pov- imagines

BRAIDS- B. BARNES

pairings: bucky barnes x reader, mentions of scott and cassie lang
warnings: bucky is braiding reader's hair, although texture is never described.
about: bucky braiding hair. that's the fic.
a/n: i thought this was cute djg
this is late because i have thing going on rn, and i thought. i would post the two requests i have right now during this week but it's not looking like it, so here this is and i probably won't do my weekly post next week, instead focusing on my requests and some more weekly posts.

it wasn't all too surprising to find out that bucky and the internet did not mesh well together. as technologically interested as bucky used to be in his days, the amount of advanced machinery and torture devices bucky saw in the time he was with hydra scrubbed away any awe he had left.

he was better than steve at using the television and phones, but he still found himself scrunching his nose at his phone whenever it talked to him, or when the internet decided to stop working. it frustrated him, but as irritated as he got, he found google and youtube particularly helpful.

however, he could admit he saw the desirability. especially now, as the woman in the video patiently explains to him how to twist hair into a braid. scott's daughter sits in front of him, watching a movie on the humongous television while scott himself sits next to bucky. his presence, as annoying as it used to be, has become more tolerable over time, partly due to how much you seem to enjoy his company. the man is shoving popcorn into his mouth, occasionally offering some to his daughter. his eyes flit from the movie to bucky's fingers in cassie's hair, and he shakes his head, leaning over slightly.

"no, no, you need to turn the left piece," he informs, gesturing towards the video where the woman does exactly that. bucky grunts, brows furrowing when he realizes he isn't sure how he can fix it. "you can undo it," scott suggests. bucky does before scott can finish. "or you can just take away the strand... never mind."

bucky turns to scott with a glare, and scott shrugs, "it's hard, man, i get it. it took me weeks to learn before maggie let cassie leave for school with something i did to her hair."

cassie nods, turning back to her father and bucky, "i always thought it looked great, dad."

scott grins, reaching over to fist bump her, "we became pros together."

"it's not that hard, here," cassie begins, grabbing the huge barbie head scott brought with him. she separates a thick strand of faux hair, then splits it into three pieces. "three equal pieces, then cross the left or right over the middle," she crosses the strands to the left over the ones in the middle. "then, with the right, then again and again and again until there's no more hair. that lady really made it a lot harder."

"here," she says, offering the doll head to bucky, "you try."

bucky unsurely glances from the doll to cassie before taking it from her, gently running his metal fingers through the doll's brown hair. grabbing a chunk of the hair, he attempts to divide it into three, trying again when he can't get it equal. "i can't get it..." he says quietly, eyebrows pinched in concentration.

"it doesn't need to be perfect," scott assures, "just try to not get one hair in one part and a whole bunch in the others."

"i'm trying—" bucky insists, trying again. cassie then grabs some hair again, demonstrating. bucky follows along with her, ending up with three perfectly divided strands. "thanks," he tells her. then, he tries to follow the steps she showed him, his attention completely on braiding the hair between his fingers until he realizes he ran out of hair.

"yay!" cassie squeals, and scott cheers.

bucky smiles, looking up at cassie, "thanks kid."

-

your head falls on bucky's lap a few long hours later, a large sigh falling from your lips once you're comfortable in your boyfriend's embrace. "hmm, i missed you," you inform, kissing bucky's thigh. your hair is under your hair and over his legs, some stray strands stuck on your cheeks. he chuckles lightly at you, settling a comforting hand over your arm.

"you saw me at lunch," he reminds. you groan, muttering a loud too long into his knee; he can't help but agree. his finger rubs circles into the skin of your shoulder, making you hum.

"what were you up to today?" you ask him, craning your neck to look at him. bucky's eyes light up at the reminder, his fingers tingling from the exercise he had learned that day, eager to show you.

"cassie taught me something today," he says instead, enjoying the tilt of your head and the smile that extends over your lips.

"that's right... scott brought her over today," you realize, a frustrated tone sombering your words "i hate steve. i wanted to see them and he didn't let me leave the gym all day. he's so paying tomorrow," you huff. "what'd she teach you?" you wonder, a larger smile pulling at your cheeks when one of his own grows on his face.

"let me show you." his hands pull away from you before heading back to your hair. you can feel his fingers brushing through your hair, relaxing you enough to close your eyes as he distractedly tells you about his experience with cassie and scott. he pauses sometimes between his sentences when he concentrates more on your hair, but he always finds his words again.

a few minutes later, the hair that messily fell in your eyes is pulled away from your face, and when you touch your fingers to your head, you can feel the braid that lines your crown.

"whoa," you whisper, turning to bucky and grabbing the phone that lays next to him to look at your reflection. you repeat the word when you see yourself, laughing gently in shock, "that looks amazing," you say honestly. "cassie taught you this today?"

bucky nods, "you braid my hair all the time, and i thought i should learn because your hair is always in your eyes." he tells you, tucking a stray strand behind your ear, "besides, i remember how frustrated you get when you try to do one on yourself."

you cock your head at him, before climbing on his chest to give him a hug and a kiss. "you are... too good, bucky. i love you."

from the kitchen, scott and cassie, with their ears pressed to the door, share a high five. "good work," cassie whispers loudly.