pov- imagines

VERBENA- B. BARNES

pairings: bucky barnes x reader, mentions of other avengers
warnings: none. this is all fluff
about: y/n gives bucky flowers
a/n: thank you to for the flower help!!

the smell of the verbenas in your hands wafts up to your nose while you jam your key into the lock of your apartment, grip tightening on the bouquet of gentle flowers. your dirty combat boots leave a small smear of dirt in the bottom of your door, even after you wipe them on the cheesy doormat sam gifted you when you moved in. you're relatively clean for the hours after a mission, but the dirt and splatters of red that stain your suit and the stray twigs that reside in the messy strands of your hair show that it wasn't a clean-cut undercover op. you prefer it; those types of missions, as clean as you come out of them, seem so much dirtier.

you push the door open with your hip, the gash on the palm of the hand that isn't holding the assortment of flowers too angry and velvet to touch the cold of the doorknob. "hey, handsome," you greet when you kick the door closed, walking towards the couch that your boyfriend is sitting on, watching one of the television shows you've referenced before.

"hey, doll," he murmurs tiredly, his eyes clearly having just opened from a nap, but the pull of his cheeks as he smiles at you is bright. from his lap, alpine purrs, looking up at you and blinking as a hello. you lean over the couch to press a soft kiss on bucky's forehead when he tilts his head at you. at the sound of alpine's meow, you laugh, turning to her. bucky's hand begins to pet her again, "she wants you to say hi to her, too."

"i will," you promise her, "but she's very clean and white right now. the dirt on my hands will not go with her fur." alpine meows again, almost in agreement as she settles back in bucky's lap.

"how was the mission?" he asks, turning to you as you walk into the kitchen.

"it was a mission," you hum, catching the reflection of the twigs in your hair in the microwave. you begin to pick at them with your free hand.

"what's that?" bucky asks, eyes settling on the flowers in your hand. the sound of the cupboard when you open it leads alpine off of bucky's lap to wander around the kitchen and stare at you. you look down at the bouquet, startling when you look back up and bucky is nearly in front of you.

"you're sneaky today," you inform, tiredness seeping into your words when you finally let it in the comfort of bucky's eyes, "or maybe i'm just tired." he scans you worriedly. "these," you extend the flowers toward him, "are for you. i saw the flower shop selling them fresh when i was coming back home and i know they're your favorite, so..." you offer them to him. "you always get me my favorite flowers after my missions, and i know you like verbenas, so..." you trail off again, beginning to feel nervous and foolish when bucky won't react.

suddenly, he exhales quietly, shaking his head gently with a big grin adorning his face. he takes his flowers from you, tucking his nose between the petals to inhale. "thank you," he tells you, pulling you in closer to kiss your nose.

you scrunch it up, "i'm all dirty," you warn.

"i don't care," he replies flatly, kissing you again, "thank you. i love them." he smells them again, before pulling one out as gently as you've ever seen anyone handle a flower before to place it behind your ear. he gazes at you for a few seconds before hugging his flowers to his chest, "i need a vase." he announces, "where do we keep our fancy vases?"

-

a few days later, your apartment is warm with laughter and avengers, your friends sitting around your living room and kitchen.

"...and that's how i found out steve wears captain america underwear. he wears my face on his ass," sam chortles, making steve groan loudly, his pale cheeks warming with a sweet pink as he blushes.

"one time!" he says, "one time i ran out!"

"uh huh, then why were they in there in the first place?" natasha asks with a raised eyebrow, a wine glass pressed to her lips and her green eyes twinkling as she sits on the couch, alpine resting on her legs.

"i-" steve's face contorts in thought, "gag gift. 'had to be."

you and bucky laugh again, unconsciously leaning into each other, "that's nothing–" clint begins, settling his stare on tony, "last week, i saw tony step out of his suit naked–"

the avengers part into groups, those who want to have something on tony, and those who have enough. natasha and maria form their own where they talk about how exhausting it is to be the most mature in a room full of gods and ancient beings.

"nice flowers," sam comments, eyeing the verbenas bucky put in the fanciest vase you guys have. "when'd you get them?"

"a day or two ago, i saw them in that cute little flower shop when i was coming back from a mission," you reply. "i remembered verbenas are bucky's favorite flower."

steve nods, "his ma used to plant them every spring; daisies, forget-me-nots, and verbenas were always planted outside of the barnes household."

you turn to look at your boyfriend, catching the pretty recognition in his eyes.

"so you just get them for him after each mission?" sam wonders after a econd, looking at you with his brows furrowed.

you nod, "there's usually at least one bouquet with the ones he likes, so i get him one of them. why?"

sam's shoulders raise, "i just think that's interesting. 'cuz i told you last week how much i liked orchids and i went on a mission two days ago."

your lips curl into a grin, "i promise to bring you orchids from now on." you offer him your pinky, wrapping it around his.

a day after everyone leaves, you and bucky begin to work on a small garden on your balcony, making sure to plant every single favorite flower of the avengers, as well as the same flowers bucky's mother would plant– right outside the apartment window so bucky would see them each morning.