LUMINOUS | bucky barnes

two: the food

James Barnes was walking away from the fruit stand with a plastic bag full of plums when he kicked something by accident. That something made a noise.

Once the man looked down, he saw a sleepy silver dog under his feet. Clearly the animal wasn't very bothered by the physical contact as it quickly went back to a lying down position next to the stall, however eye contact remained.

What the brunet saw in that dog's eyes was a flash of hope, and it struck him right in the centre of his chest.

He ripped a piece off a loaf of bread he had in another plastic bag, which caused the dog to immediately react by raising her head and smelling the object. Reaching his hand out, James offered the animal the bread, which she gladly but gently took from his gloved hand.

Although the dog was confused about his limb for some particular reason, the feeling passed as she gulped down the food hungrily; it was gone in seconds.

James smiled, a rare action for him.

The dog still had hope in her eyes, asking for more even though she knew it was a slim chance. James, however, gave in to the dog's silent pleas and gave her more of his bread.

He soon reluctantly walked away, after catching the stall owner giving him the evil eye. James didn't want trouble, especially as he always got his plums from the same stall every time.

The blue-eyed dog watched as he walked away, licking her lips as the bread sat in her stomach. She decided, just in case, to follow the man.

She ran past the other stalls and swerved past the other pedestrians, following his scent until she spotted his boots in the scatter of people. She trotted into the corner James turned into, and followed him as he walked past some dustbins where the other pedestrians didn't walk.

The dog attempted being discreet, but with the man's history he realised quickly that he was being followed by a small creature. He turned around and the dog froze, her ears flat against her head as she looked at his eyes. She feared of getting shooed away, but James sighed instead, nodding his head for her to follow him.

The dog happily obliged, trotting behind the hunk of a man with a strange-smelling arm.

•••

At first, the blue staffy was fearsome of the large amount of stairs she had to endure in the apartment block as she followed Barnes, but realised that the never-ending flights of stairs would end in more food and possibly the befriending of the man she found smelled a little odd.

With her tongue hanging out of her mouth, the canine stopped beside James's leg when he stood in front of an old door. The dodgy carpets of the outside hallway smelt old and dirty when she inhaled, but soon got excited again when James opened the door. He allowed the petite dog to trot inside the disarray of the abandoned apartment first, knowing she would like to sniff around.

The smells that first reached her nose concluded of some dusty air, sweet fruit and the distinct smell she recognised to be James's scent. And as she walked around the small living space, her nose close to the ground, she didn't feel any need to worry about the man closing the door to his apartment and walking into the kitchen area.

She didn't fear him as she feared other people she would on the street; she felt his kind heart and troubled mind.

"Puppy," the dog's smelling was interrupted by James, who beckoned the dog over with a nod of his head. The dog now recognises the nod of the head as James's command to 'come', and she curiously obliged.

From the kitchen counter, James took some pieces of ham and bread and put them on a chipped china plate. When he took it in his left hand and the plate made a quiet clink, the young dog's head tilted to the side at the curious noise.

A half smile appeared on James's lips at the dog's reaction before he set the plate on the floor and the dog gobbled it up without question.