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The return of the one-armed trash panda. Kai's in the kitchen….and when he turns around, there's that asshole in his living room. Who somehow comes in through the ductwork, because there wasn't even a breath of sound to betray his passing. He holds up a twenty dollar bill, between first and second fingers. Apparently he is the world's deadliest Tooth Fairy - you take away some food, but you return with grocery money. "I met Serrure," he says, in that flat, almost offhand tone he uses nearly all of the time. "He suspects I'm dangerous for you. He's right."
*
Kai got beer today, so he's celebrating. Okay. He's in the kitchen getting a beer. He starts when Jack is suddenly there. "Sonofa—" Then he says, "Snowman, you're going to give me a heart attack." He eyes the money with an arched brow, then comes forward to take it tentatively. "What's this for?" Not that he hesitates to take it. Suddenly, he smiles. "You did?" Just the names makes him smile. He stuffs the twenty in his pocket. "You already said," he says. "That you're dangerous. I believe it. You want a beer?"
*
He has to confer with himself, in that weird reflective way he has. "I shouldn't. But I do," he admits, finally. "I owe you. I've eaten your food. And taken your heroin. But only some of it." This little bomb is dropped with the same airy casualness he used to admit having raided the fridge.
*
"You're the one who rode my dragon?" Kai says, looking at Bucky over his shoulder as he heads back into the kitchen. "I thought I'd lost my mind." He comes back, offering the beer over. "Serurre came by?" He grins. "What did he want?" Kai takes a drink from his bottle. It's the only thing that keeps the grinning in check.
*
"I dunno. Didn't say. Brought laundry or something," says Buck, vaguely. "And I took it. I mean, took it elsewhere. I haven't used it. not yet. I'll probably dilute it into a diamorphine solution. It's pretty good for when I'm in pain from…" He trails off.
*
"How often are you in pain?" Kai asks, his features softening. He sets his beer aside and comes over, "How often. Let me see where you got banged around, man." Suddenly, he's in nurse mode. "You're too young to feel so old," he says. "Let Kai make it better."
*
"Most of the time," he admits. There's not even an iota of self-pity there. But he shakes his head. "No. You can't fix it, not even with that magic fruit you have." Kai, the magic fruit with the magic fruit. It's recursive. "Don't worry about it."
*
Kai is recursive like that. "I will worry about it," he says. "Look, even if I'm not strong enough to heal the wound, what it's doing to your body, the secondaries. That I can help with. It'll come back, but for awhile you'll have that much less on your plate." He folds his arms over his chest and regards Bucky. "I'm investing in myself here, man. H isn't cheap."
*
Bucky's lips thin out. "You can't," he tells him, and there's something like pity in his voice. "I'll show you, if you want. But….I know you're not a doctor, but medical confidentiality, let's say." And without fanfare, he takes off that glove he always wears on his left hand. There it is, that bizarre articulated thing that looks like armor, but isn't. He ripples his fingers, like a pianist warming up, and they move with very nearly the grace of living flesh.
*
Kai's eyes widen, and he examines the metal arm, particularly where the metal meets flesh. "Oh, Jack," he murmurs. "Jack, this is…" He tentatively touches the bicep. "This is far out. Like, wow. But it hurts?" His brow furrows. No wonder you're hurting. But Jack, doesn't you get aches because of it? The way tendons pull, man, and equilibrium is pulled out of whack. Causes tension." He indicates Bucky's opposite shoulder and neck. "Here and here. The push and pull. I can make it feel better at least temporarily."
*
The graft is rimmed with proud flesh, old scarring. This was done as a hell of a hackjob, but then, the Soviet's never been famed for the delicacy or refinement of their technology, or their medicine. The prosthesis itself has a weird beauty, each lamina bright and gleaming. "It's not worth it. Save it for those that really need it," he says, simply.
*
Kai hmms, and while he may not hold a doctor's license, he knows the human body, and he knows it well. He's been at this healing thing for awhile. "I couldn't fix this, no," he murmurs. "It's a constant wound. The arm would have to come off and I don't think it can at this point." He gingerly runs a fingertip along the metal side of the body/machine connection. Then he prods Bucky's neck on the opposite side, where tension surely must ride high given how that side of his body has to compensate for the weight of the other. "Let me worry about who's worth what, man. Does that ache? Does this?" He finds a tight muscle in the shoulder to prod.
*
It makes him shiver, standing there in the undershirt he had on beneath the henley. For someone more or less from Siberia, he doesn't tolerate chill well. As Kai prods the opposite muscle, he grunts. "Yeah," he admits, grudgingly. "It's not as heavy as you might think - it's made of a very light alloy, but…."
*
"But it's heavier than a human arm," Kai says. He gives the sore shoulder a rub, then says, "Couch or bed, your choice, but you need to lie back." Doctor Apple is in. "I won't even ask unless you want to tell me. Just let me get my apple, and if you'd keep that just between you, me, and the flies on the walls, that would be the ginchiest."
*
He doesn't even argue further. This is better than stealing heroin or otherwise obtaining medication that'll dull his thoughts and slow him. So he settles down on the couch, wearily.
*
Kai ducks into the bedroom and rummages. Then he returns with the crystal apple in his hand. "Here," he says gently, and he lays the apple upon Bucky's chest, kneeling beside the couch. "You just lie back and think about, like, however you get your kicks. You'll feel better in no time." He keeps hold of the apple, his hand laid over it gently. It flares to life, the center gleaming, pulsing like a silvery-gold heart made of light. He lays his other hand on Bucky's arm, just to be sure about keeping contact. One might hold if the other should slip. Before long, there is warmth arising in Bucky's body, suffusing the damaged and abused muscles.
*
Lines of tension that've been present for ages start to ease. Nothing's ever worked quite like this….and it's probably the assurance that he can't just use it on himself that has James not up and stealing it. Innate suspicion should have him wary…..but he's human enough that that feeling's more than sufficient to make him start to go limp. And within moments, he's actually asleep.
*
Kai smiles to himself as Bucky drifts off. He continues the healing until the worst of the pains have had a chance to be shooed away, and he feels himself starting to get a little sleepy. The apple tries to heal that arm. It goes for the arm first, in fact. Kai does get as weary as he does because he's battling against the uphill struggle that is the arm while healing the rest. Still, it leaves Bucky sleeping peacefully, and that's worth it. Once the apple has done its work, Kai returns it to its hiding place, tucks Bucky in with a blanket, then sets about making him a few sandwiches to take with him when he wakes and bolts.