His POV.
Bucky liked calling himself a free agent. That was basically his life purpose, after being abducted by Hydra. Now, the fact that he didn’t work for anyone didn’t mean he could just punch every little menace he wanted to. Spiderman was the one in charge of those minor issues. The only kind of jobs he took was when Sam called for help. Honestly, those were the only ones where he felt comfortable enough to work on. Excluding the ones from Wakanda, because although they didn’t come, he’d receive any mission from their land with open arms.
Today was different, because contrary to most of the time, the person fighting him threw a punch in the part of the body he most cared about, the face. Its relevance wasn’t because of Bucky being a superficial person; it’s more of a pride matter. Hickeys and blood in the body are easy to hide, but there was no way he could dissimulate a clean cut in his face. By the time he was finally home with an ice package on his cheek, an insistent knock on the door interrupted his intentions of taking a shower. In the beginning, Quinn seemed startled by the sudden angry way he opened it, though when seeing his neighbor with an unneighborly face an evil smirk replaced her impression.
“Looks like someone got what was coming to him.” She observed while smiling. “To whom do I owe the favor?”
“What do you want, Parker? The day is bad as it is, the least I need is your charming sarcasm as the cherry on top.”
“I just thought of greeting my favorite person on the planet. What else would I be doing here?” She looked at him straight in the eye and made an obvious pause. “Few guys left a big package of yours in my place, they insisted on putting in inside. I obviously can’t pick it up to bring it here.”
“Must be my bed.” He mumbled to himself. “I’ll go later.”
“That’s the thing, I’m leaving for a night shift now.” Quinn’s plan was to annoy and make him pick it up while making fun of him on the way, but the task became difficult when Bucky appeared all sore and pouty about his face. She was a surgeon; it made her feel unethical. So, after thinking for a while and not without letting out a big sigh, she threw her keys at him. “I assume I can trust a man that fought alongside the Avengers to not steal from me.”
“Thanks.” The girl frowned. Bucky was too tired to bicker back like she expected him to, so the interaction turned a bit weird.
“Ok.” Without saying goodbye, she simply left.
Surprisingly, all Bucky needed to feel better was taking a shower, a nap and having dinner. Who’d guess? This only confirms he did act like an old man sometimes. Once noticing it was about to be midnight, he remembered the package at Quinn’s place. Without giving it too much thought, he just went inside. It wasn’t a long time ago when he used to spend hours of his life wondering about how it’d be; yet here he was. Obviously, she changed it; the whole place smelled like a candy store, the paint on the walls was dark, and the only furniture at display was a small sofa. Heavens, even he had more than her. And that says a lot. Trying to not be disrespectful by observing too much, he just moved the box to his place and went back to turn off the lights and lock the place. Then, he saw it.
“So, you’re the one who’s competing against me on who annoys her most.” He talked to the furniture, while unconsciously smiling at the memory of Quinn.
There was a corner with wooden boards, screws, and tools on the floor to assemble the infamous piece of wood which had her cursing her lungs out, interrupting his reading hours. At first it was fun to think about her struggling for once, but then he remembered this happened almost two weeks ago. Quinn had no one to help her. He shrugged and turned off the lights, it wasn’t his business. However, something clicked inside him when closing the door. He cursed aloud and went back inside.
I don’t like to owe favors, was what the note he left said on the assembled furniture. If this were about someone else, he would do it selflessly. But we’re talking about his stubborn, annoying, and rude neighbor. He just wished she didn’t take his action in the wrong way.
*
“Mr. Barnes! Long time no see, handsome man.”
“Mrs. Holly.” He greeted. The woman lived on the floor above him, and the few times they encountered each other was like now. Him going downstairs and her casually out of her door. “How have you been?” He politely asked.
“Oh, I’m glad you asked, these days I’ve been…” And he really meant politely. The old woman in her eighties was more talkable than you’d imagine, so when asking he knew on which he was getting into. “…As if she does it on purpose! Stomping her feet while I’m taking my nap.”
“Uh… yeah, she can be a difficult neighbor.” He added, mostly to play along with her. Even if he sometimes thought like that about Quinn, Bucky hated being a part of gossiping. “Well, I won’t take more of your time, ma’am. I need to go anyway.”
“Sure! Don’t forget to visit me sometime, okay?” He smiled at her before keep going downstairs, casually bumping into the Queen herself.
“Talking shit about me like the old times, Betty?” The man frowned at the way she referred to Mrs. Holly.
“Excuse me?” She offendedly asked, with a hand on the chest.
“Ah, don’t play dumb old woman. I see here that after all those years you insist on making up stuff about me. But now that my grandma isn’t here to believe them, you use my neighbor to your taste. If you’re too bored in your retirement, why don’t you just die already?” The strong and menacing tone of Quinn kept increasing as she went closer to the woman, who attempted to slap her. “You’ve gotten slow, Bets. See you around.” She turned and gave Bucky one last look.
As stated before, he wasn’t a man of gossip, so after assuming the discussion was over, he just went on his way to the market. He didn’t blame Quinn, there seemed to be old history between them, and he was no one to judge. Even if it was about an old annoying grandma like Mrs. Holly. It unconsciously made him start thinking about the way Quinn used to live here. Maybe she wasn’t mean just because. Maybe she had a tough time living here. Maybe she had a reason to be like that. Mean, grumpy, sarcastic, rude. Maybe she was… somehow just like him. By the time he came back it was late. Initially, he was only getting groceries but then decided to pay a visit to Mr. Nakajima, whom he made acquaintance after their dark encounter when confessing his past. While going upstairs he remembered the situation about Mrs. Holly and Quinn. He didn’t realize how not annoying she was when the person she bickered at was other than him. When finally arriving at his door, he found a plastic bag with a note on the floor. You didn’t owe me anything. I don’t like to owe people either so now we’re at peace. Inside there was a strong ointment for his damaged face, which made him smile. He couldn’t deny that the idea of her being nice to him wasn’t attractive. Though when mean, he didn’t complain either.