Author's note: Because of all the snow and ridiculous weather plaguing our nation I just had to write this one.
Summary: Bucky would rather be watching Netflix and not freezing his ass off, but he guesses this is okay too.
Bucky sneezed twice in a row and grimaced at the snot on his glove. "Gross," he muttered to himself and tried to find somewhere to wipe it off. Beside him Steve chuckled and pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere.
Bucky gives him a funny look. "Who the hell still carries around a handkerchief?"
"Me, that's who," Steve replies. "Take it or leave it, either way you'll have snot on your hand."
Bucky grumbled something about stupid punks who don't respect their elders and accepted the handkerchief. "Thanks."
"No problem!" Steve says and smiles brightly. Bucky almost has to shield his eyes because Steve's smile is as bright as the mountains of white snow that's currently blinding him. Has he mentioned it's also 13 degrees out and he and Steve are walking around Central Park where this isn't a single life form in sight?
As if on cue Bucky sneezes again and glares daggers at the sky, which turns out be a mistake because it's just as blinding and he almost does go blind from that. Like seriously, he's never seen anything so goddamn bright.
"Come on," Steve nudges his shoulder, taking notice of Bucky's foul expression. "It's not that bad."
"Steve, it's freakin 13 degrees. Most sensible people—" Steve snorts at that "—are staying inside enjoying the warmth of their home and watching Netflix. We are not being sensible right now, in fact we are far from it." Bucky waves a hand between them to indicate as such.
"If I had stayed cooped up inside for one more day I was gonna go stir crazy. Besides, it's nice to get some fresh air, and it's a beautiful day even if it is a little chilly!" And because the world hates them, a strong breeze blows past that has Bucky's hair flying all over his face. Steve chuckles and moves to brush some strands away.
Whatever possessed Steve to want to take a walk around Central Park, Bucky will never know. He just knows he's freezing his ass off and he'd rather spend the day inside cuddled up in piles of blankets with his own personal furnace called Steve. Now Steve, being the guy he is, had somehow conned Bucky into going out through the use of blackmail and puppy dog faces. Needless to say Bucky gave in which is why he's currently suffering.
He sighs and watches his breath come out in puffs. True, it is kinda sunny out and it is pretty nice being the only two people out. Well, two people and a dog. Thor could be seen running ahead, jumping all over the snow doing whatever dogs loved doing best. He'd jump and create a dent in the snow, do it again somewhere else, and then come back to the original holes he had made and make an even bigger mess.
Steve laughs at Thor rolling around with his tongue sticking out, and when he pops back up his golden fur has became a fluffy white. Bucky snorts at how ridiculous Thor looks and murmurs, "Maybe we should have brought Loki along."
"Oh god." This has Steve laughing even harder, his cheeks becoming more flushed and creating quite an endearing sight. "That cat would scratch your eyes out, no doubt about that."
"S' fine. Don't think your demon cat likes me anyways."
"Hey! Loki is a well-behaved cat, I trained him so I would know," Steve sniffs indignantly.
"Maybe that explains all the little tricks he likes to play on me."
They hear Thor barking at them, as if to say, 'What what I wanna get in on the joke too!'
They continue walking like that, taking in the snow and the vast whiteness of everything. Thor's still making a mess out of everything, but it was gonna melt eventually some time. He does another roll in the snow and wags his tail back and forth.
"You should play with Thor, I'm sure he'd like a companion," Steve says in amusement.
"Nah, he's fine without me. Besides, the arm doesn't do too well with snow." Bucky waves his left arm which currently doesn't have a glove on. Steve had frowned at that before they left, but Bucky made the argument that he didn't feel the cold there anyways, so what's the point of even wearing a glove? Not to mention he's gotten comfortable enough in public where he doesn't need to hide his arm. Sure he still he gets antsy during the summer when his arm is all flapping about, but through a lot of support and reassurance from friends, he's managed to get over himself and his disability.
So no, he's not wearing a glove and still isn't going to no matter how much Steve frowns or frets. Which he does the moment he sees Bucky's bare left hand.
"You really should have brought your other glove."
Bucky rolls his eyes. "Steve, how many times do I have to tell you? It's a prosthetic, so of course I'm not gonna feel the cold."
"Yes, I know that Bucky. I just… don't want you to feel cold," Steve finishes lamely.
"Again, it's a prosthetic. Prosthetics don't get cold," Bucky reminds him again. Steve huffs in mock exasperation and turns his attention back to Thor. Bucky gets it though, why Steve's so adamant about it. It's sweet, and kinda cute in a way to know Steve worries about all of him regardless of whether his arm is real or not.
"Stubborn jerk," Steve mutters.
"Punk." Bucky sticks his tongue out at him. Suddenly he feels cold slush on his face and in his mouth and splutters at the cold running down his chest underneath his layers of clothing. When he sees Steve standing there all innocent even though his gloves are covered in snow, Bucky can't help that mischievous side of him swell up.
"Oh it is so on," Bucky declares, his eyes glinting.
"Only if you can catch me first," Steve sing-songs. He darts away and suddenly both men are chasing each other down throwing snowballs and kicking up piles of snow until their boots are all drenched. Thor joins them, barking loudly and running whichever way Steve shouts at him to.
"Traitor!" Bucky shrieks when he almost gets toppled over by the golden retriever.
"Told you I trained him well!" Steve throws back his head and laughs. He bends down and cups his hands around the snow, takes aim and manages to hit Bucky square in the jaw.
"Blagushg!" Bucky splutters. He sprints and gathers up some snow of his own, though it's not as much compared to Steve's. He compacts the snow into a nice ball and nearly gets Steve's head.
"Muwahaha! That all you got, jerk?!" Steve taunts, running around Bucky with his hands flying out.
"Don't test me old man!" Bucky throws snowball after snowball at Steve, finally managing to hit him right in the chest.
The impromptu snowball fight continues for another twenty minutes or so until both men fall flat on the ground with their heads lying next to each other's. Even Thor is exhausted, tongue sticking out as he pants and flops down by their heads.
"Totally won that one," Steve breathes out.
Bucky whacks Steve's stomach with a, "No you didn't."
"Did too!"
"Uh-huh, sure keep telling yourself that."
They lay there panting for a while and trying to catch their breaths. Every so often Thor will sniff around them and then go back to rubbing his back in the snow. Bucky feels Steve's hands tangling in his hair and playing with a couple strands. "Like what you see?" He murmurs, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes. Steve hums and works about digging his fingers into Bucky's scalp, scratching at all his good spots and drawing out very contented sighs from Bucky's lips.
Okay, Bucky concedes defeat. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all. Sure, it's cold and he's freezing and his arm plus the cold don't really mix well together and maybe they're all soaked from the snow but you know what? Bucky doesn't care, he wouldn't have it either way. He's here with this boyfriend, his over-hyperactive dog, and Bucky feels very content. It's nice to get away from the real world for a while and just lay in the snow doing nothing. Maybe he should do this more often.
"Hey," Bucky finally says. He reaches out to rub a thumb against Steve's flushed cheek. "Thanks for… today."
He sees Steve lift his head and arch up an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you didn't wanna be out in the cold?"
"Eh. Figure it wasn't so bad after all," Bucky shrugs.
Steve snorts and rolls his lips to conceal his obvious joy. "Well… I'm glad you enjoyed today."
"I did," Bucky replies in a quiet voice. They both smile at each other and then giggle like a bunch of teenage idiots. The moment is totally broken though when Bucky says, "I guess as Idina Menzel puts it." He makes sure to get right up in Steve's face for this, takes a deep breath and shouts, "THE COLD NEVER BOTHERED ME ANYWAYS!"
"Oh, Buck!" Steve pushes Bucky's face out of the way, scowling as Bucky rolls around in the snow holding his stomach.
"O-oh g-od! Yo-ou sh-should have seen.. your face!" Bucky wheezes out. He can't stop laughing at that stupid expression Steve made. His eyes had practically blown out of its sockets like a cartoon character.
"You're the worst," Steve says sourly.
"You mean I'm the best," Bucky corrects with a wink.
"Don't get so full of yourself."
They hold each other's gaze to see which one will break first, but then Bucky's mouth starts quivering and Steve's biting his lip so hard… needless to say they both break out into another fit of giggles.
And maybe another snowball fight.