Waltzing Into Change
Bucky entered your apartment to the soundtrack of the movie you had watched together the night before. You stopped dead in the living area when he walked in, and he gave a small wave before closing the door behind him.
“That’s an improvement to yesterday,” he commented. You exhaled shakily.
“I’m more awake today.”
The song changed, and you continued your quiet singing. You swept through the kitchen with a dancer’s grace, picking up clutter on the countertop. Bucky leaned against the wall, not wanting to get in the way. If you learned how to defend yourself, he decided, you’d do pretty well. You had a practiced balance and control in the way you moved.
“No bacon today?” he teased, trying to start a conversation.
You blushed slightly. “No, sorry. I don’t usually get up this early on my day off, so I’m a little off schedule.”
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, doll,” he promised, mentally kicking himself. He clearly had lost his touch somewhere over the years. Or maybe he had just missed out on all the changes society had gone through conversation-wise. It was so much easier when he was talking to the other Avengers. He had always been a bit different in their eyes, he knew. How could he not be the odd one out, with his history?
“Oh, don’t worry!” you said, closing a cabinet, “I know what you mean. I could–or I guess you’d be going too–we could go grab something to make? Or eat? Or not.”
“I go where you go,” he promised. “So it’s up to you.” He watched as your fingers tapped on the counter, playing an imaginary keyboard to the song.
“I’ve got a few things here if that’s okay.” You went to open another cabinet, but he stopped you.
“Do you play piano?” he asked, gesturing to your hands. You blinked, pulling your hands away from the cabinet and rolling your wrist in a circle until it popped.
“A little bit,” you admitted, popping your other wrist. “A random guy I went on a date with thought it would be fun to take a piano lesson together.”
Bucky tilted his head. “How would that even work?”
You laughed. “I have no idea. It really didn’t work, but it got me interested in piano. Not him,” you clarified quickly, “He turned out to be a bit of a weirdo, so that was our only date. I took a few lessons after that, but it’s been a few years.”
“That’s really neat,” Bucky said, stepping further into the apartment.
“Have you gone on any weird dates?” you asked, pulling out a box of cereal. You winced, and Bucky knew you’d figured out his past. “Sorry if that’s a weird topic. We can talk about something else if you’d like–”
“There weren’t as many options for dates when I was growing up,” he interrupted. “Mostly we’d take girls out dancing or to a movie.”
“Dancing?” you asked, lips twitching upwards into a smile. Bucky nodded. You smiled wider. “You got any moves?”
“Mostly we’d just sway, if it was a slow song. Those were my favorite songs because it was when the girl would decide if she liked me enough to go dancing with me again,” he said. It was a bit strange, thinking back to the time before the war. It was clearer than his other, fogged-over memories of all the years that followed. It was somewhat therapeutic, he supposed.
“Did you ever waltz?” Your question snapped him out of his thoughts. Bucky looked at you, sensing where this was going.
“No, waltzes were usually for fancy parties when I was a kid. I never got to go to those.”
“You’ve never waltzed? That was like my thing at school dances. I’d find one of my dancer friends and we’d show off our waltz skills.” You paused. “That sounds really pathetic, now.”
“You’d be cooler than me at parties, that’s for sure. I never even learned the popular dances.” Bucky pursed his lips in thought.
“That was the thirties, right? So jitterbug and swing?”
“That’s very impressive,” he said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
You shrugged. “I was the kid who learned all the old dances. I never was very good at them though.” The song changed again, and you held out a hand to Bucky. “Can I teach you?”
Bucky looked at your hand. This was not something he had prepared for. However, the thought of getting to watch you dance again was what made him reach out and take your hand. “Okay, but I apologize in advance if I step on your feet.”
“I took four years of ballroom dance,” you teased, “I’m pretty sure I can handle one super-soldier with two left feet.”
“The waltz is entirely different from what I’m used to doing,” he argued. You shushed him and began instructing him on where to put his feet. Once he got the hang of the basic box-step, you added in a slight rotation. Once Bucky was comfortable with the motions, you stopped giving directions and just focused on the feeling of his smooth metal palm against yours, his muscled arm firm against your back, and your feet stepping around his carefully.
Neither of you were sure when the waltzing dissolved into a slight sway, your entwined hands dropping to let his right arm rest against your waist with his metal one.
You noticed first, when the song became more upbeat. You stepped away, awkwardly laughing.
“I’d say you’re waltz-certified, Barnes.”
He cracked a smile. “I have a good teacher.”
You looked away, but he caught a hint of a blush spreading across your cheeks. It made him feel very proud of himself.
(._.)
“I think I found a solution to the housing problem,” Bucky announced a few hours later. He had just returned from taking a phone call out in the hallway, coming back to where you were sitting at the kitchen table.
“Oh?” you set down your phone. You had been, conveniently, looking at apartments.
“I was thinking that, since we want a secure location, why not just have you move into the Avengers Tower for a while?”
Your mouth fell open slightly. That was just about the last thing you expected to come out of Bucky’s mouth.
“What?” you asked, not quite sure if he was joking or not. The mere idea was insane, you knew.
“It’s the safest place in the area,” Bucky argued, “and I’ve already checked with Tony.”
“Wouldn’t I just be in everyone’s way? I don’t want to be any trouble with my comings and goings.”
“The whole point would be to surround you with people, so I think it’s a good idea. If you absolutely hate it,” he conceded, “then I can help you find a different apartment. But I think you should give it a try.”
“I still think this is ludicrous,” you huffed. You bit your cheek and looked away from his gaze. It would be a huge change, yes, but what in your life hadn’t changed lately? If it would help things get back to normal then you couldn’t find any issues with it.
“Please?” he asked.
You let out a small breath. “Okay.”
Bucky’s answering smile made your chest feel a bit tight.