Work Text:
“Who’s this?”
“Nobody,” Bucky grunted. He snatched the picture frame back from Peter and put it out of reach.
“You’re so touchy,” Peter complained.
Bucky ignored him and continued typing on his computer. Two seconds later, Peter had another question. “So what do you do here exactly? I got hired for tech support, so basically people call, and I have to solve their problems remotely. It seems boring, but it can be really satisfying when you help people, and they’re all grateful.”
“Sure.”
“So?”
“What?” Bucky frowned.
“What do you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? That’s time theft, Bucko…I’m telling the boss.”
Bucky turned to glare at Peter, but he realized he was joking. “Don’t call me Bucko.”
“Why are you so grumpy? Does working here suck that bad?”
“It didn’t until an hour ago.”
“Oh ha ha,” Peter said. “You’re gonna be seeing a lot of me around these parts, so you might as well get used to me. We’re gonna be work buddies.”
“Doubt it.”
“Doubt it all you want, Bucky boy, it’s true.”
Bucky sighed. “I have work to do. Can you please just…not?”
Peter rolled his eyes. “Fine. I guess, but it pains me.” He grabbed his headphones and pointedly turned away from Bucky.
After a few minutes of relative silence, Bucky felt guilty. Maybe he’d been a bit hard on the kid—it wasn’t Peter’s fault they had to share a cubicle for the day, and maybe Peter was only being so chatty because he was nervous and couldn’t work on anything until he was set up properly.
“What are you listening to?” Bucky frowned, hating himself for encouraging Peter.
Peter’s face lit up. “It’s a lo-fi mix.”
“Do I even wanna know what that is?”
“Here.” Peter held out a headphone for Bucky.
Bucky held the earbud next to his ear to minimize germ exchange and listened.
“It’s good, right?”
Bucky acknowledged Peter with a nod, and that opened the floodgates for the next seven hours of work. Peter talked nonstop after that about everything. School, his family, his past, his friends, his hobbies, other music he liked, movies… Bucky didn’t comment on much, but he did listen, and Peter seemed happy to go on without hearing much feedback.
Bucky had gone from disdainful, to annoyed, to tolerant, to comfortable. He had even let Peter give input on a few of his projects.
At the end of the day, Peter thanked Bucky for his hospitality, put his headphones in, and left.
---
When Bucky got into work the next day, his cubicle felt too quiet.
He lasted an hour before he went to Peter’s office.
He stood in the doorway like a creep for a few seconds before Peter noticed him.
“Oh! Bucky. I’m glad you’re here. I need you to help me decide where to put this plant.”
“Sure.”
“I knew we would be buddies.”
“Don’t push it.” Bucky couldn't help but smile, though.