𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 | ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ

𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐲 ▸𝒃𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚 & 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒂

Yelena opened two bottles of beer and put them on the table while Bucky put the food from the boxes on the plates. "It'll be weird to be home for Christmas. Pretty boring, don't you think?" she observed with a grin, sitting down at the table.

Bucky looked at her in disbelief, then shook his head at her. "Really? Don't you want to have some peace? Especially at Christmas?"

"Barnes, you just said a little nonsense," she drawled, her fingers tapping on the bottle. "Peace and Christmas? Those two words don't go together. Plus, I'm not a little girl who was eager to pull out gifts under the tree. They were empty boxes, I might add."

The dark-haired man took two full plates and carried them to the table. It wasn't until he put one in front of Yelena that he replied, "Well, now it's not just empty boxes waiting for you. But if it's still not enough for you, we can have a fight to spice things up for Christmas."

She chuckled. "Sounds like a good plan. Arguing is cool, especially arguing with you," she said with satisfaction, kicking him lightly on the ankle under the table. Bucky rolled his eyes at her, but he still smiled slightly.

They were both quiet for a while, just enjoying their dinner. Bucky would have been happy to stay quiet for the rest of the evening, but Yelena was the kind of chatty person who wasn't just good enough to listen to, which Bucky was, of course, much better at than talking.

"So what are we going to fight about?" she said, returning a few minutes later to where they had left off. Bucky had to laugh at her relentlessness. Yelena really liked to argue. "How about because of your name?"

He frowned slightly. "What's wrong with James?"

"Oh, nothing," she waved, "I don't mean that. I mean your middle name. Buchanan." She threw up her hands. "What the hell kind of name is that? Buchanan. I wonder what prompts people to name their child Buchanan. Buchanan," she rolled the word around on her tongue. "Buchanan. I mean, it sounded pretty weird before, but the more I repeat it, the weirder it gets. Buchanan. It doesn't make sense."

"For your information, James Buchanan was the fifteenth President of the United States-"

"Pff, boring," Yelena snorted, suggesting a yawn. "What wonderful thing has he done? Probably nothing, right? Because I have no absolute idea that such a person even existed." She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and Bucky watched in disbelief as she began to tap.

"Are you really googling him right now?"

Yelena raised her index finger. "Shh, I'm studying," she said, and Barnes rolled his eyes at her. Then she grinned triumphantly. "Ha! You know what Wikipedia says about him? That he was one of America's worst presidents!" She looked down at Bucky and burst out laughing. "You know what I wouldn't want, Barnes? Be named after the worst president."

"Hey, he wasn't the worst, he was just one of the worst-"

"He was president in the second half of the nineteenth century. Remember him?" she teased, and Bucky didn't know whether to kick her under the table or start laughing. "Buchanan. Weird name, weird person." She reached for the bottle and, before taking a sip, grinned slyly, looking Bucky directly in the eye. "Yea, it fits."

"Are you going to insult me much longer?"

"Well, you know, I like insulting you even more than arguing with you," she winked at him, then leaned back in her chair. "Okay, fine. We can start arguing about something else."

Bucky chewed a mouthful before telling her, "You know, I'd rather enjoy the rest of my dinner in peace."

"And I want a dog. We all have our wishes," she replied quite calmly, putting her arms around the neck of the bottle, resting her chin on them. "Besides, you're the one who started talking about having a fight."

He blinked in disbelief several times. "You want what?"

"A dog." She shrugged. "We should get a dog."

"No way," Bucky said. "If you want an animal, we're getting a cat."

She frowned and curled her lower lip. She waited while James finished his last bite, then began, "A cat? Cats are everywhere. And you don't have enough? You lived with a cat in Wakanda for several years."

He raised an amused eyebrow at her. "Are you talking about T'Challa, or about some woman I don't know about?"

She didn't answer him. "Enough with cats. We're having a dog."

"If you're really comparing Black Panther to a cat right now, then . . . I'm actually a White Wolf, and that means we don't need a dog," he replied calmly, sipping his beer with satisfaction.

Yelena snorted. "I want a dog. Not a wolf."

"Too late," he smiled at her, "I've been living here for a few months. And a wolf is still better than a spider, Black Widow."

The blonde woman muttered something under her nose, and Bucky felt he'd won the argument. "They could have given us a better alias, couldn't they?"

"It's not that bad. At least your enemies know better than to mess with you."

•••

Yelena rolled sleepily on her side and stretched, eyes closed. She didn't want to get out of the warm bed, but she knew she had to get up and do something or she'd spend the rest of the day lounging. And she needed to go to the bathroom. She yawned mightily and rubbed her eyes. Then she slowly sat up and stared into space for a moment before the doorbell woke her out of her trance. She plopped down on the bed and covered her face with her arms. She hoped Bucky was up and about to open the door.

But then the doorbell rang again. And again. Yelena hissed in frustration and stood up, reaching for her robe. "Barnes, I'm going to kick your ass for this," she grumbled as she walked out of her bedroom and across the hall to the door.

When she opened them, she was in for a surprise.

Bucky was standing there, looking mysterious. "You don't have keys?!" she said, crossing her arms reproachfully. "Because of you, I had to involuntarily stand up."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I thought it was walking time," he said, smiling in amusement. Yelena wore an expression that asked him wordlessly if he was normal, but Bucky just chuckled and bent over something Yelena couldn't see. Before she could peek out to see what he was doing, he straightened and she gasped.

"Merry Christmas, Yelena," he said with a smile. "I guess I'll have to give you the empty box eventually, because I'm afraid our little friend wouldn't like it inside it," he said, scratching the puppy's ear.

"You bought me a puppy!" she exclaimed incredulously, and immediately took the puppy from him in her arms. The puppy immediately snuggled up to her, began to sniff her, and then licked her hand. Yelena fussed over the puppy, clutching it close. "That's wonderful. Does she has a name?" she asked.

Bucky shook his head and watched her glow with happiness. "No. You can pick out some for her yourself."

"Then it's clear," she smiled wistfully, remembering her sister. "Her name is Fanny."