Chapter Text
Y/N had almost had the bath in her apartment removed for a walk in shower. The large corner bath had been useless to Y/N for the three years she had lived in her Brooklyn apartment – baths were boring. A quick shower did her just fine but having to climb into the vast tub and stub her toe on the way out quickly grew tiresome.
‘What’s this called again, baby doll?’
God she loved when he called her that. The scruff on Bucky’s chin tickled as he rubbed it playfully against Y/N’s naked shoulder, she laughed quietly, the giggle echoing in the steamy bathroom. She was glad she had kept the bath after all, 'A bath bomb. It’s called a fizzbanger and I thought it might be fun.’
'A bomb…for the bath?’ Bucky looked over her shoulder at the yellow ball of bicarb in his hand, his lips quirking in a sort of smile as he pulled her a little closer to his body, 'Seems dangerous to me – want me to defuse it?’ The metal plates of his left arm flexed slightly as his hand threatened to crush it.
Water sloshed around them both as she wrapped her hands around his and the bomb, protecting it from being crushed prematurely. 'No! You have to put it in the water nicely, let it fizz for a while! Apparently it changes colour or…pops or something…’ her voice trailed off until only the sound of bath water and their breathing could be heard. Shyly Y/N glanced at Bucky’s profile, his skin covered in a light layer of moisture from the heat of the water, hair limp and stuck to his jaw and neck, he had her pulled against his front, sitting between his legs whilst his flesh arm was wrapped around her middle. How they had ended up sharing a bath wasn’t quite clear but here they were…and it was nice. 'I haven’t had a bath since I was a little girl…I don’t even like them usually. I’ve never even tried a bath bomb…’
'Babydoll,’ Bucky pressed a kiss to her temple, 'Why are you so nervous? You’re babbling, it’s cute and all but what’s up?’ He squeezed Y/N playfully, the action making her breasts push up a little as his arm nestled snuggly beneath them, her skin reddened further though it had nothing to do with the heat of the water. It told Bucky all that she couldn’t and he smiled against her skin, 'You still shy?’ she fidgeted slightly and his grin widened, 'Two years, Y/N, we’ve been dating for half that time and I think we have three pages of Kama Sutra left to try out. Yet you still get shy around me – it’s adorable.’
They’d met two years ago at a random vending machine in the hospital. Bucky had been shaking down the poor machine for eating his money and Y/N had been giving a verbal warning to a coffee machine, causing Bucky to laugh out loud when she threatened to take it apart with a plastic spoon. Turned out she was a nurse on Steve’s ward, looking after the injured super soldier after a difficult fight, and of course Bucky insisted on visiting his friend everyday. He spent more time at the nurses station than at Steve’s side.
They’d flirted, enjoying each other’s company until the day Steve was released and then, in a moment of pure madness, Bucky asked her for a date. Even madder was that she agreed. She’d agreed to date the charming man who had once been some sort of assassin. She hadn’t known the details but she knew enough to know he had a dark past, that he was a little broken and she knew that him asking her was highly unusual.
Y/N was shy, one of the reasons why Steve thought Bucky liked her, he liked to make women feel special and he’d always loved the shy ones. The Captain had been worried at first, watching Bucky like an anxious mother until he realised that Y/N helped the ex soldier feel like himself again – Bucky needed to feel needed.
He spent most of his nights at Y/N’s apartment, being normal. No missions, no fighting or discussions on tactical assaults. She wasn’t broken like so many of the other Avengers, she liked to cook for him, even taught him a few dishes, she would make him watch terrible movies, take selfies with her and she indulged him. Taking a bath together was his idea, she’d even gone out of her way to get the ridiculous bath bomb and have a “Pre Bath”.
'I can get out if you prefer?’ Bucky murmured into her hair, meaning every word, wanting her to feel comfortable.
'Stay, Bucky.’ Y/N said quickly and pressed his hand into the water, the bath bomb fizzing and hissing as yellow spread and mingled through the water, both of them watched in fascination as another layer was revealed – a blue one that turned the water to green.
He pushed the shrinking bomb around like a cat swatting at yarn, until a crackling started under the waters surface made the brunette grab her up into his arms and stand out of the water, eyes wide and searching the room for danger. The swoosh of water falling from their bodies was loud, swallowing up Y/N’s surprised yelp, 'B-Bucky?! Bucky, Buck! It’s popping candy – it’s in the bath bomb!’ Her arms hooked around his neck, their wet bodies making the man’s grip on her a little too slippery to be safe. She kissed his chin, his jaw, his cheek and finally the corner of his mouth, ’…You’re adorable too.’
Bucky looked at her in bewilderment, then slowly, with each press of her lips, he began to smile and carefully lowered them back into the water, 'Couldn’t you have got normal bath stuff?’
'Next time I’ll let you choose,’ Y/N was glad she’d kept the bath. Bucky was glad for a next time.