A Failed Experiment

chapter 5

Aideen.Is.Obsessed. This is the first time she's ever talked to me about a guy but every millisecond is more excruciating than the last, " Oh ! Guess what ?" I looked up to show I was listening, " I got to spar with him !" I punched the table aggravatedly,
" Damn it! Who won?" She chuckled, "
 Him, he put me in a headlock! He put me in a- " She had now retired to screaming her guts up with an air of enthusiasm. There was a knock at the door and Bucky let himself in,
" Do I even want to ask ?" I shook my head,
" Absolutely not." He nodded and sat down beside me. Aideen opened her eyes, saw Bucky, and jumped out of her skin,
" How long have you been there ?" He chuckled, his jaw-length hair falling over his eyes, Aideen's mind was so loud I could hear it clearly, " god he's beautiful." It was all she was thinking in that moment. I've never felt that way about anyone, especially not a man, well, with a singular exception of course, but you'll never hear me admit that I never want him to leave my side, and any moment without him is boring, especially not to him.

After Aideen left in a blushing, stuttering, panicked mess, I asked the question that was playing on my mind for the past few days, " You're in love with her, aren't you?" He looked at me in pure shock,
" What?" I looked at him,
" Come on Bucky, don't act stupid, admit it." He sighed ,
" Ok...fine....yeah." I giggled mischievously,
" Well I can help you in that matter." He tilted his head in clear suspicion, " I can tell you that you have no reason to fear rejection." That was an understatement, Aideen had a celebrity crush on him for a year, which I suspect turned genuine when she befriended him, that statement made him grin like a love-sick teenager, " And I can tell you what you need to do."

Aideen is going to kill me if she ever finds out, I probably said WAY too much, so to take my mind off it, I read in the library, " Astoria, is it not ?" A man spoke to me in a calm, formal voice,
" Yes, how may I help you? " His gaze fell upon my hand, as I was wearing the artifact to get used to it,
" I've come to offer to train you in the use of your artifact specifically." I looked up from my book, to my surprise, it was the man Stephen was sparring with my first day here,
" Oh ! It's you !  I don't think I've learned your name yet ? " He smiled and sat down,
" Call me Mordo. " I smiled back,
" Your Stephens friend, right ?" He nodded,
" It's amusing, since your arrival here, he's becoming more and more distracted, yet I don't think it's anything you intended on."
"No ! Of course not !" I replied,
" I actually think he's been...happier, as the result of your presence in his life." I moved my head down to hide my smile,
" I'm glad to hear of it." His stance shifted, he relaxed slightly,
" Tell me, Astoria, how about a sparring match ? You get your powers, I get my boots, deal ? " He reached out  his hand, I shook it,
" Deal."

Mordo was a difficult opponent in a fight, but not unbeatable. We started with spears, and I snapped his in ten minutes, so I tossed mine aside to make it a fair fight . Next came the mystical arts, Stephen had done well in training me, but most of my skill came from practiced theory. He produced two smaller shields and turned them into a pair of circular saws . I replied with a shield  and blocked his determined slashes, when he tired himself with that, I took the momentary advantage and visualized an axe splitting out of the shield, and that is what I received. I pressed the tip of it to his throat. He countered quickly, disarming me . He attempted to charge me, but I forced the ground I was standing on to separate and rise. I just did something I'd been trying to for years with HYDRA, simply because I was presented with a genuine threat. I drifted slightly, laughing at the absurdity of it all, when my focus fell on Mordo, who was using his artifact to meet me, and my only support fell, and I hit the ground with a painful crash.

Blood was pouring out of my mouth, it was the only thing I could taste. I felt at the rest of my limbs and face , my bottom lip was swollen and I'm pretty sure ankles aren't supposed to bend like that, but if I got ice on them both it shouldn't be too bad. One of the few children came running towards me, handing me a lump of snow, " thanks ." I mumbled, putting it on my ankle, I'm not putting snow anywhere near my mouth. I forced myself up off the floor and hobbled inside, Mordo rushed to help me," I'm fi- " I spat out a mouthful of blood, " I'm fine." He chuckled,
" I admire your spirit, but at the very least you've busted your lip and sprained your ankle, which sadly means staying off it for a while." I grudgingly accepted his help.

I was led into an infirmary type room and Stephen offered to clean me up a bit. We sat in silence for a while, Stephen dabbing my injuries with antiseptic wipes, apologizing every so often, well, every time I winced at how it stung. Stephen's mind was louder than usual, yet not loud enough for me to hear it. Something you should know, anytime I control a mind, I'll read it, and if I time it right, it's all that will happen. So that's what I did instead of trying to make out incoherent whispers. Instead of what he was thinking, I received why his hands shook in such a way, and how he found Kamar-Taj, a montage of car accident, to recovery, to learning mystical arts, to finding me, " We're both quite broken, aren't we Stephen?" He tilted his head slightly,
" What do you mean?" I chuckled,
" Oh that's sweet, you think I haven't noticed." He avoided eye contact with me, an unusual thing for him to do,
 " You know, there are things you're oblivious to, big things." Is he referring to yesterday? I think he is, I forced him to look at me this time,
" No, no there really isn't." I took a moment to reflect on my feelings towards him, yes, it's been around a week, but, I don't think that matters anymore, Stephens kind, and intelligent, and considerate, and appreciative, he's a very good man and I trust him, I think, I also think I might...love..him ? Yes, yes I think I do,
" This might...this might sting a bit." Before I could process his movements, or ask what would sting , he kissed me. He actually kissed me ! Softly, gently and slowly, almost cautiously. I kissed him back, and his kisses grew hungrier, more urgent, like he'd genuinely wanted this moment. I reached my hands into his hair, pulling him closer by wrapping my legs around his hips . Eventually, our lips parted, he swore softly, nearly into my lips, I spoke no more above a whisper, afraid to ruin what just happened,
" Did I do something wrong ?" He smiled softly,
" No, no not at all. " His hands fell around my waist , I wrapped my arms lazily around his neck. I kissed him first this time, as confidently as I could manage, making him smile contently, a smile I absolutely loved. For some reason, now I knew how it felt, I couldn't get enough of how his lips felt against mine, I kissed him again and again, and he didn't seem to mind. He pulled me in closer, so close I don't think we could have gotten any closer. A nervous heat flowed between us, and every time his teeth grazed my bottom lip l, I let out a pathetic whimper. Someone had to burst in dramatically,
" Astor ! Are...you...ok your alright, yeah ? " I cringed, anyone but Aideen needs to see this, " Yeah.." She backed out, well, tried to, she hit the wall, " You aren't avoiding talking about this, ok ?" I nodded, and she left. Stephen and I burst out in hysterics, I think I can blame adrenaline for that one.