#those nerds

Find someone who looks at you the way Travis and Liam look at Marisha marisha’ing.

Also, I mean. 

Matt Mercer, a caring and loving husband : Happy birthday to my wonderful wife, Marisha.

Marisha : Thank you to my mother, who birthed me. She should be the one getting thanks.

Sam : Re-enact it for us, please.

Tony is really good at dancing. Bucky knows this because he gets to shadow every gala or dance that Tony attends to make sure that no villain is trying anything. (Or anyone, for that matter.) Bucky has seen Tony dance like he’s born for it, smiling and laughing with his dance partners. He’s so goofy sometimes. His eyes light up if they play any Nat King Cole songs. His favorite is “Unforgettable.” Bucky loves that song too. And so what if he plays it over and over again because it’s Tony’s favorite, it’s whatever.

This dance is no different. Tony is dancing in a suit that was custom-made, and he’s having the time of his laugh. Bucky usually occupies a safe corner in the back of the room. People take no notice of him, thinking him to be the staff. He’ll get the occasional smile as people pass. So that’s nice. 

But Tony comes up to him. 

“Wanna dance? You look grumpy, Bucky.” And he’s not exactly sure what possesses him to accept; Bucky can barely dance without tripping over his feet because he’s not anyone else anymore, he’s just himself. But he does. 

“I can’t dance real well,” Bucky admits. “I mean, I can dance, but--not like you can.” Tony snorts. 

“Half of it is just stepping and hoping that you get it right,” Tony says. “And I bet with your body’s tendency to remember things, you can totally dance.” 

Tony was right. As usual. Bucky’s body remembers how to correctly step. They dance in time, and Bucky actually has fun as Tony accidentally stumbles, nearly slips, and Bucky catches him before he can fall. 

“Guess I fell for you,” Tony says with a smirk. Bucky laughs and nearly drops Tony again because that line shouldn’t work as well as it has. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Bucky says. People are staring. His cheeks heat up. “I bet you have a lot of others on your dance card,” he says. “I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you want another dance.” 

Tony dances some more. Bucky wishes he was dancing. But he watches carefully. 

He wonders if he’ll ever get the nerve up to ever tell Tony that he likes him. More than a friend. 

Tonight is not that night. When Tony is raw from a nightmare and hugging himself and Bucky shouldn’t be here. But he is. So there’s no changing it. They’re in the sun room together. Only moonlight can reach it. Bucky is already in front of the window, staring out at a city that should be different, there used to be--no that wasn’t right it was--but wait, no, that’s wrong--it doesn’t matter. Bucky just has a shit memory. Yeah, he’ll go with that. 

Tony rushes in, and Bucky is startled. “I--I’m sorry,” Tony wheezes. “I’ll leave, sorry to bother you, I’m just--” 

“Don’t.” 

It’s tense for one moment. Bucky wonders if he’s saying the right words. “Stay, Tony. Please.” So Tony stays. 

They don’t talk. It’s awkward. But Tony is breathing like Steve used to when he was asthmatic, and Bucky can’t formulate words to say. 

“Are you...okay?” Tony grins at that. 

“Just peachy.” They sit together. Neither of them have been very good at words. “I’m sorry,” Bucky says. “I’m not really any good at talking about shit like this. I usually--shit. I’m so bad at this.” 

“I’m not any better,” Tony says. “I wish I was.” Bucky nods. 

“You wanna go get shitty pizza?” Tony looks over at him. “If we both suck at this, might as well just go get really bad pizza from a gas station.” 

They walk. Tony needs that. He breathes. They talk a bit, on the way. Tony says he’s never seen Bucky in the sun room at night. 

“New place,” Bucky says. “Sam and Clint claimed the kitchen. I don’t wanna be in there when they start their sharing situation. Not my place to be.” Tony nods. 

“I can’t be in the lab anymore,” Tony says. “I just...I can’t. I used to go to the library, but I needed windows tonight. Dreamt of a place that never had windows.” Maybe it was Afghanistan. Maybe it wasn’t. 

“Me too,” Bucky says. “I like all the windows. Open space. Hell of a lot better than where I used to be.” Tony nods. 

They eat pizza on the way to...wherever they go. Tony hates sausage on pizza. Bucky hates olives. So they both like pepperoni. 

Tony talks about college. Bucky talks about sneaking in a smoke bomb to Steve’s tent because he was being a punk. They laugh. Slowly forget what they were on about. 

They fall asleep in the family room, on the couch. Tony has blankets upon blankets, and Bucky just has a thin one. Bruce snaps a picture. 

The next morning, Tony receives a small teddy bear that is holding a little heart on it. It’s ridiculously cheesy. Tony kind of loves it. It says “I like you bear-y much!” Tony puts it in his workshop and orders Butterfingers not to touch it. 

Bucky smiles as Tony grabs him his favorite cup to put coffee in, the one that a factory messed up of Captain America’s face. (It looks like Danny Devito, so Bucky adores it.) 

“Morning,” Tony says sleepily. “Know who left the bear?” Bucky shrugs. 

“Not sure. J said it wasn’t a bad guy though, no harm or threat. I checked.” (It was Bucky, so the person definitely was a threat, but not to Tony. Ever.) Tony nods. Gives a little smile. Bucky hides his in his coffee cup. 

Natasha’s phone goes off, a whip cracking. 

“Oh sorry, that’s my text notification,” she says innocently. Bucky scowls at her. She just grins and mouths “got you.” 

Paperhat in halloween costumes. They just look to cute!😁😶