Darcy's starting to think she's really putting her foot in her mouth and embarrassing herself with her rambling. Sometimes her brain to mouth filter doesn't always work. Bucky's caught her off guard, so it's just a spew of verbal excitement and nervousness. It's his growing smile that helps settled get. He looks far from annoyed or bothered, so she takes that as a win. Besides, his smile brightens up his whole face. There's a crinkle to the corner of his pretty blue eyes that she really likes. If she's not careful, she's going to be in over her head with him.
"Good to know," she teases him with a wink. Besides the alcohol tolerance, she guesses he can put away a ton of food thanks to his metabolism as well. Definitely an expensive date. Not that she minds. Or that he's even asking her out for a date. She's his tour guide. "Stick with me, and you'll have the time of your life, trust me. Once we're done eating, I can let Thor and Val know what's up."
Thor will likely be overjoyed to have a new guest. Val and Jane, on the other hand, are going to definitely give her the side eye and wonder if there's something more going on here. They're going to be making a mountain out of a mole hill. This is all perfectly friendly. She finishes up her plate of food and nurses get beer. "How long do I get to steal you away for?" she asks. She's already planning their itinerary in her head.
“I mean…” Bucky’s gaze drifts across the lawn to Sam, who’s pretty much his only remaining tether to society. Which, frankly, isn’t healthy, and his therapist had been pushing him to reach out to people and broaden his social circle.
Hence: this.
“Pretty much as long as you can tolerate me. If I get a call and I need to join Cap on a mission, then I’ll steal a trip on the Bifrost or a flying horse or whatever to head back. But apart from that, it’s not like I work a 9-to-5 or anything, so…” He trails off, trying to imagine a vacation and a new friend and former teammates like Thor and what’s socially acceptable for a stay, which he has absolutely no frame of reference for. What’s normal?? “A week, maybe?”
She sees the way his gaze drifts back over to Sam. They're like two peas in a pod even if they banter and give each other a hard time. Like brothers. She's thoughtful for a moment before she offers, "Sam can come too if he wants." She's not sure what's on the schedule for the new Captain America, but if it makes Bucky feel more comfortable, she's all for it. When he looks back at her, she gives him an easy grin.
"We can have you there and back as quickly as you need," she assured him. For his sake, she hopes that he can have a quiet week to decompress and take time for himself. The world is always going to need some kind of saving, but maybe for once, it can cut him some slack. "A week will be perfect. We can do a lot of stuff in a week!" she enthuses. She finishes her beer and starts gathering her trash to clean up. She's not done with their conversation by any means. She just had eye on dessert too.
"And if you like it, you're always welcome to come back and hang," she adds on with a teasing wink.
The corners of his mouth flicker in a small smile. Darcy had caught the look, but not entirely what it meant— but he’s grateful for the attempt at understanding, the offer of the safety blanket. “He probably shouldn’t,” Bucky says. Then, self-conscious, he tries to explain the situation in a way which won’t imply I’m a goddamn mess or casually dropping his therapist’s recommendations. Definitely not something to bring up the very first time he’s meeting someone new.
“I just mean— like, I love the guy, but I’ve been crashing on his couch for weeks now. We could probably do with some time apart. If he has to wait for his turn in the shower one more time, I think Sam might lose it completely and kill me. I can get out of his hair for a while, and I can be on my own for a little while, too.”
Because at the end of the day, he was still unaccustomed to living with someone else and being around people for this long without a break. Part of him had become a loner, and had never really come back from that; he’d spent years on the run, barely speaking to anyone, and the solitude had worn deep until he wore it like a second skin.
"Hey, I get it. It's cool," she assured him. She can see in his face and the work of his jaw how he's trying to find the words to explain it to her. Honestly, he doesn't have to. She's as laidback as they come. He'll learn that soon enough. It's part of her mother hen sort of nature. She wants people to feel comfortable, and she's happy to accommodate if she can. She scrunches up her face playfully as he explains how he's been staying with Sam, recalling her own experience with roommates. "Well, Sam can have all his hot water, and you can come to New Asgard and be in my hair for awhile."
She gives her long dark curls a little wild shake and winks at him. "I think it's big enough to handle you for a week," she teases. Darcy gets up and gestures for him to join her. "Come on. Let's scope out this dessert situation. We can start coming up with a list of things we can do while you're visiting."
She's eager and excited for his visit. There's so many things she waits to show him. Once he's up, she takes his arm goodnaturedly without thinking. She's always been a tactile person, and she's affectionate with the people in her orbit. "You'll need some warm clothes. It's already getting chilly up there."
There’s the smallest hesitation as Darcy takes his arm, the muscles tensing under her touch, his posture coiling into a rigid line; thankfully it’s the right arm or this might’ve been even worse. It catches him off-guard. Approaching too quick, like petting a wild dog which hadn’t been expecting the touch.
But it’s a momentary, fleeting disjoint. He doesn’t jerk away, doesn’t pull his arm out of hers, and after a few heartbeats, he makes that tension bleed away and consciously shifts so he’s leaning into the touch and the angle’s a little more comfortable; tacit permission, an acceptance. He follows along and lets her lead him towards the dessert table, weaving their way past a clump of SHIELD agents.
“I run warm. And I got used to Siberia, so it might not be too bad,” Bucky says, musing. “But I guess if anywhere’s gonna give me a run for my money, it’s Norway.”
It's when he tenses that she realizes her mistake. She forgets that not everyone is cool with physical touch. She almost draws her hand back until she feels him start to relax. It's slow, but she can sense he's making an effort. She looks up at him with a question in her eyes, making sure this is okay. There's an apology there too, for being too forward. He leans into her instead, so she takes it as a good sign. Her thumb lightly brushed back and forth against him to give an unspoken promise that she's got him. She isn't going to do anything to steer him wrong.
"Huh. Must be nice. I always feel like I'm freezing," she replies to him. It's why she favors cozy clothing like leggings and sweaters and boots and beanies. The weather here is nicer. It's not as cold. She's gotten away with some jeans and lighter fabrics. She peers at the dessert table and all the offerings. There's cookies and brownies and cake, but something in particular catches her eyes.
"Ooh, check out that cobbler!" she says in delight. She gets some plates and hands one to him. "What's your favorite kind of weather?"
“Spring,” Bucky says, without missing a beat, as he accepts the plate and starts shoveling a small piece of everything onto it. He could practically demolish the whole table, but he’s gotta leave enough for the others.
“Summer’s too hot and sticky in New York, so I just remember it being uncomfortable, especially before air conditioning— you just sat there sweating and you drank lemonade and felt miserable, all the time. And autumn’s beautiful, but it means winter’s on the way. Spring, though, when you can feel the warmth in the air but it hasn’t gotten overbearing yet… it’s nice.”
He doesn’t even touch on winter; obvious reasons, sore spot, a title steeped in blood which he’d never asked for. If some part of him had liked it once upon a time (warm scarves, breath steaming in the cold air, hot cocoa, ice-skating in Prospect Park), those days are long-gone, papered over with worse memories.
"Ugh. You're totally right about New York summer. We had this terrible heatwave a few years back, and I swore I was going to melt," she replied with a little wrinkle of her nose. She'd spent so many days that summer either stretched out in her underwear in her bedroom with the air conditioner or sitting in the shade with a Popsicle. He's got pretty good reasoning on going with spring. It's the beauty of coming out of winter, but before it gets too hot in summer.
She helps herself to a little bit of everything and just a little bit more. She figures whatever she doesn't finishes, she can give to Bucky. "Man, I really can't argue with that kind of logic, but I'm personally a fan of fall. I love all the cliche things about it. The leaves turning color, the pumpkins, the fall fashions!" she enthuses. She's a basic fall bitch, so sue her.
She gestures for him to join her off to the side, but not quite at the picnic table they'd previously sat at. Darcy like looking at the water. "Ooh, you've got to try some of that pie Sarah made," she says after she takes a bite. "It's magical."
“Great plan,” Bucky says, gamely digging into the pie, letting loose a kind of contented sigh at the flavour: Darcy was right. And in this warm southern autumn, eating dessert with a cute girl with their friends scattered around them, the day feels— normal? Almost normal. If he squints and pretends some of the people aren’t wearing sorcerer’s robes, this could be any other Labor Day barbecue from decades ago. Any other day before everything in the world had changed for him.
“What are Thor and Jane like?” he finds himself asking, in a pause between bites of dessert, reaching for more of those shreds of normalcy (asking her about her friends, showing interest in her life, that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?). “I’ve never met her. And I only met him briefly, and there were— there was a lot going on.”
He’d fought alongside the demi-god, but hadn’t really spoken to him. The Battle of Earth had meant literally hundreds of combatants, soaked in blood and adrenaline, a milling chaos in the immediate aftermath trying to figure out what to do next; Steve had stepped up to help organise people, but Bucky had been quiet while haunting his side, not speaking much to the others.
His question drew her gaze back over to her best friend. Jane was doing better these days, but it was still touch and go at times. Thor made sure to stay close. He tended to her every need, no matter how small. She was doing better in Asgard. The culmination of both science and magic doing things that neither could achieve alone. "You know what, why I don't bring you over and introduce you?" she suggested to him. "They don't bite. Thor's the friendliest guy you'll ever meet. And Jane is-- well, she's Jane. When she's not spewing science, she's making moony eyes at Thor."
Her tone was full of fondness. She took another bite of pie and gestured for him to follow her over towards them. "Val is the King of New Asgard. Thor gave her the mantle after everything," she explained to him. She wanted to give him the rundown, so he wasn't going in blind. "She's cool and definitely good people. She likes to keep people on her toes."
She liked Bucky. She thought they'd all hair to him pretty well. Darcy thought Thor might find something kindred with him. They were both warriors. They'd both suffered losses. She truly thought that visiting New Asgard would be good for his spirit.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baggyeyes
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-01 12:27 pm (UTC)"Good to know," she teases him with a wink. Besides the alcohol tolerance, she guesses he can put away a ton of food thanks to his metabolism as well. Definitely an expensive date. Not that she minds. Or that he's even asking her out for a date. She's his tour guide. "Stick with me, and you'll have the time of your life, trust me. Once we're done eating, I can let Thor and Val know what's up."
Thor will likely be overjoyed to have a new guest. Val and Jane, on the other hand, are going to definitely give her the side eye and wonder if there's something more going on here. They're going to be making a mountain out of a mole hill. This is all perfectly friendly. She finishes up her plate of food and nurses get beer. "How long do I get to steal you away for?" she asks. She's already planning their itinerary in her head.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-16 11:05 pm (UTC)Hence: this.
“Pretty much as long as you can tolerate me. If I get a call and I need to join Cap on a mission, then I’ll steal a trip on the Bifrost or a flying horse or whatever to head back. But apart from that, it’s not like I work a 9-to-5 or anything, so…” He trails off, trying to imagine a vacation and a new friend and former teammates like Thor and what’s socially acceptable for a stay, which he has absolutely no frame of reference for. What’s normal?? “A week, maybe?”
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-17 01:05 pm (UTC)"We can have you there and back as quickly as you need," she assured him. For his sake, she hopes that he can have a quiet week to decompress and take time for himself. The world is always going to need some kind of saving, but maybe for once, it can cut him some slack. "A week will be perfect. We can do a lot of stuff in a week!" she enthuses. She finishes her beer and starts gathering her trash to clean up. She's not done with their conversation by any means. She just had eye on dessert too.
"And if you like it, you're always welcome to come back and hang," she adds on with a teasing wink.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-19 11:39 pm (UTC)“I just mean— like, I love the guy, but I’ve been crashing on his couch for weeks now. We could probably do with some time apart. If he has to wait for his turn in the shower one more time, I think Sam might lose it completely and kill me. I can get out of his hair for a while, and I can be on my own for a little while, too.”
Because at the end of the day, he was still unaccustomed to living with someone else and being around people for this long without a break. Part of him had become a loner, and had never really come back from that; he’d spent years on the run, barely speaking to anyone, and the solitude had worn deep until he wore it like a second skin.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-20 12:48 am (UTC)She gives her long dark curls a little wild shake and winks at him. "I think it's big enough to handle you for a week," she teases. Darcy gets up and gestures for him to join her. "Come on. Let's scope out this dessert situation. We can start coming up with a list of things we can do while you're visiting."
She's eager and excited for his visit. There's so many things she waits to show him. Once he's up, she takes his arm goodnaturedly without thinking. She's always been a tactile person, and she's affectionate with the people in her orbit. "You'll need some warm clothes. It's already getting chilly up there."
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-21 02:16 am (UTC)But it’s a momentary, fleeting disjoint. He doesn’t jerk away, doesn’t pull his arm out of hers, and after a few heartbeats, he makes that tension bleed away and consciously shifts so he’s leaning into the touch and the angle’s a little more comfortable; tacit permission, an acceptance. He follows along and lets her lead him towards the dessert table, weaving their way past a clump of SHIELD agents.
“I run warm. And I got used to Siberia, so it might not be too bad,” Bucky says, musing. “But I guess if anywhere’s gonna give me a run for my money, it’s Norway.”
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-21 01:24 pm (UTC)"Huh. Must be nice. I always feel like I'm freezing," she replies to him. It's why she favors cozy clothing like leggings and sweaters and boots and beanies. The weather here is nicer. It's not as cold. She's gotten away with some jeans and lighter fabrics. She peers at the dessert table and all the offerings. There's cookies and brownies and cake, but something in particular catches her eyes.
"Ooh, check out that cobbler!" she says in delight. She gets some plates and hands one to him. "What's your favorite kind of weather?"
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-23 09:40 pm (UTC)“Summer’s too hot and sticky in New York, so I just remember it being uncomfortable, especially before air conditioning— you just sat there sweating and you drank lemonade and felt miserable, all the time. And autumn’s beautiful, but it means winter’s on the way. Spring, though, when you can feel the warmth in the air but it hasn’t gotten overbearing yet… it’s nice.”
He doesn’t even touch on winter; obvious reasons, sore spot, a title steeped in blood which he’d never asked for. If some part of him had liked it once upon a time (warm scarves, breath steaming in the cold air, hot cocoa, ice-skating in Prospect Park), those days are long-gone, papered over with worse memories.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-23 09:49 pm (UTC)She helps herself to a little bit of everything and just a little bit more. She figures whatever she doesn't finishes, she can give to Bucky. "Man, I really can't argue with that kind of logic, but I'm personally a fan of fall. I love all the cliche things about it. The leaves turning color, the pumpkins, the fall fashions!" she enthuses. She's a basic fall bitch, so sue her.
She gestures for him to join her off to the side, but not quite at the picnic table they'd previously sat at. Darcy like looking at the water. "Ooh, you've got to try some of that pie Sarah made," she says after she takes a bite. "It's magical."
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-26 07:08 pm (UTC)“What are Thor and Jane like?” he finds himself asking, in a pause between bites of dessert, reaching for more of those shreds of normalcy (asking her about her friends, showing interest in her life, that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?). “I’ve never met her. And I only met him briefly, and there were— there was a lot going on.”
He’d fought alongside the demi-god, but hadn’t really spoken to him. The Battle of Earth had meant literally hundreds of combatants, soaked in blood and adrenaline, a milling chaos in the immediate aftermath trying to figure out what to do next; Steve had stepped up to help organise people, but Bucky had been quiet while haunting his side, not speaking much to the others.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-27 09:50 pm (UTC)Her tone was full of fondness. She took another bite of pie and gestured for him to follow her over towards them. "Val is the King of New Asgard. Thor gave her the mantle after everything," she explained to him. She wanted to give him the rundown, so he wasn't going in blind. "She's cool and definitely good people. She likes to keep people on her toes."
She liked Bucky. She thought they'd all hair to him pretty well. Darcy thought Thor might find something kindred with him. They were both warriors. They'd both suffered losses. She truly thought that visiting New Asgard would be good for his spirit.