[OOM] some enchanted evening

[nerves_of_ice]

He's been thinking about it for a while. Long enough to come up with a few ideas, long enough to find what he needs, but not long enough to stop being nervous about it.

It's late afternoon, almost evening. The kids are gone for the day, the goats are fed and watered, and there's nothing else to do but wait.

Sharon should be coming down from the Citadel soon. Probably. In the meantime, Bucky does his best not to pace a hole in the hut's floor, and tells himself to stop being an idiot.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

She doesn't want to admit it, but it's been nice to feel useful. She's been working with Okoye and Ayo and Nakia on extracting intelligence from the poachers they captured, and for a while she'd felt almost like her old self again.

Sure, she's more of a consultant than an agent, but it's been something.

Taking Ayo up on her offer of training with the Dora has been helpful, too, and between that and her work with Shuri, her days feel busier than they have in a while, which is nice.

It means that she's running a little later than she'd like to come down to the hut by the lake, though, her hair still slightly damp from her shower as she comes down the slope. "Hi," she calls, as she comes close, then raps lightly on the door to let him know she's coming in.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hi." He turns around from where he's currently glowering at the unassuming drape hanging from one wall, and the scowl is wiped away as he smiles at her. "Long day, huh?"

Maybe she's tired, he thinks, and sternly tells himself to stop right there before he lets his thoughts get carried away.

[from_the_outside]

"Busy," she says, setting her tote down in the corner and coming to give him a kiss, smiling. "But good busy. How was your day?"

She follows his line of sight to the drape. "Does that cloth owe you money or something?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Not as busy. Or maybe different busy,” he muses, after returning her kiss. “But pretty good.”

He brushes a lock of hair back from her cheek and tucks it behind her ear. “Hm?” Bucky glances at the drape and back at her. “Nothing. Why?”

[from_the_outside]

"Okay," she says, peaceably, and puts her arms loosely around his waist.

"Shuri wanted me to ask if you had any trouble with the prototype today or if it's working smoothly."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Running fine so far." He raises his left hand in the air and opens and closes his fingers. "Getting better with the fine motor control, too."

Bucky puts his arms around her in turn and smiles down at her. "Tired?"

[from_the_outside]

"Good."

Even with how careful the testing needs to be, she has to say it's been really nice for him to have that second arm back.

She smiles back up at him. "No. And it's still nice out; we could play catch or go for a walk or something. What do you think?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"A walk," he says, with a surprising amount of certainty. "It's really nice out."

He's glad that they'd gotten so lucky with the weather tonight.

"Maybe down by the lake?"

[from_the_outside]

Her smile grows. "That sounds perfect."

He's gotten so much better at making choices; every time he manages to make it seem easy she feels proud all over again.

[nerves_of_ice]

He leans down to give her a quick kiss, then takes her hand in his right and starts for the door.

"How's the investigation going?" He's been a little removed from it since coming back, not that he minds.

[from_the_outside]

"Good," she tells him, falling easily into step next to him. "These guys are opportunists, you know? A few of them are pretty happy to talk. We're tracking some of the animals and products they sent out."

[nerves_of_ice]

"If they've got any sense at all they'll spill their guts," Bucky drawls. "Debatable, though."

He takes a winding path that leads between the forest and the shore, with a good view of both, a little further back from the water than they usually walk.

[from_the_outside]

"That might be giving them a little too much credit," Sharon tells him, amused, and laces her fingers in his as he leads them along the path.

The late afternoon and early evening is especially spectacular here, she thinks, with the air cooling a little and the sky shading slowly into darker and darker colors. "It really is a beautiful day, isn't it?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"It is." He slants a sideways look at her, considering. "Nice night, too. It's the kind of evening I'd have looked for a way to be out and about... a long time ago, that is."

[from_the_outside]

"And now you are again," she points out, smiling. "Although I guess there are slightly fewer places to go out here."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Slightly. A few different, too," he says. Slowly but surely, he's leading them along a long path that's going to arc down to the lakeshore where they can circle back toward the distant hut.

"Remember when we talked about stuff we'd like to do if we were in New York? Catch a baseball game, go dancing, that kind of thing?" He gives her an amused glance. "What would you want to do, if we could?"

[from_the_outside]

"Hmm..."

She gives it some thought as they stroll, idly marking the new path as they follow along it. "Go to a hole in the wall diner and get a cheeseburger and a Coke. And I'd want to go to the Met. I love art museums."

She slants a teasing glance at him. "More than I like looking at rocks in natural history museums."

[nerves_of_ice]

Well, it's his own fault for not narrowing it down. He hastily reevaluates what he'd been thinking - maybe he can rig something.

"No rocks, got it. Art, yes." A little lost, he asks, "What kind of art?"

[from_the_outside]

"Fine art, since we're dreaming," she teases. "But there are a few nice galleries in the city here too."

She squeezes his hand. "And a baseball game and going dancing are still right at the top of the list. Coney Island, too."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hm," he says, and grins at her as they meander along the lakeshore. "How good's your imagination?"

[from_the_outside]

She laughs.

"I guess it depends on what needs to be imagined. Why?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Just curious." He leads her around the far side of the thicket that protects the 'den,' then to its entry and lifts the branch-woven 'door' aside. "Go on in."

Only once she's started toward the center does he activate the wireless switch on the remote hidden in his back pocket. The great tree shimmers with tiny star-like points of light on near-invisible strands hung high overhead. The underbrush and bushes around the protected clearing have the same gleam, with further strands of light woven throughout, creating a softly-lit space around them.

The purple throw is laid out on a woven grass mat at the base of the tree, facing the open space toward the lake beyond.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon goes, smiling at him, and precedes him down the little path towards the den –

Then stops short with a surprised gasp as the light flickers into life in the tree and the bushes around them. She turns, her face uplifted to the tiny gleaming lights, too astonished to do anything but look around. In the early evening dimness, the twinkling points of light make it look like they're surrounded by thousands of fireflies.

"What's all this?" she asks, finally, delighted as she turns to him. "Did you do this? Baby, it's so pretty."

[nerves_of_ice]

His smile is warm and gentle. "I hoped you'd like it."

[from_the_outside]

"I love it," she promises, smiling back at him.

"It's beautiful. What gave you the idea?"