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“Hoozair?”
Bucky jerked awake, flailed, and fell off the tiny sofa with a thump. He pushed himself up and looked around with wild eyes, one hand pushing the hair out of his face. “Whazza- Where- Steve! Did you just flick me in the ear?!”
“Of course not, Buck.” Steve calmly reached down to flick his ear again.
Bucky gasped dramatically, flopping back on the ground with an arm thrown over his eyes. “I can’t believe you’d betray me like this. I trusted you with that information, Steve!”
Steve rolled his eyes. “You didn’t trust me with shit. I literally found out yesterday.”
“And you should’ve respected that I let you know!”
“You burst out laughing. Then you froze and ran out of the room.”
“I was embarrassed, okay! Why would you even kiss my ear, there are so many other places your mouth could’ve been-”
“My pants were halfway down my knees, Buck. You left me there, all alone.”
Steve bit his lip to keep from smiling as Bucky glared at him from the ground. “You asshole! I’m ticklish ! Stop trying to guilt trip me! You made me fall off the sofa!” He pushed himself to his feet and loomed over Steve menacingly. Steve stuck his tongue out at him and he snarled, tackling the blond back onto the cushions. Steve winced as his head hit the armrest, his sketchbook falling from his hand onto the floor. Bucky’s hair brushed his cheeks, falling around his face like a curtain. He looked up into Bucky’s eyes, pale and furious, and grinned, unrepentant.
Bucky jabbed him in the side and scowled when Steve smirked. “Just because the serum stuffed all your squeamish spots with muscle and ruined my fun, doesn’t mean you can take advantage of us ordinary people, Steve. Where is the justice? The humanity?!”
“Ordinary people? Please.” Steve scoffed. “And we’re conveniently ignoring all the times you tackled me and left me gasping when we were kids, huh? I had asthma, Bucky-”
“I never tackled you when you were sleeping- ”
“I could’ve died!"
“Well, I could have died too!”
“From falling off the sofa? Because you’re a delicate little flower, right, how could I forget-”
“You could’ve jostled my shoulder like a normal person, you didn’t need to attack me -”
“You were drooling all over my lap, you jerk! And we gotta-”
“Um, guys?”
Bucky’s glare shifted to a point behind Steve’s head, and Tony yelped. There was a clang as something fell to the floor. Steve craned his neck back to see.
They were in Tony’s workshop, Bucky hovering over Steve on the tiny blue sofa in the corner. Their corner, as Steve liked to think of it.
They'd started coming down when they realized Tony rarely ate a square meal a day. It started with Steve leaving lunch for him and quietly going back upstairs, Tony barely registering his presence. When Bucky came to the tower and decided to stay, they’d make the trip down together, staying a while to talk to Tony and mess around with the bots. And after a few weeks of this they just...stopped leaving.
Tony had eyed Steve warily in the beginning. But that was before Steve made him blueberry pie and Tony had smiled at him for the first time, a real smile. He’d been tense again when Bucky’d moved into the tower, one-armed and fresh out of brainwashing, curious about everything that moved and glowed and flew . Steve had braced himself, hiding his face behind his sketchbook as Bucky poked at Dum-E, expecting Tony to kick them both out any second. But after a few weeks of suspicious glances, Tony had shrugged and accepted Bucky’s presence. He’d indulged Bucky and his questions, pleasantly surprised when they were clever and fun to answer. The two would get into long and passionate discussions about cars and engines, only pausing to whine when Steve dragged them both upstairs to eat actual food. Tony would wink and smirk and flirt, and Bucky would grin mischievously, that old swagger back in his step, giving as good as he got. Tony would give him car parts to tinker with, brushing it off as no big deal, and Bucky would beam happily, and Steve would sit on the sofa sketching, trying and failing to hide his smile.
Tony built Bucky a new arm. Steve had cried a little - not that he would ever admit it.
That had been months ago. These days, Tony barely glanced up when the two men waltzed in with food. They’d greet the bots, set a covered plate and a juice box down on a free surface and squish themselves onto his worn out sofa, Steve with a sketchbook and Bucky with a book or the tablet Tony had given him. It was a tight fit, but they made do. They spent the evening hours down there, only getting up (reluctantly) when it was time to herd Tony back upstairs for dinner. It was a much more reliable system than hoping he would remember to eat on his own.
Plus, it always made them happy to see Tony absentmindedly munching on whatever food they’d brought him, sipping his juice after Dum-E carefully stuck the straw in (he didn’t always put it through the foil hole, but it worked out). They made sure he ate a couple of vegetables every day. On good days, he drank a few bottles of water without throwing a fit about being babied.
And if they saw Tony more now, and spent more time with him, that was just a bonus. Anything was better than when he would blearily stumble into the kitchen every morning for coffee, grunt at anyone who talked to him, and then lock himself in his workshop for the rest of the day. Tony had survived on caffeine and spite for most of his adult life, and when Steve had confronted him, he’d insisted it was fine, he was fine. Steve had given him an unimpressed look like only Captain America could, and it had become even harder to ignore when Bucky had joined in.
Steve was glad Tony hadn’t kicked him out, that first day and every day since. Tony let them bring him food and make themselves at home in his space, and Steve knew that was a big deal for him. The trust, slow to build but no longer fragile, shifting from tentative smiles to full blown grins, warmed his heart. He knew how grateful Bucky had been too, to have someone trust him and let him in, no questions asked, no judgement for his past. He was doing so much better now. They all were.
Steve was so glad.
He snapped back to the present when Bucky tried to tickle his neck. He saw Steve's flat stare and drooped, disappointed. Steve rolled his eyes and pushed Bucky off of him. Bucky flailed for purchase, narrowly avoiding falling off. Steve ignored him, pushing himself up on his elbows so he could turn and see.
Tony was leaning around a holoscreen and staring at them with wide eyes. “Are you two...okay?”
“Never better, sweetheart,” Bucky drawled, winking, hanging onto the back of the sofa for dear life. He grinned lazily and straightened, running his other (metal) hand through his hair suavely. “Why would you think we weren’t-”
Steve jabbed him in the (biological) armpit and he let out a startled bark of laughter before falling off the sofa with an “oomph”.
“Oh my god!” Tony screamed as Steve cackled. “Bucky! Are you- Steve , oh god, Bucky don’t tackle him, you dinosaur , are you guys okay?!”
“Don’t let him fool you, doll,” Bucky growled, “He’s fine - just doesn’t know when to quit it. ” Steve squirmed underneath him, pinned by Bucky’s hands. He heard Tony gulp nervously. Aw. It was sweet to know he cared. His soft smile turned to an outraged squawk when Bucky leaned down and bit the tip of his nose.
“Ugh! Bucky!” Steve glared up at him. He wriggled an arm free and tried to jab him in the side. Bucky scowled and stood up, backing out of tickling range. “Fine, be that way, Rogers. There are other people here who actually love me, and won’t use my weaknesses against me!” He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled charmingly at Tony, who was doing a wonderful impression of a fish, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing. Bucky winked at him. “Ain’t that right, honey?”
Steve watched Tony's brain short circuit and grimaced in sympathy. He could barely handle the full force of Bucky's smoulder focused on him, and he had the super serum and a few months of dating under his belt. Tony never stood a chance.
“Um, uh, I, well you, I, um.” Tony cleared his throat. “What?”
Steve took pity on him and stood, smacking Bucky upside the head. The bedroom eyes morphed into a glare that he redirected at Steve, who ignored him, picking up his sketchbook and pretending he didn’t hear Tony’s sigh of relief. “Come on Buck, stop messing with him. He’s busy, and we are too - we promised Nat we’d help her with the speech, remember?”
“How do you get away with calling her Nat?” Bucky whined. “I called her Tasha once and her knife almost nicked my eyebrow! I only survived because I tripped over Clint’s shoe on my way out the window!”
“We have a special bond,” Steve deadpanned, flipping through his sketchbook. He found the page and turned to Tony with a smile, eyes widening when he realized the man was crawling under his desk on all fours, looking for his fallen screwdriver.
Facing away from them.
“Guh.”
Bucky guffawed. “Real eloquent, Steve. Put all those speeches and PSA’s to shame, right there.” Steve reached up and flicked his ear again without looking away, ignoring Bucky’s outraged yelp.
“Aha!” Tony crawled back out from under the table, grinning triumphantly. His hair was a mess, and there was grease on his cheek and Steve wanted to scoop him up into a hug and never let him go.
He blinked. Tony was back on his feet, looking at them with an eyebrow raised. “What speech? Oh, Natasha’s? Yeah you guys should go, you know how she gets when people are late.” He waved his screwdriver at them in a ‘shoo’ motion and turned back around. “Now where did I leave that wrench?”
“We got time, doll. And we’ll be, uh, back soon. Once we help Natasha with her peach.” Bucky’s eyes were fixed on Tony’s rear end as he bent over again.
Steve smacked him upside the head. “Her speech, Bucky.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
He didn’t look away. Steve sighed. He couldn’t blame him. He carefully pulled the page out of his sketchbook, glancing up once before blushing and looking away again. In his defence, Tony was muttering to himself (adorable!) and getting increasingly frantic as he looked for his...whatever he was looking for. In the bottom drawers.
Steve cleared his throat.
Tony turned, looking at him quizzically. He had his safety glasses on, and his hair was a mess. He looked like a fuzzy bug. Steve could feel his grin go a bit goofy. He was so cute .
Steve held out the page and Tony’s eyes widened. He reached out and frowned, realizing he’d pulled his gloves on. Steve winked and set the page down on the desk, moving a coffee mug over a corner so it wouldn’t fly away. “See you, Tony,” he said, embarrassed, and turned on his heel to flee.
Steve walked quickly to the workshop door, ignoring Bucky’s shit-eating grin. He paused when he heard Tony sigh fondly, and couldn’t help turning back. Tony was smiling at him, amused. “Dum-E again?”
Steve’s cheeks went pink. “Um, yeah. Of course.”
“Another one? You’re spoiling him, Steve. He’s running out of space on his corkboard.”
Steve leaned on the doorframe, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. “He deserves to be spoiled a bit, Tony.”
Tony hummed. “Maybe. But you don’t have to draw him so much, you know. It’ll make him vain. He’ll develop a complex.”
“I like drawing him.” Not as much as I like drawing you , he didn’t say.
“Well if he starts throwing tantrums and talking back to me, I’m blaming it on you, Steve.” Tony winked at him.
Steve smiled helplessly. “I’m just glad y-he likes them,” he said, quickly turning away. He could feel his face flushing warmer. Stupid pale skin.
Tony scoffed. “Of course he likes them, they’re beautiful.”
Steve couldn’t stop smiling. Bucky poked him in the cheek as they left the workshop. He scowled, but the smile was back a few seconds later.
Bucky laughed at him all the way up the stairs and into the common room. Enough was enough. Steve stuck his foot out to trip him.
Bucky yelped and tumbled onto the carpeted floor, his head narrowly missing the coffee table. He rolled over to lie on his back and pointed up at Steve, laughing louder and jerking to the side to avoid the foot Steve kicked out at him. Steve stuck his tongue out at him and he grinned.
“I told you we should just ask him out, Steve! Why are you still embarrassing yourself with this wooing shit? It’s been weeks!”
“Because Tony deserves to be wooed a little, okay!”
“He thinks the sketches are for his robot!”
Steve sighed in despair, running a hand through his hair and looking down at his sketchbook despondently. “Yeah. I don’t blame him. Most of the sketches I leave him are of Dum-E. He probably got the wrong idea. I just - I like drawing things he makes. He’s an artist too, you know. His suit is just - wow. And Dum-E is his quirky robot son. His child. I can’t not draw him.”
Bucky's grin softened. "Aw, Steve. That's sweet. But,” He hesitated. “Do you only leave him sketches of the bots?"
"No." Steve said miserably. "Sometimes I draw the suit. Him in the suit. One time I drew the bots and the suit."
"Well that's. Cool."
"I'm hopeless!" Steve wailed, collapsing face-down on the couch. "We're never going to date him at this rate."
Bucky sat up on the floors and scooched closer to the couch. He patted his butt comfortingly. "There, there, Steve. Don't worry we'll get there. Somehow. Eventually.” There was a pause. “Maybe you could leave him something different next time?"
"I tried,” Steve mumbled into the cushions. He turned his head to face Bucky, whose eyebrow was arched questioningly. “Uh, today I drew Dum-E and him. Playing catch. I thought he'd like it.”
“Aw Steve, that sounds so cute, I bet he’ll love it.”
“I don’t know. It’s stupid. And he was too busy to look at it anyway. He’ll probably think it’s lame."
“Your drawings aren’t lame, Steve.” Bucky frowned.
"I guess they’re not too bad, but - it’s just - this is pathetic, Buck!” Steve sat up, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “He should’ve caught on by now! People have been trying to date him his whole life, haven’t they? How are we supposed to make it clearer that we're interested? We bring him food, we flirt. I leave him sketches, you made him those little keychains with that shiny wire. And he smiles at us and he seems happy when we give him stuff, but he’s also not taking the hint?”
Bucky hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe we need to be more forward.”
“But we can’t be too forward, you know?”
“We should just jump him. He wouldn’t complain. Much.”
“ Bucky. ”
“What, Steve? What we’re doing now isn’t working. Do you have a better idea?”
Steve winced. Bucky was probably right. They needed to be more...obvious about their intentions. But they couldn’t just attack him. And if they tried to talk about feelings, Tony would just run. He’d done it before. Several times.
Bucky frowned. “Now that I think about it, those keychains were shaped like the bots too.”
Steve groaned, burying his face in his hands. “We’re hopeless .”
They sat in dejected silence for a moment. Then Bucky snickered. “Maybe you should leave him one of the other sketches of him.” Steve looked down at him, confused. Bucky wiggled his eyebrows. “C’mon, Stevie, you know the ones. The ones of him with us . Or even those sketches of just him .” He smirked when Steve blushed.
“You know I can’t - Bucky! I couldn’t - I would never! He can’t- Stop laughing, you jerk!”
“‘Course you can’t give those to him. ‘Cause those ain’t sketches, are they, Steve? They’re pornography!”
“Bucky!” Steve yelled, scandalized. The flush spread all the way to the tips of his ears. “Stop it!”
“Oooh I know that look! You were drawing him today, weren’t you!” Steve made an embarrassed noise and hid his face in his hands again. Bucky bounced excitedly.. “What is it? One of your softcore shirtless poses? Is he smirking at you over his shoulder again? Cuddled up between us on the couch? Are there smoochies, Steve?” He leaned his elbows on Steve’s thigh, looking up at him innocently. “Or is he being especially naughty today? Did you bring out the handcuffs, Stevie? C’mon, let me see.” He reached for Steve’s sketchbook.
Steve kicked him in the side, snatching it up from the floor quickly. “No, I don’t think I will, since you seem to find them so funny!” he said primly. “I draw the things I love and I’ll only show them to people who actually appreciate them!”
“You draw the things you- okay.” Steve narrowed his eyes as Bucky visibly forced himself not to laugh. “Steve, come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just,” He giggled, raising his hands in surrender when Steve glared at him. “I’m not laughing at you, I swear! I just, when I first saw your sketchbook I almost couldn’t believe it.”
“That’s because you weren’t supposed to see it, you stole that sketchbook and ran like a crazed hyena-”
“I thought your sketches would be of him wrapped up in Iron Man blankets, or snoring into his coffee mug, or, I don’t know, just smiling. You know, fluffy stuff. Pure. Wholesome.”
Steve scowled defensively. “I draw wholesome stuff!”
Bucky snorted.
“I do! I draw Dum-E! He’s wholesome! And I draw Tony with Dum-E! That’s wholesome!" Steve yelled, kicking him again harder.
Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know you’re wholesome as fuck, Steve, but I also know you’ve sketched Tony with exactly zero clothes on, and now I can’t look at your sketches the same way again. You probably picture him naked every time you draw him!"
“It’s so I can get his muscle structure right, you ass!”
“ His ass, you mean-”
“I don’t want him to look wonky!”
“You don’t want his ass to look wonky-”
“Anatomy is important for art!”
“So you admit it!” Bucky crowed. “You admit you picture him naked! Mr. Rogers, not as pure as everyone thinks he is. Ow , cut it out Steve, that actually hurt.” He scowled when Steve just kicked him again. "Anyway, your porny drawings are not the point. The point is, Tony doesn't realize you're giving him the drawings because you like him. He probably thinks that’s the only reason you spend time down there is to draw his bots and his suits.”
Steve made a wounded noise. Bucky was probably right. Tony’s insecurities’ insecurities had insecurities. If only he could collect all Tony’s issues in a box and ram his shield into it, maybe that would take care of them. He just wanted to take care of him, goddamnit . "Well, you flirt with him too much, Buck. Now he thinks anything you say to him is a joke!" Steve wished he could be smug about it, but honestly at this point it was just sad.
Bucky winced. "Yeah. Steve, I’m not gonna lie, I’m getting kinda desperate here. We can’t keep doing the things we’ve been doing, he thinks they’re friend things. We gotta do different things. Boyfriend things!
They both considered this.
Bucky snapped his fingers. “Maybe we could write him a letter or something.”
Steve frowned, unconvinced. “Do people even write letters anymore?”
“Maybe an e-mail? That’s a thing now, isn’t it?”
“Tony doesn’t read those, he has JARVIS filter them for him. Hate mail, cult invitations and declarations of love are sent straight to the bin. I asked.”
“Huh. OK. Well, if sending him words isn't gonna work, maybe the sketches will get us somewhere. Not the sexy ones, stop looking at me like that, Steve, I mean those cheesy ones you draw and then hide away so you can stare at them longingly later. Don’t give me that look, I’ve seen you at it. Draw more of those. And give them to him, Steve. Show him you like drawing him .”
Steve opened his mouth to retort, then frowned at the sketchbook in his hands. Bucky was right, he lamented as he flipped through the small notebook, page after page of bright eyes and bare skin and carefully shaded in goatees. A lot of them were...explicit. But there were also several sketches of Tony falling asleep at his work table, and of him smirking, and laughing, and just being comfy, wrapped up in blankets with a fantastic bedhead, huddled in stolen hoodies as he clutched his coffee mug. Just Tony being Tony. Steve smiled as he saw them, fingers brushing softly brushing over Tony’s smile. He wished he could show these to him, wished Tony could see how Steve saw him, but he - he couldn’t. Just the thought of it made him squirm.
Bucky plopped down on the couch next to him, knocking shoulders with him and smiling wryly. Steve smiled back, a little sadly. He handed him the book, watching as he flipped through it just like Steve had, smile turning soft and fond.
Bucky raised an eyebrow and tilted the book to show him a sketch of the three of them he’d done last week. Steve blushed. He remembered drawing this one, every line, every little detail. They were naked, the three of them, kneeling on Steve’s bed, wrapped around each other so tightly you could just barely make out where one ended and the other began. Steve and Bucky had Tony sandwiched between them, Steve’ hands on his hips as he sucked at his neck from behind, Bucky’s mouth pressed low on his abdomen, metal hand playing with a nipple and the other hand trailing down, fingers dipping below the strategically sketched sheets. Tony’s head was thrown back, his eyes closed and his mouth wide open.
“Today’s sketch of us is much tamer, I swear.” He said, leaning his head on Bucky’s shoulder as he kept turning pages.
“Uh huh, if you say so, Steve.”
“No, really! It’s the three of us, but we’re clothed.” He cleared his throat. “Mostly. We’re lazing around by the pool. Wearing swim trunks. Cuddling.” He tucked his face into Bucky’s neck bashfully. “You’re rubbing sunscreen on his back.”
“God, Steve, you and your poolside fantasies,” Bucky poked him in the side and Steve grinned into Bucky’s shoulder, unrepentant. Bucky rolled his eyes. “For someone who draws such racy stuff, you’d expect your favourite fantasy to be, I don’t know, knotting or something.”
Steve spluttered and straightened up to glare at him. “I don’t- How would that - I can’t even - Bucky!”
Bucky winked at him and turned another page, laughing as Steve made a disgusted sound. “Aw, come on Steve, it was a joke. Come here, put your head back on my shoulder, that was nice.”
“I can’t even look at you right now, Bucky.” He scooted away from him, putting a good two feet between them. “Oh my God. Knotting, I can’t believe you would-How would that even work -”
“So you’re thinking about how it works, eh? Curious?” Bucky asked slyly, cackling when Steve turned away from him with a huff, crossing his arms petulantly. “Alright, you baby, stay over there if you’re so sensitive. I’ll just sit here making heart eyes at Tony all by my lonesome. Hey, here’s Monday’s sketch, I remember this one! Ugh, who gave him permission to be so cute. It’s not fair. I want to kiss his stupid face. I want to frame this and look at it every day. Hey Steve, imagine if Tony knew you drew two sketches every day and only gave him the boring one. He'd probably pitch a fit!...Or he’d think he didn’t deserve to see it anyway. He makes me so sad sometimes, Steve, someone that cute should not be so sad, it’s not allowed! Once he agrees to date us, we’re never letting him be sad ever again. I can’t handle it. I only have so many emotions to spare. Oh, this is yesterday’s, aw, Steve, his mouth , I want it all over me. And his hair. God, Steve, he's so cute . Look at him, sitting in your lap, happy as a clam. This is adorable.” Steve rolled his eyes fondly as Bucky rambled. They were both so smitten for this man. “And here’s-” He turned the page and paused, frowning.
“What is it,” Steve asked nervously, sliding closer again to see. That was today’s sketch, and he’d actually been pretty happy with how it turned out. Maybe it looked weird in the light up here? “Do you not like it? I know it’s not the usual style but-” He looked down at the page and froze.
The drawing was beautiful. Tony was laughing, head tilted back, one hand held up to catch a Rubix cube Dum-E was throwing his way.
There were no swim trunks to be seen.
Which meant-
“Fuck!”
Steve shot to his feet and sprinted back down the stairs, ignoring Bucky’s laughter echoing down the stairwell.
Steve burst into the lab just as Tony was pushing his goggles up, gloves clutched in one hand.
“Oh, hey Steve! Back so soon? Thought that speech would take you an hour at least, Natasha being the perfectionist she is. Huh, I guess they call you the Man with a Plan for a reason.”
“Speech - what? Tony, wait, I-”
“Oh hey, your timing’s great, I was just about to look at this! Let me just,” He set the gloves aside and snatched up the paper, grinning. “So what antics does Dum-E get up to in this one? Did he strike a pose this time, I’ve been trying to teach him about modelling, it’s a work in progress but -”
“ Tony, no -”
Steve froze, arm outstretched, as Tony's face went startlingly pale, then turned a red brighter than his armour. He dragged his gaze up to meet Steve's own, eyes wide. "Cap, what-"
Steve bolted.
“Bucky. You are not. Helping.” Steve ground out through gritted teeth.
Bucky sat up, wiping a tear from his eye. “Okay. Okay, I’m done, Steve.”
“That’s what you said two minutes ago.”
“I’m really done this time, Mr. Killjoy.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “So? What did he say?!”
“Nothing?”
“What do you mean, nothing?”
“Well, I-”
“He saw the drawing of the three of us-”
“Bucky-”
“-like that-”
“I can explain-”
“-and he said nothing-”
“I ran, OK!”
“You-” Bucky stared at him for a solid ten seconds before lunging at him. “Steve! You idiot!”
“Well what was I -” He screamed as Bucky tackled him to the floor. “ Ow, Buck, that hurt! Get off-”
“This was the perfect chance, Steve!” Bucky scowled and poked him in the chest. “You just let it slip through your fingers!”
“Well he turned all red, I thought he was angry! Ow, stop poking me!”
“No! You’re a fool!”
“But he was angry!”
“He was embarrassed, you goof!”
“What if he thought it was creepy?”
“He blushed Steve, I don’t think that means he didn’t like it.”
Steve paused.
“And you say he can’t take a hint, oh my God.”
“Bucky. I ran away from him. Bucky.”
Bucky sighed, getting back on his feet and helping Steve up. “Let’s go do damage control.”
The lab was empty.
“Tony? You there, dollface?”
“He’s gone, Buck.” Steve said miserably, checking under the desks and behind the sofa for good measure.
“I didn’t hear the elevator go up, he has to be here somewhere-”
There was a clang of metal and Bucky screamed. Steve turned around frantically, then relaxed when he saw Natasha on Bucky’s shoulders. She had a knife held to his throat.
“Oh hey, Nat. Sorry we missed our appointment. Something came up.”
She stared at Steve, face blank. He looked back calmly. “Is he in the vents then?”
She narrowed her eyes, her other hand tightening in Bucky’s hair. He whimpered, and she ignored him. “Don’t think you’re safe because you’re all the way over there, Rogers. I will get you when you least expect it.”
“Yeah, OK. Is he OK?”
“If you hurt him, I will kill you.”
Bucky gasped in pain.
Steve nodded calmly. “Got it. Location? Please.”
She stared at him for another ten seconds. He looked back calmly, trying to ignore the sweat running down the back of his neck.
She nodded, satisfied, smoothly sliding her knife back into her holster and letting go of Bucky’s hair. “Kitchen,” she said, and Steve detected a note of approval in her voice. He blinked and she was gone.
Bucky stared at him, eyes wild. “What just happened.”
Steve clapped him on the shoulder as he walked past. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“My life just flashed before my eyes.”
“Yeah, she has that effect on people.”
“How are you so calm about this?” He rubbed his neck as they exited the workshop, glass doors sliding shut behind them. “Didn’t she say she’d come for you too?”
Steve shrugged. “She won’t kill me.”
“But how do you know? ”
“I just do.”
“But how - Steve! Do you have leverage or something?”
Steve smiled slyly. Bucky gaped at him. “You have blackmail material on the Black Widow ?!”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But what, why, how-”
Steve shrugged. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“I don’t know why you always insist on using the stairs, Steve. There’s a perfectly good elevator right there.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Then why do you -” Bucky narrowed his eyes. “You’re doing that smile again.”
“What smile?”
“ That smile.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Rogers?”
“I tell you everything Buck, now c’mon, hurry up.”
“I’m so sick and tired of you keeping secrets from me, Steve Rogers, this is not how healthy relationships work.”
“Fine, OK, you can break up with me after we talk to Tony, now hurry up .”
Bucky gaped at him. “Wait, what. This secret is more important than our relationship?”
“Considering my life depends on me keeping it, I’d say yeah, Buck, it is.”
“Your life is more important than our relationship?! I’m wounded.”
Steve flicked his ear. Bucky yelped as they walked into the kitchen. “The audacity. The disrespect. I don’t have to put up with this in my own relationship. Frickin’ fight me Rogers.”
Tony jumped when he heard Bucky’s voice, nearly dropping his coffee mug. “Oh! Natasha said you were in the gym I thought it’d be safe to -” He gazed forlornly at the empty coffee pot. “I’ll just go - “
“Doll, wait-”
“No wait, Tony, don’t-”
Tony turned to face away from them, gripping the counter. “I just wanted to say - I’m sorry Steve.”
“Wha- Tony, you don’t have anything to be sorry for, I-”
“I know you didn’t mean for me to see that, but, well, I did, and it was, it was a really good drawing.” His shoulders hunched and Steve’s heart almost broke. “I get that I wasn’t supposed to see it even though I was, um, in it, and um.” The tips of his ears turn red.
“Oh my god he’s so cute,” Bucky whispered. Steve elbowed him in the side.
“Anyway, it’s fine that you didn’t want to show me, it’s just a fantasy, right, doesn’t mean you want it to be real, haha. Although, I gotta say, I’d be down for a romp in the sack if you did want it- “
“Doll, we - wait, really? You would come to bed with us ? Seriously?”
Tony turned to look at Bucky, frowning. “Of course I would? I mean, have you guys seen you two? I’d be an idiot to say no.”
Bucky lit up like a Christmas tree. “Well then, why waste more time than we already have-”
Steve smacked him upside the head. “Ignore Bucky, Tony, he’s bad with words. What he’s trying to say is that we do want you. It’s not just a fantasy. It’s not just sex. We want you. To, um, date you. If you’d like that?”
Tony squeaked. “I - you want to date me? ”
Steve frowned at him. “Well, of course we do. Have you seen you?”
“But I thought - the drawing - you ran -”
“I was, um, embarrassed?”
Tony gaped at him. “ Embarassed? ”
“Because, you know, that drawing wasn’t exactly, how did Clint say it, safe for work -”
“And you thought I’d care?!”
“I thought you’d be angry!”
“Why would I be angry??”
“Because it was creepy? I don’t know, Tony, I care about what you think because I like you, OK, and so does Bucky, and we’ve been trying to tell you for weeks but you haven’t noticed-”
“ WEEKS?! ”
“Or maybe this is your way of letting us down easy, maybe we should stop-”
“But you never said anything! I thought you didn’t want - that drawing was so beautiful and then you just left -”
“It was embarrassing !”
“- and I realized you’d come down so you could stop me from seeing it, you didn’t want me to see it, because you didn’t want me, you couldn’t want me, not that way, not in real life-”
“Oh honey, no, of course I drew it because I wanted - wait, you liked the drawing? Really?”
Tony frowned at him. “Of course I liked it. Steve, how are you still this insecure about your art. Your sketches are amazing!”
“I - well, thanks Tony, that means a lot, I-”
“Argh! I can’t take this anymore!” Bucky leapt forward and grabbed Tony’s arm, gently pushing him back to the counter. He looked down at him, gaze serious. “Tony.”
Tony stared up at him, wide-eyed. “Um, yeah?” His voice was an octave higher than usual.
Bucky cleared his throat. “I’ve - We’ve wanted to do this for a long time.” He gently tucked a curl of dark hair behind Tony’s ear. “Can I kiss you, Tony?”
Tony opened his mouth, and nothing came out.
Bucky’s hopeful look turned crestfallen. “I - oh. I- I’m so sorry.” He backed off hastily. “I, um, I’ll just-”
“No, wait!” Tony cried, before running at him and jumping . Thank goodness for quick reflexes. Bucky adjusted his grip and had barely opened his mouth before Tony’s was covering it.
Steve gaped. Was it really that easy?
It took a few seconds for him to get over the shock, and then Bucky kissed Tony back, softly, sweetly. Tony melted in his arms.
Steve’s heart had never felt so full.
They parted slowly, smiling. Then Tony turned to Steve and grinned. “Well? You coming over here, or are you just gonna stand there and watch?”
Steve blushed and stepped up close, wrapping his arms around both of them. He couldn’t stop smiling .
“Mr. Rogers, how naughty.”
Steve groaned as Bucky cackled. “That’s what I said. The first one I saw-”
“ Stole,” Steve corrected. He was ignored.
“-I opened it expecting cutesy shit I could tease him about, and I got a full on bondage scene.”
Tony turned to Steve, eyes wide. Steve winked. “I’ll show you later hon, don’t worry.”
“But he draws cheesy stuff too, it’s adorable, turn to the next one, doll.” Bucky winked at Steve from Tony’s other side. “It’s one of Steve’s favourites.”
Steve shrugged. It was.
Tony scoffed. “What, you expect me to believe it’s better than the shirtless -” He turned the page and stopped, cheeks flushing. “Oh. Oh.”
“I know, right?”
Steve smiled fondly at his boyfriends, throwing an arm on the back of the sofa behind Tony’s shoulders. Bucky and him were in Tony’s workshop, and this time, Tony was sitting between them. It was perfect.
“This is lovely.” Tony leaned up to kiss Steve’s cheek, grinning when it turned pink almost instantaneously. “You know, Steve, if you’d showed me this one, I’d have jumped you, right there and then. You wouldn’t have had time to run away.”
“Ha! I told you so, Steve. You should’ve showed him one ages ago.”
Steve rolled his eyes, reaching further around Tony to flick Bucky’s ear . “Yeah, yeah, you’re a genius. That’s how we finally got together too, because your master plan worked out, remember?”
Tony turned to Bucky, eyebrow raised. “How did you two get together? You were pining up a storm for months,” He ignored their outraged spluttering, “And then you left for vacation and came back two days later all touchy-feely. Thor won that bet, by the way, I was so sure you’d take at least until Christmas to get your shit together.”
“Wait, you guys were betting on us getting together?” Steve asked, bewildered. They ignored him.
Bucky shrugged. “Well, it was a road trip, remember, we took your car. Great mileage by the way, how did you get it to run so - OK, fine Steve, stop giving me that look, story first, shop talk later. Well, anyway, Steve really wanted to see the Niagara Falls. And it gets loud up there. Not too loud, but enough that it’s noticeable. We were up at Terrapin point, Steve was smiling his ‘i’m totally drawing this once we get home’ smile, and I turned to him and said ‘Hella view.’”
Steve groaned. Bucky grinned at him. “And apparently he thought I said “I love you,” so he went tomato red and squeaked “I love you too,” like a complete dork,”
“I didn’t squeak , Bucky, I was just surprised.”
“So I took pity on him and kissed him,” Bucky finished.
Steve scoffed. “No you didn’t. You tried to run!”
“Well I didn’t get very far, did I?”
“You tripped and fell over the railing! You could’ve died!”
“But I didn’t. It all went exactly as planned.”
Steve gave him a flat stare. “You are such a dumbass. If I hadn’t grabbed your arm you would’ve gone down with the water.”
“And I thanked you with a kiss, didn’t I? I don’t know why you complain about this so much, Stevie. Let it go.”
“Ugh, I should have.”
Bucky batted his eyelashes at him. “But you wouldn’t let me drown, Stevie, you love me.”
Tony stared back and forth between them, mouth agape. “What - you nearly fell - you almost died?! How are you guys so calm about this?”
Steve and Bucky exchanged glances. Bucky shrugged. “I mean, I probably would’ve survived? We’ve fought things that dealt out more force than some pretty water, I’m sure.” Bucky saw Tony’s pale face and hurried to reassure him. “Don’t worry, doll, I’m fine. There are probably more things that could kill me inside this tower than there are outside of it at this point, what with Natasha’s knives and death threats.”
Tony stared at him. “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”
Bucky winced. “A little?”
“She threatened you? And you’re still alive?”
“I’m just as surprised as you are, babe.”
Steve, busy playing with the hair at Tony’s nape, snorted. “I don’t know what you two are talking about. She’s a marshmallow.”
Bucky looked at him incredulously. “Um, Steve? Are we talking about the same person here? Red hair, has 5 knives on her person at all times, can kill a man 12 different ways with a paperclip with no humanity and no remorse? That Natasha?”
“Yes. Marshmallow,” he smiled as he buried his nose in Tony’s hair. How did he always smell so good?
“Explain.”
“Sorry, that’s classified. If I tell anyone about the fanfiction, she’ll kill me.” Steve’s fingers stilled at Tony’s nape and he swore. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
“Her fanfiction page?”
“Who taught you that word?!”
There was an ominous clunk in the ceiling. All three of them froze.
“Well, that’s my cue, it was nice knowing you.” Steve kissed Tony on the forehead, flicked Bucky’s ear and ran for the stairwell. He’d barely left the room when Natasha came swooping down from the ceiling, landing gracefully. “How much of a head start does he have?” She asked as she dusted herself off.
“Ten seconds?” Tony squeaked. She nodded and took off down the stairs after him.
“So that’s why he always takes the stairs,” Bucky muttered. There was a loud bang and Steve yelped. “There aren’t any vents in there. Genius.”
Tony frowned. “Huh. So he was scared of her all along.”
There were a few minutes of peaceful quiet, occasionally broken by thuds and the occasional groan from the stairwell. Bucky cleared his throat. “So, Natasha writes fanfiction? Fluffy fanfiction, from the sounds of it.”
Tony hummed thoughtfully. “I can see it. But how did Steve find out about it?”
“No idea. That man is a mystery and a half. Did you know he’s ticklish?”
Tony hummed. “Really? Where?”
“Nowhere, that’s where. He used to have so many sweet spots and now he’s just a hulking hunk of no reactions. I’ve poked him almost everywhere and he hasn’t laughed once . He just progressively gets more and more annoyed, which is hilarious, so I can’t complain. He’s going to crack soon, I can feel it. If Natasha doesn’t kill him, that is.” Bucky paused. “Honestly, if Natasha doesn’t kill him, he might kill me, just saying.”
Tony turned slowly to face Bucky. “Do you two just constantly put yourself in near death situations?”
“It’s a hobby.” He pulled Tony close when he sighed. “But maybe we’ll do it less, now that we have you.”
“What? Why?”
“You know, because we have a reason to stay alive now? Someone to come home to? And you care about us not dying, don’t you? We’d stay alive, for you. You’re worth it.”
Tony was silent for two seconds. Then he burst out laughing. “Oh my god, Bucky, that was so cheesy, and you call Steve the dork, oh my god -”
Bucky shut him up with a kiss.