Chapter Text
“Thank you for taking the trash down,” Bucky calls out to him as soon as he closes the apartment door behind him.
Their move is less than a week away and they’ve been doing their best to get rid of as much junk as possible — there’s no point in moving garbage. Fortunately, most of it has been actual trash or recycling: papers Bucky had written that got printed out and edited by hand when the screen became too daunting, old scrap works that Steve started to detest and wanted out of the house, a plethora of cat toys that Alpine had mauled beyond recognition in her recent mission to murder anything small and stuffed.
“I found a weird crystal in the dumpster? So I figured —”
Bucky cuts him off with a groan and gets up from the couch, wandering over to where Steve is standing with a big rock attached to a metal base with a power cord.
“One, you’re not supposed to bring trash into the house,” Bucky scolds him, frowning briefly before letting curiosity take over his features. “Two, this isn’t a crystal. It’s one of those… salt lamps?” Bucky notes and draws out his phone, typing into google in hopes of showing Steve that he’s right.
“Salt is a crystal,” Steve insists, looking at the slightly chipped but enormous block in his hands. Why someone would toss it in the dumpster is beyond him, but he assumes the actual lamp piece doesn’t work anymore.
“Whatever,” Bucky says, waving a hand dismissively before holding his phone screen up so Steve can see it. “It’s one of those new age-y wellness things. They’re supposed to… here — improve mood and air quality, and help you sleep,” Bucky reads off, but the smile on his face says he doesn’t quite believe in the magic salt lamp.
Steve shrugs a little and walks over to the kitchen, setting the lamp down and checking the cord to be sure there are no weird cracks in the plastic or exposed wires. “I brought it up because it looked cool and I thought you’d like the colour,” he says as he plugs in the power cord. It takes a second, but the pinkish salt crystal begins to glow, casting a soft light on the tile backsplash.
Expression softening, Bucky walks over to where Steve is standing and wraps his arms around Steve’s middle from behind. He tucks his chin over his man’s shoulder and presses a kiss to his cheek. “Very thoughtful. I do like the colour. It’s a nice vibe,” Bucky coos, rubbing a hand over Steve’s chest and hugging him a little closer. “Thank you for bringing me dumpster treasure.”
Steve chuckles at the title, but it’s the truth. The city is well-known for dumpster diving, for awesome curb finds, and it really was only a matter of time before they joined the ranks. We you really from the city if your apartment didn’t feature at least a few pieces that came out of the trash?
“Anything for you, baby,” Steve murmurs in return, setting a big paw over Bucky’s hand, squeezing at it lightly. If anything, their new lamp will help shed some warm light on their new home together, drawing in the good vibes for the rest of their life together.