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ladycatofwinterfell · 3 years ago

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Raindrops, snowflakes, sunshine, part 4

Summary: Catelyn meets a northern boy in her algebra class during one of London’s many rainy days. Initially she doesn’t expect much, but this boy brings her a surprising amount of sunlight.

@leialannister and I discussed Scandinavian Starks and I realized I really wanted to write a fic so that’s what I did. Swedes depicted in media makes this Swede happy, and NedCat also makes me happy so why not combine it and publish him for everyone to see?

A sigh escaped her when she finally put the cookies in the oven. That had taken a lot longer than she had expected it to. She glanced at the clock, maybe she would have to message Ned and tell him that she would be a bit late.

“What are you baking?”

Elia came into the kitchen and opened a cupboard to take out a glass.

“Chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter” Catelyn replied.

“Any chance I can get one when they’re finished?”

“Absolutely. I made too many anyway.”

Either she was baking for a country or for one small child, she could never make anything in the right amount. That day she had apparently decided to bake for all of London. But that was good, then she could leave some at home and bring some to Ned. Taking up her phone she quickly wrote him a message about that she would be a bit late. She had planned on starting to bake earlier, but then there had been some obstacles. The obstacles were that she had promised Cersei to paint her nails and do her hair for her date. Which she didn’t regret, Cersei had looked awesome when she was done.

“Can you make too many cookies?” Elia asked.

She opened the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice.

“I can only bring so many to Ned without looking like a crazy person.”

“Who’s Ned?”

Had she never told Elia his actual name? She guessed not. He was known as the Swede in their household, Ashara and Cersei exclusively called him by that name.

“The Swede.”

“Ah, I guess your date went well, then” Elia said, smiling.

“It wasn’t a date, we’re not dating.”

“Whatever you say. Ash told me you wouldn’t talk much about it, so I figured it didn’t go well but if you’re baking for him it can’t have been too bad.”

“It wasn’t bad at all, he’s really nice. I like him.”

“So why not date him?”

Catelyn sat in a chair at the kitchen table while Elia poured her juice.

“Because I’m not interested in him in that way. He’s cute, I can admit that, but no.”

Elia just shrugged and put the juice back into the fridge before leaving the kitchen again. Catelyn wasn’t baking because she was interested in him, she had just been walking around feeling guilty about that she had nothing to give in return for him teaching her to draw. So she had decided that the least she could do was bring him some homemade cookies. It didn’t feel enough, but it was something. She started gathering up all the things she had used so that she could clean them, but just after she had filled the sink with water her phone started buzzing. She cleaned her hands and walked to take her phone, expecting it to be Ned, but instead her uncle’s name was on the screen.

“Hello, Uncle” she said.

She had been calling him twice a day all week to find out what that phone call from Edmure had been about, but he hadn’t answered her. She had almost believed he had got into an accident, but her father had assured her that Uncle Brynden was just fine. He hadn’t known what it was about though, and he hadn't known why Brynden wasn't answering his phone.

“Little Cat, good to hear your voice!”

She put the phone on speaker and picked up the dish brush, beginning to scrub away remains of cookie dough.

“You could have heard my voice much earlier if you had taken my calls” she responded.

“My phone died and I lost it, but my husband found it behind a shelf earlier today so now I could call you” Brynden said.

Catelyn had to keep herself from laughing.

“How did it end up behind a shelf?”

“Believe me, I would also like to know that.”

“Alright. Edmure said you wanted to know if I would be home for Christmas, can I ask why you wanted to know that? You know I always come home for Christmas.”

“I thought of visiting you soon if not, but now when you’re coming home for Christmas I can wait until spring.”

None of her family members had come to visit her in London, she had just gone back home. Which made sense, but she still wanted to show them her life there. She would have insisted he come before Christmas if she had not had an exam coming up. She wouldn’t have much time to spare, and if he was coming to London she actually wanted to be able to see him and do things.

“You’ll have to promise you’ll come this spring. I would love to finally get to show you how I have it here.”

“I promise. Might bring Edmure too, the boy is eager to see London.”

Edmure had never been to London. When she thought of it she didn’t think he had ever been outside of Ireland.

“You should bring Edmure. It’s about time he gets to see something different.”

“A shame it’s London and not a good city.”

She didn’t like Britain, and she hated what they had done to her country. What they had put her people through. But she had nothing against London in particular. It was a okay place to live and she had made great friends there.

“London isn’t bad, he’ll like it.”

“Of course he will, the boy has no taste.”

“He’s a child” Catelyn chuckled.

“He’ll always be like this. You're a lot like your younger self, I can still see much of little Catelyn Tully in you.”

“Well, you still call me Little Cat so I figured that.”

She stopped what she was doing when her Uncle didn’t answer her. She waited a few seconds to see if he would, but her phone was silent.

“Hello?” she called.

Then she heard Brynden’s voice. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, he clearly wasn’t talking to her. Had to be his husband, he probably had to go. She didn’t have time for a long phone call anyway, so that didn't bother her at all.

“The husband insists it’s time for dinner” he informed her. “So this is farewell for now.”

“There’s no need to talk like it’s the 18th century and you’re going on an adventure at sea, just say goodbye like a normal person.”

“Life is a lot more fun if you see it as an adventure. Therefore I’m telling you farewell for now. Until next time, Little Cat.”

A smile appeared on her face.

“Goodbye, Uncle.”

The phone clicked as Brynden ended the call. Catelyn finished the dishes in silence, listening to the music coming from the living room and Ashara and Elia’s laughter. Often she dreamed of getting her own place, but in moments like those she really liked sharing a flat. Despite that it didn’t have a balcony. She took the cookies out of the oven to let them cool before she would put some in a jar for Ned. And as expected the two other women swept in like vultures.

“Don’t touch them, you’ll burn yourselves” Catelyn warned as she turned her back on the cookies to see if she could find a jar.

She was sure if that she had at least one somewhere in the back of a cupboard. Behind all that other crap they never used. She dragged a chair over and stepped up on it to be able to reach the top shelf.

“Ouch, fuck, goddamnit!”

Catelyn didn’t have to turn around to know that Ashara was jumping around, holding her burned hand to her chest. Her first words were followed by a sentence in Arabic that Catelyn strongly suspected just consisted of more swear words. Elia was laughing and a moment later the tap was running.

“Oh my poor darling” Elia chuckled.

“Told you” Catelyn said calmly.

To her triumph she found a jar. It was ugly as sin, the psychedelic flower pattern was enough to give her a headache, but it was what she had and it was a lot better than nothing.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think they were so fucking hot!” Ashara howled.

“I just took them out of the oven, what did you expect?”

“Not this!”

She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t the first time it happened and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Every time she baked either Cersei or Ashara burned a hand. No matter how many times she warned them of the heat.

“Leave the kitchen and come back in fifteen minutes when they have cooled down a bit, I promise they’ll still be here.”

“Sounds like something someone who’s planning to take the cookies away would say.”

“Just go.”

Ashara pulled a face at her before leaving the room closely followed by her girlfriend. Finally, inner peace. Half an hour later Catelyn left with half of the cookies. She had a suspicion of that the rest would be gone by the time she was back. If Cersei came home before her they would definitely be gone. But she was happy that liked what she made them. That was all she could contribute when it came to food. She didn’t even bother swearing over that the lift was still broken. She just took the stairs. It had already been dark for two hours when she stepped outside the building. She hated it. Autumn was nice, things were very pretty during autumn, but the cold and the darkness she could do without. Catelyn had been surprised when he asked if she wanted to come over to his place. They had been talking about meeting up again, and Catelyn had assumed maybe they would go for another walk or something like it. But then Ned had said that she could come to him if she wanted to, so that he could honor his promise. She was breaking a lot of safety rules when it came to meeting new people by seeing him in a private area so soon, so she hoped he wasn’t a serial killer. She had given both Cersei and Ashara his address so if she went missing they would know where to start looking. But she was very sure of that she would be fine, he was a good person. She was still nervous when she arrived at his building though, but for a completely different reason. She didn’t know what reason, but she sure was nervous. What was up with her? Why couldn’t she just go over to her friend’s place without feeling like her heart would make it’s way out of her chest. It was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. All of it was ridiculous. The building’s door required a code to be opened. She didn’t know the code, Ned hadn’t said anything about that. She took up her phone and texted him.

Code?

His answer came just a second later. It made her happy to know he had been waiting for her.

I’ll be down in a minute

Less than a minute later she saw him come down the stairs through the glass panels in the door.

“Hey” he said after having opened the door.

“Hey. Sorry I’m late.”

“No need to apologize. You’re here now, aren’t you?”

They began walking up the stairs.

“The house doesn’t have a lift” Ned said. “Sucks when you have groceries.”

Catelyn couldn’t hold back a smile at that. The house had four floors, how bad could it be? She guessed it was sort of a problem if he lived on the top floor, but that was still less than what she was used to.

“What floor do you live on?”

“The third.”

“Not to belittle your struggles or anything, but I live on the sixth floor and we have a lift, but it never works. That sucks.”

“Wow, I take back everything I said.”

When they reached the third floor there were three doors. One to the left, one to the right, and one right ahead of them. He opened the right one and then gestured for her to enter before him. He held the door open for her as she walked inside and she found herself in a small hall. Only a shoe rack and a coat hanger fit in there. Past that was a small flat, consisting of only one room and door that lead to what Catelyn guessed was a bathroom. Directly to her left was a very clean kitchen, across from it, on her right was a neatly made bed. Ahead of her on the right was a couch and a TV, and across of that was a round table with five chairs around it. On almost every flat surface there was a plant, on the window sills more than one, giving life to the otherwise white and grey room. A lamp above the table was on, but apart from that the place was only dimly lit up by smaller table lamps and fairy lights. All the walls had some sort of art on them, ranging from sketches to full paintings, the only exception was where the bookshelf was. The bookshelf didn’t seem as organized as the rest of the flat, she found no pattern, and books that didn’t fit in it had been placed in piles on top of it. The scent of coffee and something sweeter filled the air. Maybe it came from one or several of the flowers, maybe it was the laundry detergent he used, maybe it was something completely different. She didn’t know, but she liked it. It wasn’t large, but it felt so much like a home. One was immediately hit with the feeling that someone had made that small area their own. She had been in homes where it was clear that the owner only used it as a place to sleep, but so was very much not the case with Ned’s home. And best of all, he had a balcony. She would have killed for a balcony.

“Welcome to my humble home” he said, closing the door behind them.

“I love it” she responded in complete honesty.

“It turned out a lot better than I initially thought, it didn’t look very nice when I moved in.”

“One has to trust the process. And that balcony can’t have made things worse.”

“It faces an alleyway, the view is terrible.”

She didn’t care what the view was, it was the balcony itself that made her happy. Though of course she wanted her future balcony to have a nice view if it wasn’t too much to ask for. She put her bag down, and took off her shoes and her coat. She liked the shoe rack, she would have to raise the question of getting one for her own home with Cersei and Ashara.

“We don’t have to draw if you don’t want to, but I thought I would at least present the option" he said when he went inside before her.

She noticed that there was a bunch of papers and pens on the table. She also noticed that Oden was sleeping underneath it. She hadn’t seen him at first, but she smiled when she did. She didn’t think she had ever smiled at a dog.

“I’m eager to learn every little thing you have to teach me.”

“Amazing, where would you like to start?”

A class where she got to make her own curriculum, how nice.

“You said you’re good at drawing people, right? Can you teach me to draw a face?”

He sat by the table and pulled out the chair on his right.

“That shouldn’t be impossible.”

Catelyn sat next to him and they began. She believed he had said that he wasn’t a very good teacher or something close to that the previous time they had met, but she heavily disagreed. With patience he guided her through everything, redid stuff half a hundred times just so she could see it and understand. After a while the table was covered in drawings of facial features and faces from different angles. It was easy to tell which ones were his and which were hers, but she wanted to believe she was improving. And Ned said she was, he came with much encouragement. But she came to a point where it didn’t feel like it. She had trouble getting lines straight, it looked very shaky.

“I can’t get it straight” she sighed in frustration when she tried for what had to be the tenth time to get a nose right.

Ned studied her drawing and her hand for a moment before answering.

“You need to relax your hand, you’re too tense. It makes you shake.”

“I am relaxing my hand!”

He put his pen down and scooted his chair closer to her. At first she didn’t understand what he was doing but then he put his left hand over hers, gently helping her adjust her hold in order to relax her hand. Maybe she should have been focused on trying to get it right, but she was mostly focused on keeping her breathing steady. He was close to her. He was very close to her. She could smell his cologne. And he was essentially holding her hand. She kept her eyes downwards, tried to do what he wanted her to do, but she was positive her heart was going to stop.

“There you go” he said. “Try now.”

“Okay” she said, hearing that her voice was a higher pitch than usual.

She hoped he didn’t notice. She tried to keep her hand steady despite that she was shaking a lot more than she had been before.

“It looks better now, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Both of them jumped in their chairs when the door opened. In stepped a man who somewhat resembled Ned, they had the same hair color and the same facial features, but he was taller. And very attractive. Catelyn had to stop herself from looking at him too much and instead turned her gaze to the dog he had with him, another German shepherd, who seemingly didn’t have Oden’s calm temper. He pulled on his leash, wanting to come over to where they sat. She hoped he would stay right where he was with that dog, she had a feeling of that she wouldn’t like it as much as she liked Oden. Oden immediately left his spot at their feet and walked to lie down in a corner of the room, clearly wanting nothing to do with the other dog. Catelyn realized that she had instinctively tensed up, so she took a deep breath and forced her shoulders down. It was just a dog. Except for that it wasn’t. It was a scary dog, and she could feel her pulse go up.

“Vad gör du här?” Ned sighed, scooting his chair away from her again.

It made a loud, scraping noise. Not like when he had came closer to her.

”Jag skrev att jag tänkte komma förbi, men du svarade inte” the man said with a shrug.

Catelyn wasn’t sure of what she was going to do, and as usual she didn’t understand a word of Swedish. She assumed he was Ned’s older brother, as they looked alike and both spoke Swedish.

“Det fanns en anledning till det” Ned said, annoyed by whatever it was that his brother had said.

But the brother didn’t seem to hear him, he instead looked at Catelyn and smiled.

“Didn’t think I’d ever see you again” he said.

She had never seen him before, what was he talking about?

“You must be mistaking me for someone else, we haven’t met” she said. “I’m sorry.”

He laughed.

“I’m not mistaking you for someone else, you don’t forget hair like that. You have nice hair.”

She tried to remember when and where she could have seen him. They didn’t have class together, she would have known if she was in the same class as Ned’s brother. Had she met him at a pub? She never got drunk enough to not remember people she had met. Was he a friend of a friend? That seemed like the most plausible explanation. She would have to ask around about that.

“Thank you, I suppose, but I have to apologize, I don’t remember you.”

It was embarrassing. She didn’t believe that had ever happened to her before, she usually remembered people. Though at least she wasn’t blushing.

“Then I won’t be the one to remind you, let’s start over” he chuckled. “I’m Brandon, the better looking one. I never got your name last time so what’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Men för fan, Brandon, bete dig!” Ned said firmly.

“Language, little brother” Brandon said. "And I am behaving."

She assumed Ned had told him to behave with a swearword thrown in somewhere. She didn't know which word it was though.

“He has a point, you’re being a bit of an arse. So please replace sweetheart with Catelyn next time, that’s my name.”

“That’s prettier than sweetheart anyway.”

He didn’t seem to be that sharpest knife in the drawer, it sounded like something out of a book on how to compliment women. But he was good looking, and maybe he was better after one got to know him.

“Thank you” she said once more, twirling her pen between her fingers.

“Vill du ha henne eller kan jag ta henne?” Brandon then said to Ned. “Hon är snygg.”

”Vad är det för fel på dig?” he responded in an exasperated voice. “If you didn’t want something important can you please take your dog and leave?”

“Du behöver inte bli sur” Brandon said, raising his free hand into the air.

“I’m not, but you’re being inappropriate towards my friend and Tor really upsets Oden. So can you leave and come back tomorrow?”

“Varför på engelska?”

“Because Catelyn doesn’t understand Swedish.”

“Du pratar inte med henne.”

“No, but she’s here.”

Catelyn certainly was there. She was also thoroughly confused. She had no idea about what Brandon was saying, and she had no idea about why Ned was talking about her. It almost would have been better if she didn’t understand anything at all instead of only getting bits and pieces.

“Look, I’m free tomorrow, you can come back then. Men nu skulle jag uppskatta om du lämnade oss.”

Brandon studied his brother for a moment, then he grinned.

“Absolutely. Godnatt.”

”Godnatt, Brandon.”

Brandon and his dog, who she assumed was named Tor, left and the door shut behind them. She had to do a lot of assuming as she didn't understand much. Oden stayed right where he was, his gaze fixated on the door like he was expecting Tor to break back in. She understood him.

“He’s most often not like that, I’m sorry” Ned said as he got up from his chair and walked over to sit by Oden on the floor. “I won’t excuse his behavior, but I want you to know that he can be nice.”

Oden immediately placed his head in Ned’s lap, but kept his eyes on the door.

“Mind if I sit with him for a bit?” he asked. “He gets stressed around Tor. They’re from the same litter and Tor partook in the puppy bullying that went one when they were little.”

“Puppies are so small and cute, how are they capable of bullying?” she said.

“Kids are small too, and they still bully each other.”

“I guess. Still hard to wrap your head around it. I mean I get it now, that was a scary dog, but a puppy?”

“Are you afraid of dogs?” he asked, surprised.

How could he be surprised about that? She had believed that she had clearly shown him that she was afraid of dogs.

“They have lots of sharp teeth, they make loud and sudden noises, large ones can easily kill you, it’s not really my thing. Oden is fine though, he’s very polite.”

Ned chuckled.

“More of a cat person, huh?”

Catelyn looked him dead in the eye.

“If you make one single cat pun I will get up and leave” she threatened.

“Based on the look on your face it feels like you have heard them all already.”

“I have heard them all. Multiple times. I doubt anyone can come up with a new one at this point. They aren’t worse than the fact that an ex used ‘Kitty’ as a nickname for me through.”

She had learned to accept KitKat, she would never learn to accept Kitty. She hated it, she was a grown woman and didn’t want to be referred to the same way one referred to a cute kitten. Luckily no one else had used that nickname and she thoroughly hoped it would stay that way.

“I take it you prefer just Catelyn, then?”

“Or Cat. I don’t mind Cat, it’s short and easy to spell.”

People never seemed to spell her name correctly on the first try. There were simply too many ways to spell the way her name was said. People often replaced the C with a K and threw in a couple of i’s for good measure. So sometimes it was easier to just go by Cat.

“I get it, often it’s easier to go by a shortened name.”

She snorted.

“Your name is three letters and super easy to spell, you don’t get to complain.”

Ned laughed at that.

“I always go by Ned, but it’s not actually my name. My name’s Eddard.”

So she had been right, Ned was short for something.

“It’s a nice name.”

“You said that about my dog too, so I don’t know what to believe.”

Had she? She had no memory of what she had said upon learning Oden’s name. It had been weeks since that. But he was probably right.

“You both have nice names, that’s all there is.”

“Thank you.”

She left her pen on the table and stood up.

“Do you want cookies?”

He shrugged.

“Cookies are good, but I unfortunately don’t have any. I would have got some if you had said you wanted it.”

“No worries, Eddard Stark” she said as she went to get her bag from the coat hanger. “I can supply the cookies.”

She pulled out the jar and went back to the table.

“Did you bake?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

He got up from the floor.

“I hope you don’t have any severe allergies because I really don’t want to kill you, and I also hope you like chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter because that’s what I baked.”

“Sounds amazing. Can I make you some tea to go with the cookies?”

“Absolutely.”

Catelyn sat at the table again while Ned walked to the small kitchen.

“You know you didn’t have to bake” he said as he took two mugs out of a cupboard.

“I wanted to give something back to you for inviting me into your home and trying to teach me to draw. And I’m good at baking, so I thought I would bake you something” she explained.

She picked up her pen again, once more put it to the paper and tried to get the shading on the nose right so that it didn’t look so flat. Very softly she moved the tip of the pen, and found that she managed to keep her hand steady while doing so. Maybe he had managed to get something into her head, after all.

“I really appreciate it, thank you” he said and she heard him fill a kettle with water.

“It was the least I could do.”

She stopped for a moment to look at the paper in front of her. That actually looked like a nose. It wasn’t nearly as good as what he had done, but it was the best nose she had ever managed to draw. Maybe her pride was childish, it wasn’t a big accomplishment, but she really hadn’t expected to do so well. She could feel herself smile.

“What kind of tea do you want?”

“Uhm, preferably something fruity, if you have it. I like sweet teas.”

High on the feeling of success she moved onto the eyes of the person on her paper.

“Fruity? That’s not very British of you” he responded.

“I know, it’s a conscious choice. Drives one of my flatmates mad.”

Cersei refused to drink sweet teas. She only drank black tea and Earl Grey. Nothing disgusted Catelyn more than Earl Grey. She was also sure of that Cersei only refused to drink other teas out of spite. She was a very proud Brit when it came to tea.

“Is she British?”

“Yes, a born and bred Londoner. My other flatmate is from Morocco, so the British are outnumbered in my home. She’s very strict on the tea though. We’re working on humbling her, but our attempts so far have been unsuccessful.”

“It’s very hard to humble a Brit, I’ve tried.”

“Do you have any advice for me?”

“No, because I failed in epic proportions. He’s still the same.”

She looked up at him. He stood with his back to her, pouring the hot water into the mugs. She wondered who he was talking about. She would have liked to ask, but it didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it. Whoever it was was probably a lot like Cersei. She loved Cersei, but she sure was a handful at times. Especially when it came to her Earl Grey.

“We have a word for this in Swedish” Ned said.

“You have a word for trying to humble Brits?”

That was unreasonable and way too specific. He laughed.

“That would be ‘försöka göra en brittisk person ödmjukare’, which is a sentence and not a word, but that’s not what I meant. I meant we have a word for sitting down with someone to eat a pastry or something like it and maybe drink something.”

That mad a lot more sense.

“And what’s this word?”

“Fika. Most people do it daily. We have breaks at work for fika.”

"Is that a verb or a noun?"

"Works as both. You can fika, but you can also sit down for a fika."

“That’s brilliant, there should be an English word for that.”

“One of many things I miss from Sweden.”

She turned her gaze downwards again, but found that she didn’t have the same luck with the eyes that she had had with the nose. She tried to do what he had showed her, and she looked at everything he had drawn out for her on a different paper, but she just couldn’t get it to work.

“You’re doing very well.”

Turning her head up she found him standing right behind her, leaning forward slightly to see better. And for some reason she could once more feel her heart racing in her chest. And that time he wasn’t even touching her. What was wrong with her?

“Thank you” she said.

That time she managed to keep her voice normal, so that was always something. Ned put her mug down and sat next to her again. Catelyn opened the jar and offered him a cookie before taking one herself.

“I hope you like them.”

She raised her cookie in a cheers before taking a bite. She couldn’t know what he thought, but she was more than happy with the result. Those were some tasty cookies, if she could say so herself. And based on his reaction he seemed to like them as well.

“These are really good” he said. “Like, really, really good. Screw drawing, can you teach me to do this?”

Catelyn tried to keep herself from smiling as she had her mouth full, but found that she was unable to do so and raised a hand to hide her mouth.

“This isn’t even my best, you should taste my carrot cake. I make a killer carrot cake.”

“I love carrot cake.”

“Me too.”

He paused for a moment before smiling.

“Do you want to hear a word that’s even more brilliant, but that doesn’t exist in English?”

“Definitely, share your Swedish wisdom with me.”

“Lagom. It means just the right amount of something. Not too much and not too little. It doesn’t matter what it is, anything can be lagom.”

Her phone started buzzing and she threw a glance at it. She planned on not answering, whoever it was that demanded her attention could wait, but when she picked it up to put it on silence and saw that it was Cersei she quickly changed her mind. Cersei was out with some guy Catelyn didn’t know, and maybe something had happened or she needed an out. Helping her friend was way more important than not having a small interruption.

“I’m sorry this keeps happening, but my friend’s out and I really don’t want something to happen to her” Catelyn said before taking the phone.

“You don’t need to apologize, make sure your friend is okay.”

“Hey, is everything alright?” Catelyn said after having accepted the call.

“Yeah, it’s alright, thanks for asking. And you, are you alright?”

There was nothing in Cersei’s voice that suggested otherwise and Catelyn was instantly relieved. She was okay.

“I’m good.”

“Great, I was just wondering if you and the Swede would like to come to a Christmas party?”

“What?”

“Yeah, Robert hosts these large Christmas parties every year and he’s in the bathroom at the moment so I thought I’d call you and see if you wanted to come.”

So that was the name of her boyfriend. Robert. Catelyn would have to remember that. And if she went to the Christmas party she would get to meet him too. From nothing to both a name and an opportunity to meet him in person in a matter of just a few seconds, how nice.

“Can we talk more about it when we’re both home?” she said.

There was no need to talk about it right then, both of them had other things to do. And it wasn’t like the party would be anytime soon, there was still awhile until December, they had time to talk about it later.

“Of course, I just didn’t want to forget, you know how I am. But check with the Swede, will you?”

“I’ll check with him” Catelyn promised.

“Good, I’ll se you at home.”

“See you at home.”

Ned was quite obviously pretending not to be curious, but she saw right through it. She had noticed he wasn't very good at pretending.

“My friend’s boyfriend is having a Christmas party and she wondered if we would like to go.”

He didn’t try to hide his surprise though.

“We? As in me, too?”

“She asked for you specifically, so yeah.”

She didn’t know if it was because she wanted to meet Ned or because she didn’t want to make Catelyn feel lonely. Catelyn didn’t feel lonely. She was fine on her own and it didn’t bother her that her flat mates were in relationships.

“Unless I have something else I guess I can go.”

Catelyn smiled. Before starting to speak she realized how much she had been smiling since arriving there. He made her smile a lot, he made her feel good. She liked that about him. She liked him.

“Yay! It’ll be much more fun with you there.”

“I’m not the biggest fan of parties, and I won’t know anyone. But I can try for you.”

Oh God, he was sweet. Really really sweet. Boyfriend material. Husband material. Perhaps even father material. Catelyn wished she had been interested in him. He could try for her.

“I’m not sure I’ll know anyone either. I’ve never even met her boyfriend, and I learned his name just now. So we’ll be in it together.”

“What is his name?”

It made her think of Cersei demanding names every time Catelyn met a new person and teasing her over it. But Ned didn’t know about that, he just asked a polite question.

“Robert.”

A frown appeared on his face and that, and he turned his eyes downwards for a moment.

“Robert? Robert Baratheon?” he asked.

“I don’t know, why?”

“I used to know a Robert who hosted yearly Christmas parties, that’s all. But most likely it’s just a funny coincidence. Many people have Christmas parties, there has to be more than one Robert.”

“London is a large city and Robert is not an uncommon name, the probability of it being the same person is very small.”

She would have been able to figure out the exact probability for it being the same person if she had got a bit of time. But that was unnecessary, it wasn’t hard to understand that it was low.

“You’re the one who knows math, I’ll have to trust you.”

“It doesn’t take much math to figure that out.”

“I’ll just have to trust you in general then.”

She felt like her math skills were more trustworthy than her general knowledge on stuff, but that was unnecessary information to share.

“I hope you’re not going to regret it” she said instead.

“How nice of you.”

Ned sipped his tea and finished his cookie. Then he picked up his pen again, but instead of continuing on the drawing he had started while she did hers he took a blank paper. With an incredible speed he began moving the pen over the paper, and it left Catelyn somewhat confused as it didn't look like anything he had shown her.

“What are you drawing?” she asked curiously, stretching to see better.

He glanced up at her, his gaze focused in a way that made it seem like he was studying her. It didn’t make her wonder what he was doing any less.

“Could you be still, please?” he asked gently. “Or, well, you can move, but it would be good if you remained in the same position for a bit so that I can do a quick sketch.”

Catelyn hadn’t even reflected over how she was sitting until he said it. She had pulled her legs up and was sitting cross legged on the chair, as she always sat at home. In one hand she held her half eaten cookie, and the other was fiddling with her pen. When had she picked the pen up? None of that mattered even a little though. Because he was drawing her. And she was immensely flattered, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around why.

“Why are you drawing me?”

“I just liked the setting, and thought it would make for a good drawing” he responded casually. “Och du är vacker.”

She couldn’t be entirely sure, but she believed she had heard that last word before. And the more she thought of it, the more she grew sure of that he had said it to her before.

“You’ve said this to me before, right?”

He paused for a moment, as if he hadn’t believed she would notice that. But she had noticed. And she wanted to know what the hell it was that he was saying to her.

“Might be that I have.”

“What does it mean?” she asked, putting on her most charming smile in order to convince him to tell her.

“Nothing.”

“Then there’s no reason you can’t tell me. Come on, I thought we liked each other enough for you to translate for me.”

She couldn’t tell if he was blushing or not because of his beard, but something gave her the feeling that he was. She didn’t know exactly what that word meant, but she had somewhat of an idea about what it could be.

“If you’re flirting with me it’s okay to do so in a language we both understand.”

Not even a second after the words had left her mouth she regretted having ever been born. She shoved what remained of her cookie into her mouth before taking her mug and raising it to her lips, drinking the tea despite that it was still too hot for taking more than a little sip. She would rather burn her tongue than look at him after whatever the hell that had been. He was quiet and she wondered what was going through his mind. Did he think she was stupid? Or did he think she was flirting? Was she flirting? No, that hadn’t been flirting. She wasn’t even interested in him, he was just her friend. She liked him as a friend. And still she had heavily implied that he was flirting with her. She didn’t even know if that was what he had said. She knew no Swedish at all. Fuck.

“It means you’re beautiful” he finally said. “‘Vacker’ means ‘beautiful’.”

“You think I’m beautiful?”

“You probably think I’m a total weirdo right now, and I really don’t blame you, because this was very weird. And I want you to know that I would understand if you wouldn’t want to see me anymore” Ned said, and she had never heard him talk as fast as he did in that moment. “Not that we’re seeing each other in that sense, we’re not dating, och helvete, jag gör bara det här värre för mig själv, I’m so sorry.”

He had that miserable look on his face again. The same one he had had when they spilled coffee over themselves. But all Catelyn could do was laugh. Laugh at how he felt the exact same panic that she had felt just seconds earlier. Laugh at how they were both nervous wrecks pretending to be calm.

“Are you laughing at me?” he asked.

“No, I’m not, I just think the whole situation is funny.”

“How nice, I just feel like an idiot.”

“Believe me, so do I.”

“Once again, I’m sorry for ruining everything.”

“You didn’t, Ned” she assured him. “Nothing‘s ruined. At least I don’t think so.”

Did he think so?

“So we’re fine?” he asked.

“Yeah. We’re fine.”

He looked at her for a moment before sighing. Then he kept on drawing. And so did she. They didn’t say much more, just sat in silence except for an occasional exchange of words. And even though it had started very awkwardly Catelyn soon found that it was a quite comfortable silence. She could sit with him and be quiet.

“There” he said after a while. “It’s not my best work, the colors are a bit off, and your hands look awful, but it’s okay.”

She looked at his drawing and was left speechless, wondering what his best work was if that was just okay. Because she was looking at a drawing that was very clearly her. Sitting cross legged on a chair with half a cookie in one hand and a pen in the other, smiling. So what if the color of her hair wasn’t exactly right and her fingers looked a bit weird, it didn’t matter. It was still good. It looked good.

“What was that word you called me?” she asked.

He frowned.

“What?”

“Beautiful in Swedish.”

“Uhm, ‘vacker’, why?”

Catelyn wouldn’t have been able to pronounce that correctly if so her life had depended upon it, but she could give it a try. And she would give it a try.

“Because this drawing is vacker.”

Ned smiled at that.

“You think so?”

“Definitely, I love it.”

He slid it over the table to her.

“If that is so you can have it.”

She left not much later with the drawing in her bag, her head so full of things that she two times almost tripped and fell down the stairs because she forgot to watch where she was going. Most of all she thought about Ned. Everything about him, from the way he smiled to how he had thrown in a sentence of Swedish when he was embarrassed. She also thought about how he had called her beautiful. She hadn’t known it before, but Ned believed she was beautiful. That knowledge made her chest flutter. Maybe she was interested in him after all. Just a little bit though, it would most likely pass.

#catelyn stark #catelyn tully #ned stark #ashara dayne #elia martell #brandon stark #brynden tully #cersei lannister #ned x cat #my fic #raindrops snowflakes sunshine #after almost two weeks of promises it's here #its also a birthday gift from me to myself #a very late birthday gift but a birthday gift all the same #i hope you like it too

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cwnerd12 · 5 years ago

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1.Judgement Day, Again In the palace lobby, a huge line is formed in front of a bank of employees. Velvet ropes form long lines, and at the end of it, a sign says JUDGEMENT DAY PETITION SUBMISSION. Up at the front of one line, Andrew speaks to a receptionist, “And how much will it cost to submit multiple petitions?” Receptionist, “I’m sorry, but each person may only submit one petition.” Andrew slaps a hundred dollar bill on the desk, “How much?” Receptionist, “I’m sorry, but it’s one petition per person.” Andrew slaps down another bill. Receptionist, “Sir, I’m going to have to call security!” In the back of the room, Adam looks on at the lines, conflicted. He holds a petition in his hand. He sighs, examining the lines, and then holds up his phone, On the screen, a news channel anchor talks, “King David released a statement, saying, ‘Seven months ago, during a time of immense personal darkness, I had a moment of weakness and made a mistake, one which I deeply regret. Miss Sebastiano chose to terminate her pregnancy without informing me, and either way, I respect her right to choose. My devotion to my husband remains as fierce as ever. I wish to move on from this mistake and continue my duty as king without distraction.’ As of yet, Beth Sebastiano has yet to make any public statement for herself.” Adam turns the phone off, and makes a disgusted face. He looks back at the lines, and then picks the shortest one.

Up in the council chamber, David talks, “I don’t want to make a huge deal out of this-” Rose, “It is a huge deal, David. It’s going to come up tomorrow.” David, annoyed, “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.” Asher, “I’m sorry, David, but for you, ‘I’ll deal with it tomorrow’ usually means I’ll say something really fucking stupid tomorrow.” Rose, “Just so we know for sure, what are you going to say if it comes up?” David, “That I’m a dumbass.” Rose sighs deeply. David, “That was a joke. I’m going to say that Jack forgives me, and anything further remains a private matter.” Rose, “What if someone asks about her?” David, “She told me not to bother her, so I’m not bothering her.” Asher, “I guarantee, whether you mean to or not, you are bothering her right now. I think it would be a good idea to reach out.” David, “What the hell am I supposed to say, anyway? I already said I’m sorry!” Asher, “I’ll be the one to contact her first, and then you apologize again and offer security and any legal assistance she might need.” David, “All right, just… make sure Jack doesn’t find out about it.” Rose, “Someone is going to try to goad you tomorrow, you need to resist the urge to say something reckless.” David, “I will.” Rose, “Very well. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?” Asher, “Not that I can think of.” David, “I can’t think of anything.” Rose, “I know you’re under a fair amount of stress right now, David.” David, sarcastically, “A fair amount.” Rose, “But Judgement Day is a chance to show everyone that you are indeed a wise, just, and capable leader. Silas rather looked forward to it because of this.” David, darkly, “Yay for Silas.” Rose, “Try to have a little bit of good humor. Put on a brave face and don’t be such a bitch.” David, “I’ll try.” Rose, “I have to go make sure everything is in place. If there’s anything more to discuss, I’ll leave you to it.” David, listlessly, “Thanks, Rose.” Rose gets up and leaves. As the door shuts, Asher says, “Are you sure you’re up for this, man?” David, “I’ll be fine. Joel’s been helping me go over all the legal shit, and Rose is right. I need to be seen being a king.” Asher, “Are you and Joel on the same page for all the legal matters? I don’t want something like the coup happening again.” David, “Yes, I made everything clear to him, I’m the king.” Asher, somewhat carefully, “And you and Jack are also on the same page, right?” David, “Yes, he knows what happened, and he forgives me.” Asher, “Okay, good.” David, “Is there anything else for tomorrow?” Asher, “Not really. You still need to resolve the secretary of defense mess.” David, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I swear I’ll find someone, just after tomorrow.” Asher, “Okay. Good.” David, “Anything else?” Asher, “You need to talk to Beth.” David, “She doesn’t want to talk to me.” Asher, “A lot of things have changed since the last time you say you talked to her.” David, “She was pretty fucking clear.” Asher, “I’ll be the one to reach out. It’s better to have a third party be the one who makes contact.” David, “We don’t need to do this.” Asher, “Yes, we do. You need to do this.” David, “Fine. Let’s just try to make it quick, okay?”

David sits in his office, staring down at his phone, full of apprehension. A light blinks, and David picks up the receiver, nervous. He holds it to his ear, “Beth?” On the other end, Beth’s voice, “Yeah?” David falters for words, “Uh… how- how are you?” Beth, “I can’t leave my house and my boss just called me to tell me to not bother coming in.” David, “Oh. I-I’m sorry.” Beth, “What do you want, David?” David, “Um, honestly, a lot of people are telling me I need to talk to you so…” he drifts off, and sighs, “I know you don’t want to talk to me. I tried to respect that.” Beth sniffs derisively, “Are you in the palace?” David, “Yeah.” Beth, a sneer in her voice, “Are you in your office?” David, “Yeah.” Beth, “I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.” David, “I am not. I guarantee you, I am not fucking doing well right now.” Beth, “Go cry to your husband.” David, “Can I send you a security detail, at least?” Beth, “What, so they can spy on me?” David, “No. I- I really don’t want anything else bad to happen to you.” A long pause. Beth, “I want a lawyer, too. And a PR person.” David, “Okay, yeah. I’ll send you someone really good, okay?” Beth, “Okay.” David, “Okay…” Long, awkward silence. David, “If you need anything, call me. Or, I guess not me. Call Thomasina Bright, she takes care of everything. Or you can just call me. It doesn’t matter.” Beth, “All right.” Another long, awkward silence. David, “I really do want to do good by you. You don’t deserve all this shit. I’m sorry.” Beth doesn’t say anything. David, “Beth?” Beth, “This is all I’m gonna be for the rest of my life. The whore who fucked the king.” David, at a loss for word, “I- I’m sorry. I really am.” Beth, softly, “I’m gonna go, David.” David, “Okay. Bye.” The conversation ends without another word. David slips back in his chair, feeling thoroughly awful. He thinks for a long moment, and then looks out the window. He sees the sun setting, and gets up.

David goes into the residence, where he spots Jack sitting on the couch and watching TV. David, “Hey, Jack.” He leans over the back of the couch, puts his arms around Jack’s shoulders, and kisses his cheek, “What do you want for dinner?” Jack, “I ordered it. Be up soon.” David, “I wanted to make something.” Jack, “It’s late. I’m hungry.” David sighs, “Okay.” He sits awkwardly for a long moment, and then, “I need to fill the Minister of Defense position. I’ve said all along that I want you to do it-” Jack interrupts him, “No. Not ready. I’m not ready.” David, “That’s fine. That’s perfectly fine. Honestly, Jack, if all you want to do is be a spoiled househusband, you can do that.” Jack, “No. No, not that. I- I’m not ready.” David, frustrated, “Jack, I hate to say this, but when will you be ready?” Jack, “Better. When I talk better.” David, “How much better is better?” Jack, “Better!” David, “It’s almost been a year. Recovery usually stops at around a year. What if this is as good as you’re gonna get?” Jack, “Years! Recovery- years!” David, “Then is it gonna be years before you’re ready?” Jack grimaces. He doesn’t know what to say. David, “I can’t just make you the minister of defense because you’re my husband.” Jack, “I know.” David gently touches his face, “You have a place here, it just might be different than what we first thought it would be.” Jack, “Where?” David, “I don’t know. But we’ll find it.” He looks up at the TV screen, and sees Beth’s face on an evening news segment. They both for a long, painful few seconds. David sighs deeply, and lowers his eyes, “I’m sorry about all this.” Jack, “I know.” David, “It- it happened right after the warehouse with the Amalekites. I had to tell Mom that Robert was dead, and-” Jack, “I don’t want to know.” David, “I’m sorry.” Jack, “You said that.” David, “I mean it.” Jack shuts his eyes and rubs his temple, “My head hurts.” David, “Do you want anything?” Jack, “No.” They sit there for a long, silent moment. David, “Do you still forgive me?” Jack things, and says, “Yes. But I’m angry.”

Later in the morning, Joel stands on the lobby balcony next to the selection bowl, halfway through selecting the day’s cases. Below him hundreds of people crowd to see their petitions drawn. Joel draws a name, “Giffard vs. Teague.” Below, claimants excitedly hug, and then head over to a receiving area. In the crowd, Adam waits nervously. While Joel continues reading names, Andrew talks to a claimant, “I need to be seen today. Are you hoping for a settlement?” Claimant, confused. Andrew whips out his checkbook, “How much do you want?” Claimant, “It’s a lot of money.” Andrew, “I have a lot of money. How much will it take for us to switch places?” Above them, Joel reaches into the bag to draw the final case, “Madison vs. Baggio.” In the crowd, a small group of people reacts happily while everyone around them react with anger and disappointment. Adam keeps staring up at Joel, quiet anger and disgust lingering over his face.

David and Joel go towards the council chamber. Rose waits outside the door. David, “Where’s Jack?” Rose, “He isn’t feeling well.” David, “What? What’s wrong?” Rose, “He has a headache.” David, dismayed, “Oh, goddamnit. Fuck it, I’m calling today off.” Rose, “No you aren’t. People came here today to see their king, and you are going to go out there and be their fucking king!” For a moment, David tries to think his way out of it, but then gives up, “If anything else happens with Jack, we are cancelling today.” He goes out into the council chamber. The sudden burst of light and applause startles him slightly as everyone stands up for him. He puts on a forced smile and goes over to his chair. After he sits, everyone else sits. David looks out at the huge, overwhelming crowd in front of him, thinks for a moment, and then says, “I uh, I had a speech ready, but I think we should just get going. Bring on the first case.” Up in the top row, Andrew tears a check out of his book and hands it to one of the case plaintiffs, “Rest assured, you are doing a true service to your country today.” They hand him their case envelope. Andrew smiles slickly, “Thank you so much.” Still grinning, he turns around and watches with immense satisfaction as a divorcing couple bitterly argue in front of David. Women, “The beach house is where he used to have his so-called business meetings, he doesn’t deserve it!” Man, “I paid for it with my money!” Andrew looks over at the other people standing along the top railing. He sees Adam watching the proceedings. Carefully, he begins to make his way towards him. Andrew, “Have you come to watch the drama?” Adam glances at him, apprehensive, “I guess.” Andrew, “You guess?” Adam, “What do you want from me? Are you even allowed to be here?” Andrew looks down and sees an envelope sticking out of Adam’s pocket, “Case didn’t get drawn did it? What possible legal dispute could you have?” Adam, “It’s none of your business.” Andrew, “It’s about Ryan Hitt, isn’t it?” Adam, irritated, “It’s none of your business.” Andrew, “Of course your name didn't get drawn, they probably threw it out as soon as they got it. Can’t make our brave king look bad.” Adam looks away uncomfortably. Andrew leans in to Adam and lowers his voice, “Do you know anything about the anarchist organizations our Minister of Justice used to be involved with? Terrorists. They had plans that Alek Amal would be jealous of. I wouldn’t be surprised if he put the bullet in Caesar Reinhardt's head.” Adam, “He has an alibi.” Andrew, “Does he? Well that’s convenient.” Adam, “What are you getting out of all this? Why do you want to see me up there?” Andrew, “I only want to do what’s right for my country, and to create ample opportunity to sell magazines.” He glances down at the front row, and sees Rose sitting by herself. Andrew, smirking, “I see Prince Jack isn’t here today. Looks like you aren’t the only person who’s mad at the king.” Down at the table, David makes his judgement, “The beach house is in Mr. Boden’s name, so it’s legally his, and he’s free to do with it as he pleases.” The woman sneers, “Of course a cheater is going to side with a cheater.” Andrew, “Ooooooh!” David, “I’m not the one wasting everyone’s time because I’m so petty and immature I had to get the king involved in my divorce.” Rose facepalms while the rest of the crowd laughs and cheers.

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bby-bxrnes · 7 years ago

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Badass Ballerina

Ship: Bucky Barnes x Dancer!Reader

Summary: You present yourself as a major tomboy, with no girly side to be seen. You fight like the boys, swear like the boys, and drink like the boys. But then, one night, Bucky sees a side of you that you keep hidden from everyone else.

Words: 2477

Warnings: Major fluff, ridiculous swearing, really creative swearing, alcohol consumption, teeny bit of violence (sparring w/ Steve), really tooth-rotting fluff, crappy knowledge of dancing

A/N: Honestly, this was super self indulgent of me and it’s kinda a mess but hey, it’s cute so I hope y’all enjoy it.

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When Tony had announced a new member joining the team, the rest of the Avengers weren’t sure who to expect. They certainly didn’t expect her though. She arrived, dressed in dark colors, a leather jacket adorning her frame as well as some worn in boots covering her feet. At first, they thought she might be like Natasha, silent and brooding, but they couldn’t be more wrong. She was far from silent, she had the wit and sass of Tony and Clint combined. She was quite intimidating yet everyone on the team loved to be in her presence because she always had something funny to say. She was close with everyone, but no one knew much about her past. One particular person in the compound had made it his mission to peel away that rough exterior and see what was underneath.

The first time Bucky had watched her fight, he was mesmerized. She hadn’t opted to spar with Natasha, but practically demanded to spar with Steve. Steve was rather hesitant, easily being twice her weight and a foot taller than her, but she had been stubborn, so he finally acquiesced. “Don’t hold back on me, old man.” she had taunted, drawing her hands up to guard her face. Steve just chucked and shook his head, matching her stance. They circled for a moment, a confident smile plastered on her face. Surprisingly, she struck first, lunging forwards and landing a solid punch right to Steve’s sternum, successfully knocking the air out of him. “You’re getting slow, c’mon gramps.” she laughed, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. Steve smirked and started trying to jab out at her, but she was able to block all of his attempts, countering with blows of her own.

She moved with such grace, but power at the same time, an at-ease smile on her face the whole time. Her and Steve were now fully going at it, trading kicks and aerial stunts, the rest of the team whooping and cheering at the entertaining fight. Even with his super-soldier stamina, Bucky could tell Steve was getting worn out, but Y/N showed no signs of slowing. With one attack, Y/N had done a classic Natasha move, clamping her thighs around Steve’s head and threw her body weight around, slamming Steve to the mat. She was able to wrestle him over onto his front and pull one of his arms into a submission hold, eventually making Steve give a few desperate taps with his free hand. She climbed off of him and offered her hand down to him, helping the now exhausted Captain America up to his feet. The smile she gave everyone ignited something in his chest he hadn’t felt for a long time, and he knew that this girl was going to be trouble for his heart.

To say that she had a dirty mouth would be an understatement. Her swearing vocabulary was enough to make Steve flush and shout “Language!” from across the room. It caught everyone off guard at first, such foul language coming from her should’ve been expected, but Bucky couldn’t help but stare in amusement whenever she let out a string of colorful expletives. She was absolutely unashamed of using otherwise insulting names to address her friends, the more crude the name, the closer the person was to her.

Tony, Clint, and Sam were usually called fucknut or something creative like that, while her ruder ones such as cockmuncher and ass-eater were reserved for Bucky, who she had adopted as her best friend. “Fucking goddamnit, cock eating, mother-shitting asshole!” was one of Bucky’s favorite phrases he had heard her yell during a rather grueling mission where one of HYDRA’s monkeys had tried to grab her ass. Steve, of course, had frozen where he was at the filthy words flowing through the comms, causing him to almost get knocked out, had Bucky not been nearby to save his ass. She would swear at anything and everything, especially if Steve was nearby, she loved to get a rise out of him.

“Alright, fuckers! Who wants to play a game?” she yelled, walking into the common room with several bottles of various alcohol in her hands. “Who thinks they can drink me under the table?” she smirked, glancing around at her friends, a challenging glint in her eyes. “I’m down.” Clint said, lounging comfortably on the couch. “I’m game.” Tony had said, being nearly as competitive as Y/N. “What about you, Buck? You too chicken?” she taunted, waving the bottles in front of him. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to join, doll. I can’t get drunk on regular alcohol, only that stuff that Thor brings from Asgard.” he said, slightly grateful that he had an out. “Well, lucky you, I had the big guy send some down, just for you.” she said, handing Bucky an unlabeled bottle of yellow liquid that seemed to be practically glowing. “Alright, I’m in.” he huffed, laughing at the malicious smirk on her face. She grinned wolfishly at her three challengers, passing Tony his favorite whiskey, and the vodka to Clint, keeping the tequila for herself.

The four of them went shot for shot, Y/N electing Natasha to keep count. Clint tapped out after finishing half of the bottle, claiming that he’d rather not wake up hating himself. Next was Tony a few shots later, claiming that Pepper would kill him if he got absolutely shitfaced without ‘proper supervision’. Bucky was honestly surprised at the fact that she was easily keeping up with him, and the two ended up drinking till they were both out of alcohol and pretty drunk, but neither were ready to tap out yet. “You have now won the position of my new drinking buddy.” she had proclaimed, ruffling Bucky’s hair drunkenly. They both woke up the next morning with pounding headaches, but when they saw each other in the kitchen, they fist-bumped and murmured “worth it” at the same time.

Bucky awoke in a cold sweat, contents of his nightmare slowly leaving his mind as his trained ears picked up a foreign sound this late at night. He threw the covers off of himself and slid a pair of sweats on before emerging from his room out into the dark hallway. Bucky was confused as he heard the soft classical music drifting through the dark compound. He assumed everyone had been asleep, but was proven wrong by the soft sounds bouncing off the walls. He began his adventure, following his trained ears to find the source of the music. He stopped outside what was usually used as a training room. He tried to listen over the soft music for a hint as to who was inhabiting the room, but all he could hear were soft footfalls.

He opened the door slowly, being as silent as possible so he wouldn’t disturb the inhabitant. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the silhouette of a woman dancing in the dark of the room, the only light source was the moonlight that filtered in through the ceiling to floor windows that covered the wall opposite him. The figure continued to dance, completely unaware of Bucky’s presence. He was transfixed as the girl effortlessly balanced in her pointe shoes, moving gracefully across the floor. The music came to an end and the ballerina finished dancing, her chest heaving softly with her breaths. “Wow.” Bucky breathed, causing the girl to turn to him. “Bucky! What are you doing here?” she called, the voice finally giving away who it was. “Y/N! I didn’t know you danced.” he said, completely stunned that the most tomboy member of the team was so graceful.

“Bucky, I swear if you tell a soul about this.” she threatened, sitting down and beginning to unwrap the ribbons that secured the dainty shoes to her feet. “I won’t. It’ll be our secret. That was so beautiful, Y/N.” he breathed, walking over and sitting next to her. “Thanks dorkwad.” she snorted. “And there’s the Y/N that I know.” he laughed, watching as a huge smile overtook her face. “I used to dance, y’know. Back then, in the 40’s. I haven’t for a while though.” he said, smiling softly at the memories that resurfaced. “I started dancing when I was little. Boys used to make fun of me and push me around because of it. So I started hiding it, dressing like boys, acting like boys, and it became a part of me. But I’ve always loved dancing, you just kinda lose yourself in the music, and it’s so freeing.” she said, eyes lighting up with passion.

“I’ve wanted to dance again, just haven’t found the right dame, y’know?” he said, lying through his teeth. He already found the girl he wanted to dance with again and she was sitting right next to him. “I’ve actually never danced, y’know, regularly. Never found a guy who wanted to dance with me.” she said, face falling. “I can try to teach you. It’s been a while, but I could try, if you’d like.” he offered, standing up and holding his hand out to her. She smiled and nodded, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her up. Bucky still wasn’t used to this softer side of Y/N, he was used to her being boisterous and loud, swearing like a sailor. He went over to where her phone was plugged into the speaker and put on his favorite song, a song he loved to dance to in the 40’s.

He walked back over to her, the jazz flowing through his veins, filling him with a familiar warmth. She stood, looking uncharacteristically nervous, Bucky giving her a soft, reassuring smile. “Here, your right hand on my shoulder, don’t worry, you’re fine.” he instructed, noticing her hesitancy to touch his metal shoulder. He placed his left hand gently on her hip, taking her left hand in his right hand. “Loosen up, Y/N. Feel the music, let it move you.” he said, feeling her tense, then relax into his hold. “Follow me.” he whispered, swaying gently, before taking a step, Y/N following. They repeated this motion, him stepping and her following, before she got the hang of it. They danced barefoot, just enjoying the other’s presence. The song slowed to an end and the two of them stood, still swaying, eyes locked together.

At one point while they were dancing, Y/N’s hands had shifted to lock around Bucky’s neck, Bucky’s arms now wrapped around her waist, holding her form close to his bare chest. Her head rested in the crook of his neck, Bucky was still stunned at this version of Y/N, all quiet and pliant, almost craving the closeness of Bucky. “Y/N?” he whispered, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “Hm?” she hummed, not moving from her position. “I-I’ve got something to tell you.” he breathed, heart hammering in his chest. “What is it, Buck?” she asked, pulling her head back to look him in the eyes. “Earlier, when I said, I hadn’t found the right dame to dance with, I was lying. I found my girl.” he whispered, watching her face fall. “Oh. Why aren’t you out there dancing with her then?” she asked, attempting to worm her way out of his grasp, but he wouldn’t let her. “I am. She’s right here in front of me.” he finally confessed, his blue eyes searching her Y/E/C eyes.

“What?” she breathed, a little disbelieving laugh escaping her lips. “Y/N, I- I think I love you. I have for a while.” Bucky said, dropping his forehead to rest against hers, eyes slipping closed. “Oh, Buck.” she sighed and he immediately assumed the worst. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” he said, this time he was the one trying to escape, but she just tightened her grip on him. “No, dumbass. If anything you should’ve told me sooner. I’m bad with emotions, I haven’t dated anyone for a while cause I couldn’t let anyone in. But it’s different with you, Buck. You are just so goddamn trustable.” she laughed dryly. “I think I love you too, Buck.” She said, hands cupping his face and making him look at her. Bucky couldn’t help the huge smile that overtook his face, making her smile so bright that it’s radiance could’ve rivaled the sun’s.

Bucky gathered all his courage and leaned down, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. She kissed back instantly, a sigh of content leaving her lips. When they broke apart, their foreheads stayed rested together, eyes locked, swaying to the music in their own heads. “Can I take you out on a proper date sometime?” he asked, laughing at the face she pulled. “Nothing too fancy, right? I still fucking hate dresses.” she groaned. “No, nothing fancy. If you wanted, we could get some really greasy pizza and go mini golfing.” he laughed. “Sounds perfect to me.” she hummed, pressing another kiss to his lips. He eventually had to let her go so she could gather her things, but he walked her back to her room, the both of them parting ways with a sweet kiss, leaving both of them giggling like teenagers when neither of them wanted to walk away first. Bucky decided to finally give her one last kiss before continuing down the hall to his room, sneaking a glance back at her, smiling when he saw her still watching, he waved one last time before entering his room and falling with a happy sigh onto his bed.

The next morning he was relaxing on the couch having an argument with Sam when she waltzed in, stealing a pop-tart off of Steve’s plate before plopping herself directly into Bucky’s lap. Bucky was surprised at first but smiled happily and wrapped his arms around her waist, accepting the piece of pop-tart that Y/N held out to him. To say that everyone was shocked at this development would be yet another understatement. The two seemed to be in their own little world, joking and laughing like normal, but the little occasional kisses they shared confused everyone. “What the fuck.” Steve exclaimed, successfully grabbing the attention of the two lovebirds. “Did Captain Righteous just swear? I did it! I finally got Cap to swear!” she exclaimed, throwing her head back in boisterous laughter. Bucky couldn’t help but laugh with you, watching everyone just stare at you. He knew they were absolutely caught off guard. Just yesterday she was calling him all sorts of crude names, but now, here she was sitting in his lap kissing him. As she joked and laughed with everyone else, slowly bringing everyone back to reality, Bucky was overwhelmed with love for her, his own Badass Ballerina.

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