"Let's go to LA," you say one Saturday night.
"I'm sorry, what?" Bucky replies quizzically. He momentarily looks away from the tv screen to see your eyes pinning him down in the most serious look.
You get up, digging under the mounds of blankets the two of you have buried yourself under for the remote. You pause the movie, put the remote down on the coffee table and in all seriousness, sit on Bucky's lap with your hands twisting around his neck and up into his soft hair.
"I'm serious Buck. Let's go to LA. Let's spoil ourselves! There's nothing stopping us. We could go tomorrow!"
"What would we do? What about hotels? What about the team?" he asks. Bucky is intrigued, he really is. He hadn't done something like this since...well, since never. The world had changed a lot since the 1940s.
"It doesn't have to be a long trip, Buck. We could talk to Steve, tell him you've been doing missions for quite a while now, which you have been. When was the last time you had a day off? We could go for maybe two nights, I'm sure Earth's mightiest heroes can survive two nights without the Winter Soldier" you add the last part cheekily.
This is why Bucky loves you. You're not predictable. Never were, never will be. All the training Hydra gave him would never prepare him for you. He eventually learnt to love that too. He looks at you, the kind of look that sees right through to your soul, the very essence of who you are, looking for any doubt that you might have about going on a holiday of all things with him. All he saw in response was the feisty, determined, love in your eyes. No shred of doubt.
Bucky cups your face and the two of you rest your foreheads against each other, reveling in the the other's presence.
"...ok. Let's go to LA" he whispers.
"HOME SWEET HOME!" you yell, dropping your bag and diving onto the beautiful, plush king-sized bed. You only figured out on the plane that being spoilt by Bucky meant spending two nights at the Ritz Carlton penthouse suite in the heart of LA. You'd nearly screamed out loud in the plane when he told you.
"Bucky, this is...amazing, I can't believe WE'RE DOING THIS!!!". He just smiles and brings in both of your bags, dropping on the bed next to you and pulling you in for a tight hug.
"So what are we doing?" Bucky asks.
"Well, I reckon we should take a nap because I don't know about you super-soldier, but plane trips always make me sleeeeeeepy"
"Babe, it's just 2pm. There's no way you'll be able to sleep"
"Hmmm...watch me" you say drowsily, already dropping off.
One of the perks of having an entire wall made of glass on the 10th floor of the Ritz Carlton is the amazing view you get over the city. Bucky wakes you up in time to watch the LA sunset. You wish you could freeze this moment, have it painted on the back of your eyelids, that feeling of having the man you love enjoying himself, that feeling of serenity as LA wound itself down again. You and Bucky stay on the edge of the bed staring out to the multiple skyscrapers and towers well after the sun has gone down and the twinkling lights of the city emerge, bright enough to match the stars.
"So what now?" you ask, stretching and hopping off the bed.
"I don't know, you're the one who said this trip was going to be a surprise for me. Wait, Y/N, do you not have a plan?" he asks the last part suspiciously.
"Well...I have a rough idea of what we can do" you say sheepishly.
"And what does this rough idea entail, doll?"
"Ice skating" you grin.
"DOLL, THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! A VERY VERY BAD IDEA!" Bucky yells as he wobbles precariously on the ice. You'd only gone ice-skating once in your life before and that was when you had your 8th birthday party at an ice rink with your friends. You couldn't even believe that you still remembered how to skate. You still couldn't believe that the famous ex-assassin and Winter Soldier could go months in the freezing cold of Romania, dispatch hostiles and save the world almost every day, but not manage to skate across the ice rink without looking like an elephant on a tightrope. You stopped trying to teach Bucky how to skate when he started pulling you down every time he fell.
The two of you looked like a mess. A very cute, clumsy, adorable mess. Bucky falling all the time made you laugh until you looked like a spastic walrus with a stitch and with no sound coming out of your mouth. That would make you lose balance and fall making Bucky - who would just be recovering - lose his shit until the two of you would just be lying on the ice, gasping for breath with tears being squeezed out the sides of your eyes. Couples, young and old looked on with fondness, chuckling along softly to your loud peals of laughter on the rink. Families looked on knowingly, having their love stories played out in front of them. Husbands and wives shared shy and fleeting looks once again, the image of young love transporting them back to the start of their journey together. You and Bucky were oblivious, just living in the moment, enjoying the feel of cold ice on your cheeks, the distant warmth and presence of each other in a completely new and different yet familiar and homely city. You wished you could press pause and forever keep this moment in a snow globe.
"Remind me to never go ice-skating with you again," you say, back at the hotel.
"You were distracting me! How was I supposed to concentrate on trying to stay on my feet?!" he says with mock hurt.
"Buck, you're a superhero and one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes! I can't believe the famous Winter Soldier cannot ice-skate. Oh boy, Steve's going to have a field day when I tell him this"
"DO NOT TELL STEVE, I SWEAR TO GOD Y/N" he exclaims. You don't say anything but just maintain eye contact with Bucky as you bring up the hotel phone to your ear, ready to dial the Tower. Faster than you can see, the phone line is dangling, severed midway. You just see Bucky slipping his knives back somewhere onto his body. Your mouth just drops open, eyes alternating between the short, curly telephone line and Bucky's smirk. He was goading you.
Not being one to ever back down from a fight, you look around the room to try and find some leverage against Bucky, your eyes land on a glass of water on the table next to him. With the master plan in mind, you make sure to smirk at him and slowly get up. You make sure to add a little sway in your hips as you walk towards him, seeing the realisation dawn in his eyes. You straddle him, hands slowly drawing patterns on his shoulder as you lean in close and slightly tighten your thighs around him. His hands immediately grip your waist, pulling you closer to him. His legs spread, just so you can feel the muscles in his thighs.
"Fuck, that was hot" you murmured, lips ghosting over his ears. You can hear him gulp, and it nearly makes you laugh because this is just too easy. You have this soldier wrapped around your finger. His voice drops down an octave as he replies
"Never knew you liked my knives". If this were any other situation, where you weren't preoccupied with the thought of dumping cold water on Bucky's head, you would have been thoroughly ready for him. He knew what his voice did to you and you knew how much he liked to watch you taking the dominant role, rolling your hips as you rode out your bliss. You deliberately let out a small hum as your trace your lips around and down his ear, ghosting down the rough stubble on his sharp jawline, making sure to lightly bite down. The grip on your waist tightened a little bit. You angled your head a little bit to bring the two of you even closer. You were sharing the same breath as neither backed out of the intense eye contact you had. You wanted to him to give in first, to want you so much that he wouldn't see it coming. You bring your lips closer, almost teasing Bucky. His self-control snaps completely when you oh-so innocently bite your bottom lip. He growls low at the back of his throat before he buries a hand in his hair and pulls you in close for a searing kiss.
For a second, every thought eddies out of your mind. You were tempted to just ditch the idea of a prank and let you Bucky have his wicked way with you. His lips were insistent, the kiss full of soft dominance. Your hands tangle in his long hair, tugging slightly, both of you moaning softly into each other's mouths. And you know that if you wait any longer, Bucky will pick you up and lay you down on the bed, and you'll miss your grand chance then. So without any warning, your hands dart out to the side table, groping around for that glass of water while still kissing Bucky. You nearly knock it over but luckily, he's lost in his own world. That is until you pull back and at the same time tip the glass right over his head.
You cannot stop laughing and quickly look around for your phone to capture the perfect moment. Bucky sitting on the chair, with his legs spread and a semi-hard on, head completely soaked, hair plastered down to his face. However, it was the shocked and disbelieving expression on his face was priceless. Quickly snapping the picture, you send it to the team with a caption.
"Prank war initiated ;)"
Well so much for a relaxing holiday. After the seductive trick with the glass of water, Bucky hadn't said anything as he just got up and walked out of the room. Bucky was a really patient and tolerable person, no way getting wet was enough to piss the super-soldier off. The two of you had fights over matters bigger and smaller than this and were able to work it out when you just talked. You would figure it out when he got back. You shrugged and laid down on the bed. Within minutes, you were fast asleep.
Bucky wasn't mad. Not even close. If you wanted a prank war, who was he to not say no? It was time to prove that he was the king of the best pranks ever pulled. Pouring a glass of water over his head? Child's play. The cashier had caught onto Bucky's plan as soon as he put the water balloons on the checkout and had unsubtly directed him to the water fountain at the park. Thanking the cashier, he grabbed the bag of water balloons. Bucky wasn't gonna fill the water balloons with water
A few kids with their parents recognised Bucky when he went to the hardware store. He saw them looking and gestured them over. Bucky's days of being a feared Soviet Union assassin were over and after the recovering years at the Avenger's Tower, the world had come to accept and love him as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Especially the ladies. The charming, seductive Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes was back. Although he only had eyes for you when he saw you at the cafe, furiously typing at your laptop. The kids had been more than happy to help when Bucky had told them about the prank war. Any excuse to help the famous Winter Soldier.
In no time, Bucky left the hardware store with a bag full of water balloons, 6 different pots of paint and around 10 kids in tow, eager to help the Winter Soldier with the world's best prank. About half an hour later, the back of the hardware store was covered in paint, as was Bucky and the kids. But they had about 100 water balloons filled up with paint, ready for war. He thanked the children, even gave a little girl in a pink tutu a hug and headed back to the hotel.
When he snuck into the room, he really wasn't surprised to see you sleeping. This woman could sleep anywhere, anytime he thinks to himself. You look so peaceful, lost in your world of dreams that Bucky almost feels bad for splatting the first water balloon on your cheek.
Almost.
You wake with a start, just to have something wet hit your chest. You look down to see your entire shirt plastered to your chest, dripping in bright green paint, your hair wet with blue and the bed around you splattered with other various colours. The only thing you can hear is the drip of the paint in your hair on the bed before Bucky gives you the biggest shit-eating grin and sprints into the hallway.
"JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES, WHAT THE FUCK?!" you yell, jumping off the bed and sprint out of the door, before backpedalling in again, spotting a bright bag behind the door. The note on top of the bag reads:
"Prank war accepted ;)"
Well at least he plays fair you thought. You might kiss him for possibly being the best boyfriend in the world. After you soaked him, of course. You work your way up, hoping to trap Bucky on the roof and then pelt him. You finally found a disadvantage to living in the Ritz Carlton: there were too many floors to scour for a super-soldier and soon you found that there was more than one elevator in the hotel. Which meant trapping Bucky suddenly became a lot harder. You tried to think and trace back clues that he'd given you. He wasn't covered in paint like you were, so tracking him down was a little trickier. He hadn't been carrying a bag of paint balloons like you, so he either had more on him or...
Holy fuck, he's back in the room.
This was your one chance to catch him before he slipped between your fingers again. Forgetting the infuriatingly slow elevator, you take the steps three at a time, zooming down like a blur. Halfway down, you almost crash into a family. You probably looked like a maniac, half of your head and face covered in blue paint, shirt sticking to your chest with green paint as you hurtling down the stairs with crazy laughter. A moment of shocked silence passed between you and the family before you decided that they could think whatever the fuck they wanted. You had a prank war to win. Racing down again, you reach the 10th floor after a few more flights of stairs. Slowing down, you start to tiptoe towards your room just as a person comes out fo your room.
Bucky. With his arm full of paint balloons. Heading right towards to where you were hiding in the stairwell. He'd probably gone back to check if you'd risen to the bait and taken the bag. Well, you had, and it was going to be his ultimate downfall.
Just a little closer babe. A little closer.
3...2...1...
You jump out the side, two balloons at the ready. You throw them at a surprised and shocked Bucky and within seconds his neck is covered in an obnoxious pink and his stomach is painted a bright yellow. Before you can make a quick getaway, an arm pulls you closer to a firm, warm body and red paint rains down your shoulder. In a tangle of arms and bodies, Bucky and you bombard each other in red, yellow, pink, green, blue and white paint while shrieking, yelping and laughing.
"TRUCE BUCKY TRUCE!! I SURRENDER!" you gasp as the last paint balloon splashes against your thigh. He lets go immediately and you spin around to look at him and the damage around the two of you. One look at each other and you're both gasping for breath as you laugh your guts up. Bucky's hair is sticking up at weird angles with an array of colours working through them. A splash of blue paint on his face made him look like a very big and muscly Smurf His once clean black shirt is so wet that the paints mix and drip on to the floor and his metal arm is completely covered. Streaks of green and yellow paint make their way down his thighs and you're pretty sure you look the same, if not worse. Both of you grin at each other and you see that your teeth are stained like the two of you ate a rainbow.
The carefree spell around you two is broken when the elevator behind Bucky dings loudly. You both sprint towards your room, the paint covered footprints not hiding you at all as you shut the door and lock, breathing heavily and still a little bit delirious from all the exhilaration. Giggling lightly, you wrap your hands around a paint-covered Bucky and raise on your tip-toes. His arms instinctively wrap around your waist as you place a small kiss on the edge of his eyebrow; the only part of his face not covered in paint. He huffs lightly in amusement but looks down at you with the utmost adoration and love. This man was your everything.
"C'mon doll, let's get you cleaned up" he whispers as pulls you towards the enormous shower in your bathroom. Washing each other's hair and bodies lead to something else and safe to say, the two of you cleaned each other up pretty thoroughly. The whole day got to the two of you halfway through the shower, and you nearly fell asleep on Bucky's shoulder with the warm water lulling you off to dreamland. He carried you out since you were only half conscious to try and dry yourself off. Luckily, room service had been in when you two were searching for each other and changed the paint covered sheets for beautiful soft ones and the fluffy pillows. Bucky dresses you up in one of his clean shirts that fall down to your thighs and tucks you into bed. You're awake enough to smile tiredly at him before you feel the bed dip and warm hands wrap around. Bucky pulls you flush to his body, tangling his legs with yours and tucking his head close to your neck. Just as he drops off, he hears your soft and sleepy voice,
"I still won, Buck"
The next morning, when the two of you checked out of the hotel and got back to the Tower, the two of you had to embarrassingly explain to Tony why his tab was charged with an extra room service charge.
"...We had a lot of food to eat?" you say sheepishly