[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]

Steve chuckles.

"I think the bullies might have to defend themselves from you."

Bucky smiles at that.

[from_the_outside]

"Fortunately," she says, "not too many bullies in Wakanda to worry about."

She casts a thoughtful glance back towards the hut. "Aside from the goats, sometimes."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky gives her a look. "No?"

[from_the_outside]

"In Wakanda," she reiterates.

With any luck, these missions are the exception, not the new rule.

[nerves_of_ice]

"My point stands," Steve observes, while Bucky shakes his head. "Either way, I wouldn't try boxing the goats."

[from_the_outside]

"I won't," she promises. "The goats are safe from me."

The bullies... Maybe not so much.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky smiles at that, and settles into the feeling of camaraderie, of friendship, of everything that hangs between the three of them here as they talk, and eat, and laugh.

The sun is low in the sky by the time they finish.

[from_the_outside]

This is all just really nice, and it shouldn't have to take a series of dangerous missions and a worrisome medical procedure for it to happen.

Bucky and Steve should be able to sit and talk or play games or have a beer together whenever they want. She should be able to laugh with them and tease them and tangle her fingers with Bucky's under the table every so often like the three of them are meeting up at a favorite place in Brooklyn.

But this is what they've got, so they've got to make the most of it.

She excuses herself as the sun starts going down and goes into the hut to collect some of the electric candles she'd brought down the week before. She flips them on and sets them on the table, where they glow calmly as dusk settles in around them.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Clever," Steve observes, and Bucky nods. "She doesn't miss a trick," he says.

[from_the_outside]

"They're just candles," she tells them, like she'd told Bucky when she first brought them, but she's smiling.

"No reason to sit in the dark."

[nerves_of_ice]

"When I think of candles, I think of fire," Bucky points out. "Not - what'd you call these? Candle-shaped flashlights?"

"They're still candles," Steve argues. "Just electric ones."

"Anyway, it's clever."

[from_the_outside]

"Still not looking to burn down half of the Wakandan veldt," she says. "Battery-powered will have to do for now."

They've cleared out the dishes and the only things left on the table now aside from the candles are a few bottles of beer and some sweet fruit pastries.

And the stars are starting to come out. It's one of her favorite times of day here.

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve winces at the very thought, and Bucky nods at him. "T'Challa might not forgive me that one," he drawls. "Let's not."

Bucky leans back a little and looks up at the sky. "It'll be a clear night, looks like. And a nice one."

[from_the_outside]

"Maybe you should take another time-lapse photo," she suggests.

"It'll be a nice night for stars."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Maybe," he agrees, with a quick grin for them both. He finds he likes the idea of having something that captures the memory of them here, with him, with the sky above spinning around them.

(Even if the worst should happen and he can't-- it'll be nice to have.)

"Let me grab the equipment." He ducks into the hut before either of them can offer to help.

[from_the_outside]

They both look after him as he heads into the hut, before Sharon gives Steve a rueful smile and he reaches to press her hand with his own warm one.

"It'll be fine," he says, in that reassuring way he has that makes her think it might actually be true. "We've both got a lot of experience with going under."

And getting your mind rebuilt? she doesn't ask. It wouldn't be helpful, and none of them know the answer anyway. She just presses his hand back and looks up at the stars.

It really is a nice night.

[nerves_of_ice]

It doesn't take him long to sling the camera bag over his shoulder, pull the spider-legged stand from its pocket, and make his way back outside again. Bucky gives both of them a quick smile and goes to an open spot in the grass far enough away that the light from the candles won't interfere with the exposure, presses the button to activate the stand, and crouches down to pull out and set up the camera.

He's unaware of how peaceful he looks as he's working over it; how calm and untroubled his expression is.

Steve's very well aware, though, to judge from his own small smile as he watches his friend.

[from_the_outside]

That camera was one of the best fights she's ever won. Just going through the steps of setting it up seems to soothe him. It presents a series of small choices he can pick through, none of which are life-threatening or worrisome.

He looks as relaxed now as he sometimes does when they're lying in the sun by the lakeside, and her own mouth curves in a warm, affectionate smile.

[nerves_of_ice]

He finishes the setup, activates the timer, and turns to find both Steve and Sharon watching him and smiling.

“...what?”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon just shakes her head, while Steve's smile brightens.

"Should be a neat photo," he offers. "Looks like you've got the setup down."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I've taken a few of them," he says, after giving them both a skeptical look. "The trick's just finding a spot with no light or material interference to block the sky, and getting the interval right."

As if it heard him, the camera clicks.

[from_the_outside]

"This is a good place for it," Sharon says, tipping her head back to look at the stars.

No light? No problem. The Citadel's light pollution hardly bleeds fifty feet outside its walls. No interference? What would get in the way, the goats?

[nerves_of_ice]

"It sure is," Steve agrees, as Bucky comes back to sit down between them again. "Quiet, too."

Bucky gives him a wry look, which Steve returns.

[from_the_outside]

"I like it," she tells Steve. "I spent so much time going from mission to mission, I've never had much of a chance to just... be somewhere."

And Wakanda has a lot going for it. She looks over at Bucky, smiles a little. "I can think of worse places to have gone for asylum."

[nerves_of_ice]

He leans over and tugs a lock of her hair, very lightly, then lets go. Steve chuckles. "It's definitely nicer than any of us had ever guessed," he agrees.