[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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[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."

[nerves_of_ice]

“A lawyer or a doctor,” he remembers, as he sorts the play money into its box.

[from_the_outside]

"They would also have settled for me marrying a lawyer or a doctor," she says, laughing.

"As my mom says, she's not picky."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head and passes over the last of the game pieces.

“There’s lots of lawyers and doctors. There’s only one Agent 13.”

He takes care to keep his voice quiet, even though they’re alone.

[from_the_outside]

That makes her smile quirk, pleased. "I certainly hope so. The last thing I need is for my evil doppelgänger to show up and try to replace me."

She adds the pieces to the box and fits the cover on top, then pushes the whole thing further towards the middle of the island.

[nerves_of_ice]

“No kidding.”

He picks it up and carries it across the room to the game shelf, having watched Harrison earlier, then turns back to look at Sharon from there.

“You must be tired.”

[from_the_outside]

"I feel like all I've been doing is sleeping," she says, rueful.

Which isn't to say she isn't tired. She always forgets how much energy it takes just to recover. "I thought I'd sit outside for a bit."

She looks at him, inviting. "Wanna join me?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure. Bring your phone?"

It's slowly been driving him insane that they haven't heard anything more from Steve since that earlier text message. Still, at least Tony Stark hasn't landed on them, nor have they gotten any warning calls, so ... it's probably good. Probably. Anyway, god knows Steve is stubborn enough to argue through the night if need be, and for this, he just might have to.

[from_the_outside]

She nods and retrieves her phone, then heads out to the porch to sit.

(Her browser is still that one photo of the glass art piece, but it's minimized.)

[nerves_of_ice]

The quilt's upstairs, but he'd brought his jacket back down after changing clothes. Bucky takes it from the hook and brings it outside with him. He drapes it around her shoulders and sits down beside her.

"He and Tony must still be arguing," he mutters. "I know he'd have called otherwise. Or texted again."

[from_the_outside]

She gives the jacket an amused glance but doesn't comment. "He will," she agrees. "I'm sure he's just making absolutely sure."

Her phone is silent when she glances at it. "Nat would have texted if anything was going seriously wrong."

All they can do is wait, and honestly that's not how either of them is wired.

[nerves_of_ice]

He nods. "And I don't want to disturb him if he's... yeah. So."

Bucky stares out into the night, his gaze distant.

[from_the_outside]

Her mouth presses into a wry line as she looks over at him. It's more than enough to make the call; she unlocks her phone and calls up the text app, then types out a quick message to Natasha.

No news from Steve since the afternoon. Everything ok up there?

[marvel_npc]

When her phone vibrates in her hand, Natasha glances up to see if Sam's noticed. He's settled in for the duration in the seating area outside the informal kitchen-slash-meeting room where Tony and Steve have been holed up since early afternoon and is currently doing his best to stare through the door. He flicks a level look at her and goes back to trying to eavesdrop.

At least most of the yelling has stopped.

She's glad she'd managed to convince Wanda and Vision that they didn't need to stick around for this, and Rhodey's off on Air Force business. Hopefully Tony will see her as being on his side when the door opens, if need be, so that he won't feel outnumbered and defensive because of it. More defensive, anyway.

She taps open a reply and sends, They're still discussing. Want to place a bet on who's more stubborn?

[from_the_outside]

"Nat says they're still talking," she reports, and huffs a faint laugh at the typed question.

Might come down to who loses their voice first tbh.

[marvel_npc]

She breathes out a near-silent wisp of laughter, fingers flying.

In that case, Tony's done more yelling. It's quieter now, though. I think Steve's wearing him down. Both Sam and I are keeping an eye on things.