Tony was the one who took the initiative to put Steve on a schedule for his movie marathons. Before, Steve would just watch whatever Netflix suggested for him whenever he was in the mood. That might be fine for regular people, but Steve was Captain America. If he wanted to keep that title, he needed to catch up on such a vital component of American culture. He needed to see what inspired a man to try to assassinate a president. He also needed to know what people what people were quoting all the time. It was for the best. Tony also organized the marathons by themes, like 80's Teen Night, Political Thriller Night, and his personal favorite, Roadtrip Night.
This system was very helpful when Steve started to bring his long-lost best friend Bucky along to movie night. Every Monday and Thursday, at 5:30p.m sharp, Tony would get his private theatre running, complete with a popcorn and candy stand. This Thursday was a special evening that Tony had been looking forward to for a long while, Disney Princess Night.
"But I told you, we already watched the Disney Princess movie." Steve set the large popcorn bucket in Bucky's lap.
"And I actually remember it. Snow White. Seven dwarves. Evil Queen. A lot of forest creatures." Bucky pour some extra salt and butter.
"Oh you two don't know what you missed out on," Tony smirked as he set the playlist for the digital projector, "There's been so much more."
And so the marathon began, starting with Cinderella. When they got to the part when the evil stepsisters tear up Cinderella's dress, Bucky had to ask,
"So…if you were in her place, would you fight them?"
"What?" Steve was shocked that it was even a question, "Why would I fight them? Sure, they're selfish, but I'm not going to just punch them."
"But they're bullies, I thought that was your thing. Also, in her place as in you were a girl, too. I mean they started it, pulling her clothes off and everything."
"For them, it would have to be a different kind of fight…but I would pull their hair." Steve conceded and put a pillow in his lap for squeezing.
Then, the moved on to Sleeping Beauty, and both Bucky and Steve were surprised to find out that this prince had a name. Although they had known of the story of Briar Rose since childhood, they finally understood why Tony liked to play that "Once upon a Dream" song whenever Steve was around.
Things got interesting once they hit the Disney Renaissance, especially with The Little Mermaid. Bucky watched Ariel's red hair flowing through the water as she swam up to the surface, and something hit him.
"Wait…I…I think I know this one." Bucky murmured.
"You know it? Like you've seen it? When? Did those guys let you go out for movies?" Steve wasn't sure how much culture Bucky was allowed to soak in between missions.
"No…I…I saw the poster…in…I think I was in Germany. I…my mission was to…I can't remember…something to do with a wall…" Bucky pressed his fingers to his temple trying to dig deep into his recovering memory.
"The Berlin Wall!" Steve smiled to himself, since he'd just crossed that off his list the other day.
"That's not that point. The point is I saw the poster…and, I kind of liked it. Like, I wanted to see this one…and I never got to."
"Well, we're watching it now, so never say never." Steve put his hand on Bucky's shoulder and squeezed it as they watched Ariel exchange her voice for human legs. It was kind of hard for Bucky to watch when Eric was so close to abandoning his mission of finding the mystery girl so that he could be happy with Ariel instead, and then Ursula came and sucked him back in by controlling his mind. It was so scary how easy it was for him to be manipulated like that, but at least it made him feel better when the spell was broken and everyone turned out okay.
Next was Beauty and the Beast, and both of them immediately hated Gaston, but Steve did more than Bucky. It was men like him, those who charmed the masses and convinced otherwise innocent people into evil causes, who kept superheroes in a difficult but necessary business. Belle was the only one wise enough and brave enough to stand up to him, and she wasn't bad looking either. It appeared that Steve had found a favorite princess.
When they got to Aladdin, Bucky was intrigued by the Cave of Wonders. Such a big mysterious underground place that no one could find unless they knew the secret. He wished that HYDRA's base was even half that nice. Also, Jasmine reminded them of Natasha somewhat. She seemed cold and aloof when talking to people, but she was actually a nice girl in private.
Pocahontas was especially interesting for Steve, and Bucky quipped, "Hey, look it's you" whenever John Smith was in the scene.
Mulan brought back memories of their old friends, the Howling Commandos. When Mulan's war buddies all helped her take down Shan Yu, Bucky had sense of familiarity with that. He couldn't remember exact people or exact situations, but he remembered those feelings of support and teamwork. They also both considered setting off explosives in the mountains to cause an avalanche as a legitimate tactic to keep in mind next time they ever had a fight in the snow.
The first ten minutes of The Princess of the Frog actually made Steve cry. His mother spent years working as a seamstress, even when she got another job after his father's death. When Tiana's father told her that she needed to work hard as well as wish hard if she wanted to achieve her dream, it echoed his mother so much, it was haunting. If he was already tearing up before, when he saw the picture of her father in uniform with a metal hanging off of the frame, he lost it. It may have been 3 in the morning, but Steve was as attentive with a second gust of wind throughout the whole film. He wanted Tiana to get her restaurant so badly. Bucky actually jumped when Steve threw his empty popcorn bucket to the ground when the Fenner Brothers told Tiana that they couldn't sell her the building for her restaurant.
"That's a lie and you know it! There is no higher bidder, you just don't want to admit that this woman has what it takes to run her own business!" He jumped out and pointed an accusing finger on the screen.
"Steve!" Bucky held him back and pulled him back to the seat, "It's alright, you know it's all going to work out in the end, it always does."
He was right, but that didn't stop Bucky from getting emotional in the next movie, Tangled. That bright optimistic opening song about Rapunzel killing time while she was kept in a tower, hidden from everyone, made him sadder than when they watched Beast almost die. He hated Mother Gothel, and every time she showed up his blood boiled. If only Rapunzel refused to sing for her…but then again there was a reason that he never crushed Pierce's throat, even when he had the chance. Why did they make it look so effortless to just…say the right things and make them do their bidding? It was more than just frustrating, it was agonizingly painful.
When Rapunzel stepped outside the tower for the first time, Bucky was just so happy for her that a tear ran down his cheek. The movie might as well have ended right there for him. It was safe to say that Rapunzel was now his favorite. At 18, she had the courage that he didn't have at 95. When Rapunzel offered to go back with Mother Gothel in exchange for healing Flynn, Bucky was utterly convinced that she loved him. He knew that she wanted that freedom more than anything, and if she was willing to give that up for him, he must have been everything to her.
The finished off with, of course, Frozen. Bucky got up out of his seat and paced around the room in a huff when the trolls removed Anna's memories. It's not that they did that, it's that they made it look so easy. Anna just remained peacefully asleep throughout the process. If only trolls worked for HYDRA.
Both of them had to admit that they got emotional during "Do you Want to Build a Snowman?" Anna and Elsa had something beautiful, just like Steve and Bucky did, but once it was broken, it would take more than one song to fix it. When Hans revealed his betrayal, both of them threw a fit. They knew what it was like to be frozen solid, and they didn't want that for the poor girl. They also fell for the assumption that Anna was going to kiss Kristoff and that would save her, after all, they had literally just seen it work several times before, but they got quite the shock, when Anna sacrificed herself to save her sister.
After a long, colorful night, the men were exhausted and saturated with musical numbers. But before they went to bed, Steve grinned,
"Hey Bucky…do you want to build a snowman?"
Bucky just smiled, and muttered, "Punk."