James Bucky Barnes, the former soldier, doesn't think he's got any gentleness left in him. But Grace Juniper Cunningham, the former child prodigy, strongly disagrees.
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"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴�...
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I woke up a few hours later and watched as Bucky tried carefully to untangle himself from me and get off the bed without waking me up. It was sweet, I thought. He was moving so slowly, like he was using old assassin skills. I realized this must be how he always got up without disturbing me.
He turned around to look at me when he was off the bed, and groaned when he saw my eyes were open.
"Were you watching me this whole time?"
"Yeah."
"You coulda said something."
"It was so sweet. Did you turn around 'cause you were gonna tuck me in and kiss my forehead?"
"No."
"I really feel like you were gonna tuck me in and kiss my forehead. I've felt you do it before when I'm half asleep."
"Tell me you're awake next time."
"Just come down here and do it anyway."
He started walking away. I frowned. Something was bothering him. He was in a mood. "Are you embarrassed? 'Cause I know you get all soft when you see me sleeping?"
"I'm not soft, Grace. I've been telling you for months," he said, pulling clothes out of the dresser.
"You kiss my forehead all the time when I'm awake!"
"Get up and get dressed."
"I'm not letting this go."
"Fine," he sighed. He came back over, pulled the blankets up around my shoulders, and brushed his lips over my forehead lightly. He softened as he looked down at me, lips twitching up. "Happy?"
"Yes," I said, and sat up, letting the blanket fall down. "Do you want one? Come down here."
"Yeah, I want one," he grumbled. He leaned down, hands on either side of my legs, and let me cup his face in my hands and kiss his forehead.
"Soft," I said happily, before recollecting something. "Wait, did I fall asleep before we could have sex again last night?"
"Yeah," he said, straightening and walking back over to the dresser. "It was really cute. You quit responding to what I was doing, and when I asked if you were okay, you did that foot twitching thing you do when you're asleep and kicked me. So I just went to sleep too."
"I'm mortified. What foot twitching thing?"
"Your foot twitches. Real suddenly. It's dangerous."
"What?"
"You didn't know you did that?" he asked, exhaling a laugh, relaxing, seeming more like himself (or at least, the version of himself he usually was around me). "I can't believe I used to think I'd be a danger sleeping next to you, when you're the one kicking the shit out of me."
