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Sleeping had not always come easy for Bucky, even before everything that happened to him had happened. However, in recent times, since he and Sam had begun sleeping together, that had changed. Bucky’s nightmares were few and far between, and he was actually sleeping in.
Sam, on the other hand, had always been an early riser. As soon as they was old enough, his daddy had him, Sarah, and Gideon working down on the docks. During high school, his time spent on the football team meant early morning training sessions. He was accustomed to being up at the crack of dawn and running on very little sleep. While his nightmares had become less frequent, he still liked to get up early. Enjoyed his morning runs. Found it easy to focus when the world around him was quiet.
It had been a long time since he had shared his space with someone else. A long time since he had shared his bed with another. He had to admit it was pleasant returning from his run and finding Bucky still asleep. The other man looked so peaceful and serene in slumber. He looked younger; he looked lighter.
Sam found it relaxing to be in Bucky’s presence while he slept. He would often sit at the table in his quarters at the new Avengers Compound and tinker with Redwing while Bucky slept. It was one of the things that brought Sam immense pleasure and contentment. The soft snoring from Bucky was actually calming as Sam worked on his drone. He figured it had a lot to do with the fact that Bucky felt safe sleeping with Sam, and that Sam felt assurance that Bucky was safe.
Sam heard a particularly loud snore from Bucky before he mumbled something in his sleep that sounded a lot like Sammy. Sam smiled to himself and continued to read the diagnostics outputs from Redwing. He missed his old robot more than he would freely admit, but Redwing 2.0 was nothing short of amazing. Shuri – and Bucky – had really outdone themselves. The design was sleek and sturdy. The software was responsive to Sam’s biometrics and near impossible to hack. He would not have to worry about the likes of Walker tracking him again. The technology blew Sam’s mind. The gesture from Bucky did as well.
See, Sam thought Bucky really hated Redwing. Complained about him non-stop whenever they went on missions together early in their working partnership. Always had some comment or another about how Sam shouldn’t solely rely on intel from the AI. How the robot was annoying. Even stooping to make a slick remark about wanting to break Redwing when one of the Flag Smashers did.
His apology about it later annoyed Sam because he thought, in that moment, that Bucky didn’t mean it; knew Bucky didn’t mean it. But then Bucky pulled a favor with the Wakandans and got Sam a new suit that came with Redwing 2.0, and Sam thought that was kind of sweet. Not the pressure about Sam picking up the shield, but the sentiment behind replacing his beloved drone.
It was the little things like that that had endeared Bucky to Sam. That had made Sam realize that his partner slash co-worker was actually thinking of him and what he needed when said co-worker did not need to be thinking of Sam at all. It may not have looked like a huge gesture to those outside of their sphere, but it meant a lot to Sam. Bucky, who did not trust Redwing or even like Redwing, had noticed that the robot was important to Sam.
Sam smiled to himself as he remembered asking Bucky about it later, in the aftermath of everything that had transpired, and the other man simply shrugged and said, “Redwing makes you happy. You deserve to be happy. I – uh, I wanted to make you happy. I want to make you happy.”
It was in that moment that the pair had shared their first kiss. Sam said Bucky should thank Redwing; Bucky, the smitten fool, happily obliged (though he would deny it if asked).
“Hey,” came Bucky’s sleepy voice, drawing Sam from his thoughts. “Good morning, Gorgeous.”
“Morning, Baby,” Sam replied with a smile, glancing over at Bucky as he stretched out and then leaned up on his elbow.
“What time is it? Whatcha doin’?”
“Still early,” Sam answered. “And I’m just doing a diagnostics check on my baby.”
Bucky rolled his eyes and said, “I thought I was your ‘baby’.”
“A man can have more than one ‘baby’, Buck,” he replied with a laugh. “I kissed you better after our last mission, gotta do the same for Red.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Bucky as he watched Sam work.
“Don’t be jealous of Redwing now,” Sam teased. “There’s enough of me to go around.”
“I am not jealous of that thing, Sam.”
“You didn’t like original Redwing either,” Sam reminds him.
Bucky climbed from the bed and ambled over to where Sam was sitting. He placed a kiss to the top of Sam’s head and then ran his hands up and down Sam’s arms before resting them on Sam’s shoulders. He began to massage Sam as he monitored the readings on the device hooked up to his drone.
“I didn’t trust Redwing then,” said Bucky as he rubbed Sam’s neck, kissed his head once more, and then took up a seat beside him. “Thought you were too much of a thrill-seeker and needed more than something that looked like a kid’s toy to keep you safe.”
“Aww,” said Sam as he reached over and caressed Bucky’s face. “And you wanted that to be you, uh?”
“Absolutely. I can’t be hacked like tech can. Well, not anymore,” said Bucky with a straight face.
“Lord help me you have one morbid sense of humor,” said Sam as he took Bucky’s hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed his knuckles. “Ya know, you could have just admitted you liked me instead of talkin’ shit about Red.”
“What, and miss out on all the bickering between us?” he asked with a crooked smile. “Not a chance.”
Sam threw his head back and laughed. He was so completely and utterly happy with where they were at in life; so smitten with Bucky; so thankful for it all.
He leaned in and kissed Bucky, morning breath and all, before saying, “Thank you.”
Bucky pecked at Sam’s lips twice more and asked, “For what?”
“For replacing Redwing. For being there for me. For making me happy.”
“You never have to thank me,” said Bucky as he caressed Sam’s face and pressed their brows together. “If that robot bird makes you happy, then I’m gonna make sure you have it. It’s the least I could do.”
“You make me happy,” said Sam with a smile.
Bucky kissed Sam’s forehead and said, “You make me happy, too.”