middleofsomewhere | [OVERFLOW] Event: Healing Waters

Bucky laughed warmly. "You got it. I'll buy them at the train shop if I have to," he promised.

The question about undressing had a blush rising on his cheeks as he let out a quiet hum. "Well, I don't think we need a special place, if we're just taking our shirts off. Though I've heard something about skinny dipping, I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet," he laughed, trying to cover up his own awkward nervousness.

"Skinny dipping?" Inigo repeats the word, completely oblivious. "Does that have to do with.."

His voice trails off before he finishes that sentence as his brain is slowly connecting the dots. Bucky says he isn't ready for that, compared to just taking off his shirt, so it's.. probably....

.. oh.

Inigo's cheeks immediately colour too.

"A--Ah, n-no, let's not go that far!" He already has trouble only taking off his shirt, sweet Naga! "S-So then it.. um, it should be fine to just.. take off our shirts next to the water, right?"

Is Inigo trying to stall that moment until the last possible minute? Absolutely. Even with Bucky with him, he may still be pretty nervous.

Bucky is visibly relieved by that reaction, nodding his head in agreement. "I'm glad you feel that way, too," he agreed sheepishly. "And yeah, we can just. Take our shirts off when we get to the water," and not before.

He gives Inigo's arm what he hopes is a comforting hug, letting out a sigh as the hot springs come into sight. "Hopefully one of them is tucked away somewhere a little less visible," he murmured.

Honestly, Inigo was speaking without thinking too much a moment ago - which is why he only now seems to realise just how Bucky is looking right now too. How he seems to be feeling about this.

It makes him feel a little guilty for getting so nervous when clearly none of this is easy for Bucky either. So he tries his best to calm down, if not at least just externally, so he isn't putting the pressure of caring for him on top of what nerves Bucky must already be feeling. Come on, Inigo, be a little reliable too for once..

"Hey, it's.. it's alright." He doesn't manage to fully look calm, but he at least manages to shoot a smile the older guy's way as he keeps clinging to his arm. "You're such a handsome guy, Bucky! I mean, your face is pretty great, but you got the muscles and all too." Even though he doesn't mind Bucky's slightly less conventional features, like the arm, Inigo is careful to not mention any of that right now. It's better to focus on Bucky's strong points. Maybe it might make him feel a bit better, or at least more confident about this. "The girls here are going to go crazy for you!"

Bucky snorted at the sudden over-compensation, but the smile he aims at Inigo is a grateful one. "I'm not so much worried about the girls as I am about one guy in particular," he admits, as he spots a path going behind some foliage, and hopes that's a path to a more secluded spring. "And I only mentioned the skinny dipping because apparently that's how some cultures do it," he shrugged a shoulder.

Honestly, Inigo's nervous energy makes him feel a little less nervous, even though they're getting closer and closer to having their shirts off in a relatively public area. Even though Inigo has seen the scars before, it still twists his stomach up in knots to think of anyone having to see them. Especially someone who has a pretty good idea about how they formed.

Wow. Wait. Wait, hold on a second there! Did Bucky think he could just casually slip that in there? That he could just mention 'one guy in particular' in front of Inigo without being subjected to an official Little Brother Interrogation? Because there's no way he's getting away with that so easily!

.. Okay, maybe he's getting away with it for another moment or two. Because they're arrived at said secluded hot spring now, and the tension of this being the moment to take their shirts off sure doesn't work very well for a talk about Bucky's - potential - love life. (But he's filing it in the back of his head! Once they're in the water, he's not letting Bucky escape!)

"Well.. This is it, huh?"

It's like the tension is even in the very air. Inigo awkwardly stares from Bucky to the water. Of course he feels so reluctant to take his shirt off too, but.. maybe he doesn't want Bucky to feel like he has to do it first just because he's the big brother here. Maybe it's time for Inigo to take the lead for once - especially since this all was his idea. He dragged the other over here.

So after sucking in a deep breath, he pulls off his shirt - quick and over his head in one motion, like he doesn't want to give himself even a second to rethink his decision.

He lingers like that for a moment, but then Inigo makes sure to quickly slip into the water instead. Look, taking off his shirt is one thing, but he's not going to stand there on full display for longer than five seconds. He might die.

That is exactly his plan. Just causally mention it .5 seconds before an anxiety spiral so they both forget about it and Bucky can later claim that he told Inigo all about it. It's basic Sibling Warfare -- divide (attention) and conquer.

"This is it," he agrees, letting Inigo go, so they cam both take their shirts off. Reluctantly. While Inigo slides his shirt off in one smooth motion, Bucky hesitates for just a beat before he tugs his own off, reaching behind his back to yank it off by the collar and tosses it off to the side, where it won't get wet. Once the shirt is off, though, he doesn't hesitate to slide into the water, sinking down until his shoulders are fully covered and letting out a happy sigh.

"Okay... worth it." It feels so good. Warm and cozy and downright safe. The water even distorts the image of his scars enough that he can fool himself into thinking maybe they're not so obvious if they're below the water's surface.

Bucky may have found his moment of relaxation, but it seems that Inigo isn't quite there yet, the boy sputters, yelping something along the lines of, "Why is it so hot?!" before splashing in the water, his body sinking down far enough for him to accidentally get a whole mouthful of hot water.

He doesn't look actually panicked though. Or, well, he doesn't look like he's in danger, at least? It's just a hot spring, after all, not a pool. And Inigo is probably just being dramatic to begin with, although hot springs are probably a wild, wild concept for someone who has never been near one, let alone in one. He's only used to cold natural water!

(And maybe, just maaaybe, he might be laying it on a bit thick here so Bucky won't have to think about the scars as much. Can't think about them while he's distracted by Inigo's circus antics!)

The antics might be intended to draw his attention away from the scars, but they also get his attention off his own anxiety, too. It's hard to worry when you're laughing, after all. "It's called a hot springs, not a cold springs," he replied, giving his head a little shake as he watches Inigo flail.

He's ready to step in if he's needed, but it doesn't look like Inigo is in any genuine trouble, so he just keeps himself tucked off to the side. An impressive feat for someone as big as he is.

"Are you going to survive?" he asks teasingly. "I know relaxing is a totally new concept to you, but I promise people do it all the time and very few of them end up dead because of it."

Something about what Bucky just said must have been the magic word, since it gets Inigo to stop flailing around in the water as if he's drowning in a place where his feet can clearly touch the bottom and instead just stay still at the spot he's at now.

His jaw is dropping again though - thankfully not into the water this time, but still. He looks offended.

"Do you really think I'm not capable of relaxing?" Bucky would be 100% right about that fact, mind you. Despite the dramatic offense on Inigo's face. "I can relax! Whenever I want to!"

Bucky can't help laughing at that, a wide grin on his face as he lifts both eyebrows at Inigo. "The only time I've ever seen you relaxed is when you're asleep," he countered, and waved his hand through the water, playfully splashing Inigo.

"Go on then, if you're so good at it. Relax," even though he knows damn well it's the sort of thing you can't do when you're all keyed up. Or being taunted about it.

This absolute callout.

Inigo can't even sputter any defense, because Bucky is right. Cuddling up to someone trusted like Bucky and then sleeping like that is most definitely the only time Inigo ever genuinely relaxes, letting go of his constant stress and worries. Which is why he just stares at the other as if Bucky threw his favourite toy down a set of stairs.

"W--Well!" He sputters, then slowly realises something.

He may not be able to defend himself on this point, but maybe that just means he's got to attack Bucky on another.

"Why don't you tell me a little about your special guy then, huh?!"

Shots fired, I repeat, shots fired!!! Bucky is aghast at having the tactic leveled right back at him, and sputters a little. "I don't..!" But he does, and he knows it, and his face is going all red and spotchy. Look at what you've done to him, Inigo!

He sinks deeper into the water with what could be a poorly concealed pout. "He's cute. And nice. And he's into music." And that... that was kind of all he knew about Dyme. Well, there were a couple other things, but they really weren't Bucky's to share. "And he smells good," he added, petulantly.

Hah! Guess who's on top now, huh? Sure, Inigo may be having baby brother syndrome where he's just sweet to his older siblings and really looks up to them.. but if Bucky is going to tease him, then Inigo sure is going to throw it right back at him! Especially when he gets a good opportunity for it like this!

(Not to mention that he is just genuinely curious on top of it all.)

"You smelled him already?!"

It's hard to tell if it's even teasing at this point, or Inigo is just genuinely surprised at the speed Bucky is moving at while Inigo didn't even have any idea that Bucky had these feelings for anyone.

Inigo's innocent veneer has been stripped away. Bucky had siblings back home, he knows exactly what he's in for, now that he's gotten over the shock (and the awe!) of Inigo being the one to level this sort of tit-for-tat at him.

His smug grin is the only warning Inigo gets before Bucky takes aim with his next bit of information. "I've done more than just smell him," why does that have to sound so weird??? "I've kissed him. Several times." Just today, even. In fact, today was the first kiss. "I'm one hundred years old, not dead," to quote an old friend of his.

"You kissed him?!"

See, thankfully this is information Inigo can still handle. Bucky better not go into their sex life, because that might just make him pass out in the middle of the hot springs, but kisses? That's cool. Kind of cute, even.

Besides, there's still a way to spin that.

"You kissed him, and you didn't even think once about introducing him to your little brother first?" Inigo's eyes grow big. And sad. A moment later he's actually even tearing up a bit. "D-Do I mean that little to you, Bucky?"

Okay, that wasn't quite the reaction Bucky had been expecting... he sputtered a little. "Hey! It's not like I planned to kiss him! We were just... you know... walking towards the hot springs. Talking about... stuff. And then... he kissed me." And Bucky kissed him. There had been a lot of kissing. His face was a tomato.

"Besides!" Bucky's on the defense and he's not used to it. "I didn't even know for sure that there was anything there until the kiss. I just knew I liked him, and that he's nice, and plays music and..." he gestured vaguely.

“I introduced you to my boyfriend last time around!” Inigo protests. Honestly, he doesn’t care nearly as much about this as he makes it seem. He’s sure Bucky would have introduced this guy to him at some point, especially if the kiss did come as much out of nowhere as it did...

But it’s fun to put Bucky on the defensive after the other tried to corner him with that teasing, and so Inigo can’t help but press on.

Especially with his big, wibbly puppy eyes.

“I guess I’m not that important to you after all, huh.. Who needs a baby brother when you have someone to kiss!”

[OVERFLOW] Event: Healing Waters

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