Outside MCA #4, Wednesday

[shapethecentury]

Bucky had taken off for Wakanda right after Thanksgiving, and then he'd... stayed. Doing the work, feeling uncertain whether the work was actually taking (whether he was becoming any less crazy), taking Ayo's hypocritical grousing about how he should be less grumpy, as well as Shuri's gentle jabs and sighs about being a persistently broken white boy.

Steve had popped in over the holidays, and they'd made their best attempt at recreating a Brooklyn Christmas, just between the two of them.

It had been terrible.

It had been perfect.

And now the year was over, and Steve was back out in the world doing his own thing, and Ayo had all but booted Bucky out of Wakanda. "Go, James," she'd said. "Rest." He'd complied, although not before --

Well, his hair was short, now. Trimmed at the sides, just slightly longer on top, but nowhere near hanging in his face anymore. He kept catching his own reflection, and being weirded out by it, like he didn't recognize himself, but he did recognize himself.

His hair hadn't been this short since the goddamn 1940s.

(It felt like a little bit of weight had lifted off him. He wasn't thinking about it too closely. Ayo had said rest, and there was nothing quite as exhausting as introspection.)

Anyway. The first stop upon arriving back on the island was obvious.

He stood outside MCA #4, backpack slung over his shoulder, and knocked.

[ooc: For her whose door this is! And yes we are debuting the TFAWS hair ahead of schedule.]

Comments

[weirderthanthou]

The knock startled Jesse out of the work she'd been doing. Nobody came to her place and knocked.

(Well. Nobody but one person.)

She rose from behind her desk, and looked at the door. "This better not be anyone else," she muttered to herself as she walked to the door, coffee in hand. Opened it. And--

"Holy crap."

[shapethecentury]

The calm that settled in Bucky at the first glimpse of her was replaced in record time by a sort of wry sense of surprise.

"... Okay?"

[weirderthanthou]

"You cut your hair," Jesse pointed out. "... Uh. If you hadn't noticed."

[shapethecentury]

One corner of Bucky's lips quirked up a little further, almost whether he wanted it to or not.

"That bad, huh?" he... teased. Yes, let's go with that.

[weirderthanthou]

"Actually, it looks really good," Jesse said. Earnestly. She almost reached up to touch it, but caught herself before her arm could do more than jerk. "Suits you better."

[shapethecentury]

Had she meant to touch it?

And was that disappointment he felt, because she hadn't?

"Thanks," Bucky said, regardless. "It's a... return to form, I guess. For my hair."

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse's lips quirked. "You have to start somewhere, I guess," she said. She stepped out of the doorway. "Come in."

[shapethecentury]

Bucky gave her a tiny nod.

And stepped past her, into her apartment.

[weirderthanthou]

And Jesse closed the door behind him.

"So what made you decide to do it now?"

[shapethecentury]

The urge to self-consciously scratch at the side of his head was rising, but so far Bucky was managing to fight it.

"Don't know," he said, taking a glance around, as if she was likely to have made major changes to her apartment in a month. "It just... felt like maybe it was time."

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse was a creature of habit. Everything was in the place it was supposed to be. Including the scattered stack of paperwork.

"Well," she said. "That sounds like a good thing?"

[shapethecentury]

Bucky shrugged.

"It's just hair."

If that was true, he probably either wouldn't have cut it, or he would've done it sooner.

[weirderthanthou]

"Didn't seem like 'just hair' when I brought it up last time," Jesse said.

She picked her words carefully. And she sounded like it.

[shapethecentury]

"'Kay," Bucky replied, after a beat, with an air like he'd been caught doing something.

He gave in, finally. His hand came up, scratched at his head right above his ear.

A little wry, looking away.

"Maybe it... Wasn't."

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse's smile was wry. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she said. "I'm just glad. If it's good."

[shapethecentury]

Bucky looked like he wanted to shrug, but just slightly tilted his head, instead.

And muttered something.

"-- might like it," was all that was sort of audible.

[weirderthanthou]

"Might like what?" Jesse asked. She leaned against the couch. "Talking about it? Or just the hairdo?"

[shapethecentury]

"I thought you might like it," Bucky said, somewhat more audible this time, in full.

It wasn't the whole reason he'd done it. It wasn't even half.

But it was a factor.

A factor he was now feeling the urge to move on from. "Anyway," he said, clearing his throat. "Any, uh. Any chance of a coffee? Came straight here."

[weirderthanthou]

"Oh."

Huh.

I've never had anyone get a haircut because they thought I might like it before. What does that mean?

"Uh, of course," Jesse said, and thanked the stars for her incredible poker jaw face. "Sit down, I'll go make us some."

[shapethecentury]

Bucky just... nodded, trying to decide whether saying that thing he'd just said had been a good idea or not.

But he also finally got the backpack off his shoulder, so that he could go sit down.

(Gold star, Barnes, you definitely didn't still have it.)

[weirderthanthou]

He had definitely had his smoother moments, though this one wasn't completely on him. Jesse vanished into the kitchen, getting the coffee going.

Ugh, why did she feel weirdly nervous? It was just James.

[shapethecentury]

Bucky sat down.

And... sat. Quietly.

(Look, at least he hadn't told her even Ayo had mentioned her by name when she'd sent him out of Wakanda.)

[weirderthanthou]

She turned up a few minutes later with a I WANT TO BELIEVE mug in hand, steaming with coffee. She put it down on the table in front of him, and then sank into a seat.

"So," Jesse said, pushing a smile back onto her face. "How's things?"

[shapethecentury]

Bucky looked wry as he picked up the mug. "Still crazy," he said. "Tried to do Christmas like in the old days."

A beat.

"Those aren't really related. Christmas was Steve's idea, for one."

[weirderthanthou]

"Was it good?" Jesse asked. "Like old times?"

[shapethecentury]

"Considering everyone else from the old days is long since dead..."

Cheery, Buck.

"It was pretty good."

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse's mouth curved into a small, but warm, smile. "I'm glad to hear it," she said. "It sounds... grounding."

[shapethecentury]

"Guess it might've been." It had been. "And even if it hadn't been..."

He shrugged a little.

"It was still Christmas with Steve."

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse... really wished she had a drink of her own to cup right now. "One for the books," she said. "And hopefully not the last one."

[shapethecentury]

Why had she made just the one cup, anyway?

Bucky's little smile was a little on the wan side. "Well, the next one is a long time from now."

[weirderthanthou]

Because he'd asked, and she... hadn't been thinking about coffee.

"It's just 52 weeks," Jesse said. "That's not that long. Maybe I can come."

... shit.

"...for the broader holidays, I mean."

[shapethecentury]

Bucky's eyebrows quirked a little. A beat went by, as he lifted his mug up to his mouth.

"Nice save," he said, right before taking a sip.

What?

[weirderthanthou]

"I'm not going to invite myself into you-and-Steve time," Jesse muttered. "Sorry." Beat. "I should get some coffee."

[shapethecentury]

"If you want," Bucky said.

Still kind of hidden behind his mug, for... reasons.

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse totally did not flee into the kitchen, shut up.

Ugggh.

I am the Director of the FBC!

[shapethecentury]

It looked a little bit like fleeing, but Bucky wasn't going to fault her for it.

He was... Going to sip his coffee, in the meantime.

And maybe think a little.

[weirderthanthou]

At least there was coffee left over to make another cup. And maybe when she was done, Jesse would be more... composed.

She walked back out a few minutes later. "Should've gotten coffee in the first place."

[shapethecentury]

Bucky looked much as he had. Quiet with his coffee.

He watched her return, and gave her a little shrug. "Late's better than never?"

He was... maybe starting to believe that about stuff in general.

[weirderthanthou]

"I mean, it's still good coffee," Jesse agreed. "Though a little colder."

She took another sip.

[shapethecentury]

"Mm."

Stellar conversation, Barnes. (Shut up, narrative, he was just taking another sip of his own.)

[weirderthanthou]

And Jesse... sat down.

"So do you feel like you made any progress this time?" she asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

[shapethecentury]

"Maybe?" Bucky said. There was probably more than one possible conversational track available, but he wasn't exactly desperate to derail from her chosen one. "At least all the exercises seem to be getting... I don't know, a little easier. Although maybe that's just me getting used to them."

[weirderthanthou]

"Maybe a little bit of both," Jesse mused. "Maybe the getting used to them is the same thing as progress?"

[shapethecentury]

Bucky allowed that take with a little nod.

"It's not like I'm able to tell the difference," he said, "so that might as well be it, right?"