Eyes of Fire | Bucky Barnes

47

"Stay." He said immediately, grating his words out into the dark quiet left by the end of the movie. It was hard, forcing his training back and letting himself make noise, telling himself that using his voice here meant more good things, in contrast to how in the past it had meant more pain.

"I was only going to get some snacks for us," She joked, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek to let him of know her plans to return. She shuffled a bit further away from him, pushing off of the cushions to her feet, but Bucky's hand wrapped around hers and pulled her back.

"Uxolo, I—" The words got stuck in his throat just as he went to say them, his mouth closing and opening like a fish out of water. While the words had seemingly been carefully strung together in his mind, he hadn't planned for the fact that he had to look her in the eyes while he said them.

"Bucky."

"Nothing." He hurried to say, releasing her hand and settling back into the corner of the couch.

She sought his hand out again, just as quickly, interlacing their fingers and holding them in her lap. "You and I don't keep things from each other, do we?"

When he thought back on it, even when he'd been detesting and avoiding every aspect of their relationship, he hadn't been able to keep anything from her.

Even when he didn't know what that something was in the moment, she always found a way to draw it out of him. Before all of this, even, it'd always been so... easy— natural, spilling his guts to her. Bucky shook his head, "No."

"So, tell me."

"I- uh, I meant it." He said quickly, "When I said that I like it when it's just us."

"I know you did. I like it too."

"No, that's not—" He exhaled heavily, pushing his straggly strands of hair out of his eyes. Why was this so hard to say? "I always want it to be just us."

"I am not sure how realistic that is, but I will see what I can do." She laughed a little, teasing.

"Uxolo." Bucky said quietly, but she heard him nonetheless. She always heard him, even when he didn't think he was saying anything.

I'm jealous of every person you smile at, every laugh I don't hear. It drives me insane.

"I want to be with you." He said instead. "I want us to—"

"Date." She completed.

"Yeah."

"I thought we were dating, already?" She mumbled aloud, more to herself than anything else. She briefly wondered if this was one of those rare miscommunication moments between them, the words not necessarily accurate when translated or due to some cultural differences. Uxolo tilted her head, "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

He winced, realizing how utterly ridiculous he was being. He could've just asked her explicitly, like he used to ask the showgirls to dance, rather than pouring his heart out and doing this awkward circle around what he actually intended to say. "Yes?"

"Of course, Bucky," Uxolo said sweetly, "I'll be your girlfriend."

"And I'll be your boyfriend." He stated.

"And you'll be my boyfriend." She affirmed, as if either of them needed any more clarification about it. Still, she couldn't get enough of that twinkle in Bucky's eye, that waver in his stern expression that signified he was holding back his joy. One day, she'd get him to show these things, unrestrained.

Bucky nodded, swiping a hand across his beard. "Okay."

"Okay." She grinned, pushing up to press a kiss on the underside of his jaw. "That means you'll bring more of your stuff over, right?"

By stuff, it was just a set of repeated clothes, hygiene tools, etc. He wasn't quite sure if that request of hers included the weapons he had hid around his place.

"If ya'want it to, sure." Bucky answered, harboring his joy at the sheer suggestion. "I can do that."

Uxolo was a source of warmth, of comfort, that he never wanted to take for granted. Her house, her things, provided a fraction of that warmth, but provided warmth nonetheless. Thinking about meshing their spaces, being able to constantly experience this warmth...

"Do you want it to, though?"

"I—yeah." He sputtered. Had that even been a question? He continued muttering, even as he got a bit sheepish, "Would love to be closer to you."

Uxolo laughed, settling back under his arm and forgetting all about the snacks she'd originally planned to get, at least temporarily. "I am not sure we could get any closer than this."

Trust me, we could.

He shifted to further accommodate her, straightening up so it was easier for her to fit into him.

The next movie began.

Bucky had a bit of trouble paying attention, because she was there, she was next to him, she was warm and soft and he could smell her shampoo.

She smelled a little like him, too. Something with a bit of spice to it, something that seemed too dark and deep for such a lovely thing like her. He'd noticed that before; it'd been hard not to. It was just around the edges, something he usually only smelled when he got pulled into her infamous hugs.

He managed to focus on the movie for all of ten minutes.