Gold Rings ⚜️ Bucky Barnes X Reader

13: Cook With Me

"¿Hablas español?"

She looked over at him through squinted eyes.

"Was ist mit Deutsch? Sprichst du Deutsch?"

Her lips tightened with a slight fury before she begrudgingly laughed at herself. "Okay, okay, you've made your po--"

"Shikashi, watashi wa sōdeshita ka? Watashi mo nihongo o hanashimasunode!"

"Can you speak--"

"Latin? quia et latine loquor." He smirked. "Ou português. eu falo isso também."

"OKAY, you've made your POINT. Now can you please speak a language I understand?"

Bucky paused, thinking through his words very carefully.

"Russkiy blizok k pol'skomu, ne tak li?"

She paused, looking at him blank-gazed. He was worried that he actually pissed her off and waited for her fiery tongue to verbally lash him into dust.

"...Częściowo."

He smirked. "Okay, then answer me this: if Polish and Russian are so similar, what does "Cienias" mean?"

She gave him a playful glare before turning her attention back to what she was cooking. "I don't know. What do you think it means?"

He gave her a look, waiting for her to drop the act and just say it. She just smirked.

"... Well, my first thought is ciencias, like science in Spanish...?"

"Is that your final answer?"

"... am I right?"

"Not even close." She smirked, taking a spoonful of the dish and holding it inches from his face. "Here, try this." She commanded, shoving the spoon at his lips.

Without thinking, Bucky instinctively took the spoonful before glaring at her. "Hey, I know what you're doing! You're trying to change the sub-- wow, that's really good!"

She smiled with glee, turning back to the dish. "Good! I was worried I over spiced it. It's just about done, you can head over to the dinner table and I'll bring the food over."

"Oh no no no, like hell I'm letting you do that. I can serve myself, Bowman."

Bucky paused, the grimace on her face stabbing him in the chest.

"... Songbird. I meant Songbird."

She paused, her eyebrows slightly furrowing as she was thinking about what to say. "I knew what you meant to say." Was all she responded.

"... I'm going to go sit down."

Songbird just stared into the strew, stirring it mindlessly as she tried to figure out what to say. Should she tell him? Probably not, at least not now. He's already had so much new information thrown at him. Plus, he's going through mental treatments: she can't mess with his progress. She can't make him feel guilty for something that was out of his control.

She spooned out the stew into two clay bowls, garnishing the dish with some herbs growing in her windowsill before bringing the bowls to the table. Bucky just stared out the window.

"You know, you've built quite the homestead for yourself." He remarked, admiring the rolling hills that surrounded her home.

"Thanks. I worked hard for it." She smiled, though the lightness in her tone didn't reach her eyes. She sat the stews down, taking her place across from Bucky.

"Do you ever see yourself returning to hero work?"

Songbird laughed under her breath. "Return?"

Bucky shrugged. "I'd say what you did on the Raft qualifies as a typical Avengers mission."