#ic ft. james.

[lostsouldier]

@bokketo : "Hi." Nat smirks and taps the bridge of James's nose. "Is this seat taken?"

Oh, he knows what that smirk means. ' You've had it reserved since I met you. You really have to ask ? '

[entrepy]

David is going to give Bucky one ounce of affection - a long moment of silence of staring at him, eye to eye, from inches away. And then he's going to head butt him. Like a cat. "You stink."

David is a cat. He’s been stuck in this apartment with Bastard and the rest of the cats for so long. And Bucky likes cats. ‘ Don’t shove your face in my armpit then, ’ he says and winds his arms around David’s shoulders.

[lostsouldier]

@taliaromanova from the starter call 🐱 .

It's been a while since Nat and Alpine last met, but the cat has not forgotten her, and instantly bounds over when Nat slips in through the front door. Bucky raises his head only to make sure that the two were getting along --- Alpine has been through it in the past couple of months and he wouldn't be surprised if that had put her on the more wary side of things --- but after a moment of contemplation, she heads for Natasha's ankles, pattern eighting between them. ' Aw. Happy days. ' Satisfied, Bucky rests his head back on the back of the couch, returning the bag of frozen peas to his face and sighing.

[lostsouldier]

@knowseverythingaboutyou from the starter call 🤍

Piano notes float around the air to no particular melody, chatter and laughter bounce off the walls, ricocheting off the holiday decorations that fills the apartment. Bucky warms his hand on a mug of mulled beer, surprised by how good it actually tasted considering Steve was involved in it's creation. Nothing against his best friend, but for a military guy, he was pretty bad at following rules and recipe sheets were no exception. Still --- a year or so of playing happy family must have domesticated him somewhat. He makes his way over to Maria, standing by the counter of snacks. It also has a good view of the keyboard, where Rebecca is currently sitting with Eva in her lap, attempting to teach her Frosty the Snowman. The stagnated notes somehow add to the atmosphere. ' First time at one of Steve and Nat's shindigs? ' he asks, tucking his glass under his arm to pick up a cranberry puff. It was Clint's first time too, but he'd already gotten stuck in with Natasha; Bucky wasn't exactly worried about Clint's ability to fit in or make friends --- not with this crowd anyway.

[lostsouldier]

@whitesuited from the starter call 🤍

' That's just sad, ' Bucky says, taking one hand out of his jacket pocket to flick at one of the tiny branches of Sharon's little counter-top Christmas tree. He's waiting for her to collect her things --- a coat, a scarf, some weapons --- and has taken to judging her apartment in the mean time. He really is in no position to judge. His current apartment scarcely has enough furniture in it to call it a home, let alone holiday decorations. At least she had tried. ' I have a whole stash of decorations in storage from Shelbyville --- could'a asked. I could've fixed you right up. '

[lostsouldier]

@parvamundi​ from starter call.

He’s not expecting to find his target already passed out on the floor when he looks into his room through the scope of his rifle. He’s actually . . . a little at a loss as to what to do from here. If the guy is already dead --- then his work here is done. If he’s not, if he’s just taking a nap on the floor of his apartment for some reason, he doesn’t want to waste time having to set this all up again on another night. He could follow through with his plan and just shoot the guy to be sure he was dead, but he’s not exactly in the business of shooting dead guys or making an unnecessary mess. Sighing unhappily to himself, he packs up his gear, and makes the trek over to the building. He swipes a high-vis vest and a safety helmet from a maintenance van at the end of a street, and the rest of his garb is already disguisable as construction gear. He makes it up to the twelfth floor without incident, unless you call the receptionist twirling her hair at him an incident --- to find the door already open, and the apartment already occupied. Not just by the man passed out on the floor. 

‘ I’m here to fix a pipe leak ? ’ he says, pointing his P226 at the only other conscious person in the room. 

[entrepy]

"No, no, no, no. Hey. To hell with the rules." (For James) sent by @thesilverandjetsystem .

🔪 ‘ Easy for you to say, ’ Bucky mumbles, straightening up from where he was leaning over the large round table to show off the red and white stripes on his abdomen, the blue across his chest and white star splashed in the middle. He’d put himself in this position and he was going to ride it through. Living in the light was a choice he made — and yeah, maybe it totally sucks, but it was ultimately handcuffing himself to the straight and narrow in the hopes that it would extinguish the shadows inside in him. Taking off the uniform and slinking back into the dark would defeat everything. ‘ We do this legit, Marc. Find ‘em. Cuff ‘em. Bring ‘em in for questioning. We do this under a white light or not at all. ’

[entrepy]

Natasha has done ridiculously elaborate things ( that one cake was nearly on fire given the number of candles on it ) and very low key things ( one year featured a rooftop picnic because they were due on a mission at 3am the next morning ), and this year she’s caught between extremes. There are dozens of people who would jump at the chance to celebrate with James but she decided that she wants to keep him for herself. They can have a party later. Instead, she presents him with a packed suitcase and pulls him along onto a private jet. Mauritius promises to be as beautiful as it is remote, and she smiles as she curls up in his lap, at peace above the clouds.

Bucky doesn’t have any objections to being ushered onto a plane, his bags already packed for him, half a day’s flight ahead of them. He spends enough time inside his head, reflecting, but his birthday provides an opportunity to look at it all from a slightly more positive point of view. Looking back on the year, instead of ahead to a future that was simultaneously unknown and promising only bad things, if his track record was anything to go by. He has plenty to be grateful for — most of which was curled in his lap, currently. ‘ What’ve you done ? ’ he chides her, smiling as he moves aside a lock of her hair from her face. The jet hums quietly through the air, clouds moving languidly by. Removed far away from the expectations of below, somehow safer than ever 10 miles above the ground — because he’s with the only person who’s ever made him feel safe. And loved. So very loved.