[WWII AU] the streets of london

[nerves_of_ice]

Becky's last letter had suggested she'd be sending a longer one soon, and between that, the previous promise of a knitting circle, and the time of year, Bucky's pretty sure that a care package will be coming their way with the next one.

Given that, it's not too hard to convince Steve that it might be nice to pick up a couple of small things to send back in appreciation when they can. And with that in mind, to suggest that maybe the Agents Carter might enjoy doing a little shopping themselves, and that it'd be only polite for the two of them to help carry packages and make sure they didn't get overcrowded on the streets, or anything like that.

He's pretty darn sure that Steve sees right through him, but his best friend agrees to it, if Bucky can talk Sharon and Peggy into the idea.

He's smiling to himself as he makes his way toward their respective quarters.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he teases, still petting the cat. "No, it's okay. I get where she was coming from. I don't mind."

At least, he doesn't mind now, with a little bit of time and distance.

[from_the_outside]

The cat makes a prrt sound and flops heavily against Bucky's hand as Sharon's amusement continues, unchecked. "No wonder you were so worried about being appropriate."

She pushes up to kiss his cheek, smiling. "Was she raking you over the coals about your intentions?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I was worried about that before then, I'll have you know," he protests. "But yes, that was part of it."

[from_the_outside]

"What a gentleman I've found myself," she teases, as the cat purrs in agreement. "Well, I'm glad you got her approval."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Close enough, anyway." He's under no illusions that Peggy Carter wouldn't yank a knot in him if he did anything to hurt Sharon, but seeing as he has no intention of it, he's not worried about it.

[from_the_outside]

"Speaking of Agent Carter," she says, amused, "we should probably get back to her and Steve. Unless you want to look around some more?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Well, the fuzzy guy here may be a little disappointed, but yeah," he says. "Let's look around real quick."

[from_the_outside]

"I think he'll live."

But she gives the cat a last few strokes before she turns away to prowl through the stacks.

[nerves_of_ice]

Aggrieved, the cat turns away to wash himself. Bucky laughs and wanders off to look at a display of children's books.

Not five minutes later, he exclaims in surprise and catches up a thin tome to flip through. "Being the True Tale of the Cottingley Fairies," he reads out. "Adapted from the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."

[from_the_outside]

"Oh, that's perfect for the littler girls," Sharon says, coming over to look at it.

[nerves_of_ice]

"It sure is." He holds the book as he flips through so she can see the series of five photographs purporting to be real fairies playing with two young girls. "Looks like these two are almost - maybe a little older than Cora and Katie, but not much," he observes. Each photograph has been augmented with a whimsical tale of the event suitable for a younger reader, and drawings of dancing fairies.

"I can send them this and some Christmas crackers, if I can find a few, and I bet anything they'll go looking for fairies all over the place. They should get a real kick out of that."

[from_the_outside]

"I can just see that," she murmurs, leaning her head against his shoulder as he flips through the pages. "Especially out there in the countryside."

And they'd love to tell him all about it, she's sure. Her hand fists at her side, out of his sight, but she keeps the rest of herself as relaxed as possible. "You're a good brother."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I try, anyway." He smiles down at her. "Now I just have to figure out something for Maggie. That might take a department store trip."

[from_the_outside]

"You said there's one around here, right?"

She looks around. "But I guess we'd better find the shopkeeper here, first."

Unless it's the cat. Which... she's seen stranger things.

[nerves_of_ice]

"There's a few, even. But I think you'll like Selfridges," he tells her. "Especially at this time of year."

Bucky closes the book and looks around, then heads for the back of the shop to see if they can find anyone.

[from_the_outside]

Some investigation leads them to a back corner where an ancient man is shelving books. He seems almost completely deaf, which is why he hadn't come out to speak to them earlier, she thinks, but he cheerfully shuffles over to a desk to pull out a receipt booklet, writing down the title and price in a wavery hand.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky weighs the book in his hand, then carefully adds it to the bag along with the receipt the shopkeeper gives him. It's not heavy enough to be a problem, for which he's grateful.

He thanks the man profusely and gives him a cheerful wave before offering Sharon his arm again.

[from_the_outside]

She tucks her hand into the crook of his arm and glances over at the bag. "That's not getting too heavy, is it?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Not yet," he assures her, opening the door for her. "Although I might try to wrangle another one at the next store just in case. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to your new dress."

[from_the_outside]

"I'm not worried," she promises, amused. "I just don't think you should have to carry everything."

Steve and Aunt Peggy are across the street, window-shopping and conversing, and Sharon's not even sure they'd noticed her and Bucky disappearing.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I don't mind. Really, I don't." He watches Steve and Peggy for a moment. "You almost hate to interrupt, you know?"

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah."

She watches them, too, her heart aching keenly. All of this is already more than Aunt Peggy said they'd had. Will it be enough? Or will it be too much? "They look really happy."

[nerves_of_ice]

"He's over the moon for her." Soft, but clear and certain. "And it sure seems like she's interested too. I won't ask you to tell any secrets or anything like that, but I don't mind telling you I'm hoping hard for them."

[from_the_outside]

"I wouldn't expect anything else."

She keeps a firm grip on her emotions, determined not to let any wistfulness or sorrow cross her expression. "Come on, sweetheart," she murmurs. "Let's go join them."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky smiles down at her, pressing her hand to his side for a moment, then leads her across to the others. "Hi," he says easily. "Finding anything interesting?"