A/N: Merry Christmas!
I really don't have much to say. This is just my way of giving all of you wonderful people a fluffy, fluffy gift for the holidays.
Dedicated to L&L, who really just wanted me to write something that no one dies in.
Summary: Tony likes Winter. Winter is quieter, an observer, and he prefers to watch the other members of the team than being an active part of it. Tony can roll with that.
"What about James?"
In which the Winter Soldier realizes he likes Tony... and Tony likes him back.
Warnings: Not much. Mention of mental illnesses, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is just pure fluff.
I own nothing.
A Christmas Fit for Winter
"Hey, kid! That's cheating." Is the first thing Tony says as he walks back into the warmly lit living room with a new pitcher of spiked eggnog in his hand. The music that come from the speakers in the top corners of the room is not loud enough to drown his voice, and Peter Parker looks up - or rather, down - from his spot on the ceiling, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrates on trying to balance the custom-made Captain America star on top of their enormous Christmas tree.
"You told me I can do the star, not how to do it, Mr. Stark." Peter says over Bing Crosby's deep baritone with a smirk, dropping himself back to the ground and gracefully landing on his feet like a cat. Straightening up, he brushes his fancy holiday clothes that Tony had made him buy only a week before, staring at the heavily decorated tree to admire his work. "And you gotta admit, this tree looks awesome."
Tony rolls his eyes. "Don't sass your elders, you ungrateful little troll." He says, placing the pitcher on the coffee table so that everyone could help themselves and shuffling towards the couch, waving a finger in Peter's direction. "I can still make your suit shoot confetti instead of webs."
Peter's eyes widen in horror as Tony flops onto the couch, following his as he pushes himself against a laughing Super Soldier while nursing a full cup of eggnog in his hands, oblivious to the younger's distress.
"He's just teasing, don't worry about it, Pete." Bucky says as he moves a little to put his metal arm around Tony's shoulders, reaching his other hand to steal Tony's cup for a sip. He scrunches his nose at the strong, bitter aftertaste of the alcohol and shakes his head before handing it back to his boyfriend. "He wouldn't do something like that."
Tony lets out an exaggerated gasp. "The hell I won't!" He exclaims in mock outrage, but Peter doesn't notice the little amused upturn of Tony's lips as he panics just a little at the thought of his spider suit becoming a terrible joke.
"Mr. Stark-" He begins, but a large hand on Peter's shoulder stops him from continuing that conversation, and he pauses mid-sentence to look up to see Steve Rogers smiling at him kindly.
"He's just yanking your chain, kiddo." He chuckles gently.
"Yeah," Clint calls from his place at the dining table where he, Thor, Sam, Rhodes and Peter's aunt are playing their third round of poker. "I'm sure he wouldn't put in that much confetti."
Tony lets out a snort as the rest of the adults chuckle to themselves. Peter scowls in annoyance and crosses his arms.
"I hate all of you." He grumbles.
Later that night, after the last bits of the insane amount of food Tony had ordered had been eaten - two Super Soldiers, an enhanced Spiderling and a Norse God alone could devour twice the amount the rest of the team could eat together - and the living room had been cleared of any messes but the large pile under the Christmas tree, the penthouse finally empties completely. Tony sighs tiredly, stretching his arms above his head to release the tension in his shoulder blades as he watches a sleepy Peter being led towards the elevator by the team's twin spies. The rest of the team had already left to retire to their respective floors, and suddenly, Tony realizes, without the music and the constant chatter, the penthouse is now so eerily quiet.
Muscular, mismatching arms sneak around his waist from behind, and Tony sighs again contently, leaning back into the warm embrace. He can smell the faint scent of mint toothpaste on Bucky's breath as the larger man gently kisses along his jaw, and smiles, letting his stretched arms fall back down.
"Ready to go to bed?" He murmurs in his ear. Tony hums in agreement, and lets Bucky guide him away, eager to begin their own private Christmas celebration.
It's still dark outside when Tony scrunches his nose and opens his eyes sleepily, yawning widely into his soft pillow. He lets out a whiny breath at the cold and rolls over, intent on snuggling back into Bucky's warm arms if he can't just steal back the blankets that Bucky just loves hogging. When he rolls into nothing, Tony scrunches his nose again in disappointment, reaching out an arm in the darkened room, but the spot where his boyfriend usually sleeps in is empty.
And cold.
Tony frowns and pries his eyes open, rubbing the sleep away as he slowly pushes himself to sit up and blearily glance around the room.
Where's Bucky?
Drawing his knees up and leaning an elbow over them for balance, Tony looks around the room tiredly, searching for any signs of his missing boyfriend. He knows he shouldn't worry. There is no reason to, he tells himself, just because Bucky is not in bed. After all, like him, and like so many others in their little messed up team, Bucky Barnes still suffers from nightmares every once in a while. Not very surprising, after everything he'd been through. But that doesn't mean Tony has to like it.
Normally, after such a dream, Bucky would prefer to stay in bed and allow Tony to comfort him and soothe him back to sleep. But sometimes, Tony would wake up like this, alone in bed, only to wander out to find his boyfriend either curled up into a messy ball of shivers and whimpers on the couch in the living room, or in the gym, beating up an innocent punching bag to a pulp.
Tony sighs heavily and runs a hand over his face. He hates nights like these. He hates that Bucky's nightmares can make him feel like he can't trust himself around Tony. He hates seeing that haunted look in his eyes when he hears Tony approaching, as if he's afraid he'd break him if Tony gets too close. He hates it, but he knows he has to go after him. If not dealt with correctly, Bucky's nightmares can lead to more D.I.D episodes, in which the Winter Soldier takes control to protect Bucky's mind from itself.
Those episodes are not what Bucky would call pleasant, but after years of therapy and medication, even he admits that they are not so bad anymore. Recently, Bucky says, they are even quite interesting.
Winter, as Tony had nicknamed the other person that shares Bucky's body, is far more docile these days. No longer having to be HYDRA's killing machine, Winter had finally got the chance to explore who and what he is. With Tony's BARF and Natasha's experience with brainwashing, Winter has gone on the correct path to self discovery. He is his own person now, the team had learned as soon as the episodes became frequent enough to allow him therapy as well. He has some things he likes and things he doesn't, food, clothes, people, and many other things that are not always on par with Bucky. He learns to make his own decisions, and Tony can't be more proud. He likes Winter. Winter is quieter, an observer, and he prefers to watch the other members of the team than being an active part of it. And tony can roll with that.
After a few very confusing instances, Winter and Bucky had made it a habit to leave little notes for each other, keeping a journal for the sake of the other part of their person to inform each other of all the important things the other had missed. Once, Bucky had shown their journal to Tony, telling him about the things Winter likes and what he believes is the best way to approach him according to that. He says that he thinks Winter likes Tony quite a bit, and that Tony - along with Cap and Natasha - is one of Winter's favorite people, his best chance at making friends.
"Not that I blame him," Bucky had said then with an amused grin as he pecked Tony's lips. "He has great taste."
He has to go after him.
Stifling another yawn, Tony grunts and pushed himself off the bed, tossing the blanket aside. He shivers a little at the chilly air, whispering a soft command for Friday to turn up the heat as he rubs at his own arms. He knows what the cold does to Bucky.
The penthouse is quiet when Tony steps out of their bedroom. His bare feet swallowed in his too-long pajama pants, he makes his way silently through the hall and towards the kitchen. Bucky likes making an old fashioned hot cocoa when he's feeling down, so Tony thinks he might as well start there.
He doesn't make it far before a slight rustle to his right catches his attention.
The living room?
Frowning, Tony steals quietly towards the arched entrance, tilting his head a little in confusion at the sight before him.
This is not what he had expected.
Bucky's there, yes... but there is no steaming mug of hot cocoa. No cowering in the corner of the couch, no broken trinkets or punched out pillows. There are zero signs of distress, and even though Tony has mentally prepared himself for any scenario, he can't help the relief that washes over him as he watches Bucky - calm and safe and as well as he had been when they went to bed earlier that night - crouching beside the glowing Christmas tree.
Bucky's fine.
But what is he doing there? Tony frowns.
"Buck?" Tony calls out softly, the darkened floor making him uncomfortable to raise his voice to anything louder than that.
Bucky suddenly stiffen at the sound of his voice, his turned back going rigid. Tony's frown deepens as he calls out again.
"Honey, you okay?" He tries, hesitantly stepping into the living room. Bucky stands up from his crouch, slowly turning around to face his boyfriend. Their eyes lock, and Tony's widen a little in realization, then soften with a small smile. "Oh," He breathes fondly. "It's you. Why didn't you say so?"
Winter shrugs once, then glances down at the small object in his hands, an almost guilty look on his handsome face.
"Wanted it to be a surprise." He says quietly, pale blue eyes peeking at Tony from under a mop of messy brown hair. Tony's little smile grows into a teasing smirk as he raises an eyebrow, moving closer to the twinkling lights of the tree, yet still making sure to keep a safe distance between them.
"A surprise?"
Winter glances back down, avoiding eye contact. Kinda cute, Tony thinks to himself fondly, watching the small awkward frown that drags Winter's lips down. He wishes he could just reach out and wipe it away, but he doesn't dare to make the first physical contact. Winter is not Bucky, and Winter still needs to learn how to trust others around him first. Tony will not take away his right to decide what he wants.
Winter grunts.
"For you." He mumbles, and thrusts the small object in his hands into Tony's grasp.
"What-" At first, Tony's initial instinct is to drop it. He doesn't like being handed thing, that hasn't changed in the years that'd passed, but Winter doesn't know that. And Tony... Tony trusts Bucky with his life, and he trusts Winter, too. So he shoves the urge to flinch away to the back of his mind and closes his fingers around the small square thing that Winter had left there. Winter seems pleased.
"What is this?" Tony asks, turning the object in his hands. It's small, no bigger than the palm of his hand, and square. It's wrapped with rough, brown paper that Tony suspects came from a paper bag, but the paper is wrapped so smoothly that he can barely notice the seams. He smiles softly. Winter has always admired precision.
"For you," Winter repeats, shuffling a little in embarrassment. "For Christmas."
If his heart was ever going to give out out of sheer love, Tony thinks that this might be the moment he finally goes.
"Thank you." He breathes, and his arms ache to reach out and pull this adorable man for a hug, to thank him properly, as he would his Bucky. "I'm sorry, I haven't gotten you anything."
Winter shrugs again. "It's fine." He says. "You don't have to."
Tony tries not to flinch. He suddenly feels awful. He'd gotten every resident in the tower something for Christmas. Every single one. He'd even bought their cleaning crew a ski vacation for the first week of the new year, for christ's sake. How could he forget the one person that shared a body with the man he loves the most?
"It's not fine." Tony insists, swallowing the lump of guilt in his throat. "I have to give you something in return, that's how gift giving works, I think. At least, Pepper says so, and Pepper's usually right about these things even if I-"
A hand over his mouth shuts him up and stops his nervous babble, and he looks up to see Winter suddenly standing over him, a ghost of a smile flirting with his beautiful lips that Tony very much wants to kiss. There's a mistletoe hanging above them, and by the look on Winter's face, Tony knows he's noticed that, too.
"If you must, and if it's okay with both of you," Winter whispers, and Tony can almost feel his warm breath over his nose as the taller man leans closer, making his heart hammer frantically against his ribs. "Can I have just one kiss?"
Then Winter removes his hand, and the breathless, "Yes," barely leaves Tony's lips before their lips crash together. Tony reaches up bury his fingers in Winter's messy hair, his other hand gripping at his bicep as if to keep himself upright. He feels his knees quiver at the sheer wave of love he feels towards this man - both sides of him - and when Winter's rough hands come to rest over his hips, he can't help the soft moan that gets swallowed by Winter's hungry kiss.
It's over all too soon, and Tony's almost disappointed to discover he can breathe again. Their chests are still pressed so close that he can feel the heat pouring out of the other's body, and Tony looks up with a soft smirk and licks his lips at the pale rosy tint that hides under Winter's stubble.
"That was one hell of a kiss," He whispers breathlessly.
"I'm sorry." Winter whispers back, lowering his gaze, trying to pull away. But Tony scowls a little, shaking his head as he tightens his grip on the other to stop him.
"Don't be." He says, moving the hand he has buried in Winter's hair to trace his fingers along his jaw, eyes wandering down to stare at the gentle arch of his lips for a moment before looking back up into the endless blue of his eyes. "I wanted it. You wanted it. It's okay."
"What about James?"
"What about James?" Tony shrugs one shoulder, smiling softly at the other. "You think I would've kissed you if I hadn't already talked to him about this before? Really, honey, what do you take me for? I'm not that kinda guy."
Winter's eyes widen a little in surprise. "He knows?"
"Everybody knows." Tony smirks, patting Winter's cheek fondly. "You have a crush on me, sweetheart, which is totally adorable, I gotta say. Makes sense though, since I'm already heads over heels for your other half."
Winter stands there quietly for a few long moments, processing what Tony had just said. He shifts in place, seeming nervous and somewhat hesitant, but after a moment he gathers enough courage to bravely catch Tony's gaze again.
"So-" He tries, but his voice cracks. He clears his throat and tries again. "So, what are you saying?" He finally manages weakly.
"I'm saying that - if you so wish - I would like to date you, too." Tony grins widely. "I like you a lot, and Bucky's cool with it. He was the one who brought this up, actually. Apparently, your little journal notes are not as subtle as you might believe."
"I... I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything." Tony's mischievous grin soften into a fond smile, and he reaches down to take Winter's hand, bringing it up to rest over the place where his arc reactor used to be. "You take your time, think about it. I'm not going anywhere."
Winter nods stiffly.
"I will." He whispers, and closes his eyes.
When he opens them again, it's Bucky who smiles down at him with a knowing glint in his eyes. Tony smiles back, pushing himself to his tiptoes to place a soft kiss on his lips.
"Welcome back."
A/N: Reviews are food for a writer's soul.