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“Damn, Barnes, you went all out for lil’ ol’ me today. Is it a special occasion?” Clint gasped mockingly. “Did I miss our anniversary?”
Bucky didn’t grace him with a verbal answer and just flipped him off. He looked damn good so fuck ‘em. He closed the door in the Birdbrains face, but he could still hear his cackling outside. Why were his friends such assholes? OK, he WAS one of the asshole friends, but still.
“Don’t pay attention to Clint. I accidentally let him drink too much wine. It’ll wear off,” Steve called out from the kitchen. A few moments later, he appeared at the door separating their living room from the kitchen. His cheeks an the tips of his ear were a rosy red colour, which could only mean that he had been drinking the cooking wine along with Clint. Steve was nearly impossible to outdrink and Bucky could count on the fingers on one hand the times Steve had actually gotten drunk. Nevertheless, his pale Irish skin was always sure way to know if he was “cooking” with wine. The blond stared at him and he could see the moment the switch flipped in Steve’s mind.
“Wow, Bucky, how did you do that?”
He hadn’t actually done anything, truly, it was all Tony’s handwork. Bucky usually didn’t have the patience to do anything with his hair, except tying it out of his face, when he was working. But, apparently, Tony could braid. Like, he could braid really good. He had told him, while putting up and away the top section of his hair for later, about the wife of his butler and the main cook for the family, Anna, who had started all of this by showing little restless Tony how to make a classic braid. And Tony had took up on it like fish to water.
Now, Bucky was spotting a big, weird and tangly braid, that somehow looked awesome, on the top his head, with a few smaller- Dutch braids, was it?- on his temples and hanging behind his ears. Both Tony and Natasha had been calling him Lagertha the whole time after that, while Tony was braiding the Russian’s long, red hair in a “Cersei” look. In the end, both he and Natasha were both rocking the hairstyles, thank you very much.
Knowing that your current date was bros with your ex was a little awkward. Receiving your ex’s blessing to date their “cinnamon roll” was even more so (a little sweet too, but no one needed to know he thought that.)
“Tony did it. Do you like it?” the bait was on and he could see some brain activity flashing through the blond’s eyes. It was time for him to tell Steve about his amazing boyfriend of almost three and a half months.
“Who’s Tony?” Steve’s eyebrows furrowed.
Deep breaths, Barnes. He really hoped this could work.
“Alright, punk, sit your ass down. I’m gonna tell you a story.” Bucky waited until Steve joined him on the couch and started, “Remember that time I made pancakes at 3 in the morning and I had to run to the store? Well, I didn’t tell you the whole thing.”
“So... let me get this straight. You, in all your sleep – deprived glory, hooked up with a fella who fell down with a shelf, using only cheesy pick up lines, which let me say, we’re atrocious. Am I right?”
“In a nutshell? Yeah.”
“Oh my God, jerk, how do you always get in situations like this?” Steve groaned out, falling backwards on the couch cushion in a dramatic manner.
“In my defence, I didn’t realize that woman was hitting on me,” he really didn’t think Steve needed to know about what happened after he left them to get to know each other. The lady had a quite a few reactions when she saw his arm. He might personally hunt her down and Bucky did not want the drama. “Do you feel like going down memory lane too? The old lady at Walmart?”
He saw the pillow coming and he totally deserved it, but everything was fair in love and war. Even handsy old bats.
“Goddammit Buck, that was not funny at all! It was scarring for life! I can’t look at Mrs. Butterworth anymore!”
“Aww, don’t worry, Peggy will kiss it better.”
Like on command, Steve’s face went a beautiful tomato shade. The blond shoved him lightly, which made Bucky shove back, which led to them tackling each other with muffled laughter. After a few moment they sat back down on their respective seats, breathless and reminding themselves that they were grown–ass adults and not childish 5-year-olds.
And then, the awkward silence settled.
“...Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
And there it was, the hundred buck question. Bucky knew it was coming, but it still made him feel so unsure.
“Because I was afraid... It just felt too good to be true,” Bucky breathed in deeply and looked back at Steve. “I’m… not the same since the accident. You know it, I know it, Hell, even Clint knows it, because he's a snooping asshole. I can’t do this whole love ‘em and leave ‘em anymore. Fuck, I can’t even speak to other human beings most of the days. And I know sometimes you wish I hadn’t changed so much since the accident,” Steve looked like a kicked puppy at this part and he was physically holding back from saying something. Nevertheless, he kept quiet, which was good enough.
“I understand, sometimes I want it just as much as you, but it can’t happen. I see how you perk up every time I seem even mildly interested in someone. But nothing good ever comes out of it and I’m never ready enough.” Bucky smiled lightly when he thought about the bright beautiful man he was dating, “With Tony it’s easy. It feels right.”
Suddenly, the heavy silence that followed his words felt tense, oppressive. Steve was staring at him with an unreadable expression and furrowed brows. Just when Bucky had started twitching with discomfort Steve asked, “How does he make you feel?”
Bucky didn’t hesitate, “Alive.” The blond nodded for him to keep going. “Tony’s so bright, Stevie, like the sun and there’s so much life in him. He will cross the street to pet a stray dog or cat. And Tony is brilliant, like Einstein level of brilliant, I think he graduated MIT with honours.”
He was getting off – track and Steve was already smirking knowingly. “You’re so whipped, Buck.”
Ok.
That he did not expect. In fact, he could feel his cheeks warming up and Steve’s smiled even harder.
“Fuck off, punk!” he exclaimed.
“No, it’s cute. I’ve never seen you so heart-eyed. I bet if Tony flutters his eyelashes at you he can make you do anything.”
“I mean, he does have pretty eyelashes, but not as pretty as his ass-”
Steve threw another pillow at him. What was he, a friggin’ child?
“You’re ruining the moment, jerk!”
“What moment? There was no moment!”
“Yes, there was,” Steve singsonged. Bucky flipped him off.
“So... When do I get to meet Tony?” the blond asked. Yep, it was time for Steve to meet his boyfriend.
It was definitely not the time for Steve to meet Tony.
Steve shouldn’t have been back so soon and yet here he was. With a fucking frozen pack of beans pressed to his face on top of it all.
And Tony? Tony was making breakfast which was kind of hilarious, because he was in the home of the biggest and tallest troll of them all. Currently, he was trying to reach for the sugar and it really wasn’t working.
Bucky let himself admire Tony in all of his sleep – soft glory and unruly thick hair.
His boyfriend could buy any fashion store he wanted, but if there was one thing Bucky learned about him, it was that he was the biggest clothes stealer out there. It was his way of claiming his humans, he was sure. And Bucky gladly let him get away with it, because the sight of Tony in his over-sized hoodies did funny things to him. In fact, right now he was wearing one of the aforementioned hoodies and a pair of rolled up sweatpants, his feet bare against the floor. Steve, the asshole, wasn’t even trying to hide his amusement behind the frozen pack.
“The Hell?” he asked eloquently.
“’Morning, sweet cheeks, I’m making you food so you better appreciate it. It must be illegal for someone to be awake that early,” Tony turned around to mock – glare at him before blowing him a kiss and reaching for the eggs, which were conveniently put on the highest shelf. “I think it was mentioned in the Declaration of Independency or something.”
This was Tony for you, before noon.
Bucky lifted his eyebrows, “You should ask Steve about that, doll. He memorised it word by word.”
The blond turned to glare back at him and gracefully saluted him with a certain finger. He quietly sat at the table, staring at his best friend and boyfriend quietly talking. Talking! What the fuck?
“So... what’s up with the shiner? And why are you back so early?” he finally asked Steve and grinned. “I thought you were going to stay at Peggy’s for a little longer, you know.”
“Fuck off, jerk, I was actually helping her with the repairs!” It never got old how Steve’s whole face will go red at even the mention of the amazing (and terrifyingly competent) British woman.
“Do you actually believe she would need help for that? She’s probably ten times better at fixing her sink than you, punk.”
Bucky laughed when his best friend glared at him, before promptly turning red as well, because Tony had pecked him on the check, while shoving a mug of fresh coffee in his hands. “Cut him some slack, babe, he’s one of the slow – blooming,” the shorter brunet smiled devilishly before chugging back his own cup of scalding coffee, goddamnit Tony!
“Your boyfriend has a mean swing too,” Steve mumbled still hiding his red face.
“What?”
“In my defence, he snuck up on me!”
“I didn’t! I was loud enough, you were just half - asleep!”
Wait, what?
“Tony, did you hit Steve?” he finally asked.
“Yes, yes he did.” There were no bad feelings in Steve’s tone and his eyes twinkled with humour. “He was drowsily trudging around the kitchen in your clothes with a pan in hand and I tapped him on the shoulder to ask him if he was Tony. Apparently, he hadn’t heard me coming in so he just jumped and fuckin’ yowled before hitting me square in the face with a pan.”
“Fuck off, Rogers, I thought you were a thief or- or an axe murderer, you just appeared from thin air!”
“You fuckin’ yowled-”
“Language!”
“How the fuck did you even yowl? I’ve never though I will hear such a noise comin’ from a human!”
“Shove it, Rogers!”
Bucky burst out laughing, because this? This was unbelievable. He had called Tony yesterday because his mind was acting up again and he was feeling like shit in general. His boyfriend had appeared in his apartment, chattering about how shitty the door locks were and how the three boxes of pizza he was carrying were melting the skin on his hands. They put on LOTR trilogy and spent the night cuddling. He never thought this would lead here.
Bucky looped an arm around his boyfriend and drew him in for a deep kiss. But, of course, give Tony an inch and he’ll take a mile, quickly turning the mostly chaste kiss into a filthy one that definitely wasn’t for Steve’s eyes. Who was still there, coughing away to remind them of his presence.
Spoilsport.
Tony stepped, looking dishevelled. “Spoilsport,” he pouted, repeating Bucky’s thought.
“It is my pleasure,” the blond looked at Bucky.
“Just so you know, I’m not kissing you too.”
God, he loved those assholes.
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