Chapter Text
It’s the morning after their second date when the subject is brought up. Bucky’d come over before he was even fully awake, still dressed in pajamas and holding up a loaf of bread to ask for Steve’s French Toast he’d talked about.
They sit in content, sleepy silence for a while as Steve makes breakfast and Bucky nurses a cup of coffee.
“Buck?”
“Mm?” he hums in response.
“Are we dating?” Steve asks.
“Well, we have gone on two dates, I think that qualifies as dating,” Bucky says and Steve almost tells him off for being a smartass until he sees the lazy smirk.
“No, I mean, we have been dating but are we dating? Like, exclusive or whatever? I don’t want to be the one that’s got to slap a label on us. I just want to know if we even are an us,” he says, losing a little confidence in his question in fear of being pushy.
“Relax Stevie,” Bucky smiles, “Yes, we’re dating.”
And that was that.
-=-
Steve’s only just gotten out of bed one morning when the doorbell rings. He heads to the door clad in only his boxers to answer the door, expecting Bucky as usual.
“My man with a plan, open up!” Tony Stark’s loud voice calls through the door. Steve almost diverts along the wall to pretend he isn’t home but settles for a sigh and resigning himself to a day entertaining New York’s most obnoxious billionaire.
He only makes it two hours.
Tony is one of his closest friends but he can really be difficult to put up with alone for a long stretch of time without projects or other people to flit around to.
So he seeks out his (new) boyfriend for help. Hey, he planned on introducing them soon anyway.
As soon as he knocks on the door, Tony shoves him to the side out of immediate sight line of the other side of the door and leans against the frame provocatively, “Hey Stud, I can show you a good time. What’s your name, cutie?”
“Uh… I think you have the wrong apart-Steve!” he shouts in realization when Steve starts to laugh and he pulls him close, “Steve, why is Tony freakin’ Stark at my door – in my apartment?!” he whisper yells as Tony side steps them both and just barges right on into Bucky’s apartment in pure Tony fashion.
“You were right, Rogers. Your boy is a cutie,” Tony says as he studies the various things on Bucky’s mantle, including the awards he’d received when he was discharged.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you for the homosexual type,” Bucky remarks before even thinking about it.
“You can peg me any day,” Tony replies, “Sir.” He tacks on, waggling eyebrows.
“Tony!” Steve scolds, narrowing his eyes before turning back to Bucky, “He swears he’s not into dudes, but I’m pretty sure he probably has a shrine to his lab partner.”
“You leave Bruce out of this,” Tony shoots back, but there’s no real heat in it. It’s a common ‘argument’ amongst the group about Tony’s feelings for Bruce, though he insists he has a thing for his red-haired personal assistant.
“What is my life,” Bucky mutters, pinching Steve’s hip before heading to the kitchen, “Coffee?”
Steve sees the flush on Bucky’s face as he follows him as he gasps, grinning from ear to ear, “Bucky Barnes, do you totally have a fangirl crush on Tony Stark?!”
Bucky shushes him with a hand over his mouth, eyes wide, “Be quiet, Stevie!” he whisper-yells, “I was always really into engineering and robotics and he and his dad were always on TV and in magazines and the Stark Expo and everything…”
“Should I feel threatened?” Steve teases.
“Not at all,” Bucky replies, every bit of sincerity needed to convince Steve (though he was only teasing, he hadn’t really been too worried about a crush), before blushing again, “It was a teenage thing mostly. He wasn’t too much older than me and yes, I had a crush. Now it’s just – I don’t still have a crush – It’s kind of mostly the embarrassment of having a hero-worshiping crush on a man standing in my messy living room.”
Steve laughs aloud, patting his cheek, “You are so cute, Buck. You start the coffee and I’ll go distract him before he ends up in here offering to turn your coffee maker into a robot that can bring your coffee to you in the morning.”
“That actually wouldn’t be bad,” Bucky says with a grin.
Steve laughs and rolls his eyes, heading over to Tony. Sure enough, the man is standing in front of the tv, eyes squinted with his thumb and index finger cradling his chin in deep thought.
“Whatever you’re thinking, slowly back away,” Steve teases.
“I could-”
“No.”
“No, but-”
“Tony, no.”
“Tony, yes,” Tony counters.
Steve rolls his eyes, “Step away from the electronics, Anthony Edward Stark.”
“Okay, okay, Mom! Don’t spank me!” Tony replies, flopping down unceremoniously onto Bucky’s couch, “Pretty nifty you’ve got a boyfriend next door.”
“I know, right? I had no idea he was gay until he asked me to dinner after the whole lotion thing,” Steve says.
Tony’s eyes grow wide, “Oh do tell, Tater Tot.”
“How many times have I told you not to call me that,” Steve mutters, “Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. It wasn’t anything dirty,” he purposefully doesn’t tell him the story, knowing it’ll bug him.
“How do you guys want your coffee?” Bucky calls.
“I don’t want any, babe, thanks,” Steve calls back.
“Black is fine,” Tony replies, “Babe?”
Steve throws a pillow at him.
A few moments later, Bucky brings Tony a mug and hands the bottle of water to Steve he had tucked under his arm, sitting down with his own mug smelling strongly of vanilla, “What are you doing in Brooklyn?” Bucky asks conversationally, his earlier embarrassment having faded now.
“Oh, I just came to bother Steve. It’s one of my favorite hobbies,” Tony replies, grinning as he sips from his mug.
“He’s really good at it, too,” Steve snorts.
“Well once Bruce throws me out of the lab, I have to have something to do and Pepper gets mad if I bug her too much,” he shrugs.
“And that is why we are completely in trouble when he shows up. Because Bruce may have anger management issues, but he’s actually very patient, and Pepper has the patience of a saint. So if he’s bugged them enough to ban him from the building, we should be afraid,” Steve stage whispers.
“Hey!” Tony exclaims, “I do actually come here when I’m not bored!”
“I know, Tony, I know,” he laughs, scooting over until his leg is pressed to Bucky’s.
“Tell us about yourself, Buck-o!” Tony exclaims.
Steve laughs, “Tony, I already know quite a lot about him. He is my boyfriend.”
“That is an unfair advantage,” Tony says, “I object.”
“Overruled,” they say in unison.
“Well tell me. I need to get to know the guy who’s stolen my little man with a plan’s heart,” Tony prods.
“Well, I was in the military for a long time. Special Forces. Spent most of the last few years overseas so there’s not an awful lot to tell,” Bucky explains, much like he’d told Steve the first time they met.
“Overseas, huh? Were you in Afghanistan?” Tony asks.
“Yeah, I was,” Bucky confirms.
Tony drums his fingers against the hard metal of the arc reactor inside his chest, giving a quiet laugh, “Me too.”
“I was there two tours. I actually came home on leave right before,” Bucky wiggles his fingers at the spot of light on Tony’s chest.
“You’re probably lucky. I hear it got pretty rough over there around that time with all of the attacks and bombing,” Tony replies, “So what happened? If you’re cool with talking about it anyway.”
“My squad was out on an opp. We got ambushed. I’m not exactly sure of most of the details. I was out of it mostly. I messed up my arm pretty bad and it still gives me trouble but I was luckier than about half the squad,” Bucky says, a solemn look casting over his gaze.
“I suddenly got an image of you with pigtails and pom poms when you said squad,” Tony winces and Steve mentally thanks him for lightening the mood right back up in true Stark fashion, “How about I take us out for ice cream?”
“What are we, twelve?” Steve teases.
“Fine. We won’t go then.”
“Hey, no wait! I didn’t say that,” Steve laughs, “Buck?”
“Hell yeah. And I want sprinkles.”
They end up getting kicked out of Dairy Queen.