Chapter 3
Steve woke up early the next morning. The date had gone badly, to say the least. Steve had been reluctant to be set up to begin with, but he was now close to stopping outright. He certainly didn't want two more dates like that one, but he also didn't want to not see it through. He wasn't the sort to give up, after all. He needed to distract himself, but he didn't know how. Bucky wasn't awake, so he couldn't talk to him. He tried looking at the news on his phone, which he still didn't know what to do with, but nothing struck his interest. Eventually, he just gave up, waiting for Bucky to wake, or for it to be late enough to go out.
An hour and a half later, he, Bucky and Sam were eating breakfast in Starbucks after giving up on running due to Sam's complaints about the heat and Bucky. Bucky and Sam seemed to have already decided it was their life mission to piss the other off, and Steve was regretting the two meeting. He tried to act as the peacemaker but to no avail. He decided to try to stop their bickering and asked Bucky whether he wanted to train at the Tower with them, in the hope that he'd find someone other than himself that he got along with, as well as give him something to do.
'I don't think I'm ready to get back into fighting quite yet, maybe in a while. Plus, you really want me near the other Avengers if this is how I am with the only other one I've met?’ Bucky said quietly, not meeting his eye. Ever since he'd come back from that date last night, something had seemed up with Bucky, and Steve wondered what had happened. He figured it was best not to ask though, or that he should at least wait until they were alone.
'You’ve met Nat too.’
'That barely counts, I was distracted the whole time.’ He had been, hadn't he? Steve decided that he would ask about that when he asked about the whole eye contact thing. He had thought Bucky was back to himself, yet all of a sudden everything had changed. Maybe he just needed to give him time?
---
‘What have those punching bags ever done to you Cap?’ He was in the training room and had been punching bags for almost an hour with a fierceness that surprised even him. Tony had been leaving the room when he asked. 'Everything ok?’
'You know how Nat’s setting me up? First date was last night, and it didn't go too well.’ He still hadn't told anyone other than Sam and Natasha about him having found Bucky, and figured now wasn't the time to mention it.
‘Oh. Is it really worth all this though? You can't always have a good date. Now, me, on the other hand…’ Steve rolled his eyes, but Tony’s words actually comforted him.
‘Thanks Tony,’ He said, punching the bag once more, hard, before leaving the room. ‘Actually,’ he started, turning back around to face him, ‘Do you know where Nat is?’
‘I think she’s over in the lounge with Clint. Who knows why, thought she preferred training over talking about birds or drinking coffee or whatever Barton’s life revolves around.’
He left to go talk to Natasha, partially to complain, partially in the hope that she had a better date planned so he could get the first one out of his head. And if she didn’t, well, Clint was there, that was guaranteed to distract him, even if it would only be because he was teased constantly about his age or some other irrelevant thing.
'How did last night go Steve? She nice? I thought you two would get along really well.’
'Are you kidding? It was a disaster! Get along? Oh, sure, it was fine when we were just talking, but then she was trying to be all over me! It was horrific! I thought I could survive this, who knows, maybe even find someone nice, but if she's the sort you think good, then no, this won't work.’
'Is the Captain a bit concerned about modern dating? Didn't he realise that jazz and dancing died out in the 60s?’
'Congratulations Barton, you can't even say your jokes are clever now.’
Natasha laughed. 'Oh you just wait Steve. He'll find something smarter soon. Unlike you, you haven't changed in 70 years.’
'Why don't you try to make a joke about something other than my age? Technically Thor's older than me, you should be like this to him, not me.’
'Well, he kinda left looking for the stones, didn't he? And he's not as fun to mess with.’ Clint replied.
'Anyway,’ He drew out the word, half sighing, 'Can we get back to the topic?’
'Dancing in the 60s?’
He glared at Clint. 'Natasha? Please?’
'Sound a bit more desperate next time. I'm sorry about the date, I honestly thought it would work. I'll try to find you another girl soon if you want? Someone I know better? But other than how forward she was, it was fine?’
'I guess. I feel like there weren't enough similarities between us though.’
'Well-’
'Clint! Shut up for a second please!’
'You’re supposed to be on my side Nat.’
'Look at it that way then. You've gone so far with this that the person who should be on your side isn't. Now can you either be quiet or leave.’
'Thanks Nat.’ Steve was shocked. He knew Natasha was capable of snapping like that, he had seen it happen before, sometimes to him, but he had always assumed Clint was immune.
'Sorry Nat.’ She raised her eyebrows.
'What about Steve?’
'You said I could either be quiet or leave, and I've decided to be quiet.’ He looked rather smug, and Steve rolled his eyes at him, but Natasha glared daggers.
'Fine, sorry Captain. And now I'm leaving in shame.’ He stood up and started to walk out, before turning around to ask, 'We still having lunch Nat?’
'Of course, you really think something this foolish could cancel plans?’
Clint smiled. 'Just had to check you weren't on his side.’
‘Oh, no, definitely not.’ Steve feigned hurt when she said that, making Clint laugh.
‘Yes, Captain, there are people who prefer me over you. It surprises me too sometimes.’ Clint left.
'So, I'll get you a date by sometime next week. Someone who you can relate to a bit more, and someone I know will take it a bit slower. Sound good?’
'You’re not even giving me a chance to say no, are you?’
'Well, are you really the sort who quits halfway through?’
He nodded. 'I’ll do it.’
---
He was waiting in the cafe for his date to show up. Emily, her name was. A week had flown by. He'd always had something to do, whether it had been explaining to Bucky the very limited knowledge he had of modern tech (Natasha had helped with this, he had tried having Sam over once, and, well, there might have been a few minor explosions), or missions, as a lot of Hydra bases had suddenly popped up. He looked up from his bagel to see her looking at him from the doorway. She had dusty blonde hair, about shoulder height, and wide brown eyes. He couldn't say Natasha had been lying when she said she was pretty. He got up and walked over to her. 'Emily? Sorry, I didn't notice you were there.’
'Hi. Whatever happened to the chivalry that makes old men so famous? This is disgraceful!’ She saw his alarm, and as he started stammering something about the bagel being delicious, she stopped him. 'It’s fine, I'm just joking around. I didn't realise you'd take it so seriously. Now, you gonna get me one of these supposedly delicious bagels or what?’
An hour later they were walking around the park side by side, fingers occasionally brushing against each other's. Steve was enjoying it, thinking that it was certainly a good thing he'd let Natasha set him up. 'So, you work for the CIA? Someone I used to live across the hall from works there, apparently it's a decent place. She said she prefers it to Shield.’
‘I’m not so fussed. I don't really get to stay in one place much, I'm only in New York every couple of months, the rest of the time I'm all over the place. Great pay though, and I love the travel.’
'Really? Where's the furthest you've been?’
'Last year there was a job in Australia. I spent a month on the other side of the world. Nice people, although it's so different there, and you can barely believe they're speaking English at times. And it was so hot! Over 100 degrees the whole time!’
'I’m not one for the heat, so sounds like I won't be going there.’
'Considering you spent 70 years in the Arctic, I kinda figured as much.’ She smiled as Steve looked at her, exasperated. 'Last one, I promise. Or at least, last one tonight.’
'So there'll be another night?’ He was slightly surprised, having had assumed it was going too well to be true.
'You got anything against that?’ Emily's phone buzzed. 'Sorry, something just came up. I've gotta dash, but Natasha can give you my number. Bye!’ She walked off, shocked that she had enjoyed the evening. She had expected not to, had only accepted because she had practically been forced to, but she really had. She'd been on a fair few dates recently, and all of them had let her down. Steve was the first guy she'd wanted to meet for a second time in a long while.
Steve was walking home when he noticed the video rental store. He realised that he hadn't shown Bucky any films yet, and decided to pick one up. 'What to pick, what to pick,’ he muttered to himself, looking at the shelves of DVDs that surrounded him. The Disney shelf caught his eye. 'That would be a good place to start.’ Before the war, he and Bucky had loved Walt Disney's cartoons, often using their little spare change to buy a seat in the cinema to watch one. He looked through the titles, trying to pick one he hadn't watched yet, but had heard of. There were so many to choose from though. A movie near the bottom of the shelf caught his eye. The Lion King. He picked it up and took it over to the counter.
'That’s an unusual choice for this time of day.’
'What can I say, I like Disney. Reminds me of my childhood.’ He walked the rest of the way home, wondering what Bucky's reaction would be. He had been surprised Disney was still around, but maybe Bucky would have expected it, or already knew? He almost hoped not, wanting to see the glee on his face.
When he returned to their apartment with a movie Bucky was sitting on the sofa, reading. He'd been shopping that day, and the fruit bowl was filled with plums. He didn't know why, but Bucky seemed to really like them. Well, he guessed he was no different, picking up a watermelon every week. Fruit had been a luxury when they grew up, but now they were incredibly commonplace. He was still getting used to the variety of food available, but he certainly found it one of the best parts of the modern day.
'Buck, I've brought a DVD home to watch.’
Bucky looked up, confused. 'A DVD?’
'You know how we used to watch cartoons in the cinema? Like that, except you put the DVD in the TV. Rented The Lion King, apparently it's really good. Disney's still around, you know.’ He wasn't disappointed in Bucky's reaction.
'Really? Disney's still here? How many more movies? Are they still as good?’ Bucky's reaction was priceless, Steve had never seen anyone so excited.
'Didn’t know you were that obsessed Buck.’
'It's something that hasn't changed.’ He said quietly, and Steve looked at him in concern. 'What? You're saying you weren't the same? Anyway, can we just put it on?’
Steve started the film, and sat down beside Bucky. 'Oi, move over jerk, need some room.’
'Do you have to be so loud punk, I'm trying to watch the film.’ He moved over almost reluctantly, not taking his eyes off the screen.
'Me, being loud? You heard the volume of this song?’
'I would be glaring at you now if I wasn't too busy watching this.’
They watched the movie in silence for a while, until it reached the scene in the elephant graveyard, at which point Bucky couldn't help commenting. 'You know, Simba kinda reminds me of this dumbass I've met, who also has no sense of self-preservation.’
'Look who's talking now. And I'm flattered, Simba's cool. Also, you're basically saying you're Mufasa, the helicopter you are.’
'Can’t complain, that'd make me king!’ He smiled, turning back to the movie.
They finished the movie quietly, occasionally making comments. Steve had turned to Bucky to say something when Nala found Simba in the jungle, but forgot what he wanted to say almost instantly. Just as he was about to turn back, the song reached its chorus, and for an instant Bucky glanced at him. Can you feel the love tonight? He turned away instantly, and Steve could see his cheeks flushing a pale pink. What was that? His eyes returned to the movie, but he was struggling to concentrate. Had Bucky blushed? What for? And why had he struggled to look away? He barely realised when the movie was over.
'Why so fascinated by the credits Stevie?’
He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present, out of his thoughts. 'I dunno Buck. You wanna watch another movie next week?’
'Next week? What about tomorrow? There's 70 years to catch up on!’
'Sure, goodnight Bucky.’
'Night.’ As Steve started to walk away, Bucky remembered to ask, ‘Wait, how was the date?’
'It actually went really well.’ He turned back, grinning, for a second, before going to his room. He didn't see Bucky's reaction, the sad look in his eyes, the fake smile plastered on his face. But Bucky had seen the slight sadness, the restraint, in Steve's, hidden deep beneath the genuine grin. He wasn't sure even Steve knew it was there, and went to sleep wondering what it meant, whether his hopes could turn true.