"No, you. You don't need to apologise." He really doesn't. He's 100% not to blame here. He's also not at all to blame for the fact that Joaquin stuck his foot in his mouth and then got all upset about the fact that he'd upset Bucky to the point of just wanting to drink about it.

"Oh, uh, yeah... I obviously also spoke to her." He's not really sure if she meant to send Bucky here though. "No. I mean, yeah, this is okay. You don't need to get a hotel. Of course it's okay that you're here. I, uh, I made chimichangas and I'm working on elote."

"Yeah, she messaged me earlier. And then I kinda freaked out to her." Because he certainly wasn't going to message Sam while he's spending time with his sister and nephews and he definitely wasn't about to message him to tell him that he'd maybe kinda absolutely told Bucky that he would definitely be interested in... being more than friends. "Me and my chronic foot in mouth problem."

He offers a smile. "Yeah, you can help. It's mostly done, just gotta grill 'em up." It's awkward because of course it is. Joaquin made it awkward but he's also ridiculously happy that he hasn't completely fucked it up so he can get past the awkward.

He can.

Dios mio, he's glad he didn't just do a bunch of shots.

"For someone raised in a torture-murder cult, she's got some good advice." Like not texting Bucky while drunk. Which he was definitely trying not to do. And now he has to try not to make things worse in person. Tequila was a bad idea.

He offers another smile and then leads the way through to the kitchen. He doesn't know what to say to that, maybe something about how there's honest and there's making other people uncomfortable but sometimes those two things come hand-in-hand and he's honestly not sure he can talk about it without making it more uncomfortable.

"Then this is right up your alley, bro."

"Yeah." If you drunk text him, I think it will make things worse. Those words were the reason his phone was still down in the office and not up here in the living space. She'd also listened to his spiral and, given they hadn't actually met in person, he was really grateful for that.

"I'm not drunk." He was tipsy, sure but he hadn't quite reached drunk, gracias a Dios, because that would have been embarrassing as hell. "Not wise to cook while drunk."

"Yeah. You've got some good ones there." Yelena and Ava, at least. He didn't really know the others. Walker was... Walker and that was a whole thing and he was wary of Mel and had zero trust for Valentina.

"Yeah, I really didn't wanna explain to Sam that I cut my finger off trying to cut corn." Leaning his hip against the counter, Joaquin shoves his hands into his pockets. "They're not. Well, Yelena's not, at least. I think she's a little worried that we all kinda... broke you a little bit, actually. Which... I'm sorry Bucky. I shouldn't have put that on you like that."

“That’s all anyone can ask, right?” For people to try, for people to want to do good. And when all you had been taught was to do harm, learning to go the opposite was even harder.

“First thing this morning. Wanted to spend as much time with his nephews as he could.”

Joaquin returns to preparing the corn, not because he doesn’t wanna listen to Bucky but because he needs something do worn his hands before he does something stupid with them. “I didn’t help. I knew you were overwhelmed and I piled more things on top of that. Things that were true but not what you needed at the time.”

Sam knows Joaquin is talking to Bucky and, if he asks, Joaquin won't lie about talking to any of the others. Building a rapport is a good idea, if only to make things easier should they ever need to team up, but that doesn't mean Sam needs to know the details of their conversations. Especially given how much of it is sex related.

Sam probably doesn't want to hear about Ava watching Yelena masturbate, after all.

"I've never been. I'd love to go though." He should also go visit his own parents in Miami at some point.

"You can always ask me. If I know the answer, I'm happy to help." And if he doesn't, he'll find out, still wanting to help. "I've only really spoken to Yelena and Ava. Oh and Mel, which... Still feels weird, for some reason." Maybe because she's so... official about everything. "I dunno, it's just good to have more people who relate to what's going on. Not like I can talk to my old Air Force buddies about it. I mean, I can but they don't relate the same way. It kinda also feels like bragging? Besides, if a big enough threat comes along, a name is gonna be the least of our worries. We should be able to work together and it'll go a lot smoother if we have an idea of who each other is."

There are bound to be more days like today where it all turns into an absolute mess and maybe Joaquin will be involved and maybe he won't but that's just something that happens when so many different people come together in one small space. But Joaquin hopes Bucky feels like he can always turn to him if he needs.

Even if the stuff with Sam is a mess. It won't always be. He hopes.

"Yeah, from what I've heard, it's the place to be." Joaquin smiles to himself, picturing the way Sam's face lit up whenever he talked about Sarah, AJ and Cass. "Oh yeah? Bet the kids would have loved you."

And that's it, isn't it? Bucky asked him a simple question and Joaquin kinda word vomited all over the place. "Yeahhh. I've been told I don't know when to shut up." Putting down the knife in his hand, Joaquin turns to look at Bucky. "I didn't want to spend the weekend with them. I wanted to spend it with you."

Something in Joaquin twists viciously when Bucky talks about Delacroix and he knows it's the fact that it hurts to see Bucky hurting so much over this copyright shit. He gets where Sam is coming from, he really does. He also doesn't wanna be taking orders from the government and only going where they point but he also knows that Bucky didn't do this to purposefully spite him the way he seems to think. They're both hurting and it sucks.

"Yeah, I can see why kids would think it's cool. Like a transformer or a terminator."

Huffing a soft laugh that probably sounds a little more like a scoff, Joaquin shakes his head. "Really? After everything I said... you're not sure why?"

"Hey, Schwarzenegger was the good guy in the sequel and he was cool as hell." Joaquin is glad that the kids weren't scared of it. He also kinda wants to point out that he's not scared of it either and also thinks it's really cool, even if the how sucks ass.

"I'm definitely open to fooling around with people. It's a great way to get tension out and sex is a lot of fun." He looks at Bucky seriously. "But that doesn't mean that's all I want. Would I sleep with them if the chance arose? Yes. Because I am a 28 year old, red blooded guy. But if the right person came along and wanted something more, then I'm down for that too. And, despite the sluttiness of what I said, I'm also a monogamous guy. When I'm with someone, it's just them."

"It's the best one. We'll watch it at some point." Seriously, who is providing Bucky with his 21st Century education? Joaquin just wants to talk.

Joaquin shakes his head, taking a step closer into Bucky's space. "You might be a little old fashioned but you're time definitely hasn't ended." He didn't even really get a time to have it. Between the war and HYDRA and everything else. "You just need to give yourself permission to just... be you. Whoever that is now. And he's allowed to want things. Maybe they aren't so out of reach, either."

The whole world drops away for just a moment when Bucky leans in and kisses him and the only thing Joaquin knows is the heat of the body in front of him. It's so easy to melt into it, one hand finding Bucky's hip and the other curling around the back of his neck gently, not trying hold to him in place, just holding on.

He's pretty certain his brain completely short circuits because he wants this but he'd almost given up hope of having it. At least, he had until Bucky showed up at his door and then that hope had sparked back to life, even if he wanted to pretend it hadn't.

When the kiss breaks, Joaquin presses his forehead against Bucky's, brushing their noses together. His fingers are tangled gently in the hair at the back of Bucky's neck, blunt nails scratching gently at his scalp. He opens his mouth to say something but the words fail, a soft laugh taking their place before he leans in to kiss him again.

They should finish making dinner or at least put stuff away or maybe talk about what the actually want here, any of them would be a good idea but none of them involved Joaquin having his hands on Bucky and so none of them are things he even really wants to think about.

He's content to stand here and make out in the kitchen but there are also far better places to do that too so, when he pulls away to breathe, hands still resting against Bucky's body because he doesn't wanna go too far, he indicates with his head towards the hallway. "Am I being too forward if I invite you to my room?"