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One of these days, Bucky is actually going to have to do something about the human who wandered into their warehouse and now refuses to leave.
Curious humans don’t tend to stay safe for long around the Fae after all, even with all the treaties in place these days, not when they insist on poking around places they really shouldn't be. Bucky isn't sure who thought it was a good idea to disguise the thin places between this world and the Other with abandoned warehouses, but this is hardly the first time he's seen a human poking around in the decades he's been here. Every now and then kids will sneak in to explore, or students from the nearby college will break in and use the large open spaces on the first floor for parties with no idea of the things their music and revelry attract.
This human could probably fit in with all those carefree students, looks about the same age, but he comes during the day, and he comes determined. He explores every inch of the warehouse he can reach and unknowingly tests the strength of the Glamors that cover the building, like he knows there's more to be found here than cracked walls and broken windows.
The best thing for this human would definitely be for Bucky to do what he’s supposed to do and chase him off. Bucky should lead him out of the building and make him forget his way back, whatever it takes to get him out of the old warehouse and away from the doorways that hide behind every shimmering wall and every shifting staircase. Away from the others who lurk down in the hidden depths of the buildings, on the fringes of the two worlds, who would be equally curious about a human wandering around looking for answers.
Not that Bucky isn’t curious, not that he doesn't also spend his time split between the two places, but he likes to think he’s at least more harmless about it. He just thinks it’s interesting that the human is so determined to solve the mystery of the warehouse's moving hallways and maze-like basements, so methodical about it with his technology. Bucky likes to think he keeps up with the human world pretty well (Steve would say too well, but he's not any better), certainly better than the Fae who never come over to this world anymore, but he’s never heard of anything like this.
The human has technology that Bucky didn’t know existed, a disembodied voice that calls him ‘sir’ and talks like it’s alive, some device that lets him draw maps in glowing lights that hang in the air for him to twist and examine from every angle. Like a magic Bucky has never seen.
So Bucky follows the human instead of chasing him off, telling himself it’s not spying so much as just watching. After all, more than once now Bucky has had to distract some of the other, more traditional Fae before they can discover the human hanging around. Steve thinks he’s losing it, that he’s just asking for trouble, but Bucky brushes him off every time.
He knows Steve is worried he’ll do something crazy, like try to actually interact with the human. But he’s not going to do that, no matter how cute the human is, no matter how enticing it is when he discovers something new and his brown eyes light up. Bucky isn’t stupid, he knows that would be more trouble than it’s worth for both of them, more danger than it’s worth, and he has no intention of interacting with the human.
He’s just keeping an eye out.
That’s what Bucky tells himself every time the human comes bursting into the warehouse with some new plan, and it’s what he tells himself today too. He’s just keeping an eye out, and besides it won’t be long now anyways before the human gets bored with searching for answers that he never finds and stops coming around. Bucky might as well enjoy the view and the entertainment while he can, and what a view it is.
Today the human is searching through the offices he’s already searched a dozen times, and the oppressive heat of summer hanging in the still air makes his golden skin almost glow in the shafts of sunlight that pour into the building. The human is taking careful notes of all the little changes since last time he was in these rooms, the new shapes drawn in the dirt on the windows with tiny fingertips and the new shuffling not-quite-footsteps on the dusty floor.
Bucky is not tempted to give the human a hint, to tell him it’s all about the phases of the moon, he’s just leaning in the doorway and not getting too close. He even scooped up a shimmering cloak someone left behind before the human made it into this room, because the longer he hangs around the more likely he is to notice little things that have been left behind like that. Bucky is following the rules, and he has every intention of continuing to do that.
The human stands up straight from examining the floorboards and steps towards the doorway to move on to the next room, his eyes sliding right past Bucky in that familiar way that all human’s do until he wants to be seen. Bucky starts to move back and out of the way, continuing to make sure they don’t get too close, that nothing can go wrong.
But then the human’s eyes land solidly on him, and Bucky freezes in place.
“Hey handsome,” the human says and he’s looking at Bucky, he’s talking to Bucky, “were you ever going to introduce yourself? Or just keep following me around?”
Bucky startles so hard that he fumbles and then drops the cloak he’s holding, wings fluttering behind him hard enough to actually shift the air and he has a horrible feeling that his mouth is gaping open stupidly. How long has the human been able to see him? How long has he been aware of Bucky ‘keeping an eye on him’, and why is he saying something now? And most importantly, how many times has he caught Bucky staring at his ass?!
The human just grins wider, his eyes shining where they catch in a shaft of sunlight, and Bucky knows what he should do.
He should leave, he should turn and run, make himself impossible to follow, have someone else chase the human away from the building because he is in way too deep. Bucky doesn’t do that though, and he kind of wants to ask Steve if they’re sure this is actually a human because he finds himself completely powerless against the guy’s charming smile, the wiggle of his eyebrow that practically dares Bucky to answer him.
So instead of anything he should do, Bucky snaps his mouth closed and then tries for a smile that doesn’t look vaguely panicked, but also doesn’t show how much he’s been wanting this exact thing. His wings shift behind him with nerves and excitement, even Bucky’s best attempts to clamp them tight against his back are useless, and he can only hope the human doesn’t know what it means.
“Hi,” Bucky says slowly and he knows he shouldn’t, but he’s already breaking about a dozen rules still standing here. What’s a couple dozen more?
