Chapter 6-Some Adjustment Reaquired

Third Person:

It had been two days since Bucky said yes. And they were kind of awkward, but they were getting the hang of living with each other.

For instance, Beni learned that Bucky liked to read. Well, so did she. And he learned (much to his approval), that she really liked science fiction. He had always been a sucker for a good sci-fi story, before, during, and obviously after his Winter Soldier days. Sci-fi is what they bonded most over. And he considered it a win if she considered him enough of a friend to get these weird nicknames for him. So far he had been called Bucky, Jimmy (which he loved and hated, for reason unknown for the moment), L O'real, Princess, Rupunzel, and Chewbacca. And that's only a few of the many.

Still, anything is better than a nickname like 'Jon-Bon' in his opinion.

He still didn't know if he considered her an ally or not.

She had helped him considerably, even if her friend had hit her with his car. She was an amazing cook, and he could tell she was just super nice in general. Beni was the kind of person to make anyone think he or she was right at home when she wanted to, and it was astonishing how well it worked. He almost felt safe.

But he knew he couldn't stay for long. Hydra was still after him, and he was after Hydra. Bucky knew that he would have to leave at a moment's notice, so he shouldn't get to comfortable. Beni just made it really hard, because she was unnecessarily nice and her couch was soft.

He also couldn't help but hear a little bit of the conversation she was having over her cell phone.

"Sam Wilson here."

"Still so professional, I hear. You always were a stick in the mud."

"Is this Kati? How have you been doin'?"

"Really? I spend two tours with your ass and you compare me to fucking Kati? That's low, Wilson."

She heard laughter on the other end.

"Yeah, that was kind of low," he agreed. "But seriously, how are you doing? It's been a while since we last talked. What's happened and do I need to punch someone or give 'em a hug?"

It was Beni's turm to laugh.

"I'm doing fine. I'm still in one piece, granted a part of this sexy piece is missing, but I'm for the most part here. And John hit a dude with a car, but he seems to be doing okay so there's really no need to punch anyone. But you could give Troy a hug."

"Doesn't he have a giant crush on me?"

"Did, according to him. And he says you found a new Boy Toy from the forties. So, how well does his ass look?"

"What?"

"I promised Troy, just go with it."

"Good, I guess? You can meet him if you want to..."

"Ooh, when? And where?'

"Uh, next week at the coffee shop close to the VA. Please tell me you are plannin' on going there at least once."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see now, won't we?"

"Beni..."

"Chill, of course I will. Just let me get a job first. You know how long I've been working at this. Hell, you know me like the back of your hand, and vise versa."

"Which is why I'm telling you to come as soon as you can because you're to damned stubborn, and someone's gotta tell you to take care of yourself for once. Y'know, get you back in the swing of things, get you caught up with what's cool-"

"-Hey, hey, hey now. I take quite a lot of pride in not knowing what's cool."

"I know. It's the reason we all think you're going crazy."

"Sam, Sam, Sam. You should all know by now that I'm not going crazy. I am crazy. I just go normal from time to time."

"And you wonder why you got in so much trouble back in Basic. You and that mouth of yours were always doing push-ups."

"And I am now kicking more ass than usual."

"So...Three-ish on Thursday next week?"

"Sounds like a plan, Sam. I'll see you then. Bye."

Beni was excited to see her old friend again, and to meet the living legend. If she could, she would start jumping around in excitement. But with her occasional clumsiness there was no way she was gonna try it now.

"Who was that?" Bucky asked, despite the fact that he had listened to her entire half of the conversation. Beni grinned.

"My friend, Sam Wilson. We did two tours together. He left after Riley died, but I stayed for another tour. And...Well, then I left because of obvious visual reasons that I don't need to verbalize."

Bucky knew the name. Sam Wilson was with Captain America on the bridge. He had been the one with the giant wings. The one he threw off of one of the Helicarriers...

He decided that it was best not to mention that to Beni.

"So, let's see what we have in these boxes, shall we?"

And so they did. They spent the rest of the day looking through the boxes from Beni's storage locker. Some were filled with candles and pictures, some full of board games and cards, one where they (thankfully) found the remote they had lost the day before, while others were filled with various blankets and clothes. There was a box of her dad's clothes that she gladly gave to Bucky if they fit him. They also found a few song books. Most of then were for the piano, but two of them were for a ukulele, which was also in the box of song books.

"You can play a ukulele?" Bucky asked.

"And I taught myself piano. But yeah...God, I was wondering where this thing might have ended up. It's so old and dusty..."

As if to prove her point, she blew on the top, making a thin layer of dust rise up. It wasn't enough to make them cough, but it was enough to make Bucky fan the air.

That was also another thing. Bucky felt comfortable enough around Beni to where all he needed was a pair of pants. She hadn't asked about it and he hadn't told her. But she seemed to think it was kind of cool despite the fact that the cybernetic arm has more than enough blood on it. But he was woken up to it once and it was covered in little doodles like unicorns and dragons, and his red star had been painted yellow, and it had a black smiley face on it. Beni almost punched him for not getting that reference.

All on all there was still a little more adjustment that needed to be done, but he felt...

Happy.