this chapter won't be as cringe
love me
nothing major happens in this chapter, it's just them getting used to each other.
THE WATER BUG
CHAPTER 2
❝DIE, YOU MOTHER-FUCKER.❞ SNAPPED Nava at the harmless, long-legged water-bug crawling about the red bathroom wall. In the fastest speed she could, Nava attempted to slam a rag down on it. It fell to the floor, but was unharmed. Nava hastily cut the wire to her stitches, and zoomed out of the bathroom in fear. She hated bugs, they were the one thing she couldn't deal with. Nava had been stitching her busted lip, thanks to Bucky. She hadn't made him his tea, but she gave him pillows and a blanket so he could sleep on the bullet-devastated couch. He wasn't much of a talker. He didn't complain, he didn't ask for anything, he was just dead silent.
But Nava needed him at the moment. "Hey, buddy, wake the hell up," she mumbled. Her voice was barely audible over the downpour going on outside. She shook his bare chest, trying to wake him up. Nava could imagine he would be sweaty, and had every right to take off his shirt, or armor. "Wake up," she tried a bit louder. Bucky immediately sat up, wide eyed. Nava had never seen something happen so sudden. Bucky looked stunned, and his eyes searched around the room until they met Nava's face. "What?" asked Bucky. It wasn't in anger, and it wasn't happiness either. It was perplexity and fear, and maybe just a hint of anger, mixed with a bit of relief.
"I-this is going to sound a bit, retarded," said Nava, slowly. Bucky stared at her, awaiting an explanation. Nava took her hand off his sweaty chest, "I need you to kill a bug,"
Bucky lay back down, folding his arms over his chest. He made a sort of 'pfft' sound of disbelief. "And you can't kill a bug with your...speed?"
"I don't like bugs,"
"You don't like me," he reasoned. Bucky's eyelids fluttered shut.
Nava took a deep breath. She stood up and trudged away from Bucky, finding it futile to beg or even try to persuade him. She tapped her slightly long finger nails against her palm as she nearly left the room. Nava stopped at the doorway, which seemed to be concluding her a lot lately. "I never caught your name?" she looked at him through the corner of her eye, not wholly turned around.
Bucky sat up, uncapping the water-bottle she gifted him and gulping down a reasonable degree. "I didn't throw it," answered Bucky, licking his dry lips. Nava crossed her arms over her chest in vexation. She rolled her eyes, grinding her tongue against her teeth in the process due to her exasperation caused by Bucky. He placed his water bottle on the living room table.
"Well, you should," Nava reasoned. She opened her mouth to speak but words did not transpire. She had no reason, just words. Nothing to say but an endless abyss of nada. Little did she know, Bucky wasn't sure of his name. He wasn't sure of anything, he was just confused and a bit deadly. He didn't say anything else, just sat in silence.
"Why?" he asked, so emotionless Nava thought she might bang her head in. He sounded tired more than anything.
Nava cleared her throat, hoping to come up with something. She turned around and faced him, to which he looked her in the eyes. Her eyes trailed over his body; a sudden idea formed in her brain. She cleared her throat again. "I'll get you clothes, much more comfortable than that armor you have." That wasn't the answer Bucky hoped to receive, however he accepted it.
"Bucky,"
"Oh, no, it won't cost anything. I have some of my boyfriend's old clothes..."
"I'm Bucky," he explained. "I think..."
Nava squinted and nodded. "Okay, sure," she didn't know if this guy was either partially insane or just lost and confused, but either wasn't exactly what she wished. He seemed fragile, and Nava didn't like dealing with fragile people. "I'm..." and Nava was also at a loss of words. Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Nava... Malka Socks Lewin. More commonly known as Rush-Hour, at least that's what SHIELD called me," she explained. This just made Bucky feel worse. She had this big-ass identity to describe, and here he was with a two word phrase.
But Nava was no saint. The reason she had that name was because the new shield thought she was a threat.
"What, do you only work at four p.m?" teased Bucky, the humor very hard to point out with the tone of his voice.
"Ha-ha. So, Bucky, how do you have sexual intercourse with that metal arm? Is it an turn-off or rather an turn-on..." she wondered to herself aloud.
"I haven't had sex in over fifty years," said Bucky. Nava raised an eyebrow. She looked at him, curiously. How old was he? She thought he ought to be at least seventy, though he looked nothing like it. Nava wondered if maybe he had an illness in which he looked younger than he was, but quickly disregarded the idea.
"You must be a pretty hormonic boy then," teased Nava. Bucky shifted uncomfortably, remaining silent.
"I... Can I have those clothes?"
♛
Bucky came out in the old clothes, and his appearance didn't seem so bad. Nava stood up from the devastated couch, eyeing him carefully. He was wearing a button up that only possessed three buttons. The shirt was tight on him, Nava's old boyfriend being shorter and skinnier than him. Bucky had closed them up, looking as uncomfortable as possible. He also wore sweatpants, which Nava seemed to like very much. "Okay, come here," said Nava. Bucky reluctantly took a few steps closer, standing a foot away from Nava. Nava moved closer, grabbing the sides of the button hole flap. She unbuttoned each one with no difficulty, Bucky's eyes following her fingers. "Thank you... Socks,"
Nava cringed at the name. She suddenly felt sweaty, but tried to hide everything going on with her feelings. Nava removed her hands from his chest, rubbing them on her leggings. "I-it's no problem, Buck..."she finished oddly, Bucky giving her a look of perplexity.
"The sweatpants good enough?" she questioned.
Bucky nodded.
"Then we should probably get some sleep," Nava moved back from Bucky. She never wanted to hear the name 'Socks' again. "You wake me up when you're hungry." Bucky nodded, but Nava didn't wait for a response, just exited the room.
Shook up about the name, sore from the fight with Bucky, and tired from lack of sleep, Nava crashed into bed. She thankfully brushed her teeth not too long ago, and could just sleep. Nava glanced up at the ceiling, preparing to shut the lamp.
Fuck.
The water-bug stared down at her.
Nava evacuated the bedroom, dragging her blankets along with her. She stepped into the living room; the only option of sleeping near Bucky. Nava groaned heavily in chagrin. "Sorry," she mumbled, and lay opposite to Bucky, her feet near his head. She threw her blanket over herself, humiliated she was sleeping next to the guy that tried to kill her.
"Can I help you?" asked Bucky, who she had believed was asleep. His tone sounded exhausted.
"The water-bug,"
"Isn't it in the bathroom?" asked Bucky. He had his arms crossed and was staring at the ceiling. Bucky hadn't really been close to women in a long time, forgetting how to talk to them as much as Albert Einstein himself. The flirtatious state of James Buchanan Barnes had deconstructed, somewhere astray in his brain.
"It was in the bathroom. It's in my bedroom now."
"Alright," grunted Bucky as he heaved himself up, folding the covers in the opposite direction as he slid out. "Let's go,"
Nava followed him into her bedroom. Bucky scanned the walls, leisurely. Nava was just tired looking at him. Bucky got onto Nava's bed and stood up on it. Nava really didn't know what he was seeing, because she really was unable to distinguish it. "What're you doing?"
Bucky ignored her, carefully moving his prosthetic arm towards a little grey fuzz on the ceiling. Nava watched carefully, until she recognized the grey fuzz to be the water bug. Bucky slammed his hand against the bug in unanticipated movement. The ceiling cracked and a piece fell off onto Nava's bed.
"You know what, why don't you just sleep here tonight?"
Bucky pressed his lips into a thin line and shuffled off the bed. "That'll work," he agreed, picking up the broken pieces of the ceiling and discarding them in her small trash bin.
Nava would stay on the couch. She personally thought it was much more comfortable than the bed. Whenever she let Alice sleep in the master bed, Nava would take the couch. Her butt and the couch had became best friends.
Nava's eyes found their way to Bucky's left arm as he came back with blankets. After a while of Nava staring stodgily at Bucky as he folded the blankets, he glanced at her several times.
Nava had so many questions she wished to ask, but all of them seemed so personal it was uncomfortable. To her he seemed despondent; all of his hopes and dreams crushed.
"You're scared,"
Bucky glanced up at her, but it seemed more of a glare. His jaw tightened. He continued to make the bed, unfolding the corners. Nava was sure he wasn't fond of her. Bucky didn't speak a word.
"You wanna talk about it?" offered Nava, folding her arms in sudden interest. Bucky grit his teeth, yet his response was the same, emotionless.
"There's nothing to talk about," answered Bucky as he had his back turned, and left the room. She guessed he was heading to the bathroom. Nava sighed softly. He reminded her of death, or rather depression. He appeared as if he had been through several wars, emotionally and physically. Nava's guess was that he slaughtered people, or maybe assassinated someone he loved. She didn't know.
Nava wanted to know more, she wanted to warm up to him. Another prediction of hers was that he would eventually leave, because what's the point of staying?
Nava left the room, closing the door behind her.
She needed some new ideas.
A/N:
sucky all the way
any predictions or stuff you want to happen?