invisible touch
Bucky x OC

Bucky may have had his programming removed from his mind—a feat he never dreamed possible—but that didn't mean it was removed from his body. So when the wind shifted, so slightly that anyone else wouldn't have noticed, he stilled. The white rhino, who had been benefiting from Bucky's attention just seconds ago, blew a snort-like breath though its nose and pressed further into his palm. A baby begging for attention. For some reason, the calf was attached. It still baffled him, after everything that he'd done.

"There you are."

Bucky hummed, lowering his arm. The calf nudged against his side, letting out a noise of disappointment. "I'll be back," he told the rhino. "Go play." He lifted his chin in the direction of the other wandering calves, a few of which seemed to be playing a game of chicken.

If he'd been told, back in the 40s, that he would end up working alongside and effectively raising rhinoceroses in a seemingly third-wold country, he would have laughed. And asked what was in their drink. Sometimes he wondered if this was some strange fever dream. First a spider…kid and now this. Stranger things, indeed.

"You should not be out here alone," Kamaria continued; approaching him with easy steps, he noted. Compared to other Wakandans who walked stiff and tense around him. Not that he blamed them.

"I can handle myself," he stated. The calf bumped into him once more, sending him forward to catch himself with stuttering steps.

Kamaria chortled, her eyes crinkling in the corners. "Yes, I can see that." Her laughter had faded but the smile had stayed on her face. He tore his eyes away, rubbed the back of his neck. Smiles directed at him? A rare commodity he didn't deserve. Not in this lifetime. "You should be resting," she continued. He picked up the rolling rs and depressor affect on certain syllables; he found himself enjoying hearing her speak. Them all, he corrected in his mind. It just so happened he spent more time with her and Shuri once he woke. He was used to them.

"Is that why you're here?" he asked.

"You're not in bed. I came looking for you."

"I'm fine."

"So I see." Her smile returned and her eyes cast downwards. He followed her gaze to the calf. Lacking attention, it had resorted to chewing on the end of his red robes. "Even so, you must not overexert yourself. You still need to regain your strength."

"Strength isn't my problem," he stated. Much more bluntly than he meant to, but…well, he was who he was. His infamy was international. From war hero to hired gun. And yet there they stood, giving him much more than he was worth.

Lifting her chin, Kamaria locked eyes with him and stated, "I believe it is." All smiles vanished, her jaw clenched and her face hardened. "Pride holds power that inhibits forgiveness." And then she repeated, "You need to regain your strength."

He pressed his lips together. If there was one thing he learned while in Wakanda, it was the at the women were as fierce as their words. And Kamaria, well, she didn't back down from him, she stepped up, toe-to-toe, as if he weren't branded with the Winter Soldier moniker. As if that didn't matter.

Maybe it doesn't to her.

And then, in the blink of an eye, a smile snapped back onto her face as she said, "Come! I'm sure you are hungry, yes? There is plenty of akara and mandazi to go around." She winked. "If you are lucky. As my mother says, we really put our foot in our food."

He blinked rapidly, adjusting to the whiplash of her topic change and the emotion flashing across her face. A second later she pulled a face and stuttered, "Not…not literally! We do not actually put our feet in…oh, Bast!"

Fretting, she muttered something rapidly in a Wakandan language he didn't understand, red settling into her cheeks, whilst waving her hands. Almost as if she were casting some sort of magic spell on him.

"I feel I should admit," she said, switching back to English. The red dusting on her cheeks didn't fade. "I have had surgery. On my jaw, see. To allow myself to stick feet into it." Kicking at the ground, almost shyly, she added, "Many feet, it seems."

Bucky cracked a smile. "Your surgery results appear worthwhile to me. it's enhanced your smile."

She whistled. "Smooth. You get two thumbs up for that one." As she spoke she lifted her thumbs and wiggled them in his direction. When Bucky looked down at his lone hand she made a face, and then added, "Er…or you will. Once Shuri and I make your other one. See? Mouth meet foot." Waving her hand again she said, more to herself, "Why am I introducing you two? They're on a first name basis at this point!"

At that, Bucky laughed aloud; a good, hearty laugh that surprised him so much he wasn't even aware the noise came from him at first. She looked him over, with such a tender gaze in her eyes that it could have knocked him off balance.

Maybe she did cast a spell on him.

So this is a taste of the Marvel OC plot bunny I've been sitting on for a while. Her name's Kamaria (fc Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and she's a part of the Merchant Tribe in Wakanda. She's also an engineer and works with Shuri in her lab to create, design, and test new technology for the Wakandans to use. Thus, she is put in charge of getting measurements from Bucky while he's in Wakanda to make a new arm for him so they end up spending a lot of time together. I have a fic idea spinning around depicting Bucky's time in Wakanda between getting there for his brainwash removal and being recruited to fight in Infinity War. So that may come out eventually. Please let me know what you think!

~C.M.

P.S. I wasn't sure where to stick this. It features Bucky but takes place in Wakanda with a Black Panther based OC. I wasn't sure to put it under crossover or one and the other so I stuck it in Captain America. If you feel this belongs in a different category, please let me know so I can put it in the right one.