HYBB 2023 Valentines Day Challenge (Date night at Lucy's: Is it in the water? Or were we just made for each other?)
Powers/No Powers
Warnings: talk of rocky relationships, mental health (not major), mental health meds, alcohol, mentions of war, emeto, food mentions (not major), fluff (not major)
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They've been out maybe three times in the last three years. To make things absolutely clear, Steve's more than grateful for each experience, in and of itself. They've been amazing nights, individually, and as a trend in Bucky's journey in, whatever to call it. Finding himself again.
They're back to living under the same roof, and things are still touchy. Well, they've barely stopped being touchy. Steve and Bucky sleep in the same bed again. They can hug. Cuddle. Drink coffee, and prepare each other's brews in just the right ways. It brings smiles. Happiness. They tell each other "I love you."
The bar down the block, past the gym and the pizza joint, is doing a Valentines Day special. Buy one get one drinks and appetizers, plus live music. A Beatles cover band. It sounds nice. It sounds like just their speed, as long as it's not too crowded.
Steve poses the question about a week in advance, and he's thrilled with Bucky's tentative agreement.
"Yeah." Bucky had nodded slowly. "I think that's... That's... Yeah."
Steve had considered offering Sam as a third wheel, or inviting Laura and Clint to come join, but if Bucky was willing to share the experience solo with Steve, he felt all the more fluttery inside. He felt younger. He felt like he was... accomplishing something.
The evening of, Steve leaves work early. He parks his bike in the garage, then heads upstairs to shower. Bucky's in the bedroom already, standing in front of the mirror on the closet door in his underwear, hair wet and dripping down the back of his neck.
"Hi," Steve says as he approaches, unbuttoning his shirt and wadding it up for the laundry. "You ok?"
"Yeah." Bucky seems to break from a trance. "I just. Clothes."
"Socks," Steve advises. "Then, whatever you want. It's kind of cold out, but..." He shrugs.
Bucky gives him a half smile and nods, then enters the closet. Steve can hear him aggressively attempting to locate appropriate socks as he strips and turns on the hot water in the bathroom.
He's just nervous, Steve tells himself. Steve himself is nervous, if he tells the truth. The chance of a public breakdown is real. He won't play percentages, but Bucky's still fragile. He probably will be for the rest of his life. Steve hates to think of what could happen if Bucky trips over a shoelace or something and wants Laura and Clint to come and comfort him instead of Steve. His one and only Steve. Steve's one and only Bucky.
Dusk falls into night, and they get into the car. Steve purposely put on only one spritz of cologne, but he can still smell himself in an awkward, overpowering way. Like a kid who's overused a can of Axe. Bucky smells heavily of Dial Gold and laundry detergent. Steve wonders if he rinsed himself properly in the shower, but there's no complaint there. Bucky's spiffed up for him. For this. And the thought of that makes Steve's butterflies go wild. He hopes he isn't blushing.
They park in front of the gym and hightail it across the strip of closed businesses and crooked cars to the neon lights up at the corner. Steve holds open the door, and immediately there's a gush of air tinted with beer, fried food, and thumping that falls slightly off beat with the classic rock music playing inside.
Bucky seems to have no qualms about entering, though, and he glances back at Steve before jutting his chin toward two empty stools at the bar. They're positioned on the corner, so Bucky won't have his back to the door, but Steve thinks it's pretty adventurous that he isn't seeking out the farthest corner.
"Yeah, that's a good spot," Steve encourages. Bucky gives a single nod and practically runs to the stools, as if they're in danger of being taken.
They sit. Steve takes off his leather jacket and covers his stool before using it as an extra cushion. Bucky puts his elbow on the bar and lets his stump shoulder, hidden in the swaths of his flannel shirt sleeve, bump against Steve's arm. Whether it's accidental or affectionate or grounding, Steve can't tell, but he's happy to be the buffer all the same.
The bartender comes up and asks what they'll have. Steve orders a Sam Adams, then squints at the chalkboard on the wall before choosing a food item.
Bucky stutters. "A, um, a coke with... with a shot of..." He seems to scan the various bottles and brews behind the counter. "Um. Maybe just a coke..."
"How about a coke and a shot of Jim Beam on the side?" Steve offers, hoping the script is helpful and not patronizing.
"Yeah. That's. Yeah. I'll have that." Bucky nods to the bartender.
"And for eats?" the bartender prompts.
"Um..." Steve fully expects Bucky to order French fries. He's gotten them here before, and he's become used to eating potatoes from various places. Maybe with a little ketchup or mayonnaise here and there. It's not a broad palette, but it's something. "Onion rings?"
Steve raises his eyebrows.
"Ranch?" asks the bartender.
Bucky pauses a beat. "Ok."
"I'll just share with him," Steve says when he gets the next inviting glance. "We'll keep you posted."
"Alright, then." The bartender smiles and turns away, only to come back a second later with their drinks.
"This ok?" Steve checks in.
Bucky takes a moment to tear the paper off his straw before jamming in between the ice cubes in his coke.
"Mm hm." Bucky takes a drink of his soda, then argues the straw back down to the bottom of the cup when it begins to float upward on the bubbles of carbonation.
The last time or so they've been here, Bucky's had a beer. Just one per visit, as far as Steve can remember. Bucky doesn't seem to enjoy the sloshy warmth and disorientation as much as he used to. Not as much as he used to before the war. Not as much as he seems to when he fucks with his meds.
A coke and a shot, though, it's almost humorous to Steve. That was Bucky...way back. Stealing sips from his father's liquor cabinet before they'd even graduated. Before he'd signed on. If he's remembering, Steve's not messing with that. Bucky can tell him, at his own pace. If he's progressing, it's great. But if he's being wild... Steve feels the need to keep his guard up a little.
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band begins to play from the music platform, which is behind them and a little to the left.
"I've never really gotten this song," Steve admits, his lips close to Bucky's ear so he knows he can hear him properly. "It's like a spoof, right? They're a band singing as if they're another band singing?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Bucky toys with his shot. He dips his finger in it, then puts it in his mouth. "That's some strong stuff."
Steve grins. "That's why people use a mixer." He looks pointedly at Bucky's coke. "Dump it in there, if you want."
"Nah." Bucky shakes his head. "Don't want to ruin the coke."
"You have had alcohol before," Steve reminds him, a little unsurely. "You remember Clint's Halloween party? And, like, a long time ago?"
"Yeah." Bucky cocks his head to the side. "I just... It feels like a lifetime ago. Both of those..."
"I'm not saying you have to do anything," Steve says quickly, just in case he's accidentally created a situation with pressure. "I'm just saying, like," he pauses, choosing his words carefully. "You have options, you know?"
"Yeah." Bucky doesn't get time to say anything else, for the bartender is back with a steaming basket of onion rings, still sizzling in grease from the fryer. The lining paper sticks up, fresh and stiff, and boats of ranch dressing and ketchup sit precariously on either side.
"Oh, wow. Thanks." Steve settles the basket on the bar and accepts the stack of paper napkins on offer as well.
"That smells amazing." Steve passes Bucky a fork and several napkins, but he doesn't accept right away. He finishes chugging his shot, swallows heavily, slams the glass down on the bar, then looks at Steve and seems to realize what he's supposed to be doing.
"Oh." Bucky clears his throat. "That's really. Yeah. Something else."
Steve burns his tongue and swigs his beer as a rescue measure. If he had space in his mouth, he'd check in with Bucky again. Ask if he's alright. He looks tense again. Maybe the shot had gone down too hard.
Steve should tell him to take a sip of coke, but before he can form words, Bucky's already forking an onion ring into the ranch, which he drips onto the basket's paper lining, and shoving it into his mouth. He chews only a couple of times before swallowing again. Hard. Then he puts his fist to his lips, the fork sticking out the other end like an improperly secured weapon.
The band strikes up Yellow Submarine. The singer's accent is just a touch over exaggerated, and Steve can see his shadow swaying back and forth, miming the sickly rhythm of the deck of an ocean liner.
"Hey," Steve says, maybe a little coarsely. He means to be gentle, but his throat feels raw. "You doing ok?"
"I, uh." Bucky swallows heavily. He shakes his head, but ducks his chin at the same time, so he could just as easily have been forming a nod. "I need--" He scrambles his feet toward the floor and looks frantically around to the corners of the crowded room. "Probably-- throw up."
"Sure. Yeah." Steve puts both hands on Bucky's shoulders, then points to the lit sign for the gent's. "Right there."
Bucky stumbles off his stool for the first step, but makes haste with his quick trot and rushes the door without causing a scene. Steve breathes a small sigh of relief, then starts counting down. He should give Bucky, what, a minute's head start? Thirty seconds?
He makes it to twenty with the slow countdown in his head, but Steve can't contain himself past that. The next ten seconds will be eaten up with the walk across the room, right?
Unsure if they'll return to their seats, Steve drops cash for the bill and a tip onto the counter, then collects his jacket and weaves his way toward the bathroom. Half the bar seems to be singing, or at least laughing, along with the band as they carry on with the ridiculous chorus.
Yellow submarine.
Yellow submarine.
Steve would probably puke, too, if he was stuck in a yellow submarine. God, the water pressure would be unbearable. Did people still die of the bends?
The single light bulb in the ceiling in incandescent, and for that, Steve's grateful. No need to spike up a migraine when Bucky's already feeling awful. The bathroom's shabby, but clean. Steve immediately hears Bucky hurling in the first stall, and he feels half heartbreak and half pleasure that Bucky, handicapped as he may be, has left the accessible stall for someone who needs it more than he does. It's classic Bucky all over.
"Hey, Buck." Steve announces his presence. "It's just me."
"Mmph." There's a retch, then a few coughs.
"Can I come in?" Steve asks tetremoniously?
Bucky spits into the toilet, bringing on an echo. "Yeah." It's barely a croak, but it's definite.
"Ok, yeah." Steve eases the stall door open. He gets a glimpse of Bucky's ghostly pale, sweaty face as he tries to look back at him, but after a second, it's lost as Bucky vomits again. He curls his arm around the toilet seat and rests his forehead on his wrist as his body contracts, back and neck arching to push what has to be down to cola and bile out of his system.
Steve stoops, then pops a squat, carefully rubbing his hand down Bucky's back. "Too much all at once?"
"Something." Bucky spits, strings of mucous dangling from his lower lip. "I don't even..."
"Seasick," Steve says decidedly. "Right?"
"Huh." It might have been the start of a laugh. Bucky hocks and gives it another good try. "About sums it up."
"Do you want to go home?" Seve proffers. "Or maybe have some water and sit a while, if the car doesn't sound that appealing."
"I'll be good in a minute." Bucky attempts to wipe his face on his stump shoulder. "You got something different, though?"
Steve's confused. "I'm not sure I follow..."
"Fucking submarine." Bucky digs at his eye socket with the heel of his hand. "They had to be smashed. All of them. The whole time."
"Oh." Steve tries not to laugh. "I think I have a Queen album in the glove box. The Stones, too."
"Yeah?" Bucky turns sideways just enough to catch Steve's eye. "If you can fix it... I love you."
Steve smiles. "Love you too, Buck."
"I mean, I still love you even if you don't fix it..."
"I got it, I got it." Steve helps Bucky to his feet. "Can you stand it for, like five seconds? Just to get outside?"
"I think so." Bucky pulls a paper towel, then slips his hand inside Steve's.
Steve opens the door, and they're immediately assaulted with All You Need is Love.
"Great," Steve groans, maneuvering Bucky in front of him so they can make it toward the exit.
He isn't sure if Bucky means for him to hear it, but Steve sees Bucky's lips move. "'s all I need."
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