[ Before Sam even speaks, Steve knows that Bucky's in a good place back home. He knows it more in the ways he'd seen his friend interacting with people and being close to the Bucky he known and grown up with, but there had also been those occasional talks when they'd moved through the guilt to just be normal and real with each other. And hearing it from Sam settles something in him, something that had threatened to tear through his skin and change him into someone else.

This place really did enjoy feeding on the negativity of the people it brought here.

When Sam turns to look at him, Steve leans back with the slightest clearing of his throat, staring at him head-on as his grip loosens. He doesn't want to let him go, fears that if he does he'll disappear, and maybe that's why he shifts his stance, angling his body so he can cup the side of Sam's face. Back home, Sam had constantly been on his mind, and here, between Nat and all the others he hadn't seen, he'd still thought about him. ]

He's like that, [ he says eventually, the corner of his mouth curling into a partial smile. ] It's good to know he's got somewhere safe to go back to though.

[ And unable to help it, maybe, Steve lets his thumb sweep over Sam's cheekbone. Just to feel his skin, to help ground himself to this moment. He'd missed him almost too much, this man who'd become his best friend in the years he'd had none. ]

But what about you? How are you doing with all of this?