Time for a party! Steve is very excited to get to dress up all fancy and wear a suit, but he may need some help navigating some of the finer points of a fancy French restaurant.

"Hey, so, do we need a babysitter or something for tonight for Steve?" Clint asked as he laid a card down on the table. "Because if we don't have one lined up yet, I'll totally volunteer."

"What?" Bucky asked, looking up from his cards.

"I'm just saying, any excuse to get out of an event where I have to wear a tie, I'll take it," Clint said.

"Why are you wearing a tie?" Bucky asked.

"No, I'm saying I don't want to," Clint repeated.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bucky replied.

"He's talking about Pepper's birthday dinner," Natasha said around a mouthful of granola bar as she walked into the living room. "Tony just texted out the location." She held up her phone. "It's super swanky."

Bucky had totally forgotten about that. His first reaction was to fight Clint for the babysitting role—he had nothing against Pepper, but he had lots of things against formal evening wear.

"What's swanky mean?" Steve asked, walking into the room not far behind Natasha. "And is it time for lunch yet?"

"Um, yeah, it's about lunch time," Bucky said. "And swanky means, like, fancy."

"Okay," Steve said. "What swanky thing are you talking about?"

"Tonight is Miss Pepper's birthday," Natasha said. "You know, Tony's girlfriend?" Steve had not actually interacted much with Pepper since turning small—she'd been traveling a lot for Stark Industries stuff. He was aware of her, though, so he nodded. "There's a party for her tonight."

"A fancy party?" Steve asked. "Am I allowed to come? I've never been to a fancy party before."

"Um," Bucky said, looking over at Clint. Stark generally didn't throw the kinds of parties kids were invited to, though it might be alright if it was at a restaurant. Although, Bucky didn't know how interesting Steve would find the whole thing.

"I don't see why not," Natasha said before Bucky or Clint could reply. She shot Clint a smirk. "Everybody else is going. Wearing fancy suits and ties and everything."

"Dang it," Clint muttered.

Steve frowned. "I don't have a suit and a tie."

"We'll get you one after lunch," Natasha said confidently. "You and me and Wanda will go find you something nice to wear. What do you say?"

"Okay," Steve said.

"Bucky and Clint aren't invited to the shopping trip," Natasha went on. "They have terrible fashion sense."

Steve giggled and Clint protested loudly. "Hey!"

"She's got a point," Bucky said. Given his way, he favored well-worn jeans and sweaters or t-shirts, and he had exactly one 'fancy' outfit that Natasha and Sam had helped him put together, which he would be wearing tonight. He still knew what looked good and what didn't—it was more that he didn't care—but he suspected Clint might not even know. "I mean…" he elaborated, nodding at Clint's outfit.

Clint sputtered indignantly. "I'm just hanging around the Tower! Why do I have to match to lounge?"

"You don't," Natasha said. "But the fact that you even own a lime-green paisley polo shirt puts your judgement on highly questionable ground."

"Shouldn't we take him and find him some nice clothes too, then?" Steve wondered, and his tone was so genuine that Bucky did his best to hide his snort of laughter in a cough while Clint glared at him.

"He has some that I bought him and will make him put on before we leave," Natasha assured him. "Let's go have lunch."

After lunch, Natasha and Wanda took Steve out with the promise of seeing him properly attired for the evening and maybe getting ice cream. Bucky spent the afternoon working on a report, and he had to smile when the shopping group came back and Steve brought him a cookie—ice cream would have melted before they got home, but he had wanted to get Bucky something.

"Thanks, Steve," Bucky said. "How did the shopping go?"

"It was fun," Steve said. "We found me some real fancy clothes, and a real tie, and Miss Natasha even got me some shiny shoes! Miss Wanda said I looked on fleek. That's a good thing," he explained.

Bucky smiled. "Well, good. I'll bet you look real sharp."

Steve grinned. "Yep," he said, very pleased. He lifted the lid of the shoebox he was carrying. "See my shiny shoes?"

"Wow," Bucky said. Those were the sharpest pair of size twelve oxfords Bucky had ever seen. "Is there some other kind of tie besides a 'real' tie?" Bucky wondered after Steve went to his room to put his shoes away.

"Clip-on," Natasha explained. "We tried that, but he wanted a 'grownup' tie. You're probably going to have to help him tie it."

Bucky chuckled. "I can do that. I've taught him once already before." Although, last time he'd taught him how to tie a tie, Steve had accidentally tightened it too much and almost choked himself. Maybe Bucky would just do it for him.

It was still a couple of hours until the dinner, so Bucky joined Steve in constructing a very elaborate marble run tower that was nearly as tall as Steve was. Then Steve went and got a bath, wanting to be clean for the party. He came out wrapped up in his little bathrobe and told Bucky he'd better shave and make his hair look nice before he marched off, for some reason, to Natasha's room.

He came back with his hair dried and swept back with a little bit of gel in it, then proceeded to get dressed while Bucky finished shaving. "Wow," Bucky said, when Steve put his jacket on and held his arms out for inspection. "They really went all out with you, huh?" He was wearing a sharp black suit with a crisp white dress shirt, and the jacket had a rich blue lining that was visible when Steve raised his arms.

"I think Miss Natasha was having fun dressing me up," Steve said. "I tried on lots of different stuff. Miss Wanda picked this jacket, though. See how it's blue inside?"

"Yeah," Bucky nodded. He smiled. "I feel a little underdressed now."

"You look very nice, Bucky," Steve said. "Real swanky."

Bucky chuckled. "Thanks, buddy."

"You smell good too. Can I use some of your smell-good stuff?"

It was actually Sam's cologne that Bucky was borrowing, but he gave Steve a little spritz of it.

"Thanks. Can you help me tie my tie?"

Until this moment, Bucky had had no idea that they even made kid-sized ties, but apparently, someone did. Steve's was in a shade of blue that matched the inside of his jacket. Bucky had needed to practice a couple of times on his own tie to remember how, but now he tied a quick, very small full-Windsor knot appropriate to the occasion.

"Thanks, Bucky!" Steve said, then hurried from the room.

"Where you going?" Bucky wondered.

"I gotta go get something Miss Wanda was keeping for me before Miss Pepper gets here."

They were gathering in the living room, everyone dressed in their finest—even Clint, who was looking pretty sharp. Bucky was glad that the only comment on his appearance was Natasha mentioning that he looked good and then moving on. He didn't so much mind the dress clothes—except for the tie—but he did hate it when people made a big deal about him wearing them.

Stark and Pepper arrived, and everyone greeted her with happy birthday wishes.

"Happy birthday, Miss Pepper," Steve said.

"Why, thank you, Steve," she said with a warm smile. "Don't you look handsome tonight."

Steve blushed a little and grinned. "Thanks. You look real pretty too." He turned around and picked up something off of the coffee table behind him. "I got you something for your birthday." In his hands was a small glass vase with an assortment of flowers. Bucky was a little surprised to be able to identify them—an unexpected set of memories had just leapt into his mind, and he remembered he used to be a regular at the florist getting flowers for girls back before the War. Steve's flowers were mostly blue—columbines and forget-me-nots and bellflowers—with some baby's breath and zinnia mixed in for variety.

"Oh, Steve, they're lovely," Pepper said, crouching down a little to take them.

"Miss Natasha said blue was your favorite color," Steve said, nodding at the shimmery blue dress Pepper was wearing a little uncertainly, like he was hoping he'd gotten it right.

"She was right," Pepper said, smiling brightly. "I do like blue, and these flowers are just gorgeous." She bent down and kissed Steve lightly on the cheek. "Thank you," she said. "That was very thoughtful of you. Such a perfect gentleman."

She arched an amused eyebrow at Stark as they headed for the elevator. "What?" he protested. "I'm a gentleman!"

"You didn't get me flowers," she pointed out.

"Okay, maybe not. But I do have something even better."

Thankfully, they had walked out of earshot before Stark could elaborate. "That was real nice of you, Stevie," he said, resting a hand on his shoulder and steering him toward the elevator.

"I'm glad she liked it," Steve said. "I don't know her well enough to know what she would like, but I thought it might be rude to go to her birthday and not get her something."

"Well, that was very polite of you," Bucky said. "And it looked like she liked it to me," he assured him.

Pepper passed her flowers off to an assistant in the lobby to put them in her room, and they all climbed into the limousine waiting outside. "This is such a big car," Steve marveled.

"Indeed," Thor agreed. "One could transport an army in this."

"It doesn't get the mileage to make it worthwhile for combat," Stark said. "But it does come with drinks." He opened up a little fridge and passed glasses of champagne around. Bucky eyed the drinks a little critically, earning him a mock-wounded don't-you-trust-me pout from Stark who proceeded to hand Steve a glass and mouth to Barnes, "his is sparkling grape juice."

Bucky instantly felt out of place as they arrived at the restaurant—'swanky' was really underselling things. The place was big, with lots of marble and velvet. The lights were low in a classy sort of way; soft, gentle music being played by a live string quartet filled the air; and he was pretty sure the waiters were wearing clothes way more expensive than his. Natasha saved him in that way she had a tendency to, by distracting him without calling attention to his problem at all.

"Are you going to be a gentleman, or do I have to escort myself inside?" she asked with a teasing smile, and Bucky smiled back and took her arm.

He looked around to make sure Steve was following, then chuckled and nodded to Natasha to look behind them. Steve was escorting Wanda, though he was too short to take her arm, so he was holding her hand and carrying her purse. When they reached their table, he pulled out her chair for her and handed her purse back with a little bow.

"You twenties boys really are gentlemen, aren't you?" Natasha said with a smile, taking the seat Bucky pulled out for her.

"We don't clean up too bad," Bucky said.

They took their seats, and their waiter passed around a wine list. Steve sat patiently, hands folded in his lap, but Bucky caught him eyeing the basket of bread in the middle of the table. "Are we allowed to eat that bread?" he finally whispered to Bucky.

Bucky smiled. "That's why it's there."

Steve contemplated the basket a few seconds longer. "Can you reach it? I think it would be rude for me to reach so far across the table."

Bucky obliged and handed him the bread basket, and he took one, offered some to Bucky, then passed it to Thor, who was on his other side. Thor was greatly amused by the little spheres of butter that were passed along with it. Steve eyed the round butter skeptically, and Bucky mostly succeeded in not laughing when Steve took one and looked around furtively, like he was pretty sure he wasn't following proper protocol, then picked it up and licked it quickly to make sure it was really butter.

The conversation around the table was quiet, and Bucky took the moment to look around. This was the sort of place he would never have been able to afford back during the War—he couldn't really afford it now, either, but Stark was generously footing the bill—but it was the sort of place he'd always dreamed about being able to take a girl to.

The waiter returned with drinks and menus, and he made a low remark to Stark that Bucky just caught that sounded like an apology for not having a children's menu, but also might have been a slight reproach for bringing a kid in the first place. This was one of the times Bucky really appreciated Stark's tendency to do things his own way without any regard for what people thought—his words politely said just to bring Steve a regular menu (for the sake of not causing a scene on Pepper's night, no doubt), but his eyebrow clearly said that he knew what the waiter was implying and offered a few suggestions for where he could shove it.

Steve disappeared behind the tall menu and stayed there for a little while. When Bucky peeked around the edge, he saw him chewing on his lower lip thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

"You okay, Stevie?" he asked.

Steve looked up, looking embarrassed. "I don't know what most of these words mean," he said quietly.

"A lot of it's French," Bucky told him. "Fancy people like to use French words to make things sound even fancier." He wasn't actually sure what everything on the menu was either, but he could identify more of it than Steve could.

"Oh," Steve replied. He frowned at his menu a little longer. "What's…escargot?" he asked, pronouncing the 't' at the end.

"Snails," Bucky said.

Steve shot him a glare. "Bucky, I'm being serious."

"I know," he said. "It's seriously snails."

Steve looked at him a moment longer, then turned back to his menu suspiciously. "What about sashimi?"

"Raw beef."

"What about fo…foee grass?"

"Goose liver."

"Bucky, are you making these up?"

"I'm really not."

"Hmm." He studied the menu another minute. "What's a crustacean?"

"Like a lobster or a crab."

Steve sighed. "So they made jelly out of a lobster?"

Bucky chuckled at the look on his face.

"And they really eat sea urchins and octopuses too?"

"They do."

Steve's frown was only deepening as he looked over the menu.

"Tell you what?" Bucky said. "Why don't you get this one? It's ravioli with fancy cheese and sausage inside."

Steve perked up a little. "That sounds normal," he said.

They placed their orders—Stark ordered appetizers for the table—then returned to their quiet conversation.

"Mr. Thor, do you have fancy parties on Asgard?" Steve wondered, his voice just above a whisper, as if he was worried about drawing too much attention to himself.

"We do," Thor said, buttering another piece of bread. "There are dinners of state and the like where such formality is required. When I was a child, I found them very dull." He chuckled. "There was one dinner I recall that my brother, Loki, came to the feast with a box of frogs concealed inside his cloak. He released them during the main course, where they proceeded to hop along the table and across people's plates."

Steve was staring, open-mouthed. "Did he get in trouble?"

"Much," Thor replied, still chuckling. "But it was the most entertaining state dinner I have ever attended."

Steve laughed. "Bucky brought a mouse to school one time," he said. "It ran all over the classroom and scared the teacher."

"I didn't mean to let it out," Bucky protested. "And you're leaving out the part where I only had the mouse because you saved it from a cat and didn't want to leave it in the alley in case the cat came back."

Steve blushed, but he smiled and Thor chuckled.

The appetizers arrived then, along with an assortment of plates and silverware. "Work your way from the outside in," Natasha leaned in and whispered to Bucky, who was eyeing his multiple forks warily. He leaned in and repeated the same to Steve, who was clearly wondering why so much silverware was necessary.

"What are these little circle things?" Steve asked, picking up a small tart filled with white cream and little black spheres.

"Caviar," Sam replied, biting into his happily. "Fish eggs," he elaborated when Steve still looked confused. "I'll eat yours if you don't want it," he offered when Steve's nose wrinkled. Steve happily passed it over.

Steve was skeptical of the avocado-wrapped shredded lobster, but seemed to approve once he'd tasted it, and he greatly enjoyed the thin slices of crispy cheese that probably had a way fancier name than that. Bucky had never had caviar before, and it wasn't bad, but he didn't see what all the fuss was about. The lobster avocados were great, though.

"Bucky, he took my fork away," Steve said after the waiter cleared the course.

"Don't worry, you've got, like, three more," Bucky said. "Remember, work from the outside in."

"It must take a long time to wash the dishes when you use a different fork for everything," Steve mused.

Steve was getting a little fidgety as they waited for the main course, but his 1920's manners were kicking in and he continued to sit there quietly and not make a fuss. He did keep eyeing the bread basket and the butter spheres, and Bucky could tell he was tempted to pick up a couple of the strange butters and play with them, but he was restraining himself. Then the meal came, and he was delighted to receive another circle of the toasted cheese along with his ravioli, though it was stuck artistically into the top of the middle one.

"Wow," Steve said, eyeing his plate with its carefully placed raviolis and decorative drizzles of sauce. "This is really fancy." He tilted his head curiously as he studied Bucky's plate. "How are you supposed to eat that?"

"I'm not sure," Bucky admitted. His steak medallions were surrounded by stalks of roasted asparagus that had been propped into an interesting shape and tied across the top to stay in place with translucent slivers of beef.

"Hey, Steve, look at these," Wanda said, leaning around Thor to show him the delicate flowers her vegetables had been carved into.

"I think mine wins presentation," Sam said, pointing to his fish fillet that was laid across a flat black rock with little holes carved into the stone for the sauces, and large crystals of sea salt sprinkled across it.

Natasha groaned. "Clint ordered the octopus," she sighed. Steve's eyes darted across the table, and Bucky's followed. Atop Clint's plate, surrounded by assorted decorative vegetables and creatively cut bits of toast, was a curved tentacle, roasted and clearly cooked, but with all the suckers still attached.

"Ew," Steve said, staring in fascination.

Clint chuckled gleefully, and Natasha shot a glare at him. "If you don't eat that like a gentleman," she warned. "You will see just how fast I can kill you with a piece of shrimp toast."

"How do you eat octopus like a gentleman?" Steve wondered.

"Without slurping on it like spaghetti or sticking the suckers to his tongue," she explained.

"You want a piece, Steve?" Clint offered, cutting off a little bit of tentacle.

"No, thank you," Steve said quickly, though he couldn't stop staring at it.

Steve ate his ravioli, nibbling the crispy cheese piece on top and then cutting the pasta into very tiny, neat little bites. He seemed very aware of his new shirt and was eating even more carefully than normal. He watched everyone else at the table to make sure he was doing it right, setting his silverware to the side of the plate when he was done like Pepper had.

"Good job, Stevie," Bucky whispered after the waiter came and took his plate.

"Thanks," Steve replied. "There's a lot to make sure you're getting right."

The food cleared away, Stark stood up and took Pepper's hand, escorting her out to the dance floor. Thor followed them, offering Wanda his hand, and Natasha smacked Clint discreetly on the shoulder and led him after them. They all danced to a slow, graceful song. Steve was watching interestedly, and seemed surprised when the song ended and Wanda came back and asked him to dance with her.

"Really?"

"Of course," she said with a smile. "You can't get all dressed up like that and not go dancing."

Steve beamed and followed her out to the floor, straightening his tie. Natasha came back, shot Bucky a look and nodded when he shook his head, then headed back to the floor with Sam. Bucky watched them for a while. He remembered doing things like this, but didn't really feel the need to join in right now. He was happy just watching his friends and felt content. He was also enjoying watching Steve, who was still a terrible dancer, but made up for it by being so cute. He danced with Wanda, then Natasha, then Pepper swung away from Stark and danced with Steve for a little bit. After that, he seemed content to dance by himself over in one corner of the floor, twirling along to the music. Bucky definitely saw several high-society ladies watching him with sappy smiles.

They all returned to the table after a little while for dessert.

"Did you not want to dance, Bucky?" Steve asked, climbing back up into his seat.

"Nah," Bucky said. "Looked like you were having fun, though."

"Yeah. Miss Pepper showed me how to waltz."

The dessert names were just as foreign to Steve as the main dishes had been, but he insisted he wanted to order his own, and Bucky figured that was safe—dessert didn't tend to have raw fish or other unexpected things in it, though he did make sure to check with the waiter after Steve ordered to make sure what he picked didn't have any nuts or coconut in it.

Steve had picked something with the word 'chocolate' in it, and seemed pleased and impressed with what arrived. A little pastry that curved up like a bridge was generously coated in chocolate, and a line of candied cherries ran underneath the pastry bridge. Whipped cream and chocolate drizzles were strategically placed around the plate, and little shapes that had been made out of chocolate that had been drizzled and then hardened stuck up out of the pastry.

"I almost hate to break it with my fork 'cause it looks so pretty," Steve said.

"I would be happy to do that for you," Thor said, advancing menacingly with his fork.

Steve lifted his arms to create a protective barrier around his dessert. Eventually, he did break it up and declared it to be delicious. He offered a bite to Bucky, who in turn shared a piece of the globe of meringue and lemon tart he'd received.

With dessert cleared away, things slowed down. Coffee and wine came out, and people from other tables were coming over to talk to Stark and congratulate Pepper. The evening showed no signs of ending soon, but Bucky saw Steve stifling a yawn, and he slid out of his seat and around the table to where Pepper was sitting.

"Sorry to duck out early," he told her. "But it's getting close to someone's bedtime," he added, nodding across the table at Steve, who yawned again.

Pepper chuckled. "Of course."

Bucky beckoned Steve over, and after he told him they were leaving, he reached out and shook Pepper's hand. "Happy birthday again, Miss Pepper," he told her. "Thanks for inviting me. I had a swell time."

"You're very welcome, Steve," she said with a smile. "I'm glad you could come."

Steve smiled, hesitated a moment, then kissed the back of her hand before letting go. It was a move Bucky knew he'd seen recently in a movie, and based on Pepper's grin and Stark's mostly-restrained chuckle, now had been a good time to try it out.

"Such a gentleman," Pepper said again, smiling warmly. "I hope you have a good night, Steve."

"I hope you do too, Miss Pepper. Thank you."

Pepper caught Bucky's hand before he could move away with Steve. "I'm glad you could come too, Bucky," she said, squeezing his hand warmly, and Bucky could tell she really meant it and smiled back, feeling touched.

They told everyone goodnight, then made their way outside. While they were waiting for a taxi, Thor and Wanda showed up. "You're not staying for the rest of the evening?" Bucky wondered.

Thor shook his head. "The festivities were pleasant, but now, having done honor to the Lady Pepper, I feel I should like to go home and have a real meal."

Bucky chuckled. The food had been good, but the portions weren't exactly what would keep a super-soldier or a Norse god going. He'd been planning to get a snack back at the Tower too.

"Big parties aren't really my thing," Wanda added. "I thought with other people leaving, it would be a good chance for me to slip out without being rude."

"You can come in our taxi with us if you want," Steve said. "We've already got one coming."

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

The ride back to the Tower was quick. "So, what did you think of your first fancy party, Stevie?" Bucky asked as they got off the elevator.

"It was nice," Steve said. "The food tasted good. It was…" He hesitated a moment, as if he was about to say the wrong thing. "It was a little bit boring," he admitted.

"Yeah," Bucky agreed.

"But I had lots of fun dressing up," Steve added. "And dancing and stuff."

"We could keep dancing if you would like," Wanda said with a smile. "Perhaps some livelier music. If you're allowed to stay up a little longer."

"Can I Bucky?" Steve asked eagerly. "Please?"

Bucky chuckled. "Sure." It was a little after Steve's usual bedtime, but that been more of an excuse to extract both Steve and himself from the restaurant than any sort of urgent need. "Go change into your pajamas first, though."

"Okay!" Steve rushed off to change.

"Are we continuing the festivities?" Thor asked, coming in with a box of Pop Tarts in his hand. "I have ordered some pizza."

"Pizza and a dance party," Wanda said. "Wonderful. Are you coming too, Bucky?"

"At least for the pizza." He wasn't sure about the dancing. He went to change into something more comfortable, chuckling at Steve's tiny little suit hanging neatly in the closet, his shiny shoes lined up underneath it.

When he came out of his room, he heard music coming down the hall from the direction of Wanda's room. It was definitely livelier than a four-string quartet. Britney Spears, if his limited pop culture knowledge served him correctly.

"My loneliness is killing me," Wanda was singing. "I must confess, I still believe…"

"Still believe!" Steve echoed awfully highly.

"When I'm not with you I lose my mind," Thor sang loudly. "Give me a siiiiign!"

Bucky stuck his head around the door to see the three of them each holding a hairbrush like a microphone. Thor was holding a Pop Tart in one hand and the brush in the other and wearing a mirrored pair of sunglasses. Wanda was wearing a pink feather boa, and Steve was standing on Wanda's bed wearing his dinosaur pajamas and a red cowboy hat.

"Hit me, baby, one more time!" they all sang in unison.

Bucky laughed. "Now this is a party."

So, Little Steve got to experience the fancy life AND have a dance party. Pretty good night for the little fella.

Up next, story time with Nat.