The Engineer (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 25- Bucky and I fangirl over Steve Rogers

"Hello?"

"NICO!"

I nearly screamed when Bucky grabbed my wrists and pulled me into the hut, embracing me as tightly as possible.

"Don't do that. Please," I said.

"Why not?" he asked in return.

"Because you scared me."

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, nah, it's fine."

"No, really, I'm sorry and I feel really bad, now."

"Well, I know what will make it better," I said, beginning to smirk mischievously.

"What?"

Bucky pulled out of the hug, sitting down and pulling me down with him. I sat next to him, but he lifted me into his lap. I sighed, leaning against his chest.

"What can I do?" he asked softly.

"Remember what you told me yesterday?"

"I'm not translating it into English for you."

"I know," I grinned. "So translate it into Spanish."

"How about German?"

"No."

"Portuguese?"

"No."

"Japanese?"

"You know all these languages?"

"Yeah, I'm fluent in five."

"Wh- what?!"

"Yeah."

"And no to Japanese."

"Dang it. Um... how about... uh... Latin..?"

"...fine. Latin it is."

Bucky cleared his throat. "Te amo."

It took me about two seconds to figure out what he'd said.

"Latin and Spanish are very similar," I noted.

Bucky seemed to backtrack, then groaned.

"Yep," he grumbled. "Yes, they are."

I snickered at him. "You knew I was fluent in Spanish."

"Yeah, I wasn't thinking about the cognates to Spanish, I was thinking about the cognates to English," Bucky sighed. "That was stupid of me."

Author's Note: A cognate is a word that sounds/looks the same and means the same thing in a different language. For example, "Amo" in Spanish means "I love" and "Amo" in Latin also means "I love", making them cognates.

"No, no, don't say that," I scolded playfully. "You're smarter than you believe."

I could tell he was rolling his eyes.

"I mean it!" I exclaimed.

He laid on his back, still holding me on top of him. I got up and flipped myself over so that our chests and noses were now touching. He grinned, wrapping his arms around my back. Now that he was able to hold me with two arms, I felt strange. His metal arm was surprisingly light when it grazed my spine.

"Also, when did you tell Shuri that you liked me?" I asked.

Bucky froze for a second. "Uh... after... after the morning I tried to choke you for the first time."

"That would make sense, considering that I hadn't told you that I didn't want you to tell anyone yet," I acknowledged.

"Look, I'm really sorry, Nico, I didn't know-"

"It's fine, Shuri's fine with it, so I am too." I told him lightly. "So how did it come up? Not to come off as mad, of course, I'm just curious."

"She... she asked me if I could talk to anyone or see anyone that would help calm me down if I needed to be put in check. She asked who to go to, and... with Steve and Ava on the run and most of my old friends dead or extremely old... I... I said your name. She didn't even look surprised. She asked me to elaborate on why, and I told her that we liked each other."

"Hmm. She wasn't even fazed?"

"Nope, not as far as I could tell."

I silently cursed Shuri for being so emotionally intelligent and went back to gazing into Bucky's eyes.

It was less cheesy than it sounds.

"Hey, I had a question earlier," I said suddenly. "Did you ever like him? Steve Rogers?"

"...yeah," Bucky said, glaning away and blushing a little. "He was cute even before the serum."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but the serum... the serum made him jacked."

"I know! I saw him for the first time after he got his serum and literally the first thing I told him was 'I thought you were smaller'. Of course, that was in response to him saying 'I thought you were dead'."

I laughed softly, playing with his hair a bit.

"I don't blame you, he's hot now," I admitted. "And the fact that he wears a tight costume just makes it better."

Bucky lightly punched my arm. "Hey, that's my best friend, there, Nico. Watch yourself."

"Oh, please, if you were to tell me some girl was hot, I wouldn't assume that you were cheating. I'm not that paranoid, and now that we're both adults, I like to believe that we both know better. I can compliment you, though, if you're getting jealous," I teased.

"Of that little dude? No way," he scoffed. "Just stay focused on me. I mean, look at me, I have to be bigger than him, with this thing."

He showed off his metal arm, making sure I thoroughly saw it before resuming with wrapping it around my waist again.

"Speaking of the arm, has it been working alright? No malfunctions?"

"None. You really are the smartest man here, Nico," Bucky said.

"Emphasis on the 'man'."

"Why?"

"Shuri isn't a man."

"Oh, right. Yes. Emphasis on the man."

I smirked. "She really is a genius."

"Yeah, she really is. Nobody has been able to figure out how to reboot my head except her," Bucky said.

"Speaking of that, she's figured out how to do that," I told him. "Surprise. You will no longer get triggered after this week."

Bucky's eyes widened. "Wait, really? She has?!"

"Yep."

He looked as though he might explode with excitement.

"Well, thank god, that took a while," he said after almost a minute. "When will she be doing this?"

"Probably tomorrow or the next day," I guessed.

Bucky sighed in relief. "So not that long."

"Nope."

Bucky laid his head back on the ground and looked up at me, silently.

"Are you gonna kiss me or what?" he asked after a minute.

I smirked. "Of course, Sergeant,"

I leaned down and planted a long kiss on his lips, which he returned quite passionately.

"Oh, and Bucky," I said, drawing back slightly.

"Hmm?" he asked, attempting to kiss me again. I drew back a little further, grinning down at him.

"I love you, too."

He smirked, pulling me back down and into the kiss once again. I wasn't afraid that anyone would catch us, and I certainly wouldn't mind if Shuri walked in to see us like this. It was natural to be in love, and it always will be.

My name is Nico Mullins, and I am a proud homosexual.