[AU] a piercing comfort it affords

[from_the_outside]

For such a busy morning, the afternoon and evening prove remarkably quiet. Sharon's tired to her core, but she finds it just as difficult to rest as Bucky does, when she tries to cajole him into a nap. He only shakes his head at her, acquiescing to rest on the couch without actually sleeping.

She doesn't ask why. She's listening for the sound of Iron Man's repulsers just like he is.

But nothing comes, even after she's called Ross to update him and learn that the JTTF translators and analysts had come to the same conclusion she and Bucky had: that Zemo planned to impersonate him and set a bomb to spark a manhunt for the Winter Soldier.

Ross sounds grim as he tells her they'll need to find some more permanent solution to the power outage problem, then hangs up after he's extracted a promise from her to check in as soon as she learns anything.

Dinner is a quiet affair. Jet lag has her by the throat, but she can't sleep until she hears back from Steve and knows for certain that Tony won't be crashing down on them again.

If he does, she needs to be ready.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"We'll see," she says, sleepy, and shifts back in the bed to leave room for him, if he wants to sit back down.

[nerves_of_ice]

He sets both mugs on the bedside table and settles carefully beside her, then leans over to kiss her hair before picking his coffee back up.

[from_the_outside]

Once he's settled, she stretches out alongside his legs and wraps an arm over his thighs, setting her head in his lap like a cat asking for a caress.

"Smells good," she says, voice still muzzy with sleep. "Everything look okay down there?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Everything's fine," he assures her, resting his free hand at the back of her neck. "All quiet."

[from_the_outside]

"Good."

Her eyelids are still heavy; she lets them slip closed, even as she slowly comes more and more awake. "This place is good for that. Usually."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I can see that," he murmurs, sipping at his coffee. "I like it here, just so you know."

[from_the_outside]

That gets a smile, warm and pleased and a little surprised.

"Good," she says, after spending a moment trying to wrangle the unruly crook of her mouth. "I like having you here."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Let me guess," he says, one corner of his mouth quirking up at the sight of her smile. "Unexpected from a city boy?"

[from_the_outside]

"Unexpected from you," she tells him, still smiling. "You just don't offer an opinion on things very often."

She rolls over under the sheets to look up at him, tired but pleased. "I'm really glad you like it."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I know." Something about his tone shades a little rueful, although it stays light. "You could say I got out of the habit."

[from_the_outside]

"We'll just have to ease you back in, then."

She pillows her head on his leg and looks up at him, that smile still playing around her mouth. It's turned a little teasing, now. "What else do you like? Let's see... coffee."

Her mouth quirks. "Good food. Dancing."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You're batting a thousand so far," he tells her.

[from_the_outside]

"... Baseball," she adds, grinning.

"What's something you don't like?"

[nerves_of_ice]

A subtle, faint tension threads through him, even as he tries to prevent it. Bucky takes a moment, choosing his words carefully, trying to make sure that there's no stake to what he offers up - trying to avoid the traps hidden in his own mind.

"Too-strong perfume," he settles on, after a second. "The powdery flower kind that makes the air so thick you could cut it with a knife."

[from_the_outside]

"Good for me to know," she says. "Thought I don't like that really strong, flowery stuff anyway."

She sits up and reaches across him for her coffee, takes a sip, then leans in to give him a coffee-and-cinnamon flavored kiss. "Great start."

[nerves_of_ice]

He slides his hand up into her hair as he returns the kiss, slow and lingering. When it breaks: "Good morning," he says again, a hint of teasing in his tone now.

[from_the_outside]

"You like mornings," she says back, grinning. With his hand in her hair, she can't pull away; not that she'd want to.

"Like a crazy person."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I probably am a crazy person," he points out. "So sure, that works."

He kisses her again, quickly, then lets her go.

[from_the_outside]

She grins, quick and bright, and lifts her mug for another sip.

"You like Monopoly," she points out. "Or at least you're good at it."

[nerves_of_ice]

"It was fun," he admits.

[from_the_outside]

"And you liked Singin' in the Rain," she remembers, with a small smile.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I like movies. Especially good ones," Bucky tells her. "Steve and I used to go see one whenever we could."

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah?"

She looks pleased. "I like movies, too. At home on the couch or on the big screen. Preferably with a big bucket of popcorn."

[nerves_of_ice]

He smiles.

"Of course with popcorn. That's part of it."

[from_the_outside]

"We'll make some for the next one," she promises. "There's popcorn in the cupboard, and we've got a ton of movies here."