[He felt the pull of an arm under his grip, and he let it go so that Rumlow's hand could settle on his face. He slid his other hand off to settle on the mattress as well, but he leaned into the contact to his cheek, the warmth of Rumlow's palm absorbing into his skin. There was always something comforting about those callouses, all of them earned over years of hard work and weapons handling.]

I didn't say that I didn't like it. [He just... didn't want Rumlow apply back then to now, perhaps? A now he could remember and a then he could not.] Did you... want to be my lover back when we were in HYDRA formal? Back when we were alive, I mean?

[He nodded, not contesting how different he and Chase were, especially in Rumlow's eyes. Their faces may have been the same, but they were almost opposites in almost every other way.] You have, and I do know that. By my calculation, I'm also five times his age.

[He went with the pull, nestling his face into Rumlow's neck and then using his thighs to turn them so that he could wrap his legs entirely around Rumlow's hips as he lay them out on their sides instead.]

No. I am. I had something in the bathroom, and it's just... slipped from my grasp.