Re: X-Men Medlab; Jean & Bucky
[The wink earned her something in the vicinity of a small smile. Things like that were important to him. Jokes that connected, humor that made sense. It made him feel like a human being, something that seemed so often so distant. He still might not know exactly how to do everything the way a person was supposed to, but sometimes a beautiful woman still winked at him, and that felt like being alive.
He didn't remark on the fact that it looked painful. Maybe it was. In the hallway, physical pain and the knock to the head had dropped him into unconsciousness. He'd forgotten what it was like.
Pain was a thing he had been conditioned not to acknowledge. The Soldier didn't stop until the mission was complete - pain had not been permitted to interfere with that, and had been sculpted as a sensation beneath his notice. A soldier that felt no pain was a great idea in theory, but it meant in practice that injuries went beyond his notice for dangerously long periods of time, especially in combat.
He looked to the side when she held up a hand and casually floated pillows over to them. Sure. That made sense.
Static. He listened with a flicker of familiarity, understanding that went beyond basic sympathy.] Something set it off? [She was friends with these people, and this episode obviously wasn't normal. Maybe someone had tripped over whatever made Wanda jump out of her own head, flipped a switch they hadn't known was there.
Whatever had happened in the room with Wanda, whatever had happened in the hallway afterward, it had worn him out. It made him feel like he might actually be able to sleep for a few hours uninterrupted by...well, the kind of sitting up bolt upright from sleep and lashing out at invisible foes that made him wonder if it was a good idea to let himself rest here.
He slept on the floor most nights, still. He'd practically destroyed one of the beds at Stark's safehouse after consecutive nights of waking up flash-cold from sweat and tearing the metal frame loose from the floor. So he shook his head at the offer of a blanket - even the pillow felt odd under his head.] Thanks. [It was an odd feeling, being winked at and alternately mothered by a gorgeous redhead with psychic powers. As if it was something that didn't happen every day.]