Maybe he did — or, more likely, maybe Natasha did — or maybe it's less that he's freewheeling with the open talk than that he's not always willing to bite his tongue. It's a conscious decision he makes every time.

Her reaction to the cat doesn't exactly fade the smile any, slight as it is, if she happened to miss it the first time around. "Liho." Лихо, though he won't mangle the Russian by trying to pronounce it the way his housemates do. He's learning, because it's hard not to considering the people he loves (though Bucky's no more Russian than Steve, really), but he's far from an adequate conversationalist.

"Nah," he says. "Nat hoards any cookies that make it into the house, so I have to take what I can get." He's teasing; he seems perfectly happy to take another bite before sitting on the edge of the coffee table and nudging the tin toward her. "You can see for yourself."