"You're fine." Shea raked her fingers through her messy locks. "I'm just shaken." Her heart still hammered in her chest, but at least she felt somewhat in control over her power. This nightmare was one of her rather mild ones. In the reflection of the stainless steel fridge, Shea noted that the glow of her eyes was fading, a good sign.
Bucky nodded a little. "The, ah, tea should help. Hopefully." He replied. The kettle began to whistle after a minute or two, and he got down a mug and tea bag, setting the bag into the mug and pouring water in over top. He held out the mug to her, quiet.
Shea took the mug with a nod, just holding it under her chin and letting the aroma waft up. "Thanks." She muttered. "So… uh. What are you doing down here? … At 2AM?"
"I don't sleep well, some nights. It's easier to pace here because then I'm not pacing over anyone's head and waking them up." He replied, looking over at her with those blue-grey eyes. "So I pace and make tea until I'm tired enough to sleep. I've tried sleep medication but it doesn't really work on a supersoldier metabolism."
"Me too. I-I mean not the supersoldier thing, but sleep meds don't work on me. My amygdala - the part of the brain that controls emotions like fear and anger - just hijacks my brain and the rest of my body sometimes." Shea sighed, closing her eyes and breathing in the warm steam from the tea. All she wanted to do was lay back down and fall asleep, but the chances she would actually get more sleep was low.
Shea brought the mug up to her lips and took a long, slow sip. It was quiet down in the kitchen, save for Bucky's soft breathing and the nearly silent whir of the running dishwasher. The peace was nice compared to the 24 hour hustle and bustle of SHIELD. However, that peace was soon broken when a monitor on the fridge began beeping. Shea raised an eyebrow and made her way to the touch screen built into the appliance. A few clicks later, Shea pulled up a message.
Heyo! Peter told me there was going to be a game night soon. My brother and I will be there! Maybe Okoye too. Prepare to be crushed in Taboo mortals hahahah -Shuri
Bucky peeked over her shoulder, and a faint smile tugged at his face. "Oh, this is going to absolute chaos." He said as he read the message. "So much chaos." He shook his head a little bit, running his hands through his hair for a moment. "But I hope the tea helps, for the sleeping thing." He added, looking over at her.
(Marvel you cowards give us some Shuri and Peter friendship content we need the chaotic science bros to be on the same screen)
(Also: TFATWS TONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHTTTTT)
Some of the tension eased out of Shea's shoulders as she allowed herself to laugh a little bit at Bucky's comment. "From what Fury told me, Shuri and Peter almost caused a second Civil War between the Avengers after they slaughtered Tony and T'Challa in Taboo." She laughed a little more. "Apparently they only spoke in memes throughout the whole game night."
(bruhhh yesss)
(Oadvhdbdbdbdb I watched it and holy shit, Bucky pulled at my heartstrings the whole timmmmmme, holy shit. The way he was dealing with PTSD and all that shit, just…woah. made me so sad for him :( )
Bucky laughed softly. "Yeah, they did. Game night is…game night is exciting. We'll probably play the more…teenager friendly games first. The later the night gets and the more tipsy most people are, the more likely it is that the games will start being a little more…adult." he shook his head a little bit. "It's all fun, though."
(I know right akdhkahskakka I love Bucky so much. With the flashbacks and the therapy and just alfhakha poor baby just needs a break :( )
"Do you send them up to their rooms or something?" Shea dismissed the message, marking it as unread for someone to read later. Her expression hardened into an impression of any somewhat rational adult. "Hush toddlers. Go to your rooms the adults are playing."
(he does, so badly D: like he's gonna get a call from somebody like "we need your help" and he's just going to be like "okay" but internally he'll be suffering because goddamnit he just wanted peace :'( )
Bucky laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. They weren't exactly happy about it. Especially Jason." He shook his head faintly. "That kid has been treated like an adult agent by SHIELD for so long that I think he forgets he's not." He sighed faintly, running a hand through his hair and shrugging a shoulder. "But we just sent them to go watch a movie or play games among themselves."
(I know :( I wonder if they're gonna mention Riley, Sam's wingman. Because if Winter Soldier, Rileys death seemed to have quite the effect on Sam.)
"I mean, I'm technically an adult so if you try to send me to my room, I'll riot," Shea snorted and took a seat at the island, once again taking a few sips from her mug.
(yeah. I just feel so bad for himmmm. Ooh! That would be really interesting)
"Well you're what, twenty something?" Bucky asked, looking at her. "That's different. Jason is 17. I'm not sure when he'll be 18." He shrugged one shoulder, heading over to start the hot water to make some more tea. "So, that's different than you, since you're an actual adult."
(what if Bucky falls off something very very very high and he's panicking because Steve couldn't catch him and Sam is panicking because he couldn't catch Riley and just a;kdj;afksdjf;ajkd trauma time)
(Also: I have decided to tweak Shea's backstory and by that I mean change 70% of it because I wasn't happy with it before. So it's gonna be on her character page in the beginning so if you wanna check that out :D)
"I'm 21," Shea answered peacefully, her gaze drifting to the fridge where she could see her warped reflection in the stainless steel. She still looked like shit, but at least her glowing eyes had faded away to the deep purple. Her fingers clutched the cup in her hands tighter. The mug felt warm in her hands, the heat seeping through her hands and warming her whole body. It was nice to finally get a break from the freezing terror that always seemed to consume her late in the night.
(oh my god. And then after Sam catches him and they land they're both kind of in their own private hell and like. Sam is just kinda standing there wide eyed and Bucky is shaking and looking ready to punch something but they're both pretending to be fine and hamdbdbdb)
(Oh alright! Will do :)
Bucky nodded a little. "Ah, I see." He said, pouring out his own mug of tea and taking a small sip. "Well, there you go. You won't be kicked out when the adults play." He smirked very faintly, shaking his head for a moment. "Unless you want to be."
(a;dslkfja; yes kevin fiege give us that you coward)
(and her backstory is all updated!! :D)
"Nice. Fury may call me a child on an hourly basis, but that doesn't mean I am one," Shea laughed again, her tense aura morphing into her usual confident and chaotic one. The oven timer clicked over to the next minute, catching Shea's eye. It was 2:43 AM. "Jesus, I didn't know I was down here this long."
(yesss. Also the episode just made me angrier at the ending they gave Steve in endgame hnnnnng)
(:D looks good!)
Bucky laughed a little as well. "Yeah. If you're feeling better and ready to go back to sleep, feel free to. I'll be sticking around up here for a bit longer, but don't feel obligated to stay because of me." He took a sip of his tea, his grey-blue eyes calm and collected.
(Steve deserved better >:( but also, Steve said that he would be with Bucky til the end of the line and right after he finally got Bucky back, Steve ditched him for Peggy. Very angry.)
(And thanks! :D)
"I won't be sleeping anyways." Shea drained the last bit of tea in the mug and padded over to the sink to dispose of the dirty dish. "I sleep until my brain decides to torture me and then I'm up for the day." She sighed through her nose, mind drifting to a few years prior. "Don't you miss the days when you were just a normal human?" The comment slipped before Shea could process what she was going to say.
(god same!! Like, Steve is the only one who knew anything about how hard it was gonna be for Bucky to adjust, and he basically went "lol bye" before he could help Bucky and it makes me so fucking angry)
(Np!)
Bucky looked at her for a moment, considering the question. "I…yes and no." He said slowly. "On the one hand, I miss not having all this HYDRA shit in my head. I mean…Shuri got the trigger words out, so that's fine, but…memories are a bitch, and that's the worst part. So I do miss that part. But…I don't know, really. It's not an easy question."
(Marvel is just gettin rid of the OG 6 Avengers, huh? Killed Tony and Nat, Hulk and Bruce are now the same person, Cap is old, Hawkeye is retiring, and Thor is just chilling with the Guardians now.)
Shea nodded, curling and uncurling her hands into fists, a calming habit she had gotten into when things got emotional. "Makes sense. I wish… I wish things went back to how they were when I was little. Before the gangs and foster system, SHIELD and HYDRA. I didn't ask for any of this, but I've never been one to complain so I've just sucked it up and dealt with the cards life has given me."
(hhhhhh yeah)
"Yeah. I mean…if Steve and I had just stuck around in the past, no HYDRA, no…no supersoldier shit…we woulda been happy, you know? But…I think I can still be… content with this future." Bucky frowned very faintly. "I don't know. We'll see, I guess."
"Yeah…" Shea responded. "I'm glad to see HYDRA gone. They went too long without somebody stopping them. We were stupid to bring in Arnim Zola after World War II. I mean, what were we thinking? Oh yeah, let's bring in an enemy scientist to help us form a US branch of the government and give him way too much control and practically no punishment for his thousands of war crimes. Brilliant." She smacked the counter and stood up slightly straighter.
"Yeah." Bucky shrugged faintly. "You know he siphoned funding over to…deal with me?" He looked down at his metal hand. "Used US money to pay for a KGB assassin." He shook his head, taking a sip of his tea and sighing. "Bastard." His eyes narrowed for a moment as memories flickered through his mind, and then he shook the memories away again.
Shea nodded, silently agreeing with Bucky without anything to really add. "Well, it's late. I'd love to bother you more but I have a telenovela to catch up on." That wasn't a lie. Shea had to know if Ernesto was truly live or if it was his evil cousin Roberto.
Bucky laughed a little. "Ah, good night then. I'm gonna head back to bed in a minute anyways." He waved, finishing up his tea and putting his mug in the sink, before heading back to his own level and getting in bed.
Jason was already asleep again, curled up on his side on the bed, the blankets tangled around his body.
(ahshsbs my Stucky ass totally isn't planning on having Steve and Bucky get together eventually lmao)
(lol have fun with thatttt XD)
(more TFATWS TONIIIIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTT)
(Also sorry my replies have been really off schedule, I've been on vacation)
By the time Bucky had disposed of his mug, Shea was already up the first few flights of stairs. She hummed "Eye of the Tiger" to herself as she climbed. Every now and then, she would go up a section of stairs differently to keep herself entertained. Shea was strange like that.
After singing Eye of the Tiger nine times, Shea reached her floor and was only extraordinarily out of breath. "Shoulda taken the elevator," She muttered through heavy breaths. She flopped down on her bed with an oof and grabbed her phone from the white nightstand. The screen was blinding, causing Shea to fumble with the device attempting to turn the brightness down. When the white spots had finally faded from her vision, Shea went into HULU and found her telenovela.
"Alright Ernesto, let's see if you're alive for your child's birth with your fourth wife, Juana."
(I swear, Shea is just a chaotic mood)