#my brain has been bashed into a fine paste with big hammers

[validark]

My head fucking hurts so bad :(

[freudensteins-monster]

I Need a Hero! 

Following on from Ooh! Barracuda!

Despite what Darcy had promised, their third date had ended with them still fully clothed, kissing goodbye on the street outside the restaurant they were supposed to be dining at, all because some asshat let mutated wannabe velociraptors escape from a lab in Nova Scotia.

And though they both claimed to want a do-over, culminating in the stereotypical post-third date activities, that first interrupted date was the start of a holding pattern.

They made reservations at another nice restaurant and Bucky walked Darcy to her room at the tower. They made out against the door – the inside of the door, as the hallway had hears, and high resolution cameras – but then Bucky cut it short claiming he had an early training session at the upstate facility in the morning.

Okay, thought Darcy. Except she learnt later on that he had volunteered for it the morning of their date.

The following weekend JARVIS found them an old school dance hall and the pair got dressed up in their 1940’s finest and went out dancing. Bucky walked her to her door again, and again cut their goodbye kiss short claiming tiredness because of the training upstate, and the travel, and the dancing.

Fine. Except Steve had mentioned two days later that Bucky had been putting extra sessions in at the tower gym – including the night of their dance hall date.

Darcy invited him around for a home cooked meal and suggested they watch something from Bucky’s “must see movies of the last 100 years” list. She instigated a little Netflix and Chill action, only for Bucky to put the brakes on claiming he wanted to see how the movie ended.

Really? It’s not like they couldn’t have paused the damn thing, Darcy would grumble to Jane later.

For their next date she pulled out the big guns: a slinky, sleeveless, little black dress that showed even more skin than the blue-grey number that had prompted Bucky to ask her out. When she opened the door Bucky’s knees almost buckled at the sight of her (or the girls) and Darcy thought she was on to a winner. She was flirty and affectionate on the way down to the lobby, and Bucky seemed to be reciprocating, but of course, their luck being what it was, the second he opened the car door for her his phone rang with an emergency Assemble.

Fair enough. He couldn’t fake an Assemble, but he didn’t have to look so damn relieved about it.

The mission took three days and when Bucky returned Darcy was caught in the middle of Jane’s latest breakthrough, so it ended up being a full week after their last failed date before they could reschedule. This also gave Darcy plenty of time to plan a course of action to address the elephant in the room, which basically boiled down to “talk about it like mature adults in an adult relationship”.

“This suuuucks,” Darcy groaned to her empty apartment as she waited for Bucky to knock on her door.  Thankfully she didn’t have to wait too long; a minute later and she would have chickened out.

“Hey doll,” he greeted her with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. “I missed you like crazy this week.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been a crazy week,” she joked lamely, as Bucky made himself comfortable on her couch.

“Did you have anything in particular in mind tonight? I was thinking we could try that Caribbean ramen place Tony was going on about and maybe start one of those Star Wars trilogies everyone seems to love. Sam wants to watch them at the next team movie night, but you know he and Clint will just talk over them and it’ll just ruin my first viewing.”

“Speaking of firsts,” Darcy interjected, grasping at any excuse to get the crappy portion of their evening over with. “Do you not want to have sex with me?” Bucky balked and couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. Darcy cursed herself for having the subtlety of Thor’s hammer, but sat as close to him as she dared and powered on. “Considering how you were looking at me the day you asked me out, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you find me attractive, but you keep pulling away from me when things get hot and heavy, and I know you’ve been making up excuses so you can cut out early. So… what is it? Why are you embarrassed to tell me no? Is it a religious thing – do you not want to have sex before marriage? A medical thing? Do you not want to have sex at all, or just not right now? Whatever it is, I just need you talk to me about it and tell me where you’re head’s at so I can adjust my expectations accordingly, okay? Because right now I feel like an asshole for trying to move us in a direction that you’re clearly not comfortable with.”

It took Bucky a minute to reply, his mouth opening and closing as he tried and failed to find the right words, but eventually he turned those beautiful stormy eyes of his in her direction and took one of her hands in his.

“First off, of course I find you attractive. When it comes to brains and beauty I think you leave Hedy Lamarr in the dust,” he assured her with a smirk. “And don’t go twistin’ yourself up thinkin’ I only want you when you’re wearing one of those maneater ensembles of yours. Done up and dressed down, soft and sexy; I like the whole package, sweetheart.” Darcy couldn’t help but blush. “And I do want to have sex with you…”

“But…”

Bucky sighed and squeezed her hand just a little bit tighter. “But… Nobody but doctors have seen me without my shirt on since I came back to myself, and I can’t stop worrying about what you’ll think.”

“About?”

“All this,” he replied with vague gesture.

“Your arm?”

“You gotta remember that I got the knock off version of the serum; I ain’t like Steve,” he added, anxiously rubbing his shoulder. “I might heal fast but my scars don’t fade like his do. At least, the ones Hydra gave me didn’t. It’s not pretty, and I just don’t want to see you pretending like they don’t upset you.”

“Of course they upset me, Bucky. But only because I wanna tase every Hydra goon in the balls for what they did to you. Seeing your scars isn’t going to make me want you less. Solid muscle and solid metal, cocky and self-conscious; I like the whole package, Sergeant Barnes,” she teased.

“Oh, yeah?” he smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Ugh, dude. Don’t make me fall on my sword.”

“Huh?”

“JARVIS, can you play my favourite fanvid?” she asked the ceiling with a sigh.

 “Of course, Miss Lewis.”

“What are we watching?”

“Just… watch,” Darcy cringed as she shushed him. “And try not to hate me or, like, run screaming from the room in search of a restraining order.”

 🎶 Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods 🎶

Bucky knew this song. He heard it every now and then when he was passing by Jane’s lab on the way to or from Tony’s, but it would always cut out when he got close. He’d asked Darcy about it once and she claimed it was her ringtone. Now that he thought back on it she had definitely been lying but he’d been too distracted by her bashful smile to notice it. He turned his attention to the television fixed to Darcy’s living room wall and as the song continued dozens of hastily edited together video clips were thrown up on the screen. Video clips of him. There were paparazzo footage of him and some of the team leaving a bar in DC after they’d gone out for drinks on Sam’s birthday, some video of him lifting weights in the gym for that Avengers Tower behind-the-scenes thing that Pepper had organized, though it was slightly pixelated as the editor tried to zoom in on his arms. There was even news footage from his missions with the Avengers, and a few of his missions against them.

“Is that… is that the Winter Soldier in Germany?”

“Um… yes?” Darcy winced.

“People like that – you like that?” he asked incredulously.

“I know it’s awful of me, and you have every right to hate me for making light of something that is obviously so awful, but seriously dude, you were built like a friggin tank! I don’t know what you were eating when you were hiding out in Romania, but damn!”

After a few more minutes of crippling awkwardness Darcy finally asked JARVIS to cut the feed.

“So…

“So… I hear this song playing in your lab all the time. Just how often have you watched this thing?”

“I plead the fifth,” Darcy blushed.

“JARVIS, how many times has Darcy watched this video?”

“Don’t answer that!”

 “This is Miss Lewis’s 57th viewing of this particular Youtube video.”

Bucky looked rather pleased with himself. “Fifty-seven…”

“Okay, listen, I may have left it playing on loop one afternoon while I cleaned my apartment. I have not sat here and watched it fifty-seven times.”

“I can remember at least four separate instances where I’ve walked past your lab and interrupted this song.”

“So? That’s just four times.”

 “Miss Lewis also asks me to loop her into gym’s security footage whenever you and one of your teammates are sparring.”

“JARVIS? What the hell?” Darcy screeched as Bucky doubled over with laughter.

 “I apologise, Miss Lewis. I just thought Sergeant Barnes would appreciate having all the evidence at his disposal.”

“Go away, JARVIS.” Darcy sighed and tried not to combust from blushing as Bucky chuckled at her embarrassment. “Okay, fine. As you can see from Exhibits A through to like friggin J: I find you stupidly attractive. So, you don’t have to worry about me being upset about your scars from an aesthetic point of view, because if it’s not painfully obviously, I want to see you naked. Real bad.”

Then it was Bucky’s turn to blush. “Can I kiss you, doll?”

“Please,” she begged with relieved smile. “Anything to stop me from embarrassing myself further.”

They started tentatively at first, but soon things started moving in a horizontal direction, with hands toying at the hems of shirts and brushing over zippers, and Bucky pulled back. Darcy did her damndest not to let her disappointment show and waited patiently for Bucky to tell her how he was feeling.

“Do you think we could, uh, relocate?” he asked, surprising her as he tilted his head towards her bedroom door. “I don’t know if I’ll want to… I mean, we can try…” he stammered.

“Whatever you’re okay with. Whatever you want,” Darcy promised.

Bucky swooped in for another kiss before lifting Darcy up off the couch in one smooth movement, smiling like an idiot as she giggled in his arms.

“JARVIS, play us out.”

🎶 Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat / It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet / I need a hero! 🎶  

[waveswordswhispers]

Little Things We Treasure Chapter One: Learn the Constellations

*waves*

A Kakasaku fic here! I finally got it written lmao.

I don’t know how many chapters this will be but expect more than one!

For @yolkygoblin for dragging me into this hell (I love, you don’t worry and also THANK YOU VERY MUCH)

Please no ship bashing or hate, Sakura is over eighteen.

Fluff!

Possibly ooc, I’m sorry!

Kakashi has to be honest, he doesn’t think much about doing mundane, normally things that so many others have already done.

He doesn’t quite get the appeal of stargazing, not really, not even during the comet showers that has so many people clamouring about the shooting stars.

Not like there has been anyone to drag him outside before, and it reminds him of his old team, how they used to laugh and point out constellations, Obito and Rin screaming joyfully whenever they saw a shooting star, Minato always joining in, childishly making wishes with them while Kakashi ignored them.

It’s something he certainly regrets but there’s nothing he can change.

He’s walking home one night from his office, reading his Icha Icha Paradise books (Sakura lets him keep his collection as long as she never sees it and he never breathes a word of it to her) and he looks up for some unexplained reason.

He blinks, stopping in his tracks.

The sky is full of stars, shining as far as he can see.

He knows the constellation’s names by heart, Rin and Obito spent hours trying to teach him but he can’t quite pick them out.

He tries for bit more, footsteps in the background coming closer before stopping next to him.

“Kakashi,” Sakura suddenly says and Kakashi looks back down, Sakura looking up at him, raising an eyebrow, mud staining her clothing, dirt lining her hair. “What are you doing?”

Kakashi laughs sheepishly. “Ah, Sakura. Welcome back,” he greets her, lifting a hand in an attempt to comb the dirt of her now almost grey hair, the other quickly stowing the Icha Icha Paradise book in his pouch.

“Nice to see you too,” Sakura replies, her green eyes glittering with joy. Kakashi grins and looks up again.

Sakura follows his gaze, instantly pointing at a group of stars.

“Look, Aries!” she exclaims and Kakashi frowns, trying to follow her fingers that were connecting the stars. “And there’s the Big Dipper!”

“Hm?” Kakashi can only attempt to make sense of what she’s saying and pointing at, not quite getting it.

Sakura stops for a moment, staring at him curiously, a sudden look of realization spreading over her face.

“You don’t know the constellations!” Sakura shouts, eyes crinkling when her laughs rings out in the empty street, not an ounce of teasing in her tone, just surprise.

“Well, I know the names,” Kakashi defends himself, not quite ready to admit he doesn’t know anything she’s pointing at.

“It’s fine,” Sakura replies, grasping his hand yanking him down the street as she breaks into a run. “I’ll teach you!”

Kakashi lets himself be tugged along but stops right before they pass by their apartment, digging his heels in but it’s not enough to throw Sakura off balance in the slightest.

“You should shower and change first,” he explains when Sakura huffs in protest. “And eat. I’ll cook for you,” he adds.

“I’m fine!” Sakura answers playfully but listens anyways. “Don’t burn down the kitchen!” she calls over her shoulder, throwing a over the top, concerned look at the kitchen and then him.

Kakashi groans, shuddering as the one time incident floods back into his mind from where he had buried it.

“It was one time!” he yells and Sakura cackles. “Gai’s not here right now!” he adds and Sakura only laughs harder.

Kakashi manages to make sure the smoke alarms don’t go off and by the time Sakura’s finished eating, it’s later than he likes but according to Sakura, it’s the perfect time to see all the stars in the sky.

“I have a mission tomorrow,” he grumps. “Tsunade will kill me if I’m late.”

Sakura’s putting the last of the dishes away and she pauses, her lips quirking up into a smirk.

“Aw, Kakashi-sensei, didn’t realize you were actually scared enough to care about your, ahem, habit that you never bother to fix.”

Kakashi glares at her, pulling on his mask, grabbing a blanket in case it gets chilly out.

“She’s scary,” he mutters and he almost automatically adds, ‘have you met the woman?’ but his brain works for once in its life and bites it off at the last moment before his mouth can land him a death sentence.

Sakura seems to know that and grins cheekily before grabbing his hand and yanking him along with enough force to pull his arm out of its socket.

“Oh well, we won’t be that long!”

“That’s what you always say.”

“The sky’s clear tonight, you don’t get many chances like this! And if you listen,” she pauses, throwing a exasperated look at him, “maybe you’ll learn faster, and then it will be quick!”

Kakashi snorts and glances away quickly when Sakura’s grip tightens, her smile dangerously sweet.

“Got something to say, Hatake?”

Her tone is deceptively calm, the one she uses with people when they have particularly riled her, and she is zero point five seconds from unleashing her wrath on them, or prepared to give them the quickest, but most painful treatment she is capable of.

A gulp and Kakashi replies, “No,” oh so very quietly because, he wants to be able to walk tomorrow.

Sakura beams.

Two hours later and it’s quite pleasant.

Sakura has taken them to a quiet spot that he hasn’t known about, a pleasant surprise and the bonus is, it’s far, far, far away from anyone.

He has a new hiding spot and he thinks he’ll be stealing it from Sakura when he needs a break from social life.

Technically, Kakashi has learned and memorized all the constellations within the first fifteen minutes because he’s not that dumb, but Sakura looks like she’s having so much fun that he doesn’t want to end it.

It has nothing to do with the fact that he wants to see how long it takes before she figures out he’s faking it.

None.

At all.

Okay, maybe a little.

“So, again, Big Dipper, Lupus-Hey!” Sakura punches him lightly in her terms, it might as well have been a hammer slamming into Kakashi’s arm but he manages to not make a noise. “Are you even listening?”

“Yes,” Kakashi lies, watching her stand up and loom over him, her eyes narrowed suspiciously, hair blowing in the slight breeze, her intimidating effect slightly ruined by her hitai-ate slipping down to cover one eye.

She quickly goes to push it back up and says, “You’re not!” with great conviction.

“Well there’s Leo,” Kakashi points, connecting the stars a lot slower than Sakura but connecting them nonetheless. “And then the Big Dipper. Virgo. Gemini. I am listening!” he rebuts firmly.

Sakura swats his head before plopping back down beside him, collapsing onto her back, rolling her eyes. Kakashi figures he’s won this round.

“What’s your favourite?” she asks after a bit of comfortable silence, stretching her arm out towards the sky, hand reaching upwards before it dropped back to her side.

“Hm,” Kakashi hums, tilting his head back and glancing at Sakura out of the corner of her eyes. “Let me see.”

Sakura props herself up on one arm and raises an eyebrow.

Kakashi notices how the moonlight falls on Sakura, her normally light pink hair appearing almost a silver with a touch of rose, green eyes reflecting a clear, turquoise colour, skin just barely glowing.

She’s beautiful.

“Aries,” Kakashi answers, connecting the stars with ease. “The best constellation there is.”

Sakura rolls onto her stomach, side eyeing Kakashi with a huff.

“You sap.”

“But you love it.”

“Do not,” Sakura shoots back cheerfully, knocking him to the ground.

“So do.”

“I know you have your Icha Icha Paradise book in your pouch, and I am not adverse to stealing it and burning it or somewhere along the lines of making sure it’s not readable anymore.”

Kakashi immediately shuts his mouth. Sakura doesn’t make idle threats, at least not towards him.

He’s had to learn the hard way.

For a while, he lays there, listening to the soft whisper of leaves a gently breeze blows through the trees, the quiet melody of crickets lulling him into a somewhat relaxed manner.

He’s well aware that it is way, way too late and past the time to even get a decent amount of sleep.

He’s going to late tomorrow and Tsunade will most definitely kill him.

Sakura chuckles softly, seeming to follow his train of thought and pats his shoulder apologetically. Kakashi shakes his head and pats her head gently, making her giggle.

Sakura sighs sleepily, her eyes fluttering shut every now and then as she struggles to keep them open.

It looks like she’ll fall asleep right there and then and Kakashi is going to have to carry her back to their apartment before her eyes snap open.

“A shooting star!” She’s wide awake, sitting up so fast that Kakashi is convinced she’ll get whiplash, one hand accidentally smacking Kakashi in the face, the other pointing excitedly at the sky. “Make a wish, Kakashi!”

Kakashi lazily tracks the shooting star until it falls out of sight, choosing not to make a comment.

Sakura spins around, her expression ecstatic, her expression a mix of Rin’s sternness and Obito’s enthusiasm.

“What did you wish for?” she asks, eyes wide with wonder before she winces.

“For my nose to stop bleeding,” Kakashi replies dryly as Sakura mutters a sheepish, “Oops,” and grabs a handkerchief, gingerly dabbing at the blood.

Kakashi pulls off his mask, letting Sakura clean off the blood and healing what little pain he feels.

“I’m really sorry,” Sakura apologizes.

Kakashi shrugs.

“Didn’t hurt that much. How about a kiss?” he inquires slyly and Sakura jerks away, immediately slapping the back of his head.

“Pervert,” she grumbles. “I’ll really break your nose if you try that again.”

“Gomen, gomen.”

Sakura huffs and curls up next to him, leaching off his body warmth.

Kakashi doesn’t protest.

He throws the blanket over them, too far down the road to dreamland to even consider moving.

Sakura’s almost asleep, her breaths slow and steady when asks, “Kakashi?”

“Hm?”

A loud yawn and then, “What did you really wish for?”

Kakashi opens one eye lazily and then shuts it.

“My wish? For you to be happy of course.”

Sakura laughs quietly.

“Kakashi.”

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t have to wish for that. I already am.” Kakashi smiled and curled his arms around her.

“A wish well spent regardless,” he announces, drifting in and out of unconsciousness.

“Sap,” Sakura concludes.

“Your sap.”

Sakura chuckles, the sound muffled by Kakashi’s chest.

They fall asleep, the constellations twinkling above them in the clear night sky.

Kakashi wakes up the next morning with rain pouring down on them and Sakura sneezing, the blanket doing little to help them as they sprint home.

Tsunade berates him up for being late and Kakashi has to spend the next week sneezing and taking medicine while Shikamaru and Ino snicker at him.

Still, as Kakashi glances at the sky each night, when he can see the constellations, he recites them each slowly and surely.

He’ll have them memorized by heart by the next time he sees Sakura.