[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]

He follows her instructions with careful precision, and looks pleased with the result.

Vision looks over his shoulder as he finishes. “There are several small details to pay heed to,” he observes.

[from_the_outside]

"Now take the knife," Wanda instructs, "and make some slashes in the crust to let steam out."

Another thing they hadn't done before, Sharon notes, and watches with curiosity.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Knife work I'm familiar with," Bucky observes, very dryly, as he deftly slits the crust in a star-like pattern around a central point. "Although less in a kitchen. This is better."

[from_the_outside]

Her mouth twitches into a crooked smile before she stands back and gives the pie a critical glance, then looks to Wanda for approval. "You said to let it chill?"

Wanda nods, and covers the pie carefully with plastic. "Back in the fridge," she tells Bucky, and turns to Sharon. "And you can pre-heat the oven."

Sharon lifts her hand in a salute and goes to do just that.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky leans back against the counter while the pie is chilling and the oven heating, and looks back and forth between Wanda and Vision.

"So, have the two of you been over to town?" he asks. "I mean, I know why I've been sticking pretty close except for when Agent Carter humors me, but that's different."

[from_the_outside]

She turns around from setting the oven temperature to see Wanda and Vision exchanging a glance.

"Not yet," Vision says, pleasantly. "What are your impressions of the area?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He catches that look and decides not to push - or not much, not yet, although he makes a note to ask Steve about it.

"Pretty nice," he says, instead. "A little more small-town, more rural than I'm used to, but people are people wherever you go."

[from_the_outside]

"I suppose that's true," Vision says. "Perhaps we will visit one day. It certainly sounds quite pleasant. Not unlike the towns in the shows you enjoy," he says, to Wanda, who smiles, faintly.

"It's a nice change of scenery," Sharon says, conversational. "And pretty low-key. The people there don't seem to be very nosy, which I guess could be a side effect of living near the Avengers compound."

[nerves_of_ice]

He makes a vaguely affirming sound and tries to think of another conversational direction to take. He's so out of practice at this, but it helps if he tries not to think about it too much... or at all.

"I hope we didn't interrupt anything important with our little fire alarm situation," he starts. "It's nice of you to help out."

[from_the_outside]

"It was no interruption," Vision says, cheerful. "We were curious to see how your experiment turned out regardless."

Wanda shrugs, very slightly. "It's nice to make things," she says, and Sharon thinks maybe she sometimes feels the same way Bucky does, that she's been destroying for so long that making anything, even as small as a pie, is a personal triumph. A faint hint of mischief lightens the young woman's serious eyes. "And this way you're less likely to burn down the compound."

"Oh, I see," Sharon says, laughing. "Self-preservation."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky flashes a quick, amused grin at them.

"Can you imagine me trying to explain to Steve?"

[from_the_outside]

"I'm not sure Captain Rogers would have had more success," Vision says, and Sharon grins.

"I think you're probably right," she says, amused.

[nerves_of_ice]

"There's that," he admits, without hesitation, but whatever else he might have said is cut short by the quiet beeping of the oven behind them.

[from_the_outside]

Wanda goes to the oven drawer and retrieves a baking sheet, which she lines with parchment paper. "We'll bake the pie on this," she says. "That way, when it leaks, it won't get all over the oven."

"Now that's a good idea," Sharon says. "I had no idea how juicy that sucker would get."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky eyes this process a little warily, then looks at Wanda.

"The paper doesn't catch fire?"

[from_the_outside]

"Parchment paper is heat-resistant up to approximately four hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, the usual autoignition point for untreated paper," Vision answers, looking pleased to be of use. "At which point it may brown and smoke, but it is unlikely to catch fire unless held over an open flame."

Sharon gives him a faintly impressed look. "Good to know," she says, amused.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Definitely good to know," Bucky murmurs, and wants to kick himself when he finds a corner of his mind wondering if he could integrate it into magnesium-flare incendiaries.

"And since we're not baking at that high a temperature...."

[from_the_outside]

"Even if we were, it would be alright," Wanda tells him. "It just gets a little brown at the edges."

"Sounds like you know your stuff when it comes to cooking," Sharon says, looking at the oven where the pie is contentedly baking.

[nerves_of_ice]

"She does," Vision says, and there's no mistaking the fondness in his tone.

"Vis," Wanda says, flushing a little. "It's not that hard."

Bucky points at himself. "Hi. Just covered Steve's kitchen in smoke. It's not that easy, either."

[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."