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“Mr. Stark, this is Stanley Leiber, I am the guidance counselor here at your son Peter’s school. This is the third time this month he’s been brought to my office for fighting, and at this point I like to get the parents involved.“
“Shit shit shit shit shit.” Tony bounded up the stairs to the elementary school, cursing the steps and the time and the fact that he was so so late to this not quite mandatory but definitely encouraged meeting with Peter’s guidance counselor.
Three times this month Peter had been caught fighting with that Keener kid and Tony was about at his wits end. Peter was a good kid, a smart kid, what the hell was he doing fighting with some snot nosed kid from the other class? Tony had stopped an important project for this meeting, had raced out of work and couldn’t catch a damn cab because of the rain and now he was soaking wet, very late, and just about ready to shout at Peter for causing all this trouble.
And it was definitely Peter causing the trouble. He might have his Mama’s soft eyes and sweet laugh, but the outright devilish antics the eight year old got up to was just a shadow of the nonsense Tony had gotten into at that age.
Tony would bet good money the fight was Peter’s fault, not cos Peter was a bully but cos he had yet to learn to just walk away. His go to phrase courtesy of Uncle Rhodey was “Square up, Punk!” and Tony never knew whether to laugh or start praying every time Peter screeched the words like a war cry.
“Please God tell me he didn’t scream square up in class.” Tony yanked open the school door and jogged towards the guidance counselors office. “Please please tell me he didn’t scream it at a teacher—“
“Oh, Mr. Stark.” Mr. Leiber was at least twenty years past ancient, his eyes magnified behind a huge pair of glasses, his hair a shocking shade of steel grey. “How kind of you to join us.”
“Sorry I’m late.” Tony combed his fingers through his hair and shook loose the last of the rain. “No cabs this time of day, specially not in this weather.”
Peter was sat on the small couch along the back wall, his little mouth twisted in an apologetic grimace when he saw Tony shiver. “Hey—hey dad.” He offered quietly. “You okay?”
“If I was witchy and from the West, I’d be melting.” Tony informed him, and Peter scrunched his nose in a smile because his dad couldn’t be all that angry if he was making Wizard of Oz references. “But I’m fine. You okay?”
“I dunno.” Peter sniffed out loud and Tony caught just the hint of blood at the boys nose. “Don’t think I won this one.”
“You shouldn’t be fighting at all.” Tony said sternly and Peter looked away with a pout, bottom lip sticking out. “Don’t try that look at me, I invented that look. You’re gonna tell me exactly what happened and then Mr Leiber and I are going to figure out a suitable discipline.”
“Actually Mr Stark.” Mr. Leiber spoke up again. “As soon as Mr. Barnes and Harley arrive, I wanted to speak to you both about —“
A commotion in the hall interrupted the conversation and three pairs of wide eyes turned toward the door as the commotion grew into a ruckus and then into a noise bordering chaos and then the door knocked open and just about the biggest guy Tony had ever seen stalked through, followed by a very reluctant, very sullen, eight year old in a leather cut off vest.
“Your nemesis wears leather vests?” Tony probably shouldn’t have laughed quite so loud but there wasn’t anything quite as funny as pint sized punks and the other child was most definitely a pint sized punks.
“To be fair, it was a pretty fuckin’ expensive leather jacket before Harley got a little stupid and took a knife to it.” The other man drawled and Tony blinked a few times when he was suddenly face to face with light blue eyes and long dark hair, a whole lotta muscles crammed into a very tight t shirt, the entire package framed in leather.
Ho-ho-holy shit.
“M’real sorry bout the kid.” Tall, dark and seriously, holy shit jerked a thumb towards Harley. “He’s good most days but all of us need’ta get rowdy every once in a while, right? Boys will be boys.”
“Um.” Tony blinked again because he didn’t know what else to do with himself. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” A smile that had no business being that gorgeous or that flirty crossed the other parents face. “You must be Pete’s dad. I’m Bucky Barnes, it’s real nice’ta meet—“
“His names Peter, not Pete.” Harley scowled and folded his arms and Peter copied the gesture immediately, glaring just as hard as he could from under his brows. “Peter Prickly Stark!”
“My middle name ain’t prickly!” Peter shouted and Harley shouted right back, “Well it sure ain’t pretty cos you too ugly for that!”
“Least I got a real name and didn’t get named after a dumb motorcycle!” Peter cried and Harley howled, “A motorcycle could kick your prickly ass any day of the week!”
“Harley!” Bucky snapped and Tony admonished, “Pete!” And at the same time both Dads— “Apologize! Now!”
Instead of apologizing, Peter leaned over and thumbed his nose at Harley, a trick Tony knew Auntie Peggy had taught him and my god would that be the last time that woman got to babysit Peter without a chaperone.
Harley scoffed, pulled his face down into a grimace and stuck his tongue out, then whirled around and pointed his butt in Peter’s direction and—
“Oh I think the hell not!” Bucky reached out and yanked Harley right off his feet, holding the kid off the ground and planting him firmly in a chair on the other side of the room. “You are definitely not doing a Rippin’ Rocket in the guidance counselors office.”
“Thank God.” Mr Leiber muttered but Peter gasped, “He was gonna rip a rocket at me? I’m gonna pummel you good, Harley Keener!“
“Nope.” Tony snagged Peter’s belt as he rushed past. “Absolutely not. I don’t want to know what a Rippin’ Rocket is, but you are not going to hit Harley for it. Sit down.”
“A Rippin’ Rocket is when you—“ Harley started to pipe up but Bucky clapped a hand over the kids mouth and grimaced.“Uh, my buddy Sam teaches Harley some really awful tricks. Let’s just move on.”
“Moving on.” Tony tried and failed to hide a smile at Bucky’s obvious embarrassment. “Mr. Leiber? You were saying?”
“Right.” Mr Leiber adjusted his frankly enormous glasses and cleared his throat. “Now both your boys are brilliant students, doing math and reading well above their grade level, showing a particular affinity for science even at this age. Their grades are not the issue here. The issue is that they cannot seem to be within a few feet of each other without starting an argument.”
“What was the argument about today?” Bucky wanted to know and Mr Leiber checked his notes and clarified, “According to Peter, Harley took his action figure and ruined it by drawing on him in permanent ink.”
“And according to Harley?” Tony prompted. “Let’s hear both sides of the story.”
“According to Harley, he took Peter’s Barbie and helped it ‘grow a pair’.”
“Oh my god.” Bucky dragged his hand down his face and groaned. “Harley, are you kiddin’ me with that shit?”
“Well Peter broke the rules first by having a toy in class!” Harley insisted. “I was helping the teacher by takin’ it! They should be thanking me!”
“It’s not a toy, it’s Captain America!” Peter retorted. “He defends the constitution, you communist! He’s the entire reason the Nazi’s didn’t take over the world! Show some respect!”
“That’s—“ Tony shook his head. “Nope. There are so many things wrong with what you just said, but we aren’t going to get into it here. Mr Leiber, please continue.”
“This is a bit of an unorthodox solution to this problem.” The counselor admitted, folding his hands on his desk and peering at them over the thick frames. “But since the problems seem to just be rivalry and not anything more serious, the principal and I have decided to encourage the boys to spend time together outside of school. Perhaps becoming friends outside of where they compete will also settle things in the classroom.”
“Outside of school.” Bucky repeated blankly. “What, you want th’boys to have play dates?”
“I wouldn’t call it a play date.” Me. Leiber said immediately. “More of a structured introductory period that would facilitate—“ he sighed. “Alright. Yes. A play date.”
“A play date.” Tony sent Peter a look, noted the eight year olds positively scandalized expression and nodded. “That sounds fair. So long as it can be on the weekends, I work late most nights.”
“Dad!” Peter wailed. “No! I don’t want to play with him! I’d rather eat dirt!”
“Play date it is.” Bucky agreed and when Harley opened his mouth to unleash a most certainly scathing retort, the big brunette cleared his throat pointedly, and the boy shut up. “You boys learn to get along instead of fightin’ like babies and we wouldn’t hafta do this.”
“But POP—!”
“Get up and get out.” Bucky jerked his thumb towards the door and Harley scowled terribly at Peter before stomping away. “Mr Leiber, m’real sorry bout this. Hopefully me and Mr Stark can get this settled so our boys quit drivin’ you crazy.”
“Please accept my apologies too.” Tony shook the counselors hand. “I promise this will be the last time Peter fights in school, isn’t that right Peter?”
Peter muttered something about leather vests and punks and Bucky snorted a laugh at him. “Easy does it, Tiger. More ways to end a fight than with your fists and we’ll figure it out. Harley, step to it. Double time, kiddo. I’ve still got work to do tonight and you’re holdin’ everything up.”
“Yes, Pop.” Harley sulked and darted out the door just a head of Peter. “Ha! Beat you, Stark! Too slow!”
“Damn you, Keener!” Peter shook his fist dramatically and took off down the hall after Harley, leaving the two dads trailing along behind.
“We should probably go separate them.” Tony was trying his hardest not to side eye Bucky as they walked, but he was honestly gob smacked that the little terror Harley had such a smoking hot dad. It had been a long time since Tony had been on a date, longer still since he’d been on a date with a guy but his type certainly hadn’t changed and Bucky Barnes checked about every box on Tony’s list.
Tall, gorgeous, and worked with his hands judging by the callous on Bucky’s palm. Tony would guess construction based on the size of his shoulders alone, maybe even a mechanic since there was a streak of grease on a thick forearm and the unmistakable imprint of a wrench worn into the back pocket of washed out jeans.
Tony might wear a shirt and tie to work every day but he still preferred the look of t shirts, messy hair and work pants and Bucky Barnes was killing it.
“You gonna keep starin’ at me like you wanna take a bite, or are we gonna make a plan for our boys to get along?” Bucky asked then, and Tony jerked back to the moment, face flaming.
“Ain’t no thang, sugar.” Bucky winked and somehow that made everything even worse. “Just thought you white collar types were supposed to be more subtle about that sort of thing. I’m s’psed to be the one with my mouth open and eyes all bugged out when someone as gorgeous as you walks by.”
“I–I–” Tony looked down at himself then back up at Bucky. “I feel like that was a compliment, so I’m going to say thank you?”
“Definitely a compliment, so you’re welcome.” Bucky shoved open the school door and motioned for Tony to go ahead. “So the weekend huh? Work somethin’ out for Saturday?”
“That’s about the only day I can spare.” Tony watched curiously as the big brunette patted through his pockets and withdrew a cigarette. “You smoke?”
“Only when I’m nervous.” Bucky lit up and took a slow drag. “You don’t approve.”
“Don’t smoke around my kid.” Tony hated that he came across snobby and irritable, so he added belated, “…Please.”
“Don’t smoke around my own, don’t see why I’d smoke around yours.” Bucky returned mildly. “Dunno if Harley even knows I smoke. Like I said, I only do it when I’m nervous.”
It was on the tip of Tony’s tongue to make a snarky comment about his apparent good looks making Bucky nervous, but it had been so long since he tried flirting, he probably couldn’t do it anymore, and it probably wasn’t great to try out his rusty skills on the dad of Peter’s nemesis.
So instead he cleared his throat and asked, “Well, why are you nervous?”
“Harley’s a good kid.” Bucky grunted, keeping a close eye on where the boys were chasing each other around the playground. “Makes me nervous when he acts out like this. Dunno why he’s turning out like me since I wasn’t around most of his life–” Tony raised a questioning eyebrow and Bucky clarified, “She was a Friday night and a fifth of whiskey. Nine months later I started sending checks across the state line where she lived and that’s about as Dad as I got. Don’t see how my kid turned out a mini-me when I wasn’t around to be a bad influence.”
“But you have Harley now?”
“Showed up beginning of the summer.” Bucky took another deep drag and blew the cloud of smoke into the evening air. “She put him on a bus with a one way ticket so I just kept him. He’s definitely mine, took to grease and fixin’ bikes like he was born to it but it’s been a rough few months, you know?”
“I’d say being a single parent gets easier, but it really doesn’t.” Tony flinched when Peter scrambled to the to of the monkey bars and ran across them to get away from Harley. “Me and Peter have been alone since day one and obviously, we’re still struggling.”
“Friday night and a fifth of whiskey?” Bucky wanted to know and Tony corrected, “College sweetheart and a too difficult labor and delivery. Just me and Pete now.”
“M’real sorry about that.” Bucky’s pale eyes cut to Tony’s and flickered with concern. “Real sorry.”
“And I’m real sorry about over sharing while my kid currently has your kid in a headlock.” Tony said over his shoulder as he ran towards the boys. “Peter Benjamin Stark don’t you dare–!”
Bucky put out his cigarette and jogged after Tony, letting his gaze linger over the cut of the smaller brunette’s trousers. He’d only been half teasing when he called Tony out on staring– Bucky couldn’t keep his eyes off the guy if his life depended on it.
Office workers usually didn’t do it for him, but it would be a cold day in hell when big brown eyes and a butt like that didn’t do things for Bucky “Bronco” Barnes, so when Harley screeched in rage at being separated from the object of his wrath, Bucky let himself smile a little bit.
His kid was a punk, but at least now he had a reason to see Tony a few more times.
“Let’s get on home before you get your ass beat, Harley.” Bucky hooked an arm around Harley’s neck and smiled a little more when Harley quit his screeching and just burrowed into his side. He was a fuckin’ punk, but still only eight years old and needed to know his dad was there.
“Got ya, bud.” Bucky said quietly, and then tossed his phone towards Tony and added, “Put your number in there for me. I’ll call ya Friday night and we can work out what to do for the first play date.”
“DON’T CALL IT THAT!” Harley cried and Peter complained, “Dad! We aren’t babies! Stop calling it that!”
“Oh look at that, we found the first thing they don’t fight about.” Tony laughed out loud and Bucky felt that noise clear to his soul. Whoa. “Whether or not to call a play date a play date.”
“Call it something else.” Peter scowled up at his dad as they started towards the parking lot. “Mandatory fun activities. Call it funtivities. Even that is better than a play date.”
The moment they were out of ear shot, Harley whirled around and aimed a sharp kick at Bucky’s shin. “You like him! I saw you makin’ eyes! You can’t love Peter Prickly’s dad! I won’t be his brother! I refuse!”
“First of all, ow.” Bucky tried for a scowl so his dismay at being caught staring by a damn kid. “Second of all, who says makin’ eyes? Does Sam say that? You’re not allowed to talk to him anymore.”
“You didn’t say you didn’t like him!” Harley insisted. “You can’t love him, Pop! I’ll run away! I’ll run away if I gotta share a bedroom with–ooph!”
He acked in shock when Bucky just picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. “Pop! Let me down! Let me down and I’ll kick your ass! I swear–”
“Yeah, alright Junior.” Bucky clamped his arm down over Harley’s flailing legs and tried to ignore the flutter of… of something in his heart when he flipped open his phone and saw Tony’s name and number there on the contact screen. “Whatever you say.”
*****************
A park close to midway between their respective houses was deemed an appropriately neutral meeting place for their first official play date, and when Tony and Peter pulled up in their car, Bucky was glad Harley was already off climbing the wrong way up a slide.
He would have for sure gotten a kick to the shins if Harley saw the way his grin stretched to fuckin’ goofy when he saw Tony.
Bucky hadn’t had a real date– nope, Bucky hadn’t even been laid for months since before Harley had shown up at his place in May. He was going on a years worth of a dry spell these days and for the most part he could ignore it since he was busy learning how to be a Dad, but when Tony looked up with a wave and a smile, Bucky suddenly felt the dry spell like a punch to the gut.
Holy crap he was hot.
“Hey Bucky.” Tony’s smile got a little bigger as they approached, and Bucky loved that. “Good to see you. Pete, where are your manners?”
“Hello, Mr. Barnes.” Peter said quickly, and then just as quickly, “Can I go now?”
“Remember, the point of this is to learn to be friends!” Tony called as Peter bolted for the playground. “Be good! For the love of God, be good!”
“Heya Tony.” Bucky kept his tone casual, but he would have given anything for a cigarette right then. Kids were on a play date and he was over here jonesing for a smoke just so he wouldn’t be nervous when the prettiest guy he’d ever seen in his life was looking up at him with fuckin’ Bambi eyes. “How’s it goin’ today?”
“I was up till about three am working on the patent paperwork for Hammer Tech.” Tony said absentmindedly, watching the boys carefully to see if anyone escalated a so far friendly game of tag. “And Peter doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘sleep in’ so I’m running on two and a half hours of shut eye, which means I’m doing that thing I do where I over share and talk too much cos I’m super tired.”
Tony laughed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. “Sorry. Let me start over and be normal this time. Today is going just fine. How’s your day?”
“Woke up to find Harley building a ramp in the living room and getting ready to ride his board down the stairs.” Bucky stated, and Tony’s eyes widened in alarm. “But we didn’t end up at the emergency room for anything broken, so no harm no foul. Just another normal day for us.”
“I think your normal day is quite a bit more exciting than our normal.” Tony decided and Bucky countered, “S’nothing wrong with a little bit of excitement, Tony. Gotta relax and have fun at some point, right? Specially if you’re up all night writing patents for Hammer Tech.”
“I feel like there’s better ways to relax than waking up to a child trying to launch himself into the stratosphere via a taped together ramp.” Tony said dryly. “Don’t you?”
“I can think of about a hundred other ways to relax, startin’ with a cold beer and endin’ with your pants on the floor.” Bucky put his fingers to his mouth and whistled when Harley picked up a rock. “Harley PunkAss Keener Barnes you put that shit down NOW!”
“Uh, yeah, Pop!” Harley called back, letting the rock slip through his fingers casually. “I was just lookin’ at it! S’just a real pretty rock.”
“Look with your eyes not with your hands! And not with a fuckin’ evil smirk on your face either!” Bucky hollered and up on the slide, Peter cackled with laughter. “Anyway, Tony. M’just saying instead of staying up late working, at some point you should be stayin’ up late–”
“–drinking beer and taking my pants off?” Tony finished and Bucky rotated to look at him with very wide eyes. “Do you always say things like that to other parents, or am I an exception?”
“I uh–” if possible, Bucky’s eyes went even wider. “I didn’t mean t’say that to you, Tony, just sorta slipped out. Sorry. Didn’t mean anything by it. They don’t call me Bronco cos I’m subtle, y’know? Was just bein’ a fool, don’t think too far into it.”
“Not subtle, huh?” Tony raised both eyebrows and tried not to laugh at Bucky’s visible embarrassment. “So why do they call you Bronco, then?”
“Cos I’ll give you the ride’a–” Bucky’s started to answer, then stopped and shook his head. “Nope. Never mind. How bout we change the subject so I stop soundin’ like I’m gonna proposition you, or like I make a habit of hittin’ on single Dads. So um, you work in patents?”
Thoroughly charmed by Bucky’s inadvertent proposition/flirting and the way the gorgeous brunette was completely embarrassed by it, Tony gave the whole flirting thing another try and replied, “Been a long time since I’ve been propositioned, could be fun. But um–”
He rushed on when Bucky’s eyes lit in wicked anticipation. “–I actually work in the R & D lab in Hammer Tech. I’m still not sure how I ended up behind a desk and writing contracts, but it’s a job, right?”
“Right.” It didn’t seem right that a little bit of flirting could leave Bucky reeling like this, but he just hadn’t been prepared for the way Tony’s lashes had fluttered for a second, or how he’d bitten at his bottom lip right after as if he couldn’t believe what he’d said.
The fuckin’ cutest. Fuckin’ slay me.
“Right.” Bucky said again when Tony kept waiting for the rest of his sentence. “R &D though– that’s a lot fancier mechanics than what I do in my garage. You like to build stuff?”
“I like to invent.” Tony corrected. “I have a few patents under my name but for the most part I’m a tinkerer and– Jesus Christ– PETER BENJAMIN! WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”
“….crying havoc?” Peter held up two handfuls of wood chips from the playground cover. “…you know. Letting loose the dogs of war?”
“Do not use William Shakespeare to justify throwing wood chips at Harley!”
“Besides, it’s ‘let slip the dogs of war’, kiddo!” Bucky corrected and when Tony sent him an impressed look, he finished, “Act 3, Scene 1, line 273 of Julius Caesar. My buddy Stevie played Mark Antony in three high school plays and another four in college. I helped him run lines so much m’pretty sure I’ve got the damn thing memorized.”
“I was always more of a Hamlet fan.” Tony’s nose scrunched as he smiled. “So you’re a mechanic who has memorized Shakespeare and has a kid named Harley. Tell me, is he really named after the bike?”
“His Ma named him.” Bucky scoffed. “Think she was goin’ for a theme. Called me Bronco so she named the kid Harley. Her last name is Keener, but I like him having mine too.”
“So PunkAss is….”
“An affectionate nickname!” Bucky laughed out loud at Tony’s expression. “M’not awesome at the dad thing yet, but I’m getting there! One day punk ass will turn into Honey Bunches or something, I promise!”
“Yeah, alright.” Tony grinned and when Bucky grinned right back, his breath caught on an unexpected hitch. Keep it together, Tony. “The kids are being suspiciously quiet. Let’s walk and talk.”
“Yeah, they’d probably riot if they saw us over here turning their play date into a real date.” Bucky agreed casually. “Walk and talk it is.”
The two dads ambled along the pavement that circled the playground, keeping a close eye on their respective children as they went. Tony didn’t say anything about how Bucky had so easily called this a real date– it definitely wasn’t a date, but Tony didn’t want to be the one to say it– and eventually the conversation came back around to every day things.
Tony confessed how he only got into R & D because he wanted to create things that helped change the world and Hammer Tech was the only name in the game back then. Bucky told Tony about the Mustang he was rebuilding as a father-son project with Harley and how the poor car was going to be subjected to a truly shocking color of green because he’d promised Harley he could pick the paint.
Tony talked about how he’d moved Peter from the school closer to home last year because he felt like Peter was disappearing in a mass of students. “He corrected his teacher over a science project.” Tony said proudly. “Seven years old and corrected what the teacher said. He got in trouble for talking back, I moved him to this school and he’s been having the time of his life.”
“Harley lectured me on better ways to clean up oil spills.” Bucky complained. “He mouthed off so I told him to get out to the garage and clean up a spill from the floor. It’s not hard work but it sure takes a while, gives him time to think about what he did. Kid comes in and starts watching a cartoon, informs me that cat litter soaks up oil in about twenty minutes and to call him when it was ready to sweep. Asked him how he knew? He rolled his eyes and said chemistry like I was a damn moron for not knowing it already.”
“Smart kids are the bane of my existence.” Tony decided and Bucky agreed with a resounding, “He definitely didn’t get that shit from me.”
The boys moved on to the obstacle course down the hill from the slides, and Bucky and Tony followed at a slower pace, lost in their own conversation, and like it tended to do when two people were doing a terrible job of pretending they weren’t attracted to each other– the conversation turned towards relationships.
“So if you were up all night writing patents, Friday nights must not be date nights, huh?” Bucky asked casually and Tony shrugged, “Haven’t had a date in so long, I wouldn’t even know what to do on one. Do people still go to movies?”
Bucky grinned, more pleased than he should be to know Tony wasn’t seeing anyone, and Tony wanted to know, “What about you? You the sort of mechanic to give out discounts for phone numbers?”
“Are you askin’ me if I flirt with customers tryin’ to get laid?” Bucky gasped in faux horror and when Tony spread his hands in a you tell me gesture, Bucky rolled his eyes, “I’m a real mechanic, Tony. Not one outta a porn flick. Nobody does that in real life.”
“So I should probably report my mechanic?” Tony said devilishly and Bucky laughed out loud at him. “So listen, I’ve gotta ask about the Bronco thing.”
Tony paused on the low bridge running over the park pond and Bucky stopped next to him, leaning against the rail and brushing leaves down into the water. “Is it a sports name left over from college? Are you in a motorcycle gang? Are you secretly a cowboy?” And then with a all too casual air, “Left over from your first relationship? Doesn’t sound like a name a girl would saddle you with but I could be wrong.”
“What makes you think it was a girl in the saddle?” Bucky’s fingers twitched towards his pack of cigarettes but fell away at the last second. “For that matter, what makes you think there was a saddle involved. What’r’ya tryin’ to say about me, Tony?”
“Name like Bronco, there’s gotta be a saddle.” Tony said confidently– or at least faux confidently. He’d gotten good at pretending to be confident after Pete’s Ma had passed, but these days his acting was a little shaky, so Tony could only hope it came out teasing and not awkward. “A saddle or at least stirrups.”
“At least stirrups.” Bucky mocked good naturedly. “Sounds t’me like you’re lookin’ for a ride, Tony. S’that what’s goin’ on?”
Tony’s mouth fell right open, his cheeks burning scarlet and Bucky held up both hands peacefully. “Yeah alright, alright, you wanna know the Bronco story? Back in high school I had the well earned reputation of–”
He stopped to watch Harley run full speed across a balance beam and then face plant on the other side. Peter shouted something in alarm and slid off another obstacle to run over and check on the boy.
“Oh hey do you see that?” Tony lit up into a proud smile. “Peter is checking on Harley! Not pushing his face in the dirt or stealing his shoes–”
“–Harley isn’t fakin’ till Pete gets close enough to chuck rocks at or trip.” Bucky finished. “I think our play date just took it’s first step in a good sorta direction.”
“Miracles do happen.” Tony waved when Peter looked up to check in with him. “Good job bud! Is Harley okay?”
“He’s just uglier!” Peter called back and then screamed when Harley launched himself right onto Peter and started wrestling him.
“And back to the norm.” Bucky grimaced. “Small steps count as good steps right? For like eight seconds there, they were being nice to each other.”
“They were nice to each while they were both screaming at us to not call this a play date.” Tony added. “That’s like, two small steps.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.” Bucky gave in to the need for a cigarette, turning his back on the boys and taking a few steps away from Tony to light up. “Sorry about this.”
“You said you only smoke when you’re nervous.” Tony had the grace to not look irritated or anything and Bucky appreciated it. “What are you nervous about? The boys have been playing for an entire hour and no one is dead, dying or bleeding, and more importantly, nothing has been blown up or set on fire. The playground is intact, the obstacle course is actually being used for it’s intended purpose and–”
“You tellin’ me you don’t feel it?” Bucky interrupted and Tony’s mouth clicked shut. “Shit, Tony. I saw you last night and about died. Couldn’t figure out why Harley never told me Peter’s Dad was a goddamn super model. Then you stood there and looked at me with those bedroom eyes like you were darin’ me to do something about it was we walked outside. You don’t feel that b’tween us? Don’t know why I’m nervous?”
“Well, I mean–” good god had it always been this hot? Tony was suddenly sweating. “Bucky, I um–”
“I’m screwin’ this up.” Bucky cleared his throat and held up a hand apologetically. “Forget it. Forget I said anything. Been a long time since I’ve been even close to interested in anyone and I’m reading signs wrong, we were flirtin’ and I read too much into it–”
“No!” Tony blurted and Bucky stopped, eyebrows raised. “No, you aren’t reading signs wrong. I mean, I feel it too. You’re gorgeous and I think I’m a little tongue tied but I mean, isn’t it sort of weird that we’re hanging out cos our kids are enemies and all I can think about is kissing you?”
“It’d only be weird if I wasn’t thinkin’ the same thing.” Bucky said stubbornly and about melted through the ground when Tony flushed in surprise and tried to hide a mega watt smile behind his hand. “What say we make this a real date? Pack up the kids, get some dinner, you guys come over and watch a movie. I don’t really do babysitters other than Sam and he’d kill me for ruining his Saturday plans on short notice. Kids can bunk up in Harley’s room and you and I–”
Tony’s eyes flew open wide and Bucky sent him a crooked grin, “Can sit out on the couch and finish a six pack while we figure out if our boys will kill us for kissing or not.”
“They’d kill us.” Tony confirmed. “Without a doubt.”
“Definitely.” Bucky agreed. “…but we should try it anyway?”
Tony took a deep breath and thought about all the dates he’d turned down in the past eight years, all the phone numbers he’d tossed in the trash and the nights where he’d put Pete to bed and sat up alone on the couch, falling asleep to infomercials.
A date sounded fun. A date where he didn’t have to worry about his kid sounded even better and a date that would maybe end with falling asleep next to Bucky….
“If I kiss you and you taste like cigarettes we’re gonna have a problem.” he finally said, not bothering to hide his grin when Bucky put out the cigarette in an instant and tossed it in a nearby bin. “Also we eat pineapple on our pizza.”
“The date is fuckin’ cancelled.” Bucky said promptly and Tony burst out laughing. “Aw hell, guess it’s back on, cos you got about the cutest laugh I’ve ever heard.”
“Keep talkin’ like that, and you might end up kissed sooner rather than later.” Tony hadn’t quite meant to say all that, but the way Bucky’s smile turned towards wicked made his heart beat faster all the same. “Should we let the boys play a while longer?”
“They can spend all day together so long as you’re gonna keep walkin’ with me.” Bucky inclined his head towards the trail and reached out his hand. “You comin’, Tony?”
Tony hesitated only a second before taking Bucky’s hand and letting the mechanic pull him down the path. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
Unbeknownst to the pair, Peter and Harley had ducked behind one of the climbing boulders and were watching the entire interaction with wide eyes and general expressions of disgust.
“Oh my god.” Harley whispered. “Your dad is so gross! Why is he holding my Pop’s hand?”
“Your Dad’s the gross one.” Peter retorted. “You see him lookin’ at my Dad? I’ve only seen people look like that in those dumb girlie movies.”
“If they’re in love, I’m going to throw up.” Harley decided and Peter chimed in, “I’m going to throw up bigger.”
“We can’t let them kiss.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Cry havoc?”
“Definitely cry havoc.”
“Dogs of war?” Harley held up his pinky and Peter hooked his through with a confident, “Dogs of war!”
“Okay but just in case we end up brothers, I get the top bunk.” Harley announced. “I’m older than you. Top bunk rules.”
“No way!” Peter jumped to his feet and waved his hands. “I GET THE TOP BUNK!”
“NO YOU DON’T!”
Just that quickly, whatever momentary truce the boys had struck dissolved into shouts and screams and a rather intense game of chase that culminated on top of the teeter totter with both boys brandishing sticks and laying claim to the top bunk.
“What the hell just happened?” Bucky ran his thumb in slow circles on the top of Tony’s hand, completely enjoying the way Tony was smiling and trying not to look quite so affected. “Why are they yelling about a top–?”
“TH’HELL I WILL CALL YOU BIG BROTHER! YOU’RE TOO STINKY! I’LL CALL YOU A BIG FART IS WHAT I’LL DO!”
“I think the boys are about a thousand pages ahead of us with this thing.” Tony guessed. “But I suppose it’s another step towards them getting along if the thought of being brothers doesn’t end in bloodshed and mutiny?”
A high pitched scream, followed by a litany of panicked “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It’s not that bad! It’s just a little bit of blood, it’s fine! You’re fine! No reason to tell our Dad’s!”
“For fucks sake.” Bucky rolled his eyes and dropped a quick kiss on Tony’s knuckles. “Don’t go anywhere. M’gonna go see which punk impaled the other punk.”
“Boys will be boys.” Tony knew he was fucking blushing over the kiss on his knuckles but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. “Hurry back so we can keep walking?”
Bucky turned around to send Tony a wink. “Oh sure thing, sweet thing.”
************
************
Pizza and movie night was easier to pull off than either Bucky or Tony had expected. Both boys were exhausted from a long day in the sunshine and after eating most of a pizza to themselves and screaming with laughing through something animated and superhero themed, Harley was the first to pass out with a bowl of ice cream still in his hands, Peter right behind him, falling asleep in his soda.
“Here we go, punk.” Bucky scooped up Harley in both arms and carried him to the bedroom, tucking him into the bottom bunk. “You can put Pete on top, Tony.”
“I’d be too worried he’d fall off.” Tony admitted and Bucky nodded with a quiet, “Same reason I make Harley sleep on the bottom. There’s a trundle under here, let me get it pulled out.”
Peter was sleep heavy in Tony’s arms, far too big to be draped over Tony’s shoulder like this, his feet down by Tony’s knees because he’d had a growth spurt this summer and shot up like a weed, but Tony still held him tight until Bucky got the trundle bed ready and motioned to take him.
“Oof, big kid.” Bucky lay Pete out gently and tucked a blanket over him. “Bigger than Harley, that’s for sure. Kid’s got a damn Napoleon complex. I keep tellin’ him he’ll grow into it, he’s my boy he won’t end up short.”
Bucky glanced up apologetically. “Not that uh, there’s anything wrong with being short.”
“I’m perfectly average sized.” Tony said dryly and bent to kiss Peter’s forehead before backing out of the room. “But thanks for that.”
“Don’t be sore.” Bucky reached for Tony’s hand as they made their way back to the living room. “You come in a real cute package, Tony. Real cute size. I’m a fan.”
Tony was glad for the dark to cover what was no doubt a spectacular blush, and let Bucky pull him back down onto the couch.
“How about we watch something non animated and non super hero themed.” Bucky grabbed the remote to flip through the movies, and settled his arm over Tony’s shoulder, coaxing the smaller brunette closer to his side. “Any recommendations?”
“Um–” Tony’s brain entirely short circuited when his hand landed on Bucky’s stomach and he could feel the solid line of muscle beneath the shirt. “I um–you– movies–”
Bucky chuckled and slouched down further into the cushions, stretching out until Tony was almost laid out against him. “You like that, sugar?”
“…my mind isn’t online right now.” Tony finally said and Bucky laughed again. “Give me a few minutes.”
“I know the feeling.” Bucky drew distracting circles on Tony’s side with his fingers, rucking up the thin tshirt and making Tony shiver when rough callouses met smooth skin. “You’re fuckin’ gorgeous, Tony. Wish our kid’s would’ve fought sooner so you and I could’ve done this months ago.”
“Mmmm.” Tony snuggled in closer and let himself drift over the steady heartbeat and warmth of Bucky’s arms. “I agree.”
They sat in companionable silence for most of an hour, not paying a whit of attention to the movie playing in the background, more content to just lie together and enjoy being close with someone and then–
“Shhh!”
“You shhh! They can hear you!”
Tony’s eyes widened and Bucky sighed under his breath, but put his fingers to his lips so Tony wouldn’t say anything.
“Oh my god gross, are they doing it on the couch?”
“Nah, it isn’t moving, I’m pretty sure the couch should be moving.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know how to do it.”
“No, but I know it’s gotta be gross. Kissin’ and all that. Gross.”
“Is this what my Dad means when he says boys will be boys? Cos I’m never gonna snuggle up weird with anybody.”
“You gotta. You gotta fall in love and get married sometime. Boys will be boys. That’s what it means.”
Tony’s shoulders were shaking with laughter by now and Bucky was biting into his palm so he wouldn’t crack up and ruin the boys’ conversation.
“It so does NOT mean I gotta get married. Boys will be boys means like… it means like shenanigans! Shenanigans! Not marriage! I’m never gettin’ married!”
“Only cos no one will want you, cos you’re ugly.”
“YOU’RE UGLY!”
Shouts erupted from behind the bedroom door, followed by a crash and a screech and then the ever constant, “No no no! It’s not bad! You’re fine! Now we’ll have matching scars! It’s fine! We’ll be like best friends with scars!”
“Oh my god, I should go check on them.” Tony sighed and peeled himself away from Bucky’s chest. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Bucky winked and Tony took a chance, took a risk, and bent down to drop a light kiss on Bucky’s lips. “Oh no no no sweet thing, come back and do that better.”
Bucky hooked his fingers into Tony’s hair and brought him back down for a much better kiss, not letting up until Tony was clutching at the couch for balance and the entire thing slid back a few inches.
“OH MY GOD THE COUCH JUST MOVED! I HEARD IT!”
“GROSS! OH MY GOD GROSS!”
“You know what, the boys are obviously fine.” Tony dropped back onto the cushion and scooted in for another kiss. “Let’s do this some more.”
“OH MY GOD I CAN SEE THEM KISSING!”
“MY EYES! MY–”
Bucky snatched a throw pillow and winged it towards the bedroom door. It hit with a satisfying thump and a devastated, “OW!” and Bucky went right back to kissing Tony.
The boys were fine, they were fine.
It was gonna be a good night.