trigger warning: mild sexual content that may be offensive or upsetting to some readers
Marjorie's POV
Marjorie stared incredulously at the closed door. Did Riku wink at her?
"Is she always like that?" wondered Bucky.
She turned back to him. "You mean cheerfully kidnapping people randomly? Pretty much."
Bucky stepped closer to her and ran his fingers through her hair lightly. "Your hair is very pretty like this," he offered. "It looks very nice against your skin."
She flushed with pleasure when he trailed the back of his index and middle fingers down the front of her neck.
"Marjorie?" he asked. "Can you do something for me?"
"Yes," she agreed reflexively. "Anything."
Bucky suppressed a smile at her intensity. "Come here, please." He pulled her to his side and sat down on the edge of her bed, setting her in his lap.
She waited expectantly.
"Can you tell me what you're feeling?"
Marjorie frowned: this wasn't what she expected. "What I'm feeling right now?"
"If you wouldn't mind."
"Well," thought Marjorie, "right now I'm wondering why you're asking, so, I guess, curious?"
He smiled in encouragement. "What else?"
"Umm." She racked her brain. "I like my hair... Does that count?"
"Yes, what else?"
"Kinda amused? Riku winked and tried to subtly leave us alone together, and I found that funny. And I'm glad that she, Blyke, and Rei still want to be my friends. But I'm kind of nervous to be back at XSGY; what is everyone going to think? And I don't want to see So-S–" she stumbled on the name "–Sof-fi again."
Bucky frowned. "Is Sofi your ex girlfriend?"
"Yeah," she muttered.
"What happened?" His eyes darkened. "Did she hurt you?"
"N-no. It's... complicated. I don't want to talk about it." Marjorie sounded sulky and petty outloud. But thinking about the breakup sent hurt lacing through her heart, and she didn't think she could put it into words without completely breaking down.
"Is that why you've been tensed up?" he guessed. "Because you're nervous to be back at XSGY?"
"I'm not ten—" Marjorie realized her back muscles were tensed, and she tried to relax. "How long have I been like that?" Since she thought about Sofi?
"All morning." He frowned at her, concerned. "Since your friends showed up."
"Wow, really?" She hadn't realized.
Bucky gently massaged her back. "I'm worried about you," he confessed. "It's like you can't relax."
"Do you blame me?" she muttered.
"No, of course not." He flattened her tense muscles with his metal hand, stroking down her spine to the small of her back. "I just don't know how to help you."
"That helps," she purred. He had started to slide his hand up and down her side slowly.
"I'm glad." Bucky continued the soothing rotation. "Doll?" he asked after a minute.
"Hmm?"
"Can you please explain the backpack?" he begged.
Marjorie snickered. He was really hung up on that. "What will you give me for it?"
Bucky paused the rotation, his hand settling on her hip. He pressed his lips against hers, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth. "Please?"
"Please what?" she moaned dizzily.
He flicked his tongue against hers. "Please tell me?"
"You really want to know, don't you?"
He licked her lips as an answer.
"Well, it's kinda like the void."
"'Void?'"
"You know how I can teleport?"
"Yeah."
"I don't just disappear then reappear, I go into the void and come out somewhere different."
"Okay, but what is the void?"
"Hmm... it's just shadows. It's, like, infinite darkness. It's nice."
"Infinite darkness is 'nice?'" he questioned.
She glared. "Stop interrupting."
Bucky nibbled at her bottom lip. "Sorry, Doll."
"Anyway, the backpack is a small section of the void that I tried to create as a permanent connection to the void that can be accessed without me teleporting into the void. I can put things in it, and, in theory, I can pull it out of the void without the backpack. It's kinda hard, though. Does that answer your questions?"
He thought about that. "So how big is the inside of the backpack?"
"Infinite."
"But... you said that the backpack is a small part of the void."
"Yeah, it's a smaller part of the larger infinity. The backpack goes to infinity slower. Make sense?"
Bucky looked like he was stretching his brain. "If you say so," he gave up.
Marjorie smiled. "Anything else?"
"Yeah. You're all tense again," he accused.
"I am?" She frowned; she was. How did that keep happening? And why hadn't she realized?
"Here." He unexpectedly flipped her over, so that she was laying on her stomach. "Stay still." He held her down by her shoulders and wrapped his legs around her hips, sitting upright so she couldn't move.
Marjorie struggled, but Bucky held her down. "What-what are you doing?"
"Shhh," cooed Bucky. "Don't move; relax."
"But—" Her protest dissolved into a groan as he kneaded her back; forcing the muscles to relax. "Ohhhhhh."
"Do you like that?" he teased, pecking the back of her neck with a kiss.
"Yes." Her words rolled. "Yes, Bucky," she moaned.
"You will stay relaxed," he growled, pushing the heels of both his palms into her shoulder blades. "You're not allowed to get up until you do."
"Ugh, staying here forever wouldn't be so bad."
"This would be easier without the hoodie..." Bucky fingered the hem of the top. "May I?"
"Yeah." He only lifted her up enough to slide it off her, not letting go of her or allowing her to escape. "Did you want the shirt, too?" Marjorie figured he had seen her in less before.
Bucky only hesitated a second before taking the shirt off of her, too.
"Why are you so tense?" he murmured. The contrast of his cold left hand and his warm right hand was more obvious on her bare skin. It was a very pleasing sensation. "You're not scared of the people who took you, are you?"
Marjorie groaned, her fists grabbing the sheets tightly. "Maybe," she admitted, reluctant.
He sighed, kissing in between her shoulder blades. "You know you're safe here, right?"
"Yes."
"Would I ever let anyone hurt you?" Bucky glided his lips down her spine to the small of her back.
"N-no."
He pulled his lips off of her and sat up, rubbing his right thumb against the center of the tension on her spine. "So there's nothing to worry about, is there?"
"No," sighed Marjorie, surrendering. She vaguely registered that her body had gone entirely limp.
"You finally relaxed," noted Bucky, continuing to rub his thumb in a small circle. "Good girl," he congratulated.
"Can I get up now, then?"
"No." He held her shoulder down with his left hand when she struggled to get up, while continuing the rotation. "It's one thing to relax, but wholly another to stay that way. The second I let you get up, you'll tense again."
"So I have to stay here forever?" she complained.
He laughed.