The Right Partner

"Oh, we are." Bucky laughed, awkwardly shovelling another piece of food into his mouth with the chopsticks. It definitely wasn't the most elegant ways of eating, but it seemed to be woking for him. He was sure it was something he'd be able to get better with in time, and if not, at least it was something to laugh about. "Only with ladies though." He grinned cheekily across the table at Clara, a playful glint present in his blue eyes.

Clara gaped, feigning offense. "James Buchanan Barnes, that's so rude!" She exclaimed. She knew that he was only joking of course, and she was simply going along with it. "You don't see me insulting you for your terrible chopstick using skills. I even offered to show you how!" She'd missed seeing that grin of his on his face. It was nice knowing that, despite everything at hand, they could still be like this.

"Oh woah, it's all fun and games 'till someone gets called by their full name." Bucky laughed, acting as though he was going to immediately back off from the subject now. Like hell he was. "I just mean... Connie was a lady..." He smirked down into his food, pushing it around with his chopsticks again. It was weird to think that he fell in love with Connie, but now he was sat with Clara... They may have been the same person, or rather two sides to the same coin, but it was still odd. He fell in love with a part of her she had conjured up, but she was still real.

"Yeah? Well, that's what you get for being rude." Clara told him. She gaped again at his later words. "And there you go again! You're digging yourself deeper and deeper into a hole, love. I hope you realize that. And your logic really doesn't make much sense anyway. Connie was just as much me as she wasn't me. I'm as much of a lady as she is. I might even be more of a lady. I'm just better. You should consider yourself lucky." She was sort of rambling now, though that was just her trying to get a point across. It wasn't a serious conversation at all.

Listening to her ramble on brought a small, affectionate smile to Bucky's face. He leant back in his chair, looking across the table to her as he listened to her drawn out sentences. Nothing about it came across as defensive, or rude... But instead, rather flustered. Like Clara had been embarrassed by his comment. But he wasn't about to presume. Clara was one hell of a lady, and he knew it would take a lot to get her riled up. "Kid, you're perfect to me either way. Connie or Clara."

Clara didn't know why his comment had embarrassed her but it had. She wasn't one to get flustered or riled up all that easily, but there was something about that comment that made it so much easier. Maybe it had more to do with the commenter than the comment itself, she didn't really know though. His words caused the expression on her face to soften, a small smile gracing her lips. "I wouldn't necessarily say perfect, but I suppose that I do come close."

"You're perfect to me," He explained softly, a smile still on his face as he spoke. It was true, that Clara was perfect to him. They had some pretty rough ups and downs, and the downs had definitely left him feeling worse for wear... But Clara was worth it all. It was worth all the tears, and confusion. If anyone was going to help him through all of it, it was her. "And my opinion is the only one you should care about..." He joked, picking up his glass so he could take a slow sip of his drink.

Clara smiled softly. "Your opinion is also probably a rather biased one, don't you think?" She punctuated her words with a raised eyebrow. There was no doubting that they'd been through a lot together. Like any couple, she was still getting used to calling them that, they had their ups and their downs, but they always figured things out and overcome the obstacles and roadblocks that were thrown their way.

"You've saved me multiple times, Clara Oswald..." Bucky smiled into his glass as he took another sip. "Of course my opinion'll be biased." It was true, that Clara had rescued Bucky quite a few times... Perhaps not to the same extent as Bucky dragging Steve from various street fights, but it was true. She had been the one to convince him to see a doctor when he came back from Hydra's camp. She'd been there to catch him from the train, and stop him falling into the hands of Zola once more... If it wasn't for Clara, Bucky wouldn't have been the same man sitting at the table in front of her.

His words brought a smile onto Clara's face, though that really wasn't saying much. Bucky made her smile a lot, he always had. "Well, if I didn't save your stubborn arse, and Steve didn't either, I'm not too sure who would have." She said teasingly. "You attract trouble almost as much as Steve does, and that's saying something." She let out a quiet laugh, taking a sip of her drink.

"Woah," Bucky laughed, pointing a chopstick at Clara. "I do not attract trouble like Steve. Steve's to trouble what a bright light is to bugs." He wished he could believe himself when he said that. In his life, Bucky had had one hell of a run of bad luck... But he couldn't blame himself, or even Steve, for those events. He had always acted by what the thought was right, and he was right to team up with Captain America. "Kid was practically begging for trouble to find him."

"I'm not so sure that I agree with you, Sarge." Clara said, amusement shining in her eyes. "Steve must've rubbed off on you or something, because you do attract a decent amount of trouble yourself." Her tone was still teasing, though what she said was honestly kind of true. She knew that he didn't have the best of luck, and she hoped that he didn't mind her making the comments that she did. She really was just teasing, after all. "We could agree to disagree if that's what you'd prefer to do."

Bucky didn't offend easily, it was something he had learnt to deal with over the years. Of course he wasn't going to get along with everyone he met, and their comments about him weren't worth his time... Clara, on the other hand, was. He was willing to put up with the teasing, and he was actually glad that he'd found someone who could keep him on his toes. Clara was anything but a wilting flower. "We can agree to disagree, sure..." Bucky shrugged casually, going back to his food. He pushed the beef around with his chopsticks in silence for a moment before piping up again. "But you're still wrong."

Clara knew that Bucky had thick skin, and it wasn't likely that her teasing would bother him. She knew that he knew that this conversation was anything but serious though, and that she really didn't have anything to worry about. "You clearly don't understand the concept of agreeing to disagree." She said, laughing quietly. "We're supposed to realize that we're not going to agree on this matter, and move on. That comment of yours was anything but moving on, Barnes."

"Oh, I moved on, Oswald." Bucky chimed, looking up from his food once again. "I've moved on by accepting how wrong you are, and I'm at peace with that now." Of course, it was all still teasing between the two of them. Bucky would never say something to intentionally upset or hurt Clara, and he knew there was a level of mutual respect between them. Despite their problems, Clara had never intentionally hurt Bucky... And he was well aware of that. "And now, I'm moving on to what I presume is chicken." He smiled, reaching across to take another box of food to try.

"Oh, you're at peace with it, are you?" Clara asked, punctuating her words with a raised eyebrow. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and amusement shone in her eyes. She clearly knew that Bucky was only teasing her. This whole conversation wasn't actually a serious was. Not even remotely. "If you were being nice to me, I might show you how to properly use those chopsticks of yours, but since you're not, I'm just going to sit here and laugh at you."

"Hey, if being in the army taught me anything," He started, stabbing a piece of the chicken with his chopsticks. "It's how to improvise when things aren't going your way," Bucky grinned at her, popping the chicken into his mouth. His experience in the military had been anything but pleasant, and he had no doubt that it was going to take some time to overcome that. For now though, he just wanted to make jokes and act like he was handling it. For Bucky, the war had only occurred a week or two ago... For everyone else, it was years ago. It struck him as odd, and made him feel strangely alone... But he certainly didn't want to wrap his head around that right now. Not when he had Clara.

"You wouldn't have to improvise if you were being nice to your girlfriend." Clara countered, punctuating her words with a quiet laugh. She liked this. The playful banter and teasing they had going on right now. With everything that was going on, and everything that Bucky now knew, well, she knew that it wouldn't last forever, and they'd eventually have to talk about a number of different things, but she was just happy with how things were right now. "I give you food, and this is how you choose to repay me, Sarge?" She shook her head as if in disbelief, though she couldn't keep the small smile from tugging at the corners of her lips.

Sitting here with Clara definitely made a difference, and helped Bucky to think about something other than the messed up timeline he was currently living. It distracted from the feeling of not being quite whole. "You know how I'm gonna repay you for the food?" Bucky smirked, pausing to take another bite of the chicken. All of the food they had bought tasted delicious to him, far better than anything else he'd eaten for a while. It was beginning to hit him just how tired and hungry he was. "By using your water when I shower later on."

Clara knew almost immediately what sort of response she was going to get out of him the second she saw that smirk on his face. Needless to say, she wasn't at all surprised by what he said to her next. "You are completely insufferable, James Barnes!" She exclaimed, though she couldn't stop the laughter that fell from her lips as well. "I see how it is now, you're using me for the free food and hot water." She shook her head.