G stands for Gorgeous
Darcy’s eyes landed on the drink in front of her, using her straw to stir around the ice.
“Weird how?” Wanda asked softly, her eyes filled with so much warmth that Darcy gave her a genuine smile to stop her from worrying.
Even though she didn't know her for too long Darcy often felt comforted by Wanda as if she was a sister. They had formed a very strong bond in a short amount of time. The close proximity they lived in at the Compound had probably helped a lot with that.
“I don’t know he seems unfocused whenever we eat together, like he doesn’t wanna be there with me.” she finally answered.
Wanda looked at her incredulously. “I seriously doubt that's the case here.”
Though her statement didn’t immediately erase her worry, Darcy was comforted by the fact that her friend had answered so quickly. She evaded Wanda’s eyes, as the other woman searched for any signs of emotions she could work with.
Wanda didn’t look into other people’s brains (unless they were enemies or on a mission) and Darcy was grateful her magical friend knew her boundaries. Besides Darcy was a talker anyway, so it didn’t take much time until she’d know whatever was on her mind.
“What makes you think that?” Wanda leaned even closer to her, as much as the table allowed her to. She only shrugged her shoulders in response.
“You should stop worrying so much. You like spending time with him, right? And he hasn’t given any obvious signals that he doesn’t want to spend time with you. So just enjoy it. I haven't been able to interact much with him but from what you’ve been telling me the past few weeks and from what I've seen of him so far, I can tell why Steve fought so much for him.”
Darcy nodded in agreement as she slurped on her drink.
“So I seriously doubt your assumptions are correct. That’s just you interpreting things wrongly. It probably has nothing to do with you.”
Wanda leaned back in her seat, sipping on her drink as she watched her friend contemplate. After a few seconds Darcy finally looked at her again, an idea sparking in her mind resulting in a pouty expression directed to Wanda.
“Can't you just do your witchy stuff and find out what's up with him?” she spoke softly, Wanda barely made out the words. They stared at each other in silence before Wanda gave a defeated sigh.
“I can look into it for you. But no magic.”
The other woman's red lips formed into an almost devious smile.
“You're the best.” she raised her hand for the waiter. “Next round is on me.”
:-:-:-:
Darcy looked around as she continued stirring the red dough and let out a frustrated huff. The kitchen was a mess. Cleaning would be such a drag. Luckily, Bruce had given her some time off for the day. The sun had barely been out when she had headed to the labs, to find Bruce already hovering over some notes, eyebrows kneaded in frustration. He'd told her right then to just come back when he had made some kind of progress.
So of course Darcy had decided to use that time to bake something. After all Steve's birthday was coming closer and she had barely found the time to practice.
“Darcy, Captain Rogers is currently on his way to you. Should I tell him that the room is occupied right now,” FRIDAY announced. Contemplating for a few seconds she put the bowl to her side, placing the little american flags into the next drawer. She’s spent a lot of time in the kitchen before so it wouldn’t be unusual for him to walk into her baking some goodies. Besides, she was curious about why he was heading her way.
Darcy asked FRIDAY to let him in and continued working on the dough. A few minutes later Steve walked, his eyes wandering around the room for a while as he came to a stop on the other side of the counter.
“Good morning, Darcy.” he greeted her with a genuine smile as he took a seat.
She grinned back at him.“Morning, Adonis. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she wiggled her eyebrows as she looked him up and down just in order to tease him. Steve only sighed and rolled his eyes in amusement, which she considered a win. Obviously it was just casual banter he had already gotten used to since she’d moved into the compound. She just loved getting a reaction out of him, he was too adorable to pass it.
“Actually,” he shifted slightly in his seat as Darcy eyed him curiously, “I wanted to check up on you. And I wanted to thank you.”
The bowl rested on the counter, hand stopping from stirring as Darcy looked at him in confusion, waiting for him to elaborate. Steve rubbed his neck, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before finally speaking.
“It’s just...thank you for everything you’re doing for Buck,” he looked up at her, his expression serious but radiating warmth. “He’s been opening up a lot since you came here. Especially since you’ve been meeting for lunch the past days. He’s started interacting with the team more. I don’t think you’re aware of how much you have to do with it.”
Darcy only blinked, it took her a few seconds to comprehend what she’d just been told before she regained her usual composure.
“I think you’re giving me much more credit than I deserve, big guy,” she spoke softly, moving the bowl in her hand to the side in order to lean forward on the counter. “I just annoyed the hell out of him, I’m pretty sure he just feels obliged to hang out with me at this point.”
Steve shook his head with a chuckle. “Believe me, he’s everything but annoyed by you. You’re good for him. You’re doing much more for him than I do.”
This time it was Darcy’s turn to shake her head, much more violently than the blond man had.
“You should see the way he talks about you,” she said this with a quick eyebrow raise, making him chuckle in response.”Believe me, Steve, he appreciates everything you do for him. And you do a lot. He knows that.”
“Thanks, Darcy.”
“Anytime, Hotstuff.”
:-:-:-:-:
It wasn’t until an hour after Steve had left that Darcy got new company. Taking form in none other than her favorite sad looking soldier a.k.a James Barnes. FRIDAY had informed her ahead of time so it wasn’t that she was surprised when he had entered, really. But more so the fact that he had deliberately searched for her. He walked in slowly, his eyes focusing immediately on her as she looked around from the fridge. A shy smile had formed on his lips and he scratched his neck in that boy-ish manner he so often displayed as he walked up to her.
“Sup, G-man?”, she greeted him with a grin, closing the fridge with her foot and immediately compiling a set of ingredients on the counter. The man in question only raised an eyebrow as a response.
“The ‘G’ stands for gorgeous,” she explained matter-of-factly, eyeing him inconspicuously. Bucky shifted his weight a couple of times, not sure how to respond.
So she decided to help him out.
“So what brings you here? Did you miss me? I think there's still some time left till lunch,” she searched through the drawers, taking out a couple of different sweets and placing them in front of her before she glanced at him. “Not that I'm complaining. Quite the opposite actually”
Bucky cleared his throat, clearly not sure how to react to anything she said. It was so so adorable and she suppressed a giggle by biting her lip instead.
“What are you up to?” he finally asked softly, making Darcy weak in the knees with his deep voice. Let's just say even after their lunch meetings she still hadn't gotten used to it.
He had quite an...effect on her, to put it simply.
“I'm working on Steve's cake,” she beamed at him. “you're not allowed to tell him. It's a surprise. Since his birthday is coming up.
“You know,” she crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving him a quick once-over. “you could actually be of help with that.”
Bucky blinked a couple of times before looking at her in curiosity. She picked up three plastic bags filled with different sweets and gave him a serious face.
“What would Captain Hunky prefer as toppings; Kitkat, marshmallows or M&Ms?”
This seemed to pique his interest for he walked around the counter to stand directly in front of her, a contemplating expression on his face.
To her surprise he sighed in slight frustration as he stared at the M&Ms bag like Satan himself had delivered it to him. In this moment she was convinced of seeing a glimpse of the old and uncensored raw version of Bucky Barnes.
“I'm gonna be honest with you, doll. These-" he pointed at the bag he had been glaring at for the past couple of seconds. “are definitely out of the question.”
Darcy blinked slightly in surprise, the nickname taking her off guard. Bucky seemed unaware of it -or at least he pretended to be since he continued explaining nonchalantly.
“Steve and I - and pretty much every other soldier who served during the war for that matter- practically lived on those. I don't think either of us can swallow even one more piece.”
Darcy only looked at him dumbfounded for a couple of seconds before lifting the bag in her left hand a little higher. “So, KitKat?”