Bucky heads back to his apartment and immediately starts digging around for stuff to make dinner. Tonight has to be perfect, he has to show Darcy he's in this for the long haul. He settles on steak with chimichurri sauce, since 'chimichurri' is apparently one of Darcy's favorite words. Baked potatoes with all the fixings, a side salad, and peach cobbler for dessert. By the time 6 o'clock rolls around, he's got candles lit and Jarvis is playing Darcy's favorite music over the bluetooth speakers. The steak is resting, the potatoes are wrapped in foil, and there's 40 minutes left on his oven timer.
Darcy lets herself in and Yulia goes running over like a madwoman. They haven't seen each other since Darcy left the other morning, and he feels a twinge of guilt realizing it's been a week.
"There's my favorite girl," Darcy says, bending down and taking Yulia into her arms, "I'm sorry your daddy is a crabby asshole, I should have kidnapped you."
Darcy shoots Bucky a shit-eating grin and stands, taking off her coat. She's wearing dark wash jeans and a flowy turquoise blouse. Bucky resists the urge to scoop her up and carry her to the bedroom right now.
"You look beautiful," he says, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"You rip this shirt later and I'll kill you," she hisses into his ear, returning the kiss.
She's like no other, truly. With her long dark curls and her frosty blue eyes. She's got curves he could get lost in, and a permanent smirk plastered on her lips. He loves how she's never fussed about wearing what's 'trendy' and instead wears what she likes, which is almost always black or navy, and always comfortable.
They catch up on the last week over dinner, and then the conversation moves to talking about Darcy's family, and then swings around to Bucky's upcoming therapy appointments.
"I'll drive you," Darcy says, "It's nice to have someone go with you, at least for the first couple of times."
Bucky gives her a grateful smile, "Thanks, Darc. It's definitely going to be a new experience."
"I think everyone in this tower has seen a shrink at one point," Darcy says with a shrug, "Consider it a rite of passage."
They sit in silence for a while, until Darcy is scraping the rest of her chimichurri off her plate and Bucky smiles at her, satisfied that she enjoyed her meal. "I meant what I said earlier you know," he says, sipping his wine.
"Which part?"
"Well, all of it. I want to work on being more open, with you, and with everyone. I need to stop acting like a lone wolf, that's not me anymore."
"No now you're just a brooding lil wolf."
"Brooding? I'm not brooding, am I?"
"It's one of your best qualities," Darcy laughs.
"I thought my disposition was quite charming."
"Now don't get cocky on me," Darcy warns teasingly, "Remember that tonight's date is for all the marbles, and I reserve the right to revoke your rights to my heart at any time."
"You know, you didn't say you love me back, Darc."
"You gotta earn that one, bud. Show me all the right cards tonight, and maybe you'll hear the magic words."
He pouts at her, but he can hear the teasing in her voice. "So, you ready for cobbler?"
Darcy nods emphatically, "Thank god you learned to cook, I can't cook, but now I don't need to."
"Happy to be your personal chef," Bucky says with a bow, clearing their dinner plates. He comes back to the table with cobbler and vanilla ice cream on top, and the coffee maker is gurgling away making a fresh pot.
"Please tell me you didn't make decaf, nothing worse than decaf. Give me full-caf, anytime of day, possibly intravenously…."
"Darc, do you even know me? I don't even own decaf."
Darcy clutches her chest, "A man after my own heart."
"Oh I'm after more than your heart," Bucky says smoothly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before sitting down.
"You're getting way too good at this," Darcy says, fanning herself, "Now let me eat my cobbler, because it smells fucking amazing. It would be a shame to let it get cold."
Darcy scarfs down dessert, making groans of pleasure with every other bite. "Seriously, even if you're lousy in bed, I'm keeping you just so you can make this for me all the damn time."
"What if I offered to feed you peach cobbler in bed?"
Her eyes loll and she fans herself again, "You keep it up and we're having sex on the dining room table."
"Is that a threat or an offer?"
Darcy's on her feet in seconds, "Ok, that's it, bedroom."
Bucky is very careful not to rip her blouse, but he's not as careful removing the rest of her clothes. And considering Darcy returns the favor by ripping his shirt off, Bucky knows she's not mad he ripped her thong…
Current Threat Level: N/A