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Bucky supposes they all think it’s a game or something. Steve mentions that the team hadn’t shadowed him nearly this much while he was learning the ins and outs of the future. Then again, Steve admits, he was sort of under Fury’s lockdown at SHIELD. Bucky, on the other hand, is mostly free to roam, just so long as he has some kind of chaperone.
It’s kind of annoying, but helpful in its own way. There’s a lot out there that’s confusing, and while Steve’s got a heap ton more knowledge about it than Bucky, he’s still not 100% on everything pop culture related yet. So they’ve got the rest of Steve’s Avengers team to fill in all the blanks.
Today they’ve mostly been giving him a break from trying to cram a bunch of knowledge in his head. They went out to Coney Island. Of course it’s not the same as Bucky remembers, but the amusement parks are still fun, and there’s still beach access, although Stark balks at the idea of ever swimming there and gives them a little rant about his place in the Hamptons until Natasha makes mention a donut shop repeat, and that shuts Stark up good.
Bucky’s really beginning to like this dame.
By the end of the afternoon, everyone’s fairly tuckered out and ready to head back to Manhattan. As they’re leaving the boardwalk, Bruce mutters something about coffee, and like a flock of birds, they all turn as one and head into a shop on the corner. Bucky pauses at the entrance and glares for second before he realizes that the sign says ‘Starbucks,’ not ‘Starkbucks.’
Good. He’s getting sick of seeing Stark’s name on everything.
Inside, the barista and some customers are making a bit of a big deal about the Avengers being there. Stark soaks up the attention, Steve is polite and charming, Thor is cheerful and booming, Clint is a flirt, Bruce blushes, and Natasha handles it all with serene professionalism.
As he nears the counter, Bucky sees that there’s a menu, which seems ridiculous. How many options can there possibly be for coffee? Apparently a lot. He has no idea what 90% of the things on the menu even mean.
“Soy Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino for Iron Man!”
Bucky’s lip curls in disgust. What in the hell is that?
Steve catches Bucky’s expression and of course picks up on what’s wrong. He blushes just a bit and says, “It’s actually pretty good.” And he orders an iced caramel macchiato. Bucky sort of wants to punch him in the face. Probably with the cybernetic fist.
Everyone orders something crazy. Bucky gets to the counter and grumbles out an order for a medium bold, black as night. The little barista, a pimply faced kid with big teeth, asks, “Do you mean tall?”
“No. I said medium.”
“Our sizes can be seen on the menu, sir,” the kid says, and Bucky’s hand twitches for a gun that luckily isn’t holstered on his thigh. Bucky didn’t go to college. He was too busy working in the middle of the Great Depression, trying to make sure that he and Steve—Bucky had insisted that he go. After all, Bucky could get physical work, and no one had wanted to hire Steve for anything like that when he was so tiny—had money for rent and food. And sure, this kid doesn’t know any of that, but it rubs Bucky the wrong way.
But he really can’t sock the kid, so he takes in a deep breath and says, “Well, back when your granddaddy was shooting at Krauts and Japs, they called those things medium. Fill it up, kid.”
The kid looks absolutely scandalized. “Sir, we don’t tolerate the use of ethnic slurs in this establishment.”
Okay, that one might be on him. Steve had mentioned that people are really big on something called PC now, and slurs and stereotypes are frowned upon. Doesn’t mean this kid still isn’t trying his patience. Through his teeth, he says, “Guess I’ve been frozen in a block of ice for a few years. Can I just have my coffee?”
Bucky didn’t think it was possible, but the kid’s eyes go even wider. “Sir,” he says in something like a horrified whisper, “you shouldn’t joke about things like that. Captain America is standing right over there.”
Steve snorts into his frou-frou drink, and, beside him, Stark has his knuckles between his teeth to keep from laughing. Bucky stares at the barista completely deadpanned. “Kid, I swear on my mother’s grave, if you don’t shut up and hand me a coffee so black that science doesn’t have a word for it, I will very literally leap over this counter and drown you with that little whip cream machine right there. Added incentive, I’m a veteran. I’ve killed a lot of people.”
The kid’s face goes white, and Steve exclaims, “Bucky!” But it’s hardly any time at all before the kid is shoving a hot cup into Bucky’s hand and ducking under the flimsy protection of the counter.
Bucky breezes past the other Avengers and out the door. “Don’t ever bring me to this place again,” he says when they catch up.
Unfortunately, it seems like there’s a dammed Starbucks on every freaking corner of the city. When Clint and Bruce bring rumors back to the Tower about baristas being harassed at the ones nearby, Bucky just whistles an old tune and continues to clean his guns.