"Yeah, you like it? I can't tell if it's dumb or not.." he admits with a chuckle taking the flowers before motioning Steve in so he can get them in, well a cup of water, he doesn't actually own a vase.
"You know, I wasn't sure you actually listened to that advice, but I guess now we have physical proof." He's quick about making sure that they get into water in the kitchen so not to delay them further. "I'm sure alpine will love them, I never actually have enough stuff for her to get into."
He goes back to the entryway to get on his boots and looks up at Steve, boy, he does look nice and put way more effort into this then he did. He really needs to try harder next time, of course effort is important he doesn't want to let Steve down with the promise of really selling this to America.
"So did you bring your bike? Should I ride mine or hop on with you?"
"It looks good," he says, and stops himself from saying that Bucky always looks good. It's true, but his ego probably doesn't need the boost. After all, they're not really dating.
"Where is Alpine?" he asks, just as the cat comes over, brushing herself up against his leg. "Good to see you too, girl, don't think I forgot about you," he says, as he bends down and takes out a bubble wand from his pocket, blowing her a little catnip bubble before putting it back away.
"You can hop on mine," he answers, stepping out into the hall as he hears Alpine rolling around on that little bitty bubble that pops once they close the door. "Unless you're thinking of dipping out early." That's a joke, Buck.
He catches Steve with the bubble wand and it melts him a little bit. It's hard to not be fond for people who care about Alpine, plus well, it's Steve on top of that. "Did you bring Alpine a treat? Darn girl, you're spoiled," he tells the cat.
He follows Steve out to the bike without a problem laughing at the joke. "I mean, if I wanted to dip out early I do have all that great stealth training, you might not even notice me," he says with a grin but gives Steve a nudge with his elbow to make it very clear that this is also just an awkward joke.
"So are you getting me that milkshake first or is it zoo first and then the milkshake after?"
"Zoo first, milkshake after," Steve says. "It's supposed to be hot today so we'll probably work up a sweat walking around." That, and, it'll be warmer later and the animals will probably want to take naps. It's better to see them when they're out and about in the morning.
It's easy to love Alpine, just like it's easy to love Bucky. They've been friends for so long, that he often feels like Bucky's just another extension of himself.
Well, aside from all the conditioning stuff, anyway.
He hops on his bike and then he hands Bucky a helmet even though he likely doesn't need one. At least, he doesn't need one more than Steve does. And they're both kind of experts on bikes, but he'll still insist.
He puts on the helmet without argument, but he does complain. "Not sure why I bothered to do my hair if you were just gonna give me helmet head... you know we can like, jump out of planes without parachutes right?"
He hops on behind Steve and wraps around his waist. It'd actually been an oddly long time since he road with another person, so I was looking forward to just enjoying the ride and not actually having to think about any of it. He rarely gets a chance to just completely shut off his brain, he doesn't trust anyone enough to except for Steve and so he does just that enjoying the ride.
When they stop at a red light he even unconsciously gives Steve a little squeeze around the waist in thanks.
"Your hair's gonna look pretty when I'm done with you, don't worry," he says, absolutely not meaning anything behind that but then blushing when he realizes how that could be taken.
"Just mean. On the bike. Um." But then he starts moving because clearly it hasn't bothered Bucky, and when they get to the red light, he reaches to give Bucky's hand a little squeeze.
It just feels like old times, the two of them going out on the town to have a good time. Romantically-linked or not, it makes something in his heart blossom.
It's not long to get to the zoo, and he did in fact, pay extra for a parking spot by the front regardless of the two of them being super soldiers.
"You know we could have just walked right? The parking lot isn't that big," he teases him hanging his helmet on the bike and gives him a bit of a soft push to the arm like a teenager would someone they're flirting with. James Barnes is very comfortable with his ability to flirt, but he's still in denial that's what he's even doing with Steve.
Although, the hand squeeze on the bike, that was pretty damn cute.
"Really though, Steve, You've got all the moves down, hard to believe you had time to figure this all out while bein' Captain America and all that shit. Flowers, cute bike ride, splurging for the good parking," he says, clearly impressed.
"You gonna get me the giraffe plushie I've always wanted too?" He's joking, he's never wanted one of those but he does note that maybe he should consider getting something like that for Steve, because that's what a good boyfriend would do on this fake date.
"Yeah, it'll match all your decor," he responds, clearly joking. But he walks with Bucky to the ticket office and says, quietly so no one hears him: "Wasn't like the opportunity wasn't there, but, I just couldn't find anyone that I wanted around long-term."
And then he did, but. "Then. There was the whole being a criminal thing. And the snap." And now that everyone's back, he's trying to move on, but sometimes he wonders if he should've just stayed in the past while he had the chance.
He extends a hand for Bucky to hold, because that's what couples do, right? They should do this together, right?
He felt bad about teasing Steve after he brings up the whole criminal thing and the snap. It's a lot easier to forget how much that effected everyone when you were one of the ones who was missing the five years versus having to live through it. On top of it he was pretty much used to missing years of his life at any given time.
Stop making things so awkward. He thinks to himself as he takes Steve's hand and gives it a squeeze.
"And absolutely not, I have Alpine, I will be finding a stuffed animal for you thank you," he says with a grin glancing over him. "If you try to fight me on this one, you'll lose, Rogers."
"Wasn't gonna fight you on anything," he says, easily. "No offense, but I think we're past that." He definitely doesn't want to fight with Bucky anymore, about anything, big or small.
He knows that they won't always agree on everything, that they'll have ups and downs, but right now, in this snapshot, in this moment in life, they're just Steve and Bucky again. And when they're Steve and Bucky, the most they'll ever argue about is how Steve shouldn't ship off to join the army 'cause he's too small, and how Buck should just stop inviting Steve on double-dates and enjoy himself.
Those are the only kind of stakes he wants to deal with anymore, between them.
He buys them two tickets and notices the person behind the ticket counter looking between them, and he flashes them a smile and lets go of Bucky's hand to get the tickets, but not before gently caressing his arm. The person behind the counter looks as if they'd just gotten a very important question answered.
Oh no, Steve had taken him way too seriously if he thinks they're way past fighting. He lets Steve buy the tickets because he feels like there is a moment for this discussion but absolutely not in front of the ticket lady.
So he let's it go, and takes Steve's hand again until they're at the gate and Steve is handing over the tickets and stays quiet until they're in the park and looking at the giant map that's right at the enterence showing them which directions to go for lions, or monkeys or kangaroos.
"When I said fight, I didn't mean actually fighting you know," he clarifies giving Steve's hand a fond squeeze. "I meant in the way that like, two people who really like each other jokingly fight over a bill at dinner because they both wanna treat each other -- you know the, who can spoil the other one more stuff?"
He hopes that explanation works a little bit but he turns to look at him a little more intently before adding. "What I'm saying is you don't get to treat me like a girl you'd buy everything for, you're also going to get spoiled, Soldier."
"I know," Steve says, but he doesn't even want little fights with Bucky. He knows that'll happen over the course of their relationship. Those sorts of things are inevitable. And cute. And harmless. But he also doesn't want to just invite them in; he doesn't know how to verbalize all that.
"And don't worry, I don't think of you like I want you to be my girl," he adds. But more than that, he doesn't want a girl to be 'his girl' either, not like that. He'd prized finding women who were strong, who could take him down a few notches and who didn't just agree with him for the sake of keeping the peace.
"And I won't say no if you wanna spoil me a little, but. You already have, all my life." From the time he was little, and Bucky picked him up off the playground, having been pushed down by the other kids. To hanging out with him when no one else would, to offering him a home with the Barneses.
At every single juncture in his life, well into adulthood, he'd always felt like Bucky was there for him, ready to face the worst with him. And yes, okay, he thinks by now that he's demonstrated an equal willingness and stubbornness, but he hasn't gotten to do that over the little things yet. "Just let it be my turn for once. Please?"
You know, it's hard to argue with Steve when he goes on like that so instead he just nods. Because Steve wants it to be his turn and it's only for a while that they need to do this whole fake dating anyways. Long enough to let the media up off Steve's back and then he can try to set him up with a nice girl who can actually give him what he needs in all this.
"Well fine, but then we're going to the lions first because I like cats. All cats, I once suggested to Ayo that a lion would be a cool pet and she was not amused.." he says as he starts to lead Steve in the direction of the big cat enclosure.
"You know, I don't think I know your favorite animal either, so I guess if this is yours then this is not me letting you spoil him at all is it?"
"Lions would make good pets," he answers. "But they kinda come in a pride. So maybe Ayo doesn't want you to have a whole lot of them hanging around. Lots of hunting, too much to clean up after."
And so much meat to feed if they're not free hunters.
"Honestly, I would've thought your favorite was wolves." He doesn't know why. Buck just gives off wolf energy.
In any case, Steve grabs a map and gently elbows Bucky in the side. "Where to first? Beeline for the lions?"
"Yeah, to the lions," He says and checks out the map before he's tugging Steve along a little bit with his hands. "I'm not really a dog guy? And wolves are kinda like dogs, I mean they're nice and all," he says because what sort of psychopath would actually hate dogs. Not Bucky, he just was more of a cat guy.
"You didn't answer my question though, what's your favorite?" He asks again, determined to get an answer out of Steve on this one.
"I guess I don't know," he answers, lamely. "I'm kinda fond of foxes? But birds are really cool." He looks sheepish as he can't even come up with an answer to what his favorite animal is.
"Oh. Uh. Pandas?" Nope. That doesn't sound right either. "I'll get back to you. Maybe I'll figure it out by the time we get to the lions."
A pause. "Capybaras? They've even got 'cap' in them." Yeah, not a great reason.
"I'm going to tell Sam and Clint your favorite things are birds," he teases fondly giving his hand a squeeze as they head towards the lions thinking about that.
"You know, that's my ask for the day. If you wanna spoil me you can figure out what your favorite animal is Mr. Cap of Capybaras," he jokes as they walk by some antelope.
He wants Steve to have a little bit of time to focus on himself in all this, besides, what kind of person doesn't know what their favorite animal is. He's gonna figure it out and never let him live it down, do things like get Steve weird figurines of them as gifts and such.
Very funny. But he'll think about it. "I think Clint and Sam already know they're my favorites." Which is a lie, but all of Steve's teammates are his favorites.
He links his hand in Bucky's as they make their way to the lions, but on the way, a loose peacock flutters by and crosses their path.
"Is that a good omen or a bad one?" he asks. Not that Bucky knows the answer. He just thinks this will be a nice memory to file away for their time at the zoo.
"Wait, Clint and Sam are your favorites? Shit, and here I thought I was your favorite," he teases squeezing Steve's hand affectionately.
"Peacocks are pretty, seems fine by me? What about them, are they too outlandish for your style, old man?" He asks curiously before veering slightly off course distracted by the gorillas.
"Man look at these things, they're massive. Do you think you could fight one?"
"You don't count, Buck, you've got a hundred years on them of being my friend. Of course you're the favorite, everyone else is vying for second place."
And then, quickly: "Don't tell them that. Even if they already know." No one thinks they're first in Steve's heart, they know that spot's taken.
"I don't know, I just thought maybe it was an omen of some sort," he answers about the peacock thing, but then he raises a brow. "I don't know. And I'm hoping not to find out." If anyone did escape their enclosures, he would, but he's hoping for a normal day at the zoo. Sorry Buck.
"I mean, I'm not saying we should fight them, I just kinda wonder you know, who would win in a fight. I'm sure together we could take one no problem but I'm not too sure of you on your own, you're lookin' kind of skinny recently," he teases.
"Maybe we'll have to get burgers with those milkshakes, you know, to fix that," he adds while he tugs Steve over to the gorilla enclosure clearly interested in watching it for a bit.
"How many of them do you think it would take to bring down Bruce?" Bucky maybe is a little too interested in the dynamics of fighting a gorilla but he sounds very excited while talking about it too.
"I could definitely fight a gorilla," he counters, and then looks down anyway because he hadn't thought he'd gotten skinnier. "Come on, I could still kick your ass." That may or may not be an exaggeration.
But.
He's not gonna let Buck just tease him. "I think it'd probably take like all the gorillas that exist to take down Banner. Neither you or I want to face him. I think he takes Thor in a fight."
And they are definitely no match for Thor. "But he wouldn't fight the gorillas."
"Thor seems like he might be down to fighting gorillas for fun, if they could like talk," he says under careful consideration, "You know, he does hang out with all those space guys like the raccoon and the tree."
He laughs thinking back on just how weird that interaction was right before he got blipped. Then everything was so heavy and so hard for everyone, but especially Steve after losing Tony.
"Did I ever tell you that Raccoon tried to buy my arm?" he says with this big shit eating grin like he might totally be bullshitting him. He's not for once, but he really wonders if Steve will believe him on that one.
"Yeah, Rocket's like that. And the tree's name is Groot. At least, I think so. I haven't figured out how to understand Groot yet."
Things had been rough after the blip, for sure, and though everyone's back, Steve's somewhat retired because he definitely feels at least a little bit responsible for Tony's death. Nat had volunteered willingly, would've done it even if Steve had said no, and he misses her just as terribly, but there's not as much guilt involved. Tony - he'd roped Tony back into this.
And that'd hit him hard, but he had talked to Pepper, he sees Morgan every now and then, and Buck, well. Buck helps out a lot, grounds him into this reality where Nat had been by his side for about five years running. Sometimes he feels like the two of them still don't belong in this century, but at least they can be outcast together.
"But be careful, he might come back to steal it." He's not even joking.
Bucky drops Steve's hand to wrap an arm around his shoulder and pull him in for a side hug. He gives his arm a squeeze as he does it and smiles at him. "Isn't that your job as my boyfriend? To protect my arm from being stolen by space pirates?"
He's teasing him, he's pretty sure that he can handle that bit himself, maybe. He hadn't actually had to worry about it though until Steve said it in this completely non-joking manner that made him a little concerned about it. The new arm was nice, and there was no way he'd be getting another one out of Wakanda after the mess with Zemo.
Of course Bucky misses Nat too. Or the person he knew as Nat years before, that he never had memories of until after the blip and she was gone. He never mentions it to Steve because it doesn't matter, and he still had no idea of she'd even remembered herself.
So he just tries to support Steve the best he can, because that's what friends are there for. So his two goals for the day were to make Steve laugh and figure out his favorite animal, and that's what they're going to do.
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"You know, I wasn't sure you actually listened to that advice, but I guess now we have physical proof." He's quick about making sure that they get into water in the kitchen so not to delay them further. "I'm sure alpine will love them, I never actually have enough stuff for her to get into."
He goes back to the entryway to get on his boots and looks up at Steve, boy, he does look nice and put way more effort into this then he did. He really needs to try harder next time, of course effort is important he doesn't want to let Steve down with the promise of really selling this to America.
"So did you bring your bike? Should I ride mine or hop on with you?"
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"Where is Alpine?" he asks, just as the cat comes over, brushing herself up against his leg. "Good to see you too, girl, don't think I forgot about you," he says, as he bends down and takes out a bubble wand from his pocket, blowing her a little catnip bubble before putting it back away.
"You can hop on mine," he answers, stepping out into the hall as he hears Alpine rolling around on that little bitty bubble that pops once they close the door. "Unless you're thinking of dipping out early." That's a joke, Buck.
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He follows Steve out to the bike without a problem laughing at the joke. "I mean, if I wanted to dip out early I do have all that great stealth training, you might not even notice me," he says with a grin but gives Steve a nudge with his elbow to make it very clear that this is also just an awkward joke.
"So are you getting me that milkshake first or is it zoo first and then the milkshake after?"
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It's easy to love Alpine, just like it's easy to love Bucky. They've been friends for so long, that he often feels like Bucky's just another extension of himself.
Well, aside from all the conditioning stuff, anyway.
He hops on his bike and then he hands Bucky a helmet even though he likely doesn't need one. At least, he doesn't need one more than Steve does. And they're both kind of experts on bikes, but he'll still insist.
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He hops on behind Steve and wraps around his waist. It'd actually been an oddly long time since he road with another person, so I was looking forward to just enjoying the ride and not actually having to think about any of it. He rarely gets a chance to just completely shut off his brain, he doesn't trust anyone enough to except for Steve and so he does just that enjoying the ride.
When they stop at a red light he even unconsciously gives Steve a little squeeze around the waist in thanks.
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"Just mean. On the bike. Um." But then he starts moving because clearly it hasn't bothered Bucky, and when they get to the red light, he reaches to give Bucky's hand a little squeeze.
It just feels like old times, the two of them going out on the town to have a good time. Romantically-linked or not, it makes something in his heart blossom.
It's not long to get to the zoo, and he did in fact, pay extra for a parking spot by the front regardless of the two of them being super soldiers.
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Although, the hand squeeze on the bike, that was pretty damn cute.
"Really though, Steve, You've got all the moves down, hard to believe you had time to figure this all out while bein' Captain America and all that shit. Flowers, cute bike ride, splurging for the good parking," he says, clearly impressed.
"You gonna get me the giraffe plushie I've always wanted too?" He's joking, he's never wanted one of those but he does note that maybe he should consider getting something like that for Steve, because that's what a good boyfriend would do on this fake date.
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And then he did, but. "Then. There was the whole being a criminal thing. And the snap." And now that everyone's back, he's trying to move on, but sometimes he wonders if he should've just stayed in the past while he had the chance.
He extends a hand for Bucky to hold, because that's what couples do, right? They should do this together, right?
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Stop making things so awkward. He thinks to himself as he takes Steve's hand and gives it a squeeze.
"And absolutely not, I have Alpine, I will be finding a stuffed animal for you thank you," he says with a grin glancing over him. "If you try to fight me on this one, you'll lose, Rogers."
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He knows that they won't always agree on everything, that they'll have ups and downs, but right now, in this snapshot, in this moment in life, they're just Steve and Bucky again. And when they're Steve and Bucky, the most they'll ever argue about is how Steve shouldn't ship off to join the army 'cause he's too small, and how Buck should just stop inviting Steve on double-dates and enjoy himself.
Those are the only kind of stakes he wants to deal with anymore, between them.
He buys them two tickets and notices the person behind the ticket counter looking between them, and he flashes them a smile and lets go of Bucky's hand to get the tickets, but not before gently caressing his arm. The person behind the counter looks as if they'd just gotten a very important question answered.
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So he let's it go, and takes Steve's hand again until they're at the gate and Steve is handing over the tickets and stays quiet until they're in the park and looking at the giant map that's right at the enterence showing them which directions to go for lions, or monkeys or kangaroos.
"When I said fight, I didn't mean actually fighting you know," he clarifies giving Steve's hand a fond squeeze. "I meant in the way that like, two people who really like each other jokingly fight over a bill at dinner because they both wanna treat each other -- you know the, who can spoil the other one more stuff?"
He hopes that explanation works a little bit but he turns to look at him a little more intently before adding. "What I'm saying is you don't get to treat me like a girl you'd buy everything for, you're also going to get spoiled, Soldier."
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"And don't worry, I don't think of you like I want you to be my girl," he adds. But more than that, he doesn't want a girl to be 'his girl' either, not like that. He'd prized finding women who were strong, who could take him down a few notches and who didn't just agree with him for the sake of keeping the peace.
"And I won't say no if you wanna spoil me a little, but. You already have, all my life." From the time he was little, and Bucky picked him up off the playground, having been pushed down by the other kids. To hanging out with him when no one else would, to offering him a home with the Barneses.
At every single juncture in his life, well into adulthood, he'd always felt like Bucky was there for him, ready to face the worst with him. And yes, okay, he thinks by now that he's demonstrated an equal willingness and stubbornness, but he hasn't gotten to do that over the little things yet. "Just let it be my turn for once. Please?"
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"Well fine, but then we're going to the lions first because I like cats. All cats, I once suggested to Ayo that a lion would be a cool pet and she was not amused.." he says as he starts to lead Steve in the direction of the big cat enclosure.
"You know, I don't think I know your favorite animal either, so I guess if this is yours then this is not me letting you spoil him at all is it?"
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And so much meat to feed if they're not free hunters.
"Honestly, I would've thought your favorite was wolves." He doesn't know why. Buck just gives off wolf energy.
In any case, Steve grabs a map and gently elbows Bucky in the side. "Where to first? Beeline for the lions?"
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"You didn't answer my question though, what's your favorite?" He asks again, determined to get an answer out of Steve on this one.
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"Oh. Uh. Pandas?" Nope. That doesn't sound right either. "I'll get back to you. Maybe I'll figure it out by the time we get to the lions."
A pause. "Capybaras? They've even got 'cap' in them." Yeah, not a great reason.
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"You know, that's my ask for the day. If you wanna spoil me you can figure out what your favorite animal is Mr. Cap of Capybaras," he jokes as they walk by some antelope.
He wants Steve to have a little bit of time to focus on himself in all this, besides, what kind of person doesn't know what their favorite animal is. He's gonna figure it out and never let him live it down, do things like get Steve weird figurines of them as gifts and such.
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He links his hand in Bucky's as they make their way to the lions, but on the way, a loose peacock flutters by and crosses their path.
"Is that a good omen or a bad one?" he asks. Not that Bucky knows the answer. He just thinks this will be a nice memory to file away for their time at the zoo.
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"Peacocks are pretty, seems fine by me? What about them, are they too outlandish for your style, old man?" He asks curiously before veering slightly off course distracted by the gorillas.
"Man look at these things, they're massive. Do you think you could fight one?"
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And then, quickly: "Don't tell them that. Even if they already know." No one thinks they're first in Steve's heart, they know that spot's taken.
"I don't know, I just thought maybe it was an omen of some sort," he answers about the peacock thing, but then he raises a brow. "I don't know. And I'm hoping not to find out." If anyone did escape their enclosures, he would, but he's hoping for a normal day at the zoo. Sorry Buck.
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"Maybe we'll have to get burgers with those milkshakes, you know, to fix that," he adds while he tugs Steve over to the gorilla enclosure clearly interested in watching it for a bit.
"How many of them do you think it would take to bring down Bruce?" Bucky maybe is a little too interested in the dynamics of fighting a gorilla but he sounds very excited while talking about it too.
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But.
He's not gonna let Buck just tease him. "I think it'd probably take like all the gorillas that exist to take down Banner. Neither you or I want to face him. I think he takes Thor in a fight."
And they are definitely no match for Thor. "But he wouldn't fight the gorillas."
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He laughs thinking back on just how weird that interaction was right before he got blipped. Then everything was so heavy and so hard for everyone, but especially Steve after losing Tony.
"Did I ever tell you that Raccoon tried to buy my arm?" he says with this big shit eating grin like he might totally be bullshitting him. He's not for once, but he really wonders if Steve will believe him on that one.
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Things had been rough after the blip, for sure, and though everyone's back, Steve's somewhat retired because he definitely feels at least a little bit responsible for Tony's death. Nat had volunteered willingly, would've done it even if Steve had said no, and he misses her just as terribly, but there's not as much guilt involved. Tony - he'd roped Tony back into this.
And that'd hit him hard, but he had talked to Pepper, he sees Morgan every now and then, and Buck, well. Buck helps out a lot, grounds him into this reality where Nat had been by his side for about five years running. Sometimes he feels like the two of them still don't belong in this century, but at least they can be outcast together.
"But be careful, he might come back to steal it." He's not even joking.
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He's teasing him, he's pretty sure that he can handle that bit himself, maybe. He hadn't actually had to worry about it though until Steve said it in this completely non-joking manner that made him a little concerned about it. The new arm was nice, and there was no way he'd be getting another one out of Wakanda after the mess with Zemo.
Of course Bucky misses Nat too. Or the person he knew as Nat years before, that he never had memories of until after the blip and she was gone. He never mentions it to Steve because it doesn't matter, and he still had no idea of she'd even remembered herself.
So he just tries to support Steve the best he can, because that's what friends are there for. So his two goals for the day were to make Steve laugh and figure out his favorite animal, and that's what they're going to do.
"Alright, you owe me some lions."
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