Archive of Our Own

“Natasha’s bringing that human again,” Steve said idly, examining his claws.

Bucky very carefully did not look up from the yarn he was spinning. “That’s neat,” he said, as neutrally as possible.

“It’s summer down in the valley,” Steve continued. “Humans are so sensitive to the weather.”

“It’s certainly something they have to contend with,” Bucky agreed.

Steve glanced at him with knowing eyes, lips twisting into a smirk that showed off sharp teeth as he said, “Natasha says his people have been known to go about in the nude.”

Bucky choked on his tongue and kicked his spinning wheel so hard the wheel almost came off. He grabbed at it frantically, cursing when he realized that he’d broken the thread. He hated rejoining, especially when the yarn tension was wonky like his had been as he’d tried not to imagine the human in less clothing than he’d seen him last time.

“You’re so over the moon for him, it’s sad,” Steve deadpanned, getting to his feet. He walked over to snuffle him lightly. “You even smell frustrated.”

“Get off me,” Bucky snapped, blushing a little, and elbowed him. It didn’t do much good, what with him being in his more humanoid form and Steve in his full yeti form, but the spirit of the move was there.

Steve held up his claws, placating, then heaved a heavy sigh and scratched the back of his head. “Well, I suppose I should go meet them at the boulder. Even Natasha sometimes gets lost in the tunnels.”

“Yeah, you better,” Bucky muttered, then turned sharply, frowning. “They’re coming in?”

“Well, yeah, Tony’s certain he invented a light source that isn’t dependent on oil and I wanna see it,” Steve said, shrugging.

Bucky scowled. If the human came into the caves from outside, he’d almost certainly get uncomfortably cold in his summer garb. But Steve wouldn’t think about that, because he didn’t think about humans’ comfort much, especially when he was allowing them the great honor of coming inside his territory. He supposed he’d have to go with Steve. Just to make sure the human didn’t get too cold. Not because he cared, or anything, but because it would reflect on them poorly if a human died of the cold in their caves.

“You’re such a fucking sap,” Steve muttered as he watched Bucky gather up a cloak in a brilliant red that he’d been working on ‘just for fun, maybe I’ll sell it.’

“Shut up and keep walking,” Bucky snapped at him.

.-.-.-.

Tony frowned and picked at the shorts Natasha had insisted on again. “Are you sure they won’t be offended if I show up in these?”

“Yetis have no opinions on clothes beyond utility,” Natasha repeated for the fifth time, choosing not to give him the satisfaction of her undivided attention. “Also I think Steve is morally opposed to even thinking about clothing. He either wears clothes that a grandpa would wear or things that are much too tight for him.”

“My ass is almost hanging out,” Tony complained. “I can’t bend over in these without flashing anyone behind me and I’ll almost certainly be cold in the caverns.”

Natasha finally looked up from preening herself, her dark, beady eyes cutting into him like highly intuitive glass. “Yes, but it will put you on display for Bucky.”

Tony turned and frowned down at his shorts. “He won’t be offended?”

“He’s an ass yeti,” Natasha said with a shrug.

“And you’re sure he likes me as much as I like him?” Tony asked her skeptically, turning back to her.

Natasha sighed and fell from the branch she’d been perched on, transforming from raven to human in a single breath and landing daintily on her feet. Once she was settled, she looked at Tony and then very deliberately rolled her eyes. “Yes, he likes you too, Tony.”

“Did you change into a human just to roll your eyes at me?!” Tony gasped, offended.

Natasha rolled her eyes again, even got her head into the motion. “Yeah, I did, because you’re being ridiculous. Have I ever steered you wrong?”

“There was that time you convinced me to try and harvest unicorn hair,” Tony began.

“That wasn’t my fault,” she answered immediately.

Tony opened his mouth to tell her that it absolutely was, but was cut off by a gruff voice asking, “What wasn’t your fault?” Then he whipped around, because even though he trusted Steve, his human instinct against predators still put him on edge.

It didn’t help that Steve was built as every bit the leader of his clan that he was—tall, and broad, with a magnificent set of horns that curled around his head like a crown and claws to match in the same shade of icy blue. His fur was so white it was almost tinged gold, and his eyes so blue it was like looking into a pool of water.

At least, that’s what some of the other yetis tittered. Tony could see Steve as regal, but he couldn’t see him as handsome. He was, quite truly, more taken with Steve’s right hand yeti, Bucky, with his long brown hair in his human form, and storm-gray eyes, and the metal arm that extended from his left shoulder that was most certainly a gift from the Red Witch. He hadn’t seen it in action, but he would bet his forge that the arm would shift forms with him. Bucky was quiet, and clever, with a dry wit that slipped out when Tony least expected it. He couldn’t help his eyes drifting over to Bucky from Steve, knowing his expression was immediately smitten and unable to help it.

“…Okay,” Steve said when he realized Tony’s attention had drifted. Then he gave the human a surprised, slow up-and-down. “It must be quite hot at the bottom of the mountain.”

Tony jerked back toward him. “Huh? Yes. What? I mean, yes, it is. Very hot. So hot my a—anyway. I wanted to show you this!” he said, holding up the torch he’d brought along with him. “I’ve managed to make a chemical compound similar to the one that forms an everlasting flame. These won’t be everlasting, but they’ll last at least a year before they need to be refilled! I’m hoping I can refine the compound to make it last longer though. You won’t have to worry about spills, either, because it only works in this special cup I’ve put at the top, so if it falls, the flame will immediately go out, and—”

“Why don’t you come in and show us?” Steve offered, standing aside to wave them into the caves.

“Oh,” Tony began, hesitating, as he looked through the cave opening. He’d been in the caves a few times, and they were always chilly. He couldn’t imagine going in while wearing the outfit Natasha had ordered him to wear, shorts heinously short and shirt cropped at the waist. “Well, I…” He supposed he could do it, just for a little bit. It was warmer further down the mountain. He just needed to get through the caves and then get back down as soon as possible, he supposed.

“Here,” Bucky said, voice gruff, and shoved something at him.

Tony yelped and juggled both the torch and the red cloth. Luckily, Bucky seemed to realize his hands were too full, and he reached out to take the cloth—a beautiful red cloak, Tony realized—to wrap it around his shoulders. “Oh,” he murmured once it was on. “It’s so… so warm.”

“People talk about yetis being cold, but they’re really just well-insulated with their fat and fur,” Natasha explained with a shrug. “A garment made out of yeti fur is perhaps the warmest garment in creation.”

“Oh,” Tony breathed, looking up at Bucky with wide eyes. “I—Thank you. I’ll make sure to give it back to you in the same condition you gave it to me in.”

Bucky shrugged uncomfortably. “No need. I was just going to sell it, so—”

“Oh, well, I could pay you?” Tony offered immediately, fingers curling around the edge of the cloak and rubbing the fabric between them. “Or—I could trade some of the torches for it?”

“You are causing me actual, physical pain,” Steve cut in, stepping up to them, and then reached out to curl his claws around Bucky to give him what looked like a very rough shake, at least to Tony’s human eyes. “Tell him what it is.”

“No,” Bucky choked out.

Steve let out a growl more animal than human and shook Bucky again. “You tell him, or I will.”

“Die,” Bucky choked out.

Tony couldn’t help but shuffle back toward Natasha nervously, because she was watching with interest and not fear so he figured he didn’t need to bolt back down the mountain. “What’s going on?” he asked, anxious, as Steve and Bucky got into what could best be described as a ‘rumbling’ match, each of them growling at each other in a way that vibrated through their whole bodies. “Did I do something wrong?”

Natasha sighed, looking very, very tired. “Red is a very important color among yeti-folk,” she explained, watching to make sure Steve didn’t accidentally murder Bucky or something. “It’s not something that naturally occurs on their bodies, what with their blue-colored blood. Even red-haired yetis are hard to come by, and they’re spoiled rotten when they do happen because they’re seen as a blessing. The dye they use for their fabric is very difficult to get enough of the right flowers for, so the fact that Bucky made this such a rich, deep color would make it even less likely that he would just give it away. So no, Bucky is not going to ‘sell’ or ‘trade’ the courting cloak he made for you—which he must have done, because courting cloaks are deeply personal to each yeti who has offered it to a potential mate.”

“A courting cloak,” Tony breathed, torch falling from his suddenly numb fingers. “For me? This must be a mistake, I—”

“He wouldn’t have given it to you without intent,” Natasha told him firmly.

“Oh,” Tony whispered, tugging the cloak around himself tighter. He took a minute to just bask in how warm and appreciated he felt, then jerked when he realized Natasha was staring at him, eyebrow raised a bit skeptically. “What? Oh, is there—is there something I have to do to accept it, tell him yes, I want to be courted?”

“Say thank you and that you’ll think very carefully about your bouquet,” she answered with a blasé shrug.

Tony frowned, confused. “My bouquet?”

“The courting yeti wears the reciprocal red cloak they get from their partner for the marriage, and the courted yeti wears their courting cloak and carries a bouquet with flowers to show that they were too demure to make the first move,” Natasha explained, and then dipped her head so that he had to make eye contact with her. “Usually with a lot of reds,” she added slowly.

Tony stared at her even as the names of all the flowers he knew of that were red spun through his mind. “Oh,” he said, shocked, then turned, just in time to watch Steve drop Bucky on his ass. “I,” he began, then swallowed and tried again, calling out, “Um, I just wanted Bucky to know that he can definitely turn me down, but, uh—thank you? And I’ll, uh, I’ll definitely think very carefully about my bouquet.”

“I TOLD YOU,” Steve began.

“SHUT UP,” Bucky bellowed back, grabbing one of his horns and tugging him to the ground.

Natasha began ushering him away quickly. “Okay it’s probably best if we go now—”

“What’s going on?” Tony asked, concerned.

Natasha grimaced. “Steve ‘I told you so’ed him too close to your acceptance of the courtship and now Bucky thinks he’s challenging him for you.”

Tony couldn’t help the way his nose wrinkled up. “Ew!”

“Hey!” Steve barked, offended, then yelped when Bucky kicked him in the stomach.

“You’re just riling him up more can we just go,” Natasha hissed.

Tony pouted, crossing his arms. “But I want to see Bucky kick Steve’s ass.”

“Holy shit,” Natasha said, and then grabbed Tony to tug him to the ground with her as the earth shook with a roar. A few seconds later, Steve went flying over them with a scream, and crashed face-first into the ground and slid several feet.

Tony stared at his crumpled form for a moment, then turned to look at Bucky, eyes wide. Bucky had shifted to his own yeti form and was breathing quite hard. He also looked very smug, sharp teeth bared in a grin, and when he noticed Tony looking at him, he straightened up tall and shook his head to draw attention to his horns, which were crackling with ice.

Tony did not know why he found this attractive and did not care, instead getting to his feet and rushing over to him. “Bucky!”

“I hate you,” he heard Steve grumbling as Bucky leaned down to snuffle the top of his head, lifting his hands so that his claws—both the icy blue ones and the silver ones on his prosthetic—could curl around his waist.

“Mine,” Bucky rumbled, and pulled one hand back to delicately fuss at the edges of his cloak with the points of two claws, pulling the fabric so it hid Tony’s body from Steve and Natasha better.

“I hate you,” Steve repeated, but carefully kept his head low, and his claws curled into his hands, and his horns as demure as possible. “I didn’t even want him.”

“Everyone should want Tony,” Bucky snapped back immediately.

“But why? I just want you,” Tony said.

Bucky paused, tipping his head to look down at him, then let out a little whimper and curled around Tony with his entire body. “You’re gonna be the death of me. I can’t believe I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I’m just awkward,” Tony answered guilelessly. “Which is fine, I guess, because I thought you didn’t like me either.”

Bucky let out another little whimper and somehow managed to twist himself around Tony’s smaller body even more. “You’re so small and cute, how could I not like you?”

“I’m not small,” Tony complained immediately.

“Tony,” Natasha and Steve scolded, because he could currently fit in one of Bucky’s hands right now, technically.

“I’m not,” Tony muttered to himself, petulant. “Not when I’m around humans. I’m a perfectly average height for my people.”

“Small,” Bucky murmured against his shoulder.

Tony huffed, realized he wasn’t as offended as he thought he’d be, and began complaining again so no one would get the idea that he liked being called small in any tone by anybody, least of all by the yeti he was going to allow to court him.

He didn’t fool anyone, but they allowed him to believe he had anyway.