The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Seventy Four: Domestication Of A Possibly Feral Animal

"I never thought I'd see the day that Bucky Barnes got house trained," Sam teased. Bucky rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to end the phone call. When Sam had suggested that they catch up Bucky had been hoping to talk about Sarah and the boys, or the power vacuum in Latveria after Movoniv's death. Not his new-found domestic side. But in a moment of profound idiocy he had let it slip that he and Mara were living together, and the conversation was permanently derailed.

"I have lived with people before," Bucky reminded him as he wandered around their apartment. Mara was at work for another hour, and he was bored. Hence the mistake of agreeing to chat with Sam.

"Yeah, with Steve. In a bachelor pad," Sam replied dryly. "And I loved the guy, but I also lived with him while we were on the run and the man never picked up after himself! I got so many bruises on my shins from stepping on that damn shield..."

Bucky zoned out as Sam continued his rant against Steve's ability to keep an apartment tidy. He wasn't wrong, Steve had never seemed to mind clutter. Or mess. Or random piles around the place that he swore were actually organized if Bucky would just take the time to look... Steve and Mara may have both been stubborn and easily pissed off meddlers, but they were polar opposites when it came to being housemates.

Mara was regimented in everything she did. Years as a doctor had given her an appreciation for sanitation and order, which Bucky was more than happy to comply with after his time in the Army. There were still some misalignments in their living styles. Her insistence that every tool be used solely for its expressed purpose was... frustrating at times. Why he could not use a salad mixing spoon as a regular mixing spoon was beyond him, but he had accepted it as one of her quirks. Just like she had accepted him cleaning his guns at the kitchen table as one of his. Well, not accepted so much as gave up on changing. The "I Feel" magnet on the fridge still got plenty of use, but so did the old record player in the corner. When they swayed to the crooners of decades gone by neither of them cared very much about who's turn it was to clean the bathroom.

"Anyways, all I'm saying is that I'm trying to imagine you in an apron making dinner and all I can think of is Mrs. Nesbitt," Sam teased. Bucky rolled his eyes at the reference he could safely assume was an insult and adjusted one of the picture frames on the wall.

"I don't cook," he replied flatly. "I tried to make dinner once, but I have no instinct when it comes to seasoning anything more complicated than eggs. We agreed she handles the cooking and I do the cleaning up."

"My folks had the same deal. Dad could make a meal out of anything, and Mom could clean anything," Sam replied. "I mean, that's what makes a good partnership, right? Your strengths are their weaknesses and vice versa."

"You of all people should not be giving me relationship advice," Bucky chided.

"Just because I don't date doesn't mean I don't know how to make a partnership work," Sam replied. "I mean, look at us! Who'd have thought that we'd be willingly speaking to each other about something other than work?"

"Define 'willingly,'" Bucky grumbled through a smile. He glanced around the apartment for anything left to be tidied. In less than a month Mara had managed to turn the empty box into a home. He'd even gotten swept along in the excitement, helping her decide on color pallets and moving furniture around so often he thought he would go crazy. But it was their home now, and all the fussing was all worth it. Because he knew that when he came home he was coming back to her.

"Shut up. You know you love me," Sam said dismissively. "How's Nonna adjusting to living alone?"

"She's fine," Bucky replied, pausing outside the window to look out over the city. "I still help her with the kids most days, and Mara swings by on her way to or from work every chance she can. And everyone in the building loves her, so if she ever needs something all she has to do is ask."