Eyes of Fire | Bucky Barnes

15

"You are hurt." Uxolo acknowledged, hands extending to take hold of James' waving hand once he was within range.

He'd shaken his limp wrist around to try and play off the injury, but it'd only drew her attention.

With a bundle of wrapping tape, she began wrapping his hand, pausing to inspect the opened wounds once she made sure every bone was where it should be.

"I don't have gloves." James muttered sheepishly to himself, eyes caught between his hand and Uxolo's face. " 'm not used to fightin'...metal."

She finished up on one of his knuckles before moving on to the next. She commented, laughing fondly, "Your first mistake was putting them at the most difficult setting."

She finished wrapping his hands, watching as he instinctively gave them both a flex. James muttered his thanks, "I've wrapped myself in the past but... hands always wind up achy after a while."

"You are binding them too tight then." Uxolo clarified, beginning to wrap up one of her own to show him where to pull the bandages tighter and where to keep them loose. "When you bind you need to make sure you do it firmly, but not tight enough to cut off circulation or muscle function."

"Or I could just come to you and have you wrap my hands for me." James suggested.

Uxolo looked as if her thoughts had derailed. It was a look he appreciated beyond expectation, given that he'd adjusted to her knowing, well, everything.

"I- well. I suppose I could." A quirky little smile tugged at the corner of her lips before she dipped her head with a small nod. "I suspect, James, that you wrap yourself poorly on purpose."

He tilted his head, mindlessly flexing the muscles in his forearm as she worked away at the rest of his wrapping.

"Well, when your body was forced to act as the Winter Soldier, I would assume that they waived your well-being above the necessary. Meaning, they would fix broken bones and heal wounds that would have impeded your efficiency and accuracy." Uxolo tried her best to explain the reasoning behind her assumption, "But anything above that? I do not think they cared. And now, I think you punish yourself by doing the same."

He did nothing but stare at her, not allowing the words to bounce around in his head for longer than a second before he was shoving them out.

She must've noticed something, must've realized the silence, because she was apologizing almost just as quickly, "I am sorry, James, now was not the time for that."

"It's okay." He said, pushing out a chuckle, because he did not want to think of what it would mean if her suspicions were correct. "I'll be sure to go around punching things just so you can kiss my hands better."