bucky barnes imagines

ix. TECHNOLOGY

It was late afternoon and the sunlight streamed in through the window, giving the room a warm orange glow. Usually you would be up by now, but it had been less than a day since you and most of the other Avengers had returned from a mission, so everyone was taking a day off.

Besides, you were too comfortable to get up. Bucky had both of his arms loosely wrapped around your waist, your legs tangled with his and your head was resting on his chest. Neither of you had spoken for a while, but there was no need to say anything. You were just enjoying each other's company.

You lazily stretched your arms out before tilting your head up to kiss Bucky's neck. When he didn't react, you gently ran your hands through his hair, prompting him to lean down and softly kiss your lips. Both of you smiled, but you caught a hint of a different emotion in your boyfriend's eyes. You escaped from his grasp and sat up, leaning against the headboard as you reached across to hold his hand.

"Hey, you okay?"

Bucky merely nodded, but he still looked slightly distant. In fact, if you were reading him correctly, he appeared to be feeling confused about something. You persisted, determined to make sure nothing was wrong. "What's bothering you, Buck?"

He remained silent for a couple of seconds, but eventually spoke. "Y/N, what's Grindr?"

Your eyes widened and, in your state of shock, you managed to choke on air. Bucky looked slightly panicked but you composed yourself and hoarsely asked him to repeat himself, just in case you'd somehow heard him wrong. But he said exactly the same thing, leaving you wondering why on earth he was suddenly curious about a gay hookup app.

"It's, um, just an app you can get on your phone. Why, where did you see it?" By this point, you were struggling not to smile.

"Oh, okay. It was yesterday, when we were in the quinjet and everyone's comms were down, we didn't have a way to reach you so Steve tossed me his phone to call you as a last resort. I saw it on there, and after we got hold of you I tried to open it but Steve snatched the phone back. I just wanted to know what he might be hiding from me."

You wanted to laugh. The story was comical and you couldn't wait to tease Steve about it later. But you glanced across to Bucky and he looked upset, maybe even a little betrayed. You knew how much his best friend meant to him, and he didn't like the idea of any secrets between them, especially not ones brought on by the fact that Steve had somehow gotten used to modern technology, whereas Bucky was still very much confused by it. So you decided that it was time to help him out.

"Bucky," you said quietly, waiting for him to look at you. Once he did, you gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand. "How about we go out now and get you a phone of your own? You can have one just like Steve's and I'll teach you how to use it, if you want?"

After considering for a moment, Bucky nodded, finally smiling back at you. As you both stood up, he opened his arms. "C'mere."

You stepped towards him and he hugged you happily, kissing the top of your head. "Thank you, doll."

A few hours later, you were back in the room with a small, rectangular box sitting between the two of you. Bucky instantly looked confused as he held the small device in his hand, which you found adorable. After switching the phone on and setting it up together, you showed him the basics and handed it back to him. "Okay, see if you can send me a text."

Amazingly, Bucky opened the messages app pretty quickly and you heard your phone ping. You unlocked it to read what he'd sent you. (Image below.)

Chuckling, you pointed to where the space button was on his screen. You also decided to show him how to type emojis, which he was pretty excited about. You found his innocence extremely cute and watched him closely while he continued to text you, spamming you with heart emojis until you reluctantly muted your own phone.

"Oh, and I almost forgot, you can also use the internet on this thing." After briefly explaining some standard websites such as Google and YouTube, you instructed Bucky to make a Google search of his own, just to see how it worked.

Before you had a chance to stop him, he'd typed in "what is Grindr" and was looking at the search results. You held your breath, waiting to see what his reaction would be.

A slow smirk spread across Bucky's face as he read the description. He looked at you, delighted to finally have something to tease Steve about.

As if on cue, Steve appeared at the door. "Hey, have you guys seen Clint anywhere?"

You could feel Bucky's eyes on you and you knew that if you looked at him, both of you would start laughing simply because you'd found out something you weren't supposed to know. But as you opened your mouth to answer the question, you heard a muffled chuckle from Bucky's direction and that was all it took. Both of you were in hysterics like mischievous children, leaving Steve confused...

Until the jokes began, anyway.