febricant:

#every time i see this i wonder if bucky is still owed medals from the war that he never got#and so once he’s at a point where he can handle being in public and saying more than ten words a day#steve or somebody arranges a presentation thing for him#and everybody dresses up nice and they go out drinking after#but the most important thing is steve’s look when bucky accepts his medal(s)#the pride and the affirmation on his face and his hand on bucky’s shoulder#and they’re in the car and bucky’s got the box in his lap and he’s breathing deliberately with his eyes shut#and once he gets himself under some kind of control he hands the box to steve#and says ‘you gonna put em on me or what?’#and they pretend neither of them cried even once (via queerly-it-is)

#steve rogers
#bucky barnes
#SOLD
#posthumous medals usually go to the closest living next of kin
#i don’t know what would happen if there wasn’t any next of kin found
#so let’s just say the DOD held on to them
#in a nice display case somewhere
#the congressional medal of honor with its blue ribbon fading from the light
#the POW medal (awarded in the 80s after it was created because bucky barnes is one of war’s most famous POWs of course they would award it t
#the distinguished service cross
#the purple heart
#one for being wounded and one for dying
#the president jokes that they shold take that second one back
#and everyone’s surprised when bucky laughs
#there are others too; some major some minor
#they’re all there
#he’s never going to put on that uniform again so they’ll never hang from his jacket
#shining and heavy
#other than this once
#but the way steve’s hands shake as he fastens each pin
#and the way steve kisses him when they’re all lined up neat over his heart
#he’ll carry that weight