Story: "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day" Part 9

[ysabetwordsmith]

"Coming in from the Cold" is the next big piece in its series, dealing with Bucky and his continued issues with that piece-of-crap prosthesis. I'm posting each day within the story as a section unto itself, broken down into post-sized parts.

This story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk,""kintsukuroi," "Little and Broken, but Still Good," "Up the Water Spout," "The Life of the Dead," "If They Could Just Stay Little," "Anahata," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers," and "Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations."

Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Happy Hogan, Peggy Carter, Sam Wilson, DUM-E, U, Butterfingers.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mention of past trauma with lingering symptoms of PTSD. Kitchen fail. Tony being a brat. Description of past deaths and self-destructive behavior. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: The Avengers celebrate Memorial Day by going to Washington, D.C. for the festivities. Emotional roller-coasters ensue.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Emotional overload. Coping skills. Healthy touch. Asking for help and getting it. Cooking. Comfort food. Holidays. Medals. Veteran issues. Nonsexual intimacy. Caregiving. Competence. Gentleness. Trust. Emotional confusion. Hope. Crowds. Memorials. Mourning. Letting go. Moving on. Photography. Parades. Storytelling. War stories. Nostalgia. Hand-feeding. Heroism. Public speaking. Flashbacks. Friendship. Counseling. Leaving early. Bots. Tony and his bots. Tony Stark loves his bots. The bots are Tony's kids. Bot feels. Bots being cute. Protective bots. Boundary issues. Territoriality. Making friends. Bucky's arm. Tony Stark & Bucky's arm. Watching television. Cuddling. Hand cramps. Massage. #coulsonlives

Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.

Here ends "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day." Thank you all for sticking with the series this far! I love your input. Final thoughts on the story overall are welcome, in addition to reactions on this specific chapter. The Tuesday segment has been drafted, but this is Poetry Fishbowl week so expect it to be awhile before posting resumes. I gotta put the beans on the table.

I also have a list of favorite photogenic scenes from the whole series for fanartists to consider, partly compiled from audience requests. See the new fanart of Bruce and Natka under the coffee table!

A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.


"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day" Part 9


Bruce and Betty were curled up on the couch, while Steve lay on the floor, lazily kicking his feet in the air. They were all watching television. Phil peered at the display. "Is that ... Biker Mice from Mars?" he asked, bemused. "I haven't seen that show in years."

Betty grinned. "I always loved Charley Davidson, because she's smart and talented. Besides, I wanted to show the guys here why turbo is a button you push and let go, not push and hold down."

"I seem to remember an exploding bike making that point at least once," Phil said.

"The mice are so weird, but I like their motorcycles," Steve said from the floor.

Bruce nodded. "They are pretty cool."

On the screen, Charley and Modo were trying to talk the thrill-seeking Vinnie out of some reckless plan. A stiff gesture snagged Phil's attention. That's right, Modo has a bionic arm, he recalled. All of the Biker Mice had sustained injuries from experiments and adventures that culminated in them fleeing from Mars to Earth. They found a new home and family anyway.

Phil settled on the loveseat. From there he could stretch out his legs until his toes just reached the side of Steve's hip. Phil wanted to connect with his people tonight. Steve gave him a soft smile over his shoulder, then went back to watching the show.

They had just started the next episode when Bucky came in, skin glove and shirt back where they belonged. JARVIS paused the action so that he could provide a summary of the plot and potential triggers for Bucky's approval. "I dunno ... maybe?" Bucky said. "Let's give it a try."

"If you start watching, and something in the show upsets you ...?" JARVIS prompted gently.

"I can close my eyes for a second, snuggle with friends, or ask you to pause the program," Bucky said. "If I feel like my control might slip, I can always tap out if I need to."

"Good plan, Modo." Betty patted the couch, and Bucky sat down with her and Bruce.

"Modo?" asked Bucky.

"You'll get it in a minute; he's one of the Biker Mice. JARVIS, rewind to the beginning of this episode, please," said Betty.
"Rewinding," JARVIS said. The episode restarted.

Phil kept an eye on Bucky, but he seemed perfectly comfortable. He laughed in all the right places. Modo clearly became his favorite character. In the next episode, the appearance of the evil Dr. Karbunkle made Bucky freeze up for a few seconds. Then he wrapped himself more firmly around Bruce and settled back down.

Comfort contact, Phil thought. It's a good sign that Bucky can seek refuge in his friends and thereby boost his tolerance for stressful concepts.

They watched several more episodes. Steve got hungry again, wandered into the kitchen, and came back with a big bowl of plain popcorn. Betty slipped off the couch to sit with him and snitch a few pieces.

Phil reached down and helped himself to a handful, then leaned back in the loveseat. It felt good to relax. Besides, the Biker Mice were hilarious.

Then Tony came into the common room, one hand kneading the other. "Hey, guys," he said.

"Tony, are you okay?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, I'm fi--well, no," Tony interrupted himself. "Actually my hands are killing me. Think you can fix it?" He stopped rubbing his hands and held them out.

"Come here and let me see," Bruce said, beckoning to him. Bruce cupped Tony's wrist in his palm and gently manipulated the fingers. "No blisters, cuts, bruises, or other obvious injuries. What have you been doing?"

"Working on the prototype," Tony said. "Phil and Bucky brought the new materials down. I finally got the wrist to work right! I am a genius. Behold the genius that is me."

"Yes, Tony, that's good news," Bruce said. He rotated Tony's hand. "How long did it take you to do that?"

"Since we got home," Tony said. He leaned against the back of the couch.

"Hmm ..." Bruce said. He pressed a careful thumb into Tony's palm.

"Ow fuck!" Tony protested.

"Sorry," Bruce said, working his way up the forearm. Tony yelped again. "Okay, I think what happened is that you spent several hours coding and building finicky little things, which left you with hand cramps and possibly irritated tendons. We've talked about this, Tony -- you need to protect your hands if you want to stay able to do the kind of work you do."

"I know, I know," Tony said. He rubbed his free hand along the back of his neck. "It's just, I was in the zone, I had to get to a good stopping point. I came up here to relax, honest." His voice took on a plaintive note. "So, can you fix me or not?"

"I believe so," Bruce said. "Bucky, please go into the kitchen and warm up a couple of heat pillows."

"Sure thing," Bucky said as he got up.

Soon Phil heard the quiet click of a cabinet opening. There was a pause, a long whirr, and then the chime of the microwave oven.

Bucky came back with Bruce's starry night and Steve's stars-and-stripes pillows. Bruce's smelled of peppermint and lavender, Steve's of cinnamon. "Here you go," Bucky said to Bruce.

Bruce draped one over Tony's hands and wrapped the other behind his neck. "There, sit like that for five minutes and let the heat start relaxing your muscles," he said to Tony. "JARVIS, timer please."

"Counting down from five minutes," JARVIS confirmed.

Phil got up and went into the bathroom to get a blanket from the warmer there. He knew that Tony kept the garage level cool. After hours down there, it's no wonder he's stiff and sore, Phil thought. He tucked the hot blanket around Tony, who snuggled into it.

"Good idea," Bruce said as Phil returned to the loveseat. The Biker Mice rolled on in the background.

"Mmm," Tony said. He tilted against Bucky.

When JARVIS called time, Bruce shifted the heat pillow and blanket enough so he could reach both of Tony's hands. He found the tender spots between thumbs and forefingers. "Tony, I'm going to squeeze down on these pressure points," Bruce said. "It'll hurt for a couple of minutes, then once I let go, you should feel better."

Tony flinched and whined at the contact. "Torture me, why don't you ..."

"Shh, I've got you," Bucky said, wrapping an arm around Tony's shoulders. "Let the doc do his job."

Tony huffed but burrowed into Bucky's embrace for support. When Bruce let go, Tony heaved a sigh of relief. "Huh. That does feel better."

"Good," Bruce said. He moved the heat pillow to cover Tony's left hand while he concentrated on the right. Bruce folded each finger forward and back, then tugged them from side to side. He kneaded the palm with careful strokes before slowly moving up the forearm.

"S'nice," Tony said, responding to the massage.

"I'm glad you like this part," Bruce said. Next he shifted hands, tucking Tony's right under the heat pillow while he worked on the left.

Tony fell asleep. Soon he melted against Bucky, head tipped back, snoring loudly.

Bucky gave him a worried look and murmured, "That doesn't sound too good."

Phil knew, mostly from talking to JARVIS and Happy, that Tony had always snored. Alcohol increased the tendency. The arc reactor made it even worse. After growing up with Steve, of course Bucky finds distressed breathing uncomfortable to hear, Phil realized.

"It's not good for him," Bruce agreed. "Snoring indicates a minor interruption of the air flow. Here, I'll show you what to do." He reached out and gently adjusted Tony's position until the raspy noise stopped. Then Bruce propped him in place with more pillows.

"Thanks," Bucky said. "Tony needs people to look after him."

Bruce nodded. Presently he finished working on Tony's hands. He patted the engineer on the shoulder and said, "You can wake up now. I'm done."

No response.

Phil chuckled. "He probably won't wake up, Bruce. He fell asleep on me once before."

"Sir is deeply asleep," JARVIS confirmed.

An evening-long engineering binge is better than a three-day one, especially minus the usual drinking, Phil thought.

"Okay, uh ... now what?" Bruce said, clearly at a loss.

"Don't tease Tony about it," Phil said. "This is a show of trust, and we should respect it as such."

Bucky gazed at the man sleeping in his grasp. His last experience with Tony falling asleep unexpectedly had ended in disaster. Now Bucky just gave him a fond look and folded the blanket around him a bit more thoroughly. "He looks so peaceful like this," Bucky said.

"How about I put Tony to bed," Steve said. He handed the empty popcorn bowl to Betty, a few unpopped kernels pinging around the bottom.

"That's probably a good idea," Phil said. "JARVIS, do you think we can move Tony without waking him up?"

"Most likely," JARVIS said.

"Be gentle with him, guys," said Bruce. "Tony isn't used to his new sleep pattern yet."

Steve slipped between the coffee table and the couch, then held out his arms. Bucky scooped Tony off the cushions and lifted him up enough for Steve to take hold. They made the transfer effortlessly.

"We'll take good care of him," Bucky promised, arranging Tony more comfortably in Steve's arms. Tony turned his face into Steve's neck and sighed. Then the two supersoldiers headed for the elevator.

Betty padded into the kitchen to put the empty bowl in the sink. Bruce stood up and stretched, a slow thorough yoga move of some kind from the look of it. His back popped. JARVIS had already turned off the television.

Phil yawned. He checked the time. It's almost midnight -- later than I thought, he realized. Time for bed. Phil went back to his own apartment and turned in for the night.

* * *

Notes:

Biker Mice from Mars is a cartoon show, the only one I can think of where a majority of the main characters have disabilities and adaptive equipment. Modo has a bionic arm. Enjoy a sample or watch the show here.

Coping with triggers involves forming a safety plan that lists things you can do to soothe stress if a trigger appears. This tends to work better than avoidance for getting your life back on track. Given Bucky's background, even cartoon mad scientists make him uneasy, but sympathetic friends help him feel safer. For overall stress relief you should identify your triggers, create a plan to cope with them, find healthy solutions for stress relief, and work on reducing anxiety in your life. Here is a workbook for managing stress.

Hand cramps can come from physical or psychological causes. Physical ones include cool temperatures and repetitive motion. Psychological reasons can also contribute to arm (love issues, impaired connection, fear of discouragement), forearm (blocked goals, fear of inferiority), or hand (giving and receiving, fear of action, inability to handle something) cramps.

There are several ways to relieve hand cramps.  Exercise balls or other finger fidgets move away from repetitive stress.  The Avengers have these things scattered all over the Tower.  Hand stretches and range-of-motion exercises help with sore muscles and tendons. Here is a video of some hand exercises. Aimed at guitarists, here's one of finger stretches. This one shows arm and hand massage.

Heat pillows offer another way to ease muscle pain. Different fillings retain heat and emit soothing smells. Choose the right kind for your needs. This site is where I found Bruce's starry night and Steve's stars-and-stripes pillows. You can also make your own heat pillow.

Yoga stretches feel good after watching television or working at a desk. Here is an article about office yoga. This video shows a three-minute yoga routine.


~ END ~

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