A few days after Flora had woken from cryo, Bucky went to visit her. Shuri wanted to make sure that all was well before Bucky went to visit, which irritated him tremendously.
Flora glanced up, seeing Bucky. She smiled and said, "Hello."
Bucky returned her smile. "Hi. How are you feeling?"
"Good. Really good. Where's my cat?"
"Uh, she was around. She's probably running around or sleeping. Flor, do you remember what you said to me before you went into cryo?"
Flora tilted her head and frowned, scrunching her nose slightly. "That it was best for me, right?"
His expression fell. "You don't remember."
"Remember what?"
He tried to hide his disappointment, but failed.
Flora started laughing and Bucky frowned. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny, Flora!"
"Buck, I told you that I love you. But I don't want a relationship. Not yet. I just-"
"You don't trust yourself yet."
She shook her head slowly. "No. I don't. I'm sorry, Bucky."
Bucky smiled, pulling her close. "It's okay. Just knowing you remember is enough for me."
Alpine walked into the room and meowed. Bucky smiled as he picked up the cat and said softly, "You remember Flora?"
Flora began petting her cat and after smelling her hand a moment, Alpine began purring.
She glanced up at Bucky and said, "Thank you for taking care of her."
Bucky nodded. "I know how important she is to you, doll. You told me to take care of her, and I did."
Flora smiled as she pet her cat.
Bucky smiled softly. As much as he wanted to be in a relationship with her, she'd said she wasn't ready, and he wasn't about to push her into something she wasn't ready for. He was just glad that she was awake and seemed to be doing well.
"Can we get food?" Flora suddenly asked.
Bucky chuckled and nodded. "Sure. What do you want?"
"Food."
"Helpful. Let's see what we can get, okay?"
"Okay," she replied in a bright tone.
The two walked away, matching each other's stride. Bucky was still holding Alpine. Flora wrapped her good arm around Bucky's and he gently kissed the top of her head.