#mirthandnomatter

Roasted game and cornbread was good and all. They really were, but there was so much more they could be eating.

It was sometime after she’d made a bread starter and started using it with some regularity that she realized that there was just the one-bedroom in this house. She really should have figured it out sooner. Those two gave it to her and slept in bedrolls in the only other room in the house.

But before that, had they shared this double bed? Was that something two men did? She’d heard tales of how cowboys kept company, but she’d never really thought it was more than talk.

It didn’t bother her, not at all. In fact, she sort of thought it fit. With both of them as good-looking as they were, it only made sense that they’d be together. She was fairly certain she’d never seen two better-looking people in her life.

Hell, sometimes Bucky leveled a look at her that made her belly swoop, and she had to remind herself that he wasn’t for her. Never mind that they’d been in such close quarters for a few months by then. Either one of them could have taken her for their wife and hadn’t. In fact, they’d been nothing but polite to her. What with allowing her to sleep in the only bedroom and all.

She finally got bold enough to ask when Steve was out on one of his yearling runs.

“Buck?” she began, kneading a pile of bread dough while he cleaned a rabbit he’d snared.

She had plans for the meat.  Stew was in order. Steve had traded for potatoes and carrots on his last run, and she had plenty of both in the root cellar.

“Ma’am?” he countered, not looking up from what he was doing.

“Why is it that you and Steve never took wives?” she asked. “If it’s none of my business, you can say so.”

He was silent for a long moment before speaking. “Me and Stevie are close.”

“I know,” she said, looking up and locking eyes with him to let him know that she knew.

“Well, we’ve always been close, notwithstanding how we are now. Since we were kids. We always shared everything, and we never could work up the courage to share a wife.”

“That’d be the only way you’d take one?” she asked.

Bucky smiled as he finished up with the rabbit and went to plop it down in the stew pot. “Yes’m. I reckon so.”

“Oh,” she said simply, trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest with the desire to offer herself right then and there.

But no, she’d wait for Steve to get home. He was due home the next day. She’d offer then. And if it made things weird, well… she was more than healed enough to go back out on her own. She’d been on her own for most of her life, and she could handle it. Bucky’d cleaned her handguns and hung them up on the wall. She could lift out just as quickly as she’d dropped in.

When Steve finally heaved himself through the door, something new in his hand for Darcy, she almost felt bad about bringing it up and bursting the bubble they had. But the thought of the three of them wouldn’t leave her mind, and she’d just as soon say it as not.

Steve had brought in a variety of seeds. For a vegetable garden. Darcy’d been after him since the carrots and potatoes to let her put in a garden that spring. And with the snow melting outside, it was about time to start breaking up the ground for just such a garden.

Darcy hugged him good for those seeds, making plans that might very well go up in smoke the second she brought up what was on her mind.

She brought it up that night. But not during dinner when she’d planned. Nor after dinner when they all sat around the stove talking. Both would have been opportune times. No, she waited until she’d already changed into her sleeping clothes and brushed out her hair.

She opened the door to her bedroom while Steve and Bucky were situating their bedrolls.

“If you wanted to come back in the bedroom, just ask,” she said, feeling mortified at how she’d chosen to put it.

Bucky frowned and Steve asked, “You want to sleep on the floor?”

She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. “No.”

“Then I’m not sure I understand…” Steve began, but Bucky grinned, placing his hand on Steve’s arm.

“I do,” he stated. “I think she’s offering for us to come share the bed with her, is that right, Darcy?”

She sighed again and nodded. “Yes. Sharing is what I’m talking about. Sharing.”

Bucky glanced over at Steve, who seemed to catch up to the conversation right that second.

“I think we’d love to,” Steve said softly, rising to his feet. He and Bucky crossed the floor to the bedroom door.

“Everything okay?” he asked, glancing warily around. Maybe she was using him as a shield from someone else’s drunk amoré.

“Totally,” she replied. “I’m Darcy, bee tee dubs.  I always wanted to tell you that, but you always seemed busy…”

Bucky laughed. “I’m never busy. Steve’s the one with all the extracurriculars… I’m just here.”

“Not true,” she countered. “And I still haven’t gotten your name.”

He hesitated for a split second. Whether to give her James or Bucky. Bucky was kind of a kid-nickname.

“James,” he replied.

“James. Cool.  You wanna get outta here, James?”

He felt something swoop in his stomach. He kind of did, now that she brought it up.  He nodded. “Your place?”

“Yours,” she countered. “My roommate’s boyfriend is visiting. I don’t feel much like the battle of the moans.” She winked and reached for his hand.  “Lead the way.”

Not that he minded much, but even though he was the one tugging her gently through the throngs of people to leave the building, he felt she was very much leading the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later

“James…” she murmured, her voice hot and raspy in his ear when he rocked into her. His muscles shook when her lips brushed his earlobe.

“Bucky,” he corrected her, groaning as she grazed her teeth over his skin.

“Bucky?” she asked, not surprised, just making sure.

He nodded. “Call me Bucky…”

“Bucky…” she whispered, her nails raking down his back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She’d spent the night after.

Asked him if it was okay first. It struck him as weird, considering he was still coming down from what had been, hands-down, the best orgasm of his life.

“Is it okay if I stay?” she whispered in his ear, her legs still tucked around his hips, holding him close. Hell, he’d have said yes to anything in that moment. She had him as tightly wrapped around her finger as she was around his waist.

“Definitely,” he mumbled, nodding as he ducked down to kiss her again. Her lips were soft and pliant. The kiss felt sleepy. Or maybe that was just him.

He pushed off her, rolling over and onto his feet to pad to the bathroom and dispose of the condom.  Even though she had asked if she could stay, he half expected her to be gone when he returned.

She wasn’t.

She was sitting up in bed, tugging on his t-shirt before hopping to her feet as well. “Are you done in there?”

“What? Oh.. yeah, yeah, I’m... “ His cheeks flushed when he realized he definitely should have let her go first. Ladies first and all that. “Sorry, I should have let you go first…”

She didn’t bother shutting the door. “You did, don’t worry.”

Bucky tugged on his underwear, sitting down on the mattress before he realized what she meant.  He felt his cheeks redden even more. He was still blushing while she washed her hands before hopping back into bed with him.

He rolled over to the side and she snuggled up close, spooning against his front. “Did I really?” he asked.

“You couldn’t tell?” she asked. “Maybe I need to get louder…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t stay for breakfast the next day.  But she exchanged numbers with him.  And looking back at it now, that’s where it started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present

They weren’t booty calls all the time.

Sometimes they were.

But sometimes they were “Hey I made cookies, do you want some?” calls.

And “I watched a scary movie at night, please come check my apartment for security breaches.”

But his personal favorite was the “I want to cook, but it’s sad to cook for one. I’m coming over.”

Which was what brought them full circle. Right here, with Steve smirking like he knew something Bucky didn’t know.

“You should just ask her,” his roommate teased.

“I don’t recall asking for your input on this, punk…” Bucky muttered under his breath.

“Ask me what?” Darcy called from across the room. “What? It’s ten feet, it’s not soundproof,” she replied to their wide-eyed looks.

Bucky sighed and glared at Steve before asking her. “What are we?”

“Homosapians,” she replied smugly. “Broke-ass college students.”

“I meant in terms of…” He trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it. “Are you my girlfriend or what?”

Her smug smile morphed into something else. Something infinitely more smug if at all possible. “Do you want me to be?”

Steve snorted.

“You’re not letting me off the hook here, are you?” Bucky asked.

“Not in a million years.”

“Yes. Darcy. Will you be my girlfriend?”

She scooped some of the stir-fry onto a plate for him. “I’m already cooking for you, how noble to ask…” She brought the plate to him, pressing it into his hands before rising on her tiptoes to kiss him. “And thank you so much for asking. I would like nothing more.”

“Cool. Okay. Thank you.”