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The first thing Ava noticed as her eyes fluttered open was the lack of something. Namely the lack of static buzzing through her like she was going to phase out of her own body. That and the fact the sun should be illegal that early in the morning. There was one beam filtering through the crack in the curtains, hitting her right in the face as she groaned quietly. "Bucky, you didn't close the bloody curtains properly, what—" She blinked slowly as her eyes opened properly, and then the third realisation hit her.
She might have been wrapped around an arm, but it wasn't attached to it's owner. And the cool metal underneath her cheek explained the lack of buzzing. "Oh, bollocks." She groaned, accepting the fact that she was going to have to get up now. Sleep was a luxury that came at a premium in the tower. If it wasn't Alexei booming down corridors, it was Bob nearly burning the kitchen down with grilled cheese, or Yelena being—well, Yelena. Trying to get her head around this whole team dynamic was enough to fry it if she thought about it too long.
It wasn't that she minded being awake, but being in bed was the most freedom she got these days. Free from the suit that was a lifeline and a curse all in one go, as long as she was touching the arm, her entire life was just was strange event so at least it was on brand. Her molecular stability depended on the arm of a ridiculously handsome super soldier who was more than willing to share his bed.
And his heart, occasionally.
She lifted her head just enough to see Alpine curled up on the bottom of the bed, her tiny body rising and falling with each breath. She unwrapped herself from the arm, leaning down to scratch behind her ears. There was a level of domestication to looking after a cat together that was completely unfamiliar to her, even if she did enjoy it more than she was willing to let on. That seemed to be the theme of just about everything these days. No one admitted anything and just got on with it instead, and it worked. She slid out of bed carefully to avoid waking her up, the furry judgement was something that could wait for later.
Her breath hitched as she uncurled herself from her little ball, but then she flopped herself onto her back, tail swishing once in whatever dream that she was having. She'd found herself fascinated by her sometimes, she'd love to know what she dreamed about. Probably food, or clawing John's eyes out—and she'd support her on that one most of the time. But then her body phased, the wave of pain crashing over a stark reminder that it was time to suit up and get on with the day. She couldn't remember when she'd stopped wishing for a day where it didn't hurt, just that it must have been a really, really, long time ago.
The relief she felt when she pulled the suit on never quite felt the same as pulling it off knowing that Bucky was there to keep her stable. She found out that vibranium did that completely by accident. It was a sleepless night, her phasing completely out of control when he'd found her. It was completely by accident, but when his arm brushed past hers and everything stopped and she wasn't about to vibrate through the couch, it kickstarted something that ran a whole lot deeper.
Ava cleared her throat as she padded into the kitchen, metal arm slung over her shoulder. Her steps were naturally light and she'd learnt to make herself known when it was just Bucky in a room—no one wanted a repeat of the knife incident. "I think this belongs to you, actually. Strange coincidence, it ended up in my bed all on it's own."
That made Bucky laugh, a low sound that rumbled through his chest as he made himself a cup of coffee, taking a sip despite the steam rising from it in plumes. "Oh, so it's your bed now, huh? Funny, it was mine last time that I checked." He grinned as she set it down on the countertop with a thunk, and he slid a mug towards her in exchange. "English breakfast, no sugar. Just the way you like it."
Her heart did a stupid little flip as her fingers curled around the mug. She still wasn't used to all this. The team thing, the boyfriend thing—even though neither of them had said the word out loud—the fact that people actually remembered stuff about her. The only thing people had ever bothered with in the past was molecular levels, cell structures, how long she could phase before it started to rip her into shreds. "Thanks."
"You were phasing in your sleep, I figured that you needed it more than I did. Must have been pretty rough." His shoulder joint whirred as he hooked his arm back up, spinning it a full 360 to get it synced up properly. "You should let me talk to Shuri about that, y'know?" He'd been trying to silently coax her into it for weeks to no avail. He'd seen first hand on more than one occasion what the Wakandans could do with their tech, and he would bet a whole lot on the fact they'd be able to design something more freeing than the suit.
He saw it in the middle of the night, when his own nightmares stole the sleep from him, he saw everything that her powers had stolen from her. He saw the way it felt like all the weight had been lifted of her shoulders, and for once?
He actually felt useful for something more then trying to save the world.
There was something kind of beautiful in the fact that someone else found tranquility in the part of himself that he hated the most. He wasn't a killer, he wasn't the shell of a man that HYDRA had left behind, he was just a safe place, a port in a storm. "You can't just expect people to drop everything for some fantasy that might not even work." She refused to get her hopes up just as much as she refused to ask for help. It took years to get her suit this perfect—perfect enough to keep her in one piece—she couldn't imagine anyone else trying to get their head around it all.
"I'm fine." She dismissed the idea as she took a sip of her tea, staring at him over the top of the mug. He always looked softer when it was just the two of them, like he'd remembered that he was allowed to let his guard down. His hair was messier than usual, sticking up slightly. "You look like someone dragged you through a bush backwards." She mumbled as she set the mug down and reached over, running her fingers through his hair. A tiny bell tinkled behind them as Alpine padded into the kitchen, mewling in disappointment when she realised that her breakfast wasn't in her bowl yet.
Val might have owned the tower, but Alpine was the real ruler—a furry little dictator that hissed loudly whenever Alexei started on his stories about mother Russia and the good old days. Neither of them blamed her, and Bucky was 99% sure that Ava encouraged her somehow. "I'll get it, before she uses my leg as a scratching post again." She huffed quietly as she pulled back, making a beeline for the cupboard they kept her food in. Alpine let a noise that said "yeah, i did that, so what?" as she followed behind her, clearly still unimpressed with the whole situation. "You're good with her."
"She's a cat, you'd have to be an idiot to not be good with a cat. Feed it—" Her face scrunched up in disgust as she opened the can and the food plopped into the bowl. "Clean up after it, scratch behind it's ears. It's not that hard." She shrugged as she crouched down and set the bowl on the floor, running a hand through her fur before she stood back up, sliding onto one of the stools as she leaned over to retrieve her tea. silence settled over the two of them—punctuated occasionally by a pipe creaking or a car beeping it's horn down on the street below them.
"You're staring. And it's not that brooding, I want to kill everyone stare either." He huffed a breath that might have been a laugh as he leaned on the countertop, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "I got a nice view to stare at, can you blame me?"
And there it was again, the flirting that came so naturally to him and stopped her in her tracks, even now. It had been months, six to be precise and it still managed to make the world shift underneath her. "Yeah, well, you're not exactly the worst thing to look at either. Even if it does look like all your shirts spent too long in the dryer." Not that she was actually complaining, far from it actually, she had and would never have a single objection to it, although her favourite was when he ditched them all together, or—
"Bastard. You did that on purpose."
"You were thinking about me." Bucky teased as Alpine weaved herself around his ankles now she was content from being fed. "It's cute, you're not as stoic as you make out."
"Shut up."
"Make me."
Oh, so he wanted it to be like that. Well, two could play that game—she reached over and grabbed the front of his t-shirt, pulling him over the countertop until their faces were basically touching. "I will." She murmured as her hand came up to rest on the back of his neck, closing the last of the space between them as her lips crashed against his. A surprised noise left the back of his throat, half groan, half squeak as that fuzzy warm feeling bloomed across his chest. All this time and it still felt like his heart was gonna pop right out of his chest—he could hear it pounding in his ears, although he wasn't sure if that was his or hers, perks of the serum running through his veins. ith the slight sweetness
She could taste the coffee on his lips, a taste that she hated usually but didn't mind when it was him, mixed with the semi sweetness of whatever protein bar he'd decided was a suitable substitute for actual breakfast.
They were both so wrapped up that neither of them heard anyone else's footsteps until it was too late.
"Oh! Ohh, this is big potato stuff. Biggg potato stuff. Walker owes me fifty bucks, this is good, keep going." Yelena grinned from her spot by the door, she'd only come down for coffee but it felt like she'd accidentally stumbled into something that was more charged than her widow bites. Ava tried to pull away, but Bucky just leaned back in and kissed her again, a quick peck this time before he pulled back for real this time.
For someone who was usually so put together and calm, the blush creeping across Ava's cheeks was a rare sight. "And you're blushing?! Oh, this is too good. Better than Doctor Phil." Bucky huffed a puff of air that could have been a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief of how much Yelena was enjoying this. It shouldn't have surprised him, he'd bore witness to enough of her and Kate's midnight gossip sessions.
It wasn't like they were specifically trying to hide it from the others, things had just naturally unfolded in a way that was usually behind closed doors and away from the merciless teasing of everyone else. "It's cute, I like it. Do you guys like, share cat custody? Is that why she only jumps on the two you? See, it all makes sense now. You're cute." Ava truly would have loved nothing more than for the ground to open up underneath her and swallow her whole, but Bucky was the opposite, he even had the audacity to grin at the whole thing. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? You're enjoying having our entire rel—" She stopped herself before the word fell from her lips, eyes narrowing as she glared at him. "This feels like a trap."
"Say it."
"No."
"Finish the sentence."
"Our relationship is not potato stuff."
"Not even huge potato stuff?" Yelena offered very unhelpfully, rubbing her hands together in glee. "Can I plan your wedding? Wait, no, can me and Kate plan your wedding? Very lowkey, very cute, we don't even have to invite Walker. This is big, I have to go plan. Bye!" She called over her shoulder as she disappeared off to probably broadcast it to everyone who was gonna listen, especially Walker—it was gonna be the hottest gossip that ever hit the place by lunchtime, at the latest. "Jesus Christ, I'm gonna go hide before all of this hits the fan. If you need me then I'm moving to Alaska or something. I think I'd make a really good penguin." She slid off her stool, sidestepping Alpine who'd flopped down in a perfect beam of light.
"Oh no you don't." He stepped around the island, arms snaking around her waist and pulling her closer until their chests bumped together. "We have a lot to unpack, you don't get to escape before we talk about it. I think that's the first time you've ever said this was an actual relationship out loud." He murmured as his metal arm settled on her hip, the other coming up to tuck a strand of hair back behind her ear. "That's so untrue, I—okay fine, you got me. Happy? But you also didn't object to her running off to tell everyone that we're getting married." She countered, eyebrow raised as she poked at his chest just to annoy him a little bit, one of her new found favourite things to do—he was too easy to get going sometimes.
"You didn't stop her either." He shrugged as he caught her finger on it's second jab, holding onto her hand to stop her trying again, and definitely not because he just wanted to. "It is big potato stuff. In fact, you're my favourite potato, and—" She didn't even let him finishing that analogy before she was phasing out of his grip, eyes rolling as she reappeared by the door. "No one is ever gonna believe me when if I told them how sappy you really are."
"Oh, that's evil, you're using your abilities for evil." He gasped, clutching his chest like he'd been mortally wounded to give her a taste of her own dramatic medicine. "I was gonna say that you'd be like mashed potatoes, because they're my favourite."
"See? Sappy."
"You love it."
"Unfortunately."