"You know, physically, I am older than you." Pushing into forties now, after his time in Berlin after the snap and the world went even darker. He wrinkles his nose.
"And yet, you act like the old man, scandalized by the thought of being intimate more than once." There's an exaggerated sigh, followed by a soft laugh at the nudging. Perhaps Zemo is in a far better mood than he had thought he'd have been in this morning. Perhaps that is largely because of Bucky humoring him, or getting to taste freedom for one day.
"You don't mind it." Zemo being energetic, that is, or the fact that Zemo may spoil Steve a bit when no one is looking... or invite the cat into bed when Bucky has decided he'd rather have the floor.
Although the amusement dies down a bit, the teasing note leaves his voice as he watches the screen for a few more moments, considering that. "I don't intend to throw anything away, James. I am... enjoying this time."
He's quiet a moment longer, not quite wanting to... bring up the topic that always seems to put Bucky on edge. But it can't quite be helped. "Oeznik says you do not do well when I am not around, you know. He says you stop sleeping in the bed, stop eating properly..."
Reverts back to less appropriate coping methods, it seems. "I worry. Unless I do stay like this, it is almost inevitable that I will end up back in a cage or worse... and while I have almost always gotten what I have wanted, I do not think I could talk or trick my way out of my punishment again."
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"And yet, you act like the old man, scandalized by the thought of being intimate more than once." There's an exaggerated sigh, followed by a soft laugh at the nudging. Perhaps Zemo is in a far better mood than he had thought he'd have been in this morning. Perhaps that is largely because of Bucky humoring him, or getting to taste freedom for one day.
"You don't mind it." Zemo being energetic, that is, or the fact that Zemo may spoil Steve a bit when no one is looking... or invite the cat into bed when Bucky has decided he'd rather have the floor.
Although the amusement dies down a bit, the teasing note leaves his voice as he watches the screen for a few more moments, considering that. "I don't intend to throw anything away, James. I am... enjoying this time."
He's quiet a moment longer, not quite wanting to... bring up the topic that always seems to put Bucky on edge. But it can't quite be helped. "Oeznik says you do not do well when I am not around, you know. He says you stop sleeping in the bed, stop eating properly..."
Reverts back to less appropriate coping methods, it seems. "I worry. Unless I do stay like this, it is almost inevitable that I will end up back in a cage or worse... and while I have almost always gotten what I have wanted, I do not think I could talk or trick my way out of my punishment again."