Untangling a Memory

A perfect gentleman

Bucky had been thinking about it for a while, but finally it seemed it was time. He needed a haircut.

Though things had been a bit awkward since their conversation during breakfast the one day on the veranda, Bucky knew that going to Natasha for her assistance was still his best option. Steve had told him that Natasha would frequently give him a trim while they were on long missions, and always cut her own hair and the wigs she used in the field. So, she was the obvious choice for assistance.

Bucky wasn't exactly looking forward to asking Natasha though. While they had been functioning close to normal since their little chat, he still couldn't get the dreams out of his head, especially when he was around her. He would get distracted by the questions he wanted to ask, riddles she might be able to solve. But their conversation about her calling him Bucky had gone nowhere, so he tried to focus on other things. Sitting in a chair in front of her, unable to move until she let him leave was going to be challenging.

"Hey Natasha?"

They had finished another morning workout, showered, and returned to the kitchen for some lunch. Natasha already had her head in the fridge, pulling out fixings for BLT's, knowing that Bucky would make them for her if she left the hint on the counter.

"Yea, what's up, Barnes?"

While Bucky had appreciated that she had made the switch from calling him Bucky, something still didn't feel exactly right when she called him that. He assumed it was just the anxiety that he felt around her, a general nervousness at how she made him feel.

"Would you... ummm..."

"Spit it out, Barnes." Natasha smirked at him. Now she really wanted to know what he was going to ask if he was this uneasy.

Bucky looked at her, trying to hide his shyness. "Would you cut my hair? I heard you cut Steve's and I thought you might be willing. It's fine if you don't want to..." He babbled as he spoke, thoroughly revealing his nerves.

Natasha laughed a little, putting her hands to his still wet hair. She ran her fingers through the brown locks that were hanging at the sides of his face. His hair clearly hadn't been cut in a long time and was hanging past his shoulders.

"Of course! No problem at all." She smiled at him warmly, putting Bucky at ease. "But, lunch first." She looked down at the fixings she'd left out for him.

Bucky's mouth pulled up at the corner and he nodded. He pulled his hair back with a tie into a low bun to get it out of his face and began his lunch prep.

Natasha made her way over to her usual stool and sat down with a water. She enjoyed watching him work in the kitchen and was perfectly happy to sit quietly as he cooked. While Bucky had felt anxious over the past few days since their conversation, Natasha had been better able to deal with her nerves. She had so many years of experience not telling anyone about their history and not revisiting the emotions attached to it, that she was very good at placing all those worries on a shelf in her mind. Whether this was a healthy behavior or not, she chose to ignore any inclinations she'd had to explore that conversation further, at least for now.

Bucky made their lunch and they ate it on the veranda as usual. Once they were done, as he cleared and cleaned the dishes, Natasha found a comb, pair of scissors that would work for hair-cutting, and a towel to go over his shoulders. She asked him to rewet his hair so that it was quite damp, making it easier to cut evenly, and he sat down in the chair she had placed in his bathroom, facing the mirror.

"So, how do you want it cut?"

Natasha was standing to his side, starting to inspect the ends of his long tresses for their condition.