Chapter Text
Bucky was nervous, and ze knew Steve could see it. Zir gender identity-- still somewhere in the grey area between genderqueer and genderfluid-- had slid smoothly into zir life with Steve.
Steve had switched seamlessly from masculine language to gender-neutral language, so easily Bucky was sure he'd been researching this stuff long before Bucky started to figure out zir own gender stuff.
Things weren't perfect, of course, because they didn't live in a perfect world. But all the Avengers had been, well, amazing.
Natasha had told Bucky she was glad for zir before muttering something rude about Steve's intelligence under her breath in Russian. Clint had asked if he could tag along whenever they decided to broaden Bucky's wardrobe-- and he didn't mean it in a creepy way.
Sam was pleasantly surprised and genuinely happy for and proud of Bucky, so much so it made zir flush.
Thor had launched into an impromptu, booming lecture on the many, many different Asgardian genders and sexes, before continuing on to describe those of other worlds he'd visited. Bruce had asked a few questions-- of Thor and of Bucky-- and had made an interested noise as he scribbled some notes down.
Tony had been the wild card, the one Bucky was really worried about, because while he could be casually and unthinkingly thoughtful, he could also be calloused.
Luckily, Pepper had been there to smack him in the arm and give him a serious warning look before he asked whatever question had first come to mind when Bucky and Steve told him. So he settled for congratulating Bucky on figuring stuff out, and he sounded pretty genuine about it too.
Things were actually really great, all things considered, in between the aliens and monsters and super-villains they had to fight.
Bucky was kind of in heaven, for over two weeks. Then ze made a casual comment that made everything change.
"I swear you knew this stuff even before I had a clue," Bucky was saying. Ze was skimming the latest posts on the forum ze'd recently joined, one mercifully free of the excess drama found in many online communities.
Steve wasn't listening totally, engrossed in catching up on the news on his own tablet.
"Hm?"
"I mean, you knew I was hidin' something and you told me I could tell you anything 'n all of that. Was I that obvious?"
Now ze had Steve's attention, and zir friend was turning a faint shade of pink.
"N-No. Actually, I-- Not at all."
Bucky squinted suspiciously and could practically see Steve start to sweat nervously.
"Got somethin' you wanna share with the class?"
Steve's face and the tips of his ears were warming from pink to bright red.
"What makes you think that, Buck?"
Bucky gave him a very eloquent, you serious right now kinda look. Steve quickly ducked his head and looked very interested in his tablet, and Bucky was about to start rolling up zir sleeves to get it outta him the hard way when Steve finally blurted it out.
"I thought you had a crush on me."
Bucky stared and blinked, zir mouth partway open in surprise.
"Oh."
Now Steve just looked uncomfortable, almost in pain, and he got to his feet without looking Bucky in the eye.
"Yeah, I know, it was just-- Can we just forget about it?"
Bucky startled them both when a quick burst of laughter escaped zir. But ze explained zirself before Steve could get angry, or offended, or hurt.
"No wonder Natasha called you a damn idiot. No, wait-- Steve, I've had a damned crush on you since we were kids. But when I was lookin' up all that stuff and hidin' it from you, it was gender stuff."
Steve's expression was slightly confused, but with a cautious hope growing underneath.
"So, you..."
"Wanna date you? Jesus, yes."
And that was pretty much that.