Bucky hesitated.

"Now," he finally said. She was right, he needed sleep. He'd been up for a long time.

Lucy nodded and settled into step next to him.

"It may feel odd, at first," she told him as they walked. "You can tell me if you want me to stop. I won't be offended."

Bucky just nodded, though he didn't actually agree. He wasn't quite in the habit of mentioning discomfort; it had always been discouraged, and he was always mildly uncomfortable anyways.

Lucy let him settle in to his room, giving him a few minutes to change and do whatever else he needed to do before she poked her head in.

"Ready?" she asked.

By the time Lucy peeked inside, Bucky was sitting on the bed in a tank and sweats. He just nodded to her when she asked if he was ready.

"Lay down," Lucy told him. She didn't touch him, but she did crouch down next to the bed so she wouldn't be hovering over him. She reached out carefully and began gently pushing down his emotions, muting everything.

Bucky did as she said and laid down. Almost immediately, he could feel everything flattening out and smoothing over in his head, and he involuntarily gave a bit of a sigh. It was definitely more comforting than he thought it would be.

Lucy smiled at that and kept it up. Unfortunately this wasn't something she could keep doing without focusing on it, at least a little. So she just settled in to keep him relaxed and see if he'd sleep.

Bucky settled there, slowly relaxing as the tension bled out of him. It felt nice, with his head a little quieter. The numbness was nice. Without meaning to, he drifted off.

Lucy stayed for a while, even after he was asleep, just to make sure his head stayed quiet enough for him to sleep for a while. She wasn't needed elsewhere anyway, and she had the time.

Bucky wasn't sure how long he'd slept, but he woke up feeling steadier than he had in a while. Whatever Lucy had been able to do, it worked.

Lucy was still there, though she'd migrated to sitting against the wall a little bit away from the bed playing a game on her phone. She looked up when he woke and grinned a bit.

"You were out for a while," she told him. "Good hard nap."

"Felt good," Bucky said, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his face. "Whatever you did, it worked."

Lucy smiled, pleased. "Good." She stood, a little stiffly, and stretched. "I think it's almost dinner time, if you wanted to come with. Either way, you should eat."

"You should get some rest yourself," Bucky said, watching her. "You look tired."

"After dinner," Lucy said, shaking her head a bit. "After that I should eat something. I'll wake up with a nasty headache if I don't refuel, at least a little."

Bucky nodded.

"Gimme a second to put on real clothes," he said, already stripping off his tank and reaching for a real shirt. "I'll go down with you."

Lucy nodded, briefly distracted at the sight of him shirtless. Because yum. More eye candy. She then busied herself with brushing her jeans off because she didn't want to be caught looking.

Bucky didn't bother changing his sweatpants; they were in decent shape and he'd seen people wandering around the mansion in similar things before. He doubted anyone would care. But he did tug his favorite red henley on and rolled up the sleeves a bit. Then he looked at Lucy.

"Come on," he said.

Lucy nodded and headed over to the dining area. People were filtering in and out, some of them getting food and then retreating while others congregated on the couches. Lucy grabbed her own food and headed for a quieter area, glancing back to see if Bucky would join her.

Bucky grabbed a little bit of food and followed Lucy. He glanced around as he went, and raised an eyebrow when he spotted Mavin just leaving the room, holding the hand of a little boy who couldn't have been more than five or six.

"Was that Mavin?" he asked Lucy quietly, tilting his head briefly in the direction he saw them go.

"Probably," Lucy agreed, glancing back in that direction. She concentrated for a moment, reaching out with her powers, and smiled. "Yes, that was her." She knew the 'flavor' of her sister's emotions by now.

"There was a child with her," Bucky said, glancing at Lucy to see her reaction.

Lucy nodded. "Connor," she agreed. "I wonder if they're going out to dinner tonight or just eating not in the main area?"

"Connor?" Bucky asked. He thought about it for a second. "Hers?"