Curate, connect, and discover
|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader
|| warning : nothing !... maybe
|| wc : 1.1k (real short , sorry gang )
Ever since Peter agreed to hide Bucky’s secret friend, again he still didn’t get why he was hiding you, but he was getting 20 bucks richer every week! He wasn’t going to complain. But, as said before, ever since he’d been sworn to secrecy, Bucky and him have been talking more.
Or, an alternative way of saying it, Peter’s been annoying Bucky a bunch.
“When’d you even meet them?” Again, asking about you.
“Clint’s birthday.”
“Really? I didn’t see ‘em”
“Got his birthday gift from them.”
“Ohhh, you’re the one who got Mr. Barton the flowers!” Peter snapped his fingers and had a wide grin tugging at his lips. “Wait, so.. You’ve known them for 3 months??”
Bucky bit back a small sigh as he grabbed a weight and started to do his usual work out routine as he hummed in response, a confirmation of sorts.
“Then why haven’t you introdu–”
“Peter.” He shot a small glare at the teenager, his eyebrow twitched for a moment. “If you wanna know more, you could just ask them.”
Peter huffed and picked up a weight as well, imitating whatever Bucky was doing. “Well, I want to, but every night they come home from work they look EXHAUSTED. I mean, you’d think running a flower shop’s not all too bad, but I mean you should really see them!”
“Okay, then ask them over text.”
“.. I don’t have their number, only Aunt May does.”
“Then ask your aunt.”
“But you’re right here!”
“And you live with your aunt, what’s your point?”
“Well-” Peter cut himself off before sighing. Fiddling around with the weight in his hand. “I mean, I don’t wanna ask Aunt May, she’ll tell them I asked then it’ll be awkward.”
“What if I tell them?”
“I know you won’t!”
“And why is that, exactly?” Bucky put down the weight and raised their eyebrow in confusion. As well as some curiosity. Bucky is like a lock, only one key can unlock his secrets, and that key is rusted, dusted and thrown away to the deepest dark of the ocean.
“‘cause then they’ll know you talk about them, and you have a crush on them.”
…
At that moment it was as if Bucky was frozen in ice again. He didn’t dare even take a breath. A crush? First of all, what are they? Kindergarteners, why call it a crush? Second of all.. NO. What?! He does not have a crush on you! That’s actual crazy talk. You’re just a friend, like- like Steve, but not like Steve.
“That’s false.” was all he could utter out before trudging over to the next things he used for his workouts.
“Whaaatt? But.. What??” Peter put the weight down and followed Bucky, as if he were his mama duck. Haha, Ducky-Bucky. “You hide them for 3 months, from what I hear from Mr. Wilson, you stay out longer than usual ‘cause of them a-and you pay me not to tell anyone about them.”
“Because I know how much everyone gossips, Peter. Now buzz off. I need t’get ready for a mission.”
“Awh, man.” Peter scratched the back of his neck and sighed dramatically as he started to walk away, like a kicked puppy. “You’re lucky Mr. Stark told me I had to do some extra assignment, or else I’d be here asking you all about [Name].”
“Yeah, yeah, get outta here, punk.” He muttered, almost as if saying it to no one. As much as he tolerated Peter more than some of the other Avengers, he still needed his me time. People were tiring, Especially these people.
–
It was as if time had barely passed yet stayed still at the same time. Bucky, Natasha, Sam and Wanda were on the Quinjet as of right now. Man, how he’d wish to God he was back home. Look, he respected everyone on the plane. Sam wasn’t someone Bucky’d go out of his way to hang out on a regular, but he likes him better than Tony. Natasha and Wanda, he saw the two as someone he could sort of relate to. Natasha being a part of Hydra and a trained assassin for them unwillingly, and Wanda was an experiment for Hydra.
Small comrodaries in trauma.
All things considered though, he’d be doing anything but being on this flight. All that the four would do was beat up some people, find intel on some enhanced people they’d gotten a tip about, and figure out if they’re a danger or not.
Thinking about that wasn’t what Bucky was preoccupied with though, no. His thumbs were occupied by texting you. Thankfully, the quinjet was big enough for him to text in his own corner of the aircraft.
florist : we can have a movie night, my place if you want! when you get back?
james : only if you want to.
florist : i’ll provide the snacks if you pick the movie <3
That stupid looking heart did wonders on his heart.
james : how about a comedy?
florist : my, my james! i didn’t think you’d want a comedy! with how stoic you act all the time LMAO
james : even i need a laugh sometimes.
The main reason was ‘cause he wanted to hear your laugh.
“Prepare for landing, gang!” Natasha yelled to the group. Oh, great, mission starting soon. Bucky stood up from the metal flooring of the quinjet and shot you one last text before powering his phone off:
james : mission time. i’ll text you when i’m back.
–
You stared at the text on your screen for what felt like ages. You didn’t know why, but that text made you feel.. Anxious. Worried, all the bad feelings. Sure, Bucky was a super soldier AND an Avenger.. But you knew of the dangers, of the threats. He’s still only human.
But, you pushed your emotions aside and texted back, even though you knew he wouldn’t get it back until after the mission.
florist : goodluck, james. <3
Okay. Before we start, yes.. You may have a small, itty bitty, miniscule, super insignificant crush on Bucky. I mean, who doesn’t? He’s tall, muscular, and a quiet giant. And he actually LISTENED to you. He liked to listen to your yaps, and when you think it doesn’t get better, IT DOES! Because he actually remembers the details.
Bucky’s sweet, patient and kind. Despite the rough edges, he’s a good person. Even if he didn’t think that.
A small sigh left your lips as you clicked your television on and started to drift asleep,letting your anxieties and worries melt away with the old British narrator guy talking about “the three toed sloths” on the tv. Your dreams consisted of darkness, flowers, and warmth.
You were calm in your voided dreams, unaware of what the hell was going on with James.
|| smiles deviously, deviously smiles !!
taglist : @iyskgd , @highhopes1008
|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader
|| warning : nothing ! jealous bucky makes a brief entrance 🔥
|| wc : 2.1k
|| btw, if any of ya'll wanna be apart of the taglist, js comment :3 or dm idc <3
The Avengers Tower’s atmosphere was awkward. Like, a weird tense awkwardness. Clint, Wanda, Sam and Bruce got back from their mission which.. Did not go according to plan, and were already bummed out with that, despite there being a backup plan. Tony had a fight with Pepper, yet again, which let’s be real, no one’s surprised about. And last but certainly not least, Peter had seen Bucky leave your apartment the previous night.
I would love to say that Bucky did a graceful job at covering for himself and explaining it.. But that’d be a lie. The second Peter uttered the words “Mr. Barnes?” Bucky ignored him and sped walk outta there. But being an Avenger, and having Peter practically live in the Tower made it virtually impossible NOT to run into him at least once.
“It’s not that big a deal, James, I promise.” You said, your phone pressed against your ear and shoulder. Currently, you were out checking on your shop and running a few errands. That’s when Bucky called and told you the whole ordeal after you shut the door. “I really don’t see how it’s such a big deal. Just explain to Peter that we’re friends.”
But I don’t want to. He thought, I want you as my secret. As strange as it is, you were one of the only things he felt he had that wasn’t poisoned by Hydra or the Avengers. He loved the Avengers (.. sorta) but he needed to have something that was his.
“Yeah, okay. Okay. Just- the team can be.. Unbearable with gossip.” He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry for calling you ‘bout this”
“Hey, no, I get that. You don’t gotta explain why you freaked out about Peter,” Your voice was full of understanding. Oh, god, Bucky absolutely loves- no. No, no no. “Oh, and never apologize for talking to me, I love talking to you”
“Oh,” He felt his cheeks warm up. “I like talking to you too.”
A small laugh could be heard from your end of the line, god, he could melt with how warm your laugh was.
“Hey, I gotta head off, I’m meeting up with my brother and his wife for a small get together, but I’ll talk to you later, ‘kay?”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah, I thought I told you ‘bout him! His name’s Silas? He’s a pretentious fuck. Love him to bits, but I don’t like him, y’know?” This made Bucky let out a small chuckle. He had remembered a past conversation of yours where you rambled on about how your older brother was the golden child in your family.
“Good luck with him, [Name]”
“Thanks, James, I’ll call you later”
“Bye” He tried to hide his disappointment in his voice before hanging up. Man, what were you doing to him? He’s a lone wolf, never likes anyone, always grumpy, and rarely smiles. But with you? Seemed like he was the jolliest guy on Earth.
Ah, but he can sort out his feelings later. Right now he needed to talk with a certain Peter Parker.
–
“D-Did you need something, Mr. Barnes?”
Bucky was quick to find the spiderling, he was up in the lab with Bruce. Tinkering away at some sort of more protective type of suit, trying to replicate vibranium without using vibranium. He made up some bullshit excuse for why he needed to talk with Peter, even if Bruce knew it was a lie, he didn’t fight it.
“What you saw last night–”
“You leaving [Name]’s apartment last night?”
Bucky’s eyebrow twitched, god the way he said it felt like he was caught in an affair. “Yes. That. It was nothing.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Barnes, but if it was nothing, why’d you run away?”
“I didn’t run away,” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the teenager. “It was.. A strategic retreat.”
Peter deadpanned. “Mr. Barnes, I don’t care if you’re dating-”
“We’re not dating.”
“Oh.” Peter sighed and snapped his fingers. “I owe Aunt May 20 bucks now.”
“Maybe you deserve it.” Bucky sighed and tapped his finger against his arm. “Look, just.. Don’t tell anyone I’m friends with [Name].”
Now.. This is where Bucky lost Peter. Why? What?? It was a strange request. A doable one! But a real strange one. “W.. Why?”
“Because Sam’ll bring it up non-stop and I’ll get teased.” It wasn't a lie, but again, not the full reason he wanted to hide you away from the team.
Peter’s puzzled look turned into a more sinister one. “I won’t tell anyone.. But I want you to give me 20 bucks every week I gotta keep your secret”
“Wha- fine. Yeah sure.” Wasn’t like Bucky had anything to spend it on. “If you tell anyone, I’m ripping your arms off.” He said with a small glare before turning away and walking off.
“.. Arms plural? Wait! Mr. Barnes! Arms plural??”
–
With that small confrontation over, Bucky was able to rest easy. Sure, he’d lose a couple of bucks, but really it was Tony who was throwing his money around. I mean, let’s think about it. So many people live in one tower, with electricity running practically everything. The electricity, water and heating bill must be skyrocketed. Ah, but that wasn’t our dear Bucky’s problem.
No, Bucky had to sort through his feelings and try to label your friendship. So he did the one thing that allowed him to feel.. Better, run.
Leaving the Tower was easy enough, being the “Winter Soldier” made it so everyone was automatically scared of him. Slipping away was easy, what was a problem was where he wanted to run. He let his legs take him.
The wind in his hair, the small burn in his legs as he ran farther and farther. His heart rate beating every time he was able to run longer and faster due since there weren’t many people around or stops. Bucky loved to run. He would run all day if he could, it felt like freedom to him. Something he wouldn’t let anyone take from him.
Bucky ran around a few blocks multiple times, by the end of it his face was damp, but not as sweaty as the normal person would be. Again, Super Soldier. Barely got tired. But, he still wanted to get something to hydrate himself. He sped walked over to that one Cafe that was across from your shop, your friend Finn ran it? At least, that’s what you told him. Maybe he could visit you af–
“James?”
Or now. It seemed you were taking your lunch break or something, ‘cause you were standing at the counter. Leaning against the solid surface, talking with Finn. And for some reason, that made a pit form in Bucky’s stomach. But, like many things, he ignored it and walked over to you, giving a small wave to you and.. Finn.
“Hey man, you want anything?” Finn had a charming smile on his face, he seemed.. Boyish. Certainly younger than Bucky, I mean, he looked like he was in his mid-twenties, younger than you.
“Black coffee.”
You snorted and tilted your head up at him. “No cream or sugar? Pegged you for a sweet guy”
The corners of Bucky’s lips perked up for a moment and he just huffed. “Got used to it.” He did, as a young adult and the war happening, everyone had to ration. That meant when he had coffee, it had to be black. None of the fancy sweeteners.
“Boring,” You hit your hip against his in a playful manner.
In a matter of seconds, Finn came back with Bucky’s drink. Some shitty ass black coffee that was overpriced. Ah, love New York. Though, it was fine. What wasn’t fine was how Finn just kept smiling and practically flirting with you.
“We should definitely go together, it’d be really fun, hell I could pay for your ticket too.”
“Finn, you shouldn’t, I’d be able to!” You giggled behind your palm. “But, I’m not opposed to that”
“We could get dinner, hangout beforehand too?”
Smooth. “I’ll definitely think about it, Finn”
Stealing a quick glance at Bucky, you realized his confusion. “Ah, me and Finn were talking about watching a musical together!”
“Which one?”
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals!”
“That’s a thing?”
“It’s definitely a thing.” You crossed your arms with a wide smile. “It’s really good! I should show it to you, there’s a recorded version of it up on Youtube.”
He hummed in reply and gave a lazy shrug. “You’ll have to send me a link to it.”
With a small check of your watch you took in a sharp inhale. “Shit, sorry guys, my breaks almost over, Bye Finn! Bye James!”
“I’ll walk you t’your shop.”
Now this you wouldn’t pass up on. You turned back and gave a small wave to Finn as you and James walked out. The second you felt a wave of fresh air roll on you, Bucky put his arm around your shoulder. A small smile tugged on your face as our eyebrow raised. “What’cha thinkin, big guy?”
“.. There’s a lotta cars.” He muttered. The both of you were standing side by side, he was walking on the outer edge of the sidewalk while you walked on the inner. Something you didn’t even realize.
“Such a gentleman, ey, James?”
He glanced over to you, a small smile tugging at his lips as he held you close. You didn’t mind it, didn’t mind that he was warm, didn’t mind when his grip on you tightened when crossing the street, didn’t mind the momentary lingering he had before pulling away from you when you got to the shop.
“Thanks for walking me!” You pushed open the door and grabbed your apron as Bucky stood in the doorframe. He wanted to stay longer, but he didn’t want to distract you as you worked.
He nodded to your thanks and looked around the shop. It still smelled like a garden, everything still felt humid. Everything was still the same. The flowers were in neat rows but they still perfectly transitioned into one another, the small rotating seed holder was still fully stocked. You talked about how people would grab the seeds and buy them, bunches at a time, but you never let it look like that. Always wanted it to be full, just in case.
“On the house.” Shit, he didn’t even realize you were behind him. What great assassin skills guys, real good. You had a hydrangea in your hand. “It’s blue, like your eyes.”
A few beats of silence settled between you two. Bucky just stared at you as your face got increasingly hot.
“T-That was stupid! I dunno why I did that, uh- it’s just what I like to do with friends, give ‘em flowers on the house I-” He cut you off by taking the flower from your hand, all gently and he quietly examined it.
“It’s real pretty.” He muttered and held it close to his chest. “Thanks, [Name].”
“You’re welcome! I-”
Again, you were cut off, not by Bucky, but by his phone. He muttered a small curse and a “sorry” before walking a few feet away. As much as you’d love not to eavesdrop.. IT WAS SO EASY. Not like you had much to work with.
“Mhm… No, I’m out right now,went on a run.. No, I didn’t see Sam… You can tell him to suck it up. I’m not–” He groaned and stayed quiet as the other person on the line kept speaking. “I’m not- just ‘cause they screwed up shouldn’t mean-.. Ugh. Fine, you’re the captain, punk.. Yeah yeah, I’ll be back soon.”
With that he hung up the phone, glaring at it as if it just cursed everyone in his family line.
“Sorry for that, doll, it was work. Turns out next time Sam and the idiots go out, I have to go with them ‘cause they can’t do shit.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, calming himself before he spoke up again. “I gotta go, but I’ll text you.”
“Goodluck with uh, Sam and the idiots.” It wasn’t funny, Bucky was genuinely ticked off, but you couldn’t help but giggle. Thankfully, that seemed to ease some of his tension. His shoulders dropped as he walked over to the door, shooting a small wave to you before leaving.
Hydrangea still in hand.. It was pretty. Like you.
|| the title of this chapter makes this part seem real scary 😭😭 its not, its cutsie. also, i wanted to just show small bits of jealous bucky cz i love jealous bucky. jealous bucky WILL be getting a full part of his own later down the line.
taglist : @iyskgd , @highhopes1008
|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader
|| warning : nothing !
|| wc : 3.6k
Ever since you’d found out about James - Bucky - being an Avenger, the two of you’d grown closer. He was more open about who he was, what he’d like. You learned he rather listens to old 40s music than the newer Taylor Swift, which was completely understandable. He wanted to learn how to bake the things his Ma made, muffins and cakes and all that jazz before the war. And when he’s alone in the Tower, he likes to put on soft music and dance to it, pretending he was back in the 40s.
You loved learning more about him, he went from an old customer to a friend, and now, you’d dare say he was one of your closest friends! Despite it barely being 2 months- ah, he was really growing on you. However, with your growing friendship, that also accidentally made it so you were neglecting your other friendships. Especially May, you were both very busy with work, and her being busy with her nephew as well. It was understandable that you both weren’t hanging out much, but you wanted to change that!
You invited May to go out to a cafe with you, one down the street from your flower shop, you knew the person who ran it, Finn.
“Thanks for this, May, gods, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!” The both of you hugged, you giving a small squeeze before letting her go and sitting down across from her. “How’ve you been? How’s Peter doing?”
“Oh, we’ve been doing just great! Peter’s been interning at that Stark place and he’s so excited about it, constantly working on stuff that’s supposedly on-” She raised her hands and did air quotes. “- the down low, y’know?”
A small chuckle left your lips as you sipped on the hot beverage in the paper cup you’d ordered, god Finn made the good stuff here. “How about you? You’ve been MIA so much! I was planning on bringing over some pot pie a few days ago, but Peter saw you coming home and said you looked like you were on the verge of collapsing!” May leaned on the table, her brows furrowed, etched with worry as she asked.
“I promise, I’m okay, really, work’s just been busy.” You gave a lazy shrug. It was true, that day you’d gotten 5 calls for special orders for weddings or funerals and such. Even then, you still had to deal with your other, in person customers. “It’s a lot, but I’m enjoying it.”
“If you say so..” She sighed and twiddled with the pastry in her hands before taking a bite. “Y’know, you need to take a break soon.”
“May-”
“I’m serious!” She huffed and chowed down on the pastry, a sigh of relief leaving her lips. “Oh, this is so good,” May muttered before shaking her head. “I can call Happy, get him to send you off somewhere nice, have a chill vacation”
“I thought you knew me better, May, I’m more of a home-body” You shook your head and laughed before processing.. Happy? Who’s Happy? “Wait, who’s-”
“Happy's uh.. Someone I’ve taken interest in.” Her lips were pulled into a sly smile as you gaped. Were you that absent you didn’t know your friend was seeing someone??
“Tell me everything!”
“Well, he works at Stark Industries and I met him through Peter,” She took another bite of her pastry. “He’s a really sweet guy, there’s some weird stuff, but ah, it’s casual”
“I’m really happy for you, May”
“Awh, shucks” She playfully swatted her hand in the air, feigning to be flustered. “How about you? Any guy friends? Maybe lady ones?”
Your face flushed and you shook your head, your eyes glancing outside. “No, no, been waaay too busy for that!”
“Oh, that’s so boring! How about this, I hook you up with someone.”
“May!”
“I’m just saying! You need to get out there, especially after..” May trailed off as your shoulders tensed. Your last relationship hadn’t ended well, cheating and whatnot. It broke you, even though it was a short relationship, cheating never felt nice. After a beat of silence, May cleared her throat. “C’mon! It’d be fun! Plus, Happy knows the Avengers, maybe you could go on a blind date with one of them!”
Your eyes widened at that.. James was an Avenger, well, sort of. Imagine going on a blind date with him, that’d.. Be a disaster. He knew you, you were just friends. No way you’d get hooked up with him.
“I-I’m way too busy for that, May, it’s a nice sentiment, but not for now.”
She just sighed and shrugged, allowing this topic of discussion to be dropped. The two of you started to talk about some random crap, how your other neighbors were loud.. In more ways than one, it was so annoying. How New York felt like it was the new warzone for aliens and Avenger level threats. God, it was a lot. But, it was nice to talk to May about this stuff. You loved her, she was a great friend.
–
After around 1 and a half hours of gossiping with May, the two of you went your separate ways, promising to do this again soon. Which you intended to keep! May had to go out and get some groceries, meet up with some of her co-workers and pick Peter back up from Stark Industries. Unless he gets a ride. You on the other hand? You decided to just head home, have a lazy day.
It was a Saturday, you’d already done your grocery shopping yesterday and the flowers back in the shop should be good until tomorrow evening. You needed to water them and make sure they weren’t wilted. In the meantime you walked back home and immediately bolted to your room to change into something comfy.
Once you put your comfy pjs on, you flopped on your couch and planted your ass on your couch as you watched mindless television. There was a rom-com sit-com playing on the screen, it was something you liked to put in the background as you crocheted, a hobby you recently picked up.
While you watched TV, the time passed as if hours were seconds and soon enough, the bright rays of light that seeped into your windows grew dimmer and dimmer. Soon enough, the evening had come and you were hungry as hell. With a small groan you pushed yourself off the couch and walked over to the kitchen. You didn’t feel like making anything complicated, so you opted for some instant ramen. With a clean motion, you grabbed a pot and put it under the faucet, turning the knob.. Nothing happened. No water, just a weird sounding sputter.
“What the hell?” Again, you tried turning it, nothing. Shit, was it broken? You put the pot down and squatted in front of the sink, opening the cabinet and looking at the pipes.. Yeah, you were out of your specialty with this. Usually, you asked May for help with this stuff, but as stated before.. She was busy. Shoot.
You sat on the cold ground of your kitchen apartment, looking to find any help from a plumber? You didn’t know who you needed for this. The prices were outrageous. Yeah no, you weren’t calling some professional.. You couldn’t exactly call up any family members.. Your only option left was James. Awh, man, you did NOT want to bother him, but.. You’re friends! He wouldn’t mind. With worried hands you dialed his number and put your phone close to your ear. Bucky was an Avenger! He’s probably busy with Avenger shit, here you are asking for sink help.
–
“Ha! You think you can beat me, little man?”
“.. I am a whole foot taller than you, Belova.”
Bucky and Yelena were currently playing cards together, something that Yelena had offered. She knew how out of depth this man was with the modern era. So, to help ease him into it, she offered to play cards with him every Saturday.. Plus, half the Avengers were busy doing something and she wanted to annoy someone new.
“Still, I am undefeated in the game of Gin Rummy. You know, Natasha taught me how to play when I was a kid!” She puffed her chest out in a proud manner.
“I was alive when Gin Rummy was made world wide.” He raised an eyebrow as Yelena made a “psh” noise and waved her hand in the air dismissively.
Before the two could continue the round, Bucky’s phone vibrated in his pocket, Yelena raised her eyebrow as he gave an apologetic look before standing up and walking out of hearing distance. When he saw it was your name, his heart started to beat just the smallest bit faster.
“[Name], what’s up?”
“James?” Your voice was quiet on the other line, nervous. “Heeeyy”
“You sound nervous, what’s wrong?”
“Well.. Oh, god,” He heard as you took a deep breath in and let it out. “I, uh, was trying to make dinner and I needed water to boil, and uh- my sink is.. Broken- and I didn’t know who else to call, my neighbors out, and I can’t pay for an electrician to help, can you..?”
You trailed off with your question, most likely out of embarrassment, Bucky suspected. Though, he didn’t know why you were embarrassed. “You need me to help?”
“Yes, please”
“Send me your address, I’ll be there quickly.”
“Thank you so much, James! I promise, I’ll cook you something when you fix it!” This made the corners of his lips quirk up. With quick goodbyes, he hung up and waited for your text. Once he saw your address, he recognized it. It was only a small ways away, with his motorcycle he’d be there in less than 10 minutes.
Bucky pushed his phone into his pocket and walked back over to the table where he and Yelena were playing. “I gotta deal with something, sorry to cut the game short.”
“Wha- oh, that’s ерунда, where are you going?” She pushed herself up and gave a small glare to Barnes as she watched him grab his jacket and keys.
“None of your business.”
“Oh, come on, Barnes, I won’t tell anyone.”
He just let out a huff, as a laugh type thing and turned around and walked to the elevator, giving a lazy wave to Yelena as he entered. “I’ll be back in a few hours, don’t trash the place.”
“No promises!”
With a ding, the elevator doors closed and he was going down to the parking garage. This was the first time he’d ever gone to your house, and his mind was RACING. I mean, it was just for friends. You guys are friends. Nothing more, nothing less. I mean, it’d be nice to be more, but no. To Bucky, you were someone who was soft, delicate, like a flower. He was some bulldozer who’d hurt you if he got too close. Not like he wanted to hurt you! No, he was just.. Worried.
As he got on the sleek, black motorcycle that Tony had given him as a peace offering, his mind started to calm as he drove. It was dark enough, just past sunset, so the streets were calm. No usual hustle of New York, no. It was peaceful, for once. The only thing he wished was that all the lights that were on during the night were off. There were bright billboards, bright neon signs that pointed to the nearest club. God, he loved clubs back then. They were nothing like what they were now. They were jazzy, sleek, elegant in its own rustic way, y’know? He missed that. The little things of the past.
Once he got to your apartment complex, he double checked the address before pressing the doorbell, or buzzer for you.
“Uh, [Name]?” He asked into the intercom.
“Hey, James! I’ll buzz you in! Again, thank you so muc-” Your voice got cut off as you unlocked the door for him.
Bucky walked through the empty halls of the apartment, his eyes darting for your apartment number. It was a nice place, better than the apartments back then. Even if Bucky was technically on the more rich side of things when he was younger, everyone had their struggles.
Once he got to the door that had your number on a bronze plate, he knocked on the door, and in a few moments there you stood.. Wow, man, maybe this was too domestic for him. You were in your cozy pajamas, a black, white and red flannel patterned pants and a black oversized shirt, cute mismatched socks that adorned your feet.
“James! Oh, thank god you’re here, c’min c’min!” You ushered him in and closed the door once he was fully in.
Bucky turned his head as his eyes darted around your home. It was.. Cozy, really cozy. There were thrifted paintings on the wall, and crocheted items on your couch. It was warm, but not overwhelming, just right. He stepped more into your living room as his eyes glazed over the photos. One was of your high school graduation, one of your family, one of some (he assumes) high school friends, as well as a photo of your university graduation, upon further inspection, your degree was business. There was one more photo, it was you, a brown haired lady and..
“Peter?” He muttered to himself as he looked closer to the photo, his brows furrowed in confusion. In the photo, you and May were on both sides of Peter as he stood in the middle, holding a first place trophy in his hand. A science thing, Bucky didn’t know. What he DID know was that you were friends with the spider boy's aunt and the spider boy.
“James?” You called out from the kitchen and that seemed to break him from his trance. He grunted and walked over to where you were. “Uhh, here’s.. The sink”
“What’s the problem with it?”
“It makes a sort of- fart noise when I turn it on”
The comparison made Bucky crinkle his nose and snort in amusement. He turned the knob, and yup, just like you said, out came the fart noise. Without the stink.
“This is an easy fix, I think it’s just clogged”
“Oh, so I’m just stupid,” You groaned and tugged at your hair. “I’m sorry for bothering you for such a simple issue of it being clogged.”
“You’re not stupid.” He huffed as he started to work on it. The perks of having a metal arm? He didn’t need any tools. Sure, it came with the trauma of falling out of a train, getting experimented on and being a weapon for 70 years, but ah, y’know how it is. “Steve used t’need my help with everything when we were younger”
“Yeah?” You sat on top of the counter as you watched him work.. Now you were not a pervert, but god, he had nice looking arms. The way it flexed under his jacket when he pulled or pushed on something. GOD, your friend was good looking. NOT THAT YOU WERE LOOKING! Aha.. totally not.
“Yeah, one time he broke one of the lights in his room as a kid, he was trying out some random item he got from the thrift shop and it backfired on him, needed it to get changed and clean up the shattered glass,” He spoke with a certain fondness in his voice as he worked on your sink. “I tried to help, he cleaned up the glass, I tried finding some extra light bulbs, but his old man found out and he told our ma’s. His mom and my Ma got pissed at us when they found out” He chuckled and pulled away from the sink.
“That should be good.” He had a small smile as he looked over to you. His heart beating quick as he looked over your face, you had the brightest smile on your face as you listened to his small story intently. You loved whenever he opened up about his past, even something as small or insignificant as that, it just.. Made you feel closer to him.
“Thank you, James.” You hopped off the counter and tried to turn the sink off, and miraculously it turned on! “Oh, thanks so much James!” With a wide grin on your face, you threw your arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He stiffened at this but, with much hesitance, he hugged you back. After a beat of silence, you pulled away and filled up the pot from before. “I’m gonna make instant ramen, if that’s okay?”
“More than okay.”
You hummed in acknowledgement as you put the pot on the stove and started to boil it. “You wanna watch a movie? I have Netflix!”
“Uh, what’d you wanna watch?”
“Oh, I, uh, I was hoping you’d choose?”
He huffed and walked back into the living room. Despite being free for over three years and a half, he still wasn’t used to picking out things for himself, having options. Granted, two of those years were spent with the Wakandans rehabilitating him, but that’s just details.
Bucky scrolled through your Netflix, a small smile on his face as he saw in your recently watched documentary of ‘Captain America : The Original Avenger.’ He watched that documentary, it wasn’t super accurate, but it was better than the others.
“Whaddya think about a World War 2 movie?”
“So you can point out the inaccuracies?”
Bucky snorted and confirmed your assumption. You just rolled your eyes and laughed. The two of you grew into a nice silence as the documentary played. Bucky didn’t sit down on the couch though, he walked around the living room. Looking over the photos, still shellshocked at the fact you knew the spider kid.
–
After a little while, you and Bucky finally had the bowls of instant ramen in front of you as you both sat in front of the TV. Still, he’s pointing out the inaccuracies of the documentary. It was really amusing. Everytime he pointed something out, his nose would scrunch up and his brows would be furrowed just the smallest bit.
Especially if the documentary brought up the Howling Commandos, he’d get pissed at every inconsistency.
“We did not take down 50 men that day, it was 36, god they’re dramatic.”
“You remember?” You asked, your cheeks puffed out with ramen as you slurped it down.
“I remember every mission of mine before- uh, everything.” He took a sip of the soup and took a bite of the noodles. “That mission, Stevie was pissed ‘cause Pinkerton accidentally threw out one of the plans of attack. He got Sawyer to draw it up all over again.” Again, as he reminisced, there was a certain sadness in his voice. Despite it being a literal war, he remembered all the good with the Howling Commandos. They were like a family of his. “Obviously, Steve didn’t stay mad the whole time, just long enough for Pinkerton to grovel”
You snorted at that and finished up your food. Listening to every word of what he said. Usually, Bucky was more closed off, quiet, but when talking about his past. The good parts of his past, he seemed like a never ending sentence. He’d talk fondly of the Howling Commandos, his Ma, his sister Rebecca, and all the trouble he and Steve got into as teens.
Soon enough, the documentary ended and you and Bucky finished your food. He, in a quiet tone, offered to wash the dishes which you complied with. The dishes were one of your least favourite chores. As he washed, you both still talked.
“So how was your day?” As dry as that was, you had no idea how Bucky’s day was, especially being an Avenger. In turn, he gave a lazy shrug, his arms deep into the sink.
“Worked out from 8 to 12, uh..” He had therapy today but he was not going to tell you about that. “Had lunch with Steve and Natasha, no Sam ‘cause he’s out in Wisconsin.”
“Why?”
“Mission, heard some enhanced was causing trouble. He, Wanda, Clint and Banner went.” You hummed in acknowledgement then asked if he did anything else. “I.. Cleaned, I dunno. I don’t really do much around the Tower. Though, Yelena and I were supposed to play-”
He cut himself off and checked the time after he put away the last dish in the drying rack. Shit, it was already 11 PM, how did he not realize 4 hours had passed?? How did he not realize that the documentary was so damn long? Shit, Steve’s gonna ask questions when he gets back home.
“You needa go home?” You had a small smirk on your face, your eyebrow raised at his sudden cut off. With a twinge of embarrassment, he nodded.
“Sorry, just.. Being, uh, me-” He pointed to his metal arm. “People in the Tower don’t really trust me all too much just yet, so I hafta get home.”
“Nah, I get it, no worries, James.” You walked him out and at the door way he put his shoes back on and reached for the handle. Before stepping outside he turned to you one last time, sparing you a small smile.
“I had fun today.”
“Same, we should do this more often”
“Definitely.” He had a soft smile on his face as he stepped out and you closed the door. For a few moments, he stared at your door all longingly, as if he was some teenager who’d just snuck back out of his secret paramour's house.
With a small sigh he turned away from your door. His eyes locked with wide eyed brown ones. Ones that he’d seen way too often back at the Tower.
“Mr. Barnes?”
Of course it was the Spider kid.
|| WOOOOWEEEEE!!! i looove making everyone have connections guys !!! ALSOOO if you wanna be added to the taglist, i'd be more than welcome to add you :3
|| also, small thing, if the russian that yelena said was wrong, blame google translate, i know nothing abt russian
taglist : @iyskgd , @highhopes1008
|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader
|| warning : very VERY brief encounter with a gun , mission but barely talked abt
|| wc : 2.5k
The next couple of weeks went by like normal, or as normal as they coule. Both you and Bucky would text each other, sending small ‘good morning!’ texts as well as ‘goodnight’ ones. It made Bucky act as if he was a highschooler again, his heart all giddy every time a notification popped up on his phone- sure, he didn’t have a phone back when he was a teen but hush.
He really did enjoy texting you, it was definitely the highlight of his day.. But the more you texted, the more.. Attached, he's grown? Didn’t help that you’d both go out for coffee at least once a week. It was harder to hide himself from you, hide the fact he was living in the Avengers Tower, that he was.. Well, seen as the Winter Soldier.
You were just so sweet. Kind. He couldn’t tell you, his past was a literal nightmare. He’d done terrible things and-
“Hey, soldat, Steve, Sam and I are going to a museum, wanna join?”
“Why would I wanna go to a museum?”
“Maybe ‘cause you’re ancient,” Natasha snickered before shaking her head. “We’re going there ‘cause we got a tip that somethings going to go down. Might be big, wanna join?”
As much as Bucky wanted to say no and just lock himself in his room, he knew Steve would just try to drag him out. So, instead of fighting it, he nodded and sat up. Plus, maybe this could distract him from you.
–
In some “undercover” clothes, the four of them were walking around a museum, one that showed off arts and sculptures. Maybe in another life, Bucky would’ve found it interesting. But, they were just pretending to be enamored by the statuettes. No, they were on guard due to the fact they had gotten a warning from anonymous that some suspicious activity was going to go down. It could be some sort of drop-off of a weapon, magic shit, or maybe just stealing some art. Who knows?
Bucky stood besides Sam as they stared at some giant piece of art, it was a painting. A really well done one, actually. Oil painting of some sort of landscape with a bunch of people, the colors matched, the composition was wonderful, and the story behind it was deep.
“Think something’s actually gonna happen today, or just bad intel?” Sam kept his eyes ahead, as if analyzing the art in front of him.
“.. 10 bucks says something’s going to happen”
“10 bucks says it’s bad intel, I mean c’mon, it’s a Wednesday”
“What’s so not important about a Wednesday?”
“Why couldn’t it be on a Friday?”
“Maybe the bad guys were busy on Friday.”
Sam raised an eyebrow and just rolled his shoulder. “I’m gonna go over down the hall, check out the statues and make sure nothing’s going down.”
Bucky nodded and went back to looking up at the painting. Admiring the bumps and parts of the painting where the paint seemed to clump. Real pretty.
He turned from the painting and went the opposite direction of Sam. But the second he started to walk, he froze. Either this is a terrible coincidence or God wants to mess with him. Standing a few feet away from him was you. Shit shit shit! He can't be distracted by you. In a small panic, Bucky started to walk back, a few steps before he turned around and bumped into something.
Shit, all that ‘training’ went to shit, he bumped into a trashcan. Making a loud clatter noise, drawing everyone's attention, including yours. Now where was Sam in all this? That bitch was recording everything.
“James?”
Shit.
He turned slowly around, tugging at his hood and hiding his forehead. “Hey, [Name]..”
You just giggled at the strange coincidence that Bucky was here. In fact, you didn’t even mean to come to the museum today, a buddy of yours that worked there invited you to go, and since you didn’t have to open up shop today, you agreed! Funny how fate works! “What’re you doing here? You here with a friend?” You glanced around, it didn't seem anyone claimed to have gone along with Bucky.
“Admiring the art.” He let go of his hood before pushing his hands into his pockets. He couldn’t say that he was actually on some Avenger mission. You still didn’t know he was the Winter Soldier. And he wanted to keep it that way.. “What’re you doing here?”
“My friend just invited me, she works here, kinda just spur of the moment!” You scratched the back of your head as you looked up at the painting in front of you. “Plus, I didn’t have to open shop today.. Kinda a free day today.”
Bucky nodded and shifted in his spot. His eyes darted from you and back to the painting, just because the two of you have been texting for the last month didn’t mean he knew how to talk to you like a normal person. I mean, he was a good speaker back then right? He could.. He could try to act like that again, right?
“Hey! Since you’re alone.. And I’m alone, wanna.. Be alone together?” You shrugged, shifting your weight from your toes to your heels. Rocking front to back as you asked. “As cheesy as that is.”
The super soldier besides you looked over your face for a brief moment before looking around the hall. Looking for Sam, who was currently pretending to be interested in some sort of old statue. Bucky was sure he’s going to ask about who you were later, God, he’ll need to make up a lie.. That’s not even what he should be worried about, he should be worried about the damn mission they were on!
Your eyes softened as you looked up at his nervousness. Bucky was an.. Awkward person, but it was part of his charm, that’s why you like him. “Or, I could walk away, meet you back up later, and then pretend it’s a coincidence?” You cracked a small smile and kept your eyes on him.
Thankfully, the small joke you made seemed to make him visibly less like he’s about to explode on the spot. He gave a short nod before turning away and walked off. You didn’t mind, he was his own person, and you were yours, but man would it have been fun to be with him instead of alone.
–
The time passed by quickly, every other exhibit, you’d find yourself in the middle of a conversation with James. Though, he seemed to be on guard more and more each ‘coincident meeting.’ Again, you didn’t mind.
“Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s wonderful people are trying to be more- communicative with their mistakes with their partners, but seriously, I’ve gotten like 15 customers this week who wanted to buy a basic rose bouquet as a sorry present!” You tugged at your hair as you complained about work. Bucky didn’t mind, though, he’d rather listen to your voice than his. “I swear, if I get one more customer ask what’s the best type of flowers for apologizing to their partners for sleeping with their best friend, I’m gonna lose it!”
“It’s that common?”
“Uh, yeah, people are such assholes nowadays, can’t find a decent person to date, y’get desperate, then yeesh! You’re stuck with some asshole!” You waved your hand in the air as you brushed what you said aside. Truth be told, you hadn’t gotten into a relationship in the past.. Maybe 2 years? Even then, it was always casual. “That’s why I–”
RING! RING! EMERGENCY! EVACUATE TO THE NEAREST EXITS!
The blaring alarms cut you off as red lights danced in your vision. There were people screaming and guns firing, it seemed something bad did happen, and Sam owed Bucky 10 bucks. Bucky’s eyes darted towards the sound of the gunshots and started to run towards it, only to be tugged by your hand. Your eyes wide with worry and confusion as to why the hell your friend James was running towards the danger!
“James! What’re you doing?! C’mon, we hafta go!”
“I can’t–”
“Bucky, there’re 6 armed men near Sam and your location, Nat and I are taking care of the other 6” Steve’s voice came through into Bucky’s earpiece. “They’re trying to do a drop-off, some sort of Hydra weapon! Get the briefcase!”
“On my way.” Bucky replied as you stared up at him, your brows furrowed in even more confusion. What the hell was he doing?? “You need to get out of here, it’s not safe.”
“No, we have to get out of here! James, c’mon, you’re not some super he–”
You cut yourself off as your friend shucked his jacket off and blocked a bullet that was flying both your ways.. With his arm. A sleek, black metal arm. That’s when it hit you, that’s why he seemed so familiar. That’s why he was so secretive on where he stayed or not. He wasn’t just James. He was James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
“Holy shit.”
“Get out of here, I’ll-” James grabbed a gun from his holestor (Oh my god???) and shot at the ones who were shooting at the both of you. “I’ll find you outside.”
“.. Be careful” You muttered before turning away and running out to the closest exit. You didn’t know how to react, what to do with the newfound information. You felt so.. So stupid, not realizing that James was an Avenger. He lived in the Avenger tower- Oh my god, he was a super soldier.
With shallow breaths you turned a corner and your eyes locked to the nearest exit. You took a breath of fresh air as you felt the cold breeze hit your face, as if the museum was stuffed with smoke. It wasn’t, thank god, the people who arranged the attack didn’t seem to think to use fire power. It’s probably for the best.
As you stepped farther away from the door, a paramedic looked over you, you weren’t hurt, not shot, not even grazed. Thank god for.. James. You still couldn’t wrap your head around it. Whilst you sat on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the fight to die down, you pulled your phone out. You didn’t have many contacts, honestly you were.. Pretty alone. Parents? Only mom was left after dad passed. Siblings? An older, pretentious brother. Friends? You were pretty quiet in highschool, only the museum buddy of yours, who was Maria, she’s the one who gave you this death wish of an invite here. Then there was your other friend, who was in fact your neighbor, May and her nephew Peter. Nice bunch, you gave them flowers on their birthdays and they’d bring you some sort of baked good. Ah, but I digress.
Jeez. Maybe you’ll call up May, she’d probably know about this, plus, she told you Peter was an intern at Starks, right? Ah, but.. No, that wouldn’t do much good. He’s an intern, not some superhero. You kept scrolling through your phone for a few more minutes. You didn’t know how well of a promise James’ll keep, especially with him fighting people with.. Super weapons or something, but you stayed. Hoping he’ll keep to his word and try to find you.
After a long while, you heard claps and cheers from the citizens as the four of them brought all 12 of the villains out of the museum. They seemed hurt, but not to the brink of death, thankfully. The Cap was quick to hand them over to the police to take care of as the citizens slowly dispersed. People knew all about the hero's life, hearing it on the news and such, it was hard to be an Avenger. So, they needed space.
You waited as the crowds grew smaller before you took a few steps closer, holding your arms closely as you stood to the side. Watching as your friend's eyes darted around. It was amusing. Despite just saving a bunch of people, including yourself, he was still awkward.
“[Name].” He muttered, his voice light as a breath of fresh air as he spotted you. His shoulders seemed to sag in relief as he walked towards you. He should definitely be headed to the Avengers Tower, but right now he needed to make sure you were okay. “Are you hurt? They didn’t get you, right?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine, James, I-” You let out a small breath and placed your hands on your hips as you looked over at him. He had some blood on his jacket, some scratches on his face.. And that arm. Oh, wow, he.. Yup, he had a metal arm. “You.. Never told me you were an Avenger.” The corner of your lips tugged into a small smile as you chuckled.
He mirrored your smile, relieved at the fact you didn’t seem upset, or even the smallest bit scared. “You never asked.”
Your nose crinkled, “I asked what your job was, you said–”
“That I work as security.”
“Security for the whole world, James!” With that you started to laugh into your hand, this was unbelievable. This awkward man who’d stumbled into your flower shop looking for a gift for his friend was James “Bucky” Barnes.
“Sorry for keeping that from you, I just-” He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “I liked that you just knew.. Me.”
That made your heart melt. Everyone in the world knew James as “Bucky” or “The Winter Soldier.” The only people who knew him differently was Steve, only because he knew him back in the 40s and was his best friend and.. You. You knew him as James, and as much as the name felt weird, it felt right in your lips.
“Don’t apologize,” You hit your fist against his non-metal arm in a playful manner, an understanding smile on your face. “I get why you didn’t tell me. I’m not upset over it, if you’re worried.”
A small smile danced on Bucky’s lips and he nodded. “You’re too sweet.”
“Nah, I’m just a good friend.”
“Friend.” Bucky repeated to himself and nodded again. Oh he loved being your friend. He honestly thought the only friend he’d ever have would be from the Avenger Tower, and that’s only because they were Steve’s friends. “Ah, uh- I should probably-”
He pointed over to where Steve, Natasha and Sam were talking and you immediately understood.
“Oh! Yeah, no you go do that-”
“Thanks, uhm-” He stepped back and hesitated to turn away. “I’ll, uh, text you?”
“Yeah- Yeah!”
“Cool.” He nodded and turned away, the corners of his usually scowling lips quirked up as he repeated to himself. “Cool.”
He approached his team and just blended in nicely, no one seemed to notice him leaving and coming back. Perfect.
He spared you one last glance, as you walked away. Friend.
|| WOOO !! :3 FRIENDSHIP
|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader
|| warning : none , bucky's an awkward guy <3
|| wc : 2.2k
Clint’s birthday went wonderfully, at least, in Tony’s eyes. There was a big celebration in the Tower, lots of people were invited. Well, actually most of them were just Clint’s friends from SHIELD as well as the Avengers. Even Peter and his aunt were invited! It was a fun celebration.. Well, to everyone but Bucky.
It wasn’t like Bucky hated parties, no in fact he loved them! At least, he was supposed to, back in the 40s, he loved to go to parties before.. Everything. Ah, but now? He was sitting at the bar, silently drinking some alcoholic drink that wouldn’t make him even the slightest bit tipsy. The only people here that were completely sober were the spider kid, his aunt, and Bucky. Even Steve was drunk from whatever Asgardian drink that Thor had brought this time. Not that Bucky minded, he loved seeing Steve happy. No, what was bothering him was that the spider punk was bothering him now.
“Oh! And- and one time there was a bank robbery back home and they were all wearing masks of everyone- well, not everyone everyone. But! They were wearing Mr. Stark and Mr. Roger masks and other Avengers,” Peter rambled on, swirling his apple juice in one hand as he leaned against the bar table.
Bucky just nodded along with any story that Peter was talking about.. In all honesty, Peter reminded him of his little sister.. But more annoying.
“But I took them down! It was actually really easy! Except that they had this weird weapon, like really weird! It went all boosh!” He made finger guns and pointed them at Bucky. “Mr. Barnes?”
Bucky bit back a sigh and just grunted in response as he took another swig of vodka. Might as well have the strongest drink and not get drunk, right?
“What was it like back in the 40s?”
Bucky spared a glance over to Peter, his eyebrow raised. He didn’t expect this, didn’t expect curiosity from the kid. “It was.. Different.”
“Liiike?”
“Loud. But not like it is now.” Bucky shrugged, in all honesty, he didn’t remember much due to the whole brainwashing thing, but what he did remember were.. Pictures, sounds. He remembered the music and how it made him feel. He remembered things from his childhood. “Steve ‘n I used to skip school a lot. Steve, uh, hated doin’ it, but I forced him to.” Bucky chuckled as he remembered, maybe he was getting tipsy ‘cause usually he wouldn’t be so open about his past. Or maybe the kid was easy to talk to, easier than the other avengers.
“We used t’skip and go to the greasy spoon a block away from our school, buy an ice cream soda with two scoops for us both. If we were lucky, we’d run into some dames and take a powder to the nearest place we can go for a dance.” As Bucky reminisced of the past, his inner Brooklynn boy came out and he started spitting slang from back then left and right. He didn’t even realize until he turned back to Peter who had the biggest smile on his face, but was so confused.
“That sounds fun!” Peter chuckled and took a sip of his apple juice, an awkward silence forming between the two before he asked. “Do you miss it?”
Bucky took a second and shrugged, he didn’t know if he did. It was simpler, yeah, but nowadays he has freetime. Didn’t have to fight every second of the day when he woke up. Didn’t have to worry about HYDRA controlling him, sure, he struggled with episodes sometimes, but.. He had Steve, he wasn’t alone. Wasn’t in the trenches.
“I don’t miss the war if that’s what you’re askin’, kid”
Peter chuckled and opened his mouth to speak again before May tapped his shoulder. “C’mon, Peter, it’s getting late, you still have school tomorrow.”
“Awe, man” Peter huffed before jumping off the barstool. “I’ll see you later, Mr. Barnes!”
Bucky waved to both Peter and May, a small ‘bye’ leaving his lips before he turned back to his drink. Man, time to just be a wallflower and watch as everyone got absolutely buzzed.
–
The next morning came by in a flash, it helped that Bucky turned in early. Well.. Early was a stretch, he went to bed at 2 AM, even when everyone was still preoccupied with the festivities. When, said, man left his room at 8 AM, he found everyone passed the hell out on the couches.
He didn’t wanna wake anyone up, so he just went to the kitchen and looked for something to eat. Something about the modern days was that it was easier to cook something! Not just boiled, though he did miss the bread pudding.
“Shit.” he muttered to himself as he found out, yeah no the guests raided the kitchen.. Or maybe it was all the passed out Avengers. Might as well go on a run and get some groceries. He hated doing errands, but no one was telling him to do it, no pressure.. Might as well buy some stuff.
In a few quick moments, he put a hoodie on and a nice pair of jeans on with his gloves nicely placed on his hands. He didn’t like showing off his hands, let alone his metal arm. Hated scaring people. Bucky made his way down the Tower and left. Taking a deep breath in the early morning air, he walked down to the nearest grocery shop.. Which was 20 minutes away, or 25 on foot. He didn’t mind, he liked walking.
–
Soon enough, he made it to the grocery shop. With it being 8:28 AM, and being a Tuesday, it wasn’t too busy. In fact, there was barely anyone.. Barely anyone.
He made his way through the aisles, and there he saw.. The cute florist from before. Except no apron like before,, they were just wearing a lazy day outfit, they were struggling with grabbing something on the top shelf but god they still looked-
You glanced up and saw Bucky, a flash of confusion on your face before you snapped your fingers and pointed to him. A big smile dancing on your lips as you exclaimed, “James!”
“Hey-” Bucky stopped himself and cringed internally. He may have been non-stop thinking about you and your face, but he was an ass to not have asked your name. “Y-You..”
They’regonnahatemethey’regonnahatemethey’regonnahatem-
“Pff- ha!”
Instead of what Bucky assumed, you shook your head and started giggling at Bucky’s awkwardness. He looked so mean ‘n scary, but here he was acting like a huge dork!
“The name’s [Name],” You went back down from your tippy toes. Man, you were just really cute- DAMNIT! Get a grip, Sargeant. “Hey! You’re like a giant, think you can grab that for me?”
You pointed at the box on the top, which was a box of fruit snacks. Cute. “Yeah, sure.”
Bucky grabbed the fruit snacks, glanced at the cover.. It was Avengers inspired fruit snacks. He raised his eyebrow and looked over at you with a slight hint of curiosity. Embarrassed, you snatched the box from Bucky’s hand and shoved it into your basket.
“They’re good-” You muttered. “The snacks and the heroes, I mean.”
“You like the Avengers?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“The bad guys.” He shrugged, and you laughed.
You kept laughing for a few moments, Bucky was just.. Admiring you. The way the corner of your eyes wrinkled, the way your cheeks flushed just the smallest bit.. Man, why was he acting like this? Barely knew you, yet his mind was reeling. Sure, he flirted back in the 40s.. A lot, but.. I dunno, there’s something different about you.
“James?” Your voice snapped him out of his trance. Sure, he was absolutely enamored right now, but his face looked like he was just annoyed. “Wanna just shop with me? I-I’m probably just gonna get junk food if I’m alone, so-”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay!”
With a new pep in your step, you led him down the aisles. Checking over the produce section, he grabbed a few carrots, a package of lettuce. In turn, you grabbed some veggies as well.. It was more out of peer pressure (despite there not being any pressure), at least the plan was working. He inspired half of your purchases that day, and honestly, that’s a good thing. It seemed half his food was real healthy shit..
“Do you live alone?”
“Wha? Oh,” Bucky looked down at his basket before nodding. “I live with.. A lot of people”
“That makes way more sense, didn’t peg you for a-” You glanced into his basket and a small smirk tugged at your lips. “Pop tart, beer, and toast guy.”
Bucky shrugged and scratched the back of his head. He was just buying things from the usual grocery shop list. Pop tarts for Thor, beer for.. Half the Avengers, toast just for everyone, etc etc.
“My roommates are foodies”
“I can tell!” He watched as you hummed and grabbed one last item. “That should be good for me! You done?”
He nodded.
“Great! Where d’you live?” Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you realized what you said. “I-I’m asking ‘cause maybe after we pay I can walk you home! Or- somethin’.. I dunno, sorry-”
“Oh.” The tall man in front of you shuffled in his spot. “No need. I live a few blocks away, it’d be a hassle.”
“Oh, well, that sucks! I was hoping to talk with you more!”
Bucky walked besides you as you both walked to the self-paying cash registers. Man, your words made his heart start beating faster. How could you be so.. Smooth with this? Maybe you didn’t realize, it could just be something you see as platonic. He didn’t know.
“I can.. Give you my number.” Bucky muttered, he knew that’d be seen as flirty. Or at least hitting on you.. But, he didn’t mind. Maybe he wanted that? NO. No, Steve told him to make connections, this is just to make a new friend.
Your eyes lit up at the offer and you nodded quickly. Quickly finishing up at paying for your groceries and took your phone out. “You can put your number in my phone after you're done paying?”
Bucky nodded again. You watched as he put everything away and.. Okay, admired his arm. Even under the hoodie, you can tell he worked out. James was really handsome, but so mysterious at the same time! Not much of a talker, but you could do all the talking.. You wonder, would he talk in bed- NO WAIT! Get a grip, goddamnit. This was all supposed to be innocent, he’s just a new friend.
As quickly as your grocery shopping came, the two of you walked out, side-by-side.
“It was nice seeing you again, James!” You waved back and walked away, one new number in your phone.
–
By the time Bucky got back to the Tower, everyone was already awake, but hungover as hell. The only ones who weren’t super hungover were Steve, Natasha and Thor.
“Hello, one-armed man!” Thor waved over to Bucky and gestured him over to join, said, Steve, Natasha and him over to the kitchen table.
Bucky gave a short nod and put the grocery bags on the table.
“You better have gotten-” Natasha looked through the bags and let out a huff. Not of annoyance, one of thanks. “Thanks.”
She waved the bag of pistachios in the air before opening it and started eating them up. She loved pistachios.
“Man of one arm, you have done wonderfully!” Thor grabbed one of the three boxes of pop tarts and started eating one. “As thanks, I will make tea!”
Bucky nodded, even though he’d rather have coffee than tea, but he’d rather not correct Thor. He’s one of the only people who weren’t a part of the Civil war, the other was Bruce Banner.
“Thanks for the food, Buck,” Steve opened the bread and spread a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Bucky just grunted in response and took a bite of a piece of bread in which Steve made for him. Just a simple piece of white bread with peanut butter. He took his phone out and checked it for a moment.. You texted him.
Florist : hey, james :3! sorry if this is quick, just wanted to make sure you had my number! if this isnt james this is rlly embarrassing
The corners of Bucky’s mouth quirked up, very quick, very faint. Didn’t last long, but he texted back.
James : It’s me, don’t worry. Hi, [Name], and don’t worry, this isn’t embarrassing.
“Buck?”
Steve’s voice cut him from his.. Trance of you. He hit send on the text before putting his phone away. “What?”
“Who y’texting?” The blonde leaned on the table and eyed him suspiciously. A small smirk on his face as he eyed Bucky.. He knew for a FACT the only people Bucky texted was Sam and him, and on OCCASION Peter.
“Nothing- no one. Don’t worry about it, punk.”
“You sure? You look pretty happy”
A small murmur came from Natasha as she leaned over to Thor. “He looks happy?”
“C’mon, you can’t lie to me, Buck, I’ve known you for years”
“Steve-”
“Is it a dame?”
“Shut it before I hit you, punk” Bucky glared at Steve and bit his bread before huffing. Steve rolled his eyes and put his hands up in defeat.
“Fine, fine.”
With that, he didn’t ask anymore. And Bucky decided; he’ll only text you when he’s alone.
|| i am quite enjoying writing for bucky <333 also, ily domestic avengers
|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader
|| summary : When Clint's birthday comes sooner than Bucky realized, Steve forced him to go buy some gift for Hawkeye. Figuring that flowers were an easy enough gift, he takes a visit to the flower on the corner of the street..
There, he meets a cute florist, someone who seemed to melt his cold heart. How will Bucky navigate this modern world romance? Will he allow himself to fall in love? If so.. How will he keep this from the team? And how will you react to him being the Winter Soldier?
|| warning : this is a series that im writing on both ao3 , im js posting this on tumblr cz why not? yk? also, every part im not adding the summary, it's js for this !!
|| wc : 1.7k
“C’mon, Buck, you have to get him a gift. He’s your friend.”
“No, he’s your friend, I doubt any of your friends actually still want me around.”
“Sam likes y-”
“Sam doesn’t count.”
Bucky and Steve had been going at it for the past while, it was Clint’s birthday tomorrow and Steve really, really wanted Bucky to get more used to the team. After the whole fallout with the Sokovia Records, everyone was lucky that it was put aside. Bucky’s crimes were pardoned as well as the majority of Cap’s team, but it was still real tense.
It was a wonder Tony let them all still live in the Tower. I mean, not all of them lived there. Thor and Loki came and went, Clint lived with his family in god knows where, Peter lived with his aunt but visited VERY frequently, and Wanda and Vision moved out to live on their own. Which is.. Completely understandable.
“Clint likes.. He likes you, I mean he was on our side, remember?”
Bucky shot a wary look Steve’s way, his eyebrow twitching up before rolling his eyes. “If I were to get Barton something, what does he even like? I know nothin’ ‘bout your friends.”
“.. It’d be safe to get him flowers.” Steve shrugged and stood up from Bucky’s desk chair, before this, Steve barged into his best friend's room and started interrogating him about the birthday. “Though, you could check in with Romanoff.”
With a quiet grunt, Bucky nodded and flopped back in bed as Steve walked out. He hated this. Well, hate was a strong word. It was strange to him, having this much freedom. He had the freedom to try to get closer to people, yet he didn’t.. Know how to. He’d forgotten. He was better at this back in his day.
–
“Flowers?” Natasha quirked her eyebrow up before she hit the dummy with a hard kick. She’d been training for the past hour or so, blowing off some steam. “Clint likes the basics, roses, lilies, y’know.”
“And you’re sure it’s a good idea?”
“He likes flowers, I think he’d like something more practical, but he’s probably not expecting much from you,” She punched the dummy repeatedly, giving it no time to try and bounce back. After a few moments, and ine final blow, the dummy flew across the room and tumbled down. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Bucky mentally checked that off.. Roses, lilies.. Basic flowers. Something practical. “What other things does he like?”
Natasha hummed and walked over to the dummy, carrying it back to the original spot as she thought. “Laura,” She could practically feel Bucky ask, so she cut him off. “Barton’s wife mentioned he wanted to get into carving. Maybe get him a knife for that?”
“Oh.” He nodded slowly and checked that down. “Thank you, Romanoff.”
“Call me Natasha,” She spared him a sideways glance and lazy smile before she went back to beating the crap out of some training dummy.
–
With some research (asking F.R.I.D.A.Y), Bucky found a small flower shop with good ratings, but not too many, meaning it was smaller. He didn’t like going out in the public all too much just yet. Felt too.. Vulnerable? He didn’t know. He just hated people.
Well, thankfully, he found a more isolated shop. It was a 15 minute walk from the tower, it was a flower shop that served as a bookstore as well. A real cute scene. A scene where Bucky felt out of place.
The small bell on the top of the door rung as Bucky swung the door open. He had a baseball hat on, his red henley, and a jacket to try and.. Hide who he was. Didn’t want some poor old lady to get scared when seeing him. (He assumed that the owner was some little lady.)
“Just a minute!”
Bucky froze at the voice, okay, didn’t sound like an old lady. He pushed his hat closer to his head as he heard shuffling from the back.
Instead of a little lady, he found you. You popped out of the back door, stack of boxes in your arms, and a big smile on your face. Charming, cute almost.
“Welcome to the Flower Parlor! How can I help y’today?” You recited what you said to other customers most likely, as you put the boxes down on the ground, on the other side of the counter.
As Bucky watched you straighten yourself out, your shoulders stiffened as you looked up at him. Oh god, he looked real scary. Baseball hat, dark jacket, looks like he’s gonna rob the place! Ah, but he wouldn't get much from here.
“I need help with a birthday gift.”
Oh wow, his voice sent a shiver down your spine. His voice was as if.. Well, you didn’t know, but it was really nice! He had- yeah, he had a nice voice, god get a grip.
“Ooh! Alrighty, tell me ‘bout the birthday person and I’ll gladly make a bouquet for ‘em! And a nice book to go along with it too!” In a swift motion, you grabbed some semi-transparent paper you used to make bouquets and watched him expectantly.
“Uh, he..” God, what did Clint like? “Likes.. Bow ‘n arrows.”
You raised a brow at the factoid Bucky dropped but didn’t question, instead, you grabbed some Hyacinths and placed them neatly on the paper, making sure to make it look pretty.
This kept going, he’d drop a factoid of Clint, you’d grab a flower. Hyacinths because they represented Apollo, who was the god of Archery. White roses to represent loyalty, A few hydrangeas because Bucky said he was a ‘family man’ and a few baby’s breaths to fluff it up a bit more and you were done! The bouquet consisted of a more purple and white color palette, in turn, you made the ribbon that held it together a dark purple.
“Oh, uh, thank you.” Bucky muttered as you handed the bouqet of flowers to him. He hadn’t held one since.. Well, almost 80 years ago.
“And a book, whaddya think your birthday guy likes t’read?”
“Oh- uh-” Bucky took a sharp breath in and shrugged.
To that, you let out a small giggle, running your hand through your messy hair before you looked on your bookshelf, trying to find some good book. Oh, but Bucky wasn’t paying attention to what he could be getting Clint, no, he stopped the moment that laugh left your lips.
Didn’t know why, but that laugh just stopped his thinking. It was so light, gentle. Man, no one at the Tower was this soft, the- the opposite actually. Yet here you were, actually laughing at Bucky’s confusion.. It wasn’t condescending, more amused, actually. God! Get a grip, James, you’re not gonna see ‘em again after this.
“How ‘bout a classic? The Hobbit? Or maybe Their Eyes were Watching God?”
“I remember reading The Hobbit.”
“Yeah? How’dya like it?”
“.. Don’t like wizards all that much”
Again, you snorted and started to laugh at his disdain to wizards. Which was fair, he wasn’t the biggest fan of Dr. Strange, but he liked him better than.. Well, a whole heck of a lot of people.
“Then how ‘bout Their Eyes were Watching God?” You put the Hobbit back on the shelf and walked up to him, extending your hand and handing the book to him. Your fingers touched momentarily, his gloved hand met your soft ones and Bucky’s mind blanked for a moment. God! He was actin’ like a schoolboy back when he found out Daisy liked him back in grade school all those years ago.
“Yeah, okay, yeah.” With a hurrid nod, Bucky took the book and held everything in his left hand, fumbling for his wallet with his right. “How much do I owe you?”
“It’s on the house.”
“What?”
“Eh, you’re a much better customer than I usually get,” You shrugged and pushed your hands in the pockets of your apron. “Usually I get assholes who wanna buy flowers after cheating on their partners.. Ah, you’re here for a friend though! So.. Yeah, on the house”
“I can’t, lemme just-”
“Really, you’re fine-”
“I insist-”
The bell of the door jingled and cut you both off, you yelled out “Just a minute!” just like you did for Bucky. A small smile on your face as you turned back up to the man in front of you, who was still grabbing a $20 bill and shoved it to you.
“Oh-” You sighed before letting out a small snort. “Fine, you win this time, Mr..”
“James.”
“James.” You repeated and took the bill, pocketing it into your apron. Heart bearing as you nodded to him and backed away. “Well, I hope your friend has a good birthday. It was nice meeting you, James.”
Bucky gave a small smile and nodded as he walked to the door. The bell jingled again as he opened it. “Thank you.”
And with that he left.
–
Bucky’s heart was still racing as he got back to his room at the Tower, get a grip, soldier, can’t act like a fucking teenager. And as much as he hated it, he was an avenger! He can’t- oh god.
“Buck?” Steve’s voice was muffled as he knocked on Bucky’s door before opening it. His eyes flickering to the bouquet on his night stand and back to Bucky. “Hey, that’s real nice! Flowers, told you it was a good idea”
“Shut it, punk” He muttered and pushed his face into the mattress.
“Someone’s moody,” his best friend muttered. “What’s wrong?”
The second the question left Steve’s lips, Bucky shook his head and sat up, running a hand through his hair and his expression hardened. Get a fuckibg grip, Sargeant.
“Like I said, nothing.”
It was so clear that Steve didn’r believe it. But, with how things had recently been, he didn’t wanna push it.
“Well, how was getting the flowers?”
“Good..” Bucky glanced at the flowers and immediately remembered how gentle your hands were. Placing them down strategically and quickly, but with the elegance of a dancer. “Really good.”
“.. You’re acting weird” Steve huffed with a chuckle. “C’mon, let’s go on a run, you needa clear your head up.”
Bucky nodded and stood up from the bed. He was fine with being told what to do, it was easier than having his freedom.
Easier than thinking of the cute florist.
|| FIRST PART IS POSTED! after i post all the parts i've already made, ill post a masterlist of the parts :)
|| pairings: james "bucky" barnes x gn!reader
|| warnings: neighbor!bucky, fluff
|| wc: 0.9k
You weren't a stranger to staying up late, the endless scrolling, the endless daydreams. It wasn't like it was a choice, you did try going to sleep, you REALLY did. But it didn't work, it ended like your last few attempts. Restlessly staring at the ceiling. You hate nights like these. So what do you do? You push yourself off the bed and grab your comfiest hoodie to head up to the roof.
You liked the roof of your apartment complex, it was quiet, birds came to visit, and the old lady across the hall planted flowers and veggies up there. Overall, it was a very peaceful place. Especially for nights like these.
As you pushed the cool metal door to the roof open, the cool night air hit your face. It wasn't harsh or rough, more gentle. Like a ghost coming up and pressing a kiss to the tip of your nose.
With the small slap of your flip-flops, you made it to the edge, overlooking the city with a small smile on your face. Unaware of the steel blue eyes watching you from behind. James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky as you've heard people say, stood motionless in the door way.
Why were you there? Why were you at the edge? Why were you on the roof at 4 in the fucking morning? His place to go after nightmares? A small huff left his nostrils as he tried to walk as quietly as he could to a different part to the roof. Looking over the edge as well, unlike you, not seeing the beauty, but seeing the possible destruction he could have caused. Even though he was broken from the Winter Soldier, even though he was free, he still–
"Bucky?"
Your voice cut through the stillness of the night, your brow quirked up in curiousity as you stared at him. He was a few feet away from you, but you could still see him. Despite his best efforts. Wait- how did you know his name? He just grunted in response.
"What're y'doing up here?" Worry etched in your tone. You knew you weren't going to jump, but Bucky was standing reaaal close to the edge. It made you worry.
"Couldn't sleep." Short 'n sweet.
"Ah. Same."
Though, Bucky's answer was.. A lie. He could sleep. In fact, he slept a little too well. Those nightmares tried to cling to him for as long as they could until he forced himself back into the world of the living.
"I come up here." Again, you cut through the silence. "A lot, actually. Insomnia-" You twirled your finger and pointed at yourself before clearing your throat. "'ve tried melatonin, doesn't work, I've tried white noise, doesn't work, I've tried everything anyone's ever recommended, and guess what-"
"Doesn't work?"
You smile up at him as he finished your thought. "Exactly right, neighbor."
A comfortable silence broke between the both of you, it wasn't stuffy or overbearing. It was nice. Calm, actually, one of calmest nights Bucky's had in a while. Usually when he had nightmares he'd just sit on the floor and stare at the wall, dissociating and what not. Today, he decided, maybe just maybe, he just needed some air. Maybe if he took a few deep breaths on the roof, he'd clear his head. Maybe feel better. Maybe have no nightmares, nor dreams. Just a pitch black head as he slept.
"You have that cat right?" Again, you cut through the silence, Bucky was determined to stay as quiet as possible. He didn't like hearing his voice, maybe he just needed to hear yours. "Yeah, the white one? She's real cute, sometimes she visits my apartment, y'know cause our windows are real close to each other? She uses the back stairs to uh, climb over."
Bucky knew of his girls curiosity and how she'd climb out the window to explore. At first, he was worried and would lock the window, but that just left her to yowl at it.. And it made him feel bad. Felt like he was HYDRA and Alpine was him, messed him up for a bit.
"She steals my snacks, I don't mind though! I mean, she doesn't steal 'em, I give them to her!" You fidgeted with your hoodies drawstrings, a nervous smile on your face. "Sorry if I'm ruinin' your calm and talking too much, I talk a lot, I know it gets anno-"
"It's not annoying," Bucky's eyes looked over to you, his gaze soft as he kept his hands in his pockets. "I.. I don't really like the quiet. Feels stuffy, I'd rather you talk."
This made you smile wider, your hands started fidgeting and twirling your drawstrings even more. "Awesome, so uh-"
You started to ramble on about your latest interest, and gradually the two of you would end up sitting down on the roofs floor, your backs leaning against the railways of the roof. Bucky's eyes still locked on you as you kept yapping, as the hours passed by, you grew quieter and quieter, and soon enough? You fell asleep. And much to Bucky's surprise, he fell asleep as well.
Yes, it was at 4 AM, but the both of you would wake up at 8, 4 hours is better than nothing or nightmare-filled sleep! Bucky'll have to find you on the roof again tomorrow night.
Your voice seemed to be the only thing to calm his mind.
|| i love writing for bucky, it may be SUUUPER ooc, but idk, hes silly, i love him, current comfort character (as well as keigo, dw my mha fans i still love him)
Hi, hi, hi! I missed U! What a story, need more!
Summary: Bucky is so in love with you. The problem is that you don’t know about this fact yet…
Warnings: none expect a lot of fluffiness and Bucky being a sweet dork
Words: 2516
Authors: Cass & Beast
Bucky was looking at his metal arm that was glistening with raindrops.
He was sitting at the balcony of his room at the Avengers Tower.
It was raining but he didn’t care about getting wet. It was one of these days when he was completely lost in the thoughts that were running through his head.
“Y/N… Ah, Y/N.” Bucky mumbled under his breath and ran hand through his already wet bangs.
Truth was that Bucky, the former Winter Soldier, was so in love with you. Yet, he had never found a courage to speak his mind aloud.
“Y/N, hi. I was thinking that… No.. It doesn’t sound good…” He rubbed his beard. “Y/N. Would you mind me asking you to a…. Fuck.” He sighed deeply, hiding face in palms.
When he heard a knocking on his door, he went to open them.
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