tender
y/n was the only one that seemed to treat bucky like a human.
SYNOPSIS: fluffy bucky barnes x gn!reader (they/them)
WARNINGS: none, but please tell me if i should add any!
bucky hated the way people had treated him now. the people he hated the most were those who treated him like a fragile flower, as if you spoke to him in the wrong tone he would somehow become the winter soldier again. he hated how people pitied him. there was nothing to pity, in his mind at least. he hated being tiptoed around like he was pieces of broken glass, if you weren’t careful around him, he’d hurt you.
there was one person that treated him how he wanted to be treated. y/n. they treated him like he was human, they treated him as if they had never heard of the winter soldier, never fought against the winter soldier. it confused him, but he was grateful for it nonetheless. he never had explicitly thanked them for everything, but he was always much nicer to them. bucky had a habit to act the way people expected him to act. if they spoke to him like he was some ex-assassin asshole, that’s exactly what he was.
“hey buck, what’s on your mind today?” y/n sat down next to him.
“hm?” bucky turned to look at them, not noticing them until they had spoken, “nothin’, i’m alright.”
“yeah, because glaring holes into the wall is definitely a sign of being okay,” y/n sarcastically quipped back with a smile on their face, “whatever it is, hope it stops bothering that pretty little mind of yours.”
bucky scoffed and folded his arms, “pretty? my mind is anything but pretty.”
“i don’t know what things were like during the stone age, but now usually when people compliment you, you say thank you,” y/n rolled their eyes, the smile on their face letting bucky know they were only joking.
“you think you’re so funny,” bucky rolled his eyes.
“i do, i do think that, thank you,” y/n smiled.
“well, you’re not.”
“i could call a random person in my contacts and they would say i am hilarious, bucky,” y/n pulled out their phone, opening their contacts, “pick someone, anyone.”
“are you being serious right now?” he raised an eyebrow, acting like he wasn’t amused.
“yeah, pick someone.” they stared into his eyes.
“uh… your mom?” bucky replied and y/n slapped their hand over their mouth, stifling their laugh, “what? what did i say?”
bucky got no response except for their laughs, he stopped trying to hide his smile and just smiled at y/n, chuckling at how hard they were laughing. the voice in the back of his head had questioned how someone could be so comfortable laughing so hard next to a man that had claimed the lives of so many, but to more y/n had laughed, the more he ignored the thought.
“buck, i am so sorry!” they wiped tears from their eyes, “okay, i’m better, i’m calm.”
“what was so funny?” bucky had a smirk on his face and a curious brow raised. y/n paused, thinking about how to explain what was so funny about the phrase “your mom” to someone that was over 100 years old.
“even if i wanted to explain it to you, i really don’t think i would be able to,” y/n laughed softly.
bucky’s eyes fell to their contact list and he narrowed his eyes, “who is sergeant loser?”
he looked back up at y/n and they just stared back at him, trying to not smile, “am i sergeant loser? really?”
“if it makes you feel any better, steve is captain loser,” they chuckled softly.
“i can’t believe you,” he rolled his eyes.
“what? am i saved as ‘y/n from work’, i bet i am, am i, barnes?” y/n laughed.
“check for yourself,” he tossed his phone to y/n.
y/n unlocked his phone, “really? no password, you’re like an old man..”
“like?” bucky raised an eyebrow, staring at them.
“sorry sergeant fossil, it’s hard to remember you served in world war 2, when you look like that,” y/n rolled their eyes, “i’m saved as ‘y/n’ with a rabbit emoji? why the rabbit?”
“you said that when you were a kid that you would always have this recurring dream that you were a rabbit and that an eagle would always find you and pick you up and fly away with you,” bucky explained, looking to the floor when he realised how creepy it is to have such a minute thing be remembered.
“you remember that?” y/n smiled softly.
“you act like i don’t listen to people,” he scoffed, looking back at their face, his expression softening when he had realised how tenderly they were looking at him. instead of saying anything, y/n wrapped their arms around his larger frame and embraced him tightly. bucky wasn’t too good with affection ever since everything, but he always tried his best. he wrapped his arms around their waist and pulled them close.
“thank you, doll.” he muttered into the top of their hair, the nose muffled by their hair, but y/n heard it.
y/n knew that he was saying thank you for much more than the hug. they said nothing to respond and just hugged him tighter to let him know that they had heard it.
