"I'm kind of disappointed," Bucky muttered as he curled into Steve's arms.

"I told you it wasn't going to happen," Steve said. He patted Bucky's side. "Sorry for getting your hopes up."

"I suppose I shouldn't complain," Bucky said. "You got close. And watching you come on your face was pretty damn sexy. With a little practice, I bet you could be sucking your dick again."

"Doubt it," Steve said. "I think I'm just too tall, too muscular now."

"I could probably do it with a little practice," Bucky murmured.

"Maybe," Steve allowed. "You did manage to get a lick in."

"I bet if you pushed down on my back a little, I could get it."

"Absolutely not," Steve said. "Do you really want to explain to SHIELD that you broke your back trying to suck your dick?"

"Oh please," Bucky said dismissively. "With my healing factor, a broken back is nothing. I'll be laid up for a week tops. And you can nurse me back to health with your sweet, sweet loving." He waggled his eyebrows. "I'd love to see you in a tight little nurse's outfit."

"No, what I'm going to do is send Fury in to yell at you, then have Coulson come sit at your bedside and ask you all sorts of invasive questions while you're bedridden and can't escape. And then there'll be no sex for a month."

"You're a cruel man, Rogers," Bucky whined.

"Pardon the interruption, but Sir appears to be heading towards your bedroom," Jarvis warned.

Steve reached over the side of the bed for their discarded clothing. "Put some pants on, Buck," he ordered.

"Why?"

"Because we're not going to make him see us naked."

Bucky snorted. "You really think he'd object to a little nudity? And it's not like he'll remember afterwards anyway."

"Maybe, maybe not," Steve said. "But we'll leave that up to him to decide. So put on your damn pants."

Bucky huffed, but he wiggled back into his boxers before Tony poked his head into their bedroom.

"Hey there, Tony," Steve said with a welcoming smile.

Tony yawned hugely, climbed onto their bed, and wedged himself between the two of them.

"You know, I would have thought that Tony being Tony, would have the best bed in the whole Tower," Bucky mused. "But for some reason he wants to sleep in our bed."

"I don't think he wants to sleep alone," Steve said. He scratched Tony under the chin, smiling when the genius leaned into the touch and started purring. "I mean, cats love to sleep where they're warm and cozy, where they feel safe. I question his judgement," he said, giving Bucky a sidelong look.

"Don't look at me like that. Tony's safe with me. Aren't you, sweetness?" He ruffled Tony's hair.

"You really need to stop with the pet names," Steve said.

"Oh, come on," Bucky grumbled. "I know he's not a real cat, but even a part cat should get some endearments. I mean, that's probably the best part of being a cat. Everyone telling you how beautiful and incredible you are. God knows Tony hasn't had enough of that in his life."

"I know you mean well," Steve said. "But you can't get into the habit of calling him sweetheart and darling all the time. What if you slip up after he changes back?"

Bucky shrugged. "We already agreed we'd ask him out once he's himself again. So if I fuck up and call him honey, I'll correct myself and tell him I want him to be my honey."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest and fixed Bucky with his sternest glare.

Bucky grinned. "So maybe not the smoothest pickup line in the world, but it'll work. Who can resist a little awkward charm?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Plenty of people. I would have decked you if you ever tried that line on me."

"You've decked me for worse," Bucky said with a grin. "This is harmless fun."

"It's not all fun and games," Steve said sternly. "This is Tony we're talking about. If we want a serious relationship with him, we need to start thinking seriously about how we're going to do it."

"You don't need a game plan to ask someone out, Stevie. You didn't have a plan for me, right?"

"No. We just, kind of happened."

"There, you see? No need to start drawing up the battle-"

"No, I mean, I never actually asked you out. We just happened. One day we were friends, the next we were sharing secret kisses in the alley between our apartments."

Bucky tipped his head to one side and pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Shit. You're right. Damn."

Steve blew out a sigh. "I don't think it'll be that easy with Tony."

"It could be," Bucky said. "We spend as much time with him as we can, chilling in his lab and keeping him company while he works, watching movies together, having dinner together, just normal friendship shit. In time, it'll be so natural for us to be around him that he'll forget that there was ever a time when it wasn't the three of us. And then we move on to the cuddling and kissing."

"I'm sorry. Weren't you just saying you didn't need a game plan to ask someone out?"

Bucky elbowed him in the rubs. "We're not asking him out, punk. We're just letting it happen organically. No plans, no strategies. Just being our awesome, hot selves and letting him be part of it."

Tony opened one eye and regarded them balefully. His tail thumped against the mattress.

Bucky chuckled. "You think you deserve to actually be asked out? I agree, darling. But Stevie here has always gotten a little tongue-tied around attractive people and you happen to be one of the most attractive people in the world." He scratched Tony under the chin. "Just wait until you're human again, sweet thing. We're going to spoil the fuck out of you and make you want to be ours."

Tony yawned and pillowed his hands under his head.

Bucky let out a sound suspiciously like a squeal and then clapped a hand over his mouth.

Steve stared at him. "Did you just-"

"Nope," Bucky said immediately.

"That sounded an awful lot like a-"

"Well it wasn't."

Steve grinned and laced his hands behind his head. "So, the infamous Bucky Barnes, smooth-talking badass, breaker of a thousand hearts, deadliest-"

"Oh, shut up, Stevie," Bucky growled.

"Deadliest smile this side of Brooklyn," Steve choked out through his laughter. "Is reduced-" He ducked down to avoid Bucky's punch. "Is reduced to tiny, pathetic little noises because Tony's done something cute."

"Okay, fine," Bucky said with an aggravated sigh. "I squealed. Happy now?"

"Very happy," Steve said cheerfully. "I like seeing this vulnerable side of you."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Right, you've had your fun. Goodnight, Steven," he said firmly. He flopped down on the bed, turned his back to Steve and pulled the covers over his head.

"Oh, come on, Buck. Don't be such a sourpuss." Steve leaned over to press a kiss to the back of Bucky's neck.

Tony yowled and pawed at Steve's shoulder.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Steve said. "Didn't mean to squish you." He scratched behind Tony's ear.

"What were you saying about pet names earlier?" Bucky said with a grin in his voice.

"Your fault," Steve said. "All your bad habits rub off on me."

"You can't blame it all on me, pal. You had a shit-ton of bad habits long before I got my hands on you."

"Yeah, lucky for you," Steve said. "If I hadn't been sneaking into Old Man Coffrey's collection of dirty pictures, we might never have started having sex."

"We would have eventually," Bucky said quietly. "Maybe it would have taken another year or two before we got our shit together and started making out, but we would have gotten there somehow. I mean, we've been in love before we even knew what love was. Nothing would have stopped us getting together. Not the war, not those assholes calling you a fairy, not fucking Hydra and their torture and brainwashing, not your seventy years in the ice. The world has always tried to fuck us over, but we're stronger than anything they throw at us."

"God, do I love you," Steve said fervently. Everyone always said he was good at making speeches, but when Bucky got himself worked up about something he believed in, it was hard for Steve to not get swept up in the emotion.

"Love you too," Bucky murmured. He leaned over to kiss Steve.

Tony grumbled and batted at him.

"Oh, you shut up," Bucky muttered. "I'm trying to kiss my boyfriend here."

Tony huffed and curled himself into a ball under the covers.

Bucky grinned as he pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek. "You think he's jealous of our love? You think he wants us as much as we want him?"

"I don't know," Steve said. "I don't think it's possible for anyone to want as much as I want Tony."

"Believe me, pal. It's possible. Because I'm just as gone on him as you are. You think I'd squeal like a girl and open myself up to my boyfriend's teasing if I wasn't all in?"

"No," Steve said with a smile. He kissed Bucky reverently. "I love you, baby. Thanks for being so openminded and tolerating all my angst and pining."

Bucky snorted. "It wasn't as bad as all your pining after Peggy. She was one hell of a woman, so I understood why you wanted her. But she just wasn't into me. And she wasn't really my type anyway. But Tony." Bucky sighed theatrically. "I was into him the second he called me Manchurian Candidate."

"You were not."

"Yes, I was. When you talked about Tony on the jet, you told me he gives people nicknames as a form of affection."

"Not always."

Steve distinctly remembered Tony calling one of their minor adversaries Cabbage Patch. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded vaguely insulting.

Bucky waved a hand dismissively. "He was coming to us as an ally, so he meant it as friendly sass. And I just wanted to take him home with us and see what other nicknames he could shout in bed."

"So you let me talk your head off about how you'd love it in the Tower and what a good guy Tony was and you were already planning on getting into his pants. Thanks a lot, Buck."

Bucky grinned. "I liked hearing you talk about him. You get this warm, fond look on your face. It's fucking adorable and I'm going to squeal over it one of these days. Laugh at me all you want, asshole, but the two of you are like overgrown goddamn puppies. I'm going to fucking die the first time you two cuddle on the couch, but it'll be so worth it."

"We're cuddling now," Steve said. He settled back in bed and curled around Tony.

Tony purred and arched back into Steve's arms.

"Yep, cute as hell," Bucky said with a fond smile. "You need to work your adorably dorky magic on him, babe, because I want to wake up to all this cuteness every morning."