Chapter Four:
Bucky takes a couple of deep breaths and tries to gather his courage. He can do this. It's just asking Steve for his number. It's nothing too big. It's just a phone number.
Sure it's the first time since high school that he's shown any interest in dating someone. It's not like he hasn't dated at all before. He just has bad experiences in that field.
He isn't helping himself at all.
The worst thing that could happen is Steve refuses and then Bucky will have to get over him. Probably by going to a local bar and picking someone up. Either way, it won't be the end of the world.
Bucky decides that he'll leave Steve be for a while, he doesn't want to come across as being too desperate. He has some things to do in the meantime.
He walks over to his still packed bag the he placed at the foot of his bed and rummages around for something. His fingers wrap around a familiar shape and he pulls out the object, a smile on his face. He places the strap attached to the camera around his neck, and holds the camera in his left hand. He might as well take some photos while he's here and see if he can add them to his portfolio.
Bucky wanders down the old streets, keeping an eye out for something that would make a nice addition to his online gallery.
Being a photography has it's perks, sure, but most of the time he gets pretty bland work and doesn't have that much opportunity to take new photos. Most of the time he gets hired for weddings or large events, one time he had even been hired to photograph someone's one hundredth birthday. That one was actually an interesting job.
Mostly, he works for the newspaper. He can't complain, the newspaper does give him a lot of work, but it's not where he wants to be.
He eventually ends up taking pictures of the usual things, the gazebo, the mountains, some of the mansions that had been featured in the Sound of Music, and the Fortress. He does go up to the Fortress and take some pictures up there, and takes pictures of the cannons that are aiming out the windows.
As he's walking back to the hotel, the sun is setting over the horizon. Bucky realises that he hadn't eaten since the morning, and actually notices how hungry he is. How did he not notice his hunger? It surprises him sometimes how focussed he can get with his work. He can tune out the whole world if he tries hard enough. He thinks that in another life he'd probably be a great sniper.
Soon he's back at the hotel and sitting in the restaurant that's in it. Bucky notices a lot of the residents are with others, whether it be their family, friends, or significant others. It reminds him of how he actually doesn't have that many people in his life. He has his sister, but he doesn't talk to her very often, they might as well be strangers. He has his mother, he sometimes gives her the odd phone call but not all that often. And then there's Natasha. Really, the only constant in his life right now besides his job when he's not away.
He eats his food in silence occasionally checking his phone to see if he's gotten a text from Natasha, or an email from a potential client.
There's nothing.
He sighs and pays for his meal, heading back up to his room once the bill has been dealt with.
Bucky's fiddling with the key card, having issues unlocking his door, when he hears the door behind him open up. He turns around and sees Steve walk out with a bucket in his hand. Bucky raises an eyebrow at him.
"We need ice." Steve smiles sheepishly. "Were you wandering around Salzburg earlier? I knocked on your door in the afternoon and you weren't there."
Bucky laughs. "Yeah, actually. I was taking some photos." He lifts up the camera to show Steve.
He starts to feel anxious, suddenly thinking about what Natasha had told him earlier that day. He really did have to get Steve's number. He takes a deep breath and breathes out slowly, trying to calm his nerves. Steve is a nice guy, the worst he can possibly say is 'no'.
"You're a photographer?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, I only work for the newspaper though, nothing too special. I sometimes do weddings and birthday parties as well."
Steve nods. "Is it fun?"
"Sometimes." Bucky shrugs. "But mostly it's just doing the same thing over and over again. I'm not offered a lot of variety."
A silence descends upon them, the only thing that can be heard is the loud clunking of the ice machine down the hall. Bucky stares at his black combat boots with interest and decides that he should probably clean them sometime soon. There's mud caked on the soles and even on the shoelaces. He scuffs the toe on the carpeted ground just so he can move and for something to do.
Bucky takes a deep breath through his nose and breathes out slowly. "Hey, I was wondering if… why you knocked on my door earlier?" He cringes at how obvious he made it that he was going to ask something completely different. He hopes Steve didn't notice or chooses to ignore it.
Steve turns a light shade of pink and rubs the back of his neck. "Well I, uh, was wondering if you'd like to show me a few more pointers for the guitar? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to…"
"Yeah, I'd love to, Steve." Bucky smiles. "Do you want to do that now actually?"
"Sure, that'd be great! Just let me go get my guitar from my room and I'll be right with you." Steve hurries back into his room, his mission to go get some ice from the machine all forgotten. Bucky watches as Steve remembers that he has a bucket in his hand and turns around, smiling sheepishly at the brunet as he heads down the hall to gather the ice.
Steve rushes back to his room with the bucket, not seeming affected by the added weight of the ice. He puts down the ice on the counter and grabs his guitar from somewhere Bucky can't see.
"Ready?" Bucky asks him and raises an eyebrow.
Steve nods with a grin on his face. "Are we going to do this in the hallway again?"
Bucky snorts, remembering the fiasco from the other day. "Something tells me that I don't think the other hotel goers would appreciate it that much. Let's go into my room, then we won't have to bother Sam."
Steve laughs. "Yeah, I think he's trying to find something decent to watch on TV right now."
Bucky lets Steve into his hotel room, and sits on his bed, patting the space beside him. Steve accepts the invitation and sits crosslegged, adjusting the position of the guitar. Bucky notices how he's holding the guitar in his hands and takes them in his own, moving them into a more comfortable position.
Bucky plays Blackbird for Steve and then hands the guitar back to him. Their fingers brush against each other as the guitar is given back to its owner. Bucky gently moves Steve's fingers around to form chords, his fingers lingering over the blond man's for a bit too long.
Eventually, Steve's fingers start to hurt, not having built up the right calluses for playing an instrument with strings and they stop. They end up lying side by side on the bed watching weird German cartoons and coming up with their own dialogue for them.
Steve laughs once the credits start to roll for the third cartoon they had been watching and checks the time on the digital clock beside the bed. The bright smile on his face falls slightly.
"I can't believe it's already midnight," he says. "I should really head back to my room now. Sam and I need to pack up tomorrow morning and head over to Vienna for the next part of our trip."
Bucky's face falls. This could be the last time he ever sees the man.
Steve notices to look on Bucky's face and gives him a small smile. "I was thinking that we should exchange phone numbers since your lessons are pretty helpful, and it would be great to continue with them."
"Sure," Bucky responds. "I'd like that."
Steve's hand reaches into his pocket and trades his phone for Bucky's. As soon as his phone number has been entered, he hands it back and gives Bucky another smile. "I don't think I'll be able to text you while I'm still in Europe, but once I get back I'll let you know."
"Thanks! That'd be great." Bucky smiles.
He walks Steve to the door and shuffles his feet awkwardly. Steve scratches the back of his neck sheepishly.
"So, this is it," Steve says.
"This is it." For a lack of anything better to do, Bucky reaches out his hand to give Steve a handshake. The handshake goes on for far too long, they both turn red.
"Um… bye. For now." Steve gives Bucky a smile.
He smiles back at him and watches as Steve disappears behind his hotel room door.
