Work Text:
The club is already packed when Bucky arrives. He bypasses the line and nods at the bouncer, Thor, clapping the huge man on the shoulder as he slips inside. Several scents of interest float toward him as the door closes behind him, but he ignores them, too eager to get into the club.
Inside, the sounds and scents of so many bodies packed together are startling, and would probably have brought a younger, more inexperienced vamp to their knees.
Good thing Bucky’s been at this life for centuries.
He takes a minute just inside the entrance to breathe in deep, separating one scent from another. There are a decent number of humans mixed in tonight, but the thicker scent of the supernatural outweighs them. Vampires, werewolves, fae, a handful of incubi and succubi all coexisting in one space. This club is one of the few places where that’s actually possible.
Another breath, and he finally finds the scent he’s looking for. Bucky lets it lead him to the bar, where he can see even from across the club that a small crowd is gathered at one end. He chuckles as he makes his way through the mass of bodies, the crowd parting easily for him, knowing exactly what he’s going to find when he makes his way through.
Sure enough, perched on the edge of the bar is Tony, holding court over a diverse group of clubgoers. They’re all watching him with rapt attention, hanging on to his every word. Not that Bucky’s surprised. Tony’s incredibly charming for a human with less than three decades under his belt. And the vampire knows how much Tony loves being the center of attention.
Tony spots him as soon as he steps through the crowd, and the brunette’s entire face lights up with joy. The fact that someone, especially a human who should be utterly terrified of him, could be so happy to see him makes Bucky’s undead heart try to kick back to life every time.
“Hey Buckaroo.”
Bucky snorts at the nickname as Tony slides off the bar to settle at his side. He really should protest at such a ridiculous nickname for someone of his reputation, but he truly has no desire to take away such a simple show of affection from either of them. So he just wraps one arm around the smaller man’s shoulders and presses a kiss to the top of his head. Two elves in Tony’s crowd of admirers aww at them, and Bucky bares his fangs in response. He’s the leader of the most powerful coven in the city, he shouldn’t be cooed at like a fledgling.
But all thoughts of showing off how powerful and scary he can be flee the instant he looks down into bright brown eyes. Tony’s still grinning at him, and Bucky’s powerless to stop himself from leaning down to give his lover a proper kiss. It makes the entire crowd cheer, and this time he really does growl at them.
Apparently he’s lost all reputation as a terrifying vampire because most of them just smile in response, and Tony throws back his head in a full body laugh before linking their fingers and towing him through the crowd.
“Come on big bad, I’ve already got us a booth in the back.”
The human steers them easily through the press of bodies, people both consciously and unconsciously stepping out of their way. When they reach a secluded booth at the back of the club, Tony nudges him into the curved bench and slides in after, pressing up against him until they’re touching from shoulder to knee. Bucky’s arm comes up around Tony’s shoulders before he even has a chance to think about it, the instinct to keep a hand on his lover impossible to resist, even if he wanted to.
Next to him, Tony waves a hand, and Pietro appears with drinks for both of them within seconds. The silver-haired nephilim winks as he sets down their drinks before disappearing back into the crowd with a flash of his nearly invisible wings. Cheeky little shit, Bucky thinks as he rolls his eyes again. But Tony has a soft spot for the kid, has a soft spot for the entire staff if he’s really being honest. It’s one of the best things about the human. Strays seem to flock to him, kids who’ve been abandoned by their family or their clan or their coven, and Tony gives them a job at the club or any of the numerous other businesses the man owns.
Hell, Bucky’s own coven is fuller than it’s been in centuries because all Tony has to do is bat those big brown eyes each time another fledgling imprints on him like a baby duck and he’s powerless to say no.
So, maybe it’s his own fault that his reputation as cold and ruthless has been destroyed.
But if he has to choose between being the most feared vamp in the city, and having someone as sweet and loving as Tony by his side, Bucky knows the choice is an easy one. He spent hundreds of years alone, hiding from the city in the coven house as everything moved and changed around him. Loving Tony has brought back a piece of his humanity he thought had been gone forever.
It’s the reason that, despite Tony’s increasingly unsubtle hints that he’s amenable, Bucky’s been reluctant to turn him. He doesn’t want to see the other man lose that humanity, lose that sweet and caring nature or his love for the people around him.
Natalia thinks he’s being foolish. Between his second in command and his lover, he has a feeling it won’t be long before they wear him down completely. But as he glances down at Tony curled up against his side, drink in one hand and the other resting warm and solid on Bucky’s thigh, his eyes stray to a spot of golden skin on Tony’s neck where his bite would sit perfectly.
Maybe Natalia’s right. Maybe it is time.
Decision quietly made, he tilts his head just enough to press his lips against that patch of skin. Bucky’s eyes flick up just in time to pick up the ghost of a knowing smile before Tony can hide it behind his glass of whiskey. He straightens, thinking they’ve had enough time at the club for one night. It’s about time to go home.
They’ve got a lot to talk about.