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onceuponastory · 8 months

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play with fire - bucky barnes x reader

Plot: Y/N finds herself watching the street performance of a man who likes to play with fire... and she's about to realise that she does, too. Pairing: Stuntman/StreetPerformer!Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader Warnings: Bucky doing stunts and playing with both knives and fire. There's a few mentions of the possibility for injury but nothing happens. Reader's friend kinda sucks in this. Also Bucky being a flirt. If I miss any triggers, please let me know. Notes: It's the last weekend of the Edinburgh Fringe festival, and I've seen a few street performers whenever I've been there, so I decided to make Bucky one too! ;)

Not beta'd, so any mistakes are my own.

“Pick a card, any card!” The magician calls out, walking around the crowd that has gathered around him. Y/N watches from her position a few rows back, intrigued by the show. In the past week, there've been several street performers performing in the city, and Y/N has tried her best to make it to as many as she can.

“Come on.” Her friend Iris groans, and Y/N registers her placing her arm on hers to drag her away.

“Hey, I’m watching this!” Y/N protests, and Iris huffs.

“We’ll miss our lunch reservation if you don’t move.” Another yank on her arm. “I don’t understand all the fuss. It’s just some magic tricks, nothing too special.” She says, ignoring the few dirty looks thrown her way, and Y/N’s hastily mumbled apologies.

“Hey, be nice! It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and perform in front of everyone." As the yanking on her arm continues, Y/N decides some battles are better off being lost… that and she’s starving, so food probably is the best choice. Yet as her friend leads her away, she can’t help but throw one last glance at the street performer, feeling disappointed to miss out on his show. Sure, Iris thinks they’re nothing more than a waste of time, but Y/N loves watching or listening to them. It adds more excitement to her day, something fun to do or watch, rather than window shopping. “Who knows, maybe I’ll take it up one day. I think I could be good.” Her words are mostly a joke, but honestly, sometimes Y/N does wish she was bold enough to do something like that. To put herself out there and perform without fear of how people would react to her.

“Yeah, sure you would. I don’t think you’ve ever taken a risk in your life.” Iris rolls her eyes. At first, she seems to joke along with her, but Y/N soon picks up on the condescending tone lacing her words. Her heart sinks, and she reflexively folds her arms across her chest. Honestly, despite the bitter concoction of disappointment and anger flowing through her veins, Y/N knows she only has herself to blame for this. After all, she’s not sure why she expected anything else. Iris is one of her oldest friends, but god, she can be a bitch when she wants to be. Which seems to be a lot, actually. Honestly, she wouldn’t have reacted any other way.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours later, Y/N walks around the streets again, alone this time. The sun beats down on her, warming her skin and elevating her cheerful mood. Iris left not long after they finished lunch, saying something about an appointment. Honestly, Y/N had stopped listening by that point. That’s not to say Y/N’s a horrible person who ignores her friends, but there’s only so many times you can deal with someone’s awful attitude before tuning it out completely. At least now she’s alone, she can do what she wants.

As she turns a corner, she spots another crowd has formed, and the sound of rock music soon fills the air. Excitement pools in her stomach, and she smiles. Another street performer. Her brow raised in curiosity, Y/N heads over to the throng of people, making her way towards the front. And immediately, she’s confronted by the sight of a man balancing on a precariously thin ladder that faces the crowd. As he manoeuvres himself along the crowd, despite how high off the ground he is, and the way the ladder seems to wobble every second, the man seems unfazed, and continues to chat to the crowd as if nothing is out of the ordinary, and that this is nothing more than a simple magic trick. Y/N watches him, her heart racing. Whether it’s because of excitement or fear, she doesn’t know.

“Okay kids. Don’t try this at home, alright?” He explains with a grin, pulling out three knives. The crowd gasps, and Y/N’s mouth drops open. To everyone’s surprise, the man juggles them with ease, remaining on the ladder with nothing to hold him up. Y/N watches his every move, transfixed. This is definitely more exciting than any act she’s ever seen before. As he approaches her, his gaze seems to meet hers, and he grins, winking. And something in Y/N’s stomach flutters. Something she’s sure isn’t caused by the excitement of the act this time.

“Did he just… wink at me? No… that’s crazy.” But before she can dwell too much on it, the man has moved on.

“Now, juggling knives whilst balancing on a ladder seems pretty insane….” When the man jumps down from the ladder, landing with a ‘thump’ on the ground, Y/N finds herself breathing a sigh of relief, happy to see the man is on safer ground. But as soon as the sigh has even left her lips, her brow is furrowed in confusion.

Why would she care so much about a man she’s never met? One whose job it is to live dangerously?

“And you’re right, it is. But I thought… Where's the fun in that? Surely we can make it more dangerous, right?” The crowd cheers, and the man brings out more things to juggle with. Suddenly, the song changes, and the sound of My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy begins. And once more, Y/N registers her heartbeat increasing.

“Now for the fun part.” He calls, before taking out a lighter and lighting one end of each stick. The crowd gasps, and the man smirks, clearly enjoying their reaction. “May I have a volunteer from the audience?” Before anyone can even reply, he’s turned around and is looking right at her once again. And this time, there’s no confusion if his glance is actually for her. The closer he gets, she realises one of his arms is metal, the gold and black combination glistening in the steady glow of the fire. His other arm is full of tattoos, various colours and designs covering every inch of skin. A pair of silvery blue eyes, rimmed with the slightest bit of black eyeliner, soon meets hers. As soon as he sees her, the man grins. And something familiar in Y/N’s stomach flutters, this time even more than it did before.

“Oh god, he’s gorgeous.”

“Miss, can you please confirm for the crowd that this is real fire?” As he holds one out towards her, Y/N feels the heat radiating from the flames. It rises through her, making her cheeks burn. She laughs, breathlessly.

Or maybe the heat is just because of the incredibly attractive guy in front of her, who’s still staring curiously at her.

“Yeah, all real.” She nods. The man smirks, sending her heart into a frenzy once again.

“Good girl.” The words almost make her fall to her knees, but somehow she holds herself together. “I might need you again, so don’t move, okay?” He winks, and she nods, the words she needs suddenly caught in her throat. And then he’s gone, the fire little more than a whisper in the wind. As the man starts juggling the fire, Y/N can barely find it in herself to pay attention. All she can do is think about the gorgeous man in front of her, the way he smiled at her, and how it made her feel.

“Surely it’s just part of the act. He’s not flirting with me.” She tells herself. “But would it be so bad if he was?” Before she can even think of something else, he jogs back up to her again, grinning and breathless.

“Turns out I do need you.” He takes her hand, leading her into the centre of the circle of people. As she sees all the faces staring back at her, Y/N considers pulling out and going back to just being an innocent bystander. After all, she said it herself. She wishes she was bold enough to put herself out there in front of a crowd. And then Iris’ words fill her mind again.

“I don’t think you’ve ever taken a risk in your life.” This time, though, it’s only anger that flows through her veins. Because how dare she say that about her? How the hell does she know how good she is? Maybe she would be great at this. And if she isn’t, then so what? What’s the worst that could happen? The man approaches her again, smiling that damn smile and whispering.

“You’re a star.” Maybe there’s a reason he chose her the first time. Perhaps he sensed her desire to be more, to prove everyone wrong. And he’s just given her the perfect opportunity to do it. And she’s going to take it.

It’s time to live a little, and learn how to play with fire.

“What’s your name, doll?”

“Y/N.”

“Okay folks, Y/N here is going to help me for the last phase of the set.” He picks up the knives from before, running the edge of one along his finger. “I’m going to juggle this fire, and whilst I do that… Y/N is going to throw these to me for me to juggle, too.” The crowd gasps, and Y/N raises a brow. Turns out when she asked what the worst thing that could happen was, potentially throwing a knife into a crowd of people was not what she thought of. “Don’t worry. We’ll both be fine. I trust you.” He whispers, another wink thrown her way. Y/N decides to stop asking whether it’s because he genuinely has feelings for her, or if he’s simply trying to put her at ease. Although, regardless of his intention, his winks are still making her feel incredible.

And besides, isn't the whole point of this to live dangerously?

He starts juggling, and with every nod of his head, Y/N throws him a knife. At first, she’s obviously nervous, not wanting to hurt the incredibly talented and attractive performer, or anyone else. However, he catches it with ease, adding it to the other things he’s juggling. “Told you.” He mouths when he notices the tremendous sigh of relief she lets out. As the surrounding crowd applauds, Y/N stands up a little straighter, pride flowing through her. This is much more fun than she expected.

She throws the other knives to him, beaming as he catches them and adds them to his growing juggling pile. He juggles them for a few more minutes before bringing his routine to an end. The crowd bursts into thunderous applause, and the man grins. “Ladies and gentlemen, my lovely assistant Y/N!” He grins. “Go on, take a bow.” He prompts, and she does. “My name is Bucky Barnes. Thank you so much for coming along to see me today! Feel free to leave me a tip or share my socials.”

“Bucky. That’s not the name I expected, but… it’s nice. It suits him.”

The crowd disperses then, some leaving tips, others congratulating him on his show as they leave. And soon, it dwindles down til it’s almost her and Bucky. But then, the realisation hits her, like being doused in an ice-cold shower after the fire she’s just experienced. After today, she might never see him again. A sense of unfairness hits her then, twisting her stomach. It’s almost like another douse of cold water. No. This isn't right. She may have only met him today, but she had so much fun with him, and she’s not ready to say goodbye yet.

But how is she going to tell him that?

As Bucky finishes packing away his things, Y/N places some money in his tip jar.

“Thanks.” He appears from behind her suddenly, the sound of his voice almost making her jump. “And thank you for helping me out today.”

“No, thank you!” she corrects him. “It was nice to get a little confidence boost and prove people wrong.” She regrets her admission almost immediately, especially when Bucky raises a brow.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Thankfully though, he doesn’t mention it any further, and instead grabs his bags.

“Do you need a hand carrying anything?” She asks, in an attempt to savour every last moment she can have with him. So when he shakes his head, she’s disappointed. However, for a moment she swears she notices a look of disappointment flash across Bucky’s face. And hope begins to build. Maybe he’s not ready to say goodbye yet either?

“Hey Y/N…” he begins, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve um.” He stammers. She almost wants to laugh at how someone who lives so dangerously every day could be so terrified at the prospect of talking to her, someone so thoroughly uninteresting, all things considered. “I’ve got some free time now. Do you wanna grab a drink?”

“Yeah.” she says without even thinking about it. “That sounds wonderful.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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