fossilised | It's AU time

Bucky struggled a bit with the unwrapping, harder than it should be with just one hand to scrabble at the paper, but he managed it after a bit by clamping the boxes between his knees and ripping. It was half amusing and half annoying when even more boxes were inside that, though he was careful with the watercolour to not rip it. But then when he revealed the scarf--

He just started to laugh, immediately winding the soft material around his neck.

"You punk, this is amazing." Seriously, he hadn't even known spaghetti and meatball themed scarves were a thing, and now he was wearing one. "Seriously, thank you, this is wonderful."

He leaned forward to press a kiss to Steve's lips, light but sincere, and then handed over his own bag.

"...it's not much, just something of mine, but I thought you might like them."

Inside was an unwrapped little box, which contained two slightly tarnished dog tags on a metal chain, inscribed:
BARNES
JAMES B.
543 43 6938
O NEG
NO PREFERENCE

"You can't give me these." Steve didn't make a comment on anything else so far. He had helped with Bucky folding the wrapping paper properly so he could read his comic and he'd laughed at his reaction about the scarf, but otherwise, he was much too interested in the gift he had been presented with to say anything.

He held the tags like they were made of glass, like they were beyond precious, and he pulled them close to his chest to look up at Bucky as if he'd gone crazy.

"You really can't-- these are-- Buck, I can't." He had his father's in a velvet lined shadow box. He knew what they meant to soldiers. "Even if you just really wanted me to know that I can count on your for a blood transfusion, you can't just give me something so important!"

He could remember stumbling out of that horrible place with only the dog tags to his name, and the weight of them had both felt like a comfort and a millstone around his neck. He hadn't worn them since his discharge, but they were the only thing of value that he owned other than his medals. He would have given Steve those, but he had a feeling he'd be even less likely to accept medals than dog tags.

"Hey... who said you were getting any of my blood, huh?"

He reached out and gently took the tags from Steve to loop the chain over Steve's neck and let them fall against that slender chest. It did hurt to give them away, and maybe Steve wouldn't like to be wearing something that had scratches all over them and slight traces of blood stains in the grooves, but he wanted Steve to wear them.

"You're important to me. God knows it's fast and probably stupid, but you are. I can't help that. So accept the stupid tags, they're just-- they're just bits of metal. I mean... they won't even keep your neck warm like my present will."

He's going to be the one, Steve's hormonal brain told him as he stood there, touching the metal with well trimmed and slender fingers, letting the towel fall to expose his shoulders and chest to feel them against his skin. Bucky didn't need to know just yet that Steve's mind and his body just had a mini meeting about who would take their virginity, though. And he didn't need to, not until just before it happened.

"It's not fast," Steve blurted out to try to catch and explain his silence. "It's just that sometimes you know. And I know," he expressed, which sounded more than a little bit forward. Or like he was spilling out more affection than he should.

It was true, though. Princes always knew in fairy tales when they met the loves of their lives. And sure. Reality wasn't like a fairy tale but he couldn't shake the feeling that this much was true. Love at first sight might have bypassed him to land on love after a few months, but it was close enough.

Steve held onto his towel with one hand and Bucky with the other.

"Then I'm honored to wear them. And I still demand your blood if I ever turn into a vampire or need a transfusion. No backsies."

If he did know about that mini meeting, he might well have thrown some kind of party because God if Steve didn't look so sexy stood there with his chest exposed and Bucky's dog tags gleaming against the pale skin. He just wanted to lean forward and lick him, but that probably wouldn't go down well.

He cleared his throat and reached up to smooth his fingers through damp blond hair, before stepping away and towards the door.

"Get dressed, and maybe clean your ears out because I already said you ain't getting any of my blood. I don't care what type you are, my blood stays in my body."

That went better than expected, Steve hadn't seemed disappointed by a gift that hadn't been store bought, so he was smiling when he left Steve to dress and instead sat on his boyfriend's couch.

Steve took longer than usual to get ready, not because he was fussy with how he looked, but because he needed a few minutes to calm down, alone. He didn't want to touch himself, not while Bucky was in the next room, so he tried some breathing exercises while his boyfriend flipped through the contents of the comic on the wrapping paper.

He was more or less collected by the time he was finished dressing and he took a seat on the edge of the coffee table to lean forward on his knees and look into Bucky's eyes.

"So here's the safe word. If you need to get out of there, I want to to say that you hear the Eagles screeching and we'll both run out. Okay?"

He tried to be serious. He really tried.

Was it really any wonder that he thought he might be falling in love with Steve Rogers? He didn't hide from his issues, he understood what he'd seen of them and didn't patronise or pity, but did try to accommodate. And that humour, the silliness, it just helped take the edge off and make it less embarrassing that he might actually have to run away from a dinner that involved three other people.

"Got it. Now, just to be clear, what's the penalty for improper use of the safe word? Like-- I'm bored by the stories being told and I want to kiss you, kind of improper use?"

Not that he would ever abuse something serious like that, not when Steve was trying to help him, but it made it easier to joke around.

"I don't think that's really a safe word useable excuse to be honest," Steve said, hair lightly misted with spray so it laid neatly against his forehead. "If you are bored, you're just going to have to stick it out. But if you want to kiss me, then you just come right on over and kiss me."

He patted Bucky's knee as if that was all sorted out.

"Now, I'm going to have you eat something before we head on over because yore going to be very drunk or very high in the very near future. And you should eat first."

He'd be making eggs and peppers. Something nice and light but also filling. There was going to be a lot of eating today.

Even though it was always warm in Steve's apartment and wearing it made him sweat a bit, Bucky didn't for a moment even think about taking off his new meatball scarf. It was so soft, and it was a solid reminder that someone cared for him and maybe he wasn't completely fucked up.

"You sure you want to let drunk Bucky out again?"

He still didn't remember everything he had said, thankfully the suicidal ideation hadn't come out again, but he knew that he had made a real fool of himself. He wasn't sure that was a good idea in front of others.

"That's you're call. Just make sure your blood stays in decent shape. I want my gift to last."

Breakfast was over too quickly, though with Nat threatening him via text, it might not have been quick enough. So he grabbed her present and little cards he'd made for Thor, Loren and Loren's boyfriend (he hadn't realized Tony wouldn't be invited), he pushed Bucky across the hall and waited to be let in.

"Ooh, carolers!" Nat called when she opened the door, looking smug. "You must now sing to enter."

"No present then?" Steve teased before she snatched it right out of his hand.

"Sing."

The blond glanced at Bucky before he cleared his throat. "Uh.. We wish you a merry Christmas... We wish you..."

Bucky had made sure to wear his prosthetic for the day, he might keep it off around Steve now, but not around anyone else. He put his flesh hand on the small of Steve's back when he started to sing, an amused smirk curling his lips up as he remained stubbornly silent on the matter of carols.

"Not worth entry. Carol singers, not carol singer, please try again."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at Nat, but she just grinned back and refused to move, she could be a real troll when she wanted to be.

"I'm not singing."

"Then no entry. Goodbye."

[Your call Jesus Jeni]

Steve frowned ever so slightly up at Bucky and pointed at the floor. "No singing, you sit outside," he said, and tried to move to Natalia's side when she pushed him back.

"Ak I not making the plural correctly? Both or none. I have the present, Steve. I do not care if you come in."

Steve gaped at her and grabbed at Bucky by the arm. "I am not missing out on my present so you'd better sing! Have you seen me pour?"

Nat made a feigned gasp. "Oh terrible! You do not want to be pouted at! It is truly a terrible thing!"

Bucky glared from one to the other, though there was obviously no heat in it from the warmth hidden in his eyes when he looked at Steve, and considered staging a mutiny to go back into Steve's apartment. Hell, he could even go back upstairs to his own apartment if he had to.

"Pouting is not worse than hearing me sing, so maybe you both better stop pushing for it."

Natalia shrugged. "Such a pity, and Christmas has been ruined already. Come, Thor, we will take Loren and go to buy more food ourselves."

Bucky sighed in an exaggerated way. "I'm only doing this for you, punk," he muttered, kissed Steve lightly on the lips, and then started to sing 'Silent Night' while staring at the floor. He had a relatively good voice, low and tuneful.

Everyone looked surprised. With the protest, they had expected Bucky to be tone deaf, but he was anything but. Steve was grinning, but maybe that was from the kiss, and almost puffed up when Thor applauded. "Wonderful voice, I override Natalia and invite you in!" Thor picked the woman up and shouldered her, letting the way open for Steve and Bucky. They were immediately handed egg nog that smelled heavily of alcohol. "Your next task is to retrieve the phone from my brother. He is being antisocial!"

Steve wondered if he was texting that older man who had been nice enough to buy them scones and coffee two nights ago, but he didn't say anything. He just let Natalia pull Thor's hair and try to suffocate him with her thighs.

You shouldn't mess with a ballerina.

Steve slipped his fingers into one of Bucky's back belt loops and sipped at his eggnog thoughtfully before he hissed at the way it burned going down.

Loren scarcely looked up from his phone. He was curled up in the armchair nearest the wall so that he could keep his screen concealed and was typing like only someone who had grown up with this sort of technology could, thumbs flying at speed over the smooth touchscreen. He hadn't touched his eggnog and his voice was as lightly amused as it was sardonic.

"I would not advise that you listen to my brother. Attempt to take my phone, and I shall have to kill you both."

Bucky chuckled, still a bit embarrassed from having to sing, and pulled Steve to the couch to sit with him there. He was determined to make this a good day. These were Steve's friends and he really wanted to impress them, and that meant being on his best behaviour. He just hoped that Loren really had made a mistake in the store and wasn't in the habit of deliberately making loud noises.

"Jesus-- what the hell is in this?" He muttered, before draining his glass. "It tastes like a mixture of petrol and eggs."

The mix of accents in the room was interesting. Russian with it's full mouth words, the singsong of Norwegian and the harder Brooklyn made for interesting conversations and gave the place a merriment that Steve hadn't experienced before. It was usually just Nat and himself. She rarely kept a boyfriend around the holidays. Steve liked Thor though. And he was still amused that his long time barista was his brother. And gay. If only Thor and Nat had known, they might have tried to set him up with Loren!

But that wouldn't have worked. Loren's tastes seemed to trend older. And hairier. Steve laughed, which coincided with Bucky's General assessment of the alcohol content of the glasses they were given, even if it was for his own internal assessment.

Steve offered Thor a card, and then leaned over Bucky to give Loren two. The older blond did not seem pleased. "I am not good enough for two cards?" It was mostly a jest but he was also confused.

Steve blinked. "Well. Only one is for him if that helps?"

"He's lying to spare your feelings, buddy," Bucky said gravely, as if he were telling the complete truth and not being a shit to get Steve into trouble. "It's an American thing, the more cards you give someone, the more you like them. Steve just likes Loren more than you, sorry."

Loren, who had been wondering how to stave off any questions about who the card was for, immediately took to this with a far more convincing smile. He was a natural liar, settling into the deception with no issues.

"I have heard this custom, brother," he said, nodding. "Thank you, Steven, your gesture of affection has not gone unnoticed."

Thor looked skeptical. "How is it that I've failed you? How can I prove my friendship to you-- and Natalia-- you've given me no cards." It didn't matter that he and Loren had been in America for years now and that he'd never been made aware of the card situation. "Does this mean you don't want to carry on with our relationship?"

He looked -- and was -- so very downtrodden. His eyes dropped towards his girlfriend's, despondent.

Steve looked between brothers and then scooted over to rest inside of the nook thst Bucky's chest and arm made. "I'm not getting involved," he decided out loud. "But you're all cruel."

"Wait here and I will get for you a thousand cards," Thor declared, holding Nat's hands.

Oh. Oh. Bucky decided all of a sudden that he liked Thor, the man seemed utterly sincere and sweet, but was also a complete idiot on top of it. He would have a lot of fun messing with him. So he just watched the scene unfold with an amused grin on his face and his arm around Steve.

Nat struggled to keep a straight face, but she managed to make out that her trembling lip was from sorrow and not because she was struggling not to laugh.

"You really mean it? I am thinking you did not like me any more. I have many cards for you, but I could not give them to you when you gave me none."

Loren had finally put his phone down to better watch this utter humiliation of his brother. It was high entertainment for a Christmas morning.

"You must forgive him, Natalia, such is not the custom in Norway. He has presented me no cards either."

"Thor, stores are closed," Steve said gently as the blond rushed to get his scarf to head out into the brisk chill for his stash of cards. He didn't want to see Thor spend his money at expensive bodegas that might be open to cater to the desperate. The poor man! "But I have plenty of card making materials--"

He couldn't help but join in on the fun. Especially because he felt guilty about Thor even noticing the cards to begin with. He should have given Loren's boyfriend to him later. Alas.

The phone on the table vibrated and Steve saw the message from an Anthony Stark (a very formal version of the name to put in one's contacts) that read simply: 'It's a good thing that you're beautiful but you should still be with me today.'

It was just so sweet. Steve felt bad for the older man but rushed out to get Thor some markers and a pad of paper.

Loren snapped up the phone at once, expression softening slightly, before he texted back in a message meant only for Anthony's eyes: "I will be with you tonight and you may take all the time you wish in unwrapping your present. By the way, you present might involve stocking suspenders and high heels."

He would have liked to have been with Anthony this day, but he was still not quite ready to tell Thor about his relationship. He did not have many friends, Thor was the only one he truly trusted, and having a second person to that roster was a much larger deal to him than to others. Also he feared that Anthony would like Thor better, everyone liked Thor better with his blond muscled looks and his affable honest charm. He did not want to lose Anthony.

He slipped his phone back in his pocket and watched as Steve presented Thor with paper and coloured markers, and his adult brother beaming over them as though they were the best thing ever. The only true stranger in the room, the soldier who had melted down in his coffee shop, sat quietly on the sidelines watching like him. But he watched Steve with a fond expression that nobody could miss.

With Thor sufficiently busy with his art project, Steve returned to Nat and Bucky, taking another cookie because why not? He was safe here. This space and these people (maybe minus Loren) were just safe. He kicked off his shoes and propped his feet up on the arm rest as Natalia unwrapped her present.

He'd gotten her new leg warmers with matching ballet shoe cozies. He had no idea they existed but evidently they kept toe shoes from being scuffed up and made walking in them when not on point a little easier. The gift and the drawings got him a pleased Russian in his lap, taking the total to three in the puppy pile on the sofa. He was perfectly content, though, whatever mellowing drug in the cookies and the abundance of alcohol in the nog left Steve warm and happy.

Thor and Bucky did most of the cooking when everyone decided that they were getting hungrier than the cookie part of the pot cookies could help and though Thor had already done most of the cooking at home, he had a massive spread to heat up. They ended up using all three ovens in all three apartments that afternoon.

Nat took a nap in the pile of cards Thor made for her and that left Loren and Steve to set up a series of tables in Steve's living room to hold everyone for dinner.

And Steve had to poke his nose in.

"You should invite him to dinner," he told Loren, almost wary. "He seemed really nice."

Bucky had been trying to moderate himself on the cookies and eggnog, but by the time he started cooking with Thor he was a little tipsy and he got more and more drunk as they continued to run up and down the stairs and across the hall in the oddly complex heating of the feast.

Loren had been quite sociable that morning. Aside from sending the occasional text, he had proven himself to have a razor sharp wit and a quick mind, keeping most of them entertained with stories of Thor's various stupid exploits and his own pranks in childhood. None of his stories ever went back further than his early teens, for he had been adopted at ten and the first few years had not been plain sailing. He did not wish any to know he had not always been Thor's natural brother.

"I do not recall asking for advice," he said, voice decidedly unimpressed. "My brother does not yet know, now I hardly the time to spring it on him."

"It looked serious though," Steve pressed. "Like you guys are really an item." Did people still say that? It sounded like what his older neighbors might say. "It's not fair to Thor or Tony. You should just tell him. I'm sure they'd get along...?" He didn't know about Loren's insecurity. He wouldn't have thought that to be possible. Loren was beautiful and vivacious and dark and brooding and he had everything that Steve didn't.

He probably had a lot of partners. Maybe that was the issue? Maybe Tony was a piece on the side? That was sad. Loren had looked genuinely worried when Tony had been injured. And Tony seemed genuinely into him.

All of those babies... People didn't coo that unless they were in love.

Probably.

"It's Christmas. That's a great time to introduce people."

"Your advice was not asked for," Loren repeated, much more firmly and with a look in his eye that suggested he would find a way to make Steve regret pushing his nose in if he didn't shut up soon.

He quite liked Steve. He was polite, kind, generally quiet, and had a nice easy order to fill when he came into the shop. That did not mean that they were bosom friends and he would not tolerate having his personal life dug into. He hated that beyond all things, which made it amazing that he had struck up such a closeness with Anthony Stark, of all people, who didn't understand personal boundaries at all.

The two of them had met when Loren's car had broken down and he had taken it in to the nearest garage, the mechanic on duty had happened to be Anthony who had immediately barrelled into questions about his accent, if his eyes were actually that green or if they were contacts, and why hadn't he already given over his phone number? It had taken a long time for Loren to be comfortable with him, but now they had been together a long time and he was reluctant to share him.

"My relationship with Anthony does not concern you, nor any other here, so I would advise keeping your thoughts to yourself."

Unfortunately for Loren, Bucky was even now spilling the beans. It was the alcohol, it made him far too loose-lipped, and he was leaning over Thor with a big plate of turkey, slightly flushed and grinning.

"S'kinda stupid, but I think I love him. Like-- is that crazy? I've only known him a few months and we've only been dating like two days. Fuck, it is crazy. I should-- I should ask Loren how long it took for him to fall in love with his boyfriend, right?"

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