barebone witches » bucky barnes | ✓

XVI

sixteen.

(—growth)

JAMES SAT UP SLOWLY, the woven blanket falling into his lap as he used his arm to ease forward. A lot of things had changed in the two weeks he'd been awake, but one of the biggest changes was getting used to maneuvering around the world with one arm. It was odd not having the heavy weight of his metal arm dragging him down, though sometimes he could still feel the phantom limb lingering.

He got to his feet, sunlight filtering in through the drapes that acted as a door for the hut. He ducked and pushed through the fabric, squinting against the bright light. He blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust, before looking over the area. It was beautiful with a few huts decorating the land, a large lake to his right and tall bushes dotting the landscape. Children ran around in the distance, their shouts of delight as they played mixing in with the chirping bird and gentle lapping of waves caused by a soft wind.

When his search comes up empty, James turns around, walking in the opposite direction of the huts. Ten minutes later, as he walks down a slight incline, the person he was searching for comes into view.

Maev is kneeling on the ground, her black hair glistening in the morning sun, methodically picking out the weeds from the garden she'd started. Her skin, once pale and a bit sickly, had gotten tanner, color returning to her cheeks as if the sun was warming her from the inside. As he drew closer he could hear her humming lightly, eyebrows pinched in concentration.

She glances up at him when his shadow falls across her field of vision, smiling, "Good morning."

"Morning," he replies, crouching down and using his hand to help him sit. He leans forward, watching her as she continues to pull weed after weed, the pile next to her growing. A comfortable silence overcomes the two, both content just to be in the presence of the other.

James unabashedly watches Maev as she works, using this time to sort through his thoughts. This was another thing that had changed, how the two moved around each other. Before they'd been close, well as close as he dared to get to someone, but ever since he'd woken up things had been different. No matter where he was, James felt the pull to be close to Maev, which had resulted in many days spent like this: Maev and James doing their own things, but always within reaching distance of the other.

At night they would lay side by side, sometimes immersed in memories, other times waiting patiently for sleep to claim them. Some nights Maev would awake with a start, sweat beading her forehead, nails digging into the ground as James quietly encouraged her to take deep breaths. Other nights it was James who would awake with a gasp, fear that he would find himself back in a HYDRA compound with his metal arm intact overriding all other thoughts with only Maev's patient voice able to pierce through the haze.

He grew aware of Maev's voice and blinked, realizing he'd spaced out, "Sorry I didn't catch that doll, I was—"

"In your own little world?" Maev's voice as amused, "It's alright, I was asking what I should grow today."