Chapter Text
It was a quiet morning, it was probably no later than nine, Steve was well rested and he was sure Bucky was too. Reaching over, Steve goes to drape an arm over Bucky’s frame and doesn’t find him there. Sitting up, Steve blinks the sleep from his eyes and groaning as a rush goes through him, making the man dizzy and disorientated. It doesn’t last long and Steve is hauling himself out of bed, rubbing his chest.
“Buck,” Steve calls, stepping out into the living room and pausing, eyes lighting up once he spots Bucky standing at the window. The curtains are drawn back and Bucky is staring out at the snow falling from the sky. Thinking it over, maybe Bucky is confused or even frightened of the cold...It would be understandable, he felt that fear too since being frozen in the ice.
Bucky didn’t seem to have noticed him even after having his name be called, which sort of relieved Steve. He would need to not startle the poor guy any more than he had in the past. Yawning, Steve taps his foot against the doorframe, reaching up to rub his eyes. This seems to catch Bucky’s attention and he smiles tiredly at him.
“Looking at the snow?” Steve asks, stepping forward slow to stand beside Bucky.
“Yeah...It looks so peaceful,” Bucky breathes, eyes full of wonder and a sort of excitement Steve hadn’t seen in a long time.
“I know, huh?” He takes a breath, just standing there for a few beats and wishing he could just ask. “Hey--I know this is silly, but, uh, did you want to go outside in the snow?”
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It takes Steve what feels like hours to make sure Bucky was ready to go outside. He’s got a long sleeved shirt on with the heaviest winter jacket he owns, a pair of gloves with another pair of fingerless gloves over them that held small packages of those things that kept your hands warm. He’s got a hat pulled down over his ears and snug on his head, a scarf wrapped tight around his neck, two pairs of socks on and Steve’s army boots.
“You don’t think this is a little...much?” His voice is muffled behind the scarf and Steve takes a moment to adjust it, pulling it under his chin.
“Huh?” Steve smiles, shrugging at Bucky for a moment, “just don’t want you to be cold, Buck.”
“I think I’m going to die of a heat stroke before I die from the cold, Steve,” Bucky huffs grumpily, eyes rolling from under the thick layer of clothes. Steve takes a moment before chuckling and pulling his own coat on. He’s wearing considerably less, but only because Bucky is wearing all of his things mostly. Steve pulls his spare scarf around him, sliding his mittens on and taking his keys from where they hung by the door.
“Alright, I think that’s it--” Steve pats the pocket with his keys and moves to take Bucky’s hand, only pausing when he realizes Bucky probably wouldn’t appreciate the friendly gesture. “Let’s go.” They nod in unison before Steve leads Bucky to the door, opening it for him and locking it behind them with a sigh. Steve chats lightly with Bucky as they walk down the hall and stairs, fussing with Bucky’s jacket and his scarf again.
Steve strode ahead at the last stretch of hallway, opening the back door of the apartments. He had a habit of taking the back way, just in case they were being watched… Not like that could stop much. Head tilting up, Steve takes in the area around them. The snow had probably started falling in the middle of the night, just an inch or so on the ground. It wasn’t falling terribly fast, but they were probably in for a few days of snow at least.
“Yeah, this will be good,” Steve hums, head turning to look at Bucky for a short moment, that same look of wonder on Bucky’s face making him light up again. “I’ll take us to the park and we can see how much snow is there. How’s that sound?”
Nodding, Bucky starts forward, Steve scrambling after him to fix his scarf. “This way,” Steve directs softly, finally finding his place beside Bucky instead of behind him. They walk down the sidewalk, coming across a few people slipping and sliding around on the thin layer of snow. People weren’t really dressed for the weather, but they were definitely suffering for it. Not Steve and Bucky though, they were ready for the endless winter of Alaska if somehow the situation arose.
They were only about ten minutes down the sidewalk before Steve slipped, grabbing onto Bucky, who in turn slipped also. Steve yelps, slipping down the sidewalk before he finally falls, Bucky toppling over him with no more than a weak grunt of discomfort...or maybe frustration. “Shit--Buck!” Squirming, Steve sits up and helps Bucky up next, the two of them sitting on their knees in the snow. He checks over Bucky’s face and body quickly, blue eyes stuck on his face once he’s through.
Bucky looks mad. He looks mad and Steve isn’t sure what he’s gonna do. There’s a few beats before Bucky bursts out into laughter, shaking and holding onto Steve’s arms tight.
“We just--you couldn’t--God!” Bucky huffs, head tilting back as he snorts and laughs at Steve’s misfortune. He couldn’t believe how far they’d slipped and Steve even managed to bring the trained man down with him so easily. “I bet you aren’t any good with ice skating--!” Bucky teases, pulling himself to his feet and helping Steve up next. They bump against each other playfully, starting down the sidewalk again. Bucky takes a moment to fix his hat and scarf, rolling his eyes with how cautiously Steve walked then. He even thought about pretending to fall to see what he would do.
He wasn’t that mean though and would save the tricks for later.Bucky sighs, shoving his hands in the coat pocket, removing one of the layer of gloves over his hands with a hum. He was burning up a bit after that fit of laughter and really didn’t want to make Steve feel bad for completely overdressing him. Sure, he despised the cold, feared it even sometimes, but it didn’t help when you felt more of a summer soldier than a winter soldier.
“Here, this way, we’re almost there, Buck. No slipping everywhere now, I don’t think anyone’s been over here yet,” Steve warns, contemplating on taking Bucky’s hand, but he decides against it and continues on.
“Steve, look ,” Bucky whispers, hand moving to Steve’s arm as he watches a few birds land in front of them and peck at something on the sidewalk. And Steve realizes that maybe Bucky hasn’t had something so simple as that view in a long time.
“Yeah, we’ve got them everywhere, Buck. Few of ‘em even sit out on the windowsill in the mornings, wake me up.” He smiles at Bucky and starts to walk on again as Bucky lets go and watches them fly off.
“I liked them,” Bucky decides, hands pushing back into his pockets as they reach the park, Steve already scouting out the area for anyone...Or maybe just a spot to sit.Yeah, that was logical. They weren’t hiding from anyone really...Just a habit to think like that in case something happened. The two males walk along the path slow, watching a few people pass by, even a few people out in the fields with their kids playing in the thin layer of snow. It was a cute setting.
“Here, you stay here for a few minutes? I--I got something I forgot,” Steve smiles lightly, pointing to a bench for Bucky to sit down at.
“Oh...Yeah, yeah. I’ll stay here,” he decides softly, clearing a spot on the bench and sitting down with a soft huff. Bucky watches Steve go after the man situates him and makes sure his scarf is over his mouth and nose. Of course he draws it back down when Steve is out of sight, then he starts feeling bad for it so he decides on pulling it back up just in time to see Steve coming back. It’d been about ten minutes, eight people have passed him by, two people jogging, and three of them walking little dogs. Nothing too incredible or outstanding to report.
When he spots Steve, he also spots a little bag in his hand, making the male perk up a bit, obviously curious.
“Hey, Steve, what’s that?” Bucky asks when Steve is close enough, eyes lighting up as he watches Steve pull out a few slices of fresh bread.
“Something for the birds, thought you might wanna...feed them?”
“Can you even do that?”
“Why couldn’t you?”
“...I don’t know,” Bucky laughs shortly and scoots over to let Steve sit beside him. He feels like a little kid as Steve begins breaking up pieces of still-warm bread and handing them over.“Thanks,” he says softly, hands breaking apart a few more pieces and tossing a bit on the sidewalk in front of them, eyes watching as little birds land and peck at the bread before hopping around and waiting for more.
“Yeah, Buck….It’s really nothing.”
“Are we wasting bread?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t remember this...I’ve been remembering more...but I don’t remember doing this.”
Steve takes in a slow breath and throws a bigger piece out for the birds, shaking his head slow. “No..No, we didn’t,” because we didn’t even have enough for us, “figured we try something new?”
“I think I like this.”
“Yeah? We’ll have to do this more often...Waste some bread and feed the birds.”
“...Thanks, Steve.”
“You’re welcome, Buck.”