Honestly writing a ship that's developing in the background of a fic instead of being the main focus is actually so fun because you get to play around with all the little subtleties that they don't notice about their behavior 🤣
“No,” Yelena interrupted again. “It should be three canoes, two people each.” Bucky narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t that Yelena couldn’t be bossy, but this was definitely getting a bit too weird for his taste. Alexei, however, failed to notice that anything was amiss. “Ah, yes! That is better idea!” He exclaimed. “We get into pairs, hm?” “I’m with Bob,” Yelena said, looping her arm around his. Bob’s ears turned red. “Wait!” Walker cut in. “If we’re racing, then that isn’t fair. It should be one super soldier per canoe. Otherwise either me or Alexei or me and Bucky will be in one together and we’ll outpace you all because we’re like, twice as strong as the rest of you.” “Bob is strong!” Yelena snapped. “Anyway, since when do you care about fair? Weren't you the one who said one of us could row solo if we had an odd number?” “I’m just saying–” “No, he’s right,” Bob said. “I’m not as strong right now. Not without the…y’know.” He waved a hand in the air for emphasis. Yelena’s face contorted into an exaggerated pout, and Bucky had to swallow the urge to laugh again. “Bob, don’t listen to him. He’s just being difficult as usual–” “I am not!” “Look, Lena, I don’t want to hold you back–” “You’re not holding me back!” “But if it’s uneven you won’t have an equal shot at winning–” “Ugh, Bob, I don’t care–” “OKAY!” Ava yelled, jumping into the middle of their lopsided little huddle. “We’ll split into whatever pairs we want–even or uneven–and if it’s unfair, it’s unfair. Alright?” Walker shrugged. “I guess. I was just trying to help. No offense, Bob.” He shot a glare at Yelena, who responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Bob shrugged back. “None taken.”
