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"How 'bout we dry that hair of yours?" I offered and attempted not to react to his flinch.

I dug through the drawers and found the blow dryer.

'...Would this scare him...? Probably.'

It was loud. Even looked like the weirder guns found in cartoons and our labs. Wouldn't doubt Hydra had some funky looking weaponry either.

'Did they even have these way back when?'

I doubt Hydra bothered to blow dry his hair.

When I took hold of the towel, it was dry. No wonder he was soaking wet. I placed my free hand on his shoulder when he tried to get up.

"I'm too short to deal with your hair if you stand up. Turn around for me, will you?"

His head turned, his gaze dropping to my arm, and I held my breath, slowly retreating my hand. His hand snapped up so incredibly fast, his fingers wrapping around mine so softly that I couldn't comprehend a thing.

When I finally flinched, those blue eyes were set on mine. A question in them.

So very lost.

So very innocent.

Nothing like they usually were.

Barely even a trace of the haunted man who probably saw demons at every corner and the spaces between.

Offering the best smile I could, I curled my fingers to return the hold, pulled the towel off the rack and gently placed it on his head. Broken fingers were a possibility if he got scared.

"I'm going to just rub the towel against your hair, 'kay?"

At his nod, I took his flesh wrist in my free hand and pulled my fingers free.

"You can grab onto my elbow if you want."

And that was exactly what he did, as I sloppily tried to towel dry his hair. His eyes fell shut. His body tilted forwards. His head dipped down, hiding most of his face. His flesh hand still clung onto my left elbow, moving with me instead of putting any weight on my arm.

"You honestly suck at this," Eve laughed on the speakers.

I had to grind my teeth together and fake a smile, when Bucky's fingers clenched shut. Painfully. His eyes quickly searched the room before they landed on mine again.

"Shhh... That's just Eve. She's...."

I couldn't say harmless. That'd be a lie. Though, she's not going to do anything at the moment, hopefully?

"She's a friend."

"...Friend...?" he repeated, his hold loosening up.

"Yup. Eve, ummm, why don't you find us a movie to watch? Something... Uhh.... Nothing scary?"

I just hoped she caught on with the implied nothing to trigger him.

"I'll see what I can find."

Resting my hands on that warm head, I debated how to go about introducing the blow dryer to Bucky.

'Now or never, Val. He shouldn't sleep with a head of wet hair.'

I pulled his hand from my elbow, sending him a reassuring smile, and plugged the loud contraption in.

'I should get around to designing one of these things that don't make my ears fucking ring....'

We probably had the technology, just had to piece them together. Probably

Bucky's fingers found mine again. Those lost eyes staring out from under the towel. He gave a gentle tug. Asking for something. Asking for something he probably didn't even remember. Just asking.

How the hell was a person supposed to respond to this? That, and I was sure my fingers were going to break when the dryer turns on.

"I'm not going anywhere, 'kay?" I tried.

Not like either of us could leave this house until Eve figured life out.

"I'm going to turn this on. It's going to make a lot of noise. It's annoying as fuck. It's just blowing out hot air. Not going to hurt you. You're safe. 'Kay?"

He nodded, letting me slip my fingers out from his grip. He flinched at the blaring roar, and I wrapped my hand around his tight fist, rubbing circles on it with my thumb.

"Look!" I urged, turning the contraption on my own hair. "See?! Harmless! Just hot air!"

I lowered it between us and he yanked his hand away.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's not going to hurt!"

I wasn't completely sure if it happened. It was just a blur, moving faster than I could blink.

Or did I blink?

But I swore his hand swiped through the warm air. I guess he did, since he was cautiously fiddling with the air flow now.

"Can I dry your hair now?!" I asked, shifting about until I was kneeling in front of him.

No point getting him to turn around now, being so settled. Free of the stiffness he normally held. He'd probably be paranoid about having somebody behind him either way.

He looked up at me, the towel sliding off his head and pooling around his neck. He gave a nod. His head bowed in permission.

With that, I got to work. One hand constantly keeping the dryer moving. The other combing knots out of the dark locks, but it was mostly there to make sure I didn't accidentally burn the poor guy.

His head would lean just the slightest when my fingers brushed against his scalp. He kept most of his weight supported by his elbows on his knees. His fingers were fidgeting for once. I could feel it from how the hem of my shirt was moving. It was nerve racking since I hadn't bothered to pull on shorts.

His head dipped lower, and I pointed the dryer away. Before I could open my mouth to ask if I burned him, his forehead pressed against my lower ribs. His hands stilled. His entire body was still, just barely resting against mine.

With a shrug, I continued with drying his hair.

"So," Eve started in my ear after some time. "The new movies without any potential triggers are of no interest to you. Either too artistic, sappy romance or not your cup of humour. As for ones you wouldn't mind watching again... Up?"

I didn't respond as a silent no.

"Finding Nemo?"

That was a definite no.

The film mirrored too many things to the amnesiac assassin with him being Nemo. I wouldn't be too surprised if the captain was Marlin.

"Wall-E? He was looking a lot into space stuff earlier today. Seemed that he enjoyed it more than when he was researching about hauntings."

'She's going to list out a bunch of Pixar's works, isn't she...?'

I gave a slight nod. I missed the little robotic pair. It should be okay. Animated figures. I hoped it was okay.

"There, all done," I chirped.

Turning off the blow dryer, I backed away and placed the warm contraption aside as a distraction. I could still feel how soft those brown locks were between my fingers.

"Shall we?" I asked, getting onto my good foot.

He stared into my eyes in question. They dropped down to the hand I offered to him. His flesh hand slowly came up and held onto my fingers, like before.

No way was I going to be able to pull him up with that grip.

I doubt I could handle his weight either. Especially with my ribs still sore from flying.

I smiled softly and tugged on his fingers lightly.

"Come on, get up."

I pulled off the towel around his neck and tossed it to the side.

With ease, he rose. Those muscles letting him move with such elegance. He followed after me in absolute silence. I couldn't even feel the usual vibrations of a footstep on the floor that most people left.

His breathing, it was clear it's been trained to be quiet. Probably some bullshit about being unseen and unheard.

He wasn't used like a nuclear missile, a deterrent. If he were, the world would have heard of him long before.

"Tuck in. Get comfortable. We're going to watch Wall-E," I urged, waiting for him to pick a side of the king sized bed.

His head tilted to the side in confusion. He still wouldn't let go of my fingers. So I guess I'd be on his right.

"A movie. Cute little robots."

Shaking my hand free, I guided him onto the bed and tucked him in myself. Crawling to the other side, I settled in and the movie started rolling on the TV.

Bucky was curious for a few minutes before his attention was back on me. I held out my hand. He stared at it.

Just stared at it.

'Oookay...? What does he want...?'

Those big blues eyes darted from my hand to my face and back. Asking. Took a moment to understand why he was chewing on his red bottom lip.

I reached up, and his body swiftly twisted, his head knocking against my hand. He nudged it again.

"Okay, okay," I laughed, running my fingers through his barely damp hair. "I get it. Hang on a moment."

I shuffled a pile of pillows between us.

"Rest your head here."

He adjusted his body and his head laid on the other side of the pillow mountain. I shimmed down to rest my head on my side of the fluffiness, so I wouldn't be stuck sleeping sitting up.

I folded my arm behind his head and ran my fingers through the silky soft locks. This time, instead of trying to dry the thick hair, my fingers focused on his scalp, gently scratching at it.

Who knew if he was even watching the movie at this point. Whenever I paused, he didn't let me rest long, nudging back against my arm for more.

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Author's Note:

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