#angerysocialist

[spacebuck]

steve?? steve is the opposite. if you take art, you'll know the kind of person i'm talking about, i'm one of them. his essay has been saved under six different aliases and he's lost all of them on his computer, he's always walking around with paint on his hands, because he had to rush out of a paint session and into a graphic design program, he's always carrying seven textbooks about other things because he is a Humanities Slut; 'the picture of dorian gray' 'wwi: sarajevo to versailles' etc./2

number one: ALRIGHTY here we go: bucky is one of those indie stereotypes - you know, the long hair in a ponytail; his twitter pick is prop some aesthetic looking photo of himself, you know, white background, in some interpretive dance pose; he own about 6 camera and only two of them are digital camera; he’s always wearing lace up boots and a henley (henly? henely?) rolled up to his forearms. hes pretentious and has a lip piercing and earrings all up his lobe like …… james “instagram incarnate” barnes/1

so steve’s next course is ceramics and he knows fuck all about clay, so he decides to enroll in a class outside of uni. he books himself in two weeks prior, then, the night before, ends up pulling an all-nighter for his history piece (“bisexuality in ancient greece; alexander the great”), which means that he’s pretty much scrubbing his eyes by 8am. at ten, he bolts up, because he’s supposed to be at this mystery class in half an hour. steve shoves his essay and books into his tiny fucking /3

into his tiny fucking beetle car, and speeds off. he has an altercation with both his gps and google maps, but all things considered, he arrives in good time. that is, ten minutes late. he bursts in, out of breath and flushed up to his forehead, to the amusement of every single breathing person in the room. at least he thinks so. bucky greets him, reaching out a hand to shake, and steve does. as bucky pulls back, theres a white, sticky substance on his hand, and steve wants to die /4

“oh shit thats not- that’s gesso primer!! its paint thickener i swear!! i haven’t slept in about thirty hours because i have a history assessment and a major work to hand in, i promise i didn’t wipe jizz on your hand, i’m so sorry i-” bucky holds a hand up for him to stop, a grin on his face, “its fine” he sooths, then takes steve to a table of clay. bucky appraises the guy before him, because /damn/ and gets to showing him how to throw (basically working out the air in the clay) /5

steve takes one look at bucky and thinks: pretentious asshole, but also, attractive pretentious asshole, and while he really isn’t looking forward to another wet medium for his clothes to get stained with, he’s slightly optimistic. while he’s kneading the clay, he talks to bucky - bucky works here three days a week to support his small, shared apartment + art supplies, and also works as a masseuse downtown. he doesn’t go to university, nor does he want too, he thinks the professors are /6

he thinks the professors are all crusty know-it-all’s with dead white man syndrome, which, yeah, he kind of has a point with mr. pierce (whats that? i make alexander pierce the antagonist in all my aus? thanks for noticing, its because i hate him with every fibre of my being. fuck u alexander pierce you nazi piece of shit) but steve has so many lovely lecturers, like ms carter (both of them), and mr. morita, who bring valuable discussions to art history. bucky lives with clint barton and /7

clint barton and his dog, lucky. steve talks about his time at university, and how he still lives with his mum. bucky is really cool about it, and when they’re done throwing the clay, bucky takes him to a wheel, and shows him how to center it (i.e. get it in the middle of the wheel so it doesn’t have any inaccuracies) and holds his hands while they meld the clay. steve’s known this guy for, what, twenty minutes? already, this feels intimate and familiar; bucky still talks to him about becca /8

and then they share their passions. bucky is a sucker for music and dance; he’s a closet theatre geek as well (“the only thing i’m in the closet about” he says proudly, and steve nearly destroys his piece), and spends most of his time with headphones around his neck. steve gets a list of bands to listen to, and gives bucky a list of novels to pick up (“look, i’m a sucker for the classics, but wuthering heights is a dream and a half so be sure to find a copy. oh, and the illiad, by homer, /9

but make sure it’s the one translated by stanley lombardo, and-”). steve isn’t even sure what he’s doing, but at one point, he forms a long, cylindrical object with an uneven tip, and he waits for bucky to make some sort of joke. it’s five seconds before he blurts out “personally, clay is too rough a texture for me, but if you-” and steve breaks off the wet, clay dick and hits bucky in the face with it. /10

steve comes back the next week, to learn about trimming, which cleans up the piece and clears out the bumps. bucky grins at him when he arrives late, and assures him that he can stay another ten minutes if he needs to. steve thanks him and they work on steve’s pieces, and talk more about themselves. most of it is ranting, actually, steve wants bucky to know about the meiji period of japan, and bucky wants steve to see wicked, because, “it has the best social commentary out of everything /11

i’ve ever seen,” and steve says, “speaking of social commentary, dr. seuss threw so much shade back in the day, have i told you about his career in political cartoons?” natasha, bucky’s colleague, and sam, both gossip about this match made in heaven. bucky gives them a few undesirable gestures behind steve’s back, and tells them to get back to work, but steve just laughs and keeps trimming. /12

the next week, steve walks in on bucky yelling, from the staff kitchen, “/please/ shove a cactus up your anus, sam!”, sam, at least, steve assumes it’s sam, opens his mouth and closes it. “i’m not putting my dick on the line for- steve!” bucky jumps a foot in the air when he catches sight of the steve, who grins, “uh, i’m so sorry for my language, please don’t tell my supervisor,” steve laughs, then says “don’t worry, i cuss all the time, are we glazing today?” and the cycle continues /13

steve begins to show up for class three days a week instead of one, and soon has an impressive number of pots to bring home for his mum. steve is walking home from the car one day, and sees an envelope stuffed in his mailbox. it details a program in washington, fully funded, where he spends six months with other artists, creating works to be exhibited in the nga. steve is giddy with excitement, and run inside to tell his mother. she tells him how proud she is of him, hugs him one more /14

time, then leaves for her night shift at the hospital. steve cooks himself dinner, holding his broken phone between his ear and his shoulder while he boils potatoes in a pot. he speaks to his course co-ordinator about the program, and is told that he’s going to be a candidate for selection, as long as he produces an entry piece, “what’s the medium?” he asks, and there’s page flipping on the other end, “uhhh, graphic design,” ms carter says, her voice crackly. steve nods, taking his /15

chicken pies out of the oven and switching the phone to his other ear. he asks a few more questions, “are you sure it’s fully funded? what’s the supervision like? what kind of funding are we talking about? do i take a break in the six months? are you sure it’s fully funded?”, then says his goodbyes, thanks ms. carter and sets up dinner for one. he decides not to tell bucky about the program until he’s got guarunteed entry, so he keeps as usual. he works hard at the graphic design piece /16

he knows he has potential in the area, but he doesn’t like it. he much prefers a brush, or a pencil. he thinks that there’s a certain dedication to graphic design that he lacks, but he makes the piece because once he’s /in/ one of /his/pieces will be shown in the n g goddamn a! steve thinks that this is it, this is the break he’s been wanting, not for him, but for his mum, because he loves her, he knows, but he also knows the burden of all the bills probably piling up on her desk, that she/17

refuses to let him pay (not that he could; his shitty job at harris farm really doesn’t generate a lot of revenue) . within a week of his final submission, he recieves confirmation, he got in! steve is overjoyed, he takes out his art process diary and starts brainstorming ideas worthy enough for the national gallery of art. /18

when he arrives the next week, he’s prepared to tell bucky the big news, that his ceramics course is almost over, that he’s been admitted into a visual arts program in washington, that he won’t be coming here in about six weeks, but stops dead at the look on bucky’s face. bucky is on the phone, wet-eyed, talking to someone, and when he sees steve, he mildly tries to look happy. he mouths, ‘your pots are over there’ and gets talking again, so steve minds his own business /19

and starts trimming some of his last pots. bucky speaks to the person on the other end (a boyfriend? a girlfriend? a partner? his parents?) steve keeps working, and bucky grins waterly at him, “my aunt” he says, “sick. now, what happened with this pot?” “ i made a hole in it and forgot to throw it out,” “right, okay …” /20

steve’s crush gets worse, and he gets busier. he clean forgets to tell bucky about the program, and pulls more all-nighters than he should, but he’s excited by the program, and having bucky’s wet hands glide over his every week isn’t too bad either. he’s staying back one night, making a cup, and the atmosphere is heavy and intimate. the rest of the ceramics room is in pitch darkness; just a soft yellow light illuminates bucky’s long hair (not in a ponytail) /21

the sharp line of his jaw, the slurry (i.e. wet clay) smeared on his ragged shirt. he looks at ease, sitting on the floor while steve works on his cup, giving tips every now and then, “don’t press too hard,” “just use the knuckle” etc. at one point, he gets up and cups steve’s hands with his own, gently shaping the cup, and blurts out, “hey, so, are we gonna catch coffee sometime?” and steve stammers a bit. he honestly hadn’t considered that his crush /22

wasn’t one-sided, but now the thought of it, his heart sort of skips a beat. then, the realisation that, no, he’s going to washington soon. he has a program, bucky’s staying here with his aunt, their lifestyles aren’t compatible. steve is lamenting this, and /doesn’t goddamn realise that he hasn’t answered bucky’s question/. bucky’s face hardens, he goes ‘forget it’ and steve snaps out of it, his hands cold, and opens his mouth, but bucky is leaving. /23

“bucky!” he calls, and bucky walks away, into the staff kitchen to clean the slurry off his wrists. steve feels like shit, and picks up his shit and goes as well. that night, the two of them regret every single thing that happened - steve for not discussing the relationship or at least /rejecting/ bucky, and bucky for asking out a goddamn CUSTOMER, and for being such a childish shit afterwards. steve changes all his lessons to days that bucky has off, and bucky swaps his shifts with nat /24

so that he doesn’t have to see steve again, but guess what? now every single one of steve’s lessons are /with bucky again/ so that was pointless. steve walks into the studio on a wednesday afternoon, panting from the run up the hill, and is greeted by none other than one james buchanan barnes.bucky stutters out a ‘hi’ and steve feels relief wash through him, 'hi’ he says, and bucky relaxes too. hopefully, they can move past this hitch in the relationship /25

they can’t hold a grudge with each other, so everything slips back to normal. bucky stops flirting, but he still helps steve with his pots, and steve still pines horrifically. it’s after two weeks that he gets the email, “dear mr. rogers. given the nature of your submission (digital image) it has been deemed efficient to cancel your trip to washington-” steve keeps reading over those words, “… submission (digital image) it … ” “ (digital image) ” /26

because fuck, he applied for the program with the intent to draw, or paint. he doesn’t like graphic design. steve rereads his email conversation with the director, and realises,shit, they were looking for a graphic designer, thats why his entry piece had to be in said medium. they liked his potential in the area; he doubted they’d seen any of his other works. god fucking damn it. steve then spends two hours on the phone with the course co-ordinator, and cancels his trip, then goes to bed. /27

two months, later, a better paying job, a roommate and three free hours per week, steve is almost a changed man. he doesn’t attend ceramics anymore, and whenever he thinks about it, he shuts that down asap bc there’s no point in thinking about gay indie sweethearts that he lost a chance with. he and peter parker get along well, but don’t talk much, since the kid’s always hooled up in his room, but they always get rent on time and haven’t had any issues so far. /28

the apartment is nice. it’s small, but nice, and since the two of them tend to work opposing shifts, they have two bedrooms, and steve takes the smaller one cause peter has so much junk that it fills his entire floor space. their kitchen is also small, which isn’t an issue since steve is the only one who cooks, and neither of them have any guests, so the lounge room goes mostly unused. /29

steve now works as a private tutor, which he enjoys, and is completing work experience with mr. morita so he can start a degree in teaching. he still makes art on the side, and keeps it in their tiny basement. it’s a saturday night, the last day of his two-day weekend, and he’s just making himself a hot chocolate and heating up a meat pie. rain is spattering outside; it’s summer, but still wet, and his phone is on one of bucky’s affectionately named 'rainy day’ playlists. /30

he’s leaning against the counter, when the phone rings, and steve puts down his mug. is it his mum? is it peter? what’s going on?he picks it up and immediately he hears rain spattering in the background, almost deafeningly loud, and heavy breathing on the other end. steve’s about to ask who this is, when bucky’s broken voice says, “hey,” /31

steve nearly drops his hot chocolate and chokes out a hello, then a what’s wrong, and an are you okay? bucky sighs on the other end, then says. “i’m at your door, but i didn’t want to knock since you’d probably feel obligated to let me in. so,” steve can hear the dryness in his tone, “can i come over to your place?” steve trips over himself to get to the door, phone still pressed to his ear, and there’s bucky, soaked to the bone and at his doorstep. /32

steve ushers him in, like the good host he is, and takes him by the hand, into the lounge room. bucky draws his hand away, and it’s covered in a sticky brown paste, so he opens his mouth, but steve gets there first, “i swear its nutella, i’m making hot chocolate /right now/ look its on the shelf over there, it isn’t - i swear it’s not-” and bucky waves him away with his clean hand, and asks directions to a sink. while bucky washes his hands, steve puts another pie in the oven, /33

and offers bucky a shower when he’s done, so the latter gratefully goes into the bathroom while steve switches on the heater and gets some blankets and (if you’re imagining post-serum steve) some spare clothes.bucky comes out, if you’re thinking of pre-serum steve, he wraps himself up, naked, in a fluffy blanket and waits for his clothes to dry on the heater, and if you’re imagining post-serum, he’s in tracksuit pants and a singlet under that blanket. /34

steve gives him a hot chocolate and pulls out a pie for him, then starts sketching to pass the time. it’s mostly silence between them, steve gets up to take the second pie out, and they eat in silence. bucky clears his throat to get steve’s attention.“my aunt died. i was really close to her, and she helped me out a lot, with like, coming to terms with my orientation. i had to get out, so i just started walking. then it started pouring and … your house was closer than mine. i hope you /35

don’t mind.” steve says, “that’s fine love,” before he can stop himself and the two of them freeze. bucky doesn’t want to move, because half of him is saying that he’s already overstepped his boundaries and that kissing this guy would be a shitty thing to do, and half is telling him to kiss the shit out of steve. steve looks at him in the low light, and this seems remarkably similar to when bucky had first asked him out. does bucky still feel like that? /36

steve shifts infinitesimally closer on the couch, then again, and bucky seems to notice and his breath quickens. steve looks straight into bucky’s eyes and his heart thumps a little at how close they are. bucky seems to be waiting for him to make a move and, duh, obviously, steve is the one who rejected /him/ so steve throws caution to the wind and lays a sloppy kiss on bucky’s lips. bucky responds pretty much immediately; his hands fly up to steve’s cheeks and tug him /closer/, /37

their lips slide over one another, and then bucky’s devious tongue makes an appearance that has steve worried for his asthma. steve takes this opportunity to run his hands around the body that he’s been admiring since day one. bucky is /huge/, they’ve moved, so that steve is lying on bucky, legs thrown around his hips, and the two of them are letting desperate noises. peter walks inside, headphones in, and doesn’t notice them at all. /38

steve wakes up before bucky, and doesn’t want to get out of bed.  instead, he buries his nose in bucky’s neck, tosses an arm over his chest and closes his eyes.  when bucky wakes up, they lay there for a while.  then, steve remembers /39

“i, um,” bucky looks up at him, “i was going to do this program in washington a while ago, i forgot to tell you.  but there was an admin error and i’ve dropped out.” bucky rubs his eyes and wakes up a little more; “i’m sorry i was a shithead when you asked me out, i didn’t know what to say, /39

because i thought i’d be in washington for half a year.  i’m still really into you.” “no shit,” bucky says, rubbing his eyes.  he blinks, then takes a deep breath through his nose, “why didn’t you let me know /why/ you didn’t want to go out.  i thought, for over ten weeks, that i’d crossed my boundaries and made you uncomfortable.  what the fuck.  if you liked me back, we could’ve DISCUSSED this rogers /oh my god/” so the two of them sit in heavy silence, reevaluating /40 

the last two and a half months.  bucky lays a kiss on the corner of his mouth, then gets up.  they have breakfast together, then head over to the ceramics place to make some pots together ~end /41

bucky moves in a month later, bc sure they don’t have the room really but they don’t really interact with peter much anyway, and bucky sort of hasn’t been to his own apartment in a week and a half bc it’s just easier.

so they get to wake up to sleepy kisses, spend their days off lounging in bed together, get to have some really fuckin good sex as they learn each other’s bodies and how they work

and best of all, they get to be happy

[spacebuck]

ARIGHT ARIGHT I'M BACK WITH AN AU !! CHRISTMAS HAS COME EARLY !! BEHOLD - /1

ok i dunno if you’ve ever studied hospitality, but it is HECTIC in a restaurant kitchen/commercial kitchen and i was thinking …. ratatouille!au except without the rat.  i don’t know if you’ve ever seen it, but you don’t have to have seen it to understand the au just jjust wait cause this one is s ogood i’m just ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, head chef!natasha and sous chef (aka second in command)!bucky totally ruling over the kitchen brigade (aka kitchen team) /2

(readmore bc this is long)

right, so the owner, nick fury, died a while ago (or did he lmao), leaving his FIVE STAR restaurant in the hands of alexander pierce, a totalitarian asshole who no one likes. rumor has it, bucky lost his arm in a cooking accident bc this guy is just incompetent. anyways, steve (pre- or post-serum whatever you like) arrives with a letter and a bunch of legal papers bc apparently steve was, like, the adopted kid or nephew or something of ol nicky and the restaurant was only given to pierce /3

… pierce on the condition that he guarantee steve 6 months of employment bc obviously steve is an irresponsible pos who has shit customer service skills, since as soon as someone says something offensive, he’s screaming at them and triple-dog-daring them to take it outside. ANYWAYS steve arrives with this letter and pierce is like :(( okay, since there’s legal obligations. except this: steve knows shit all about cooking. he can work a coffee machine, but can’t engage with customers /4

so he gets paired with bucky barnes, the broody, dark, sous chef with a passion for desert dishes. both of them are HUGELY skeptical about this, but steve decides to do his best, and bucky decides that he’ll keep his treasured knives on the chopping boards instead of buried in this rookie kid with no idea what the fuck he’s doing. cue montage of steve getting fucked over by every single piece of equipment in a commercial kitchen, and bucky yelling at him for it /5

steve is sick of it. he hates it. every morning, he shows up at work, and within five minutes, he’s getting a lecture about hairnets or searing himself pulling something out of the oven. EXCEPT, he can’t lose this job. he’s lost so many, and he only has six months to make a good impression, plus, getting employment guaranteed and a relatively good paying job was practically a miracle in itself, so steve definitely isn’t complaining /6

bucky, understandably, is incredibly frustrated at this puppy-like newbie, whose greatest culinary exploit was probably those two-minute noodles you get for as many dollars down at wal-mart (hc that bucky is a huge fucking food snob) so he’s upset. not only that, but without the rep of nick fury, esteemed chef, the restaurant is in danger of losing its prestigious ‘five star’ guarantee, so really, putting sous chef on babysitting duty wasn’t a great strategic move on pierce’s part /7

so anyways we have angry-sous-chef who just wants the six months to be over, and bitter-kitchen-hand who is in a sort of perpetual state of exhaustion, working together. “elbows in when you’re chopping. hold the knife like this. curl your fingers. you’re dicing that onion wrong. i said JULIENNE not BRUNOISE of carrots!” anyways, at some point around the 2-month mark, steve and bucky are pretty much simmering ( ;) ) and coiled for a fight /8

steve is trying to chop, after doing dish duty for three hours straight (he hasn’t burned himself this time, so he’s a lil proud of himself) and is stacking burger fillings, when *schwit* he lands on his ass, because someone didn’t mop properly (he gives the stink eye to barton, across the deep-fryer, who’s garnishing a pavlova), and that’s not the worst of it, because bucky trips over him, dropping a tub of flour ALL OVER THE GODDAMN KITCHEN FLOOR /8

“are you kidding. are YOU KIDDING?” “hold your horses, barnes, this was my fault” “all you do is get in the way, why the hell did you think this was a good idea? this is a five star restaurant, there are qualified chefs BEGGING to be employed here, and you thought that because you could make a flat white, you were competent enough to survive in here? take the rest of the day off! go on!” steve is absolutely still, because everything that bucky said? was true. steve didn’t fit in here /9

(ten is awol sorry fam)

anyways, steve scrambles away looking positively petrified, and bucky looks a little sad to see his face disappear behind the windowed doors, wet-cheeked, and takes a calming breath. it’s okay. this can be sorted out tomorrow. “you fucking piece of shit asshole, that wasn’t steve’s fault! i didn’t mop properly, or put up a wet floor sign, and he slipped, that’s on me, jackass. the fuck did you have to yell at him like that for? he’s been doing his best, you think he’s going out of his /11

way to screw you over? he’s learning! see these turned potatoes? see these burger fillings? he’s trying! and he’s better than i was, when i started! cut the kid a goddamn break!” ( p.s. it’s like a thing, all chefs just ? swear a lot ? its a goddamn natural phenomenon i swear, anyways ) barton inhales shakily, then exhales, closing his eyes, then walks away. bucky moves to say something, but clint stops him with a hand /12

points to the back door, then makes a show of turning off his hearing aids. bucky rolls his eyes and does as he’s told. steve is sitting around the corner from the carpark, weeping quietly into his hands, and fuck if bucky doesn’t feel like a heartless beast. “hey,” he says quietly, and steve looks up at him, teary-eyed, then buries his nose in his dirty apron again. “i-im sorry i said those things. i didn’t mean them,” he starts, but steve chokes on a laugh, “yes you did. you meant /13

you meant all of it. don’t worry, i’m resigning tomorrow.” bucky feels like shit, and sits up to face steve, tilting his chin up, and grimacing. “look, i don’t. i - you’re right, i meant those things. i was upset, but please don’t resign. i think i overlooked all the good things you were doing, like … like i saw how you turned those potatoes? that’s really good for your skill level, steve, and you’re definitely getting better. i … i’d like it if you stayed.” steve leans back /14

leans back against the wall, sighing. “you have to promise to stop yelling,” he says, “that’s my condition. it makes my anxiety flare,” and bucky does a double take, like “dude, you have a medical problem? you HAVE TO TELL US THAT, it’s, like, required by law,” and steve laughs. bucky says, “what’s so funny?” and steve starts counting, “in that case, asthma, g.a.d., family history of diabetes, heart trouble, easy fatigability, high blood pressure-” “jesus bloody christ,” “i know” /15

so GUESS WHAT!? bucky’s temperament around steve does a total 180, he’s still a broody asshole, but he’s super protective of steve (which is funny if you’re thinking of a post-serum!steve lmao). he doesn’t yell, and he’s MUCH more patient. he still lectures steve on mishaps, but only the important ones, and tries to be as un-condescending as possible. by the 3-month mark, steve is in a well-laundered uniform, sleeves rolled to his elbows, apron firmly around his waist /16

feet planted on the ground, dicing onions like a pro, without shedding a tear, and then. shit. bucky looks at him, a sunshiny smile on that fucker’s face, and bucky feels his heart pulse in his chest. oh, yeah, he’s fucked. he’s fallen for this asshole, and from the feel of it, this isn’t a two-week crush, where he can wait it out. bucky knows, he KNOWS that this is one of those things, where, in a year, he’ll still be head over heels /17

so steve looks up, catches him looking, then gestures to the onions. bucky feels a genuine smile cover his face, and steve looks a little in awe of it. the moment is ruined by barton, who falls into bucky’s line of vision, tugging at his cheeks. “holy shit barnes, that’s the first time you’ve smiled in, like, a year and a half! are you okay? are you dreaming? are you paralysed? holy fuck!” steve seems to register this from behind clint; that he was the reason for it, and blushes /18

around the four month mark, it is POSITIVELY POURING out there, there are waterfalls in roof gutters and floods in street gutters; puddles are big enough to swim through, and huge drops of water are pelting from the heavens.  what a storm.  and steve, who usually catches public transport, is kinda in a spot bc he doesn’t want to catch a cold, but, literally one second out there is going to have him catching a cold, and steve can’t handle that.  he’s looking forlornly at the bus stop, /18

(( also i think i sent you two eighteens?? whoops again, sorry :( )) the bus stop, which is legit two blocks away, and steve knows that the buses in this area are shit, when bucky stands beside him and connects the dots, like “holy shit, you’re gonna get soaked out there, is your- can you- your immune system is gonna go fuckin ballistic right?” and steve feels kinda warm inside bc bucky cares abt him enough to remember his ailments!! steve turns to look and gets a full face of worried bucky/19

and worried bucky has his lips slightly parted, and his brow scrunched up and his big grey eyes transfixed by the rain, and holy hell steve knew he had a crush on the guy, but this is just RIDICULOUS. bucky glances up, and they look at each other. the rain is pattering outside, grey sunlight is dancing across their faces, and bucky doesn’t want to ruin the moment, so he just whispers “do you wanna catch a ride on my bike?” and steve whispers “okay” and they part ways to finish their shifts /20

steve finishes a half hour before bucky, so he sits on a chair and watches while the subject of his affections works around the kitchen, without steve hindering him or interrupting him. steve thinks its beautiful. bucky is an absolute whiz; he whips up a stir fry in five minutes, does that thing where he sets the pan on fire and throws the meal onto a plate without a mushroom out of place. steve hadn’t even considered a competency kink before, but holy shit bucky is turning him into a mess /21

bucky finishes up, gets changed, and pulls steve close so they can share an umbrella. the two of them dash outside, climb onto bucky’s vespa, and take off. steve still holds the umbrella over them, and is wearing bucky’s helmet at the insistence of the other cook. one of steve’s hands holds the hilt of the umbrella, the other one is wrapped tight around bucky’s middle, which neither of them can ignore. /22

it’s a long ride to steve’s place, and when bucky parks, he gets under the shelter of the steve’s apartment roof.  they’re pressed tight, to avoid getting wet, and bucky can FEEL steve’s breath on his lips.  steve draws a deep breath and says, “i’ll see you later bucky,” and bucky takes a deep breath, like “yea, i’ll head off, goodbye, steve,” and he smiles, turns, and leaves.  bucky walks to his vespa, waiting for steve to call him back, and steve watches, waiting for bucky to run back up.  neither of them make a move. /23

the next two months pass pretty quickly. bucky and steve aren’t bucky&steve anymore, but they’re still close, and bucky still yells at his coworkers stop being so noisy, because don’t you know that some people are already stressed enough? regardless, they grow apart, not willingly, and without knowing, but apart nonetheless. it’s only once the six months have finished, does bucky understand that steve is leaving /24

he walks in, on the last day, with a shred of hope that pierce might hire the guy, but he sees steve looking heartbroken in the window of pierce’s office, and god, his blood boils. steve walks out, looking composed, bids goodbye to the kitchen brigade, and closes the door behind him. bucky storms into the office, absolutely livid, ‘do you have any idea how hard that kid worked? he could barely chop a carrot before he came here, and now he’s plating and serving and cooking /25

do you think nick would do this? send a kid out on the street after doing such a nice fucking job for six months? he’s a massive help in the kitchen, ESPECIALLY after all the hands YOU fired when you took over, so i’ll tell you what - you rehire that blonde son of a bitch or you lose your sous chef.“ bucky punctuates this with a fist on the table, and he honestly wasn’t planning on quitting when he walked in, but decides that it’s the right thing to do. pierce squints angrily, /26

then nods to the door, “go on then” he says, and bucky does. he slams out of the office, with the intent to find steve and, i mean, sure, his affection is probably unrequited, but he’d like steve to know it’s there. bucky walks out, and right into the very man he was looking for. he stammers a bit, and steve looks so soft and vulnerable, like no one had ever done that for him before. “did you really just quit, for me?” bucky knows his co-workers (ex-co-workers) are watching, but he can’t /27

help himself, he cups steve’s cheeks in his hands, and yanks him forward, curling his lips around steve’s plump, pink ones. steve’s fingers clench around bucky’s hips, and his eyelashes flutter on rosey cheeks. bucky keens softly, and they break apart, breathing heavily into each other’s mouths. there’s a round of applause from the chefs around them because the kitchen brigade are assholes like that. bucky grins a little, pecks his forehead, then dumps his apron on a hook /28

bucky hasn’t walked ten paces, arm braced on steve’s shoulders, when barton comes yelling after him. he says “i quit as well!” and bucky gives him a huge hug, before telling him “i’d love to hang out, but you’d kind of be a third wheel here,” and clint laughs, because his girlfriend just quit as well. natasha bangs out of the double doors, and bucky covers his mouth with his hand. the HEAD CHEF quit. bucky has no idea how the restaurant is going to stay afloat, but he doesn’t care /29

the four of them head out to a lovely, family-owned japanese restaurant (steve: so should we head over to domino’s? everyone else: …), and have a really incredible time. halfway through the meal, however, natasha’s girlfriend (actual girlfriend not best-friend-girlfriend) sharon carter calls up to report on the situation - apparently maria, head of the food&beverages unit (a.k.a waitressing, cleaning, serving, etc.) made some calls /30

and then nick fury himself walked through the doors, wearing only a fluffy dressing gown, slippers, and a frown. “PIERCE!” he bellows, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY KITCHEN BRIGADE??” pierce is petrified, and several food critics at various tables have eyes popping out of their heads. nick fires pierce on the spot, and angrily tells his customers that they’re closing in five minutes so they’d better hurry up. apparently, he also reinstated everyone else /31

nick apparently faked his death so that he wouldn’t be bothered during retirement, and he leaves natasha in his place. bucky becomes head chef, clint becomes sous chef, and steve is promoted to actual chef (instead of kitchen hand) for suggesting they set up a worm farm in his apartment and taking food scraps home, to reduce wastage. thats it. bucky and steve move in together and take care of their little farm, and live happily ever after. the end 32/32

i love this so much there is not a single thing i can add omf

[spacebuck]

ohhh boy do i have a present for you my pal my buddy my bucky. imagine: steve & bucky don't die ("die") in ww2, and they go home with peggy and howard. its a communal home - steve and peggy remain on good terms, but she finds someone else. a certain angela martinelli. whom she loves v v much. [1/?]

steve “marries” peggy and bucky “marries” angie. no matter how much they love each other and how much howard has in his bank account, they have to keep up the pretenses. they stay together in stark manor, Captain America is a national icon, and awarded a number of medals upon being released, but. but he declines working for the SSR. he wants the life he had before. with bucky. with lots of money and all the time in the world [2/?]

without machine guns and canon-fire, steve and bucky spend weeks just learning one another’s bodies anew. they get the room with the thickest walls - sirens and street noises don’t trigger any ptsd, and they can take the liberty of being as loud as they want to in bed. peggy and angie are kind of like an old married couple at this point, they hobble around with steaming mugs of tea and hot chocolate, in dressing gowns and fluffy slippers [3/?]

so that’s how it is. howard mansion :: steve and bucky tucked away, cuddling and making out and having sexy times, without the war to divert their attention. bucky doesn’t need to find a job or do manual labour, and steve isn’t constantly getting ill. they both remain more or less in shape; bucky gains a few pounds, but they stay relatively the same weight because of the serum [4/?]

peggy works for the misogynists down in the SSR, whenever they give her too much shit, steve or bucky or howard head down and fire whoever is treating her badly. she can usually handle it on her own, but god knows there were some hurdles that couldn’t be leapt. angie leaves the diner and stays with peggy; they spend a lot of time talking and making out and snuggling on the couch together … god bless those two [5/?]

howard still invites women over, men too, gnc. nb, bisexual howard stark is What I Am About. jarvis is very good friends with everybody on the team. everyone is really happy and no one dies we all just live happily ever after

this is beautiful what a Gift

[spacebuck]

mmmmmm okay healing!bucky time. so bucky has kind of been fucked over by the government at this point, right? i mean, if we go by the idea that buck was drafted, essentially he's been forced into combat situations for, what, between 1943 and 2014 that's 71 years? albeit, of course, all that time in cryo, but c'mon. (1/?)

bucky’s had his life taken away, and in the Perfect Future, SHIELD gives him a pension to life off - a really nice one as a “sorry the american/russian/whatever gvnmt. treated u like shit … have some money”. steve drops out of the avengers and gets his own pension to live off. they get an apartment in brooklyn cause ~sentimentality~ and essentially end up living together like the old days, except steve isn’t sick, bucky isn’t working or dating, and they can hold hands … in public … (2/?)

so bucky does A LOT of meditation and spends HOURS a day sitting on the plush lounge room rug, just. sitting. letting his thoughts come and go. sometimes steve joins him, but steve’s healing mainly lies in physical exercise; runs with sam, punchin a bag in the gym … etc. bucky gets his memories back, but obvs he isn’t 1943!buck no more. he likes his hair long and he’s a bit like “this metal arm is kinda :/” but he’s still relatively comfortable in his own body (3/?)

bucky always has a ponytail/bun (wtf is MAN BUN or MAN PONYTAIL its a bun or a ponytail no need to stress how masculine u r?? i love feminism) and he LOVES having his hair washed, E S P E C I A L L Y by stevie so shower time + best time. bucky always smells like a different shampoo. so steve and bucky live and chill 2gether and that’s like it?? i’m not done but they aren’t forced to work for American Captialism they can just chillax for once in a century goddamn lmao (4/?)

so anyways, steve and bucky adopt a pet (which pet? cat? dog? fish? bird? u choose) which hangs out at home. bucky has a sweet tooth the size of texas, so he is C O N S T A N T L Y filling up the fridge with like … candy … pastries … ice cream … you name it bucky’s tried it greek custard is his weakness (5/?)

(there’s one missing idk i get the vibe it’s abt them doing whatever the shit they want and catching up and exploring)

then they spend the whole day doing W H A T E V E R they want - some of their favourites include; reading conspiracy theories about themselves on the internet; catching up on cinema; visiting their own exhibitions at museums; seeing art (holy shit they missed post-modernism?? whaaa); playing with the pet(s?) at home, being chill u no … best friends … until (7/?)

UNTIL one day they are holding hands (touch starved bucky? t o u c h s t a r v e d b u c k y ? TOUCH STARVED BUCKY!?!??!) at their own museum … covert operation … full gear … i.e. the cap & sunglasses combo …. (8/?)

when some asshole is like “haha what a bunch of homos” and steve is like “bbucky don’t entertain him jjust leave it just leave it iits ffine bbcuuuuuckkyyyyyyyyy sootooopppp but bucky yanks off his cap & sunglasses, says “ay fella, fuck you” to the asshole, grabs steve’s cheeks and jjust ffucking kisses him right there and everyone is staring bc that’s bucky barnes kissin steve rogers holy shit “that homo enough 4 u?” bucky asks and drags steve by the hand … away from the crowd … (9/?)

they get home … bucky is like “shit steve i’m sos sry if that was unprecedented i-” mmmm but steve kisses the shit out of his best friend and bucky’s hands curl <3 around <3 steve’s shirt <3 and they don’t do anything sexual or nothin just kiss for a bit and … nothing changes? they still hold hands and chill all day, except n ow …. with tongues and …. orgasms. good times. (10/10)

this is already super long but like !!!!!!!

bucky just settling in against steve, fingers curled tight in steve’s shirt as steve grips his hip tightly, and they don’t go anywhere, standing in the hall, lips sliding over each other’s soft and slow. after a few minutes it picks up, deepens, a flick of his tongue letting steve coax bucky’s mouth open, soft little noises in the back of his throat as bucky opens for him

and then instead of getting heavier and heavier, it slows down, steve pressing soft, chaste kisses to the corners of bucky’s lips, then sliding his lips back over bucky’s mouth proper, kissing him again.

and then steve’s free hand is in bucky’s hair, guiding his head back just a little, and bucky lets out a soft sigh, and they just kiss and kiss and kiss until steve’s stomach grumbles like the mood-breaker it is

and bucky laughs it off, and his face is so so soft as he looks up at steve, and steve’s cheeks are almost as red as his lips as he mumbles out an apology, but bucky just smiles, slow and warm, takes the hand on his hip and says better get that monster fed then

[spacebuck]

you are!! so good!! your blog is excellent and you're constantly pointing out injustice, like you've taught me heaps and honestly you're doing so well !! this blog is actual 24-karat gold keep taking care of yourself and doing what you're doing because you are legit my fave blog ever <3 <3 <3

i really want to be worth this message. thank you for giving me something to work towards

[spacebuck]

okay okay you said about bucky + glitter pens "no one can stop him" and just. imagine someone trying. imagine thunderbolt ross after a mission, handing him a clipboard with a legal document and saying "in blue or black ben please" so bucky just searches through his battle gear and pulls out a little container of glitter pens with one hand. [1/?]

ross goes to say something, but bucky is already taking a purple one out. “uh, sergeant barnes i-” bucky cocks his pistol with the other hand and thunderbolt ross shuts the fuck up. imagine a meeting with the world security council and bucky spends 10 mins looking at his green and gold pens and deciding which to sign his name with [2/?]

imagine ross trying to get him to sign something bucky def. doesn’t want to sign, so he accepts the page, takes a glittery pink pen and, while ross watches, pens “Fuck You”. ross rolls his eyes and tries to take the form away, but bucky’s metal arm is across it, so ross just tears the paper. bucky continues to draw little smiley faces and love hearts all over the remaining document and ross tries not to scream [3/?]

bucky drawing designs all over steve and steve gETTING THEM TATTOOED HOLY S H I T. all of bucky’s other pictures are pasted on the walls, and once steve gets an obsession with glitter pens, the avengers join in too and soon every document signed by the avengers are done in glitter pens. they end up selecting custom colours and the president of the united states is probably rubbing their brow whispering “how the fuck did this happen?” [4/4]

i’m laughin this is the best thing, all i have to say tho is if it said “blue or black only” he’d probably pull out like a sky blue glitter pen and everyone would have to accept it bc technically he’s doing as directed

[medievalpoc]

hello! feel free to not answer this, i'm sure you've got tonnes of asks in your inbox, but i'm writing a story and i wasn't sure what to look for for clarification on your blog? like what tags to use to search? so i figured i'd ask: do you know any times in (ancient/medieval/not modern) history when a black woman and a korean woman might meet? like a war, an invasion, just if certain ethnic groups were in the same area ... thank you in advance!

Well, your question falls outside my wheelhouse considering this blog is pretty Eurocentric. But I’ll do what I can, after pointing you towards EastIsEverywhere, whose topic is more what you’re looking for, but you haven’t even specified where exactly they’re meeting, so all I can do is show you ideas that involve people moving around (which also might not even be necessary for what you’re writing). “Korean” is more specific than “Black”, so I don’t exactly have a lot to work with on that front.

There doesn’t have to be a war or an invasion, in fact your question is so general you could pretty much make up anything you like and then research it to figure out when that would have happened, if you feel some need to justify it. There’s plenty of evidence that Korean people traveled to other regions and nations. It might also be helpful to just sort of familiarize yourself with how the Song Dynasty facilitated trade from Eastern Asia to the rest of the world.

EastIsEverywhere has a roundup of connections from various time periods involving African migration to Asia, and Asian migration to Africa here.

If you’re farming for ideas and at a loss, why not look up art objects or other luxury trade goods, and think about a story to go along with it? How about, I dunno, celadon ware or printed books that predate the European printing press?

The production of elegant green-glazed ceramic ware, highly praised by contemporaneous Chinese and later known and appreciated in the West as celadon ware, represents the outstanding achievement of Koryô potters. The invention and use of cast-metal movable type in Korea in the early thirteenth century predates by two centuries Gutenberg’s invention of metal movable type in Europe.

How did it get to where you want it to be, who made it and why, how much did it cost, what method of transportation was used to get it to where it was sold? Who bought it and why?

Or if you’re very attached to the whole invasion aspect, there’s always medieval upheaval during the Mongol Empire’s days of dominance:

[1231–1257] The Mongols, who occupy large portions of northern China and will rule all of China under the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), launch six invasions into the Korean peninsula during this period. In 1231, the Koryô court flees the capital of Songdo (modern Kaesông, North Korea) and takes refuge on nearby Kanghwa, a large island just offshore in the Yellow Sea, where it remains in exile for the next forty years.

If you want something earlier, there’s always trade (again):

By the end of the first century B.C., there was a great expansion of international trade involving five contiguous powers: the Roman empire, the Parthian empire, the Kushan empire, the nomadic confederation of the Xiongnu, and the Han empire. Although travel was arduous and knowledge of geography imperfect, numerous contacts were forged as these empires expanded—spreading ideas, beliefs, and customs among heterogeneous peoples—and as valuable goods were moved over long distances through trade, exchange, gift giving, and the payment of tribute.

Or alternately, here’s an essay on a NYPL exhibit: The African Disapora in the Indian Ocean World:

While in Macau during the early 17th century, the English traveler Peter Mundy noted two “Abbasin [Abyssinians]"—Chincheo and Antonio—both of whom had run away from the Portuguese and had since become Cantonese interpreters. These Africans, like others in the Indian Ocean world, spoke languages in addition to their own and Swahili. Swahili, with a Bantu grammar and many Arabic words, served as a lingua franca for many enslaved Africans—a kind of bridge between the various linguistic and ethnic origins among captives in East Africa as well as those who crossed the Indian Ocean.

There’s also just googling Indian Ocean Trade. Or checking out art objects from the Met’s exhibit, Kongo: Power and Majesty.

I mean, if you want a reason for two people to meet, think about what kind of people they are, what you want to happen as a result of that meeting, where they are meeting at, and why.

[dvreaux]

hello! i read your fic about the tsoa road trip and??? you killed me????? holy shit????????????????????????????????????? tysm it was beautiful

oh my gosh thank you so much!!! that fic is rlly close to my heart so that means a lot to me xxx