BLOODY BALLERINA ▹ barnes-romanoff ✓

three.

Can you remember

who you were?

The days that followed were odd to say the least.

A tray would come in the morning and in the evening. They split the meals and the Soldier made sure that she ate a lot slower and only what her stomach could handle. Then she would wander around the room and climb up on the different objects that littered it. During the nights, they would both sleep on the cot as she cuddled into his chest and he pulled the blanket over the both of them.

It felt odd for the Soldier; to have someone to protect and it made him feel nearly anxious. He took care of himself. He obeyed and he survived. He was put into the cryofreeze when they didn't need him for long amounts of time or they wiped him when things got too cluttered in his head. It was simple. But now there was this child that needed him to do more than that.

He kept calling her name, Svetlana, and she noticed how his lips shaped when he wanted her attention. She liked the way the word looked and she tried mimicking it herself. When he noticed, he pulled her onto his lap so that she could face him. He began repeating her name over and over again as she tried to do it as well. She finally mastered the shape of the lips, but she wasn't letting out any sound. He frowned and kept trying to get her to understand that there was sound behind the shape, but how in the world could he explain that?

She was wandering the room for the thirtieth time when he thought of it. He gently tossed his sock at her and it hit her shoulder. She turned to look at him and smiled.

"Priyekhat'," he motioned to her. Come.

She skipped over to him and clambered up onto his chair, distractedly poking at the red star painted on his metal arm. He tried to get her attention a few times, but she was antsy and her mind was buzzing. He huffed and decided to take a different approach. He took her small hand and pressed it to his throat.

Then he spoke, "Svetlana."

Her head snapped up to look at him as her eyes widened at the sensation.

"Svetlana," he repeated so she could feel it again.

Her other hand went up to touch her own throat and she mimicked his lips' shape. When she didn't feel the vibration, her brows furrowed and she peered up at the Soldier with confused, irritated eyes. He repeated her name a few more times as she began shaking her head in frustration. Her little nose scrunched up and her bottom lip puckered in anger. The face she was making was so funny to the Soldier that he had to seriously try to not burst out laughing. His abs felt nearly sore from keeping in the laughter as the look on her face got even funnier. He tried to remember the last time he felt that and he soon gave up.

Hours passed and the Soldier was growing bored with repeating her name.

Her name was now the last thing he ever wanted to say again.

"Svetlana," he sighed out for the hundredth time, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"S-Sv-Svetlana,"

His eyes flew open as he stared at the girl's face. She seemed almost in shock that it had come out right. She giggled excitedly and then tried again and again. The Soldier let out a breathy laugh and nodded at her, feeling something that must have been close to happiness. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. While he did feel a bit confused, he gave a soft yet brief smile anyway and hugged the small girl back.

This new method of learning really seemed to start something. It was like it clicked in her brain. Soon she was making him go all over the room, pointing at different things, and making him say them so that she could repeat them. When they ran out of things to point at, Bucky began digging his metal finger into the cement wall and drawing different objects for her to see and learn.