Better Than Words (OC x Bucky Barnes)
Corner’s
PART ONE/?
A/N: HELLO welcome to my chaos. This takes place in an AU after Spiderman: Homecoming where the Avengers have reassembled and the following all live in the Avengers tower: Tony, Pepper, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Wanda and Vision. Peter Parker’s identity is still intact and he spends his free time training at the Avengers tower under a “Stark internship”.
also here is my masterlist!
Word Count: 2261
Warnings: fluff, mild angst, and slow burn
New city. New apartment. New job. New life.
Maya was ready, though. After living in her parents house up until her mid 20s, she was beyond prepared to leave and get the change of scenery she’s been craving since middle school. And with everything she did, everybody could see how sure of this she was.
She did everything without hesitation. She said yes to the Midtown School of Science and Technology without even taking the time offered to think about it. She signed the lease to the first studio apartment she found in Manhattan and she started packing the moment she knew the job and the apartment were hers.
By the beginning of June, Maya had moved everything to New York and was pushing her parents out of her apartment. But of course they insisted on staying.
“Just one night! I can make you dinner and help you organize the kitchen. We’ll be out of your hair by the morning.” Her mom practically begged, as she was, quite frankly very anxious about the entire move.
And of course Dad agreed, “I could install your shelves and build your bed frame so you don’t sleep on a mattress on the floor tonight.”
But Maya needed this. She couldn’t wait another night to fully embrace the reality of her new life.
“No, it is fine! Really!” Maya was already grabbing her mom’s purse, and fishing her dad’s keys out of the pile of junk on the kitchen counter. “I want you guys on the road before it gets too dark. Just make sure you call me when you get back to Philly!”
And through bewildered arguments at the daughter’s new found independence, Maya continued to walk them towards the door. She managed to yell over them, and then physically pushed them out of the apartment, “I love you! Drive safe! Dad, make sure to use your turn signals!”
And like a coming of age film, she closed the door, fixed all the locks, and pressed her back against the door of her studio, her eyes scanning the first thing that was completely and utterly hers. She took a breath and felt excitement like no other started to fill her veins.
Maya spent the rest of the night fixing the bathroom and then the kitchen. By 3 in the morning she was freshly showered and sitting on the floor of her living room with her back pressed against the couch. She smiled at the cluttered space, a piece of pizza in her hand, and Shrek 2 spinning in the DVD player.
For the next two weeks Maya spent her days unpacking, arranging, decorating, reading, online shopping, rearranging, and singing at the top of her lungs.
Most afternoons she’d go downstairs to the Corner Cafe that was renting the apartment to her. Maya would sit and work on transfer paperwork, brainstorm potential classroom setups, and draft book lists for the Fall semester. Every now and then she’d make conversation with the barista, a high school student named MJ. Maya would ask about local bookstores, where to get the best Thai food, and eventually about Midtown. They both laughed when they realized they’d probably be spending the school year together. Needless to say, Maya and MJ got along really well.
--
The following Friday afternoon, the Cafe was a bit more crowded. But all the same, Maya sat at her corner table by the pick up counter. She had always gravitated towards this spot, but now it was mostly to chat with MJ when things got slow and to cheer her on during the rushes. And MJ definitely needed a lot of support this shift.
And then to Maya’s disbelief Natasha Romanoff walked in.
It was an interesting scenario considering everyone knew who the Avengers were now, but what was far more interesting to Maya was the way no one paid any mind to her presence. She figured it was true what they said about New York: everyone just minded their own business, really. In any case, Maya didn’t feel any strong emotions towards being in the presence of known vigilantes, but she couldn’t help but feel her muscles tense when Natasha stood at the side of her table.
A few moments passed and before Maya could properly comprehend what she was doing, she opened her mouth. “Would you like to sit?”
Natasha was taken aback but nodded appreciatively, smiled and pulled the chair opposite to Maya and sat down. “Thanks, stranger.” Natasha’s knees were facing the counter though, an elbow each on the back of her chair and another on the table they were now sharing.
A handful of moments passed again and Maya let out an exasperated groan after realizing that she, yet again, sent the wrong attachment to her new boss.
Natasha’s fingers were now rapping rhythmically, against the wooden table top and then she spoke up. “Rough day?”
Maya was a bit razzled, despite the fact that she was the one that opened up the possibility of a conversation just moments ago. “Uh, yes and no? It's just a new job. It's a bit overwhelming, you know?”
It was only after the words came out of her mouth that Maya realized she shouldn’t have said her job was overwhelming to a person who fought crime for a living. She bit her tongue and braced herself for a laugh but it didn’t come.
“You’ll get a hang of it.” It was at this moment that MJ called Natasha’s name out. She stood and pushed in her chair before grabbing the little white baggy off the counter. “Try one of the pastries. I promise it’ll make you feel a bit better; they’re the best in the whole city.”
Maya gave her a small smile and a nod, “I’ll do that! Have a good night.”
“You too, Stranger.” Natasha proceeded to pinch the little bag between her teeth, rummaging through her pockets and walking towards the exit
--
In the following weeks, the interactions only became more frequent. It was probably every other day that the two would see each other at Corners.
At first it was Hellos and Goodbyes but eventually Natasha would sit at the same table with Maya while waiting for her order to be ready, not that it ever took all that long. Before the end of the month, the two exchanged names and Maya was happy to find that Natasha actually preferred to be called Nat.
Shortly after the proper introductions Nat started to enjoy her pastry at the table with Maya before leaving.
Very quickly, Maya grew tired of the same courteous conversations and started talking about her new teaching job and Nat helped in large part with all of Maya’s online shopping decisions. Sometimes Maya was afraid of coming off as self centered but she was pretty wary of asking Nat about her life outside of the coffee shop. But, fortunately Nat was much more interested in classroom decor and keeping updated with Maya’s personal challenge of trying every possible drink MJ was willing to make.
By July, Nat started bringing the other Avengers by for coffee runs.
Maya immediately hit it off with Steve. After finding out that Maya was a literature teacher, Steve would talk about how reading was his favorite pastime pre-serum and that he’d love to visit the classroom one day. He even geeked about the latte art that MJ would do in the wide mouth mugs for Maya. She and Nat did not miss the opportunity to laugh about this when Steve excused himself to use the bathroom.
It was peculiar though. Nat would tease that Maya and Steve were a literal match made in heaven. She’d go on about their overlapping interests and how smoothly they got along from the beginning. Maya had to think about it, though. On one hand, Maya thought, who wouldn’t want to be of interest to Captain America himself?
But alas, Maya was the kind of girl who believed in the kind of love that you felt in your gut. And despite the blush on her cheeks when Nat talked about the two of them, Maya didn’t feel it in her gut.
Weeks had passed and Maya had grown accustomed to greeting Nat, Steve, Pepper, Sam & Wanda whenever they made their way into Corners. None of them really stopped to chat, except for Nat and Steve, but Maya thought it was still nice to share small smiles and waves with the rest of them.
In the back of her mind, Maya thought a lot about the rest of the Avengers. She was well aware of Tony Stark and heard things about Vision in passing, but Nat eventually clarified that Tony doesn’t get his own coffee and Vision still doesn’t entirely comprehend the act of food consumption.
Truly, Maya was most curious about Steve’s best friend, Bucky. Steve did talk about him in passing from time to time but Maya knew to not straightforwardly ask about him. She knew the bare minimum about The Winter Soldier from the Daily Bugle and the tabloids. And knowing that Steve was his best friend, Maya bit her tongue despite all the questions flooding her mind whenever his name came up.
It was the last week of July when Nat finally brought Bucky to Corners.
--
In Maya’s mind, aside from meeting Nat, Bucky’s introduction was the most memorable. When she thought long and hard about it, it was mostly because of the fact that Bucky’s first impression was distinctly different from the rest of them-- less chirpy, you could say.
When the two of them walked in, Nat basically made a beeline for Maya’s little table and greeted her right away.
“Hey, Nat! Pastry or coffee today?” Maya hummed, barely looking up from her laptop. She was intensely focused on finishing a thought about her lesson plan before properly opening herself up to conversation.
Nat sat to the right of Maya, her back facing the counter. Then, Nat gestured for Bucky to sit in her usual spot, across from Maya.
“Pastries! I caught ol’ Bucky here snagging some of my extras in the middle of the night, so I decided to let him in on the secret.”
Maya nodded before properly looking up, “Sounds like quite the racoon to me,” a small smile forming on her face. Then she lifted her eyes from her computer screen and there he was. Maya’s stomach turned in the most peculiar way.
Bucky had on a hoodie and his hair was tied up in a low ponytail. The hood wasn’t up on his head but instead fluffed up enough to come up around the bottom of his ears and his hands were in his pocket, resting in his lap underneath the table. He seemed hesitant to hold any eye contact with her, which Maya didn’t take offense to, but he did manage to look at her for a moment.
He gave the smallest acknowledging grin before saying, “Hello, I’m James.”
Nat was preoccupied during this small moment, busy trying to wave down MJ who was in the middle of pulling a shot of espresso. “MJ! Just the pastries today, but make it a double order, please!”
Nat turned back to Maya before she could properly introduce herself to Bucky.
“Yeah, he caught me with a jam filled one last week and has been snatching them ever since.”
Maya smiled at this. “So what? The jig is up? Everyone in the tower knows that tough Natasha Romanoff is obsessed with flakey pastries?” She loved to tease Nat, but some of her joy was being overcome by the tension she was creating in her own mind about even looking at Bucky.
Hearing him chuckle at her remark did help her muscles ease up though.
“Ha. Ha,” Nat dully retorted. “The only reason I decided to share my secret with him is because he won’t tell a soul. It’d be much easier for me to gain my dignity back if I got caught, but he would lose most of, if not all of his tough guy credentials.”
Maya giggled in response before looking straight into Bucky’s eyes and reassuring him, “Don’t worry. Even if you get caught I think Corner’s pastries are well worth losing your street cred.”
Bucky chuckled and brought his flesh hand up to rub his index finger underneath his nose. “I think you’re right, doll. I’d risk it all for another raspberry one.”
Maya felt a wave of mixed emotions following Bucky’s response. She felt her skin grow hot after processing the outdated nickname and only hoped that her complexion wasn’t visibly compromised. All the while though, she was glad to have been able to have any kind of conversation with him.
Fortunately for Maya, she didn’t have to withstand that burning feeling for much longer because MJ called out Nat’s name and she was quick as a cat to grab the little white bags off the counter.
Nat patted her hand on Maya’s shoulder, not even bothering to sit back down. She looked at Bucky and nodded her head towards the door. “Alright, Maya! We’re out. I’ll see you next time.”
“Yeah, get back safe,” Maya responded, her hand reached up and patted Nat’s knuckles as Bucky pushed in his chair. “It was nice to meet you, James.”
“You too, Maya,” and with that, Bucky gave a small wave and pulled his hood up as he and Nat made their way out the door and down the street.
Maya watched until they were out of sight.
—
TAGS: @asuperconfusedgirl
