forum Marvel AU OxO?

Started November 29, 2019 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

"Well, how else would you like me to see you as?" Steve teased, then realizing what he'd said, "–In the photo, I mean."

Bucky blinked at that. "Uhm. I don't know." he mumbled, running his hands through his hair.

"Exactly– it's just how it is." Steve shrugged, hoping his sem-logical cover-up was believable enough. "You looked…peaceful, and…comfortable." With me, "–It's just a cute photo, I don't know what else to call it."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine." He mumbled, shaking his head a little bit and unable to quite look at Steve. He…knew why, yeah. Right?

Steve smiled in quiet victory, "Aw, c'mon," He said, noticing Bucky's expression away from him, "Don't be grouchy about it."

Bucky sighed loudly. "I'm not." he insisted, turning to look at Steve and wrinkling his nose.

"If you say so," Steve said with a faint smile, looking past Bucky's shoulders at a squirrel peeking its head out of the bushes.

Bucky sighed, looking around the park quietly. He spotted the squirrel, but didn't say anything about it.

"Hey, why don't we take this path?" Steve suggested, pointing at a paved sidewalk splitting away from the street, a slow twisting road that crept deeper into Washington Square Park.

Bucky blinked, then nodded, following Steve deeper into the park. "Alright." He replied with a shrug. He put his hands in his pockets.

A quiet bird chirped from somewhere above them, hiding in the trees. "Hm," Steve smiled, noticing the beams of sunlight seeping through the leaves. "There's a word for that–" He pointed, "'Komorebi.' Japanese, I think. Translates roughly to 'the scattered light that filters through when sunlight shines through trees.'"

(Ooooh yesss! And they should totally end up in that cliché position where one of them is on top of the other one and they're all pressed up close lmao)

Bucky blinked. He didn't remember Steve knowing things like that. "Huh. You…I don't remember you knowing things like that."

(mhhhmmm. imagine the tourists walkin by like ??? is this some type of homoerotic street performance??? damn, thats NY i guess.)

Steve shrugged softly, "I read a book– a little while ago, on different words like that." Books nowadays were so much more interesting, with twists and turns that he could never imagine happening– it excited him.

(lmaooo and someone snaps a picture and posts it and Tony finds out and teases the shit out of them)

Bucky nodded a little bit. "Huh. Alright." he replied, running a hand through his hair as he followed Steve.

(pppfffff haaaaha #soakedsupersoldiers)

"Yeah– the public library is huge," Steve smiled, remembering how overwhelmed he'd felt walking onto the marble floors with a towering ceiling above, "There are just– so many books, enough for a hundred lifetimes."

(yuuussss perfect haha!)

Bucky nodded a little. "You always did like to read." he remembered aloud, glancing over at Steve for a moment.

Steve's smile twitched at Bucky's comment, his shy gaze landing on the path in front of them. "Yeah," He said with a growing smile, "I liked– like to read, sometimes."

Bucky nodded slightly. "Yeah. I remember that now." he remembered seeing Steve curled up on chairs with books in his lap.

"You– liked it when I'd read to you. Sometimes we'd read together, though you read faster than I do–" Steve said with a smiling hesitancy, remembering the one day they'd read the second half of a book together, and how Bucky had shed a few tears at the end, even though he'd had to tell him who all the characters were when they'd started. "…And you always interrupted to yell at the characters, but, still."

Bucky's mouth twisted up into a faint smile. "Oh. I…don't remember that." he said slowly, wishing he could.

"…That's okay." Steve said with a quiet nod, smiling at the odd stripes and faded dots of sunshine on the ground, spots of warm white on slabs of gray. "It wasn't that important, anyway. You'll remember other things as time goes on."

Bucky nodded slightly. "Yeah." he agreed softly, running his flesh hand through his hair.

"Yeah," Steve echoed quietly, tilting his head to the side in thought. "And…who knows? Maybe talking about some memories in therapy might help too."

"I'm not going to therapy." Bucky replied immediately. "Well, I am, but not for me." For you. To listen.

"No, I know, I know." Steve said with the slightest sarcasm, "But uh, you never know. You'll never know if you don't try."

He shrugged. "I don't want therapy." He replied slowly. "I really don't."

"Neither do I," Steve said, trying not to think about the days and nights where too many thoughts ran through his mind, "But I know that it might help, even if there's no guarantee."

"Yeah. Maybe. But I'm still not going." he replied, shaking his head stubbornly and looking around the park. I don't know…I don't want a therapist telling me what's wrong. I know what's wrong. I know that my head's fucked up and I'm fucked up. I don't need a stranger telling me that too.

Steve sighed in quiet defeat, burying his hands in his pockets. How can I get him to reconsider? Will being there with me change his mind? "Well, at least you'll see what it's like," Steve said with the tiniest hope.