"Her father is staring you down, you can see his knuckles white while he holds his fork, what do you do?" Gamora asks, signaling to Nebula who was doing exactly as she described. Nebula stared Bucky down with a death glare, tilting her head slightly. Bucky could feel his palms sweating, and no makeover would make over would make his face feel clean after the looks Nebula gave him. He swallowed thickly, thinking of anything he could do. He sat at the mock table set motionless, his worse fear seemingly coming true. What made it worse, however? He realized his soulmate would probably never have to do this, he didn't have any parents for them to talk to, if anything Steve was the most likely candidate, and he was practically a giant teddy bear.
"I, offer him the gravy that's near me and start talking to their mother about how great their child is," Bucky said hesitantly, but it came out more as a question. Gamora seemed to nod in approval, before also wavering in her response for a moment.
"What if there is no mother, or two fathers', or even two mothers', then what?" Gamora asked, raising an eyebrow. Bucky stopped for a moment before a clear answer came to his head. It didn't matter, it never mattered who he said anything to. He had to be genuine, he had to be himself, and he prayed that that would be enough.
"I have to be myself, but then anything I have to respect my soulmate, show the family that they're my everything I guess. If they know that, and if I make my soulmate happy, then I should be fine, right?" Bucky asked, a little surer of himself but still not 100% on his answer.
"You're right, as long as your soulmate has good parents," Nebula sniggered, releasing the fork from her hand onto the table. Each member seemed to share a moment of clarity, understanding each other. It must have been hard for Nebula and Gamora to do this, especially since they were playing parents that actually cared about their child. Would Bucky have to do this one day? Watch as his and his soulmate's child bring home their soulmate, would he be able to deal with practically seeing half himself find another soulmate without being protective.
"I think you'll do fine, only the unlucky get bad parents," Gamora spoke as if it were a simple matter, but it clearly wasn't. Bucky thought back to his conversation with Daisy, and the day seemed to darken from its original haze. All of these people had taken time out of their lives to help Bucky, yet their lives were anything but fine, seemingly all of them from broken homes or having lost their soulmate. They had taken their time just to help Bucky with his story, to help him make it perfect. Everyone was so... generous, to be doing this for him.
"Thank you for doing this for me. It... It really means a lot to me," Bucky stated quietly, although this time he raised his head high, making sure to try and look both women in the eye. It was silent for a moment, but it wasn't awkward. For the second time that day, Bucky felt a warmth come from both women as if being acknowledged for their help had made their day.
"Anything to help out. I wish I had help like this before I met Peter, would have made things run a lot smoother," Gamora related, her eyes showing gratitude towards Bucky. A smile came to his face, it was small and light but it meant everything. The darkness that had developed before slowly dissipated and all that was left were two strong women that had the confidence to do right by themselves.
"Well, we wouldn't want you to scare away your soulmate before we can meet them," Nebula had a sly grin on her face, and Bucky couldn't tell if she was serious or joking, but he assumed it was somewhere in between. Gamora seemed to stand up for a moment, grabbing one of Tony's fine liquor bottles and placing it on the table, seemingly to try and test Bucky once again.
"One of their parents offers you a glass of their best drink, how do you respond?" Gamora asked, Nebula watching carefully as well. Bucky hesitated for a moment, eyeballing the glass of liquor. The conversation had changed quickly, so it was clear that the topic of their family was over.
YOU ARE READING
Days Away - Bucky Barnes x Reader - Soulmate AU
Fanfiction'His bed felt empty, a feeling he'd never had before. He glanced at his watch, flicking through numbers each second, confirming where the lonely feeling came from.' 3 Days was all there was until two soulmates were meant to meet, one damaged and uns...
