Positive Regard

Chapter Sixteen

"A snake is one thing, brother, but a fish with big teeth is another." Thor said, staring at Loki. He turned to me. "Has he been bothering you?"
"No." I tried not to sound irritated, but I mean, he could've knocked. Loki knocked, and he was supposed to the the evil one.
"Fear not. I'll ha—what? Did you say no?"
When Steve came home, Thor and Loki were sitting at the kitchen table and I was finishing dinner. They alternated between throwing stuff at each other and sitting in stony silence.
"Hey, Rosie. Fury sent IDs and stuff for you and—What's going on?" Steve came to an abrupt halt when he came into the kitchen.
"We have dinner guests. Also Bucky's gonna be coming home tomorrow." I said casually. "Sit down, dinner's ready."
"How did you get Bucky to come home?"
I smiled. "Batted my eyelashes."
"Okay, I'll buy that. Why are these two dinner guests?" Steve sat down uncomfortably.
"Batted my eyelashes." I laughed and set the lasagna dish on the table.
"Well, see." Loki began. "Thor broke your window—"
"Let me tell it." Thor interrupted. "I came to find Loki because he ripped my leg up while he was disguised as a piranha."
"And he broke your window." Loki said.
"Then they started fighting and I told them to shut up." I sat down between Loki and Steve.
"She's very compelling." Thor said. "Also I feel bad about breaking your window."
"You should." Loki said.
"I didn't ask you."
"You didn't have to."
After they left, Steve and I were both exhausted.
"You and Matt were never like that." He said, sitting down on the couch.
"Neither of us stabbed or bit each other."
"I thought you were gonna call when Loki came."
"Thor interrupted." It technically wasn't a lie.
"How the hell'd you get Bucky to come home? You couldn't've done that, like, yesterday?"
"I didn't know he was leaving." I snapped, not bitter at all. "I didn't do much. I just said that I hoped he'd be happy there and that I understood and then said I had to go because I had plans and he said he's coming home."
"You had plans?"
"No." I smiled.
"Well, so you met Thor. Like him?"
"Not really. I like Loki more, really."
"You... do?"
"Why is that so hard to believe?" I raised my eyebrows.
"He's evil." He said, like it was obvious.
"But he's, like... all alone."
"He's not alone."
"He thinks he's alone."
"You just love trying to help people, don't you?" He sounded exasperated, like helping people was wrong. He was one to talk, though. That asshole jumped on a grenade.
"I invited him to dinner."
"Okay, but why?"
"Why not?"
"Anyways, Fury said he's sending someone to talk to you about adjusting and stuff."
"I'm adjusting fine." I said.
"Fine? You haven't left the house and you're making friends with an evil Norse god."
"First off, I don't think anyone's evil. And I was just in Siberia stopping you from messing shit up."
"Hitler wasn't evil? Stalin?"
"Okay, besides them."
"Napoleon."
"He wasn't evil."
"You only say that because you like him." Steve smirked.
I pitched a pillow at him. "No."
"Hey, just saying."
"Steve?"
"Yes?"
"Are you happy with Sharon?"
"I am."
"Then I'm not gonna tell you not to see her, but, you know, maybe you should wait till the grass grows over Peggy's grave."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it." He threw another pillow at me. "Thanks for the advice, but no thanks."
I shrugged.
"So, about Bucky..."
I raised my eyebrows.
"I'm not saying you should be scared of him, but—"
"Steve, sweetie, I don't need you to protect me."
"But I'm saying you should be careful. I wouldn't say this to anyone else, but he really is dangerous—I mean, he can be, not that he is. He's just..."
"Not what he used to be?" I asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. He is but he..."
"Isn't?"
"Yeah."
"I know."
"He's had his brain put in a blender for seventy years, tortured. He's..."
"Damaged."
"Yeah. So, you know..."
"Be careful?"
"Yeah. That." He smiled a bit. "You look tired, Rosie."
"I am. Bucky tosses and turns a lot."
"Well, I know his original plan was to propose when get got back, but I don't know if that's the case since his plans changed. I mean, don't tell him I told you. But you better get used to it or kick him to the couch." He stood up and clapped my shoulder like I was a kid. "Get some sleep, kid."
"I'm older than you."
He shrugged and walked out.
"Hey, Steve. Wait." I stood.
He turned around in the hall. "Hm?"
"Did Bucky ever go to church with you, or did he just go with me to try to get in my pants?"
He grinned. "Oh, no. He just went with you. But he went on Mother's Day, and Christmas and Easter. The usual. It was the forties. No one went to church. Anything else?"
"One more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Was he whoring around Germany?"
He laughed. "No. We didn't have much time for that."
"Okay, that's it. Goodnight, Steve." I hugged him.
"Why do you ask?"
I shrugged. "Just curious. He was talking the other day about you not getting laid in seventy years so I was just, you know."
"Making sure he hadn't been?" He grinned, looking amused. "Well, I'm assuming that wasn't his top priority when he was working for HYDRA. I don't know about before I joined the war, but if he did, he probably wouldn't've told me since, you know, I was with you all the time. But it's not like he was quiet about it."
"That's true." I smiled. "All right. Goodnight."
"Just curious, if he had would that have an impact on anything?"
"It was seventy years ago. But I still could've used it as leverage."
He laughed. "Goodnight, Rose."