[AU] there's grief of Want and grief of Cold

[from_the_outside]

She sleeps later than she had the day before – a combination of not having to get up and go to the doctor and exhaustion – and when she comes downstairs, the house is quiet but coffee is already made. After making herself a cup, she pads barefoot to the door and steps out into the crisp mountain morning.

She's unsurprised to see that Bucky is up, and to find Steve's motorcycle gone from the driveway. "Steve head out already?"

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[marvel_npc]

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

She casts a sympathetic glance his way. "By the way, feel free to stop us if we're prying. I know offering up any kind of personal information can be a tough call in your line of work. Still, we can't help but be a little nosy."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Thanks," he says, simply, and shifts to put a few of the dishes in a clear spot before reaching for the next.

"Don't worry about it." He grins, quick and bright for a moment. "I get that you'd be curious. It's really nice to get the chance to meet you both."

[marvel_npc]

"We feel the same way," she says, warmly. "I hope you're enjoying your visit, though I'm sure you both would prefer it to be under different circumstances."

She rinses off a handful of silverware and hands them over to him. "Sharon's very lucky to have such a good friend."

[nerves_of_ice]

"The feeling's mutual. Absolutely mutual," he says, very firmly. "Sharon's been an incredible friend to me."

He scatters the silverware over one side of the dishtowel and folds the other half over it, drying it all at once with perhaps-surprising efficiency.

"And yes, I am. The house and land are both amazing."

[marvel_npc]

"Thank you," she says, pleased. "We've had plenty of wonderful times here, certainly. I think Sharon prefers it to Richmond, if I'm being honest."

She doesn't miss his enthusiastic praise for her daughter, either, and as her smile grows, her cheeks dimple just the same way Sharon's do.

(In the other room the music has changed, gone from Van Morrison to Roy Orbison.)

She finishes up the last of the dishes and drains the sink, calling out over her shoulder: "All right, you layabouts. What shall we do tonight?"

The wink she casts at James is amused. "How about a game?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He has the distinct feeling of being made like a mark in Vegas from the light of competition in Amanda's glance, and at the same time he can't see any way around it.

"Sounds good to me." He raises his voice so that Harrison and Sharon can hear him. "That is, if the others are up for it."

[marvel_npc]

"That's funny," Sharon says, coming over to lean carefully on the kitchen island. "I was just thinking how nice it would be to win at something. You know, as a kind of dessert."

"How about actual dessert?" Amanda suggests. "There's ice cream in the freezer."

Harrison chuckles as he goes to the cabinet and takes out the Scotch and a few tumblers. "I'll stick with this, thanks," he says, and glances at James. "James? A little nip to round out the evening?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure," he agrees, with a nod to Harrison. "Thanks."

He finishes drying the last dish, hangs the towel where it belongs, and puts the last few remaining things away before he walks around the end of the counter to join him, with a quick smile for Sharon as he does.

[marvel_npc]

He pours a generous couple of fingers into a tumbler and hands it to James with a smile. "Darling?" he asks Amanda, but she shakes her head. "Wine for me," she says, and pats Sharon on the shoulder.

"And water for me," Sharon says, a little morosely. It makes Harrison laugh as he pours himself a drink.

"What should we play?" he asks. "Cards? Dice? We finally have a fourth. We might finally be able to play a game of Clue that lasts longer than fifteen minutes."

[nerves_of_ice]

He lifts the glass enough to draw in the scent and takes a small sip, then circles around to stand near Sharon.

"Is this where I admit that I haven't played Clue?" he asks, dryly. "But I'm a quick learner."

[from_the_outside]

"You'd pick it up in no time," Sharon tells him, grinning. "It's a murder mystery game."

Now that the first shock is over, she likes this more than she should probably admit. Her parents clearly like Bucky – James, she reminds herself – and he hasn't flung himself out a window so they're probably on pretty stable ground right now. "You'd probably be great at it."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky gives her a look. "Who, me?" he asks, perfectly deadpan. "Doubt it. Sounds like a job for Sherlock Holmes."

[from_the_outside]

She bats her eyes innocently at him, then turns to her parents. "How about Monopoly?"

"Oh," says her mother, beaming. "Yes. We haven't played that in ages."

"I'll go get the board," her father volunteers. "Let's just set up around the island; no need to sit at the big table."

"The dining room," Sharon explains to Bucky, once her father has headed off to the game shelf. Boy, she really should give him an actual tour at some point, shouldn't she?

[nerves_of_ice]

“Oh,” he says. “Right. No, we don’t need that.”

He makes sure to position himself so Sharon’s on his left, as he’d done during dinner, just in case of any inadvertent contact, and helps clear a space for the board.

[from_the_outside]

It turns out – though perhaps it won't come as much of a surprise – that the Carters are absolutely bloodthirsty when it comes to board games. Even Harrison, until now the mildest of the bunch, cheerfully sends his own daughter off the jail after a grim battle over the railroads.

Amanda, though quieter, is no less ruthless, and appears to have made bankrupting her husband her utmost goal in life.

As they play, Sharon glances at Bucky out of the corner of her eye, making sure he's enjoying himself, smiling in between the loud groans and complaints as the game goes on.

[nerves_of_ice]

At first it’s impossible to tell if he has a strategy or not. He keeps low key, not obviously trying to build up a widespread property empire, and seems to target everyone else equally.

Until, that is, he builds a hotel on Park Place and a second on Boardwalk, with only one other piece of property to his name (bright red Illinois, breaking a streak of monopolies on the far side of the board), and waits as the other three round the corner and head toward his small piece of New York.

[from_the_outside]

As the hotel goes up, all the Carters groan in concert, laughing helplessly as they head directly into his trap. Amanda is the first to fall and she does so graciously, dropping her play piece back into the game box and shouting out increasingly poor pieces of advice.

Sharon hangs on a little longer, but then she lands right on Park Place and has to fork over almost all her remaining money to Bucky. She eggs on Harrison while Amanda throws her support behind Bucky.

[nerves_of_ice]

It was a risky bet, but the only one he felt he could make - and in the end it’s not enough. Not quite. Finally, he tips his piece over on its side in defeat and cedes the win to Harrison with an amused grin.

“Good game.”

[marvel_npc]

He laughs and reaches over the board to shake James's hand. "Very well done," he says, approvingly, and looks at Sharon. "I like him."

"I thought you might," she says, her smile small and amused. "He's not so bad, huh?"

Harrison's pleased to see her smile is a little fond, too, as she looks at the younger man. She's always had a hard time finding anyone who could keep up with her. It's nice to see her enjoying James's company.

"Well!" says Amanda. "That was exciting. But I think I'll turn in soon; we'll get an early start in the morning."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Thanks.”

He doubts that Harrison would feel the same if he knew who Bucky truly was, but it’s nice of him to say so.

“Have a good night,” he tells them. “I’ll put this away, if you like; I’ll be up for a while yet.”

[from_the_outside]

She murmurs her goodnights to her parents and submits to their warm, careful hugs; kisses her father on the cheek and watches as they head through the hall to the door that opens into the other wing.

As it closes behind them, she looks over at Bucky, smiling faintly.

"Well, you survived."

[nerves_of_ice]

He lets out a slow breath.

“They’re quite a pair.”

[from_the_outside]

"That they certainly are," she says, amused.

"You did great."

[nerves_of_ice]

“They’re easy to talk to,” he demurs. “And they love you very much.”

[from_the_outside]

"Both very true."

As she gets up and begins putting the game board and pieces away, she elaborates: "I don't think they exactly knew what to do with me. I obviously went in a completely different direction than they wanted for me, but they did their best."