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Is it possible for someone to die from embarrassment? Because Steve’s pretty sure at the very least he’s going to pass out and he really should have brought his inhaler with him, but this isn’t something he thought was possible, even one of his worst case scenarios.
See Steve is prepared for almost anything under the sun. He can fight bullies and deal with concussions without batting an eyelash.
But his ridiculously cute neighbour holding his boxers which had bright red lipstick prints all over them (thanks Natasha)? That wasn’t really something you could prepare yourself for. He can feel his neural circuits burning out.
“These are cute”, Bucky grins, waggling his eyebrows.
Steve flushes and pulls them from his grip. “They were a gag gift.” Huffing, he folds them and places them in his small pile of clothes, before picking up the next item from the mess in front of them.
Bucky and Steve lived across the hall from one another. Steve liked the other man, he was polite, kept to himself and didn’t disturb anyone. They saw each other fairly often and Bucky had, on occasion, helped Steve carry his groceries up the many flights of stairs to their floor because the elevator was never working and Steve’s lungs couldn’t take the strain some days.
And if Steve had developed a not-so-tiny crush on his neighbour, well there was nothing to be done about that.
Normally, residents never faced any problems with the common laundry room. There were enough washers and dryers for everyone to manage comfortably. Except that day, there had been a massive power surge which had meant that everyone’s laundry had got stuck in the machines longer than they’d expected. And one of the tenants, impatient and clearly lacking manners, had pulled out Steve’s and Bucky’s laundry dumping the items into one pile.
Luckily Bucky had seen Steve putting his laundry in and had called him to help sort out the mess.
Of course, while Bucky had only shirts and a couple of non-descript boxers, Steve had decided to do almost a month’s worth of laundry. Which meant that there were more than a few articles of clothing in that pile which he would have preferred never saw the light of day.
Steve honestly needed to stop letting Natasha and Peggy shop for him, because judging from the look on Bucky’s face, he was going to asphyxiate from holding in his laughter, especially when he got his hands on Steve’s Star Wars briefs.
“Hey Steve…”
And Steve should have known that smile meant nothing good, but he was a fool and still asked, “What?”
“Do you think we’re close enough now for me to make a joke about your light saber?”
Bucky didn’t seem to mind the wadded up towel that Steve threw at his head as he clutched his middle, wheezing with laughter.
Cheeks warm, Steve quietly continued to sort through the articles. They were about half way through and Steve turned around to tug his basket close when Bucky went quiet. Steve felt the air shift a bit and he turned around slowly.
Feeling like someone had socked him in the stomach, he wondered if he could fit into one of the washing machines and how much it would take to convince Bucky to switch on the spin cycle.
Because he had forgotten that he put those particular items into the wash.
Bucky fingered the pair of silken undergarments gently. To Steve’s relief (and none too little confusion), there was no look of disgust on his face. Instead he looked interested.
“These your girl’s?”
He was giving Steve a way out, it would be easy enough for Steve to lie, to make up a girlfriend. But his mother hadn’t raised a coward.
Squaring his shoulders, he took a deep breath before replying, “Mine actually.”
Bucky fixes him with an intense gaze before his face softens, “Just when I thought you couldn’t get cuter.”
He lets the topic slide and Steve is too relieved to bring it up again. They work in companionable silence until they’re done and they head back to their apartments together. Steve worries at his lower lip, what if Bucky stops talking to him after this? What if he decides Steve is too weird for him to be friends with anymore?
But Bucky must be able to sense his fears because at his doorway, Bucky nudges Steve with his shoulder, “Hey, I meant it before. These kind of things, I’m not going to think of you any different alright? You’re still the adorable punk from across the hall who gets into too many fights for his own good and likes to help little old ladies. I’ll see you tomorrow alright Stevie?” He smiles warmly at him and leaves Steve at his own doorway, still flushed with a heady mixture of happiness and spine-crushing embarrassment.
It strikes him later that Bucky thought he was adorable and Steve isn’t sure what to make out of that but he sings to Cap anyway and the goldfish must share his excitement because it swims around its bowl for a good two minutes.
*Added Scene*
“Happy anniversary doll.”
They’ve been together for a year and Steve still flushes at the sound of endearments that roll off Bucky’s tongue (that’s not the only thing Bucky’s tongue is good at, Steve can tell you that first hand).
“Bucky you didn’t!” and if Steve’s voice raises an octave or two, it shouldn’t be a surprise because it’s not every day you unwrap an entire gift-wrapped package from Victoria’s Secret. And yes Bucky, I appreciate the thought but I will not try them all out for you right now, we’re supposed to meet our friends in one hour and Bucky unhand that bustier!