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Steve really should have asked Thor to come along with him to Ikea. He doesn’t understand any of these names or the instructions written on the outside of the boxes.
He knows he can go by the pictures on the boxes and the display items, but he actually likes to know that he’s supposed to be calling things he’s going to put in his living room. Don’t get him wrong, he’s still going to find what he needs and buy it, he just thinks it would’ve been a good idea to have brought his friend. The mountain of a man could easily pronounce the words in his native tongue.
He needs a new coffee table, definitely – Sam had tried to demonstrate a jump from his para-rescue days but was a little too drunk and crashed into it – but maybe he’ll start updating his furniture like everyone keeps telling him he needs to.
Luckily, the place has everything organized by sections of the house so he doesn’t have to run all over the store to find anything.
He’s aiming for something with a little bit of storage. His apartment is about average sized for a one bedroom apartment which is just a tad too small for a man of his size (but the view is killer so he couldn’t pass it up) so he likes to squeeze in extra storage whenever he can.
The regular, plain top tables are a bit too… well… plain and are single tiered so there is only the initial tabletop. Considering how much he props his feet up on the table – and Sam when he’s over – there can’t be much going on that top without being knocked off. They also don’t seem all that sturdy either and while he isn’t planning on having a drunk Sam on top of it again, he’d like to be at least a little confident that it won’t break if someone does step onto it.
He also passes up the glass tables for somewhat the same reasons. Honestly, if it breaks for whatever reason, though he’s not anticipating losing another, he’d rather have a little splintered wood or cracked pressed board rather than shattered glass everywhere. It’s really a bitch to clean up.
He finds one that he really likes called something he can’t pronounce (Regissör? Really?), medium sized and dark finished wood with two separate cubbies under it. A stack of magazines, books, or sketchpads would go really great under there and he could probably add in spare art supplies for easy access.
He takes the tag so he can give it to the sales associate when he’s ready to check out before moving on to looking around the other various pieces of furniture. He figures it could be a good idea to consult his friend Peggy before buying too much more. He’s not a huge design freak but he’d really hate to buy all new furniture and have it all clash and look wrong together.
Hey, he can look though, right? At least he can get an idea of what he wants so he can bring Peggy with him to check everything out.
It wouldn’t hurt to look at a new entertainment center because even though Sam keeps insisting he should mount his tv onto the wall, he’d prefer it sitting firmly on a stand. He’s got quite the extensive collection of dvds as well so to have somewhere to put them instead of having them stacked on the floor would be pretty swell.
The benches are nice he supposes, but he’d really like a cabinet; something that can give the room some kind of diversity. Nothing but low benches and tables sitting around would look like the house was furnished for a gnome and he’s far taller than a gnome.
He likes the look of the glass doors but again with the glass problem. Sam, Tripp, Lance, and Mack really can get rowdy (as well as himself, he knows he’s no graceful swan) when any of them decide to wrestle.
He sees some bigger displays that he really likes. They’re dark and both called a Liatorp, though one has a shelf connecting the two stands at the top and one does not. He loves it immediately. He snags the tag with only a slight wince at the price. At a little over a thousand, it’s pricy but he can afford it so even if Peggy doesn’t think they go together, oh well.
He does, though, spot another cabinet that matches the table he’s already wanting. It even has the same, hard to pronounce name!
He considers it for a moment, thinking that even though it is supposed to be living room furniture, it could be useful to holding his art supplies instead of the plastic drawers they’re in presently.
“Does it have shelves in there or not,” he mutters to himself before kneeling down and pulling the doors open to peer inside, “Gah!” he shouts, losing his balance and ending up with his back end planted firmly on the floor.
There’s someone inside it.
A brief moment finds Steve thinking someone has been killed and stashed inside an Ikea cabinet until the guy moves, “Hey, you okay dude?”
He’s lounging inside it lazily despite it being somewhat cramped for him. Slouched against one side and his feet pressed against the other, he’s munching on a handful of m&ms with his lit up phone in his hand.
“What the hell are you doing in there?” Steve demands, eyes wide as he tries to get his heart rate back down to a normal speed.
The guy just looks at him for a moment as if he doesn’t understand why it’s strange for him to be sitting inside a cabinet, “What are you doing on the floor?” he asks, completely innocently.
“You scared me! I thought someone stuffed a body into a cabinet!” Steve exclaims, wondering if the guy is crazy until he sees the glint of humor in his eyes. Ah. He’s messing with him.
The guy lets out a loud laugh then, echoing inside the small space he’s in and amplifying the sounds. He’s got a really cute laugh, Steve thinks. Hell, if he’s honest, he’s got a really cute face, too.
“So what’s a blonde Adonis like you doing in Ikea on a beautiful day like today? Shopping with your girlfriend?” the guy asks, holding out the bag of candy, “M&M?”
“No thank you,” Steve says, declining the candy. The guy shrugs and pops a handful into his mouth as Steve continues, “No, I needed a new coffee table. My friend broke it. I uh, don’t date girls so no girlfriend.”
“Eh, me neither. Boobs are great but I’m not into vaginas,” he replies easily with a grin. Steve thinks he might have winked but it happened too fast for him to be sure. Interesting.
“Have you seen a red-haired badass running around here probably yelling at a short blonde dude for not having any design sense?” the guy asks.
“No, I can’t say that I have,” Steve laughs.
“Cool. That’s my friends Natasha and her boyfriend Clint. They dragged me along to shop for their new bedroom set. But I bailed because I was bored and tried to play hide and seek with Clint but apparently Nat won’t let him go without helping her,” he laughs, reaching out of the cabinet, “Oh, I’m Bucky by the way.”
“Bucky,” Steve repeats, shaking his hand, “I’m Steve.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Steve,” Bucky says, full lips quirking up into a grin.
“Likewise,” Steve replies, “So, mind if I ask why you are in a cabinet?”
“I just told you,” Bucky laughs.
“Well, I assumed you meant you climbed in there because of hide and seek, but I meant why are you still in there?” Steve clarifies.
“Oh,” Bucky replies, shrugging again, “Like I said. I was bored and surprisingly, it’s quite comfortable in here. Want to join me?”
Steve laughs, “That thing can hardly fit you, Bucky, much less me.”
“You’re right,” he says, wiggling out and onto the floor before standing up. Steve finds he’s only just a few inches taller than his new friend, “How about I buy you some meatballs?”
Steve grins and nods, pocketing the tags to take to the cashier later, “Yeah, Bucky. I’d like that.”
-=-
A year later, Steve buys the other cabinet when Bucky moves in.