I love the idea of the boys getting a pet after everything, but I can't choose which animal. I mean dogs are good therapy animals and it might help bucky get into a routine if he's walking the dog a lot, but it might be better to have a cat that looks after itself a lot and just needs feeding and petting, or maybe a rabbit because they're quite docile and bucky could get used to being responsible and cleaning it's cage without going outside. I don't know, so many animals, so few characters
Oh wait! I’ve had the best idea! So what if they start off with something small, like literally get two fish, one for each of them, and Steve enjoys the fact that they’ve got a bit of light in the room and Bucky likes watching them because they’re calming and they don’t fight and he can’t hurt them because they’re in a tank, then slowly steve teaches him how to transfer them to another tank and clean it out, and bucky learns that he can take care of things without hurting them (more coming)
And then Bucky asks if maybe they can get something that he can hold, because he likes the idea of stroking something and taking care of it, because if he can take care of an animal then maybe he’s not so destructive after all. So they get a hamster, and it needs cleaning out more regularly and Bucky can hold it (with his right hand because it slips around on the metal) and he loves it and Steve says it’s something they own together and he likes that a lot too (even more)
And Bucky knows it won’t live forever, but it’s wonderful now, and he asks Steve if they could get more pets because taking care of the hamster is even better than the fish because it scampers around and he can play with it, so Steve gets them a guinea pig and a rabbit, and lets bucky choose which is his. They clean out together, but the rabbit is bucky’s and the guinea pig is steve’s, and although bucky likes sharing with steve he also really likes having a pet that’s just his (spam, sorry)
And it just keeps going like that, Bucky will see something on tv or Steve will find something on the internet, and they get reptiles and birds all sorts of little critters. They have a big schedule of what needs taking care of when, and they make sure they can do it all by themselves in case one of them can’t be there, and nat and sam occasionally have to be pet sitters but neither of them mind. Bucky loves it because he’s doing something good (animals from shelters where possible) (one more)
And steve loves it because they couldn’t have pets before the war, but now they have seemingly unlimited funds from tony and masses of space. They do their research, talk to experts, make sure all their pets are as happy as they can possibly be. When any of them die, then it’ll take bucky a little while to get over it, and they never replace it with the same animal because that doesn’t feel right. But yeah, stucky with a small menagerie in new york. (sorry for it being so long, it ran away)
i don’t even know if i need to write anything here you’ve done my job for me :v but stucky with a menagerie is like. perfect. please. i need steve lying on the bed, bucky draped over his chest, animals cuddled into their warmth or draped over bucky’s pillow, or curled up at their feet, and it’s warm and cozy and everyone is happyyy