(Untitled)

[prodigaljaybird]

Skipping his next to last day of classes is pretty pointless as far as rebellion goes, but Jason doesn't care, he'll take it.

He'd left the hut that morning with an extra burst of speed, one hint of a female voice on the other side of Bucky's door enough to tell him that Bucky was too occupied to care what direction he took off in, and so, when

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[onlyapassenger]

"I think the better question is where the hell were you this morning?" offers Bucky from the room's entrance, his voice conversational enough save for the underlying hint of steel lacing his every word. He shows no interest for the cartoon flickering across the screen, his gaze locked on the bits of torn-off cast littering the couch. His arms are folded across his chest, his expression distinctly unimpressed.

"Mystery solved."

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason's spent enough time around Bucky to know when he's being friendly and when he only sounds it. He's been barked at, been frowned at, even been yelled at when the situation warranted it, but Bucky always manages to be even scarier when he's reining himself in.

And while Jason is smart enough to be duly terrified at the calm in Bucky's voice, there are a few moments where he simply doesn't hear him, pure white noise in the space between his ears and nothing else.

Pregnant. Lux thinks she's pregnant. He could be a father, right now where he sits, and Jason can't - he can't - he can't do anything but listen to his thoughts skip like a scratched record.

"Um," he says, finally lifting his eyes. "Sorry, I didn't. Feel like it."

[onlyapassenger]

"That cast indicates otherwise," says Bucky, stepping further into the room. The kid seems more distracted than distraught at being caught, which sets off a few alarm bells in Bucky's head, but he doesn't yet comment on it, instead walking around towards the projector to shut it down. That done, he leans back against the wall, and refolds his arms.

"There's a doctor right upstairs that could've done that for you. What's up?"

[prodigaljaybird]

"Nothing." The lie sounds weak to even Jason's ears, which sucks. He might be so open around Bucky at times as to be considered cracked wide, but he can lie when he really wants to, can trick and deceive, but now when he needs to more than ever, he can't seem to muster the skill.

"I don't like it in there." It's true enough, but it only makes Jason think how often he'll be there if Lux really is pregnant, for tests and procedures he doesn't understand, for the birth itself. His eyes go wide, and while he'd really rather be focusing on why he should tell Bucky what's up when Bucky won't even cop to the bruise on his face, all Jason can do is focus on breathing.

"I just don't feel good, okay. I didn't want to run around."

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky's gaze turns sharp, critical. His mouth pulls into a hard line. That the kid's lying isn't in doubt, but why he's lying is the bigger question. Given Bucky's own predisposition for playing things close to the chest, however, he decides not to press, at least not in so obvious way; it opens himself too much to more questions he'd rather not answer, questions about Steve that are no one's business, Jason's included. There are times when talking with Jason feels more like an interrogation than a conversation, every new inquiry making Bucky that much more determined to keep to himself; he won't return the favor. There are more effective means to get information, and Bucky's specialty has long since been a less direct approach.

"So you decided to camp out underground and watch cartoons," he says, brows arching. "Right. Well, don't bother coming on Friday. Sleep in. Get your beauty rest." Pushing himself off from the wall, he makes to leave, adding, "And get that arm checked out before you come home. I'll know if you don't."

[prodigaljaybird]

It's as if his brain is trapped in petulant rapidfire. He didn't pick cartoons, that's just all it would give him, he doesn't want beauty rest, he wants to sulk, and he's not going up to the damn clinic. He sits there, surrounded by the torn off bits of his own cast and tries to decide what he'll take objection to first, but the truth is, after what Lux has told him, his anger just seems stupid and out of place.

"Wait," he says, pushing off the couch. How's he going to be somebody's dad if he can't even finish his classes? "I don't want to miss the last day. Won't there be a test or something?"

[onlyapassenger]

"You should've thought of that when you skipped today," says Bucky, unmoved by the argument. His voice is even and controlled -- downright conversational.

"You don't get a free pass just because we're friends, Jason. And if you don't want to tell me what the hell's going on, that's fine, but don't feed me some bull excuse, and expect the consequences to magically disappear."

[prodigaljaybird]

"It's not bull." Granted, it certainly had been that morning, but now Jason's insides are a twisted up mess, and he thinks if he had to throw up right now to prove his illness, he certainly could.

"You can't fail me for skipping once," he says, pushing his fingers through his hair so nervously that he startles when the remnants of the cast pull at it. "I had a thing with Lux, okay? Not sex. We - " Jesus, he can hardly think. "You never had girl problems?"

[onlyapassenger]

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Jason, there aren't even any grades," Bucky says, rolling his eyes. His sympathy as it extends to Jason's girl problems is virtually nonexistent, and the instant Lux's name drops from Jason's mouth, whatever concern Bucky might've held dissipates. It's starting to seem like every other week there's some new drama between those two, the kind of thing only teenagers can cook up, so hopped up on hormones and feelings, and he can't bring himself to be too worried, nor does he care to offer advice. They're young, and Bucky's too much of a pragmatist to think they'll ever last forever, anyway, let alone in a place that could see either of them disappear at any moment. There's no point, though, in telling Jason as much; it'll just force the kid onto the defensive. He already looks like he's about to puke as is.

"You wasted my time this morning. And you got the same spiel as everyone else -- you waste my time, I waste yours. But if you're feeling too sick from whatever thing it is you and your little gal pal have

[prodigaljaybird]

It's a rare day when shame forces Jason into anything but anger, but today he might be a father, and the bar for the extraordinary has already been met and passed. His shoulders slump, footsteps slowing to let Bucky pass forward into the hall. That he doesn't know what to do would be an understatement - what to do, what to say, who to apologize to first or even how to feel, and eventually Jason settles for a quiet, if heartfelt, "Sorry, Bucky." It only occurs to him after that he's apologizing for more than just a missed class.

"I'm really sorry."

[onlyapassenger]

The tone of Jason's voice stops Bucky from carrying on, gluing his feet to the spot. While his features don't soften, per se, they relax a little, and he lets out a sigh despite himself. The kid genuinely seems torn up about something, at least, Bucky'll give him that.

"Tomorrow. In the afternoon," he specifies, because he's feeling generous. "If you make up the time then, you can come on Friday. There's your incentive to feel better."