Since I haven't been posting fic here, I think it's time to catch up....

Title: I Can Carry You
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Mature
Word count: ~15,500
Pairing: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Additional Characters: Becca Barnes, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Sam Wilson

Summary: Living with his perfect boyfriend isn't all prancing ponies. Steve doesn't have a job, Bucky's struggling with his class load, and Valentine's Day is around the corner! What Bucky needs is the time and resources to give his special guy an Elvish Valentine's Extravaganza, but everything is thrown off course when Bucky fails a test and starts having terrible stomach pains he assumes is a new anxiety symptom. Spoilers: it isn't.

Or Part 2 of the Lord of the Rings-scholar College rom-com AU no one was expecting.



Notes: Thank you to my prompters from Cupid's Stupids, ransomdrysdale, BritBrit99, and rainbownerds! You've been so patient as I wrote this thing that only sort of resembles your prompts. 😅

Thank you to deisderium who has continued to lend her talents to this world in the form of gorgeous illustrations, and to softestbuck, who has approved the continued use of their beautiful Elvish chapter headers and scene break graphics. I don't think it could be a Stucky LotR Nerds fic without those details.

Thank you also to Michael who gave the most thorough alpha read I think I've ever received, and to sopdetly who nitpicks my words exactly the way I like to be nitpicked (thoroughly).

Disclaimer: I continue to not actually know Elvish and rely heavily on the resources provided by The Council of Elrond and Parf Edhellen. Also, I watched a YouTube video that informed me Legolas speaks Sindarin, not Quenya, which is just further proof I do not know wtf I'm doing with Elvish. (It's fine, I always planned that Bucky and Steve probably know both, and it makes sense for Steve to use Quenya for his poetry, though I stuck with Quenya for everything because I already learned some, dammit!)

As in the previous installment, I double checked every Lord of the Rings quote before bastardizing it, and every piece of LotR ephemera mentioned is a real thing that exists. (And I might have owned most of them.) The Star Wars items are a mix of things I know exist and things that likely exist.

Other notes available on AO3.

Read I Can Carry You on AO3