When Steve gets up, there's clanging in the kitchen. Concerned, he creeps down the hall and around the corner, but when he sees the man in the kitchen, the tension drops out of his shoulders. Bucky is standing behind a pile of Belgian waffles, gazing intently at the waffle maker. His hair is pulled back, and with his back turned to Steve, Steve can clearly see where skin and metal meet. He studies the area until Bucky whirls around to face him.
"Morning," he mumbles as he hurriedly tugs on the t-shirt he had left on the countertop.
"Morning," Steve replies with a smile, trying to ignore his friend's self-consciousness. "That's a lot of waffles," he points out.
"Yeah. I hope you don't mind, but I invited Catherine and Sam over. I don't have Agent Romanoff's number, so I asked Sam to call her for me," Bucky says, still carefully monitoring the waffle maker.
"You have Sam's number?" Steve asks, genuinely surprised.
"Yeah," Bucky mutters. "He's a nice guy. He told me to call if I ever need anything. Don't know that he actually expected me to, though." The waffle maker chimes, and Bucky fishes out the fresh waffle carefully with his cybernetic fingers.
"Yeah, that he is. So what's this all about?" Steve asks, leaning on the counter to watch Bucky meticulously pour batter into the waffle maker.
"No reason," Bucky mumbles through his concentration. "I just thought it'd be nice to have everybody over. You know, get to know Sam and Natasha better." The way Bucky trips over Natasha's name, foreign and too informal on his tongue, is not lost on Steve. He doesn't mention it, though.
"That's an awesome idea, Buck."
Bucky nods, watching the waffle maker, waiting for the next chime. There's a knock at the door instead. Bucky looks torn, glancing from the waffle maker to the door.
"I'll get it," Steve says, and he watches Bucky relax, turning his focus back to the waffles.
Sam and Natasha are laughing about something when Steve opens the door. Steve greets them, and they follow him inside. Natasha flops onto the couch, Sam sits on the counter, and Steve goes back to his spot against the counter. Bucky glances around, managing a smile. Sam takes a waffle from the stack and starts eating, eliciting a giggle from Natasha.
"Hey, these are really good, man," Sam says, gesturing with his waffle in Bucky's direction.
"Thanks," Bucky replies. He makes two more waffles before Steve can convince him to sit down. As soon as he sits down, however, there is another knock at the door. Bucky practically bounces to the door. He scoops up Catherine and whirls her around before he sets her down and kisses the top of her head. "Hungry?"
"Starved," she replies with a smile.
The pile of waffles gradually shrinks. Steve convinces Natasha to juggle spoons. Sam hangs a spoon from his nose and tells corny jokes. Bucky keeps up with conversation, contributing frequently. This surprises Steve, but it's a pleasant surprise. Steve watches him smile and laugh and Sam's dumb jokes.
"So, Bucky," Natasha begins, and Steve involuntarily cringes, "has Steve taken you to get frozen yogurt? I'm pretty sure that's new." Steve breathes a silent sigh of relief. He never knows what to expect from her.
"Uh, no. But it's just like ice cream, right?"
Natasha laughs. "No! It's so much better. You get to add all your own toppings from this huge buffet. It's delicious. You've got to take him some time, Steve," she insists.
"I don't see why not," Steve replies with a grin. "Sound good to you, Buck?"
"It's a date," Bucky replies with a chuckle. Sam throws him head back and laughs.
"You guys are a hoot, you know that?"
Natasha groans. "No, Sam, no more bird puns."
"I said 'hoot', Nat. That's a word, not a bird pun," Sam retorts.
"I'm watching you, Wilson," she says with mock-seriousness.
"That's creepy, Nat," he replies. The table bursts into laughter.
An hour later, the last of the waffles have been devoured in an eating contest. Everyone is slouched in their chairs, absolutely miserable, although Natasha's victory has affixed a smug smile to her face.
"So, that was a bad idea," Sam says with a chuckle followed by a groan of pain. "I'm never gonna move again."
Steve chuckles. "I wonder if the wings will hold you up after all that."
Sam frowns at him, but he can't keep a straight face for long. "You think you're so funny."
"Nah, I know I'm funny," Steve replies, flashing a snarky smile in Sam's direction. Sam's rebuttal is a spoon thrown at Steve's head.