Work Text:
Bucky was cleaning up after the lunch rush when the phone rang. Tossing his rag aside to the sink, he picked up the little bakery-slash-café's phone on autopilot.
"Hello, thank you for calling Bucky's Beans. How can I help you?"
There was some rustling on the other end before he heard a distant voice crackled down the line in reply. "This is Bucky's Beans?" it questioned, or at least that's what Bucky was pretty sure it asked because it sounded more like Bu*crackle*y's *crackle*eans but close enough. The deep tenor of the voice was clear but not much else. Was this guy talking underwater through a tin can from 1942? What the hell kind of cell service did this poor schmuck have?
"It sure is! Bucky's Beans, what can I help you with?"
"Oh th-nk you! I've been trying to c-- all morn-g. I have an order f-r you."
Well, that's weird, Bucky thought. They weren't particularly busier than usual but he had been more focused on baking than answering the phone earlier so it was possible he hadn't noticed an uptick in volume or his morning staff missed a phone call.
"Well, you got us now." Bucky answered, grabbing the pen and paper pad next to the phone. After a pause, he added "Ready when you are." in case he needed to.
"Can you del--er for --morrow?" the voice asked tentatively.
Bucky bit his lip as he thought about the average sales the past week. "Probably, but depends on the order. If it's not too big, we should be fine. We normally ask for at least 48 hours notice for a large order."
"It's -ust a f-w things but they're -ard t- find."
"We'll see what we can do. Let's start with your name and address, first."
"Steve Rogers. And address is…" At this point, the phone line went to pure crackle instead of the chaotic mix of voice and crackle it had been. It took asking Steve to repeat his address several times before Bucky finally got the thing written down correctly and he was starting to get an earache from the harsh sounds. He was hoping the order would be small and this call would be over with soon.
"Okay, address done. What did you want to order, Steve?"
"Okay, I need one bleeding heart if you h-ve it?" Uncertainty crept into Steve's voice and Bucky bit back a smile. The Bleeding Heart was a specialty he only brought out for a month or so leading up to Valentine's day. Although it was only officially on the menu then, it was technically just a white mocha with chocolate and raspberry syrup with some cinnamon candies sprinkled on the whipped cream. He might not be able to source or stock the candies year round but someone could order something similar at any time.
"One bleeding heart is no problem for Bucky's Beans, Steve,"
"Really??" The surprise was evident in Steve's voice, even through the decades of cable rust they were communicating through. "My fr--nd said you could do wond-rs. That's great!"
He laughed lightly despite himself. It had been a dream to open his bakery a few years ago and it gave him the warm fuzzies that customers would look forward to something that was purely Bucky's. This apparently encouraged Steve as well, who seemed less shy about the rest of the order.
"I als- need three pots of de--rt ros-."
Bucky hesitated that he heard that correctly. "Darkest roast?"
A pause.
"Yeah, de--rt ros-." with Steve's voice cutting out in the same place it did before. Helpful, but really, he couldn't have asked for anything else on the menu.
"Okay, anything else?"
"A full tray of frang-pan-."
Frangipane? Oh, he must mean his cherry and almond tarts, also a Valentine's special of Bucky's.
"Alright, one tray of frangipane."
There was more rustling on the other end and Bucky got the distinct feeling there had been a rather vigorous fist pump gone astray or something because it had been followed by a dull thump.
"TH-NK Y--!" Steve said loudly even if not clearly.
"No problem, Steve. You'll receive your order tomorrow."
After jotting down a couple notes to himself for the next morning for the order, Bucky went back to business and didn't think anything more of the call.
---
The next morning between commute rush and lunch rush, Bucky was prepping the cases for the afternoon and doing some light inventory when he answered the phone again.
"Hello, thank you for calling Bucky's Beans. How can I help you?"
"Wait, what?"
"Thank you for calling Bucky's Beans. How can I help you?" Bucky repeated without missing a beat. He knows sometimes you're caught off guard when calling a place and he did kind of rush through the greeting.
"What?"
Okay, now Bucky wasn't so sure what was not clear here. He tried a different approach. "I'm Bucky. I sell beans, as in coffee beans. And baked goods. You called me. Hi."
"Oh." A pause, then, "Ohhhhhhh" that drifted into quieter tones away from the phone before Bucky could faintly hear "fuck" on the other end before the voice was suddenly back in his ear. "Shit, sorry, I called ready to- and it's not even- I'll start over." A deep breath. "Hi, I'm Steve Rogers, I called in an order yesterday."
"Oh! Hi, Steve. I remember. Peter delivered the order this morning." It wasn't like he got a lot of deliveries and Peter was a good kid who loved to do that stuff so he normally left it to Peter and focused on finishing up his baking.
"No- I mean, yeah, yes, he did. I got the delivery, but it didn't make any sense but I guess now it does if you're a bakery." Steve's voice was a lot clearer today and Bucky could hear the air of disappointment easily.
"Was it not to your liking?"
"No! I mean, yes. No. I thought I was calling Bunny's Greens. Why did you take my order for flowers if you're a bakery?"
Bucky blinked. He'd never heard of Bunny's Greens. Did they sell salads? No, flowers dumbass, Steve just said flowers. "Uhhhh" Bucky said intelligently.
"...You didn't think it was weird that I ordered a bleeding heart, 3 pots of desert roses, and a tray of frangipani flowers?"
Oh. Oh. He couldn't help himself, he started to laugh with just a little chuckle and it slowly ascended into a warm full-bodied laugh. "Steve. Steve, my dude, my guy, I said it was Bucky's Beans a few times but you sounded like a walkie talkie at the bottom of a 100ft well. Your order was for a bleeding heart - my Valentine's special raspberry white mocha, 3 pots of my darkest roast coffee, and a tray of frangipane cherry and almond tarts."
He could have gotten mad over it but thankfully Steve snorted pretty hard and laughed along with Bucky. "Wow. I can't believe I did that. Fuck Clint's phone."
"Mmm-hm," Bucky agreed amiably. He didn't know Clint but anybody with a phone that cursed was probably also cursed.
The laughing died down and there was a pause.
The awkwardness was beginning to build. Bucky glanced around at his morning staff for an excuse to end the call but they all seemed to be minding their work. Damn his excellent employees. He scowled at them until Wanda noticed and raised a single dark brow at him.
"It was delicious," Steve suddenly blurted.
Bucky blushed. Blushed! He is a man in his 30s and owns his own bakery. This is what he does for a living. Why is he blushing?? "Thanks Steve." Bucky winced at how soft and earnest he'd said that. Wanda smirked and he tried to wave her off to stop paying attention to him making a fool of himself all of a sudden.
"I guess I'll have to go back to trying to find the right number for Bunny's Greens, then."
"I guess so."
"Uh, Bucky?"
"Yeah, Steve?"
"Just for uh, curiosity, where is Bucky's Beans anyway? I might want to stop by sometime. I've been looking for a good local coffee shop." Steve’s deep tenor sounded much warmer.
Bucky smiled into the phone, recited their address to Steve, and did his absolute best to ignore the matching shit-eating grins from Peter and Wanda when he hung up.