[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

[nerves_of_ice]

"It's different to just watch something, rather than doing it," he protests.

[from_the_outside]

"Excellent point, Sergeant," Sharon says, amused.

Wanda leads them into the community kitchen room, where Vision waits with a small packet of what Sharon assumes must be tapioca or cornstarch. "Will you require anything else?" he asks, all politeness. "I am at your disposal."

Wanda beams at him. "Not just yet, Vis," she says, and looks at Sharon and Bucky. "We'll make the crust first, okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay," Bucky says, and thumps the flour solidly down on the countertop.

"I'll get the butter. The right butter, this time," he promises, solemnly, and goes to check out the community fridge.

[from_the_outside]

Wanda looks after him, then turns to Sharon. "Agent Carter," she says. "Um, if you'd get the – there's a food processor on the shelf over there."

"Food processor?" Sharon says, taken aback, and Wanda nods. "Okay, coming right up."

[nerves_of_ice]

He comes back with a stick of butter, having read carefully to confirm that it's butter, actual butter, and nothing more than butter, and having also confirmed that there's enough of it to make the six tablespoons that they'd used before.

"What next?" he asks Wanda. "Put us to work, wherever you say."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon hauls the food processor over, observing with interest as Wanda pulls the bag of flour toward herself and reaches in to stir it up with a spoon.

"Best way to measure is by weight," she says, "but if you don't have a scale, then spoon the flour out, like this. Nice and light."

She demonstrates, spooning flour into a measuring cup, then hands both cup and spoon to Bucky. "You try. And we'll need one more stick of butter."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I can get that," Vision offers, and drifts over to the fridge.

Bucky holds the cup carefully in his left hand and mimics how Wanda had spooned the flour out, then smiles and passes it to Sharon so that she can try.

[from_the_outside]

She takes up the cup and spoon and carefully measures flour into the cup, then dumps it into the food processor when Wanda indicates she should do so.

"Vis can be our sous chef," Wanda says, smiling gently at Vision as he floats around the room, retrieving butter, sugar, and salt. "Ice water, too," she asks, and Vision fills a glass with ice and water, then brings it over.

Wanda turns to Bucky. "Now cube up those sticks of butter and put them in the food processor, too."

[nerves_of_ice]

He finds a knife and a cutting board and does as instructed, keeping the cubes small.

"How'd you learn this?" he asks.

[marvel_npc]

Wanda pauses on her way to the freezer. "Oh – "

She's not sure he'd understand; him or the Task Force agent. Not the way Vision does, about how the shows she watches were, for such a long time, her only source of comfort. "I – I watch a lot of old tv shows. And the... women, the mothers and the wives, were always baking. I thought... it seemed like a nice thing to be able to do. You know, comforting. Everybody likes pie."

She draws out a bottle of vodka from the freezer and blushes slightly at the way the Task Force agent raises her eyebrows at it. "Secret ingredient," she says.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I can see that," Bucky murmurs, then grins in pure delight as she pulls out the vodka.

"Seriously? Sharon, you have to remember to tell Natasha about this. Maybe she'll share her vodka for next time."

[marvel_npc]

"It makes the crust extra flaky," Wanda says, looking curiously at the two of them. Sharon, he'd said. Should she find it strange that he's addressing the agent by her Christian name?

She shakes it off and comes back to the counter as Agent Carter carefully adds the scant amounts of salt and sugar. "Now close up the processor," she instructs, "and give it a couple of pulses."

The agent does so, looking dubious, but breaks into a grin as the sharp blades pulverize the butter, leaving the mixture the texture of very coarse sand. "Okay, that's much easier," the woman says, laughing."

[nerves_of_ice]

"And less messy," Bucky agrees. "Wait, we need a rolling pin, don't we?"

He glances at Vision, and confesses, "I tried a wine bottle before."

Vision looks a little thoughtful at that. "The shape would be approximate, but might the label not cause some difficulty?"

Bucky nods. "Exactly."

[from_the_outside]

"I think there's one in that cupboard over there," Wanda says, pointing. "Vis, can you grab it? And a pie plate, too. Glass."

She turns back to where Sharon's waiting at the food processor, and measures out about a quarter of a cup of vodka. "Pulse it gently," she instructs, and Sharon does as told, watching as she dribbles the ice cold liquid in: first the vodka, then the water. A few more pulses and the dough has mostly come together, liberally speckled with patches of butter. "Try not to handle it too much," Wanda tells her, and helps her tip it out and divide it. "We'll roll it out, then put it in plastic and let it rest in the fridge."

[nerves_of_ice]

"What happens if you handle it too much?" Bucky asks. He takes the rolling pin Vision offers. The other man gives Wanda the plate and goes to find the plastic wrap.

[from_the_outside]

"It melts the butter," Wanda explains. "Develops the gluten... makes the crust tough."

She sprinkles some flour on the countertop, then sets the dough in the middle and shows Bucky how to roll from the middle, turning the dough as necessary to get as even a circle as possible as Sharon goes to wash out the processor bowl and blade.

[nerves_of_ice]

He pays diligent attention and follows each gentle instruction, ending with two fairly round pie crusts of a thickness that Wanda approves.

"Not bad," Bucky says, studying them with a critical eye. "I think."

[from_the_outside]

"Wow," Sharon says, coming over and observing the two crusts with their pale blotches of butter with interest. "Those look great."

"Fold them up, like this," Wanda says, and shows them, then wraps the folded squares of crust in plastic wrap. "And put them in the fridge for now."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I would have never figured that out from just a recipe," he says, amused. "Vision, is this what you meant when you said you had knowledge but no talent?"

"I suspect it is a matter of experience," Vision replies. "Or in Wanda's case, skill."

[from_the_outside]

Wanda looks quietly pleased and reaches down for a large stainless steel bowl. "Cherries, next," she says, and measures out about two pounds before giving them to Bucky. "Sergeant, will you wash these, please?"

Sharon holds up her hands, wry. "Have any special tricks for pitting them?" she asks. "I looked like I lost a fight with a bottle of food coloring last time."

Wanda smiles, a little shyly, and opens her hand, red power glowing in her palm. "I think we can cheat a little."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Bucky," he tells her, and laughs as Wanda's fingers gleam with ruby light.

"Clever."

[from_the_outside]

She has them spread out the cherries on a baking sheet, then focuses, red light gleaming at her fingertips before she makes a quick yanking motion and the pits all pop out of the cherries as one, rattling into the sheet. "Oh, well done," Vision says, admiringly, and she blushes deeply.

"That's got to be a pretty good control exercise," Sharon laughs, scooping the pitted cherries back into the bowl. "Nice work."

[nerves_of_ice]

He waits for Sharon to finish with the cherries before he starts brushing the pits into another bowl for disposal.

"Sometimes small things are harder than big things," he observes. "Quite a talent."

There's absolutely no hint that anything about it makes him nervous in any way.

[from_the_outside]

Wanda watches him, cautious, but when it's clear he said only what he meant and nothing more, she smiles, shy and sweet. "Now we mix up the cherries and sugar and tapioca," she says. "And a little lemon juice."

"That much I can manage without setting anything on fire," Sharon says, rueful, and measures out the other ingredients into the bowl, stirring them up as Wanda turns back to Bucky.

"We'll fill the pie," she says, "then let it chill while the oven heats. Okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay," he says, and gives her a sweet smile, unconscious of how much younger it makes him look.