies," Vision starts, looking sheepish. "I will--"

"Why not try it?" Bucky asks. "That trick's not going to help you take a block or shield it from bad placement. So you've got an advantage. Bet it's not enough to win." He smiles at Wanda. "Same goes; I bet you can use fine control to stabilize things, but what happens when you let go? I'm pretty sure the agent has some tricks up her sleeve, too."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon laughs and holds up her hands. "Not tricks like those," she says, amused. "But he's right. Do your worst, both of you. It'll make it a challenge."

[nerves_of_ice]

Wanda looks back and forth between them, considering, then places her next block without using her powers. It's two rounds later when she flicks another glance at Sharon and pushes the next block free of a tower edge without touching it, catching it mid-air in a ruby glow.

Bucky grins. "Nice."

[from_the_outside]

“Now that’s skill,” Sharon says, grinning. “But is it any match for iron nerves and steady hands?”

She carefully taps a side piece out near the bottom, making the whole tower sway a little drunkenly until she puts it lightly on the top. “Fortune favors the bold.”

[nerves_of_ice]

"Is that how that works?" Bucky asks. He carefully pulls a piece from the top and holds his breath as he places it sideways on the top of the tower.

"Looks like."

[from_the_outside]

“See?” Sharon says, amused, as Vision looks over the tower.

“This is becoming quite structurally precarious,” he observes, and Wanda gives him a fondly exasperated glance.

“That’s the point, Vis.”