[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.

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[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?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I wanted to do something nice for you. And we'd talked about baseball under the lights," he tells her. "So I thought..."

Bucky breaks off there with a shrug and strolls over to her. He stops in front of her and toys with a lock of hair at her shoulder, looking thoughtfully at the hollow of her throat.

"Hm."

[from_the_outside]

"It's nice," Sharon tells him, her smile crooking. "It's really nice."

As he eyes her, she laughs and puts a hand up to touch the spot he's looking at.

"What? Did I get something on myself?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Not yet," he says. "But maybe you should."

He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a small flat package wrapped in soft cloth, and offers it to her.

[from_the_outside]

Mystified but willing to go along with whatever this is, Sharon takes the small package and unfolds the cloth, her lips parting in a soft 'o' of surprise at what's inside.

The soft light around them gleams off the warm gold of a simple, beautiful lariat necklace, two ends threading through a finely-wrought eight-pointed star. Very carefully, she lifts the delicate chain from the cloth, watching the way the light catches on it. "Baby," she says, softly. "It's beautiful."

She shakes her head slightly and looks to him from the necklace, smiling in a slightly bewildered way. "What's all this for? It's not my birthday."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shrugs again. "It will be someday."

Bucky meets her eyes, "I w--" He swallows, and tries again, determined. "I wanted you to know how special you are to me. I'd give you the stars if I could. Since I can't... this will have to do."

[from_the_outside]

I wanted. Giddy pride bubbles through her when he manages those words with only the smallest stumble, even while her eyes soften at his explanation. "I love it," she murmurs, and leans up on her toes to kiss him. "And I love you."

Sharon slips the necklace over her head and adjusts it until the delicate star sits in the hollow of her throat. She runs light fingertips over the chain and tips her chin up. "How does it look?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Beautiful," he murmurs, but he's looking at her and not the necklace.

[from_the_outside]

Her smile softens. "You cheeseball," she teases, but it's mild.

She pockets the cloth the necklace had been wrapped in and reaches her hand out to take his. "Thank you," she murmurs. "I appreciate this. And you. You're special to me, too, you know."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You're welcome, baby." He squeezes her hand. "And I do know."

A flicker of secret amusement flashes in his glance. "I hope you don't mind it's a night game, by the way."