#pure sugar to balance out the last one and the forthcoming ones

[firstelevens]

4 for the minific ask?

Thank you so much for this prompt, which was going to be something completely different until pictures from the Golden Globes started rolling out and fully rerouted all trains of thought.

4. things you said over the phone

Usually, when Bucky calls Sam, he can expect some sort of affectionate greeting on the other end of the line. It's a fond joke about fossils using phones, or a knowing what did you forget? when Bucky breezes out of the house on an errand, or an absentminded hi, baby when Sam is distracted with work.

Today, it's none of those things: just a slow, wary, "Why are you calling me right now?"

And Bucky isn't proud of it, exactly, but he's already in a high-anxiety situation, and he's so ready to hear one of Sam's usual greetings that when he doesn't, he's immediately on the defensive.

"Why do you have your phone on you if you don't want to be called, Wilson?"

He can almost picture Sam in his suit, crossing his arms as he says, unimpressed, "It's for emergencies, Barnes."

"How do you know I--"

"If it was an emergency, you'd just press the panic button," says Sam. "But whatever this is, it better be important."

Bucky can't frustratedly run a hand through his hair, so he just has to wring his hands instead. "Of course it's important, Sam. I don't have time to be fucking around today; I kind of have somewhere to be."

It's quiet on the other end of the line before Sam blows out a long, slow breath. He sounds as exhausted as Bucky feels, and in an instant that anxious irritation is replaced by the desire to just be there beside him, but they can't do that right now.

"I'm sorry," Bucky says softly. "I shouldn't have- sorry."

"It's okay," says Sam, and that's as much absolution as Bucky would've thought he should expect, especially today. It feels like a goddamn miracle that Sam goes on to say, "You didn't sleep either, huh?"

"I think I might've caught twenty minutes or so somewhere in there," says Bucky. "You?"

"Half an hour a little after three, and then..."

"And then your body woke you up to go on a run."

"You did always say that would come back to bite me," says Sam, laughing a little.

Bucky smiles to himself. "Don't read into it or anything, but I'm pretty sure I'd give up being right if it meant you could get some rest once in a while."

"Too late," says Sam, and Bucky can hear his smile now. "I'm reading into it."

"Typical," says Bucky, shaking his head. Then, looking at the clock on the nightstand. "Shit, okay, I need to leave now, basically. Bye, Sammy; I'll see--"

"Wait!" says Sam, cutting him off. "What did you call about? What's the important thing?"

Bucky's eyes go wide. "Oh, fuck."

"I can't right now, but how about a rain check?"

"We don't have time for your bad pickup lines, Wilson," says Bucky. "I lost the fucking box; I can't find it anywhere and I can't leave without it."

"You didn't lose it."

"Yeah, I did. It's not where it's supposed to be."

"You didn't lose it," repeats Sam, sounding amused now. "It's in the bottom drawer of the nightstand."

"No it's not," says Bucky. "I already checked there."

"Not your nightstand, mine."

"Sam, the bottom drawer of your nightstand is the one that's got the--"

"The spare bottles of lube, yeah."

"Why would it be in the drawer with the spare bottles of lube?"

Sam laughs. "Something about seeing it often enough that we would instinctively know where it was."

It is, Bucky hates to admit, the kind of bizarre logic that tends to fit into lives as hectic as theirs. When he opens the drawer, the box is exactly where Sam said it would be and Bucky can't stop himself from sighing. "Why would we do this? This is the stupidest possible place to put something important."

"Yeah," agrees Sam, "but now you're never, ever going to forget about it."

Bucky groans. "I hate that that's true."

"I'll make fun of you for it later," says Sam. "You're going to be late, remember."

"Shit," says Bucky, startling and almost dropping the box. "Right. Okay, I'm leaving."

"It's about time," says Sam. "Can't believe you'd waste time talking to your boyfriend on a day this important."

"He's not my boyfriend, he's my fiancé," says Bucky, glancing at the mirror as he adjusts his tie.

"Won't be that for much longer, either, unless you take another ten years to get downstairs already."

"I said I was leaving!" says Bucky. "You're the one who's distracting me!"

"Fine," says Sam. "I'm hanging up. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," says Bucky, trying and failing to stop the grin on his face. "I'll be the one with the rings."

Sam laughs and Bucky feels the tension of the morning and the sleepless night begin to ebb away.

"I'll be the one at the end of the aisle."