#dapperanachronism

Bucky rolls his eyes, and luckily Tony moves on. “How’s the arm with the new tweaks?”  he asks.

“Much better. Response time is improved. Tac gear could use some work, though. It’s still a little restrictive,” he says, stretching out his shoulder. “I like a little restriction, but I can think of other places it’s better for than the battlefield.”  He gives Tony a look, but Tony doesn’t seem to notice. He just nods, and his fingers twitch a little like he’s looking for a console.

“Right. Come down to the workshop, we’ll try some new things. Wanted your feedback on some other things while we’re at it.”

Tony turns and walks away, muttering to himself, and Bucky can’t help but to just stare after him in bewilderment.

<hr/>

Okay, so he hadn’t meant to start flirting with Tony. Not really anyway. It had just kind of.. happened. Early on in his recovery, when Steve had been telling him stories of when they were younger, of their life before the war,  Steve had told him that he’d had a way with people, that he’d been ‘a bit of a charmer.’ Bucky hadn’t exactly believed it, not for a long time. Not until the day that they’d walked into a coffee shop and Bucky had left with a barista’s number on the side of his cup, a stunned look on his face, and a Steve that didn’t stop laughing for three blocks. So yeah, okay, he could be charming. But he really hadn’t set out to flirt with Tony. But Tony was funny, he was smart, charming himself, gorgeous, snarky. The flirting had evolved right alongside his crush, and by the time he’d realised that either was a thing, he’d gone and fallen head over heels for Tony.

Tony, who seemed completely oblivious that Bucky was flirting with him — which was ridiculous. It wasn’t like Bucky was exactly trying be subtle.

He was still shaking his head over it as he headed down to Tony’s workshop, freshly showered after training, sporting his favourite sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. Tony waved him over as he entered, but didn’t take his eyes off the screen in front of him.

“Buckaroo. Come, take a seat. Tell me what’s wrong with your gear.”

Bucky pulls up a stool right beside Tony where he can easily peer over at whatever it is that Tony is working on.     

“The gear’s actually fine for the most part. I mean the new material you’re using is perfect.”

“But you were complaining about it,” Tony frowns.

“I just need it refitted, that’s all. I bulked up since we took measurements,” Bucky explains. Tony pauses and looks at him — really looks at him, studying the breadth of his shoulders and the muscle definition in his arms, eyes lingering. Bucky can’t help but flex a little. For half a second, he swears that he sees a hint of a flush on Tony’s cheeks, but the moment passes quickly and Tony turns and stares pointedly at his screens. Bucky can’t help but half rolls his eyes to himself.

Maybe this being ‘naturally charming’ as Steve calls him is working against him. There’s a chance that Tony thinks that this is just how he acts with everyone. Of course, there’s always the chance that Tony isn’t interested in him. But, he’s not willing to give up yet. Maybe it’s time to step up his game and make sure that Tony knows that he is the sole object of Bucky’s flirting.

He’ll find a way to get his point across.

<hr/>

It starts with the coffee.

He convinces JARVIS to be his co-conspirator. Whenever Tony is working down in the shop, Bucky has JARVIS alert him when Tony is starting to run low on coffee and starts grumbling about  wanting more. JARVIS gives him enough time to jump into action, scrambling to the kitchen to make sure there is always a fresh pot started just as Tony comes upstairs. More often than not, Bucky will strategically place himself in the kitchen or the common room so that he can see when Tony arrives, and casually start a conversation with him.

After the third day, he looks up from his spot reading on the couch to find Natasha looming over him.

“Just tell him, James.”

He doesn’t dignify that with a response.

The coffee and kitchen chatter end up going over well, so he moves on to phase two of his plan — the workshop.

It’s Tony’s space. It’s where he’s the most…  Tony . And it’s where Bucky first fell in love with him.

If Bucky’s being honest with himself — which is hard still, some days — he fell for Tony very early on after coming to the tower. Tony was something solid at a time that he was in turmoil, when Bucky wasn’t sure where he stood with himself, when he was trying to figure out where he stood with Steve, and when he had no idea what his place in the world was after HYDRA. But there was Tony. Tony, who was always straight with him. Who always said what he meant, who wasn’t afraid to crack jokes, to prod at him to see where the lines and the edges were. He had needed that.

By the time that Bucky had put himself back together again, Tony had become a fixture in his life. One afternoon when Tony had been finishing off the last of the fine tuning on his arm, Bucky had made a comment about putting himself back together. For the rest of the afternoon, Tony had called him ‘Humpty Dumpty’ until Bucky had pointed out that wasn’t the whole point, that Humpty Dumpty couldn’t be put back together. And he was doing much better than that, thank you very much Tony.

It had been the first time that Bucky had snarked back at him, and it had caught Tony off guard for half a moment before he burst out laughing and conceded the point that Bucky was clearly way better than Humpty Dumpty.

After that, something clicked between them, and they’d become fast friends in a way that neither of them could have anticipated.

A friend that Bucky fell harder for the more that he found himself.

So here he is, back in the workshop where everything arguably began, trying to make it clear that he is interested in more without coming right out and saying it. Words are a lot harder than actions, and Tony isn’t always the best at communicating either.

No. This is better. And at least this way, there’s less chance of him making things awkward between them by just coming right out and saying how he feels. What he needs is to communicate in way that Tony understands.

Tony has told him he’s always welcome to come down and hang out, so Bucky starts taking advantage of that more, and more. At first he tries to cover himself with stupid excuses — he has a question, he needs to fix something, he wants to visit DUM-E — until Tony calls him out on it.

“What, my company isn’t reason enough for you?” he asks one day after yet another excuse to come into Tony’s space. “I told you ages ago you could come down whenever you want. I’m starting to think you don’t like me.”

Bucky’s heart skips a beat and he takes this as a good sign. With a playful smile, he swaggers across the room. It’s not quite the ‘murder strut’ as Tony calls it, but he pours that same self assured smoothness into every step until he’s right up in Tony’s space. “Your company is always enough for me, doll,” he purrs, brushing his fingers along Tony’s arm. Tony stares up at him for a moment, wide eyed before he leans into the touch, almost without realising he’s doing it. Bucky almost leans in right then and there to kiss him. Their eyes meet, and his drop briefly to Tony’s lips, full and perfect. There is no way that Tony doesn’t know what he’s thinking, but before Bucky can make up his mind, the moment passes.

Probably for the best. For now. Not until he’s certain.

<hr/>

He’s down in the workshop every day now, at the very least long enough to pop in and say hi to Tony. It becomes so much a part of his routine that he still ends up going down even when Tony is away for a few days for meetings at the SI facility in California. After barely the first day, Natasha tells him off for moping around like a moody teenager, and Steve just looks at him sadly without saying anything. To hell with them both, at least DUM-E is nice to him.

On the first evening, he sends Tony a photo of him and DUM-E building a ‘sculpture’ out of spare bits of wire and metal.

Part way through the second day, he has JARVIS send Tony a video of Bucky handing DUM-E and Butterfingers lengths of foam and teaching them about jousting. Less than five minutes later, Bucky’s phone is ringing, and at the other end, Tony sounds like he’s struggling to catch his breath.

“I. Hate. You.” he says without an ounce of venom in his voice. “I just had to try and explain to a group of shareholders and investors that the reason I burst out laughing in the middle of a Q and A is because someone was teaching my robots how to joust.”

“Robot fights are legit Tony. I saw it on YouTube,” Bucky says as he flops himself down on the couch in the shop.

“Let me save you some time. DUM-E isn’t going to do well on that career path.”

“Everyone needs a hobby,” Bucky says.

“Jousting.” Tony repeats.

“We’re bored.” Bucky tells him. “You’re not here to entertain us.”

“If I promise to come back soon and save you, will you promise not to teach my bots any more bad habits?”

Bucky pretends to consider this for a moment, and then responds with a cheerful, “Nope. No promises.”

“You’re impossible. I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“I’ll tell DUM-E to finish his art project.”

Bucky hangs up the phone feeling significantly better and more hopeful. Maybe when Tony comes home, he’ll think about actually talking to him.

<hr/>

He throws that plan out the window almost as soon as Tony arrives back. He’s in the common area with Steve, Natasha, Sam, Bruce, and Rhodey who has popped by for a visit. Once Tony has dropped his bags and jacket and heads in to join them, Bucky is there to greet him. He leans into Tony’s space and bumps shoulders with him and Tony smiles at him, but there is something pinched there.

Maybe he’s just tired, Bucky rationalizes.

Later, when the group of them are settled in to watch a movie, Tony deliberately takes the seat on the couch next to Bucky, and Bucky nudges him gently, trying to make it clear that he’s okay with Tony being close in his space, but Tony doesn’t take him up on it. The entire movie, Tony is close enough that Bucky can feel his warmth, but they never touch, and Tony doesn’t make any move to lean in closer to him.  Bucky refuses to read into that.

Except that it doesn’t stop there.

Arguably, nothing between them has changed, they still spend all their time together, they’re still bantering and trading jokes, but there’s something off about it. Tony’s a physical and tactile guy, Bucky’s observed that about him. He constantly fidgeting, he has no qualms about being in people’s space. He’s always grabbing peoples arms or patting shoulders when he’s talking.

Except with Bucky.

Why hasn’t he noticed it before now?

Well okay. That makes it pretty damn clear. Tony is trying to make a point, that he doesn’t want what Bucky is offering, and he’s trying to be nice about it so things don’t get awkward. Bucky can take a hint. It stings, but he can deal. He’ll get over it.

It just might take some time.

The day he realises what’s happening, he doesn’t go to the shop at all.

<hr/>

He doesn’t want to lose the friendship that he’s developed with Tony, he values it and Tony far too much for that, but over the following few days, he can’t quite figure out how to conduct himself. He hasn’t realised just how much he’s been flirting with Tony until he tries to stop it. He catches himself all the time, giving Tony a look, or about to make an inappropriate joke. He doesn’t realise how much he touches Tony until he has to reign himself in. Tony has never pulled away from Bucky’s touches, or made any indication that he’s uncomfortable with them, but Bucky’s not going to be the guy. Tony’s not interested, enough said.

But it’s so damn hard. He can’t help but spend less time around Tony, and rationalise it to himself as being better, at least for now. At least until he can get his feelings under control.

It works. Right up until Tony decides it doesn’t.

“Alright what is it?” Tony says one evening after an awkward, stilted few minutes in the shop. He can’t just stop going to the shop all together, it’s too important to him, and to their friendship, which he’s trying to keep intact, god help him.

“What’s what?” Bucky asks, confused.

“All of this,” Tony says waving his hand at nothing in particular.

“You just gestured to all of me,” Bucky said flatly, barely feeling the joke.

“Yeah, exactly my point. You’ve been acting—” he makes some other kind of gesture that shouldn’t really make sense, but which Bucky understands. “Look, just tell me what I did wrong. Please Bucky.”

“What?” Bucky responds in surprise, “What you did? What, no. Tony. It’s nothing. You didn’t do anything.”

“You’ve been acting weird. And distant. So clearly I did something, and I just want to know what so I can fix it.”

No. No, this wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Bucky has been trying so damn hard  to not ruin what they have, and now he’s gone and done it anyway. He’d hoped they wouldn’t have to have this terrible, awkward conversation, but it looks like they’re going to have to after all. Bucky opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, Tony cuts him off, realisation dawning on him.

“Look, Bucky, I get that you’re not into me, okay? That’s fine. I swear, it’s fine. I get it, message received. So can we just forget this happened and go back to how things were? Please?”

Tony looks at him, vulnerable and pleading, and Bucky wants  to say something comforting, but his brain just short circuited and is rebooting.

“Wait what?” he asks, feeling like he missed something important. “You said-”

“Yeah I know what I said, can we forget about it?”  Tony snaps.

“No. No we can not.” Bucky informs him, moving quickly across the shop. Tony’s face twists into something distorted, and he looks like he’s about to spit out something vicious, as he does when he’s trying to protect himself.

“You said I’m not into you,” Bucky states, seeking clarification.

“Well, you’re not,” Tony shrugs.

“What the hell gave you the idea that I wasn’t?”  Bucky asks.

“Why would you be?”

“Why— why would I be? Tony, why the hell wouldn’t I be?” Bucky can’t quite believe what he’s hearing. “Have you completely missed the part where I have been trying to flirt with you and get your attention for weeks now?”  

“What?” Tony asks, his turn to be confused now. “No you haven’t. You’re just… you. You’re just being you.”

“Right. Because I always show off in training, for just anyone. And I always spend all my free time with everyone. And I always mope around the tower, and make art, and teach everyone’s robots how to joust because I miss them.”

“Well… when you put it like that,” Tony says, taken aback. “So, this entire time I’ve been so busy trying to hide the fact that I want you take you to dinner, and have lots and lots of sex all night, and spend the whole morning laying in bed together, that I completely missed the part where—”

“-- where I want the same thing?” Bucky asks. “Yeah. I guess so.”

He steps up right into Tony’s space and drops his hands to hold Tony’s hips, holding gently, but firmly. “Let me make this clear. Hey Tony, wanna go out with me?”

Tony stares at him in disbelief for half a moment, then cocks an eyebrow. “I don’t know. It’s possible you just mean going out as friends you know.”

Bucky resists the urge to roll his eyes, and leans in close enough that they’re nearly breathing the same air. He lets his eyes roam all over Tony, down the length of his body and back up. He makes a very pleased noise in the back of his throat so it’s completely unmistakable what he’s thinking, and says. “Nice shoes. Wanna fuck?”

For a moment, there is total silence between them, and then an instant later they both burst out laughing. Tony drops his head to Bucky’s shoulder, and Bucky presses his cheek to the side of Tony’s head, smiling.