Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing in this.
Links to the song referenced at the bottom of the fic.
"Don't know whhhhyyyyyy. There's no sun up in the skyyyy. Stormy weathaaaa"
Ororo looked up from her book and groaned. "Really?" She asked, smiling in spite of herself as Bucky came in singing along to the record player. He smirked and continued. "Since my man and I ain't togethaaa. Keeps raining all the tiiiiime."
Ororo covered her face. "James." She sighed. "It wasn't funny the first time."
"Then why?" Bucky came forward, plucking the book from her hands and putting it on the couch. "Are you grinning?"
Ororo brushed a loose strand of his hair behind his ear. "I like seeing you happy." She said earnestly. Bucky hummed and pressed her hand against his cheek. He was using his metal hand. Ororo smiled again, touched that he'd become comfortable enough to use that hand without asking for permission first.
"Dance with me, doll." He said, kissing her palm and pulling her to her feet. Ororo rolled her eyes, but let him lead.
"I've always preferred the Lena Horne version." She commented. Bucky's eyes lit up.
"I knew you liked this song."
"It's a classic " Ororo said.
"Lena's good." Bucky agreed, "but I was actually at the Cotton Club the night Ethel Waters first sang it."
Ororo pulled back in shock and looked at him, then narrowed her eyes. "No you weren't." She said. "This is like the time you tried to convince me that you had drinks with F Scott Fitzgerald."
"I did." Bucky insisted, stubbornly sticking out his chin. Ororo kissed it.
"Mmmhm. Except that F Scott lived in New York in the 1910's and moved to Paris in the 20's."
"So?" Bucky asked, dipping her.
"So, you'd have been at most 6 when he left." Ororo said, arching an eyebrow. "You might be able to fool Stark, but not me."
Bucky sighed dramatically and pulled her up, putting his head on Ororo's shoulder. "You're too clever for me, doll."
"And don't you forget it." Ororo grinned, swaying to the song "Wait." She tensed as the song ended and started over. "Is this...does this record only have Stormy Weather on it?"
She felt Bucky smile against her neck. "You...evil-"
Bucky kissed her, swallowing her protests.
"For the record, I don't make it rain every time you're away." Ororo said.
"Is that why there was a monsoon when I had that mission in Latveria?" Bucky drawled.
"That wasn't me." Ororo said. "Sometimes a rainstorm is just a rainstorm."
Bucky chuckled. They continued to dance, his good mood infectious.
"I was at the Cotton Club that night." Bucky said.
Ororo snorted at his stubbornness. "Of course you were."
"Ask Steve." He replied. "It was in 33 and we were both 16. We saved up for almost 2 months doing odd jobs around the neighborhood and going to midtown to shine shoes. Well, I did the shoe shining. The polish made Stevie sick." They'd stopped moving. "Both of us liked jazz and the best clubs were in Harlem. When we had enough we snuck out in our sunday best and went." He smiled. "Ma tanned my hide when she caught me sneakin back in through the fire escape at 5am." His Brooklyn accent became stronger and his eye crinkled as his expression grew wistful. Then, as always, he grew sad remembering loved ones long gone and the life that had been stolen from him.
"When I was little." Ororo said softly, jerking him back to the present to give her his full attention. "My father used to play jazz records all the time. Ella, Duke, Louis, Sarah, Lena, and Billie. He used to drive my mom crazy with this song too." She looked away, even after all the years that had passed, her memories of her parents were still tainted with pain. Bucky held her a little tighter. He understood that sometimes all she needed was someone to listen because it was the same comfort he needed from her. He never faulted her for what she'd been forced to do by the Shadow King and she fiercely defended him against any who tried to blame him for what Hydra had done.
"He had a different song for me, though." She continued, trying to chase away the ghosts of the past. Bucky raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" He asked.
She walked over to the record player and turned it off. Looking through their collection she found what she was looking for and put it on.
"I got sunshine on a cloudy day." The song declared. "When it's cold outside, I got the month of May." She grinned as Bucky came up behind her, snaking his arms around her waist.
"It's called My Girl." She said.
"I like it." He said. "But maybe we need our own song."
Ororo considered the suggestion, then got an idea. It was one of her favorites and the perfect way to get back at him for implying that she turned into a rain causing mess without him.
"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone." Bill Withers crooned. Bucky tilted his head and listened, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.
"It's perfect." He whispered.
"You know they reopened the Cotton Club, right?" She said. "We should go Saturday night, if the world doesn't need saving."
"And I can tell you what they changed." He gave her a pointed look. "Because I went there back in 33."
"Well they're actually going to let me in now." Ororo said. The Cotton Club had been segregated back in its earlier days. While black performers had been aloud, black spectators had not. Bucky winced, and took her hand and squeezed it.
"They're going to let us in together." He said, spinning her and beginning to dance with her again. "Now, did I ever tell you about the time I slow danced with Amelia Earhart?"
Songs referenced:
Stormy Weather- Ethel Waters
watch?v=zywZUhaUqMo
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
watch?v=xzLkXdkuhX8
My Girl- The Temptations
watch?v=6IUG-9jZD-g
Ain't no Sunshine - Bill Withers
watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo
