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Given his past as the Winter Soldier, it might not come as a surprise that Bucky Barnes isn’t the happiest of people. He still carries on his shoulders a lot of weight from his past actions, a lot of guilt and remorse, alongside all the trauma caused by the horrors he lived through.
Understandably, learning to live and cope with his CPTSD hasn’t been the easiest of tasks, yet the Sergeant has been doing his best to try and withstand all the pain still haunting him. At the very least, and besides seeing a therapist, he has come to enjoy the little things life has to offer him.
And not only that, but he has gained the confidence to start searching for those things out of his own volition.
One of his latest exploits came in the form of an impulse purchase while he was walking down one of the many streets of New York City. It was there where he came across a shop that sold a variety of light fixtures, which ended with him carrying a bunch of different boxes back to the compound.
By the time Steve arrived from a mission and went to see how Barnes was doing, he found him amidst a jungle of fairy lights that were distributed all over the Sarge’s bedroom, decking out the whole place in twinkling and colorful lights. In the middle of the room, sitting cross-legged on the floor, he found Bucky, attempting to disentangle another set of lights that were already turned on as well.
All Rogers could do then was stare at his best friend with a confused and inquiring expression on his face, brow furrowed and jaw hanging slack, leaving his lips with a thin gap between them. And all Barnes could reply was a single word.
“Pretty”, the Sarge had blurted out in a whisper.
He was a bit dumbfounded at being caught “red-handed” and didn’t know what else to say. He even felt embarrassed not only by the questionable situation but by his lack of excuse as well.
However, the word wasn’t just a comment about what he thought of what he had done but an explanation as well. One that contextualized to some extent his train of thought when acquiring such an ungodly amount of decorative lights. Naturally, being best friends with the man, Steve was able to understand the other’s motive.
After all, he has been alongside Bucky in all the months since the Sokovia Accords’ initial fiasco that lead to the battle between opposing factions of the Avengers.
Upon realizing that Bucky hadn’t gone insane, but was rather probably trying to find some solace as well as making himself happy however he could, the Captain could do nothing else but smile at the blinding enchanting sight. He then proceeded to fully enter the room ‒careful with where he stepped‒, close the door behind himself, and sit down with his friend in order to help him with the mess of colorful lights.
“I hope Tony doesn’t find out,” Steve commented dryly, not really caring but not wanting to deal with it either.
“You think the electricity bill will rat me out?” Bucky asked half-concerned, still smiling at the idea of a scandalized Stark.
“I don’t think Tony even looks at bills, to begin with,” Rogers replied with sarcasm, yet knowing that what he’s implying was probably the truth.
“But just in case…” The Captain continued, planning to make sure that Barnes wouldn’t get in trouble for any of it.
That’s how Steve ended up making a sort of “off the record” pact with F.R.I.D.A.Y., asking the A.I. to keep Bucky’s new lights a secret from the engineer. And that, in any case, the cost of the electricity powering the lights was to be deducted from his pay, despite Barnes’ objections to the idea.
All in all, that was a good afternoon for the two friends, which was spent untangling lights and arranging them all over Bucky’s room.