Atlas | Avatar!OC x Bucky Barnes

32 - One Hell of a Birthday

Saturday, July 4th, 8:00 am

Atlas and Bucky were woken up from their much-needed slumber by a loud knocking on their door. "Bucky, you up?" Steve yelled from the other side of the door. Atlas and Bucky panicked, not knowing what to do with Steve - who could come in at any moment - right outside their door. Bucky brought a finger to his lips and signalled for Atlas to be quiet.

"Yeah, Steve. I'm up," Bucky said loudly as he held Atlas close to his side.

"Can I come in?" Steve asked, already turning the squeaky knob on the door.

"Uh..." Bucky started. Atlas quickly hid under the sheets, hoping Bucky's figure would be large enough to create space in the sheets for her to hide, and for her not to been seen. She felt Bucky lift the sheets in some places and pat them down in others to hide Atlas's body as best as he could. "Come in," Bucky said in an uneasy tone.

Steve burst into Bucky's room with a bright look on his face. "Hey," he to said to his friend.

"Hi," Bucky said awkwardly, taking quick glances at his sheets to see if Atlas's figure with protruding through the quilt.

"Uh, we're all meeting in the tent in a few minutes - same one as yesterday. I think Akio and Tony are making a plan. Hey, do you know where Atlas is? She's not in the hammock," Steve informed - as if Bucky didn't know already.

"I- uh... maybe she's down training. I just woke up, so I haven't seen her," Bucky said. He had never felt more awkward in his life than he did right now.

"Oh, okay. If you see her, could you let her know we're briefing in the tent?"

"Mhm," Bucky said with tight lips.

"Great. See you in a few."

Before Steve could leave, Bucky was reminded of something as he saw the small American flag on an old SHIELD branded shirt. "Steve?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday," Bucky said sincerely.

"Thanks, man." With that, Steve softly shut the door behind him, unknowingly leaving both Atlas and Bucky alone together.

Atlas pulled the sheets over her head again, revealing the mess that Bucky had made of her long hair when trying to adjust the quilt. All she could do was look at him and laugh.

"Good morning," Bucky greeted, finally getting the chance to greet Atlas after their wonderful night together. His cheeky smile made Atlas blush into Becky's chest as he ran his metal arm up and down her bare back.

"Isn't it kind of ironic that Steve's birthday is the fourth of July?" Atlas asked Bucky, referring to the conversation he had just had with the Captain.

"It's very ironic."

"...Huh." Atlas shrugged. "Well, good morning to you too," she said to Bucky. She shifted herself so she could reach his face with hers and quickly kiss him.

"We should probably head to the tent. They're waiting for us," Bucky acknowledged.

"Yeah, I heard," Atlas said with a chuckle. The avatar reluctantly pulled away from Bucky's warmth and threw a sweater over her head. Bucky followed. Soon, the two of them were ready to head to the tent.

Bucky and Atlas both jumped over the wooden fence that barricaded people from falling from the trees onto the ground. Atlas caught both of them with her airbending. They made their way down the path to the tent from yesterday and soon entered, making sure to keep their distance. Neither of them wanted anyone else on the team to suspect anything.