Although Bucky adamantly had always tried to avoid letting anyone get too close, he had to admit that it was kind of nice to have that connection with Tony. They were friends, he genuinely liked him, and they could sort of slip that fondness into little gestures or the very occasional word. It was closeness at a distance, as contradictory as that sounded, but it worked.
It showed in the way Tony laid his head in Bucky's lap while Bucky continued to massage his scalp. The gesture was just as soothing to him, with the rhythmic way he was moving his fingers and the way Tony's hair softly sifted between them.
He wasn't sure he wanted to know just how real those memories were, or what was written on those pages about how James Barnes gave his life for his country. There had to be more to the story than that. Bucky had memories of being strapped to a bed and tortured, and a leather strap with teeth marks in it to prove it. But that wasn't something he was sure he wanted to talk about just yet. Maybe. Maybe later.
"Mm, probably depends who you ask," Bucky said. "I definitely don't feel dead."