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“Did you enjoy yourself last night?”
Matt almost jumped at the sound of his partner’s voice, having only just picked up the faint, but familiar heartbeat a few seconds prior. He caught himself at the last minute, forcing his shoulders back down, taking a deep breath. Damn super soldiers and their ability to mask themselves, if it weren’t for his own advanced hearing, there’s no way he would have sensed Bucky until he spoke.
Wincing as he lifted his right shoulder too quickly, he shrugged, dropping awkwardly onto the couch. Matt took another deep breath as he weighed the pros and cons of his choice in positioning. His weight was now fully centered on his hip, which had taken a hard blow off the side of a building, but he was also no longer on his feet, which was still a win.
Shifting carefully to his back, Matt started to close his eyes. It was his apartment, right? Who cared if he fell asleep on his own couch, Daredevil costume and all?
Matt sprung up as a projectile was launched in his direction, his arm snatching whatever was coming at his head protectively, only to be confused when it turned out to be something soft, and fluffy? “What the -?” Matt started to ask, feeling the lumpy object in his hand only to be interrupted by Bucky’s chuckles.
“My hoodie,” Bucky sputtered, managing to form the words in-between his chuckles, which had turned into full blown laughter at this point. “Wow Matt, you really are out of it.”
Matt only nodded, his attention fully on the material in front of him. Leaning in, he took a good hard sniff of the fabric. He could smell the non-scented detergent that Bucky bought, mixed in with Karen’s cat, and the distinct aroma of the coffee beans that the cafe around the corner used, a chocolate based something or other that Bucky drank every morning when he stayed at his place.
Reaching up to unhook the top part of his suit, he quickly unzipped the back, pulling his arms out of the leather, and stripping down to his waist. His hands were almost shaking as he scrambled to put on Bucky’s sweatshirt in his haste to be covered in something that wasn’t some scumbag’s blood. Once it was securely on, Matt started the painful process of pulling the suit off his legs, hindered by his injuries.
Before he knew it, Bucky was standing in front of him. If Matt was at his normal strength, he might have seen Bucky move, but the world on fire was but a muted pink at the moment, and instead of trying to muddle through, Matt let himself fall back into the couch, snuggling into Bucky’s sweatshirt.
“Can I help?” Bucky’s voice cut through the fog, and Matt nodded, lifting a foot in his partner’s general direction. He was unable to stop the loud groan that came out when Bucky pulled down the suit past his hips, but Bucky didn’t let that stop him, continuing to fully remove his pants. He then disappeared for a second, ducking into Matt’s bedroom, only to re-emerge with another piece of clothing.
“Here, I actually found a pair of sweatpants in your bottom drawer -”
“-No,” gasped Matt, as he leaned away from Bucky, startling himself with his own visceral reaction. He felt childish, but he didn’t want some old pair of sweatpants that may or may not belong to Foggy back from college. He only wanted Bucky’s.
“Oh, oh,” Bucky said, as if he had figured out what Matt was asking for, and Matt stared, well, as much as Matt could stare, as Bucky began stripping out of his pants. If it were any other time, Matt would be over there in a heartbeat, both turned on and also grateful for the understanding, but as it stood, that wasn’t going to work tonight. Instead, he waited, and as soon as Bucky handed over the pants, slid them on with his help.
Bucky then sat down next to him, pulling one of the many blankets that had started to fill the apartment in the past few months over both of their laps. Matt had noticed how much Bucky seemed to like his soft sheets, and decided to pick up a few throws by the same company; Bucky also added to the collection with a few weighted blankets that helped to calm his anxiety. Bucky then shifted back into the other end of the couch, motioning for Matt to follow.
Matt moved carefully to lean up against his chest, letting his body rest against the warmth of Bucky’s chest. Score one point for dating a super soldier.
“Nothing broken? Sprained?” Bucky asked, his hand resting carefully on Matt’s back.
“No, just bruising.” Matt murmured into Bucky’s chest, not having enough energy to lift his head at this point. Bucky’s hearing was good, but it wasn’t as good as Matt’s, at least not to tell the difference in physical injuries.
They sat for a few more minutes, Matt almost asleep when Bucky suddenly spoke out again, startling him back awake.
“You know I don’t want to tell you what you can and can’t do, Matt,” Bucky said tentatively, and Matt held his breath, worried about what Bucky was going to say next. It was one thing for Bucky to know that Matt was Daredevil, but now that the two of them were in a serious relationship, and with Bucky staying over all the time, it was harder to hide his injuries. This is normally when people tended to leave, and Matt wasn’t ready for it. “But if you think you’re feeling out of sorts, maybe you can let me know and I’ll come with you? Or you could skip a night and we can poke Baby Falcon to do a sweep of the area while you rest?”
Matt let out a shaky breath as his heart rate returned to normal, relieved that the words that came out of Bucky’s mouth were not what he had expected. He was slightly taken back by the ‘feeling out of sorts’ part though. “I was fine, Bucky, not sure what you meant by that?”
This time it was Bucky who let out a sigh, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “I know that this is a significant day for you, Matt,” he replied simply, not going into any further details, but letting his comment rest, and echo through the room.
Matt stiffened, his mind flashing back to that fatal night, as he held Elektra in his arms, her blood in his hands. He forced himself to take a breath, reminding himself that he was wrapped in Bucky’s clothes, in Bucky’s arms, but it took a few minutes before the smell of blood faded into the background again.
“I should be over it by now,” Matt said quietly, his hands tightening on Bucky’s shirt, gripping as though he never wanted to let go.
“There’s nothing wrong with remembering her,” Bucky replied firmly, his arms tightening around Matt in a hug. “As long as you come home.”
“I’ll always try to come home,” Matt promised, bringing his head up to look up at Bucky. “And I’ll take your offer into consideration next year.” He hoped he wasn’t as affected next year, but also knew he couldn’t say for sure. He was a bit surprised when Bucky started laughing.
“Spoken like a true lawyer,” Bucky finally spat out amongst his chuckles and Matt grinned as he heard the lightness shining through Bucky’s tone.
“You love it,” Matt teased back, shuffling back down into his previous position, intent on falling fast asleep now that everything had been resolved. It only took a few minutes and Matt was out, snores filling the living room.
Bucky was still wide awake though, thrown for a loop by Matt’s words. It took a while for his heart rate to slow back down, but as he finally followed Matt into sleep, he was happy. Because Matt had been right - he did love it.