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Pumpkins. Gourds painted with funny faces. Planters with fall coloured mums.
Bucky could admit that he loved them all, that the fall decorations brought a smile to his face when he saw them, especially in the many spots of New York that didn’t have enough trees to showcase the changing leaves, the multi-coloured hues of the season.
But he didn’t quite understand the abundance.
It seemed like every store he walked into was full of pumpkins, every coffee store was selling pumpkin spice drinks and baked goods, and he hated to admit it, but he almost punched a ghost that flew down when he entered a local bookstore.
People decorated their front steps with bales of hay, flowers, and pumpkins - and not just orange pumpkins, but white and grey ones too. Some houses looked like a haunted house, while others kept it more simple, but it was rare to find a house without at least a handful of carved gourds in some shape or form.
When Bucky was a kid, the concept of trick or treating had just started, and back then, he definitely leaned towards the trick aspect of the event. But Foggy had explained that the treat part had evolved, saying that some houses even handed out full sized chocolate bars, which Bucky had to agree, that no one was getting their house egged on when they handed out those kinds of treats.
It had taken Bucky a while to get comfortable with the idea of decorating for a holiday. He was fine with helping people with theirs, helped Sam’s nephews carefully carve their pumpkins, lifted Karen’s tree into her house for Christmas, helped Foggy to strategically hide eggs at the Nelson’s Family Easter Hunt that they had all been invited to, even though it meant at the end of the hunt he had to reveal some of the trickier spots.
But the idea of buying decorations for his and Matt’s place? Just because? That had been much, much harder.
Maybe it was the excessiveness compared to what he had when he was younger, of buying stuff that had no purpose other than to look nice, even though he knew that he didn’t have to worry about the money, the government having paid him years in backpay.
Maybe it was the realization that he hadn't stayed in a place long enough before now, and hadn't really had a place to call his own.
Maybe it was because he wanted someone to share them with, someone else to partake in the experience with…even if Matt couldn’t actually see the decorations.
So finally, after triple-checking with Matt that it was fine to buy some decorations for the loft, Bucky started making some purchases.
A couple nice pillows for the couch and a cute pumpkin candle holder for the coffee table were his first purchases. Then he found a nice tablecloth with embroidered leaves at a local craft show for their dining table, and a cute sign for the table by the door that said ‘Hello Fall’. And finally some pumpkin spice flavoured coffee. Bucky rationalized it was just in case they had any visitors, but the truth was, he was secretly falling in love with the taste too.
It all looked nice, and made the loft feel slightly fall-ish, but it still didn’t feel like enough. So Bucky enlisted Karen, who made some excellent suggestions, rounding out the last of Bucky’s purchases.
Now, hunched over the coffee table as he picked up another pipe cleaner, Bucky failed to notice Matt had returned home and was taking in the room.
“More decorations?”
Bucky stabbed himself with the metal end of the pipe cleaner as he couldn’t help reaching for the gun that wasn’t there, only for his brain to catch up with his body, reassuring him that there wasn’t a threat.
“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky mumbled, setting down the craft on the table. “Is that okay?” he couldn’t help but ask, still unsure about how much of the loft is Matt’s and how much is theirs.
“Of course it’s okay,” Matt replied in a rather matter-of-fact sounding tone, dropping his keys in the bowl, laying his wallet right next to them. “Would you mind showing them to me?” he added, reaching out for Bucky, and Bucky was there to take his hand as fast as humanly possible.
Bucky led Matt to the couch first, directing his hands to the writing on the pillows, which was slightly raised so that Matt could read the corny sayings too. He explained the intricacies of the leaves on the table cloth, how there was a flutter of gold that shone through the reds and dark greens.
It was Matt that pointed out the addition of the pumpkin spice coffee first, having smelt it as soon as he entered earlier, confessing that he too, had a pumpkin spice addiction. Bucky almost forgot to show him the candle holder, explaining how he had opted for a battery flickering tea light instead of a scent that could bother him.
He explained a few of the paintings that he had purchased, the cute sign at the door, and the many pumpkins that he had carved, even if they weren’t all in the loft. Bucky had gotten so caught up with them, that he ended up dropping them randomly at people’s houses that appeared to have kids.
It wasn’t until they were both back on the couch, that Bucky remembered the last craft he had been working on.
“Oh, and I started making these pumpkins…” Bucky started to explain, reaching out to hand Matt the one he had been working on, even though it wasn’t finished yet. He was a bit surprised how eagerly Matt took it from him, and watched as his partner’s fingers carefully felt along the fur of the pipe cleaner.
“Do you think…do you think this would work with yarn too?” Matt asked, as his fingers continued to glide over the half-made pumpkin.
“Oh, for sure,” Bucky nodded, leaning back onto the couch, watching Matt carefully as he asked his next question. “Would you want to go with me? To pick out some yarn?”
Bucky could tell it was the right question as a small smile fell over Matt’s face, the tension in his shoulder visibly loosening as he leaned back on Bucky, his hands still not letting go of the pumpkin.
“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Matt murmured as he tucked himself against Bucky’s chest.
Maybe a stop at that coffee shop with the pumpkin spiced cheesecake too, Bucky thought to himself as he looked down at Matt, his arms now full of his partner. And the softest feeling yarn that they could find.
Because Matt deserved to take a break, and enjoy the holidays in whichever way made him happy.
They both did.