Chapter Text
Steve climbs out of the shower and dries himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist when he’s done. It’s his day off, which is happy-tear worthy in itself, but to make things even better his roommate and best friend, Bucky, is on a weekend getaway with his girlfriend. Steve loves Bucky to death, but it’s nice to have the apartment to himself; he considers just lounging around nude all day, but ultimately decides to try out the pair of silk boxers Bucky got him as a gag gift last Christmas.
Steve’s just about to sit down in front of the tv when he hears someone scream.
At first he thinks it’s just his imagination, or that he somehow managed to turn the tv sound on before the screen again, but then he hears another scream coming from outside. He rushes to the nearest window and looks down but he can’t see anyone in the alleyway below. They must be around the other side of the building. The next scream makes Steve bolt for the door; it sounded like a kid yelling for help.
He gets two feet out the door before he darts back inside for his phone in case he needs to call 911.
Halfway down the stairs he collides with a dark haired man on his way up, nearly sending him tumbling backwards.
"Whoa! Sorry!" Steve says, reaching out to steady him.
"No prob…" He trails off halfway through the brush off as he gives Steve a once over, "…leeemmm. Uh."
Steve looks down and sees the cause, but really doesn’t have the time to worry about that right now.
"Did you hear someone screaming?" Steve asks.
"Screaming?" He gives Steve an odd look, "Um. No?"
"I could’ve sworn I just heard a kid scream—"
It happens again and they both start running towards the ground floor, albeit the other man less frantically so.
They burst out of the front door, startling a yelp out of a little old lady on her way in, and Steve leads the way around the building to where the screams are coming from.
He skids to a halt as soon as he turns the corner, causing the dark haired man to stumble into his back.
A little boy abruptly stops his earth shaking tantrum to look up at them in surprise. The boy’s mother turns around to face them, and her expression goes from angry and embarrassed to alarmed and confused in the blink of an eye.
Steve’s panic fizzles away leaving a hot red embarrassment of his own.
"I— This isn’t— I was just— I heard— I—"
"Sorry to startle you, ma’am, we heard your son scream and were concerned for his well-being. My friend here didn’t exactly have time to get dressed."
Steve throws his companion a grateful look. The mother awkwardly stammers her understanding, thanks them for their concern, and reassures them that her son is perfectly fine, just “at that age.” The men smile and nod and make a painfully awkward retreat back into the building. The little old lady gives them a nasty look from in front of the mailboxes as they head up the stairs.
"I’m Tony."
Steve looks over at him as they ascend and, now that he’s not completely distracted by panic, kind of has trouble looking away. Tony is quite handsome and sort of exactly Steve’s type.
"Uh. Steve," he finally squawks out.
Tony smiles, “Do you live here or are you,” he gestures pointedly to Steve’s blue silk boxers, “Just visiting?”
Steve feels himself flush. “I live in 4A.”
"Seriously?" Tony asks with a smile, "I’m staying in 4C."
Steve can’t help but smile back, “Oh, wow. I can’t believe we haven’t met before.”
"I’m just apartment-sitting for my friend at the moment.”
“Oh. For, uh, what’s his name again, James? Or did he move out? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“No, he’s still here. Or, well, not here here, but still here.”
“Ah.” They reach the 4th floor and both hesitate in front of Steve’s door which is closest to the stairway.
“Well,” Tony says starts.
“Uh, I should probably. Go. Put on some pants.”
Tony smirks and tilts his head as his eyes track down Steve’s body, he shrugs.
“Um,” Steve can feel himself blushing again, “It was nice to meet you, Tony.”
He reaches out to shake Steve’s hand, “Nice to meet you.”
Steve makes a hasty retreat into his apartment, leaning back on the door once he’s closed it.
“Stop smiling,” he mutters to himself.
——
So apparently Steve’s bedroom is right next to the bedroom in 4C.
How does Steve know this?
Well, the loud moans are a pretty good clue.
Steve has lived in apartments with thin walls his whole life, so hearing his neighbors have sex isn’t a foreign concept. Usually he’d just ignore it; put on some music or the tv if he really had, but he’s pretty good at tuning those sort of things out. However, it’s apparently a totally different thing when said neighbor is the hot guy he nearly pushed down the stairs while wearing nothing but silk boxers. The hot guy who may or may not also find Steve hot and whom he may or may not have tried to hide from in the lobby the other day by ducking behind a little old lady (who thought he was trying to look up her skirt and subsequently hit him with her purse).
When Bucky gets home from the clinic Steve is sitting on the couch with a pillow in his lap, watching tv with the volume all the way up.
Bucky gives him a strange look as he hangs up his jacket and keys.
"What are you watching?" he asks.
"Dora the Explorer." It was the least sexy show he could find.
Bucky walks over to stand in front of the tv and squints at Steve.
"Are you high?"
Steve sighs and mutes the tv.
"Wow," Bucky says after about ten seconds of moaning, "Get it, neighbor."
Steve closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Wait, isn’t that the neighbor you pushed down the stairs?"
Steve doesn’t open his eyes as he answers, ”Almost, accidentally pushed down the stairs. In those stupid boxers. Yes. They’ve been at it for about an hour.”
"An hour?” Bucky asks incredulously, “Without a break?”
Steve finally opens his eyes do he can roll them in Bucky’s direction, “Of course not. This is like round three.”
Bucky eyes the pillow in Steve’s lap, “Riiiight.”
Steve huffs and unmutes the tv.
——
About two minutes after Steve gets home from his second job there’s a knock at the door. Steve goes to answer it and is surprised to find Tony on the other side.
"Hi," Tony says, "This is probably weird since we’ve only spoken the once, but I was wondering if you could pop over and give me a hand with something."
What Steve really wants to do is eat the entire contents of their fridge and then sleep for a million years, but what he says is, “Uh, okay.”
Tony smiles at him and it’s kind of amazing.
"Thanks man, you are my savior."
Steve awkwardly shuffles after Tony as he leads them over to the apartment next door.
"So, uh, what did you need a hand with?"
As soon as Tony opens the door Steve can hear a loud, strange squeaking noise.
"What is that?" Steve asks.
Tony looks mildly chagrined as he closes the door behind them, “That would the kitten hiding under the bookcase.”
"Um."
"In my defense," Tony says, "I’ve never had a pet before."
Steve chokes down a laugh, “Um, why?”
“I had a difficult childhood, and my mother had allergies.”
“I meant why is the cat hiding under the bookcase…”
“Oh. Well. In that case,” Tony gestures to the vacuum leaning up against the wall on his left.
“Ah. Have you tried just coaxing him out? Him? Her?” Steve asks, getting down on the floor to peer under the bookcase at the kitten.
“Uh…. I’m actually not sure,” Tony says, sounding distracted.
Steve tentatively reaches for the cat, but pulls back when it shies away from his hand, “You don’t know the gender of your own cat?”
“Gender is a social construct,” Tony replies, “Also, it’s not technically my cat.”
“Do you at least know it’s name?”
“Uh… Pumkin? I think. Rhodey, uh, James, adopted it before he got deployed, so I’m apartment and cat sitting.”
Steve sits up to look back at Tony, “Army?”
“Air Force.”
“Middle East?”
Tony nods. Steve nods back.
“My friend, Bucky, he was over there for almost a year. Army. I was thinking of joining up, too, at one point.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“It’s kind of a long story.”
“I can’t really finish the vacuuming,” Tony says, gesturing toward the bookcase and cat, “So, shoot.”
Steve looks away to study Tony’s, or rather James’ apartment as he speaks.
“Bucky signed up after high school and the plan had always been to follow him after I got some college under my belt, you know. But about a year after Bucky got deployed he got caught in an explosion, lost an arm, got honorably discharged. Neither of us really have any family left, so I kinda took care of him for a while after he got back. And, I don’t know. It just never really seemed right to enlist after that. We’re roommates now.”
“Oh, wow. Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry or anything, that was a more intimate question than I realized I was asking.”
“No, it’s fine,” Steve smiles up at Tony, “He’s pretty okay with it all now,” Steve laughs as he remembers something, “When I first saw him in the hospital he made a joke about his arm getting stuck on a delayed flight.”
Tony laughs, Steve likes the sound, “Seems like I’d like him.”
“Yeah,” Steve says, “He’s a great guy.”
Steve feels something tickle his arm and he looks down to see Pumpkin sniffing at his arm. He smiles and cautiously picks the kitten up, peering at it’s hind quarters.
“Female,” he says with a smirk.
“Ah, well. There you go,” Tony says.
“Was there anything else you need a hand with?” Steve asks as he pets Pumpkin into a stupor.
Tony huffs out a laugh and scratches the back of his neck.
“Well, you see, actually, the plan was to lure you over here and make you lift up that heavy-ass bookcase so I could ogle your biceps and then woo you with my best friend’s adorable kitten, but you and Pumpkin-the-biceps-block over there are kind of throwing off my groove.”
Steve gapes at him and tries not to blush too fiercely, “You’re not going to have me thrown off the building are you?”
Tony barks out a laugh, “A groove is a horrible thing to lose, Kuzco was totally justified. Also I might have accidentally fallen a little bit in love with you just now.”
Steve can feel his blush intensifying, but before he can respond his phone starts ringing.
“Whoever that is has the worst timing in the history of mankind.”
Steve sighs and answers, “Hey, Bucky… Oh, yeah, sure. I’m just next door. Yeah. I’ll explain later,” he throws Tony an apologetic look, “No, it’s no problem. I’ll be right there. Okay, bye.”
Steve hangs up, but Tony waves him off before he can say anything.
"Go. I get it. Rain check."
Steve stands and hands off Pumpkin, “Rain check.”
——
“Hit that.”
Steve buries his face in his hands and groans, “Bucky.”
“I’m being completely serious, Steve,” Bucky says, “You’re obviously both into each other, so I say go for it. Ask him out for coffee or something.”
Steve lifts his face from his hands, “That’s actually… Rather helpful.”
Bucky shrugs, “I can be helpful on occasion.”
Natasha pops her head out of Bucky’s room, “Are you coming?”
"Not yet,” Bucky quips.
Steve turns away from Bucky’s shit-eating grin, “I’m going to bed.”
"Don’t forget to put your ear plugs in."