[oom] all those times we looked up at the sky

[from_the_outside]

Karli's on the move; she'll strike soon. Bucky and Sam have been in long, tense conversations with each other and with Torres, and she herself has been keeping an obsessive eye on the tracker blip that is Batroc.

It's a lot. The air in the apartment is tense. But she still has to laugh at the sight that greets her when she walks into the living room: Bucky crouched down, his phone out as he takes a photo of Alpine, who is lounging in lazy grandeur, soaking up a puddle of sunshine.

"That'll be a good one," she approves. "Baby, I've been wondering – what happened to your nice camera? You didn't leave it in Wakanda, did you?"

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"Yours," she agrees, and traces kisses down along the line of his throat, up towards his ear. "Yours, forever."

They've been through so much already that it's a promise she's certain she can make. If nothing in the last six years kept them apart for good, what possibly could?

[nerves_of_ice]

He groans at the promise, at the feel of her lips on his skin, and lets his head fall back to give her the ability to do whatever she wants with him - and then jerks, startled, as Alpine leaps up onto the couch beside them with a curious prrt?.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon jerks, her eyes going wide, then collapses into giggles against him, her forehead on his shoulder.

"Oh, Alpine," she groans, laughing helplessly. "Go back to sleep."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Cat, you have the worst timing," Bucky informs him, putting both arms around Sharon as she giggles.

On being addressed by both humans, Alpine nudges his head against Bucky's arm and Sharon's side, seeking to be petted.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon sits up, careful not to dislodge Bucky's arms from around her, and reaches for Alpine to cuddle him against her chest. "But who can resist this face?" she asks, turning Alpine in her arms so Bucky can look straight into the cat's recriminating gaze.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky sighs, and lifts his right hand to scratch Alpine behind the ears. The little white cat half-closes his eyes and starts purring as he nestles down in Sharon's arms.

[from_the_outside]

Alpine's purr vibrates against her as she lifts him up to press a kiss to his furry cheek.

"This is the price we pay as pet owners, I guess," Sharon says, amused.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Guess so.” The look in his eyes is soft and warm as he considers the two of them.

“Could be worse.”

[from_the_outside]

Alpine purrs and purrs as she strokes him, his eyes half-lidded and lazy, and she smiles at Bucky. "To be continued," she murmurs, then reaches into her back pocket to find her phone. She unlocks it with a touch, then offers it to him.

"Will you take a picture of us so I can send it to my mom?"

His Wakandan camera sits nearby, but she's not going to suggest he use that. Not yet.

[nerves_of_ice]

"You bet." It's agreement with both things, even as he takes the phone and focuses in on Sharon and Alpine.

"She'll get a real kick out of it, I'm sure."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon holds Alpine up, pressing her cheek against his, and smiles for the camera lens as the cat purrs, pleased by all the attention he's getting.

"She thinks he's sweet," she says. "And I don't think they're tired of getting new pictures of me yet."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky takes several images as he informs her, "Based on what I saw of their house, they'll never get tired of that."

[from_the_outside]

"Only child," she reminds him. "I was spoiled."

[nerves_of_ice]

"So? Nothing wrong with that."

He turns the phone around so she can see and scrolls through the pictures he's just taken.

[from_the_outside]

"Just saying. It's why they've got so many photos of me."

She pauses his scrolling, then goes two back. "This one."

[nerves_of_ice]

He takes the phone back so she can keep cuddling Alpine, and calls up a text with the photo attached.

"What do you want the message to say?"

[from_the_outside]

"Just tell her we both say hi and that I miss them," Sharon says. Alpine nudges his nose against her mouth and she laughs.

"Once everything's finished with Karli, maybe we can go see them again."

[nerves_of_ice]

"They'll enjoy that," he agrees, as he dutifully types out the message and sends it off.

"I will, too. They're good people."

[from_the_outside]

"They liked you." Of course they did, but she's pleased by it anyway.

She still thinks Sam's living a dreamworld if he's going to be able to get her a pardon and down to New Orleans, but for a second she lets herself imagine that it could happen, too. "And it was really nice to be back at the house."

[nerves_of_ice]

"It's a nice house." Bucky gives her a bland look. "For, you know, a mountain mansion."

[from_the_outside]

She rolls her eyes at him.

"It's not a mansion."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Baby, the house has multiple wings," Bucky points out. "That's a mansion in my book."

[from_the_outside]

She purses her lips and tries to look stern, but only ends up laughing. "Okay," she admits.

"It's a really nice house."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky grins and leans in to steal a quick kiss over Alpine's head.

"Yeah, it is."

[from_the_outside]

She kisses him back, sweetly, then tugs at his shirt with the hand that isn't cradling Alpine.

"My blue collar boy," she says, amused. "Here you are with an uptown girl, now."