[oom] I'll see you in the morning time

[nerves_of_ice]

The low hum of the television on the twenty-four hour sports channel continues all through the night, casting its shadows and dim electronic light over the bed, the blankets, and the two of them curled up together there.

For once, there are no nightmares.

It's only once the sun starts making its way above the horizon and the sky outside begins to fade from black to blue that Bucky stirs - and as he realizes where he is and who's with him, a sunshine-bright smile lights his face.

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[nerves_of_ice]

Once she does, he retraces his steps down the hall and into the bedroom. This time when he returns, he's carrying the TV.

Bucky goes to the stand and starts setting it back up again.

[from_the_outside]

Three coffee cups go next to the French press on the counter – the same basic white as the plates they'd used earlier, that's something to change – and she's taken out the sugar and cream and is opening the new pack of cinnamon when the knock comes at the door.


"Would you?" she asks Bucky.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Brace yourself," he drawls, as he goes to the front door and pulls it open. "Hey, Elaine."

The woman that breezes past him is wearing a bright pink scarf over her hair, a giant pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses, a bright teal cardigan that matches her capris, pink leather flats, and a pink-and-white floral blouse, and is carrying an enormous brown leather satchel. She beams at Bucky, then at Sharon beyond him.

"It's about damn time," she proclaims, stripping her sunglasses off as soon as she walks in and dumping them in a pocket of the satchel. She makes a beeline across the room and thumps it down on the floor under the counter. "You are a sight for sore eyes," she tells Sharon. "Do you know how long I've been trying to get him to do something with this place?"

[from_the_outside]

"Since he moved in, probably," Sharon hazards, shooting an amused glance at Bucky. This woman is about as far from anyone she could imagine him seeking out as it's possible to be, although something about her brisk, cheery competence reminds Sharon a little of Shuri. "It's nice to meet you."

She lifts the French press in invitation. "Coffee?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Are you kidding? My blood beats with the stuff," Elaine tells her. "The more, the better. Thanks."

Bucky wanders across the room to lean against the counter on her left, and Elaine promptly smacks him on the right arm. "And you," she scolds. "I was about to start sending you catalogs, and you know how I hate catalogs."

"I've heard," he says, dryly.

[from_the_outside]

"Woman after my own heart," Sharon laughs, and fills a cup, then passes it to Elaine, gesturing to the cream and sugar. "Help yourself."

She pours Bucky a cup, too, and hands it over, then picks up the manila folder and walks back into the main room, gesturing at the currently empty area by the windows. "So we picked out a beautiful couch – dark brown leather, rolled arms, you know – and I was thinking there –"

Turning towards the spot she'd earmarked earlier, she adds, "And a little dining set here."

[nerves_of_ice]

Elaine adds an obscene amount of sugar to her cup and follows Sharon across the room while Bucky leans against the counter and observes with interest.

"Oh, that's perfect!" Elaine enthuses. "Have you picked the dining set? I can show you some lovely options--"

[from_the_outside]

"The table," Sharon says, "not the chairs. Hang on –"

She disappears down the hall to the bedroom and comes back after a moment with the laptop, calling up a few screens. "So this is the couch," she says, bringing the open computer over to Elaine. "And we were thinking this table – or one like it."

[nerves_of_ice]

Elaine hums to herself, looking back and forth from the images on screen to the space around them before giving a decisive nod. "Not only will that work well, I can get you a discount on the couch, delivery tomorrow, and ... well, that table might be a little harder if you want that exact one but I can call my antiques guy--"

[from_the_outside]

Sharon shoots an amused glance at Bucky. "She has an antiques guy," she mouths, before turning back to Elaine.

"I don't think it has to be that exact one," she says, "but we like the style and the mahogany. Honestly if you have a good second-hand source, I'd rather do that than new from stores for a lot of things. I was thinking plenty of warm dark wood, you know, to play off the floor and the brick, and brighten it up with smaller details."

[nerves_of_ice]

He tenses a very little as Sharon abandons the specific table, and immediately relaxes again when she insists on the style and the wood.

It's not that it matters all that much in the end, and he knows he's not anywhere near expert in any of this, but he finds that he likes the idea of picking things out with Sharon first.

"I have lots of sources," Elaine tells them. "Both in the city and in the Hudson River Valley and a few other places. Along with craftspeople if you want something new in a particular style. Just tell me what you need and leave it to me to find it." She smiles, wide and bright, showing her whitened teeth. "My work doesn't end with just brokering the place itself. As I keep telling you," she scolds Bucky, who rolls his eyes at her.

[from_the_outside]

"We're not in any rush, I think," she says, and looks a question at Bucky. "It's nice to be able to go through and pick things we really like."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky nods at her, and Elaine sniffs. “You’ve already come leaps and bounds,” she says. “A few more weeks won’t make any difference.”

For all the edge in her voice, there’s something a little softer when she says, “I don’t promise not to poke. He knows that. But take all the time you need.”

[from_the_outside]

"Poke all you want," Sharon says, smiling. "I'll just give you my number so you can poke me instead of him. It'll probably be more productive."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Yes,” Elaine says. “Do that. But don’t you start thinking you’re off the hook,” she tells Bucky, whirling on him.

He holds up both hands. “I know, I know, I remember,” he says. “A house isn’t a home until it’s furnished right.”

[from_the_outside]

That has the ring of a personal-slash-professional motto, and Sharon grins. "If you could check around for some chairs that might go with this table and send us some options, that would be helpful," she tells Elaine.

"I think we'll probably go ahead and put the order in for this one. How do you want to handle the couch? Can you make the call or do you have a contact for us and some code word to drop?"

She says it exactly like it's a ridiculous joke, and not at all like contacts and codewords aren't a large part of her daily life.

[nerves_of_ice]

“You bet I will,” Elaine promises. “Do you have thoughts about upholstered, wooden, ornamentation?” She eyes Bucky. “You’re not going to insist on completing that set,” she declares, nodding at the chair behind her.”

“Nope,” Bucky drawls. “I shouldn’t have gotten that one in the first place.”

“Mmm. I’ll text my guy right now about the couch,” Elaine says, fingers already flying. “What time do you want it?”

[from_the_outside]

"I like wooden," Sharon tells her. "But we haven't talked about it yet. We can look around and send you some examples of ones we like, maybe."

At the other question, she turns back to Bucky. "What do you think? Earlier? Later?"

She'll be here either way, so it doesn't matter all that much.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Whenever is fine,” he tells Elaine, who eyes him. “Ten AM,” she tells him. “Between then and noon.” She types it on her phone and looks up at them.

“Now, we can do this with a card, an account for me to bill, or I can have invoices sent, but—“

“Card or account,” Bucky says, and glances at Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

"Card for this one, I think," she says. "We can set up an account for everything else. I just got back from living abroad and I need to move some accounts around anyway."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Oh how exciting!” Elaine says, as Bucky reaches into his pocket and pulls out a thin leather card holder. He extracts one and passes it over to her.

“I keep saying I need to travel more, but really there’s nowhere like New York.”

[from_the_outside]

"That's what I hear."

Honestly, New York isn't her favorite place in the world. She likes it fine, but the only reason she's here is because Bucky loves Brooklyn more than she's ever loved a place in her whole life. "Trust me, I'm glad to be home."

[nerves_of_ice]

His smile flashes at that, quick and bright and shining. Elaine doesn’t miss it, either.

“I’ll bet you’re glad to have her home too.” She runs the card through a clip on her phone and hands it back. “How did the two of you meet, anyway?”

“Traveling,” Bucky says. “Ran into her in a small town in Europe. Recognized her through a mutual friend, and we struck up a conversation.”

Laughter’s visible in his eyes as he looks at Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

She loves that laugh in his eyes, cheeky and teasing.

"Yep," she says, amused. "That's pretty much how it happened. We just hit it off."

[nerves_of_ice]

"That is just so cute," Elaine declares. She calls up something on her phone and shoves it at Sharon. "Your number."

It's not a question, it's a demand. "We'll do lunch."