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Bucky had nothing to do. Everyone was either not in the tower or busy, and Bucky was so bored. He had already trained in the gym for two hours and watched four episodes of The Office. It was a good show and he was glad that Sam recommended it to him, but he was starting to feel restless from sitting on the couch for too long.
“Is there anyone in the tower that I can go see, JARVIS?” Bucky asked, looking up at the ceiling. He knew that the artificial intelligence wasn’t actually located there, but he felt like he needed to look somewhere.
“Sir is in his workshop, if you would like to visit him,” JARVIS responded.
Bucky raised an eyebrow at the AI, surprised by his response. He had never been invited into Tony’s workshop before. They had been spending a lot of time together on the common floor and even in Tony’s penthouse, but never in his lab. Bucky really liked being with Tony. The inventor was intelligent, funny, kind hearted, and he made Bucky feel at home in the tower right away. Bucky was nervous about moving in after Steve found him in Washington DC, but Tony quickly became one of his closest friends.
If Bucky had to be honest, he wished that Tony was more than a close friend. He loved the sight of Tony’s smile whenever he was explaining one of his projects and the sound of his laugh when Bucky made a stupid joke. Bucky was falling hard and it seemed like everyone could see it except for Tony. One day, Bucky would have the courage to tell Tony how he felt, but not yet.
“Are you sure?” Bucky asked.
“Yes,” the AI responded simply.
It wasn’t that Bucky thought that he wasn’t welcome in the workshop, he just wasn’t expecting JARVIS to be so casual about it. It was where Tony spent most of his time and kept all of his important projects. Bucky didn’t feel worthy, but he made his way there anyway as JARVIS gave him the directions.
Bucky froze when he entered the workshop, absolutely baffled by what he saw.
When Bucky had daydreamed about what Tony's workshop would look like, he had expected it to be filled with brilliant technology and a lot of coffee machines. He was mostly right, but he definitely did not expect it to be covered in glitter. It was everywhere, all over the tables and equipment. A mixture of all colors of the rainbow were so prominent that Bucky almost didn’t notice Tony and DUM-E sitting across from each other at a table. DUM-E was wearing a birthday hat, and each of them had a slice of cake in front of them. Even though two pieces of cake were cut out, Bucky was able to see that “Happy Birthday Tony” was written in red frosting.
“It’s your birthday?” Bucky asked Tony, announcing his arrival. He was disappointed that he hadn’t known; he would have done something for him if he did.
Tony’s eyes widened in surprise when he noticed Bucky was there. “Uh, yeah.”
“Mind if I join?” Bucky asked.
Tony stared at him for a brief second and then responded, “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Bucky sat down in a seat between Tony and DUM-E. “Happy birthday!” he exclaimed.
“I swear this wasn’t my idea,” Tony said, gesturing to the party in his workshop, “DUM-E goes overboard for my birthday.”
“I like it. Where’s your party hat?” Bucky asked. DUM-E was wearing one but Tony wasn’t. The bot let out some excited beeps when Bucky asked and used his claw to slide another hat forward on the table.
“DUM-E, I already told you no,” Tony huffed, and the bot responded with a few sad beeps.
“Sir, DUM-E had me purchase these hats two months in advance,” JARVIS informed the inventor.
Tony looked up at DUM-E and sighed. “I’m sorry, buddy. I’ll wear it! Thank you for planning this,” he said as he put on the party hat. It was Iron Man themed, most likely intended for a child’s birthday party, but Bucky thought it looked amazing on Tony.
DUM-E let out a bunch of excited beeps, and Tony smiled. It was a nice thing to observe, Bucky thought. DUM-E absolutely adored his creator and it was evident that Tony cared a lot about him too.
“Do you throw Tony a party every year?” Bucky asked DUM-E. The bot responded by sliding a plate in Bucky’s direction, wanting him to have a piece of cake.
“It’s kinda stupid,” Tony began to explain as blush appeared on his cheeks. “Howard wasn’t around often when I was a kid, so I was usually alone on my birthday. Once I made DUM-E we were able to celebrate together. It’s been a tradition that DUM-E takes seriously every year.”
Bucky chuckled, looking around the workshop once again. There really was glitter everywhere. Some had even got into Tony’s hair and DUM-E’s claw.
“It’s not stupid to want to celebrate your birthday, Tony,” Bucky told him. Tony made it seem like it was all DUM-E’s idea, but Bucky saw right through it.
“I usually don’t tell anyone when it’s my birthday besides DUM-E,” Tony said with a shrug.
Bucky realized that JARVIS led him to the workshop so he could celebrate Tony’s birthday with him. Tony was never going to invite him himself, even though Bucky wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“After we finish this cake, we’re going to have the best day ever,” Bucky stated.
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”
“Yep,” Bucky replied with a slight nod. “Me, you, DUM-E, and JARVIS.”
“You want to spend my birthday with me?” Tony asked incredulously.
“I want to spend everyday with you,” Bucky told him before he could stop himself. He immediately felt his face get hot and he was most likely as red as a tomato.
“What?” Tony asked reflexively, clearly shocked.
Bucky couldn’t believe that he actually said that. He was doing such a great job of hiding his feelings from Tony, even though everyone else in the tower saw right through him. Assuming that someone as great as Tony didn’t like him back, Bucky thought that he just ruined everything. He wasn’t ready for things to change between them. The thought of Tony shutting him out made his stomach churn; he wasn’t ready for rejection.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Bucky said as he prepared to stand up, ashamed that he ruined both Tony’s birthday and their friendship. He messed up and he was going to have to deal with it on his own.
“Stay,” Tony said before Bucky could leave.
“Really?”
“I want to spend everyday with you too,” Tony told him with a soft tone.
Before Bucky could think of something to say, DUM-E began to roll around the table as he beeped enthusiastically. This caused Tony’s eyes to light up as he laughed, and Bucky couldn’t stop himself from looking at him. He was too far gone.
“That’s good,” Bucky said, finally realizing that Tony reciprocated his feelings. Before, Bucky was too distracted by DUM-E and Tony to fully process what was said.
Bucky never expected Tony to feel the same way about him. He was an ex-assassin who barely knew who he was. Tony was the most fascinating person that Bucky had ever met, so he didn’t think that he was deserving of Tony’s attention.
“I think I know what I want for my birthday,” Tony smirked.
“What do you want?” Bucky asked, prepared to give him anything he wanted, because that was what he deserved.
“I want you to kiss me,” Tony said simply.
Normally, Bucky would have had a hard time believing that someone like Tony wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t want to second guess himself. He stood up and after gently guiding Tony out of his chair, he cupped the genius’ face in his hands and gave him a soft kiss. Feeling Tony’s lips on his own was absolutely perfect and it was hard for him to pull away.
“Happy birthday,” Bucky said with a gentle smile.
Tony’s eyes brightened. “Best birthday ever.”
DUM-E continued to beep as he circled around Bucky and Tony. Bucky was genuinely happy for the first time in so long.
“DUM-E is happy you guys finally kissed. He told me to invite Sergeant Barnes to the party,” JARVIS told them.
Tony turned to DUM-E with a dramatic expression. “You pest,” he said to him, trying to sound angry, but his laughter was slipping through his words.
“He means well, Sir. And I honestly agree with him. We have both been waiting for this moment for a while,” JARVIS said.
Bucky was slightly embarrassed, but his happiness was most prominent. He got to kiss Tony, his favorite person in the world. And Tony wanted to kiss him too! Bucky wasn’t sure that he would ever be happier than he was at this moment.
DUM-E rolled back to the table and gestured to the cake with his claw. Most of the cake was uneaten, which made the bot sad.
“Mind if I have some cake? I don’t think you can finish it on your own,” Bucky asked.
“Sure. But you underestimate me, Buckaroo. I can eat multiple cakes.”
Bucky took a slice of cake, and it was delicious. It was a chocolate cake with vanilla icing, and he knew that if he had the chance, he could eat the entire thing.
“DUM-E, you’re going to clean up all of this glitter, right?” Tony asked as he ate his slice.
Bucky let out an amused laugh. “I think you’ll be finding glitter around here for weeks.”
The glitter was literally everywhere and Bucky had no idea how DUM-E or Tony were going to get rid of it all. It was really sweet though, DUM-E was expressing his love for Tony through glitter. Bucky knew that Tony was going to complain about the glitter for a while, but deep down, he was happy that DUM-E did this for him.
“I’m really glad DUM-E and JARVIS invited me to the party,” Bucky said.
“Me too,” Tony said with a soft smile. “I liked my present.”
“I’m sure I can give you more presents if you’d like.”
“I would like that very much,” Tony winked.
Bucky would like it too. He liked everything about Tony.