[oom] see right through my walls

[nerves_of_ice]

As T'Challa stares at the hologram in the palm of his hand, he can already feel the headache forming. "She what? No. Never mind. Bring her to me in the throne room, when she arrives. I will deal with her myself."

He clears the image, then taps the Kimoyo Bead again. "Nakia. I need you."

* * * * * * * * *

"You cannot be serious."

"I don't see why this is a problem. You brought Everett Ross here--"

"Ross was dying! And he was never allowed to know that the man he was seeking was here! Nakia, I have made a promise to protect him."

"She is not a threat. Not to him."

"I will be the judge of that."

Nakia throws up her hands. "Fine. You will see. I hope it does not bother you that I stay and watch?"

T'Challa smiles. "Of course not."

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

"Uh-huh."

Bucky looks toward the Citadel, then back at Sharon. "Your room's probably nicer, and I'm sure whatever the kitchen staff can put together there's a lot better, but..." He trails off there with a shrug and nods toward the hut.

"If you want."

[from_the_outside]

"It's very far away," she points out, and now that he's mentioned it, she is feeling pretty hungry. "If you don't mind me eating your food, that's easiest."

She's not at all sure yet how to navigate things like getting food at the Citadel yet, anyhow.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I don't mind," he tells her, gently, and starts toward the hut. "Come on."

Inside, he pulls out a chair for her at the little table before crouching down next to a cloth-covered set of shelves beside a small cabinet. The cabinet, when he opens it, turns out to be an ingeniously designed miniature fridge fueled by a small power cell, which also runs the equally small induction cooktop that turns out to comprise the flat top of the cabinet. He sets a pot from the fridge on the cooktop and flicks the switch to activate it, then pulls the cloth back from the shelves to reveal two plates, two bowls, two mugs, two glasses - all meticulously arranged.

Everything in the small hut is arranged with similar care, in fact, including the throw that lies folded into a pillow at the head of the bed.

[from_the_outside]

She takes the offered seat and leans her elbows on the tabletop so she can prop her chin on her hands and watch him move around the little space. He looks comfortable, moving easily, every action routine.

Bucky Barnes, domestic. Who would have thought it possible?

She looks around at the neat little space again, still marveling at seeing him someplace bright and comfortable and homey, even if it's a little bare, until her eyes catch on the throw. It's folded there, at the head of the bed, as a pillow.

She thinks about the green throw that's laying rumpled at the head of her own bed, in the room Nakia had prepared for her. "I'm sorry I got upset with you before," she says, after a second's thought. He'd done something kind, and she'd overreacted, didn't think. "That was unfair."

Also, she's going to have to call off Nakia before her friend decides to punish him for his perceived slight.

[nerves_of_ice]

He shrugs, keeping his gaze on the pot as he stirs it.

"You thought I was trying to hurt you." He says it as if this would be a natural assumption; as though of course someone would believe that of him. "It's okay."

He sets the two bowls on the top shelf while the meal finishes heating and reaches for a glass, then a pitcher. Bucky pours her a glass of water and sets it on the table in front of her.

[from_the_outside]

It's not okay, really, but she doesn't want to argue about it after the complicated conversations they've just navigated.

She'll just have to make it up to him some other way. Her hands go around the glass after he sets it down, and she gives him a wry smile. "Thanks."

Water is good. She'd kind of dehydrated herself, because apparently something about him turns her into a lovesick sixteen year old again.

She nods to the mini-fridge, the shelves, the hot plate. "This is a pretty nice little set-up you've got here."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Thanks." He tests the contents of the pot and starts spooning the mixture into the bowls. "Shuri thought it was a good idea, especially after I told her about the apartment in Bucharest."

He glances sideways at her.

"You never saw it, did you? They didn't take pictures or anything?"

Probably not, he figures, considering the state it had been in after the fight.

[from_the_outside]

She shakes her head, her hands curving back around the water glass. "No. I was watching the feed from the body cams –"

Which didn't give much of a look around, and most were taken out of commission. "And I could hear it all."

Including Steve and Sam.

And him.

"But we never got a good look inside the room. And any photos they took...after...weren't the first priority for analysis." She makes a slight face, shrugging one shoulder. "Probably I would have been involved and seen them later if I hadn't thrown my lot in with you guys."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You said something about that. That you coordinated."

There's no accusation in the quiet words. He sets one of the bowls in front of her, hands her a spoon, and then puts his own bowl in front of the other chair. Bucky takes a moment to pull a plate of flatbread from the shelves and put that between them, get himself a glass of water, and finally sits down across from her before he continues.

"I'd been there for a few weeks. I thought it would be a good idea to try making a more stable base of operations for myself, for a little while. Something more than a campsite or rented room. Good to blend in that way, too. At least I thought it would be."

He sounds wry about it.

"Small, like this, but I didn't need anything big. I had a couple of things that I'd gotten because... just because. Candy bars on the top of the fridge. A plant on the balcony. It probably didn't survive me throwing Steve into it, though."

[from_the_outside]

She sighs, a little. "Yeah."

She'd been good at her job. Very good.

But that's all over now. She pulls the bowl towards herself and stirs the beans and rice in it with the spoon he'd given her, giving him a rueful half-smile. "Probably not unless it was a lot sturdier than most houseplants tend to be."

She takes a bite, chews at it, and swallows. It's pretty far from the best thing she's ever eaten, but she's survived on rice and beans often enough to enjoy it anyway. It's hot and filling, and that's all she really needs it to be. She reaches to tear off a piece of the bread and bites into that, too, giving him a coy look as she chews.

"And here you told me you couldn't cook. This is downright edible."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Not that sturdy."

He gives her a wry look in return.

"I know. I'm better with basic fuel than actual food that tastes like food. Sorry."

[from_the_outside]

"Believe me, it's better than I could do," she points out. And if the way she's eating is any evidence, she likes it just fine.

Besides, if she were rude to a host who is clearly trying his best, her long-past etiquette teachers would somehow know, hunt her down, and force her to practice small talk over bone china tea cups.

But she's a little distracted, thinking about his description of the flat in Bucharest. "I think it's good that you decided to have a few things just...because."

He's re-learning how to be a person; having a space of his own and having opinions about what to have in that space is definitely part of it. "And it was probably nice to stay in one spot for a while."

She shakes her head, rueful. "Sorry we showed up and ruined everything."

She's going to be feeling guilty about her role in all of that for a long time to come, she knows.

[nerves_of_ice]

He shrugs, very slightly, and looks around the hut. "Shuri thought so too. That's why -- this."

Bucky eats a few more bites in silence before he says,

"You thought I was responsible for Vienna." He says it again as he had the day before - matter-of-fact, without blame, and with a weary acceptance that goes right down to the bone. "You did what you thought you had to do to stop me."

[from_the_outside]

She leans her head onto her hand and toys with her food for a long moment. "I know."

But that doesn't make it right. It doesn't mitigate the real and lasting harm she did.

Zemo had played them all like instruments. She can know and accept that without being able to accept her role in it. "And I'm not sure what else I could have done. With all the tips coming in, it was only a matter of time before the Task Force found you. But that doesn't mean I didn't make the wrong call."

She offers him a wry half-smile. "You're just going to have to let me feel terrible about it for a while."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shrugs again, and turns his attention back to his meal.

"As long as you know that I don't blame you for it."

[from_the_outside]

"I know," she says again, but with a warmer inflection. She taps her spoon into her food for a few more seconds, then goes back to eating.

Plenty of other people would blame her. But not Bucky. He's a lot like Steve in that way.

"So, candy bars and a houseplant?" It's after a few more bites. She's making her way through this bowl with the efficient speed of the very hungry. "I don't think I would have pegged you as someone with a green thumb."

But it's a nice mental image. "The sweet tooth, I can relate to."

[nerves_of_ice]

"It was a gift." He sounds bemused about it.

"The candy - it's good energy. It had caramel in it, though. I was trying to see if that made it better than chocolate alone."

[from_the_outside]

She gives him a quizzical look – who...would have given him a gift? – but shakes her head smilingly as he goes on.

"Did it?"

She loves chocolate and caramel both.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yeah. And whatever the kind of chocolate was, at least it wasn't really strong or overpowering that way. So... pretty good, I guess."

[from_the_outside]

"Sounds like a successful experiment, then," she says cheerfully, and grabs another piece of flatbread.

"Maybe next time you can try chocolate and peanut butter."

A personal favorite.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'll keep it in mind."

He sets his spoon in his empty bowl and leans back in his chair.

[from_the_outside]

She's only a few bites behind him, and soon enough she puts her spoon down and sits back with a sigh.

"Much better. Thank you. I was starting to get loopy."

Low blood sugar and Sharon Carter is a pretty flammable combination. She takes a sip of water, then pushes up and out of the chair to collect her bowl and spoon and his, bringing them back over to the pot he'd used. "I'll take care of these. Where do you wash up?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hey, no," he protests, straightening in his seat. "I can get it, you don't need to--"

[from_the_outside]

"You cooked," she says firmly. "I'll clean up."

Those are the rules. At least, she thinks they are. It's been a long time since she's shared a meal with someone in their home. "Besides, there's like...six dishes, total, here. It'll take about thirty seconds."

She arches her eyebrows at him. "So? Unless you have a sink tucked away in here, too...?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He studies her for a second, clearly weighing her determination, then sighs.

"Outside. Back of the hut. I filled the water barrel yesterday. Solar heating warms it - from the black bag."

A beat.

"Thank you."