Gold Rings ⚜️ Bucky Barnes X Reader

9: Dinner for Two

The rest of the day was an event most tiring, as milking a mother goat wasn't exactly the easiest of tasks. However, Song Bird and Bucky were able to collect at least a stable amount to start, so at least the day wasn't a total waste.

The duo were set up in Song Bird's house, downing what was left of breakfast that had been repurposed into dinner. In between the sound of scraping silverware on plain plates, the two filled the air with gleeful banter.

"So, how did you first therapy session with Okoye go?"

"Eh, about as good as therapy could," Bucky shrugged, playing with his food. "She mentioned that you had actually done therapy too."

"Well yeah! Okoye offered, and I figured it wouldn't hurt." Song Bird responded nonchalantly, taking in another forkful of food. After a few chews and a swallow, she continued, "It actually helped me a lot with processing the whole... Everything."

Bucky nodded, understanding without needing another word.

"How are you liking the village?"

"The people are nice enough. Hadiza has been a godsend with helping me set my place up and get to know everyone in town."

"Ohhh yeah, Hadiza is definitely the town momma bear-- and the town matchmaker. Glad I moved into my own place."

"Matchmaker?" Bucky asked teasingly. "So what I'm hearing is she tried to set you up with someone?"

Songbird just laughed. "Let's just say she's sweet in small doses." With that, she took a sip of water.

"So, who's the lucky guy?"

Songbird nearly spit up her water.

"What? Did I say something?"

"No! No, I just... No. I'm not interested in Abner."

"Hadiza's son!" Bucky beamed, brandishing a mischevious grin. "Songbird and Abner sitting in a tree..."

Songbird just rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. Look, Abner is a sweet kid, but I'm not about to be in another one of Hadiza's matchmaking schemes. She loves being the mom to everyone in town, which trust me, isn't always a good thing."

She took a swift bite of food as if the bite itself punctuated het sentence.

"If her eldest daughter wasn't 12, I bet Hadiza would find a way to play matchmaker with you too. It really doesn't take much for Hadiza to ship a couple." Songbird joked.

"What makes you say that?"

Songbird's eyes shifted from left to right as she played with her food. "She just assumes things, that's all."

She took a swift bite of food to stop herself from talking.

"Riiiiiiight..." Bucky eyed her suspiciously while playing with his food. "So you're saying this thing with Abner..."

"There is no thing with Abner!" Songbird groaned. "He just helped me a lot with building the house, that's all! Besides, I'm like what, 50? He's 24!"

"That's not fair, you weren't actually living half those years. Hell, I turned 100 this year, and--"

"I didn't know you turned 100! Congratulations!" Songbird beamed, half being truly excited and the other half being thankful for the opportunity to change the subject.

"Yeah, whoo-pe-doo, I slept through my own birthday, lived past the normal human life span, and will likely see everyone around me die. Yaaaaaay..." Bucky stated sarcastically, spinning his fork in the air dramatically before taking his last bite of dinner.

Songbird just looked peeved.

"You know what? Ok, when's your birthday?"

"March 20th."

"Then next March 20th, I'm throwing the BEST birthday you've ever seen, just watch me!"

"It's gonna be pretty hard to pass my 14th birthday. Steve's mom made a cake. It was pretty sweet."

"Well just watch!" Songbird beamed. "I'll make it your best birthday ever, and you can't stop me!" With a cheery skip in her step, she collected the plates from her table setup and Bucky's before turning to the kitchen to place the plates in a bucket to be cleaned.

"Well then, let's make this a little birthday-off!" Bucky smirked, knowing she wouldn't back down from a challenge. "When's your birthday?"

Songbird froze.

"Well... Uh..."

She tried to keep her voice even, glad that the flattering of dishes against a metal bucket covered the cracking of her voice.

"I don't know."

Bucky paused, not expecting that answer. "You don't know?"

"I know it's in the spring, but not much more than that." Songbird shrugged, trying to brush it off. "Its really not that big of a deal, we can just--"

"Nope. New plan: we're celebrating our birthday together."

Songbird turned around to see that Bucky was standing from the table, facing Songbird head-on.

"Let me tell you, celebrating my birthday - even while alone - was one of the best moments right after freedom. You need to experience that at least once, so here's the deal: a birthday-off. We try to outdo each other's birthday. Make it a competition."

"And what does the winner win?"

Bucky paused, thinking of his answer.

"... I don't know. We can think of that later."

Songbird glanced Bucky up and down, taking in his words. After thinking for a second, she gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Deal. I'm curious to see how this goes."

Bucky smirked, trying to get a rise out of her. "I'm gonna win."

"In your dreams, Buck!" She giggled. "Now you need to be heading home, it's about to get dark."

"Yeah, yeah..." Bucky groaned, turning for the door. "Goodnight Songbird!"

"Goodnight Bucky!" She cooed back, smiling as she continued washing her dishes.