Who: Bucky Barnes jbuchananbarnes & Veronica Mars originalenough What: Working on flower beds When: Sunday, May 24, early afternoon Where: Outside Hope Springs Rating: General Audiences Warnings: He's got a lot of issues from PTSD to amnesia. She's mouthy. Shouldn't be too bad. Status: Closed/Complete
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Flower beds were easy enough to dig. Bucky had gotten a lot of help from tenants of both complexes. Ella's idea for flowers around their makeshift homes was a hit. Lots of people had chosen to show up to give a few minutes or an hour to help make their home more their own. He was reminded of something similar which had been his life in Brooklyn. The tenement buildings had stood upright as long as they had because their residents cared for them.
Test City felt similar. Bucky imagined their homes here would stand as long as they kept them up. No magic cleaned the outsides of the apartments. No robots came to mow the grass. No one cared for squeaking doors or windows. He worked on all of those things. Bucky had taken a lot of pride in fixing the small things which had been neglected at Hope Springs. Copperstone didn't need a lot of fixing up, but he'd modified some apartments for people as well as taken care of the landscaping.
It was satisfying work.
Bucky had been using the weed eater to take care of the straggling vines trying to scale the side of the building when he saw someone coming out. The first floor apartments weren't very well insulated to outside noise. He cut the weed eater off immediately out of respect.
"Sorry if I was disturbing you. I've been trying to get the flower beds in order for Ella and whoever else wants to set up planting."
No one had complained to his face about the noise he made while taking care of the grounds. Bucky worried it was more because of his looks with his strange metal arm and dark eyes than because they weren't bothered by his work. It was more likely they were keeping quiet out of fear than out of genuine lack of annoyance. He had tried to limit his work near the complex to the weekdays when most people were out or working at their own jobs.
Sunday was a stupid day to do weeding. He was inconsiderate. It had been out of a good place, but he should have asked for permission before starting up. Most of the work had been done on Saturday. Should have waited. He could have done it after the holiday. Odd to think Memorial Day was a holiday. Was he someone people mourned with their outside grilling? Did they think about The Howling Commandos when they were preparing to enjoy their freedom courtesy of America's soldiers?
He doubted it somehow.
Steve Rogers was likely the only one who'd ever mourned him a single day. He was the only one who seemed to feel the need to try to save him now though Natasha kept reaching out to remind him he could change. Her motivations were easier to understand. She didn't want him to become a part of their threat matrix again. Keeping him stable? Kept her life easier.
Bucky was tired of making life hard on people.
"I can stop until after the holiday if it's too much of a bother."