Here Kitty, Kitty

by crematosis

Steve is thrilled Bucky wants to try kinky things with him and Tony, but between Tony's injuries and Bucky's past trauma, it takes some work to find something that will work for all of them.

A/N: Written for MCU Kink Bingo. This fulfills the Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark square

Steve settled himself onto his favorite couch in the den on Tony's floor and checked his watch. It was Friday, his favorite night of the week. Friday nights always meant date nights.

When Steve had dated just Tony, they usually went out for dinner and then came home to have sex. But four months ago, they had decided that Bucky was finally recovered enough that they could welcome him into their relationship. Bucky still wasn't entirely himself. Gone was the man who could weave his way through crowds and charm the pants off anyone he talked to.

But that was okay. In the safety of the Tower, Bucky was just as charismatic and adventurous as he had been all his life. He had taken immediately to loving Tony just as deeply as he loved Steve and had eagerly demanded to be included in all aspects of their relationship, even the kinkier parts.

They were all still working on finding kinks that they could all enjoy. After all the torture Bucky had gone through, restraints and heavy impacts were absolutely out of the question. But Bucky had been eager to find things that worked. Every date night, Steve and Tony tried to introduce a new kink.

Steve frowned as he watched Tony gingerly make his way into the den, ice pack pressed against his right side.

Their sex life was going to be rather vanilla for the foreseeable future. During Monday's battle, a giant robot had smacked Tony out of the air with a semi truck and the genius had ended up with bruised ribs and a concussion.

"You okay, baby?" Steve asked. "Need to go to bed early tonight?"

Tony huffed. "You know what the doctor said. Bed rest isn't going to help."

Steve rolled his eyes. "It's not bed rest. It's just an early night. We'll get takeout, maybe watch a movie and then hit the hay."

"Boring," Tony said. "Back me up on this one, Buck."

Steve glanced over his shoulder. He hadn't even heard Bucky come in.

Bucky stood in the entryway, shifting uneasily. "With Tony being injured and all, maybe-"

Tony waved a hand dismissively. "I know, I know. No vigorous exercise for the next month. But we can still play around if we're careful. Pet play is a pretty tame experience."

"It's been awhile since we've done that," Steve said.

He was surprised to realize he couldn't remember when their last play session had been. It had to have been more than a year, then.

"It has," Tony agreed with a fond smile. "I miss it."

Bucky cocked his head. "Pet play? What's that?"

"Just like it sounds," Tony said. "Playing as a pet. In my case, it's a cat. I put on a collar, mittens, and cat ears and then-"

Bucky cackled. "You've got to be kidding me."

Tony tensed and his expression went carefully neutral, which was his usual way of hiding how hurt he really was.

"James Buchanan Barnes," Steve said sternly. "We don't kink shame here."

Bucky looked puzzled for a moment and then his eyes went wide with horror when he took in Tony's expression.

"Oh, baby, no," he said quickly. "I wasn't laughing at you. No, never." He pulled Tony into a tight embrace. "I'd never make fun of your kinks. This just reminded me of a funny situation I was in."

"You remembered something?" Tony said, life coming back into his eyes.

Bucky chuckled. "Yeah. Back in the 80s sometime. The date's a little fuzzy."

Tony's eyes went wide and he exchanged a look with Steve. "While you were with Hydra?"

Steve was just as surprised as Tony. He was sure there was nothing about Hydra that could be remotely funny.

Bucky grinned. "It was after one of my missions. I was holed up in a cabin for awhile with one of my handlers, waiting for an evac. There was a storm brewing so the reinforcements were taking a lot longer than expected and this assclown decides he wants to start fooling around cuz he's bored and shit." He rubbed his hands together, really warming to the subject. "So he pulls these cat ears out of his bag, puts them on me, and tells me I'm going to be his little pussycat for the night."

Tony's mouth dropped open. "No," he said. "He didn't."

Bucky nodded sagely. "He did. Luckily for me, I had been out of cryo for a few weeks at that point and I was a little more me than Hydra usually liked. So I willfully misinterpreted his order and behaved like an actual cat."

A sly smirk slid across Bucky's face. "Hey, Stevie, remember that one asshole cat that lived on our street?"

Steve chuckled. "How could I forget? I'm pretty sure I still have scars from that little monster."

As a child, he had been stubbornly determined to take care of the scrawny, mangy cat that showed up at the end of the street. He had brought it small scraps of bread and attempted to comb the matted fur with a hairbrush he had borrowed from Bucky's sister. The cat had never shown an ounce of gratitude for his efforts and Steve clearly remembered running home crying a few times when the cat sliced his hands to ribbons.

"That's the cat I decided to act like." Bucky's eyes sparkled with mischief. "I knocked every fucking thing off all the counters and watched him trip trying to get to me, I hissed and spit at him every time he tried to talk to me, I put a couple knives between my fingers and pretended they were claws, I ripped holes in his bedding, and I made sure to vomit on his entire duffel bag of spare clothing."

"Holy shit," Tony said in an awed tone.

Steve put a hand under Tony's jaw and gently pressed his mouth closed. "Don't gawk," he said. "That's rude."

"And after all that, the mothefucker still thought he could get some. He tried to put his dick in my mouth and I damn near bit the thing off. When our evac showed up, he begged for morphine, codeine, anything they could give him. And I just stood there in the middle of the carnage, laughing my ass off. It was the funniest shit I'd ever seen. Could never take that guy seriously again, no matter how many times they wiped me. I'd see his face and just fucking bust up. I couldn't even remember what was so funny anymore, but I couldn't stop."

Bucky's smile faded. "That's when they really increased the wipes. They wanted to absolutely erase all traces of my personality so they'd never lose control of me again."

Steve exchanged a horrified look with Tony. It still shocked him sometimes that Bucky could talk about brutal torture so casually.

Bucky clapped his hands together. "So. Pet play."

"Given your past experiences," Tony said carefully. "Maybe you shouldn't-"

"Oh, bullshit," Bucky said. "I just spent the last five minutes laughing about the motherfucker. This isn't going to fuck me up."

"We don't know that," Steve said.

It was impossible to tell what could be a trigger for Bucky. He had desperately wanted to try wax play, but one look at Tony standing over with a lit candle had suddenly conjured up memories of Hydra generals putting out cigars on his body. Sometimes Steve wondered if they should just stick to the few safe kinks they had already established.

"Exactly," Bucky said stubbornly. "We don't know. And unless we know it bothers me, it's fair game. I want to fucking try it, punk."

Steve sighed heavily. "Alright. Tony, do you remember where we put the pet play box?"

In theory, putting all their sex toys and play equipment into labeled boxes was supposed to help them easily find whatever equipment they wanted for a specific scene without having to paw through Tony's frankly gigantic collection of fun items. In reality, there were way too many boxes shoved into various play rooms and storage rooms on Tony's floor and they still had to paw through stuff before they found what they needed.

Tony tapped a finger against his lips. "Actually, I think I do know where it is," he said. "I'll be right back."

"Don't lift any heavy boxes," Steve called after him.

"I won't," Tony shouted back. "Stop being such a mother hen."

Steve still had half a mind to follow after him and help him dig the box out, but Tony returned to the den before he could actually work himself up to follow after him.

"See?" Tony said smugly. "I'm fine. This box weighs maybe two pounds so you can quit fussing about it." He set the box down on the coffee table and popped open the lid. "Take a look at all this awesome, Buck."

"Oh wow," Bucky said as he traced a finger over the red satin collar. "These are actually really fancy."

"Of course they are," Tony said proudly. "They were made specifically for me."

"And so colorful," Bucky said. "Do you have one color for every day of the week or what?"

Tony shook his head. "The colors are supposed to indicate what kind of cat I'm playing as." The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile. "Because I can't just be a cat. I have to be multiple cats."

"Back when we first started dating," Steve said. "Tony wasn't great at communicating his needs and wants. Talking about feelings was hard on him. So we came up with these color-coded collars and ears so he wouldn't actually have to tell me when he was having a bad day and needed some gentle cuddles."

"I've gotten better at that now," Tony said.

"You sure have," Steve agreed. He gently pulled Tony into his lap and rubbed a hand over his back. "I'm so proud of how confident you've gotten over the years."

Bucky turned the white cat ears over in his hands. "So, what does the white signify?"

"It's when I'm a little angel, obviously," Tony said, fluttering his eyelashes.

Steve snorted. "It's for when he needs a nice, calm evening. He puts the white ears on and I know I just need to sit him in my lap, pet him for awhile and tell him how wonderful and beautiful he is."

Bucky nodded. "And I suppose the black is the opposite, for when he wants to be a bratty kitty and cause mischief."

"Nah, that's the red set," Tony said with a grin. "The black is for when I want something sexual. We don't always have sex when we play. When I'm really into a cat headspace, I'm thinking of Steve as just some nice human and sex wouldn't even cross my mind. But there are times when I'm just human enough that I want to be a sex kitten and I put on the black set."

"Interesting," Bucky said.

"You don't have to participate if you don't want to," Tony assured him. "Or you can participate as a human like Steve does. Just pet me and watch me make a fool of myself. It'll be fun."

"But I want to try one of these on," Bucky said. "I'm just not sure which one."

"The rainbow," Tony said. "It'll tell Steve to keep on his toes and expect just about anything. I think I'm going for the black one tonight."

"Tony," Steve said warningly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I promise to take it easy, okay? But you're not going to stop me from having sex for an entire month. I'll just find ways to get myself off when you're not watching. So, do you want to have sex with me when you can watch and worry or do you want me doing it on my own?"

Steve heaved a sigh. Tony was ridiculously stubborn when he wanted something. He was absolutely sure that if he didn't try and satisfy Tony tonight, he'd injure himself making some kind of sex machine.

"Fine," Steve said. "But we're going to have to find a position where you're not bearing any of my weight whatsoever.

"Fair enough," Tony said. He slid the ears over his head and buckled the collar behind his neck.

"I don't think these mittens will fit me," Bucky said with a grimace.

"It's fine," Tony said as he slipped on his own mittens. "The collars, the ears, and the mittens are just crutches, something to help you get in the right headspace. I don't have to wear anything at all if I don't want to and just think my way into being a cat. But the accessories definitely help in the beginning. If you decide you like this kind of thing, I'll totally buy you your own set of stuff."

Steve gave Bucky's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Just watch Tony for a little bit and then join in whenever you're ready. It might feel a little weird the first few times. It took Tony maybe six or seven sessions before he stopped feeling self-conscious. Just do whatever feels natural and work from there."

Tony settled himself on the floor. "Alright, I'm going under," he announced. "Any questions, Buck, you ask Steve. I'm going to be nonverbal."

Between one breath and the next, Tony's eyes had gotten softer and his posture had gotten looser.

"Hey, kitten," Steve said. He held out a hand.

Tony leaned forward and rubbed his cheek against Steve's hand with a happy hum.

"That's it," Steve said soothingly. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as Bucky lowered himself to his knees. "Hey there, Buck. You want some scratches, too?"

Bucky frowned. He clearly wasn't in headspace, which was okay. Tony hadn't gotten into headspace his first time either. He had mostly just wandered around the den on his hands and knees, muttering about how stupid he felt.

"C'mere, Buck," Steve said in a gentle tone. With his free hand, he gestured for Bucky to come closer.

Bucky crawled up to the couch, his face twisted with uncertainty. "Meow?" he said hesitantly and then grimaced, his face reddening.

Steve ran a hand over Bucky's head and started gently carding his fingers through his hair. "Well, aren't you gorgeous?"

Tony whined and sat up on his heels, hands curling into the couch cushions as he slowly rubbed his face over Steve's groin.

Steve felt a smile creeping over his face. He was definitely giving Tony points for creativity. It was probably the gentlest way to have sex Steve could think of. A little light rubbing and maybe Tony could be convinced to give him a blowjob with those innocent kitten licks. And after Steve had come, he could pull Tony into his lap and get him off with a hand job. It wasn't exactly the most exciting pet play scene they had ever done, but it would be perfect while Tony was healing.

"Red," Bucky said suddenly.

Steve sucked in a breath. It was just as he had feared. The scene had brought up some horrible memories for Bucky and now he was going to be traumatized.

Tony blinked a few times, the bright intelligence coming back into his eyes. "Okay, let's decompress," he said. He sat at Bucky's side, hand hovering over his shoulder without actually touching. "Where's your head at, Buck? You feeling up to talking about what went wrong?"

"I don't like not being able to talk," Bucky said plaintively.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief. "You can talk if you want."

"But I'm supposed to be a cat."

"There's no wrong way to pet play," Tony said. He paused and scrunched his nose. "I take it back. There are definitely wrong ways to play. What I mean is that there are a lot of different ways to play. I mean, just look at me. I was probably going to suck Steve's dick in a second. And real cats don't do that."

"You do have a point," Bucky admitted.

"This one's on me," Tony said. "I probably should have explained things a little better before throwing you in the deep end like that. But for the record, dude, if you need us to slow down or make adjustments to any scene, you call yellow. Red means the scene needs to be over and you want out."

Bucky frowned. "But I did want out. Not being able to talk makes me feel like I'm being gagged and-"

"You're not good with any kind of restraints," Steve finished for him. It made sense. It probably reminded Bucky of that horrible mask he had to wear.

"I have an idea and it is brilliant because all my ideas are brilliant," Tony said. He pointed at Bucky. "New scene. You cuddle with Steve on the couch. I'll suck both of you off. And there had better be some talking because I've got a praise kink a mile wide."

Bucky grinned. "Sounds like a plan." He sprawled out on the couch, his head in Steve's lap.

Steve draped an arm across Bucky's shoulders and groaned as Tony mouthed his way up his inner thigh.

He wasn't a cat, but this was so perfect he felt a little like purring himself.