[oom] tell the ones that need to know

[nerves_of_ice]

The mesh mask - a 'photostatic veil,' he gathers it's called, officially, but whatever - works. Over the last few days after the first trial, Sharon's become more comfortable with small trips, which means it's time for him to suggest the idea he's been mulling over for some time now.

It's not something he wants to spring on her, though, which is why he takes the time this morning to make sure that breakfast is a little nicer than usual. Pancakes, at least, he can make.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

She hears a familiar sizzle and the sound of chopping as she wanders into the kitchen, barefoot in the stolen shirt and shorts she's taken to wearing before getting dressed in the mornings, her hair rumpled from the pillow.

Sharon switches on a small speaker, spilling the slow, jazzy notes of La Vie En Rose into the kitchen and living room space, then comes to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades as she watches what he's doing.

"Feeling fancy this morning?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"It's just pancakes," he points out, looking over his shoulder at her with a smile. "Not all that fancy."

[from_the_outside]

"Pretty fancy for you to make them," she points out, setting her chin on his shoulder, apparently comfortable with getting in the way. She kisses the side of his neck before letting go and heading to the coffee pot.

"Do you need a cup or do you have one already?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I have a cup but I could use a refill." Bucky slides the spatula under the pancake and flips it over, studying it critically, then turns to the bacon sizzling in the smaller skillet.

It still feels like almost unimaginable luxury to be working with two pans, rather than just one, but he's adapting.

[from_the_outside]

"You got it." She brings the French press over and refills his mug, then makes a cup of her own before opening the fridge and pulling out a few bunches of crisp, sweet grapes and a handful of clementines. She rinses the grapes off and puts them in a bowl with the rest of the fruit, then pops one off the bunch and into her mouth as she brings the bowl over to the mahogany table they'd picked out the first week she came here.

She loves this: loves setting the table while he's making them breakfast, loves the soft music in the background, loves the way this place is slowly filling up with the two of them. It's nearly indistinguishable from the bare apartment he'd brought her to in the dim light of dawn on her first day back here in the States.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Thanks, angel."

He finishes with the pancakes and sets the extras on a platter on the back of the stove to warm, covered by a clean dishtowel, then carries their plates to the table and sets one in front of her. Bucky leans in for a quick kiss before he takes his own chair.

[from_the_outside]

"Thank you."

She pours syrup over her pancakes and starts with a piece of bacon, dragging it through the syrup before taking a bite. "This is great."

A few bites of pancakes and bacon later, and she sets her fork aside to pick up her coffee for a sip. "So what should we do today?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He hastily swallows the bite of pancake in his mouth and clears his throat. "Uh, you know, I was thinking about that earlier," Bucky starts.

"Would you be up for a trip?"

[from_the_outside]

"A trip?"

It says something about the success of their last outings with the veil and how much she has subsequently relaxed that she doesn't dismiss it out of hand... or maybe that's due to the pancakes and bacon. She studies him, curious.

"What kind of trip?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I thought you might like to see your parents," he says, simply.

[from_the_outside]

The full-body pause that hits her leaves her coffee cup suspended on the way to her lips. She stares over it at him, the rug utterly pulled out from beneath her feet.

"Of course I would," she says, once she manages to find words again. "But how would that even be possible?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I've thought about it," he tells her. "It might be a little too risky to go to the house - I'm sorry, baby. But if there were somewhere not too far away where we could set up a rendezvous, I could go to the house and bring them to meet you there."

And if for whatever reason they wouldn't come, or might turn her in - although based on conversations they've had before he doesn't think that likely - he'll deal with that then.

[from_the_outside]

She stares at him for a long moment before putting her coffee cup down, her mind whirling.

"Too risky to go to that house, maybe," she muses, after a moment's thought – real thought, not just a kneejerk reaction of no, no way. "But not the other one."

She shakes herself out of her reverie and looks at him again. "We have a house a few hours from Richmond, near the Shenandoah River Valley. It was were we went for vacations, Christmas... it's out in the middle of the woods."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky blinks, and it's his turn to stare at her over a coffee cup.

"You have more than one house?"

[from_the_outside]

"... Yes?" she says, thinking a little guiltily of the house, the surrounding land, and remembering how Bucky grew up.

"I didn't like Richmond much but I love that house."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay. Okay." He shakes his head and takes a swallow of coffee, then sets his cup aside and reaches for a clementine. "A house in a remote location, out in the woods? Sounds perfect. We could go there, check things out, get set up, and then I could go to Richmond in the morning and get them."

He smiles, a little. "After all, your dad's more used to seeing me in the early morning than any other time."

[from_the_outside]

It could work, she realizes. With the veil, she could get down to Virginia without anyone being the wiser, and if the house is empty and unguarded – which it might be, it's been years and surely the government has had better things to do with their resources than keep watch on an empty vacation home – she could stay there for a little while.

Long enough to see them. If they want to see her.

"What will you tell them?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"That you're safe. That I know where you are. That if they want to see you, I can take you to them."

He reaches out to catch her hand in his. "I know it's a shock to think about it. But I also know how much you've missed them. I think it'll work."

[from_the_outside]

His hand is warm and steady; she tightens her fingers on his. "If they want to see me."

It's quiet; there's a sad, anxious knot in her throat she's having trouble swallowing past. "What if they don't?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I don't think they'd keep the gifts you gave on display if they didn't still love and miss you," he says, very softly. "Things like that... when someone's gone, seeing the things they left behind... it helps, sometimes."

His hand tightens on hers. "If they don't, we'll deal with it. But I think they will."

[from_the_outside]

Like the shield, she thinks. Like the blankets that even now hang over the back of their couch, and the glass art on the table. She takes a deep breath and sighs it out again, then lifts his hand to press a kiss to his fingers with a small, wry smile.

"Okay," she says, simply. "Let's try it."

[nerves_of_ice]

He turns his hand to cradle the side of her face, and smiles at her.

"Okay." A hint of teasing is evident as he adds, "After breakfast."

[from_the_outside]

She breathes a rueful laugh and shakes her head at him. "Now I know why you were buttering me up with pancakes," she accuses, before picking up her fork and digging back in.

"I should have known you were up to something."

[nerves_of_ice]

He gives her an innocent look.

"Who, me?"

[from_the_outside]

"No, the other guy," she teases, and taps his plate with her fork.

"Eat up. We've got a busy day ahead of us."