A/N: Not canon compliant. This exists in some magical world where Bucky got medical aid from Wakanda in healing his head, but Civil War/Sokovia Accords really didn't happen.
Bucky Barnes had a problem.
When he first rejoined Steve at the Avenger's training facility, he hadn't trusted himself one iota and neither had the rest of the world. Except Steve. Because Steve is a punk.
Anyway, it had been great. He'd been able to lurk in the shadows, think (it was NOT sulking, Darcy!), and nobody in their right mind expected anything of him. They certainly didn't expect him to go to public outings or anything of the like.
Then Steve, that punk, had gone and gotten him help. Not only did he get a new, similar yet updated arm; he got his mind back. The scientists in Wakanda were able to use some advanced healing mumbo-jumbo to erase what HYDRA had done to wipe him and to program in trigger phrases.
Of course, in healing him, the docs had made him remember everything he'd done while under HYDRA control. And that definitely wasn't a walk in the park, so everyone had steered clear. Everyone except Darcy, of course.
And once Darcy came into his life, everything had changed. He'd lost some of the shadows in his eyes as she slowly brightened up his soul. And once she'd taught him to laugh again, well, those eyes had downright sparkled as often as not.
Which is how he got into the predicament he was in. You see, Darcy was impossible to say no to, and she was enthusiastic. Friendship had turned into something more had turned into a full on relationship, and Bucky just couldn't deny her anything.
Well he could. After all his years in HYDRA, he knew what not being able to say no was, and this was something entirely different. But he didn't want to. He was head over heels in love, and he wanted Darcy to have everything she ever desired. He wanted to be the one to give it to her, to make her happy.
He would do anything she wanted. He would cut off his remaining arm for her if she asked him to. Darcy knew this of course, and she used it to her advantage. Not in any awful way that someone might think up. Usually she was using her power over Bucky to help him lighten up or come even more out of his shell.
Sometimes though, she used it for sex things. And up until that very moment, Bucky had been completely on board with any and all sex related exploits.
"Stop laughing, Doll. This is all your fault!"
All that did was make Darcy laugh even harder.
Looking down at himself, Bucky could only groan again and say, "Oh God, why is it everywhere?"
This set off another peal of laughter from his girlfriend, and she actually had to grab her sides as she gasped for breath, tears rolling down her cheeks. After a couple minutes, she finally stopped and took a deep breath.
One more deep breath, and she said, "I think where we went wrong was not factoring in your arm. Also probably the glitter and paint at the same time wasn't a good idea."
He reached up to comb a hand through his hair, forgetting his situation for a moment. With the motion, the plates in his arm shifted and out came a fresh cloud of edible body glitter and more giggles from Darcy.
Which of course covered them both and stuck into the paint stuff she'd had them using remained on their bodies that had been smeared about by their earlier activities.
Letting out a disgusted sigh, Bucky stood up and reached down to grab Darcy up and sling her over his shoulder. With his free hand he practically tore the bedding off the bed and crammed it into the laundry chute.
"Come on, Doll. Let's go wash this off," he growled out.
Once he'd settled her on her feet under the spray of the shower, she calmed down again enough to say, "see, fun! Right?"
Bucky made a weary sound and told her, "it's a good thing I love you."
Darcy startled then let out a squeak as she slipped, only to have Bucky catch her and steady her again.
"You love me?" She asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Of course I do," Bucky responded, looking down to see another batch of glitter come out of his arm. "Believe me, you wouldn't have made it near me with those brushes or the glitter otherwise. And seriously, did this stuff multiply?"
"Dude, it's glitter," she told him. "Now that you've got it, it will never go away."
He contemplated that in the silence that followed. He had to figure out a way to get rid of it. What if they had an assemble call and he had glitter on him. No one would fear the Winter Soldier then.
Darcy reached up to tap him on the shoulder and bring him out of his quiet contemplation. "I love you too, you know," she told him with the brightest smile he'd ever seen, and he'd seen both Steve and Thor smile.
Unable to stop himself from returning her grin, he leaned down to kiss her as he whispered, "I know."
Then they proceeded to forget all about the glitter or why they had gotten into the shower anyway.
Weeks later, he was riding on the Avenger's Jet when Barton yelled up from the cockpit, "Man, is that glitter?"
Bucky didn't say a word, just smiled widely as he remembered how it'd gotten there.