Listen, Steve is ten toes down every day for Bucky while he recovers from being the soldier.
*because it's a greyskyflowers post and that means its my world and the avengers figured their shit out like adults and worked together to unfuck Bucky.
Steve and Bucky can be together.
For the first time in their lives, things are lining up.
They're both safe. The other avengers have their back, and Steve will literally kill everyone and himself if anyone takes Bucky from him again.
They're not broke or hungry or cold. Finally. It took almost a hundred years but they got here.
Being together is okay now. It's accepted. They could get married.
They can be together, and the other avengers know about it and support it. Although I personally think the howling commandos would have known and accepted it.
Well... the others accepted it once they had a a little more time to adjust to the idea of one of the world's scariest assassins and longest POW now trembling, silent, and seemly stuck to Steve's side.
What are they gonna say? Nah, that's too weird? They all passed weird years ago. They've got little room to judge.
I need them being young and soft and everything they weren't ever able to be...
Because it wasn't allowed. Because Steve was sick. Because of the war. Because of Azzano. Because Bucky died fell. Because Steve died froze. Because then Bucky was dead and Steve wasn't. Because Bucky had been alive the whole time and in Hydra's hands.
Becausebecausebecausebecausebec-
Steve's smitten always he always was and Bucky's working on it working on everything but especially this and they're both somehow falling in love for the first time and for the second time.
That's it. Okay? No third time. This is the one where it works.
Tony is gonna personally send Pepper and Natasha after anyone who even looks at Steve and Bucky like they're thinking of separating them. It's the scariest thing he can think of.
Like teenagers in love for the first time. Disgusting.
● 🎶 🎵 ●
Both of them have an earbud in, and access to so much music is one of the things Steve loves about the future.
Bucky is perched on the cushion next to Steve, ready to run always ready to run and cautiously working his way through Spotify.
He's clicking on any songs that catch his interest. Titles he likes, interesting album covers, etc.
And Steve is patiently letting him.
Bucky occasionally looks at him from the corner of his eye to make sure he's not getting annoyed. Waiting for the anger. For the catch. Because there's always a catch.
There's just so much.
Hydra never let the soldier hear music. He's not 100% he knew what music was beyond the basic definition.
And the longer they stay like that, the more Bucky starts to relax. He loses the tight, tense posture and curls up more comfortably against Steve, both of them leaning into each other.
He makes sure Steve can see the screen as he pokes his way through songs but Steve is content, just occasionally recognizing a song and chiming in if he thinks Bucky might like it.
They slowly work their way through each playlist recommended by the others. Steve's listened to some of them but not too much sticks out about them or if he enjoyed them or not.
He really listens now though.
Because some songs have Bucky scrunching up his nose, and some have him curling his toes into the cushion.
There's one with a loud noise right at the beginning and both of them jump about a foot in the air. They're twitchy for a little after, and Steve has to settle down and wait for Bucky to get the nerve to come out from wherever he disappeared to.
He still has the earbuds in, though, or he threw it, but Steve doesn't see it, so he's gonna hope it's still in. He finds music he knows he likes. Softer things. Songs that make Tony groan and call him a hipster. Whatever that was.
And eventually Bucky is just there again, back in the spot he'd been and still tense but trying.
● 🛏 🛋 ●
They used to make blanket forts a lot when they were younger. It got less acceptable as they got older, though, and eventually, they had to stop.
Now they can do it and watch all the new movies. They both like animation. Steve for the art styles and Bucky for the colors.
Steve is the one who originally suggests it. On one of the days where it's so rainy and miserable that even the bad guys said fuck it and stayed home.
Bucky's not convinced.
He keeps watch as Steve makes a blanket fort that would have had them dumbfounded as kids.
They have so much furniture and so many blankets now.
Comfort. Steve isn't the best at taking care of himself. He can handle most things. There's no need for soft things when he can get by just fine with the bare minimum. The others disagree.
But he refuses to deprive Bucky of them.
Bucky, however, doesn't trust anything soft. Which usually means Steve has to do it/wear it/lay on it/etc too. This the others like.
Because taking care of Bucky means he has to take care of himself. He hasn't been very good at that.
And... it's nice.
Everything is so soft now. Clothes, beds, blankets.
Maybe both of them deserve it.
The fort is a work of art when it's done. Steve is very proud of himself.
Dark and cozy, structurally sound because if it collapses after Steve eventually gets Bucky to come in, then he's gonna jump so high he hits the ceiling and then never agree to it again.
Steve even drug the mattress out for them to lay on because what good are muscles if they're not used for stuff like this occasionally?
He had grabbed some string lights for something softer than the main light.
They got them because the pitch dark was a hard no from Bucky most nights. Steve too.
Now he waits.
It takes a while for Bucky to actually get in the fort.
He works his way slowly from lingering by the door to parched on the end of the couch not being used as the side of the fort to cautiously sitting by the opening.
Bucky doesn't like other people in the room unless he can see them, Steve included.
Is Steve using that against him? Yep.
And then he's there.
Steve's honestly not sure how he does it. It's like he just appears places. Natasha does the same thing, and they both just blink at him when he asks. Is it a Russian thing or an assassin thing? Clint sure as fuck can't do it so he's leaning towards russian.
He looks unimpressed but Steve knows to wait it out.
He has to work through things in his head sometimes before he decides if he likes it.
He's rolling it around in his head like a stone, trying to figure out what the benefit is. What's the purpose?
He has not accepted comfort as a reasonable purpose yet.
It's small and warm and there's just enough of a glow from the string lights to cast everything in low, warm white.
It feels like hiding from the world and they deserve some time to hide. The world will be fine for awhile.
A few hours later has him asleep, sprawled out over the mattress, and curved towards Steve. It's the most comfortable he's looked while sleeping. His brow isn't furrowed, and he's not in a tight little ball.
He even took his boots off. They're not far, right on the bed next to him. Just in case. He needs to be ready just in case.
It's progress though.
Eventually, Steve turns off the string lights and leaves the TV turned on for light instead.
It casts just enough light to creep under the opening of the fort and keep the dark from being too cruel.
Bucky's eyes glint in the flickering light and the washed out colors reflect and paint his skin.
It's already intimate, breathing the same air and so close together.
So touching shouldn't leave him breathless, especially something so small, but it does.
Bucky slowly slides his leg over until he can nudge his foot against Steve's ankle.
He might be laid down, but Steve's still up, leaning against the wall made up of the couch and sketching because he had to. He had to draw this.
And any touch Bucky initiates is special.
Because the soldier never touched someone unless it was to hurt them and he never got touched unless someone wanted to hurt him.
So every brush of skin is purposeful, precious.
Sometimes Steve can touch back and sometimes he can't.
The dark makes him brave and he drops his hand to wrap around Bucky's ankle. It feel more delicate then he thought it would..
If he wanted to, he could snap the bone easy. He could use it to drag Bucky to him. He could use it to restrain him. He could do a lot of things to hurt him. It'd be easy for him, as one of the few people in the world who just needed his bare hands to really hurt Bucky if he wanted.
They both know it.
But Bucky lets him. He tenses up for a few minutes, the muscles and tendons tight and he twists slightly like he's getting ready to yank his leg back to him, but eventually the muscles go soft under Steve's palm.
He can't draw with one hand but it's okay.
This is better.
● ☕️ 🍲 🍬 ●
They share their food and drinks a lot.
Which, they all do.
You can't be worried about cooties when there's only one water bottle left for all of them after a battle or they're all passing around a single sandwich to get in a few bites before stepping back out to wherever they're needed next.
Bucky doesn't have a lot of reference for food though. Hydra kept his diet bland and repetitive.
At the beginning, anything more than that made him violently sick.
Bruce made a schedule, though, easing him back to normal food over a series of weeks. Too slow if you asked Steve but seeing Bucky pale, miserable, and so exhausted he just slept on the bathroom floor over and over again convinces him to do as Bruce advises.
Even while they're still working towards full meals, it gets to the point where he can occasionally have things and he doesn't get sick.
Steve lets him try anything of his that catches Bucky's eye.
A sip of the coffee Sam brings him, sharing a straw, something sweet and it has Bucky coming back later to swipe the cup and whatever Steve hadn't finished yet.
He snags a spoonful of the curry Bruce makes, picks the spoon right out of Steve's hand mid bite, attracted to the color of it, and immediately makes a face and goes a little pale.
That might have been a lot Bruce laughs.
Steve deflates a little though. Bucky would have liked it before. He always liked trying new things and enjoyed all kinds of food.
He'll get there Bruce assures him. Slowly.
Clint always brings strange candies he finds on his missons. Small bags of it that he can grab and shove in a pocket. Usually they're terrible but sometimes he finds real nice stuff.
He brings back something that resembles skittles and they're so bad that Steve throws them away before Bucky can steal some.
A few weeks later, he comes back with some kind of taffy, and Bucky loves it.
He keeps taking Steve's pieces when he's not looking, keeping his face blank and innocent when Steve looks at him suspiciously. The only thing giving him away is the small bulge in his cheek where he's got it mid chew, and he breaks into an honest to god grin when Steve pokes it angrily.
He ends up sliding most of his pieces over to Bucky, just keeping a few for himself.
Bucky practically inhales them and turns his eyes on the ones Steve has left, making a face when he shoves the rest of them in his mouth to keep Bucky from stealing them.
He scowls and turns his attention on Clint, who frantically tries to shove a bunch in his mouth too but just ends up choking on a few of them.
Natasha confiscates the rest.
He won't touch the alcohol Tony keeps around. It doesn't matter how much of a show Tony kicks up about it or how loud he praises it, or even if Steve tries it or is the one to offer it to Bucky.
The best vodka you've ever had, Barnes. Even Nat was impressed.
C'mon man. This whiskey will blow your mind. Smokey, smooth, and hell it might be older than you.
Bucky just narrows his eyes and avoids it, enough caution and distrust showing that they think they might have to look into it as a trigger for some memories at some point but so far it hasn't sent Bucky spiraling, just sends him off to disappear in another room.
● 🗣 👥 ●
Steve is always bringing Bucky up.
And the others never realized how little they knew about Steve or how... sadangrylonely lifeless he was.
Now, he's happy and filled with life. He talks about things he and Bucky are doing or did, and they all do more things together as a team.
Bucky, when he talks, usually talks about Steve.
It's cute. Especially because they're not sure either one realizes how much the other talks about them.
Bucky tells them he wants to be able to go outside in public because there's a park Steve likes and Bucky wants to be able to take him there.
Steve tells them Bucky has been trying to reintroduce himself to being in public and around people, taking Steve with him down to the tower lobby and people watching.
Bucky says he thinks he can handle some newer foods now and Steve's been recommending some things.
Steve says he can't join them for pizza because he finally got Bucky to agree to try sushi tonight.
Bucky asks them when they think he might be able to sleep through the night because he hates waking Steve up.
Steve asks if they know anything to help Bucky sleep, he hates to see him so exhausted.
The Avengers have saved the world before. Multiple times! Why are they being punished by having to watch these two flirt like two kids falling in love for the first time? It's painful and sickening and heartwarming in the worst ways.
When Thor comes back, he observes them for less than an hour and then makes some long booming speech about brotherhood and love and the bonds to those we love.
Everyone else starts tuning him out. It's very sweet, but he's gone off topic.... and now he's telling a story about when he was young.
Bucky was clearly trying to listen but is now completely lost. He was a little overwhelmed by Thor. They warned him, but no amount of warnings could adequately prepare someone for Thor.
Steve is all content smiles and a reassuring presence at Bucky's side.
They both have a hand under the table and everyone there knows they're holding on to each other.
