Chapter Text
Tony snapped backward when Bucky honest to god growled. The former assassin only deigned to open one eye to assess the proximity of the threat. The primal noise, combined with the ferocious glare levelled at his head, was enough to have Tony dancing back a skittish half-step. He clutched a bag of candy to his chest, as though trying to protect his maidenly virtue from the aggressor currently sacked out on his couch.
Steve and Bucky were occupying their usual spot, in the generous space of the shared Avengers lounge. Sprawled all over each other; keeping the others at a healthy distance of at least two arm spans. Bucky’s head was firmly wedged into Steve’s lap, a fact the Cap took great advantage of. He caressed his lover’s short dark hair, until the intimidating sounds petered off into a purr of contentment, and his eye shut again. Then all that can be heard from Bucky was his near-silent breathing, which Steve suspected only his hearing was enhanced enough to actually register.
“I thought he was asleep!” Tony bleated, still horrified at the exchange.
Steve snorted, continuing his soothing ministrations, even as Bucky stiffened beneath his hand. Bucky hated being talked about as though he was not present, since HYDRA acted as though he were mute, unless they were demanding mission debriefs from him. The unimpressed look Steve shot Tony was enough to have the shorter man scuttling back to his own sofa.
“Sleeping whilst on mission is prohibited.” Bucky stated. He somehow managed to sound the epitome of professionalism; and not like a man curled up in his boyfriend’s lap, wearing an over-large sweater with kitten ears attached to the hood.
“On mission?” Bruce repeated. He had the least contact with the team overall, and was therefore less familiar with Bucky’s habits.
Both of Bucky’s eyes popped open. His steely blue gaze fixated on the scientist with absolute sincerity. “Protect Steve.”
He spoke as though this was established fact, which Bruce needed to be reminded of, somehow without the incredulity of one pointing out the obvious. (The flat tone Bucky employed to speak with anyone who wasn’t Steve, went a long way in making his every statement sound like a repetition of orders - even something as innocuous as ‘please pass the salt’.)
“And you can’t take a night off, when you’re somewhere relatively safe?” Bruce pressed. He liked to poke holes in the Avengers’ established norms, whenever he was feeling relaxed enough to know the big guy was unlikely to be released in response to any stupid comment they might make. Bucky’s unimpressed stare deepened, with what it wouldn’t be exaggeration to call ‘menace’.
“‘Relatively safe’ is unquantifiable due to differing parameters per individual,” he replied primly. He was clearly done with this foolish line of reasoning.
“He’s got a point,” Tony chimed in, feeling safer on the other side of the room. “Cap’s among friends!”
Bucky’s hard look travelled over the assembled heroes, slouched across the room in various positions of relaxation. His judgement was swift.
“Irrelevant.”
Tony shot up straight, suddenly alert and looking truly offended by the conversation for the first time. “Now wait just a damn minute,” he started, and Steve dropped his hand from Bucky’s hair to wrap his arm around him instead, anchoring him in place, stopping Bucky from leaping into a defensive position just from the tone of the billionaire's voice.
Steve essentially had Bucky in sideways bear hug, his right arm wrapped around Bucky’s torso, holding him to his lap. He knew the only thing preventing the other super soldier breaking free from his grip was the potential to harm Steve in the struggle. Even a small wiggle from his bionic arm could cause real damage when Steve was exerting enough pressure to prevent such a movement.
“This building is secure.” Tony insisted, “Tell him, JARVIS.”
“Affirmative, sir.” The robotic voice was obediently prompt. “No unauthorised persons or materials detected, oxygen levels safe for human respiration in all rooms, structural integrity at 100%, all alarms activated, systems online.”
“See?” The inventor continued, “And everyone in this room is Steve’s buddy. You gotta know that.”
“No hostiles detected in the immediate vicinity at this time.” Bucky agreed, ignoring Tony’s gratified look, “Threat levels of current occupants subject to change.”
Only Natasha and Steve seemed unruffled by this statement. Bruce, Clint and Tony were all looking mildly insulted and quite surprised at the news. If Thor wasn’t on Asgard, he’d probably be offended he too was considered a potential danger to ‘friend Steve’.
“Are you telling me you’re on constant alert around us, in case one day we just decide to, what? Off Steve?”
“Affirmative.”
Tony looked blown away by this revelation, as though he never considered his companions as threats to his safety, once they’d been established as his friends and comrades in battle.
“That’s... damn.”
Bruce shifted softly. “Pretty stressful way to live,” he said, sympathy shining in his eyes. He’s a man that knows about stress, and Bucky acknowledged this with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“Negative, protecting Steve is a privilege.” Bucky argued, in the same matter of fact manner in which he said everything. As though he hadn’t just declared he didn’t mind the constant pressure, because he’s too in love with Steve to live any other way.
“And I’m grateful for it, every day.” Steve finally waded into the conversation, leaning down, to press a kiss to the side of Bucky’s forehead which was tilted up toward him.
The former assassin turned, finished with the conversation, and captured Steve’s lips with his own, leading him in a deep kiss which continued longer than was socially acceptable. Clint had just cleared his throat pointedly when Bucky pulled away. His eyes immediately honed in on the other occupants of the room, to check their status was still non-threatening.
Satisfied with his assessment, he snuggled back into his original position on Steve’s lap, deceptively languid. Because a tiger at rest is still a tiger.