Work Text:
Being honorably discharged from the army and opening a flower shop with your best friend seems like a radical change, but it’s one Bucky enjoys. The war shaped Steve and him, made them both realize how short life can be – so the peace and quiet that comes with their little business is comforting. Or at least, it tends to be a quiet routine they have.
Except today.
The morning doesn’t start quiet at all. Steve’s still in the back of the shop, arranging the freshly delivered flowers and going through the deliveries they’ll have to do today.
Suddenly, the door is slammed open and a well-dressed man bursts into the shop, looking both disheveled and yet perfect. Bucky stops in his tracks, half because of the sudden entry, half because how handsome this guy is.
“I need flowers”, handsome-brunet announces.
Bucky raises an eyebrow, vaguely gesturing around the shop. “Take your pick then, this is a flower shop, after all.”
The man stares at Bucky for that before the ghost of a smile crosses his features. It’s gone fast though; tension returning to the handsome face. He takes off the sunglasses he’s wearing and clips them to his suit; both expensive, Bucky notices with interest.
“Care to assist me? Which ones should I pick if I wanna say “Sorry I showed up too late to the meeting and pissed off the board members? Got any flowers that say that?”
Bucky can barely hold back a snort; what a weird reason to get flowers. Normally, the reasons are first dates or anniversaries, sometimes even apologies – which, okay, that seems to be the case here. The brunet doesn’t really think much of it, just helps the man to put a pretty little bouquet with yellow roses and lilies of the valley together.
“That should save you”, Bucky says with a grin.
The man leaves, and Bucky doesn’t think he’ll see him again.
~~~~~~~
Bucky is wrong.
The next day right after opening up the shop, the door flies open and in comes the man from yesterday. He’s looking more put-together this time, suit and tie properly in place. There’s a small smile on the man’s lips; one that seems like he doesn’t use it often. Bucky gives him a nod of acknowledgment. “Were the flowers not working yesterday?”, he asks, unable to hold back a grin.
For a moment, the man looks surprised but then he returns Bucky’s grin.
“Worked beautifully. That’s why I’m here. What should I get if I need to convince a lady to get her rich husband to donate money for charity?”
What an odd reason to get flowers, Bucky thinks – but he doesn’t say it. Instead, he starts looking through the wide array of various flowers. “What d’ya even need the flowers for?”, he can’t help but ask. “Your looks not good enough to convince her?”
He hears a snort; one that doesn’t come from the guy. Bucky looks up and glares at Steve, who’s hovering near the door to the storeroom, trying not to laugh.
“I’ll take that as a compliment”, the guy answers and Bucky is pretty sure he’s smiling as he says it. “It might be enough, but I don’t want to risk it. My name’s Tony, by the way.”
Bucky, returning with some white gillyflowers, raises an eyebrow. It’s not uncommon that customers introduce themselves; especially when they are regularly buying at the store but this guy – Tony – has only been here twice.
“Tony”, he repeats, letting the name roll off his tongue. Then he smirks. “I’m Bucky. These flowers okay for you?”
Tony makes a vague gesture with his hand, rolling his eyes. “If you think they are, then of course”, he answers smoothly and there’s something in his brown eyes that makes Bucky feel all warm inside. It’s not often that the ex-sergeant feels like this for someone, and especially not in such a short time but… it’s nice.
He hands Tony the flowers, gives him a smile and tells him to come back if he needs another bouquet.
~~~~~~~
Tony does, indeed, come back.
He stops by the store every day, looking for flowers – and his reasons why he needs them get more and more weird. Bucky is curious as to why this man gets in trouble so often, or what he is even doing to be in strange situations. He doesn’t know a whole lot about Tony.
Which is a little bit strange, come to think of – since Tony clearly seems to know Steve.
Two weeks have passed since Tony’s first visit, and Bucky is wrapping a nice arrangement of red asters and white chrysanthemums for today’s fuck-up. He glances at the brunet standing in front of him, fiddling with his tie. “So, what are these for?”, Bucky asks with a grin. “You always have the best reasons why you need flowers. What is it today?”
Tony winces. “I might have blown up my workshop while trying out a new alloy. Didn’t go as planned and Pepper will kick my ass one way or another – but I figured I could at least try and appease her a little with these.”
Bucky can’t help but laugh. This guy is seriously the most interesting person he’s ever met – and he is best friends with Steve, who always got in trouble when they were younger.
“You blew up your workshop?!”, he repeats between chuckles. “I already know that you’re not boring, but what the Hell is your life that this is something you can say with a straight face?”
Tony shrugs, eyes glinting and that crooked, open smile Bucky likes so much lights up his face. He seems amused with the situation as well. “It happened before?”, Tony offers in explanation and then starts laughing too when Bucky snorts. “Comes with my job.”
They look at each other and laugh again, before Tony’s eyes drop to Bucky’s left hand. While he’s wearing a long-sleeved hoodie today, it doesn’t do much to hide his hand.
“A prosthesis?”, Tony asks – and just like that, the light atmosphere is gone. Bucky tenses up; he hates talking about his arm, or what happened. The prosthesis works well enough, he doesn’t ask for more-
Suddenly, there’s a hand on his lower back, both soothing and grounding and he hears Steve talking.
“Sorry, but that’s personal. Buck, there are still cookies left; I’ll finish this here, okay?”
Bucky nods mechanically and he can’t meet Tony’s eyes as he retreats into the backroom. He can hear Steve and Tony talking in hushed voices; Tony sounds worried and sorry but Bucky can’t pay attention to it. He sinks into one of the chairs, pulls the sleeve over his left hand and waits for the unbidden memories to fade.
~~~~~~~
Three days go by and Bucky avoids Tony when he comes in. He lets Steve handle the requests and only resurfaces once the brunet is gone. He knows he’s acting childish; that he should handle the whole situation better but he simply can’t.
On the fourth day, they run into each other – and Bucky glares daggers at Steve for not warning him. He tries to be polite, but doesn’t meet Tony’s eyes. Until the man places a handful of purple hyacinths in front of him.
“I’m really sorry”, Tony says quietly. “I, ah… I should’ve been more sensitive than to just ask. Um… so today’s flowers are for you.”
Bucky is silent for a moment. It’s… it’s an incredibly sweet gesture of Tony to get him flowers and apologize and even though he’s still a bit upset, the carefully guarded spark of hope in these brown eyes only renews the warmth in Bucky. He always feels it when Tony’s around, lately. Even that little throwback did nothing against it.
He sighs, gathers the hyacinths and gives Tony a light smile. “You couldn’t know. It’s okay. You can stop with the hangdog expression now, alright?” Bucky reaches out, bumps his hand in a playful gesture against Tony’s shoulder and feels his mood lifting when the other’s upset face changes into a careful smile.
“Still” Tony glances back at Bucky’s hand, then up into his eyes. “That wasn’t okay. I’ll make it up to you. Just you wait.”
~~~~~~~
“Buck?“ Steve pokes his head into the room; the telephone pressed into his shoulder. “You have a minute? Your doctor wants to speak to you. Something about your arm.”
Bucky looks up, confusion showing on his face. He’s only recently had an appointment, had to talk about how he’s doing getting used to live as a civilian, and with a prosthetic arm. And now they call him again?
Ten minutes later, Bucky enters the shop with a very strange expression on his face; a mix of wonder, confusion and restrained anticipation. Steve gives his best friend a moment; he knows Bucky will talk once he feels ready for it.
It doesn’t take long.
“They say I was chosen for a new prosthetic. Top-notch, not even out yet.” Bucky pauses. Steve quietly sits down next to him, his presence a physical anchor. “Apparently, they want to test a new kind of prosthetics. They’re made by Stark Industries.”
For whatever reason, Bucky feels Steve go perfectly still at that and he looks up sharply. “What? That surprising?”
The blond shakes his head. He’s definitely not a good liar; his ears are already red and he’s not even answered yet. “No, no, just- Stark Industries? They basically own the market, right?”
It’s meant as a distraction, that question, and Bucky is about to call Steve out on it, make him explain but they are interrupted as the door opens and Tony waltzes in, a bright, wide grin on his face. He’s not in a suit today, Bucky notices immediately. Instead he’s wearing black pants and a comfy-looking grey hoodie, adorned with the logo of some heavy metal band.
“Good morning, flowerboys!”, he greets cheerfully. “I’ve got about fifteen minutes before Pepper finds me and kicks my ass for setting the garden on fire. Any flowers that’ll help me survive this?” Tony pauses when he sees them, smile falling from his face at their serious expressions.
“Everything okay?”
Bucky musters a smile. “Got good news today. Surprising news, but good ones”, he says. Tony raises an eyebrow at him, cocks his head and shoots back: “Then why’re you looking like someone’s dog died?”
Steve stands and looks at the brunet; a long, intense gaze that has Tony fiddling under its weight before he pats Bucky’s back and goes to check on the newly delivered flowers.
Bucky breaks the sudden silence. “It’s about my arm. Apparently I’m getting a new one; a prototype model from Stark Industries.”
It might be his imagination – but he’s pretty sure to hear Tony whisper “So it worked” under his breath.
~~~~~~~
The new arm is amazing. It’s lighter than the old one, allows more movements. The hand-motions are finer than before and the best part? The thing even warms up to body temperature. Overall, it seems so futuristic and stunning that Bucky can’t help but wonder if this was a mistake. He can’t remember having applied for a program that tests out new prosthetics – and still ended up with a state-of-the-art arm.
Bucky is still humming when he rummages through the backroom, sorting through flowers and the arrangements that are ready to be delivered today. He hears the bell over the door ringing and only a moment later, Tony’s voice echoes through the room.
It’s been roughly a month by now and Tony has become a constant. He stops by, gets his flowers, flirts a little and then leaves. Bucky is ready to admit that he might be a little in love with the guy. He blames the smile that stretches his lips on that fact, but before he can get up and greet Tony, he hears Steve answering.
It seems they have a nice chat.
Bucky freezes in place; he may have thought that Tony was flirting with him, but… was he really? Maybe it’s just been a way to get to Steve… The ex-sergeant hasn’t asked about it, but it’s obvious that Tony and Steve know each other. He wants to find out more, but then again, Steve is his best friend. And he knows about Bucky’s crush on Tony. Steve wouldn’t make a move when knowing about Bucky’s feelings.
Still.
The idea is already ingrained into his mind. Maybe Tony is only coming here to get a date with Steve; it’s not like Bucky could even blame him. Steve’s easy on the eyes, handsome, tall, gorgeous – and most importantly, he isn’t broken like Bucky.
The brunet closes his eyes against the negative emotions that suddenly threaten to overwhelm him. He’s not being fair; neither to Steve or to Tony.
It wouldn’t even be the first time that someone flirts with him just to get to Steve.
Bucky takes a deep breath and tries to push these thoughts away before he hears Steve calling for him.
He really must be in love though – the moment Bucky’s eyes fall on Tony, he feels his mood light up and he takes in the brunet’s appearance. Tony’s casually dressed, he looks relaxed and excited, his brown eyes wide and bright. “James!”, he calls; and the use of his first name sends a shiver through Bucky. “I already wondered where you were.”
Tony is the only one who even calls him James, the ex-sergeant muses; feeling a smile creeping onto his face in response to the brunet’s cheerful expression. Just like that, he makes up his mind and pushes the sleeve back from his hoodie, showing off the new arm to Tony.
“Had to doll up a little”, Bucky teases. He likes the way Tony looks at his arm; not with disgust or worse, pity, but with open curiosity and interest. Fascination, even. “Like my new get-up?”
Tony nods, eyes still fixed on the arm. “It really looks nice. You’re more comfortable with this one, right? Shows in the way you move, somehow.” And that…. that’s an observation Bucky didn’t think Tony would make. He really feels better with this arm, but he hadn’t expected anyone to notice. It’s touching and despite everything else, Bucky actually feels his face heat up a bit.
When Tony carefully asks, he allows him to run his fingers over the prosthetic, lets him ask how it feels, if it’s heavy or not, if the movements are okay. Bucky suddenly thinks that he’s just learnt something about this weird guy; that Tony must have experience with this, or at least knowledge. Maybe he works for Stark industries – he seems familiar enough with the designs.
But for today, Bucky pushes these thoughts away, talks a little more with Tony and sends him away with a bouquet of yellow tulips.
~~~~~~~
It goes on like this, their weird little routine day in, day out. And while Bucky enjoys it most of the time, he also starts to get upset about it.
Because… while at first, it was only ever Tony and him talking, laughing, selecting flowers, nowadays it’s usually Steve and Tony. He doesn’t want to be an ass to his best friend, so Bucky actually asked Steve about his conversations with Tony – and only received very cryptic answers.
To say that it is driving him mad is an understatement.
Not enough that he has admitted to himself that he is utterly and hopelessly in love with Tony, but it seems that it’s just his luck to never get a chance with this guy because it’s more or less obvious that Tony likes Steve. It’s hard not to notice it. They are familiar with each other. They talk like they know each other and whenever Bucky enters the shop, these conversations die down.
It’s terrible.
So it really is no wonder that Bucky is in a sour mood this morning. He didn’t sleep well; nightmares plagued him until he gave up on sleep and just sat on his bed, waiting for the night to pass. He’s grumpy and upset, he’s already snapped at Steve and when the door opens and Tony marches in, Bucky’s mood reaches zero.
Their eyes meet briefly and whatever Tony sees in Bucky’s, it makes the smile on his face falter. He also doesn’t immediately comes over to talk, just looks through the flowers on his own.
Probably for the best, Bucky thinks. He’s not sure he can be nice and fair today.
Suddenly, red comes into his field of vision; five beautiful red tulips and Tony who is smiling more shyly and bashful than Bucky has even seen before. It’s not really required for a flower shop owner to know the “language of flowers” but Bucky does.
He’s more than aware that red tulips are meant as a declaration of love – and somehow that is enough.
Bucky slams his hand on the table and jumps up from his chair, glaring at Tony who flinches. “Is this a fucking joke?”, Bucky growls, feeling his heart hammering painfully against his chest. “Is this a joke? Trying to get me wrapped around your finger just so you can get to Steve!?”
To say that out aloud hurts worse than just thinking it. Bucky stares at the tulips in front of him; their bright colour mocking him. “I get it. Steve’s handsome. He’s- he’s not broken. But you know what? Just fucking ask him if you want him! But don’t use me to make yourself interesting for him!”
Tony makes a strangled noise. It sounds like shock, or suppressed laughter, or both. Either way, it is enough to make Bucky look up.
“You-” Tony stares at him. His face looks weird; the expression doesn’t match the situation at all. “You think I’m doing this to get a date with Steve? You actually-” And now he definitely laughs, even though it sounds slightly hysterical.
“You think- You think I spent time doing research on a flower so I can date Steve?!” Bucky doesn’t understand what’s so funny about the situation. Tony looks like he’ll start laughing any moment now – it pisses Bucky off. Before he can really explode and shout at Tony, Steve appears from the backroom. The hand he places on Bucky’s shoulder is shaken off instantly, but he isn’t impressed at all.
“Buck- Buck, I think you misunderstood something.” The brunet lifts his head; eyes shifting from Tony to Steve and eyebrows narrowing in disbelief.
“Explain”, he bites out.
Steve crosses his arms over his chest and what is it with these secretive smiles- “You don’t even know who Tony is, huh?”, Steve says. It’s not a question; it’s an observation. “First of, yes, I know him. Because this man is Anthony Edward Stark, CEO of Stark Industries. He used to make weapons, Buck. I’ve met him during a weapons presentation a few years ago.”
Bucky can only stare at his friend. Tony, the guy with a life so crazy it could be right out of a comic – he is Tony Stark?
“So my arm-”
“I said I’d make it up to you”, Tony mutters. When Bucky looks at him, the man is not meeting his eyes, bottom lip caught between his teeth. “I didn’t mean to upset you by asking about it, but I did. So… I may have spent a few days designing a better arm for you. Well, technically for every injured soldier, but especially for you.”
Bucky is still staring. This- this is too crazy, too weird for him to understand. He vaguely registers that Steve makes a tactical retreat, but by then he’s already moving forward. With a few, purposeful strides Bucky is standing right in front of Tony, moving almost on autopilot when he grasps Tony’s chin in his right hand.
Then he pauses. Opens his mouth to ask-
“I swear to fucking God, James, if you ask if you can kiss me, I will kick your- mmph!”
Bucky kisses him before Tony can finish the sentence. It’s so easy to do this; they fall into each other, Tony’s arms around Bucky’s neck, Bucky’s arms around Tony’s waist, pulling him close. They kiss until they’re both breathless, grinning at each other.
“So you’re really Tony Stark, huh?”
“Don’t act like you’re surprised. You never asked”, Tony shoots back before Bucky can say any more. His brown eyes drift back to the tulips, forgotten on the table. “So, uh… these mean that I love you, but I haven’t actually found something that says “Please let me take you out on a date”. I might need help with that, flowerboy.”
Bucky kisses the smile Tony gives him, hugging him tighter.
“I’m sure I can find you something.”