Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 198

"I can't believe we just watched the entire Lord of the Rings series in one day," Steve says.

Bucky huffs. "Yeah, really." He can't believe he just moved in with the man he's been very pointedly avoiding for years, and all they did was watch a bunch of really long movies with a plot they both already knew from reading the books decades ago. It's fucking ridiculous, and he's not sure if he means it in a good way or a bad way.

"You know," Steve says, "I usually get up around six and go for a run in the mornings; I don't know if that's something you'd...?"

Bucky really does not want to go for a run in the morning. He's done far too much running for one lifetime. He definitely doesn't want to go for a run with Steve and have to try to make small talk while he's doing it. He wouldn't even know how to make small talk with him now, while they're both sitting on the couch together – which is the whole reason they decided to watch a movie: because they don't know how to talk to each other.

But obviously he can't say that because that would be awkward, so instead, his excuse is, "I'm not much of a morning person." Which isn't necessarily true – he actually greatly prefers waking up to falling asleep – but he doesn't know that.

Steve fakes a smile – and it's very obviously fake, which somehow makes this whole situation more awkward. "That's fine; I just figured I'd ask."

Bucky feels like he should say something, so he says an equally awkward, "I appreciate it."

And then it's quiet.

Again, small talk is not their strong suit.

This was so easy when they were younger. They always had something to talk about. They always had more to talk about than they had time to talk about it. Now here they are, decades worth of stories to share, and neither of them can think of a single thing to say.

This is awful.

"So..." Steve clears his throat. "You, uh..." He pauses, then starts again. "Last time I saw you, you mentioned a special someone. How's that...?"

Bucky lowers his gaze to the cat curled up on his lap. "It seems to be going well." Alpine seems happy. She adjusts to new things remarkably quickly. It's impressive, really, though she was a stray; change is probably normal for her.

Steve balks at him. "You were talking about your cat?"

Bucky shrugs sheepishly. "I had to go home and feed her," he says. "She was hungry." He gently brushes his thumb over her head, and she begins to purr softly. She's so easy to please. He loves that about her.

"I thought you meant a person!" Steve says incredulously. "If I knew it was just a cat, I would've told you to bring her!"

And that's why I didn't tell you, he wants to say. He didn't want to move here. He didn't want any of this. And if he had a choice, if he wasn't the most wanted person in the world right now, he wouldn't even be here now. He would have grabbed Alpine and gone straight back to Romania.

"She's cute, though," Steve admits. "How old is she?"

Bucky shrugs. "I don't know. She just showed up one day."

Steve raises his brows. "She just showed up?"

"Yeah, it was raining and she was cold and wet so I let her inside," Bucky says. "And now here she is."

"Huh." Steve looks down at the cat, who's half-asleep and oblivious to their conversation about her. "Weird."

Bucky scratches the back of Alpine's neck, and she slowly opens her eyes and looks up at him. She yawns, her ear flipping backward and her mouth stretching open so wide, he's convinced she could fit a human head in there, before she settles back down in Bucky's lap.