[oom] in the dark house you have seen the sun rise

[nerves_of_ice]

Ayo had suggested - firmly - that it would not be wise for him to be a part of the response team that's standing ready in case anything goes wrong, and he can't say that he disagrees with her. Instead, Bucky goes to Shuri's lab when 'Irma' and 'Ryan' leave for the meet with the distributor and listens in from there.

Nothing goes wrong. He's glad; they all are, he knows. Once it's clear that they're on their way back and not being followed, Shuri takes off her earpiece and turns to him. "Well. That is good. Everything is going as we had hoped. So now I must ask you - are you ready to proceed tomorrow as we have planned?"

He removes his own earpiece and sets it aside before he answers her. He doesn't want there to be any chance that he'll be overheard, not about this. "Yes," he says, quietly, but without hesitation. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." One corner of his mouth twitches in a rueful smile. "Is it okay to say that I'm a little nervous?"

Shuri takes his hand between hers and holds on. "Of course it is okay," she tells him. "It is no small amount of trust that you have placed in me. This I know."

They sit there in the quiet for a while before he squeezes her hand and lets go. Shuri bounces to her feet and smiles at him. "Now go," she says, attempting a stern manner and failing due to the laughter in her bright eyes as she orders him around. "Do something fun today. I will see you in the morning."

"Okay," Bucky says, and gives her a quick answering smile before he walks out.

He goes back to the hut by the lake. Whether or not that'd been what Shuri had intended, he doesn't know, but it's more peaceful than anywhere else, and right now that's all he wants. Besides, if anyone's looking for him... well, they'll know how to find him there.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

He nods to Steve, and a look passes between them. It's no small thing to know that he'll be there, not after all the time they've spent separated.

"Not especially," he says. "Although I'm under orders from Shuri to 'do something fun.'"

He looks as wry as he sounds, at that.

[from_the_outside]

"I bet the kids will be happy to help with that," she tells him. "Maybe when they come by we can tell them to come back later for a movie; I bet Shuri would be happy to loan us the equipment."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Bet they would," he says, a little wryly, "if I hadn't passed the word earlier that I was going to be gone for a while. I don't know if they'll come by, except for K'Senge."

"That's what you get for planning ahead," Steve teases, and Bucky picks up a twig and tosses it at him.

"Anyway," Bucky says, "I don't feel like I need to do anything in particular. It's nice just spending time with the two of you."

[from_the_outside]

"We can definitely do that," Sharon tells him, and Steve agrees, even while tossing the twig back at Bucky.

And it is nice. Sharon's always enjoyed both of them and their company, and though they've always seemed pretty different from one another their connection is obvious. There's nobody either of them cares about more, and it's clear in every one of their interactions, in the way Steve teases him and how they keep challenging each other, laughing at references she doesn't get.

That's fine: she's content with just being nearby and joining in when she can. It keeps her mind off what's coming, anyway, and that's something she appreciates.

[nerves_of_ice]

At some point, he's ended up stretched out on his side, with his head propped against his hand, just listening as Steve explains yet another story from their shared past to Sharon.

He's not even aware of the faint smile on his face, or the way he's completely relaxed.

[from_the_outside]

He's relaxing, and that's helping her relax, but there's no doubt Steve's doing the heavy lifting here, in terms of helping the conversation move along. After a while, she gets up and goes to make them all some coffee with the French press in the hut, then brings out the box of Jenga pieces to coax the both of them into a game.

If she's remembering the last time they played Jenga and how he'd tried to distract her, it only shows in a few sidelong glances she sends his way.

[nerves_of_ice]

It's maybe five minutes in, maybe ten, and Bucky and Steve are very determinedly competing to balance the wooden blocks in the most ridiculous ways. Steve, too, is relaxed in a way that he hasn't been in a while, laughing and pleased.

Bucky glances at Sharon from time to time, trying to make sure that she's not feeling left out in any way.

[from_the_outside]

Someday, maybe, she'll feel a little less like a third wheel with the two of them, but it's not today. Not that it's a bad thing: she's enjoying herself just watching them.

God knows they deserve the time together. She contents herself with playing the peanut gallery and taking pictures of them with her phone; hardly the quality of the ones Bucky takes, but they're good enough for her purposes.

[nerves_of_ice]

The tower sways wildly as he pulls the latest block, and Steve groans. Bucky counters by trying to stack the block vertically rather than horizontally and can't stop laughing when it all collapses.

[from_the_outside]

The tower falls in a clatter of wooden blocks, and Bucky laughs and keeps laughing, and she laughs too, her heart feeling so full it ought to burst any second.

It doesn't, though, just keeps growing, filling her chest and head with warmth and delight. Steve's got his hands up, grinning too. "It wasn't me," he protests, and laughs. "Does that mean I win?"

"Yeah," she tells him. "But now you go against me. Better bring your A-game, Rogers."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Good luck," Bucky says, smirking, and leans back to watch this particular show with great interest. Steve eyes him. "Should I be worried?"

"That would be telling," Bucky informs him.

[from_the_outside]

Poor upright Steve never had a chance against a cheater like Sharon. She ruthlessly uses every trick in the book and a few others to distract him, make him second-guess his choices, and otherwise wreak small-scale havoc until he picks the wrong block and the tower goes tumbling down in pieces while Sharon laughs.

[nerves_of_ice]

He slings his arm around Steve's shoulders. "Tough luck," Bucky commiserates, trying not to laugh. "She's sneaky."

"You're not kidding," Steve agrees, eyeing Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

"Sneaky?" she says, amused. "No. 'Competitive,' sure. The reigning Jenga champion, definitely."

She waves a block at them, laughing. "You boys need to learn a few more tricks before you can beat me."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Is that a challenge?" Steve asks her, then looks at Bucky. "I think that's a challenge."

"I think you're right," he agrees, with a grin. "Team effort?"

[from_the_outside]

"Good luck," she tells them, and starts building the tower again.

"Although it's pretty sad if it takes two super soldiers to beat one normal woman at a kid's game."

[nerves_of_ice]

“She’s got a point,” Steve says. “Buck, I think it’s gonna be up to you.”

“Me?”

“I just lost to her,” Steve points out, very reasonably.

[from_the_outside]

"Don't tell me you're chicken, Barnes," she teases him, grinning.

"I thought you were supposed to be good at strategy. This is nothing."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Okay, you’re on.”

Bucky shakes his head and moves up close to the tower.

[from_the_outside]

The real problem is she can't distract him this time the same way she did last time, because Steve is here and that would be maybe weird, definitely rude, so she's got to try a few other tricks unstead.

He's got that intent focus thing down, though. He's for sure more of a challenge than Steve.

[nerves_of_ice]

He studies the tower, winks at Steve, and smiles innocently at Sharon.

“Please, go ahead.”

[from_the_outside]

"Hmm," she says, suspicious, but leans forward to start tapping out the first of her chosen blocks.

It comes easily, but it'll only get harder as they go.

[nerves_of_ice]

He watches intently as she pulls the first block, then quickly removes his own first block and lays it in place. The first several proceed back and forth easily before the first challenging block comes into play.

Bucky goes to pull it out, pauses with his hand over it, and stares Sharon dead in the eye as he removes the block and puts it in place.

[from_the_outside]

That unblinking stare might scare a political target, but he's going to have to do better than that with her. She bats her eyes innocently at him and taps the next of her blocks out, completely ignoring Steve, who is chuckling to himself nearby.

She lays the block on top and considers the tower they're making; she might need to go for a few harder blocks if she wants to win this one.

[nerves_of_ice]

He gives Steve a look which results in the other man holding both hands up, then shakes his head, chuckling a bit, and turns back to Sharon and the tower. Bucky considers it for a moment, then eases the next block free. He flips it over in his fingers, considering.

"I'm more used to breaking things down than building them up," he observes, and sets the block carefully on the edge. "But I guess it's really just doing it in reverse."