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[notworthallthis]

Bucky Barnes ~ MCU

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[notworthallthis]

I wasn’t aware we were playing cat and mouse.

[Is he flirting? Yes- give him a break, it’s been awhile.]

[matreshka]

CAN you still play cat and mouse at your age? :')

[ He is older than Steve, after all — and flirting, well... Natasha's out of practice, herself. It's been a long time since flirting wasn't just a strategically deployed web used to disarm a target, or a deflection to keep someone from getting close enough to see past The Widow's carefully constructed defenses for Natasha.

(That she goes right to teasing him about his age probably says more than she wants it to for anyone who's cracked her code, though.) ]

[notworthallthis]

You know just how to bruise a man's ego.

[He looks pretty damn good for his age, if he does say so himself~]

[matreshka]

So that's a no?

[ He'll get no argument from her on that; 105 never looked better. ]

[notworthallthis]

I don't think that's actually what I said.

[It’s the banter for him— he could live on it, if someone would just indulge him for it forever.]

[matreshka]

Actually, I'm pretty sure it is. You know what they say, coherence is the first thing to go.

[ It's really memory, but Natasha is as careful with the way she teases Bucky as she is with teasing Steve. She's irreverent, but unlike Tony she won't turn Steve's (or Bucky's) trauma into a punchline. (They deserve better.) ]

[notworthallthis]

Is that what they say?

[He appreciates it; it’s a line she dances along the edge of gracefully, leaning into the teasing without actually managing to trivialize everything else. She’s good at it. He isn’t surprised.]

Are you going to at least give me a hint? Or are you really so keen to drink alone tonight?

[If anything might have a chance of getting him drunk, it’s Asgardian booze. And maybe that isn’t exactly what one might call a healthy coping mechanism, and by no means does he intend to let it be a crutch, but one night?

Bucky knows that he can’t allow himself to get too carried away, that the allure of escapism would be enticing to down in if he let himself, but his mind gone delightfully numb and decent company for it to boot? It sounds nice.

He could use just one night like that.]

[matreshka]

Or so I've been told.

[ Gossamer threads or a razor's edge between flirting and the decent side of affectionate irreverence, The Widow was made to dance on the thinnest of lines and make it look easy. ]

You mean you haven't already just figured it out? For shame.

[ They both know he can; he tracked her in Odessa, after all — she has the scar to prove it. And they all have their unhealthy coping mechanisms. In the grand scheme of things, an Asgardian hangover is barely a blink on the scale.

(Honestly, they could both use a night like that.) ]

[notworthallthis]

The texts, the banter, it's good. He could truly sustain off of it well enough if he needed to. Wanted to. Truth is? He'd rather have the company in person. Plus, he's interested to test this theory of hers, too.

It isn't hard to find her, but it isn't like she was actually trying to hide, either. He smirks as he leans in the doorway and invites himself in with a soft, "Does that make you the mouse?" he asks with an amused lift of his eyebrows.