ICE QUEEN. ❪ Bucky Barnes ❫ ✓

nine

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Throughout the night, Matilda questioned F.R.I.D.A.Y. about the origin of flowers, some meanings, and where to obtain them. she decided to gift flowers to Bucky the next day since he had gifted them to her twice now.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. had informed her their garden was very full of robust flowers that seemed to be color-coded per Pepper's request. There was no doubt the A.I. was playing matchmaker, keeping her figurative eyes on the pair whenever they were together.

So, Matilda began a journey to the garden, passing by other agents and staff, waving to them enthusiastically despite the fact that being too close to them could freeze them. Once she stepped foot into the garden outside, she was amazed. No matter how many times she had been there, it never ceased to amaze her. It was astonishing, the colors and capacity of the blooms and stems. She could see the droplets of water on the petals and the darkened soil from when the gardener watered them that morning.

She had forgotten her parasol, she realized. It was a gift from Pepper when Matilda told her how awful the heat could be on her system. She was momentarily dejected at the thought of wasting a perfect opportunity to use the parasol but chose to suck it up. She would have to quickly pick the best set of flowers before she fainted under the heat once more.

As she examined each set of flowers the garden had to offer, slowly walking through the rows, Sam approached her quietly like a mouse under the heavy sounds of human footsteps.

"What are you doing?"

Matilda yipped, accidentally sending a spark of ice toward a bed of flowers. Luckily, the flowers were not frozen, only the bed was. She let out a breath and turned around, hand over her heart.

"Sam, you frightened me!"

He laughed. "Yeah, I could tell. Up to anything fun?"

"Yes, I am trying to pick out the perfect set of flowers to gift Bucky," she explained.

"Bucky? Why?"

"Oh - did you not know? He has gifted me flowers twice now. It's very kind of him. To thank him, I wanted to gift him some flowers as well. I simply don't know which to choose."

Sam looked around the beds of flowers, landing on the bed at the corner. "Those."

She followed his gaze and smiled. "Oh - those look wonderful, Sam. Thank you very much. I don't suppose you could help me wrap them?"

"I got you. Come on."

Sam assisted her in taking the flowers out, cleaning the stems, and wrapping them up nicely. He even wrote a little note for Bucky that he assured Matilda was very private to Bucky and he would be angry if she read it, so she did not even think about doing so.

Carrying the bouquet of flowers, she walked to Bucky's room with purpose - after F.R.I.D.A.Y. told her of his whereabouts, of course. She knocked on his door three times and the door creaked open, his eye examining who it was. He opened the door further once he realized it was Matilda, and smiled faintly.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hello," she greeted. "I've come with a gift." She handed him the bouquet.

"What's this for?"

"Because you have gifted me, it is only proper I do so as well," she explained.

"They're lovely. Thank you," he said, grabbing the card and reading it.

His eyes brows rose and he seemed a bit flustered, glancing from Matilda to the flowers to the note. She tilted her head in confusion, eyeing his facial expressions.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"N-No, just... Did you write this?"

"No, I did not. Sam offered help in picking the flowers. What does it say?" she questioned.

She couldn't help the curiosity blooming inside her, even with Sam telling her it was a private matter.

Bucky cleared his throat. "Corianders stand for guilty pleasure for feelings of lust."

"That is correct!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. chirped.

Matilda's cheeks flushed pink. "O-Oh. I don't mean - I'm sorry - I - "

"You didn't do anything wrong." He offered her a smile. "And they're beautiful. Don't think too much about it."

She felt a bit dejected by his last comment. "Of course."

Bucky winced at his own words. He knew how he sounded when it came out, but he couldn't take it back. It had been a long time since the soldier courted someone.