#hiding this in the tags but— can we all at least agree movie!gabriel had a lil something going for him towards the end

[nicnacsnonsense]

A few days ago @whiteleyfoster did some lovely The Birdcage AU art and @poetic----nonsense decided we needed a full AU figured out, so they tagged me. Because I am now the person who figures out fusion AUs., Which honestly, that’s fantastic; I love it. Unfortunately I hadn’t seen The Birdcage before, but it’s available to watch on Prime, so I just took care of that. The bad news is I didn’t actually like the movie all that much. The good news is my problem was in the execution rather than the premise, so I do think there’s a good Good Omens AU to be had with two adjustments. One, lean into the wacky hijinks more -- this is definitely a wacky hijinks comedy kind of plot, but the tone of the movie was oddly serious a lot of the time. And two, I want to really feel the love between all the members of our little queer family. The movie tells us they’re a happy and healthy family, but what I was seeing was a lot of Val being mean to his parents, a lot of Armand being mean to and dismissive of Albert and a lot of Albert being overly dramatic and sensitive to everything.

Moving on to our characters. In Whiteley’s drawing they had Aziraphale as Albert and Crowley as Armand, which I get that, but I want to switch it. Aziraphale as the small business owner cismale who is obviously gay (I didn’t get any obviously gay vibes from Armand, but the movie told us a couple of times he was giving them off, so *shrugs*). Meanwhile Crowley is amab and typically presents male day-to-day, but also presents female at time and is slightly ambiguous in terms of gender. I also feel Crowley’s dramatic bitch energy is a better match for Albert’s than Aziraphale’s is. 

For Val and Barbara, Whiteley suggested Adam and Warlock respectively, and while I like each of those choices a lot individually, it doesn’t work for me once you put them together. Partially that’s a personal thing -- I know Adam/Warlock is somewhat popular but it squicks me out -- but also unless you want to genderbend one of them female, you have a gay relationship which kind of undermines the whole “gay couple has to pretend to be hetero to fool the super conservative in-laws.” I still think there’s a way you could do it, but it would take a lot of work. So instead I propose Newt as Val and Anathema as Barbara. (which weirdly makes the second time I’ve had Aziraphale as Newt’s dad. I swear I’m not trying to make it a thing).

I realize the immediate impulse there is if you’re going to use those two you should flip them: Newt as Barbara and Anathema as Val. But first of all I think if Anathema was Val she wouldn’t stand for lying about who her parents are; sucks for you Newt, but you’re just going to have to come clean. And if you put aside political views, these are actually really good matches for each of their families in canon. Anathema was a “professional descendant,” her entire life was mapped out for her by her many times great-grandmother, which is something of the ultimate extreme Barbara’s controlling family. Meanwhile’s Newt’s mother seemed very loving and she supported and encouraged his enthusiasm for computers no matter how many power outages he caused. Plus I do think there’s a great parallel in Crowley and Aziraphale having to hide their homosexuality from Anathema’s parents and the idea of Anathema being a liberal, occultist, environmentalist, feminist, general social activist, probably met Newt at an LGBT+ support rally, who goes home to her family and has to hide all of that and pretend to be a good little conservative Christian girl.

For the other major characters Anathema’s parents would be Anathema’s mom (obviously) and Gabriel I think. The idea of him as Anathema’s dad is a little weird, but you can’t deny Gabriel fits the super conservative senator mold really well. You could also use the Dowlings instead if you wanted, but c’mon, Gabriel fawning over femme!Crowley? That’s too funny, guys. For Newt’s biological mother I think Michael. She could definitely pull off high-powered exec who isn’t the least bit maternal, but is willing to show up for her son in this because of a sense of duty. In this version Aziraphale and Michael would have actually been dating because Aziraphale was still in the closet and in deep denial at that point, but they broke up when she got pregnant and Aziraphale wanted to keep the baby and Michael wanted to put it up for adoption the instant that baby slid out of her. (I also totally picture that after they agreed to break up Michael said it was probably for the best, seeing as Aziraphale was just super gay.) And finally for Agador I think Madame Tracy. Admittedly as a character she’s not much like him, but looking at it in terms of the function of the character as a comic relief zany housekeeper type, I think she could do a really good job as her own version of that.

A few other changes. The whole argument about “who’s the white whine for?” still happens, but it’s playful banter, rather than any sort of serious accusation of cheating. Then after the show Crowley and Aziraphale go upstairs together and surprise! Newt’s here for a visit. He tells both of his parents about his engagement at the same time. Then again when the issue of Anathema lying to her parents comes up, Newt approaches both Crowley and Aziraphale together and presents it not as something he’s demanding they do for him, but a problem to be solved together. Then Crowley and Aziraphale are totally extra enough to be like, zany hijinks, we’ll just fake like we’re the very straight cultural attache to Greece and his woman female wife. 

Except after a bit of prep work Crowley suddenly backs out as the wife, claiming he can pull of woman sure, but he can’t pull off housewife. That’s where Michael comes in. Crowley is the one who chooses not to go into her office -- he resents her for what he considers to be her abandonment of Newt -- but when he gets impatient waiting he coincidentally barges in at just the wrong moment to what looks like flirting/cheating (but we the audience know was actually something completely innocent) and storms off. 

Aziraphale goes to talk to Crowley once they both get home and his shocked and even a little hurt that Crowley would ever think Aziraphale would cheat on him. Crowley says, no he knows that’s not what was going on and he knows Aziraphale wouldn’t, especially not with a woman. So Aziraphale is like what’s up then, you’ve been acting weird ever since Newt got home. And Crowley admits that he is jealous, but not over any sort of fictitious other lover, but of Newt. Because Newt is getting married and Crowley and Aziraphale can’t (cause 90′s). And that’s why Crowley backed out of the wife role, because tt was too close to what he wants and can’t have. The two of them have a heart-to-heart about how much they love each other and how committed they are. This also means when Crowley does show up to the dinner dressed up as Newt’s mom, it’s a heart-warming moment where Crowley is silently communicating that Aziraphale is right, that it’s real in their hearts, and that’s what matters. 

[gilded-lady]

Save Yourself 15/? (Ketchbriel)

Save Yourself 15/? Who: Ketchbriel What: Ketch makes good on his promise to try raw cookie dough Word count: 1115 Warnings: None

After a lovely hour spent in the used bookstore – the pair made their way back to the cookie dough shop.

“Welcome to Felicity’s,” a perky college-age student greeted them to the store. “Have you been here before?”

“Nope!” Gabriel said as he peered into the cases.

“Great!” she said. “Just so you know, all of our products are made from locally-sourced and organic products whenever possible!”

“Wonderful,” Gabriel said absolutely not caring about that at all. “So anyway, my friend here had a very depraved childhood and has never eaten cookie dough. What do you recommend?”

“Don’t you mean deprived?” Ketch asked.

“I know what I said,” Gabriel said with a grin, daring Ketch to challenge him.

The girl just had a bit of a frozen smile on her face. “Well, you can’t go wrong with our classic Chocolate Chip, we make it with a mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolates so it doesn’t get over sweet. If you like something richer, our fudge-brownie is the best.  The sugar is great if you want to mix toppings in. We can also mix in cookie dough with any of our gelatos too!”

“What cha think?” Gabriel asked.

“I’ll let you pick,” Ketch said. He didn’t have too much of a sweet tooth, so he still didn’t know where to start.

“Let’s do one of the 3-in-1” Gabriel said. “Chocolate chip, Salt n’Swirl, Caramel and Snicker-Dude.”

“Excellent choices,” she said as she grabbed a tray and placed a small scoop onto each each and put spoons into two of htem.

Gabriel also bought a bottle of water and lead them outside.

They claimed one of the small tables. Gabriel grabbed one of the spoons and tried the chocolate chip.

“Oh yeah. This is legit,” he said pleased. “Try it.”

Ketch tried it and discovered it wasn’t overly sweet, though the texture was definitely different than anything he was used to. “This is different,” he said. “But not bad.”  He wouldn’t necessarily reach for it, but he’d be content enough to finish what they’d gotten. “Do you mind if I ask how you got into sweets? I didn’t think angels normally ate.”

“We don’t,” Gabriel said. “I mean, we don’t need to. We have enough power that our host sustains itself without it. “But I kinda had to learn to like them.”

“Learn to like sweets? Why?”

“So….you know that whole Trickster thing I’ve got going on?”

He nodded. “Loki, right?”

“Yes and no. See…when my brothers started bickering hardcore I hightailed it out of Heaven. I was looking for a place to hide and I ran into Loki in a cave.”

“How do you just run into someone in a cave?!” Ketch wondered as he tried the snickerdoodle flavored dough.

He shrugged. “Fate, maybe?  I mean, she never bitched at me about it so it mustn’t have mucked anything up. Or could be dumb luck? Of all the caves in all the world, blah blah blah. But anyway. He was having family drama at the time so he agreed to let me take on his mantle. But part of that meant was acting like him and he has a sweet tooth, so” he shrugged casually. “Sweet tooth.”

Ketch nodded. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Yeah, I did. I didn’t hop on to the gravy train until after the peak of their popularity so it was never too much of a drain on my time. There was an uptick in popularity after those movies came out. I’ve never seen so many disappointed faces when I appeared. It was at least a quick and dirty way to weed out those who were genuine in wanting to worship Loki anyway.”

“Dare I ask what happened to those people?”

Ketch only got a sly grin in return.

“Would you go back to it?” Ketch said. “I mean, now that the cat is kind of out of the bag.”

Gabriel suddenly set down his spoon and pushed the dessert away, suddenly looking not hungry. There was another emotion at play on Gabriel’s face, but Ketch didn’t know the archangel well enough yet to decipher what it was.

“It’s….complicated,” Gabriel finally said.

“Well,” Ketch said. “If you ever want to talk it out, I happen to be excellent at resolving complications.”

Gabriel smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

*

The dealership on the edge of the town was an odd hodgepodge of high-end German cars and practical new and late-model used all-wheel drive cars, seemingly to serve the wealthy tourists desire to occasionally indulge in absurd impulse purchases and the needs of the local population who kept the town running and lived there year-round.

“Anything catching your eye?” Gabriel asked once they’d made a cursory loop of the cars on the lot.

Ketch tilted his head, confused. “I thought we were looking for you?”

“Me? Ha!” Gabriel said. “I don’t actually know how to drive one of these things. I meant what I said about hopping around from place to place. They just aren’t that practical for me so I never bothered to tie myself down with one.”

“I don’t understand. My motorbike serves me well.”

“Well,” Gabriel said as he began ticking off reasons on his fingers. “First off, your motorcycle isn’t here. Secondly, we’ve got to get to Rachel’s place tomorrow night somehow. You heard those girls. Those rideshare thingies aren’t available out here and everything is far enough out that having transportation is a given. No one is going to believe that we just walked there. Third, you said it yourself: you have enemies that look for you on your motorcycle. All the more reason to own a car for when you’re not working! I’ve got dozens of aliases, we’ll just register it under one of those and no one will be the wiser! So like I said, what’s catching your eye?”

“I couldn’t possibly accept such a lavish gift,” Ketch protested. “You’ve done more than enough for me over these past few days and I –“

Gabriel cut him off, literally. Ketch found himself temporarily unable to speak.

“Money never has been and never will be an issue for me. Besides, technically, I’m registering it under one of my fake names, so you can think of it as an indefinite loan if it makes you feel better. And if you really, really want to make it up to me, you can wear one of those funny little chauffeur hats tomorrow when you’re driving me to the party.”

Ketch found himself suddenly able to speak again. He considered his next words carefully.

“My hat size is 7 1/8.”

Gabriel grinned and beckoned a salesman over to assist them.

tagging - @embrrssed-love @rabbit-recommends @nobodys-baby-now

[obviouslyelementary]

A punk and a chick

Tag list: @dan-yuna (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message :))

Chapter 2 – Jonathan’s case

             Even though I made it seem like this entire story is only about me, that is not true. No, because since I was the ‘mom’ of the group, I also knew a lot of my friends’ problems. And of course I won’t let you guys out of the gossip. Of course not. Why would I anyway?

             So, right after our lunch time in the first chapter, I said goodbye to the rest of the group, including my boyfriend, who had soccer practice, and left to my Chemistry class with Jonathan. It was funny to walk around with John, because many people thought I cheated Daniel with him just because of how we always walked close and were usually alone when Daniel wasn’t around. But luckily Dan didn’t care, because he knew I wouldn’t cheat him. At least, not with my best friend.

             You see, Jonathan and I had come from a long, long way. Friends since kindergarten, we were inseparable. Our parents were friends, and we had always been friends too. I had known him long before I had known any of my other friends, and specially before Daniel, and Dan knew it.

             Besides, after Jonathan’s ‘talk’ with Daniel about ‘treating me right’ and ‘making me the happiest girl in the world’, I doubt Daniel would even think that I loved Jonathan like a boyfriend.

             In any case, even if I did, nothing would ever happen because Jonathan was gay. He had told me when we were twelve, because he was too scared to tell anyone else but tired of hiding from everyone. When he told me, I honestly found it weird, since the only gay people I had ever seen were in TV shows, but I never loved him any less.

             Actually, after I understood what it meant, I decided that I would protect him more than anything in the rest of the world. He was a soft guy, sweet to everyone, but he didn’t like attention over him and specially, he could pass as straight pretty easily. I don’t think anyone found out he was gay until he came out or after... well that is for later.

             Anyway. Back to the main point. Both John and I were walking to our class, happy, talking to each other and holding our books. We were heading to chemistry, and he hated chemistry. He wanted to be a journalist, so nothing about a lab with elements made him happy. Luckily, we made the class together, so most of his works, I did, leaving him to watch and learn so he could make the test with no further problems. He was also very intelligent, so I wasn’t very worried in doing his stuff for him.

             Before the class started, we found a place by the back of the class and sat down. Close to us sat the assholes, but we paid them no mind.  As we sat and grabbed our notebooks, he leaned in closer to me and chuckled.

             “So. Tell me. Is Gabriel staring at Taylor’s ass or not?” he asked, and I slowly looked over, chuckling and rolling my eyes.

             “Oh god” I chuckled and shook my head. “He wants her so much, it’s insane”

             “Indeed it is. Also a bit gross” he chuckled and I chuckled back, shaking my head and leaning against him, placing my head on his shoulder. “Something wrong?” he asked, worriedly, and I shook my head, closing my eyes and enjoying my best friend’s company.

             Sometimes, it just felt so good to be next to someone I knew and I could trust without the whole ‘dating’ thing.

             After a few minutes, the teacher arrived, and just after her Noah entered the class. I looked at him and smiled, sending a small wave. He saw, and smiled back, walking to the back of the class and sitting on my side.

             “Hello Catherine” he said and I grinned, straightening my back.

             “Hello Noah” I answered and hummed. “How is the school? Did you make friends already?”

             “I mean, I am friends with you” he said, smirking, and I chuckled together with Jonathan. “Just kidding. Yes I made a small group of friends. They are punks just like me”

             “You look like a punk but at the same time no” Jonathan said, and Noah shrugged, taking out his notebook and pencil.

             “Well, I like most of what they like, as in cigarettes and piercings and tattoos and ripped clothes. They talk a lot about heavy metal, which I don’t like, but some like classical rock too so it’s cool” he shrugged and I frowned.

             “Cigarettes aren’t good for your health”

             “No they are not” he chuckled and I frowned deeper. “Don’t worry. I am just killing myself slowly”

             “That’s-”

             “Come on Kit, don’t bother the boy in his first day” Jonathan said and I gasped. He looked over me (damned be his height) and winked to Noah. “She is always like this. Hates drinking, hates drugs...”

             “Means she’s a good and smart person, to be honest” Noah shrugged and Jonathan smirked, their little conversation making me blush out of slight anger.

             “Fine. Destroy your lungs and liver for all I care” I groaned, making both boys laugh and turn their attention to the teacher, who had just started the class. Incredible how dumb teenagers could be. At that time, I thought it was my duty to take care of them, do what a mother should do. Inside, I knew it made no difference. They would just continue drinking and smoking and there would be nothing I could do. But at least I could try.

             Nowadays, I just watch these dumb almost adults drink their lives away. I don’t care. I have no responsibility over them.

             Anyway. The class went by fast. The experiment was fun, and even though Jonathan didn’t enjoy it a bit, he seemed to enjoy Noah’s stupid jokes and in the end we were more doing it all together than each one our own experiment. The teacher wasn’t even mad, she seemed just annoyed.

             That was our last period. Once it was over, I texted Daniel to tell him I wouldn’t wait over, deciding to go to John’s house, and left with my best friend, both waving goodbye to Noah as he turned to our street and left. Jonathan and I walked to his house talking about nothing special, and once we arrived at his house, we went right to his room. His father was at work, his mother as well and his little sister was either at school or in someone’s house, he wasn’t certain.

             “If she calls, we go there get her” he told me, and I agreed. I loved his little sister anyway. As we got to his room, I took off my shoes and undid the zipper of my jeans, sighing in relief as my belly stopped being so restricted to a small place. I laid on his bed, and he chuckled. “Already taking your pants off?”

             “You know I’m always ready for you” I said seductively and he laughed, rolling his eyes and taking off his shoes and bag before walking over to the bed. As I saw what he was about to do, my eyes widened and I squealed, watching as he let his body loose and fell over me, making me gasp and squirm and laugh as he blew raspberries on my neck. “Stop stop! It tickles!”

             “Ticklish Kit” he cooed and poked my nose as he stopped, making me pout. He continued to lay over me, reaching for his phone and sighing. “God it’s so late”

             “Can you get off of me?” I asked politely and he laughed, rolling off and making me sigh in relief before I turned to my side to face him. “Late for what, may I ask?”

             “For a movie” he pouted. “I wanted to watch a movie with you but soon you will have to leave”

             “Okay so why don’t we gossip?” I asked, turning my head and grinning as he looked at me. “You haven’t told me a lot these last days”

             “Not a lot to talk about” he mumbled as he looked at his phone. I raised my eyebrow, before I smirked. He stole a glance at me and looked away again, blushing. “Stop”

             “Tell me”

             “Nothing to tell”

             “You’ve got a crush”

             “I do not, Catherine”

             “Full names now, Jonathan?”

             “Kate, I am not liking anyone. Now shush”

             “Who is he? Tell me”

             “Kate...”

             “Please?”

             Jonathan took a deep breath and groaned, rubbing his eyes and turning to look at the ceiling. I stopped my teasing, worried. He was never so... closed up like this. Not to me. And besides, his eyes were watering ever so slightly, which was worrying.

             Before I could say anything, he begun.

             “I... I met a boy” he mumbled, and I frowned even deeper, sliding my hand and taking his. He squeezed my hand and sighed. “We met a few times... it was so nice. He took me to dates, to the cinema far away from here, to a park in another city and all... only so I could be safe and we could have fun. In our fifth date he took me to a motel and I was like... so excited, you know? And it was so good” he whined sadly and squeezed my hand more. “But after that night he never called me again and he ignored all my messages... It just hurts”

             “Oh” I mumbled and moved closer, pulling him for a hug and holding him close as he nuzzled against my neck. He wasn’t really crying but his eyes were wet. “I am so sorry... some people are such dicks...”

 “And that is not even the worst” he mumbled and I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

             “What is the worst?”

             “I... I was going out with him to forget who I really like...”

             I stopped, confused, and looked down, but he didn’t look up again. He continued to hold me close and press his face against my shoulder.

             “Who...?”

             Silence.

             “John? Johnny?”

             Silence.

             “For god’s sake Johnny, you are worrying me. Who is it?”

             Silence.

             “It’s...”

             His phone started to ring. He jumped, scared, and I did the same. He reached for the phone and accepted the call, sighing and nodding. It was his sister. He told her he was coming and put the phone away, standing up and starting to put his shoes on.

             “Johnny?” I asked, sitting up and also putting my shoes on. He sighed and turned to me, face sad, before shaking his head and walking out. I widened my eyes and fixed myself faster, rushing after my best friend and walking behind him.

             If he didn’t want or couldn’t tell, I wouldn’t push him any further. Not that day, at least.

             “So... how is Daniel?” he mumbled, walking out of the house and locking it before we started to walk again to his little sister’s school. I shrugged, smiling a bit, trying to make him calmer.

             “Daniel is good. I think I am going with him to his country house this weekend” I said, and he chuckled, rolling his eyes.

             “Well, remember to take precautions” he said and I blushed, slapping his arm.

             “We won’t be doing anything yet! I am 17! I am not ready like you are!” I said and sighed. “Boys”

             “Alright, alright. So have the lighter fun” he said and I chuckled, rolling my eyes. Boys.

             Soon, we arrived in his sister’s school and she was already waiting. She grinned and rushed to her brother, hugging him tight and making him laugh before she came and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She was eight at the time. A truly sweet thing. She looked like Golden Locks in every single sense.

             After we took her home, he and I said our goodbyes and I left home again, watching as the sun went down the sky and the street lights turned on. I sighed happily, taking my phone out and snapping a picture before I arrived home, getting inside and getting to my room.

             That had been a long day and I needed a long shower.

[metalarmproblems]

Interlude - Part Four

Part One / Part Two / Part Three

Summary: Bucky takes work at a bakery in Bucharest to make ends meet while he tries to pull himself together. It takes place between the events of The Winter Soldier and Civil War movies in the MCU. Tags are at the bottom. Send me a message or an ask to be added.

Word Count: 1,386

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: None

Ada watched in amusement as you set a plate down in front of the third chair at the table, which used to belong to Gabriel and had remained empty since his passing. She watched as you resumed tending to the stock pot on the stove, carefully stirring the stew it contained. A smile formed as she watched you walk back over to the plate you set down only minutes ago and remove it for the fourth time in the last hour.

“It’s not funny,” you mumbled, putting the plate back into the cabinet.

“Of course not, dear,” she soothed, “I’ve just never seen you like this.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

You returned to the pot, resuming your diligent stirring.

“You’ve never gotten flustered over a man,” she explained, “I’ve honestly been waiting for you to come out for a while.”

“Ada!”

You aunt laughed, “I thought maybe you didn’t feel comfortable, and I was a little worried.”

“You could have asked,” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“I was letting you get around to it in your own time.”

“Okay, well let me promise you now that I’m not hiding anything. He probably isn’t even coming. I forgot to tell him where we lived.”

Ada seemed to consider this for a moment before responding. “Then why--”

The conversation abruptly ended at the sound of a soft knock at the apartment door. Ada patted your arm.

“You’d better get that plate back out,” she said quietly before walking to the door.

You quickly grabbed the plate out and set it at the third chair before peeking from the kitchen toward the living room, where Ada was now letting Bucky into the apartment. He was dressed in a dark henley and jeans, and this outfit that would have looked like a casual Sunday outfit on anyone else looked like a sinful Sunday outfit on him. The fabric seemed to hug in all of the right places, and it caused your brain to mildly short circuit. He even had a small bouquet of flowers in his hand, which he handed off to Ada.

Bucky caught your eye as he entered and smiled softly. You returned the smile and ducked back into the safety of the kitchen. As you heard Ada showing Bucky around the small apartment, you found yourself wondering how he found your apartment. Had you mentioned where you lived in passing one day at work? Did Ada say something to him one day?

Your train of thought was derailed Ada’s tour brought Bucky into the kitchen with you.

“Is there anything I can help with?” he asked, looking around. “It smells great.”

You flushed at his compliment and pointed to the cabinet next to the sink.

“Can you grab us a few glasses?”

Bucky nodded, going to the cabinet you pointed to and grabbing three glasses. He set them down on the table and turned back toward you. You could feel his eyes on you, and you began to wonder if the sensation of his gaze was similar to what bugs felt like under a magnifying glass.

“I hope you’re hungry,” you blurted out to break the tense silence, “I screwed up the measurements earlier, and it made too much. I’m hoping we don’t have to be eating this stew for the rest of the month.”

He approached without a sound, something that always caught you off-guard at work. At home, it wasn’t any less unsettling. He came close and breathed in deep, peering into the pot.

“I can definitely help save you from eating that for a month,” he smiled. “I’m happy to do my part.”

Despite your best efforts to keep your cool, the corners of your mouth tipped up against your will. Bucky may have been introverted and slightly withdrawn, but damned if he couldn’t be charming when he wanted to.

Once you sat down to dinner with Bucky and Ada, he made it a point to groan appreciatively with his first mouthful of stew.

“I can’t remember the last time I had something this good,” he sighed contentedly.

Blood rushed to your cheeks, which didn’t escape Bucky’s notice. You saw the hint of a smirk cross his lips.

Ada soon pulled him into a conversation, and you were relieved to have his focus pulled from you for a while. You ate your portion of stew and listened intently as your aunt did her best to pull some details from the man about his past. Her efforts were largely unsuccessful. All Bucky shared was that he was originally from America (She complimented his perfect command of Romanian and the accent.), he ended up in Bucharest after leaving his last job (He declined to state just what exactly his previous profession was.), and he lived alone (He clarified that his previous line of work had kept him from having the time to find anyone.).

When it was time to clear the table, Bucky helped you wash dishes while your aunt divided up the remaining stew into plastic containers to be stored in the refrigerator.

“We are going to send you home with some of those,” you informed him, handing him a bowl to dry. “Actually, she will probably try to unload all of those on you now that she knows you don’t have anyone cooking for you at home. You’ll be going home with food all of the time.”

The words flew from your mouth before your socially acceptable filter could stop them, but Bucky didn’t seem to be phased by your reference to his living situation.

“If it’s always as good as this was, I won’t complain.”

You smiled warmly, “I’ll make sure you get the good stuff.”

A comfortable silence fell in the kitchen, interrupted only by the clinking of silverware against bowls and the snap of plastic lids sealing.

Once the final dish was dried and put away, Bucky thanked you and your aunt once again for inviting him as he pulled on his jacket. It was still early in the evening, but it wouldn’t be long before both of you would need to get some sleep to prepare for your early morning start time at the bakery.

“Oh, wait!” you called out as he approached the door, “I want to give you those books. Come on. I’ll get them.”

Bucky followed you to your bedroom, watching as you pulled a few Charles Bukowski poetry collections from your small bookshelf. Despite its size, the shelf was jam-packed with books. Most of them looked like they had been read at least a few times.

“Big reader?” he questioned, reading the titles to get a feel for your tastes.

You nodded and confessed, “Sometimes I need all of the escape I can get.”

His eyes seemed to study you closely as you handed over the Bukowski books. It looked almost like something inside of him broke at your words, and you began to regret even opening up. He grabbed the books and before you could release your grip, he used them to pull you closer. Your mind didn’t have time to process what was happening as his lips found their way to yours.

There was almost a hesitation to his movement once his lips brushed against yours, as if he were unsure whether or not you would want it, but it quickly dissipated as you leaned into the kiss.

After a few moments, you broke apart, both of you sporting a slight blush across your cheeks. It was clear that neither of you knew quite what to say. “I’ll...see you tomorrow,” he finally spoke, holding tight to the books you handed him.

“Okay,” you agreed, unable to think of anything intelligent to say.

Why did this all seem so much simpler in the books you read? You were fairly sure the heroine from any of your favorite novels would have thought of something witty to say by now.

Instead, you trailed behind Bucky as he went back to the front door of the apartment.

“I hope you’ll come back next Sunday,” Ada said with a kind smile as she stacked a few plastic containers into his arms.

“Thank you. I’d love to,” Bucky assured her, his eyes flickering over to you before he left and disappeared into the night.

Part Five

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