JAMES BARNES sent: “ i’m not asking for permission. ”
PROMPT : mcu quotes. / STATUS : accepting ! / @scldat
❛ O… KAY? ❜ john pauses, beer bottle raised halfway to his mouth, and squints at bucky in the dim of the kitchen ― it’s the middle of the goddamn night, and though it’s not rare for one or more of them to be up and about, comes with a tower full of insomniacs and generally troubled sleepers, it is rare for one of them to be suited up and ready for an apparent solo mission. it’s not his business, he decides almost immediately, setting down his beer on the counter and turning back to the fridge, bending to rifle through about a week’s worth of leftover takeout ― what happens when you leave alexei and bob to fend for themselves while the rest of the team is gone, evidently. that’s not to say he’s not curious, because he sure as hell is, but he knows better than to pry into barnes’s business, especially when he’s got that stubborn set to his jaw. ❛ i’m not stopping you, man. you wanna go rogue, be my guest. ❜ another pause, and his head tilts, thoughtful, rather than simply bemused and slightly irritated now. john glances back at bucky over his shoulder, eyebrows climbing slowly up toward his hairline. ❛ not my permission you need, anyway. that’d be ‘lena’s. ❜ technically, it’s val’s, they’re not supposed to move without her say - so, officially, but fuck valentina, and fuck her permission. he’ll defer to yelena first any day. he actually respects yelena. and besides, something tells him this is less than official. for a moment, just a fleeting instant, he considers volunteering to go with, to watch the other’s back while he does whatever it is he’s gotta do, but he dismisses the thought out of hand. why stick his neck out where he already knows he’s not wanted? ❛ just uh… call, or whatever, when you get where you’re going, and when you’re on your way back. so we know you’re not dead. ❜ the words stick in his throat, and john tells himself it’s just the awkwardness of actually letting himself voice the concern, rather than the alternative. rather than considering the possibility… if he closes the fridge a little more forcefully than he means to, well, that’s his business. ❛ or don’t. i’m not your mother. ❜
