lawyerbyday | Open Post

[Bucky knew him well. Matt didn't do well with waiting and worrying, so he'd opted to work off the worst of his anxiety and stress by doing a couple patrols. He knew better than to carry his phone on him in this identity, but he'd had Foggy set up a few personalized forwarding accounts, in case of emergency. Bucky had been one of those accounts.

The rain was a backdrop to the sound of Siri reading him a few words. Not enough. Just enough. He was smiling as he listened to the sounds of the city around him. Raining enough to keep most people inside. He could do one more quick swing around, then head home. He sent a voice-text back.]

Guess we'll see who beats who home. Winner gets to pick a soundtrack?

( surely a tempting reward, even though bucky's found he quite likes the songs matt picks, too. but it's also new york, and it really is a city that seems to never sleep. )

hardly fair when I gotta deal with all the traffic down to you and you can just backflip into your window

( ... it's an exaggeration but also definitely not impossible if matt really wanted to try. )

I only did that the one time.

[Sarcasm was lost on text to speech, but he was enjoying the idea of looking forward to getting home, either to Bucky there already or to getting things ready for him to be there. His night had been relatively slow; a few incidents involving mostly the desperate kind of criminal, so it hadn't taken too much to scare them off. He wasn't even sure he had any bruises to try to convince him to kiss better.

Maybe an old one...]

( not that matt really needed to bribe bucky into kissing him. )

yeah sure
I bet you had a whole crowd and everyone clapped and everything

Yes, my whole crowd of fans watching which apartment DD dives into at night. They watch what happens on the inside too. They've been rating all my indoor activities. Including THOSE activities.

[Teasing him was fun. He'd missed it. He'd missed Bucky in general. His scent was faded from the apartment, lingering in a shirt that Matt had stubbornly refused to wash that he kept in the back of his closet, like a private addiction.]

( he cracked a smile instinctively at the jab and cleared his throat to try and cover it up politely. no one noticed. probably. no, everyone was too busy trying to get their bags and head home. )

gee didn't realize that's what all those failing grades I got were for
I thought it was just cause I didn't do ninja shit

It's also because you don't do ninja shit. How do you think I get so flexible for the fun stuff?

[Matt was smiling under his costume, water wetting the lower half of his face as he headed off to the edge of his route to make sure he had nothing else on his agenda for the night. Nothing but Bucky.]

please don't make me do ninja shit during sex
I'm too old

( he'd since cleared the crowd so didn't bother hiding his grin anymore. god, he'd really missed matt. it was difficult to have this banter during the mission though. it would be too distracting. matt was gracious enough to agree to keep it only state side, but bucky couldn't help feeling guilty about it. if he missed it, then matt must have too. and matt didn't have the luxury of looking on fondly at photos in his absence. )

[Nope. Matt had his smelly tshirt instead, and you could remove it from his cold dead hands. At least, until Bucky was back and smelling up a new one he could ferret away. At least he knew he'd understand the whys behind it. Even if he knew it was weird.]

You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[There was a grin on his face, wondering if Bucky had gotten around to The Princess Bride at any point. The man's view on 'movies that men should see' had never lined up with the men in the current era's, and for that, Matt was grateful.]

( the reality wasn't weird to bucky, so he didn't mind. he'd even considered sending something while he'd been overseas, but then it would've needed a return address, which wouldn't do. those things were all tracked now. he couldn't endanger matt that way. )

inconceivable!

( the long flights and downtime between tasks on the mission meant bucky could catch up on matt's recommendations. and matt had good taste, as far as bucky was concerned. shit, that meant he had to be decent too, self loathing be damned. awkward. )

[Eventually, he'd get that through to Bucky. That he was worth the effort- and more. But he was laughing as he got that garbled response back, heading back from the last route on his patrol. It was rooftops all the way home for him.]

Exactly. You're basically the same age as me in consciousness. So shut up, or I swear to god, Barnes, I'll get you a senior's discount and some Depends.

( it was flattering to read the comparison, that matt really saw him instead of what everyone else saw. probably helped that he wasn't literally seeing, but it was genuine and heartening to realize his value to the man, even if he didn't see it yet himself. )

I already get senior discounts
I ordered off the senior menu last time we were at Denny's

( one of the times matt had made his way over to brooklyn and stayed over. at least the bed saw more use than it used to. )

and if you get me the depends I'd just be more dependable

( that was definitely how that worked. )

I hope you realize I almost just broke my neck trying not to fall while laughing and jumping because of that horrible explanation of wearing adult diapers, Buck.

[The man was incorrigible.

And he was entirely smitten.]

Prunes and baby food from now on.

good thing you're great at the ninja shit

( but he was laughing now, too. his ride share driver asked what was up. bucky waved it off. )

baby food though
really?
I still have great teeth
I can bite you later if you need proof

( wink wonk )

Flattery will get me naked.

[A few rooftops to go, and he rolled up on his, taking a quick scan around to make sure no one had opted to try to follow the Devil to Hell.]

Might need some of that proof. Since you're so old.

( now biting his lip, bucky was doing his best not to blush. he wasn't far out now, but still probably not going to beat matt back. )

hope you're not too tired
since I probably need to snack on something first before we get to anything else
been a long day

You want something easy, like soup? Or a sandwich? Or anything I can cook up? I'm in the mood to be a little domestic for someone that's earned it.

[If anyone in Matt's mind deserved to have someone waiting for him at home to help welcome him back to normalcy, it was Bucky.]

( his heart could skip, reading that. he was soaring anyway. )

soup sounds good, given the weather
please warm yourself up first though
I don't want you catching a chill

thank you 🙂

You don't get to boss me around until you're home.

[He was stepping over the threshold to the upper roof access, locking it behind him and heading down, taking off and loosening his uniform as he went to unlock the front door before he went to get naked entirely and wipe down his uniform, then himself. He had a feeling that homey was a good mood to set, so he went to go set up his laptop to get ready to play the soundtrack to "Stand By Me", then slipped into loose, soft sweatpants and a tshirt. Then he went to go peruse his kitchen for soup ingredients. Tomato with a grilled cheese sandwich sounded good to him, so he started getting everything out.]

getting closer by the second, though
doesn't that count for something?

( he set a location a few blocks out to keep matt's apartment from being directly tied to anything. maybe to a normal person that made it impersonal, but with his past and current work, it was the safest thing to do. )

[It was one of the things he expected Bucky to do, and to be honest, it sent a little thrill down him knowing that he was being careful with him because for Bucky, he mattered. Matt didn't find anything impersonal about that. He just sliced up some cheese and buttered some bread while he found the tomato basil soup that actually didn't taste like metal because it was in a plastic container.]

Sorry, can't hear you. Your old man voice is too querulous.

( wow. rude. )

how dare you insult Siri like this
she has done nothing wrong other than turning on randomly and look up things you didn't ask her to

Siri doesn't translate old fart very well. She tries, poor thing.

it's true she's way younger than me so it's only to be expected

So does that mean every time I pound your ass, I'm committing elder abuse? I should be jailed.

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