Honesty ♧ Bucky Barnes

Cut That Sexual Tension With A Knife

"Hi Erin!" Bucky called out, keeping his eyes locked on the screen, where Mario sped through the finish line. He placed the controller down and looked at her, a glint in his eye. "How was the doctor?"

"Good," Erin replied, walking over to the kitchen and filling the kettle, looking back at the two men, who were still out of breath from their Video Game exertion, "Apparently you're helping me to overcome my fear of intimacy."

Bucky raised an eyebrow warily.

"You told him about me?"

Erin shook her head, pulling out a mug from a cupboard above her head.

"I told him there was a guy staying with me. Didn't go into any detail, don't worry. Do you want a cup of tea?"

Bucky nodded, and Steve stood up, brushing his hands on his jeans and placing the Wii controller down on the arm of the couch.

"I think I'll head off now, actually," The blonde said, clasping his hand down on Bucky's shoulder and walking towards the door, past Erin. "I still have some things to sort out myself."

Erin smiled and nodded. It made sense that Captain Amerca had some stuff to do on the sidelines, she couldn't expect him to stay with them. She waved at him as he left, closing the door tightly behind him and leaving her once again with Bucky. The room was silent as she poured out two mugs of hot water and popped teabags into them. She poured a drop of milk into each cup, added a spoonful of sugar to her own, then carried both of the cups to the couch that Bucky was sat on.

He took his tea wordlessly and took a sip, sighing slightly as the hot liquid ran down his throat. Erin followed suit. It had been a long day at work. One of her students had handed in an essay that basically consisted of the entire Wikipedia entry for the light-independent reaction of photosynthesis, but had blatantly denied plagiarism when she confronted him about it. She'd had no option but to report him to the University Board, something that she never enjoyed doing. Bucky, almost as if he could sense her tension, placed his tea down on a table next to the couch and looked over at her, a single eyebrow raised.

"...What?"

He said nothing, just stared at her with that same expression. She noticed it had been a few days since he had shaved, and a black stubble was beginning to shadow his jawline. It looked good on him.

Silently, he raised his hand to her. Clasped in the shining metal of his fist was a white rectangular shape.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not fucking playing Mario Kart with you. Buck..."

"You look like you've had a long day, Erin,"

He ignored her protests and grabbed the tea from her hands, placing it next to his, and replacing it with the remote controller. She couldn't help but smile at the look of excitement on his face. He looked at the screen and moved his mouse, selecting the next course.

"You're Mario and I'm Princess Peach." he explained, not looking at he as he selected Bowser's Castle and the screen went black in preparation for their next race.

"You're the Princess?" Erin's voice betrayed a smile.

"Of course," Bucky replied, a glint in his eye, "I look great in pink."

Erin rolled her eyes but gripped the controller slightly tighter nonetheless.

To her surprise, Bucky was actually a great player. He beat her easily on the first course, and the second. It was only by the time that they got to the third that Erin started to come into her own.