Work Text:
"I got a headache for real!" Mel growls then she punchs the table. "I need to take care of six people, need to arrange Val's schedule, need to finish all of her documents and tasks, even Val always asks me to make her a cup of coffee three times a day! Why can't she make a cup of coffee by herself?"
Bucky, the man who sits in front of her is just looking at her yapping.
"Mel this, Mel that, Mel this, Mel that. Shut up!" says Mel again while drinking her beer.
Bucky lets out a sigh. "Then quit,"
"What?"
"Quit." says Bucky again.
"No!" Mel hisses at him.
Bucky rolls his eyes. "You hate Val, you hate your job. What's the point of staying?" He asks.
"Being unemployed is the worst." Mel answers.
"Now you know." Bucky replies. Bucky glances at his phone, then he stands up. "I gotta go for mission. Yelena is waiting at the helipad."
Mel is growling again.
"Cheer up, Mel." says Bucky before leaving the Watchtower's cafeteria. "Just remember, tomorrow is weekend and you are getting paid soon."
Mel scoffs and rises her brows as Bucky left her. Okay, she is getting better for now. Thank you to Bucky's advice.
It is not the first time Mel expressing her frustration about her job to Bucky. Mel doesn't know why, but among the all of them Bucky is the closest one to her. Well, Mel is also pretty close with Yelena and Ava. She joined their slumber party a few times. But for yapping about works, she prefers to talk with Bucky. The main reason is because Bucky rarely responds, he only listens. At least, she never feels invalidated.
While Mel entering her office room, Val calls her. Mel knows it's not going to be good. "Hi, Val?" Mel picks up the call.
"Mel, where is the information I've asked you to find?" asks Val.
"Still looking for it," Mel answers while she is opening the file on her computer.
"What do you mean still? Send it to me soon. Not soon, now!" Val says before she ending the call.
Mel is growling hard, harder than before. She can't stop murmuring, "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job..." while finishing that information file.
She is stressed enough for looking that damn information, but it's getting worser when the other employees are coming to her office and handing her another tasks.
"Mel, these are documents that you need to review before being approved by Val." Those DAMN documents again. Mel's head is almost exploded.
"Mel, it's all the letters for Val. Don't forget to sort it before giving it to Val." and WHO THE HELL IS STILL SENDING LETTER NOW A DAYS? Mel is going crazy for real.
Mel hears a knock from the office door. The door is slightly open, but Mel hasn't turn at it because of the work. "Hi, Mel-"
"What?! What do you want?!" Mel hisses at him in frustration. But when she realizes Bob is the one who called her, she went silent. "Hi, Bob." greets her friendly.
Bob looks scared and hesitates to continue. "Uhm, sorry for bothering you... I don't mean to disturb-"
"No, Bob. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Mel cuts him. "What's up? What can I help you?" asks Mel.
Bob shakes his head. "No, It's not something important..." he replies. "I just baked cookies, just in case you want to try it."
Bob hands her a plate full of three Choco chip soft cookies. Mel suddenly feels guilty for yelling at him, when he is trying to be nice to her. Mel takes one of the cookie and she widens her eyes after eating it.
"Bob, It's really good!" Mel says.
"Really?"
"Yeah!" She nods her head after taking another bite from the cookie. Surprisingly, this cookie is boosting her mood up. "I don't know you are a good baker..."
Bob is stroking the back of his head, feeling shy because of the compliment. "Just trying a recipe from Youtube. Glad that you like it."
Bob hands her the plate and smiles awkwardly. "You can have it all." he says.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, just in case you need energy while working." Bob replies. "I gotta go. Sorry for disturbing you, Mel."
Mel shakes her head. "No, Bob. It's fine. Thank you for the cookies."
Bob shows her another awkward smile, then he is clenching his hand to the air. "Good luck at your work,"
Mel is confused, but she nods. "Yeah, you too."
Mel can confirm, Bob is the quietest one among the all of them. He rarely talked to her, almost never. Maybe they just said "Hi!" to each other every time they walked pass one another. Or sometimes, they talked about Bob's therapy schedule with his therapist. That's all.
--
"Where do I sign?" Val asks Mel after looking at a slump of documents.
"Here," Mel is pointing at the sign bar. "I have reviewed it and asked for revision. It's all good now."
Val glances at her for a while, then continues signing the documents. "Good." She says.
"How is the team?" Val asks about The New Avengers.
"Yeah, they are good. Bucky and Yelena were heading to a mission in Canada. Ava, Walker, and Alexei were in Queens, I suppose." Mel answers. "Bob is... staying at the dorm. He seems stable."
Val just nods at the response.
"Also, you got so many letters today. I already divided it into business and personal letters." Mel says to her.
"Ugh," Val is growling in annoyance.
Mel clears her throat before continue. "Well, one of them is from Ross..."
"Thaddeus? Isn't he still in The Raft?" Val asks.
"No... I mean the other Ross... Your ex husband..." Mel clarifies.
Val doesn't look surprise, or even bother. "In business or personal?" asks Val.
Mel looks unsure. "In personal... I guess?"
"Send that letter back, I don't care." Val commands.
Val is now looking at the cookies on Mel's table. She grabs one and puts it in her mouth. "It's good, where did you get it?"
"Uhm, actually, Bob was the one who made it." Mel answers.
Val looks surprise this time. "Really?"
Mel nods to assure her.
"Should we send him to MasterChef?" Val says randomly. "How about my schedule for Monday?"
"Already attached it on your Google Calendar." Mel answers.
Val is looking at her phone, to make sure that Mel is already attaching it, which is true. "Okay."
"It's all done today. You may go home after the office hour ends." says Val.
Mel widens her eyes. After working for Valentina for almost a year, she NEVER went home right on time. She finds it odd if Val really let her to go home. "Really?"
"Yeah, I have a dinner tonight." replies Val. "I have personal life, Mel. You should have that too."
Mel is just grinning at her. She is the biggest reason why Mel doesn't have a personal life. "Great," she replies.
After Val leaving the office, Mel decided to grab her bag and go home. Oh, she needs to return Bob's plate first before leaving the Watchtower.
"Bob?" Mel is coming to their dorm and seeing Bob is lying at the carpet. Specifically, he is playing with Alpine, Bucky's cat.
"Oh, hi, Mel!" replies Bob while waving his hand.
Bob is changing his position to sit on the carpet. "Are you off to work?"
"Yeah, I'm going home earlier today. Yeay." Mel answers. Mel puts the plate on the sink. "I want to return the plate."
Mel is walking closer to Bob and having a sit next to him on the carpet. "Well, thank you for the cookies. I loved it. And Val also loved it."
"Wait, really?!" Bob seems enthusiastic.
Mel nods. "Yes. And it helped me to boost my mood today. I have the worst week this week. Thank you for your cookies for curing my stress."
"Glad to hear that," Bob is smiling widely. His hand is busy caressing Alpine's fur.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Bob. I really didn't mean to. But still, I shouldn't dumped it to you." Mel apologizes in guilty.
Bob is waving his hand. "That is okay, Mel. I knew that you didn't mean to. I understand that you have a difficult work to do."
"Thanks. You are very nice, Bob." Mel replies. She shows him a little smile.
"I'm grateful that you take a good care of us, Mel. It must be made you frustrated enough." Bob says. "Moreover... you are also working for... Valentina."
Mel laugh a bit. "Yeah, she is kind of worst. Sometimes."
"I thought you are gonna say most of the time," replies Bob, half joking.
Both of them are laughing. Mel is not aware that Bob is also funny. She didn't expect that Bob would talk that much.
"So this is what you are doing when your team mates are on mission? Taking care of the cat?" Mel asks.
Bob nods his head. He is caressing Alpine's fur softly. Alpine is sleeping on his lap. "Yeah, this is Alpine. She is Bucky's cat. She is very playful, I love to play with her." Bob answers. "I also take care of Mr. Cucumber. It's Yelena's guinea pig." Bob is pointing at Mr. Cucumber mini cage on the table near the wall.
"Cute," Mel replies. "You must be bored sometimes."
"Yeah, that is why I started baking. To kill the time." Bob says.
Mel is scanning the living room. It's pretty neat. Mel is sure that Bob is the one who cleaning the room. "Are you bored right now? Wanna play Uno Stacko?"
Bob is frowning his forehead. "Uhm, I thought you are going to leave earlier after working?"
"Yeah, but tomorrow is weekend. So it's fine. I love playing Uno Stacko." Mel answers.
"Oh, okay."
Both of them are stacking the Uno and starting to play. They play while talking about random stuff.
"So how about your team mates, do you like them?" Mel asks him.
Bob is stacking the purple uno on the top of it. "Yes. They are very nice to me. They take care of me really well."
"Well, sometimes Walker is such an ass. Thankfully, Ava is scolding him immediately." Bob tells Mel. "Ava is protective and friendly. Alexei is a fun partner to play video games."
"How about Yelena?" asks Mel.
"I think... she is the closest one for me." Bob answers. "She is nice, though. Nice to talk with. She is also very caring..." Bob glances at Mel. "Well I mean, caring to all of us. Not only me."
Mel laughs and gives Bob the suspicious look. "Whatever you said, Bob. If you have feeling for Yelena, just tell her."
Bob shakes his head. "No, I don't. I don't like her that way. I don't want to freak her out."
"Denial is a river in Egypt." Mel replies.
Bob scoffs and shakes his head again. "She is nice, but no. I don't think she is into me either. She is just being nice," Bob says. "Well... I think she is into someone. A girl name-"
"Kate Bishop?" Mel guesses. "I knew. I also a member of Yelena & Ava's crazy slumber party, you know?"
Bob giggles. "Yeah, the craziest slumber party ever." He says. "Too bad we are never in the same slumber party."
Mel is curious about another one, and it's about Bucky. Mel couldn't lie, but Bucky is... kind of tempting. He might be old, but his physical appearance sometimes made Mel hard to focus. Mel is always trying hard to stay sane every time she is around him.
"How about Bucky?" Mel asks.
Bob is thinking for a while. "Bucky is... scary to look at first," he says. "But he is also really nice. He didn't talk much, but he listened. He gave me a lot of advice about meditation to handle anxiety. He kind of... like a father figure for me."
Mel just smiles, and stack another Uno on top of the Uno building.
"You are pretty close with Bucky, right?" Bob asks Mel. "Your ears are turning red, by the way."
"Fuck!" Mel curses immediately.
Bob laughs. "That's okay. I won't tell Bucky or anyone."
Mel shakes her head and widens her eyes. "No, I don't have anything for Bucky. Well, you're right. He is a good listener, though."
"I wouldn't blame you if you are attracted to him. He is nice and very good looking too." Bob says. "But Mel... Uhm..."
"Yeah?"
"I think, Bucky has a girlfriend..." Bob says the words carefully.
Mel opens her mouth in a shock. "What?! How did you know?"
"Well, I strolled around the city at night and I saw Bucky walking out the bar around here with a woman. They seems really close, maybe she is his old colleague." Bob spills the story. "I was unsure at first, but when I arrived at home, Bucky wasn't there. So... yeah. It must be him."
"Shit," Mel curses very slow this time. Trying so hard to not to be heard by Bob. "How is she look like?" Mel asks him curiously.
Bob is trying to remember. "She is pretty and tall. Oh, and her hair is blonde." Bob is still thinking. "I accidentally caught Bucky facetiming her on the balcony. I think her name is... Shannon? Or Sharon? If I don't mistaken..."
Mel is letting out a sigh. Mel doesn't know why, but she is a little bit disappointed to hear that. That is wild, she couldn't be in love with Bucky. Especially if he has a girlfriend. Let's chasing another man, Mel.
"Mel, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel heart broken" Bob realizes that he might out of the line this time.
"That's silly! I'm fine. As I said, I don't have anything to Bucky." Mel replies. She giggles at her stupidity for randomly falling for Bucky. That is absolutely crazy.
Bob turns to Mel, and he opens his mouth. "I am a little curious, are superheroes allowed to have a romantic partner?"
"Bob, Val formed the all of you to become a hero. Not to become a K-pop idol." Mel answers. "Of course it's allowed. Look at Walker, he married once and has a child."
Bob laughs softly and nods his head. "Yeah, sometimes I forgot that Walker is a father."
"Wait..." Mel stops Bob. "When you met Bucky that night, were you strolling the city alone?"
Bob nods his head. "Yes, why?"
Mel is letting out a heavy sigh. "Bob, you are not allowed to go anywhere alone. It's not safe out there."
"It's fine Mel, really." Bob is assuring her. "I was bored and hungry that time, then I went to a convenience store to buy ice cream."
"You can tell me! I'll bring you a lot of snacks. You don't have to go alone, Bob. Don't do that again." Mel replies.
Bob shakes his head. "No, Mel. You are busy enough."
"Because of you, I'm craving ice cream right now." says Mel.
The Uno building is destroyed because of Bob's yellow Uno brick. They look at each other.
"Okay, game is over. Let's buy an ice cream!" Mel says enthusiastically.
"At convenience store?" Bob asks.
"No, but this one is better." Mel answers, then she smiles at him. "Let's go! It's my treat."
Bob is following Mel to the ice cream place around the Watchtower. Turns out, it's actually a gelato shop. No wonder why Mel claimed this one is better than convenience store's ice cream.
"Which flavor do you like?" Mel asks him.
Bob is looking at the gelato installation with sparkling eyes. It's looking like a heaven to him. "I think I'll stick on the chocolate one."
"Pfftt, boring." Mel mocks him. "Which one is better, chocomint or strawberry sorbet?"
"Neither," Bob answers. Mel is staring at him coldly. "Strawberry sorbet is too sour. Chocomint... is weird. It's literally a toothpaste ice cream."
"Strawberry sorbet, it is." Mel finally decided the flavor.
After ordering their gelato, they walk together while eating the gelato. Mel is peeking at Bob, he looks so happy. He is similar to a kindergarten kid.
"Thanks Mel for the treat. I'll treat you back next time." Bob says.
Mel is waving her hands. "Never mind, the cookies you've made today is more than enough."
"I can't believe you like the cookies. I'll do better next time." Bob replies. "I'm thinking about making a silky pudding or panna cotta."
"Panna cotta would be great." Mel says. She shows him a soft smile. "Make sure that I'm the first one who taste it!"
Bob laughs. "Sure, you will."