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Bucky yelped, leaping backwards in horror.
“You want me to what?!” He knew he was overreacting, knew this was something he’d get shit for later.
“Calm down asshole, it’s just a hair tie. God, you’re more of a drama queen than Steve. I didn’t think that was possible,” Tony rolled his eyes and offered the small black band again. “Nat had an unopened pack of them and said I could have them. God, Buck. You’re being ridiculous, really.”
Bucky knew he was being ridiculous. He knew that Tony was just trying to be nice. He knew Tony was right. Tony was usually right. It was something he both hated and loved about him. Right now he was strongly planted in the hate category.
He dragged his hand down his face, pulling roughly as he thought this through.
Tony, to his credit, softened a bit, his tense expression calming. “Or hey, don’t. If you really don’t want to I won’t make you. But you keep complaining about your hair getting in your eyes and tangling in the back, and I know you don’t have any plans to cut it.”
Bucky shook his head slowly. “It took me far too long to grow it out this much. There’s no way I’m undoing all that work.”
Tony smiled, gently nudging the elastic band in his direction. “So take the goddamn hair tie and use it. I’m tired of hearing you complain about your hair getting in the way.”
He knew he was fighting a losing battle. Tony was right. He was being silly. And he really had been frustrated about it recently. This was an easy solution. A cheap one, even.
“I, I just don’t wanna… I don’t wanna look like…” The words stuttered out of his mouth, uncharacteristically nervous.
“Look like what? Someone practical?” Tony was clearly frustrated.
Bucky squeezed his eyes closed, steeling himself for what he was about to say. “I just don’t wanna look like a fuckboy, alright?”
Tony’s eyes widened, a look of confusion blooming into amusement. He let out a halting, surprised huff.
Bucky could feel a blush blooming on his cheeks, and he tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear.
“Where the fuck did you learn that word?” Tony was trying his best not to completely lose it, and so far he was doing an admirable job containing the laughter that Bucky knew was brimming just under the surface.
“Sam,” Bucky sighed. “We were out for breakfast a few weeks back and he pointed out a couple of guys across the patio from us. They all had flashy tattoos and dumb outfits and a couple of them had their hair pulled up. Sam called it a man bun I think? Anyway, he said they were prime examples of fuckboys.”
Tony stared at him, disbelief clear in his face.
Bucky stared back, even though he wanted more than anything to break eye contact, to run and never have to speak to Tony again.
And then Tony burst out laughing, the sound was rich and honest and so utterly Tony.
“Never mind, I knew you’d think it was dumb,” Bucky mumbled, ashamed.
After a few long moments where Bucky was contemplating jumping out the window to escape this conversation, Tony finally spoke again. “Buck, do you even know what a fuckboy is?”
“Kinda?” He replied in earnest. “Sam didn’t go into too much detail but it was clear it wasn’t a good thing to be.” He closed his eyes. It was all too much.
Tony reached his hand out, grasped on to Bucky’s hand and rubbed it soothingly. “Those are the kinda guys who talk a big game and know they’re hot. They’re also the guys who make the person they’re pursuing feel special and then leave them hanging. Take days to respond to texts, show up late for dates or not at all, and then have some lame excuse for their behavior. And all the while they’ll keep trying to romance their conquest, with no intentions of ever following through.”
Bucky’s eyes shot open, suddenly angry. “I’m not one of those guys!”
“I know you’re not,” Tony said reassuringly. “You couldn’t be further from that if you tried. Besides, despite their apparent penchant for undercuts and man buns, hair does not a fuckboy make. There are plenty of decent, perfectly nice guys with long hair. The smart ones know when to tie it up to get it out of the way.”
Bucky laughed at that. Tony squeezed his hand, warm and solid and kind.
“So I’m not gonna immediately look like one of them?” He was still hesitant.
“God no,” Tony snorted. “You could easily kick any of those guys’ asses. Besides, you’d look damn good with a man bun. I’ve been wanting to see you like that for ages. And you wouldn’t deny me of that, would you?”
Bucky smiled, a little tentative still.
“No, I guess I wouldn’t want to deny you that.”
“That’s my Bucky.” Tony beamed, humor dancing in his eyes. He slapped the black band into Bucky’s hand. “Now go put up your fucking hair.”
Bucky groaned, knowing he’d never win this argument. He usually didn’t with Tony. But he liked that about their relationship. “Fine,” he grumbled. He turned to the mirror behind him and used his fingers to experimentally comb his hair up into a ponytail, twisting it into what he hoped was a bun. He secured the stretchy band around it, turning his head side to side to admire his handiwork.
It was a little lopsided, and one side was smoother than the other, but it would do. Bucky glanced over his shoulder at Tony with an easy grin. Tony leaned into his back, arms wrapping around his waist, and he nuzzled into Bucky’s neck.
“There, now was that so hard?” Tony’s voice was playful, teasing even.
“No,” Bucky grumbled in reply. “It’s gonna take some practice to get it right, though.”
“Poor baby,” Tony taunted.
“Hey now!”
“Alright, alright,” Tony conceded. “I can appreciate that you didn’t want to look like a douche. But honestly this works for you. You’d be doing the world a disservice to deprive them of man bun Bucky.”
“I don’t look like a fuckboy?”
“You in no way look like a fuckboy,” Tony reassured, pressing a soft kiss into Bucky’s neck. “Now c’mon. I've been waiting all night to get you alone and we’ve wasted far too much time with you agonizing over your hairstyle.”
Tony trailed kisses down Bucky’s neck, pausing to lick at the sensitive spot that he knew made him weak in the knees. “Besides, I like having easy access to you.”
Bucky snorted, beginning to settle into this new look. “It’s definitely a perk,” he mused, leaning into the kisses and eager for more.
“Definitely a perk,” Tony agreed.