ultralight beam ੈ✩‧₊˚ bucky barnes

chapter one: bucky with the long hair

As Bucky exited his apartment, he tried his best to stay as silent as possible. Of course, sneaking  past enemies was easy, but trying to get past her proved to be impossible. The retired assassin cursed in Russian when his foot hit the wrong floorboard and not even a moment later, he heard shuffling.

In seconds, a tanned brunette opened her door and quickly locked her door behind her. Bucky watched her with annoyance written across his face, though the young woman paid him no mind. She smiled up at him and he rolled his eyes, continuing down the steps.

"I still do not understand why you make that face whenever you see me. Usually, humans are happy when they see their friends," she commented, trailing behind him. Bucky toyed with his apartment key in his hand, not looking up from the small item.

"Yeah well, not everyone is happy all the time Maia...well not including you, for obvious reasons." He muttered the last part so she wouldn't hear him but the apartment building was completely silent, his rough voice bouncing off the walls and hitting her eardrums.

Maia frowned for a brief second, now walking side by side with him. He opened the door, holding it open for a few seconds so that she could walk out before him. The light hit Maia's eyes, causing them to involuntarily squint and she turned away, trying to locate Bucky. He had made his way across the street, towards a small fruit stand on the sidewalk.

"Why do you always eat plums?" Maia asked quizzically, staring down at the different fruit the man had to offer. "Do they keep your bowel movements regular?"

Bucky stopped talking to the vender mid-sentence to look over at Maia. His light blue eyes were wide in embarrassment and for the first time ever, Maia saw his cheeks grow red. The metal-armed man mumbled a few things in Romanian, narrowing his eyes at Maia.

The curly-haired woman ignored his irritated glare, used to him being annoyed with her. He'd go over it in a few minutes anyways. Maia stole a plum out of Bucky's palm and bit into it, sending him a lopsided grin as he looked at her. The former assassin couldn't help but smile back, looking down for a brief second before he looked back up at her.

Bucky's smile fell when he caught sight of something out of Maia's line of vision and she made a face as he pulled her away, hiding behind a fruit stand. The brunette exhaled loudly, blowing curly strands of her hair out of her face. In a state of boredom, Maia placed her head on Bucky's shoulder as they stayed put behind the fruit stand, while the man looked around.

"You should cut your hair," Maia suggested randomly, causing Bucky to look down at her, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"What the hel-"

"I think you would look different if you cut your hair. Make it short. People wouldn't recognize you then," she explained.

It took Bucky a few moments to respond. The short-haired man finally shook his head, peaking from behind the fruit stand and getting up when he realized that no one was there. "No, I'm not cutting my hair."

Maia shrugged, following after him as he continued down the street. "I think you would look very attractive if you'd cut your hair."

Bucky stopped mid-step before she could even finish. Slowly, he turned to look at the curious young woman. "Seriously?"

It took her a moment before Maia laughed, shaking her head. Bucky narrowed his eyes, sharply turning back around and picking up his pace.

"I think you look attractive with the long hair," Maia said, trying to keep up with her friend, though it was quite hard since she couldn't fly in public.

Bucky didn't say anything after that, though he did slow down his pace so that she could catch up with him. Maia smiled up at her blue eyed neighbor, grabbing his arm and leading him forward, not catching the smile he had set her back.

very short chapter but, should I start with the plot of civil war in the next chapter?