Work Text:
Bucky takes a steady breath before walking into Stark Tower. Today is his first day at a new job and if that wasn’t nerve-racking enough, he just got asked out by his boss’ boss’ boss yesterday. Of course, he may have failed to make the connection between the affectionate father and powerful CEO in time, but now Bucky can’t forget it.
Shaking his head to focus, Bucky checks his calendar. Realizing that he has a meeting first thing in the morning, he quickly drops his bag at his cramped cubicle before making way to the conference room. Unfortunately, the tour he received when interviewing for the job was cursory and long ago so before long, Bucky finds himself hopelessly lost.
Sighing as he walks into the elevator for the upteenth time to try another floor, he hears a frantic voice call out for him to wait. Holding the “open door” button, Bucky watches with bemusement as a man barrels through the door, out of breath. His amusement quickly turns to panic as he realizes he’s face to face with Stark.
“Thanks buddy,” Stark gasps. “Pepper would’ve eviscerated me if I was late to this meeting.” Turning to look at his savior Tony freezes and drops his jaw in shock as he finds himself staring at a very familiar face. Bucky sheepishly rubs the back of his head before shrugging awkwardly.
“This may be my first day working here,” he starts hesitantly. “And I may not have recognized you yesterday until I left,” Bucky finishes with a wince. Releasing a long sigh Stark leans heavily against the elevator wall.
“Just my luck,” he groans. “The first cute charming guy I meet in ages and he’s my damn employee.” Bucky stands, frozen, as he gazes at the forlorn and disappointed expression on the inventor’s face and tries to scramble for the what to say.
His brain is flashing an error signal though as he takes in the other man’s appearance. While he was wearing a worn t-shirt and jeans when they met at the ice cream parlor, now Tony is sporting a pristine suit that clings to his body leaving nothing to the imagination. Add to that hair that looks like he just rolled out of bed and red tinted glasses and the guy is a walking sex dream.
Mentally shaking his head Bucky clears his throat and finally remarks with forced nonchalance, “Well, can a date with my boss’ boss’ boss be that morally dubious?” For a breathless moment a hopeful smile graces Tony’s face, making him look years younger, before a flicker of doubt replaces it.
“I better run it by Pep beforehand,” the inventor says with a regretful sigh. “Otherwise she’ll have my hide for doing something ‘impulsive and irresponsible,’” he finishes.
Bucky’s chest fills with warm affection as he watches Tony use honest to god air quotes. Shit, he can already feel himself falling for this man and they haven’t even gone on a date. Double shit. And the whole boss thing won’t even be a problem if Bucky doesn’t make it to this meeting.
“I do wanna continue this conversation but I was supposed to be in a meeting-” checking his watch Bucky gulps- “10 minutes ago.” Groaning, Bucky thumps his head against the elevator wall and closes his eyes. “My first job back in the states and I’ve already blown it,” he bemoans.
“Well,” Tony starts tentatively, “Though I promise I wouldn’t make this a thing if you actually wanna try dating, in this case you do have your boss’ boss’ boss here who can make excuses for you.”
Opening up an eye Bucky peers at Tony suspiciously. When all he’s greeted with is a sheepish grin Bucky straightens. Smiling slowly he says, “Well I could blame you since I was only gonna be a minute late cause I got lost until you slipped into my elevator.”
Tony stares at Bucky blankly before smirking. “You’re a bit of bastard aren’t you Buckaroo?” Grinning shamelessly Bucky shrugs.
“Guess you’ll have to take me on that date to find out.”
Chuckling softly Tony crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. “So, what floor is this meeting I’m making you late to?” At this question Bucky’s grin turns into a wince. Laughing at Bucky’s reaction Tony remarks, “You have no clue where you’re going, do you?”
Grumbling, Bucky crosses his arms defensively. “I would’ve figured it out eventually,” he protests. God, he hopes that his cheeks aren’t as bright red as they feel like they are right now.
“Well, since I am a benevolent and generous boss’ boss’ boss, I suppose I can help you,” Tony says with an exaggerated sigh.
“How noble of you,” Bucky responds dryly. Snorting Tony looks at the ceiling.
“Hey Jarvis? Where’s Buckaroo supposed to be right now?”
“Please tell me that nickname isn’t gonna stick,” Bucky moans. Wrinkling his brow he adds, “And who are you talking to?”
Before Tony can respond Bucky jumps as a disembodied voice with a posh English accent responds.
“Conveniently sir, he is supposed to be in the same room as you. Ms. Potts has just informed me that she will be selling your share of the company if you don’t arrive in the next minute however.”
Wincing Tony says, “Thanks Jarvis,” before frantically pushing the correct floor number multiple times.
“You know pressing it more than once doesn’t actually make the elevator move faster, right?” Bucky asks, leaning comfortably against the wall. He had forgotten about the fact that Tony has a literal AI in charge of the building. It takes all of his willpower to act cool and not start shooting out a million and one questions like he’s dying to. Maybe later, he promises himself.
“It will if it knows what’s good for it,” Tony mutters mutinously. All Bucky wants to do is lean across the space between the two of them and kiss the pout right off of Tony’s face. The look that Tony shoots him tells Bucky that Tony may have a similar idea. But before either of them can act on their impulse, the elevator dings and they start racing down the hallway.
“I honestly wish I could say I planned to run into you but as Morgan will proudly announce, I’m not that suave,” Tony admits as they round a corner. Pausing at a doorway Tony grins at his companion. “Prepare to get the VIP treatment Buckmaster,” he says cheerfully.
Stomach already sinking with dread, Bucky enters the room behind Tony, trying to prepare himself for the worst. “Apologies for my tardiness lords and ladies but I ran into our newest and cutest employee looking like a lost duckling on my way up,” Tony remarks airily as he swans into the room.
Bucky is caught between utter mortification over the inventor’s words and admiration with how Tony simply commands the room as every head turns to him and straightens. A ginger haired woman wearing heels sharp enough to stab with pinches her nose with a sigh.
“Tony, we’ve talked about this,” she says through gritted teeth. “Don’t make me force you to take that seminar on proper workplace conduct again.”
The look of innocence that crosses Tony’s face in response is good enough to fool a priest. With a fond roll of his eyes, Bucky slips silently into a vacant seat. Well, his first day has hardly begun and it’s already turned into quite the entertaining ride. Bucky can’t wait to see what happens next.
***
Bucky is hunched over his desk crammed into his cubicle when he faintly hears a commotion. Tuning out whatever office drama is spreading around, Bucky refocuses on the algorithm he’s grappling with.
“Has anyone told you that you look really sexy chewing on a pen like that?” a voice asks close to his ear. Whirling around, Bucky raises his hands into fists before coming face to face with Tony Stark for the second time in one day.
Blushing with humiliation, Bucky lowers his hands and wills his heart rate to slow. To his credit, Tony hardly flinches and simple remains planted to the ground, hands open non-defensively.
“Sorry,” Tony says with a rueful smile. “Should’ve known better than to sneak up on the army veteran.” Stiffening, Bucky crosses his arms to hide how he is still shaking from leftover adrenaline.
“How do you know I’m a vet?” he growls. Eyes widening, Tony points to Bucky. “Note to self: that growl? Super sexy.” At Bucky’s unimpressed look, Tony sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. “Well between the Stark arm you got there provided to army vets, the indentation under your shirt in the shape of dog tags, and the fact that you’re jumpier than me on my sixth cup of coffee, it was pretty simple,” Tony responds bluntly.
At a loss of what to say, Bucky finds himself voicing the first thing that pops in his head. “I don’t wanna know what you look like with that much caffeine in your system.” With Bucky’s comment, he witnesses as Tony relaxes into an easygoing smile. If he hadn’t been watching him so closely, Bucky wouldn’t have even realized how tense the billionaire was up until then. Man, this guy is a great actor.
With a lackadaisical shrug Tony remarks, “I’m sure you’ll see me bouncing off the walls soon enough.” Then, rubbing his hands together Tony bounces on his toes. “But I didn’t come down here to discuss my unhealthy reliance on caffeine,” he adds enthusiastically.
Pulling a sheaf of papers from his back pocket, Tony brandishes them in front of Bucky. “Pep has given us the green light,” Tony says cheerfully. A brief flash of nervousness crosses his face before slipping back behind a nonchalant mask. “That is, if I haven’t truly scared you off by now.”
Taking the papers and rifling through them, Bucky’s mind races. It had been less than a day since they ran into each other in the elevator and Tony had already gone through all this trouble. On anyone else, such an act would’ve screamed desperation. On Tony Stark, it was adorable. As he flips through the pages Bucky lets out an amused snort as he sees in red ink, hurt him I hurt you. And no I don't mean employment-wise It's nice to know that Tony has someone watching his back.
Releasing a thoughtful hum, Bucky states seriously, “I’ll need my lawyers to look this over with a fine toothed comb.”
Raising his gaze to look at the inventor, Bucky knows his eyes are currently sparkling with mischief. With a groan and a toss of his head Tony whines, “I’m already regretting my choices.”
With a chuckle Bucky takes a step toward Tony until they’re a hair's breadth away. “Something tells me you’ll decide it’s worth it.”
Gaze darkening, Tony allows Bucky to watch him rake his gaze up and down.
Smirking, he remarks lightly, “I suppose you could be right.” Tony takes a step to close the final distance between them and in a burst of inspiration, Bucky steps back and returns to his seat, spinning to face his desk again. Turning to look at Tony over his shoulder Bucky states coyly, “I look forward to hearing where you’ll be taking me on our date.”
Grinning at the sputtering noises Tony makes in response, Bucky sighs contently and returns to his work. This is definitely the best first day at a job ever.