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Sam Wilson was a self-taught dancer, and he was damn good at it, too. Started off real young and tried out most styles, though there were few he loved. He and the neighborhood kids used to have dance battles at the ball courts across the street from his daddy’s church in Harlem; the winner got bragging rights and the allowance of the kids. Sam usually won since he was the only who knew how to vogue. His spin and dip was a showstopper; none of the others could compare.
As he got older, he retained his talent for dancing, but utilized his impressive physical prowess for other things in adulthood: Namely Avenging and soaring effortlessly through the sky. While being an actual, real-life superhero did not afford him time to go out dancing, he often danced around the Avengers base of operations when he thought no one was looking.
The thing is, someone was always looking at him. Stealing little glances here and there, or outright staring at him. That someone was Bucky Barnes.
“See somethin’ you like, Barnes?” Sam would often joke, causing the ex-assassin to turn a muted shade of red and stumble on his words.
“Kiss my ass,” was all Bucky could muster as a form of response.
“Hmmm tempting,” Sam would reply with a wink, causing Bucky to turn bright red as he shied away from exploring what their flirting actually meant.
While Bucky enjoyed the banter and teasing, he swore to himself that if he was going to ogle Sam Wilson in the future, he was going to try to not get caught. He thought all of his Christmases had come at once when he happened to walk into the kitchen one lazy afternoon to find Sam with some song that he didn’t recognize turned up as he danced around the otherwise empty space.
Bucky stopped at the doorway and watched. Sam was stunning. Hands down the most beautiful man he had ever laid eyes on. Bucky had seen countless times how he was in tune with his own body; how he was able to manoeuvre through the sky, evading enemy fire. The man knew how to move. And, to Bucky’s absolute pleasure, that talent extended to dancing.
The older man used to dance when he was a young man and wasn’t that bad at it, but Sam’s moves were awe-inspiring. Bucky had never seen anything like it. Sam was able to straighten his limbs while simultaneously looking more relaxed and loose than Bucky had ever seen. He could not tear his eyes away if he wanted to. He stayed leaning against the doorjamb as Sam continued to dance while preparing some food.
Sam brought his hands up to frame his face before doing a graceful spin.
“Shit, Barnes!” Sam said as he clutched his hand to his chest, startled to see the other man standing there watching him. “You scared the hell outta me. What’re you doin’, anyway? Creeping around watching me?”
“Sorry,” Bucky said immediately. “Didn’t mean to frighten you. Didn’t mean to stare.”
“See somethin’ you like, eh?” Sam teased.
“Yeah, actually,” Bucky said, surprising himself and Sam. “You’re a good dancer. Well, better than good, you’re great.”
He was then blessed by the brightest, prettiest smile from Sam, which caused his heart to skip a beat, so he kept speaking.
“I knew you were talented, but what you were just doin’ was somethin’ else,” Bucky added, causing the gorgeous grin to stay on Sam’s pretty face. “What do you call it?”
“Thanks, man,” said Sam. “It’s called voguing.”
“Voguing,” Bucky repeated, intent on committing to memory every single thing that Sam Wilson liked. “How’d you get so good?”
“Been dancing since I was a kid,” said Sam, before adding, “Hey, you want somethin’ to eat?”
He gestured to his nachos, and Bucky nodded. Sam picked up the food and they moved to the table, sitting side-by-side. Their fingers brushed as they both reached for a chip at the same time. Bucky couldn’t help the way his tummy started doing little flips.
“Did you train professionally?” Bucky asked.
“Nah, nothin’ like that,” said Sam with a little smile. “Used to battle the other kids in my old neighborhood for their pocket money.”
“Harlem, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Bet you made a killing,” Bucky proffered with a smile of his own as he thought about Sam besting the other kids with his moves.
“I did okay,” said Sam, vaguely thinking that Barnes’ smile was stellar and made his whole face light up.
“Don’t get modest on me now,” Bucky said playfully as he nudged Sam’s shoulder with his, eliciting a laugh from the other man.
“Let’s just say that one year, by Thanksgiving, I had enough money to buy myself these new sneakers I’d been eyeing for a minute.”
“Did they improve your moves?”
“Nah,” said Sam with a nostalgic look in his eyes. “I didn’t end up gettin’ them.”
“Why not?”
“My daddy’s a minister,” said Sam as he began to explain. “And every weekend, his church would run a soup kitchen. Around the holidays, they’d run lunches for people who needed it. A lot of people are alone on the holidays, so there were always more mouths to feed at those times of the year. So, I donated the money to go towards Thanksgiving lunch that year. It wasn’t much, but I wanted to help out.”
Bucky found himself staring at Sam and not saying a word. If he had a crush on him before, he was smitten with him now.
“What?” asked Sam as he playfully nudged Bucky’s shoulder.
“You’re amazing,” said Bucky. “Even as a kid you were using your talent to help people.”
“It was nothin’,” said Sam, trying to brush off the compliment in an effort to slow his heart which had suddenly quickened from the way Bucky was looking at him.
“Don’t get modest, Wilson,” said Bucky with a grin. “You’re a good man. Best man I’ve ever met, and I’ve been around for a while.”
Sam’s face flushed warm as he smiled shyly at the older man.
“It’s like you hatched from an egg or somethin’,” said Bucky.
“That better not be a bird joke, Barnes,” said Sam in jest. “Because you were doin’ so well with flattering me.”
Bucky laughed and Sam thought it sounded like music.
“Nah,” said Bucky. “I just meant there’s no one out there like you. I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re funny as hell. You’re smart. You’re kind. You’re a goddamn hero. You’re the best at voguing. You’re just – you’re great.”
Sam gifted Bucky with another wide, stunning smile.
“Damn, Barnes,” he said. “You got a crush on me or something?”
Bucky didn’t shy away this time, instead he held Sam’s gaze and said, “Yeah, actually, I do.”