Chapter Text
It started out, oddly enough, as a phone call from Bucky.
“Guess what your fucking boyfriend did?”
“So he’s my boyfriend now?” Rhodey responded, a happy smile on his face at being able to say those words.
“When he does stupid shit he is!”
“That's all the time,” Rhodey said.
There was a sharp laugh from Bucky and Rhodey leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.
“What’d he do?”
Bucky launched into a story about Tony damn near sacrificing himself to save people. Rhodey wished he could say he was surprised but Tony always had those self-sacrificing tendencies.
--
That’s how it started. If Tony did something stupid, the phone calls always started off with “guess what your fucking boyfriend did,” however, if it was good, it started off with “guess what our fucking boyfriend did,”. Rhodey preferred getting phone calls about the latter.
--
“He has food down there, right? Steve’s mother-hennin’ the shit out of everyone and it’s startin’ to piss me off,” Bucky growled.
“Is this a my boyfriend problem, or an our boyfriend problem?” Rhodey asked.
There was a moment of silence from Bucky’s end of the phone.
“Our, I guess,”
“What’s he up to?”
“Locked himself in his lab, it’s been four days,” Bucky said.
“Not uncommon for Tony,” Rhodey replied.
“Like I said… Steve’s mother-hennin’. He’s worried Tony doesn’t have any food or hasn’t been sleepin’ and honestly I’m a little worried about that too,”
“Look, Tony’s a grown ass man. He knows how to take care of himself, it’s certainly not to our standard but he does. He’s got food hidden everywhere down there, a shower, and that shitty couch for him to crash on,” Rhodey said.
Tony was a certified mess, there was no denying it. But he was fully capable of taking care of himself. Rhodes learned that back in MIT.
“If JARVIS hasn’t said anything, then he’s fine,”
“Steve’s calling bullshit,” Bucky informed him.
Rhodey rolled his eyes and hung up.
--
“Honey bear!”
“Hey Tones!”
Tony looked a little bruised and battered. But that wasn’t new.
“So what happened to you?”
“Your stupid boyfriend decided to flirt with Dr. Doom and get himself injured,” Bucky snapped.
“I was distracting him!” Tony protested.
“Your boyfriend flirts with all the bad guys,” Rhodey said to Bucky.
Tony whined.
--
The gym was surprisingly (or not surprisingly) enough, the place the four of them bonded the most. Rhodes like sparring with Tony. Contrary to popular believe Tony could more than hold his own outside the suit. Rhodey made damn sure of that after what happened in Afghanistan. He also enjoyed giving Bucky hell. Damn army boy always showing off.
Bucky was doing his usual set of a million and one pushups. Rhodey was cooling down with a bottle of water on Bucky’s back. Bucky was acting like Rhodey weighed nothing.
Rhodes would have to do that in his War Machine suit one time, just to see if the army boy could handle the weight.
He probably could.
--
Bucky sort of just gravitated toward Rhodey. It was kind of hard not to. They had a damn good time swapping stories about Steve and Tony doing stupid things. Then about their military experience. Then… it was about anything and everything. These meetings usually took place in the middle of the night and in the kitchen. Rhodes loved to cook, and Bucky loved to learn new things.
Then it became something of a habit. They would meet in the kitchen near midnight and work on some recipe together. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they wouldn’t. Rhodey wouldn’t trade those nights for anything.
--
Once more the four found themselves in a diner. Steve and Tony on one side, Bucky and Rhodey on the other.
Tony was just staring at them, a worried feeling bubbling in the pit of his stomach. The two were sitting in the same way. Lounging back, one arm thrown around the back of the chair like they thought they were the coolest things.
They totally were.
“What’s going on?” Tony asked quietly.
“I don’ think it’s fair you get Rhodey all to yourself,” Bucky said.
“Jesus,” Rhodey whispered.
“I- what?”
“You see, doll, Rhodey n’ I’ve been talkin’, and we were uh…” Bucky cast a quick look to Rhodey and smiled.
“We were hopin’ you wouldn’t have a problem if we became boyfriends too,” he finished.
Tony looked surprised for a moment before he leaned back in the booth. He looked at Steve for a moment.
“They’re plotting against us,” Tony said.
Rhodey laughed softly and rolled his eyes.
“Did I tell you about the incident at MIT, with the sink faucet and U?”
“Honey bear you swore!” Tony squeaked.
“There can be no secrets between boyfriends, doll,” Bucky replied.
“What happened to our deep, sacred bond?” Tony asked with all his dramatic tendencies.
“Tones,”
“The betrayal,”
Always the dramatic one.
--
“So guess what your boyfriend did?” Bucky demanded as he stormed into the gym where Rhodey was.
Rhodey just smiled. He had the most ridiculous boyfriends in the world.