fossilised | It's AU time

It's AU time

Building 64 down in the East end of Brooklyn was not a fashionable place to live. The apartments were small, barely more than studio size, and the rent was pretty cheap. Not many people lived there permanently, most people only came and stayed a year or two to get enough money together to move onto somewhere better. But there were two residents who had been there a while.

Steven Grant Rogers, early twenties, who earned his rent doing tattoo designs part time to fund his college course, and occasionally dipped his toe into online art commissions. He'd moved in there when his mother had died four years previously, leaving him enough money to get by, but not enough that he could stop working. And right across the hall was Natalia Romanova, an aspiring ballerina from Russia. She was tough as hell, she had worked herself right through high school, paid her own way to America when she didn't even speak the language, and kept going through tenacity alone.

Somehow a friendship had struck up between them when Steve had been the first person not to look at her like she was an idiot or disgusting for not speaking the language. He'd helped her learn, and they'd been firm friends for the last three years. Everyone else was transient, coming and going, not really making an impact. Natalia had friends and a boyfriend outside of the apartment, but she sometimes worried that Steve never seemed to do anything but work and study.

Which was probably why he would be in his apartment when a loud crash sounded on the stairs outside. Said crash had come from a box of (now very broken) plates and bowls being dropped by the man just moving in to the apartment directly above Steve's, judging by the amount of cardboard boxes that were littering the hallway. He was tall, muscled, dressed in faded jeans and a hoodie with long slightly scruffy hair, leather gloves, and deep blue eyes.

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With sex such a new concept to Steve, he pretty much wanted to be pants-less and inside or around Bucky at all times at the moment. Those whispered words with such a hot breath against the shell of his ear was mystifyingly erection-inducing and Steve, turning redder by the second as if in competition with Natalia's hair, just kept his onesie balled in his lap.

They spent the next ten minutes giving out presents, of which Tony outdid everyone because he had the means to with cruise vouchers for each couple and a Paris Getaway for Loren to some French book convention in three months, and Thor steamed along with his corn as Natalia squealed over the cruise. "We will book together," she informed Steve. "The four of us. Thor, the alcohol is free on board. Do not grouse."

Tony had mostly stopped paying attention to the violitile situation bubbling away in the other room.

The key was strangely touching to him. It only cost a few dollars, but it was enough to sort of make him want to pull the ring out of his pocket that he had been carrying around for just over a month now.

Bucky was enthralled enough with the beautiful red colour that Steve was turning, that he barely even noticed the presents until he heard the word 'book'. Wait. He had been given a cruise to go on with his boyfriend of like... a week, by a guy he had met once in a coffee store and never spoken to? What the hell was that? Was this guy a billionaire or something? Who gave out that sort of gift so freely?

He finally stopped muttering in Steve's ear to pick up the voucher and stare down at it, then over at Tony looking half touched and half upset.

"I can't accept this, it's way too much. You don't even know me, that's far too generous, I haven't even got you anything."

Loren beamed over the gift to Paris, he wanted to go to that convention deeply and he had not realised that Anthony had paid attention when he spoke of it. He wasn't ashamed of his own gift being worth so much less in monetary value, he knew that Anthony would see the true value attached to it.

"Thank you, my Anthony. That key may be used to visit whenever you desire; or, should you wish it, it may be used to move your things in and remain there as long as you wish."

"First of all," Tony said without looking away from Loren, "Yes you can accept it because I don't like cruises and your boyfriend shouldn't have to go alone and second, Loren, Jesus. You want me to leave the garage?" He frowned a little at his own boyfriend and then shrugged. "Done. But counter proposition. How about we move into the Brownstone instead? My tenants are leaving at the end of February and I haven't started looking for new ones. You can renovate it anyway you want. And it's just down the street from your shop."

Loren had a tiny one bedroom in a nice part of town, but Tony knew the rents in that area and they were insane. Much better to move into a three story row house he owned, right?

Tony might not be a billionaire, but he did come from money and his business was steady and catered to high powered New York Lawyers and actors and politicians. He made smart investment choices. And he'd never really had a reason to spread some of his wealth around before.

Thor banged away in the kitchen and Steve glanced over at Bucky as if to query if he thought his oven would survive the holiday.

Loren knew that a more sensible proposition might have been to move in with Anthony, for he had a bigger place, but he had hoped by taking Anthony away from the apartment he had above the garage that he would actually leave at night instead of sometimes spending whole days tinkering with engines until he collapsed from fatigue in the middle of a puddle of oil and grease.

"That is a deal that I accept, we will move into the brownstone together at the end of February."

He beamed all of a sudden, genuine delight and affection on his face. Two years and a culmination in living together. He already knew it would work well, and he saw this as an investment in his future.

"Do you hear this, my brother?" He called out above the sound of banging in the kitchen. "I am to move in with my boyfriend, and it is a decision made without your approval, you would do well to remember that my life is mine to steer as I wish."

Bucky shook his head and just sort of sank back down next to Steve and his balled up onesie, looking mystified. "We really just got given a cruise vacation, didn't we? I'm not dreaming this madness?"

There was a louder bang this time as Steve was trying to tell Bucky that they didn't have to take the cruise if he felt strange about it and the smell of his apple pie being dumped all over the floor and his mother's favorite pie dish shattering had him standing about. Tony didn't move, though he did place an arm protectively across Loren as if to shield him or stop him from rising.

Thor spewed all sorts of horrible things about him, which Tony took silently despite being able to understand Norwegian. Even the age issue. Thor said he was a good ten years older than Loren, when the truth was that he was more like eighteen, but that wouldn't help his case at all. Nothing Tony could say right now, especially if he gave away that he spoke the language, would keep Thor from his rampage.

"This is a disgrace. We have lived in New York for five years, Loren, five, and you've never once-- To hear you've been dating his old man for two years-- Is it because he has money? What could you possibly want from him other than money? You're making a mockery of this entire holiday--"

He also insulted Tony's teeth and his facial hair and called the whole show a farce.

But Tony could read between the lines here. Loren keeping secrets was the problem. Thor loved his brother. Loren told him once that Thor had dropped everything to follow him to America. That despite being adopted, Thor cared for him above everyone else.

Tony wondered if Thor wasn't in love with him in some way. Perhaps not incestuously, but purely...and possessively. If Loren happened to have someone new to care for him, what would Thor's role be?

Tony leaned towards Steve and Bucky. "He's loud, huh?"

Bucky flinched slightly when the shattering sound of the dish punctuated the air, though it was less the sudden noise and more the impending violence. He had been a soldier, he knew what the atmosphere of violence felt like, and it felt like this. There was a tension in the air that seeped in his muscles, like rock next to Steve before he stood up, ready to fight or flight. He watched the scene unfold with dark eyes, pupils blown wide with adrenaline, but he remained as still as a statue.

Loren, however, moved like quicksilver.

He had never been more angry in his life, the colour draining from his already pale face as Thor went on in a disgusting tirade at the man he loved. He had thought Thor may be angry, but he had never imagined this level of vitriol, and it caused him to push past Anthony and reach up to deliver a sharp and loud slap directly across Thor's face, answering back in a stream of furious Norwegian.

"Anthony understands every word you say, and you are a coward for attempting to insult him in a foreign language. Should you wish to be vile, you should at least show the courage to do it to his face properly. I love him for his wit, his mind, and his affection. If money were all I wished, I could return to Norway and allow our parents to cater for me, you fool. I love him, and you have behaved to him like a monster. We are leaving, and you are no longer welcome to visit, call, or contact me until you have delivered an appropriate apology."

He whirled on his heel, grabbed Anthony's good hand, and started to try and pull him away. He was so angry that he could spit, and so upset that he may cry. He loved his brother deeply, he had not truly thought Thor would be so awful. Perhaps this was because his chosen partner was a man, he did not know, and he did not care any more. He wasn't hungry, he only wanted to go.

Poor Thor. His anger had come out in Norwegian because it was his first language, not because he wanted to disguise his insults. Still, he was blown away by the fact that Tony bothered to learn his brother's tongue.

The slap was nothing compared to the words and the words cut him so deeply that the anger seemed comically fixed on his face. "Really great seeing you guys. Nice meeting you," Tony said, trying to be gracious. "See you around. Come to Loren's shop. I might be allowed to visit more often."

They were out of the apartment and down the stairs when Tony held Loren's hand more tightly to get him to stop. "Baby, I think we should stay. Your brother is a little jealous and banning him from your life-- I think he looked about ready to throw up. So how about we take a walk and then come back?"

He wasn't used to being the voice of reason here.

The last time Loren had been even close to this angry, he had stabbed someone. He had been nine years old and a boy in his class had mocked him for being adopted, and kept up a teasing stream of words about how Thor would always be loved more and eventually he would be discarded again. Loren had stabbed him with the safety scissors he had been using at the time, right through the hand. He had been suspended, made to see a school counsellor, and all of it had been swept under the rug as a child defending themselves from bullies. But he would have stabbed Thor in that instant if he could, his anger was a dangerous and destructive thing and he could not be calmed so easily.

"No."

It was immediate and firm, though his fingers clutched tightly around Anthony's as if to hold him fast.

"I have given his terms, I will consider if I have a brother again when he has come to realise his mistake and apologise to you. Until then, I have no brother, and I do not wish to speak of him again."

He obviously meant what he said, but it also pained him to say it. He loved Thor deeply, and there were tears in his eyes even as he gave the proclamation.

Tony sighed and though he would normally use a thumb nail to scratch at his eyebrow in acceptance, he just held onto Loren's hand. "Then let's go back to your place. I've only been there twice so you're going to have to shout the way in my ear."

By the time that Loren and Tony sped off on the way to the apartment, Thor had his jacket on too and Natalia was headed off after him.

Steve did his best not to be upset, but he was. His mom's pie plate was just one of those few things of hers that he held onto, one of the few he kept because they reminded him of her more than most others.

He felt ridiculous being so broken hearted about it but he was.

Bucky relaxed a little when Loren left, because that diffused the possibility of a fight, but the tension didn't wholly leave. He would be an idiot not to see how upset Steve looked as Christmas was ruined before even dinner began, they were left alone, and his Ma's pie dish lay shattered on the kitchen floor.

He pushed up from the couch and wound his arm around Steve from behind, kissing him just above his ear tenderly. He didn't want this for Steve, he wanted a better day, he wanted to see him smile.

"Hey-- can you do me a favour?"

He had a plan, sort of, but he needed time to get it together.

"Go out, take a walk and cool off for an hour. See the snow in Central Park, take some pictures so you can paint it later. I'll sort out the food and clean up and see if the others are coming back in the meantime, okay?"

Bucky was good to him but Steve didn't want to wander around Central Park in this weather. He didn't want to see little boys with their mothers. But he didn't say any of that. He just put the onesie he was still clutching down, slipped into his jacket, and nodded again before leaving the apartment.

There was only so far that Steve could go before the cold got to him and he headed down into the subway to have a coffee at one of the little kiosks that made their workers come in.

For a long time, he just sat on the edge of a smelly bench watching trains come and go. It was just a pie plate. It was just a little pie plate. He'd be there for about an hour before deciding to make the walk home, and that was enough for Natalia to return without Thor to help Bucky clean up.

Bucky didn't really care too much about cleaning up, just the pie plate. He saw how distressed Steve looked and, even if he hadn't known it specifically belonged to his Mom, he could guess it. So he spent the entire hour gathering up every little shattered piece and gluing it back together, which went a lot faster when Natalia came back and could help because it was hard trying to hold and glue with one hand.

It wasn't perfect, the cracks were visible, but it would still bake pies and it was whole again and hopefully that would be something.

In the brief time before Bucky came back, he got Natalia to finish off the cooking and lay it out on the table, while he grabbed a can of fake snow from her apartment and sprayed it manically everywhere. When Steve slouched back in, it would be to the sight of Bucky and Nat in Santa hats amidst a literal explosion of fake snow, holding out the repaired pie dish between them.

Though he'd managed not to do more but tear up, Steve stood in the doorway completely moved. "You guys," he complained, grinning and crying all at the same time. It was pretty outstanding how one person could feel a hundred things all at the same time. Steve moved forward, scarf loose and coat left open, and hugged his little family. "Thanks... Thanks so much."

Cruises were nice and family fueds were scandelous but there was nothing like spending Christmas with the people that mattered most. Natalia got into her new lounging pants. Steve climbed into his onesie. Bucky got to sit in the middle of the two friends as they had dinner on TV trays and watched a movie. Miracle on 34th Street. Natalia found it boring but Steve loved it.

And of course there was a lot of spiked eggnog to go around.

Bucky was glad that he hadn't goofed up, and the sight of the cracked dish didn't make it worse. This Christmas was shaping up to be a good one, despite it all, though very different from every other Christmas he'd had. Christmas in the Barnes house was a huge family affair, everyone came from miles around until there were cousins and third cousins and great aunts dotted around. Twenty or thirty people and a huge dinner table groaning with food, and so much noise and chatter all the time. Christmas abroad had been a half-hearted attempt at a chicken meal and then back out on patrol, with maybe a nice package or two from home. But this... this was homely and intimate and safe.

He loved it.

By the time Miracle on 34th Street was over, Bucky was fast asleep with his arm wound tightly around Steve's stripey waist and his head pillowed on his shoulder, long hair fallen into his eyes. Natalia exhaled heavily and smiled at her friend.

"I am glad that is over, it felt six hours long and nothing happened. Where were the gun battles? It is not a Christmas movie without gun battles. See, it was so boring even James has fallen asleep."

"Buck is asleep because I'm cuddly and warm, not because he's bored and what Christmas movie other than A Christmas Story has a gun in it?! And that one isn't real!" Technically it also had a scene with convicts scuttling across a dream lawn too but Steve stayed mum about that. "Now be quiet or you'll wake him."

"Wake him, will I? Well someone ought to. And I should go back to my own place and find comfort in my pretend Thor."

"You shouldn't name-- not after your boyfriend--". Steve groaned a little as Nat stood up and kicked Bucky right in the shin.

"James you will wake up and remind my friend of his Christmas present. You are not yet through those condoms you were given. Merry Christmas." She left them to be alone. She wouldn't be calling Thor. He needed to scowl about his baby brother ending up with a rich older man.

And Steve needed that onesie peeled off.

Bucky woke up the second he was kicked, going from relaxed and safe in Steve's arms, to on his feet and instinctively reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. It didn't last, his expression cleared when he saw who he was and pieced together what happened, hopefully covering up the reaction by rubbing at his shin and exaggerating the grumpiness of his voice as he ordered Nat out.

An order with which she was all too happy to comply, giving Steve a significant look as she went out.

It wasn't too much later that Steve was having that onesie peeled from him and soiled in a way that would mean it needed washing the day after. In fact, Bucky made sure to round off Christmas by christening every single one of Steve's rooms, switching with who took who, and making sure that Steve understood just how fucking good sex was and what he'd been missing out on all these years.

There was barely any mention of the strangeness of Christmas Eve across the world, though one of Steve's podcasts would devote a whole episode to it by New Years, and the day after Christmas went like normal. Steve worked. Loren and Bruce enjoyed their Book Convention at the Javitz Center. Tony priced new hardwoods to be installed in the Brownstone before his scheduled dinner with Loren in Manhattan. Bucky watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Natalia went to the gym. And Thor stewed in anger.

It was just a regular day, right up until lunch.

[To: Buckaroo]
[From: Steve]

Just had a consult with Chris Evans
Coming in tomorrow for the inking
Clear your schedule
!!!!!

Bucky had a wonderful time over Christmas, whenever he was with Steve he felt almost like the man he used to be. It was amazing, it made him more confident that as soon as the New Year's rush died down then he'd be more than capable of going for a job somewhere. After all, he only freaked out because of the nerf gun, and how often was someone really going to point a nerf gun at him?

Even though Steve's apartment obviously wasn't his own, he was still there when Steve texted him about the celebrity who had just come in for a consultation. He could barely believe it, texting back at once.

From: Buckaroo
To: Steve

Are you serious? Chris Evans really came in? Holy fuck! What are you going to ink on him? That's insane. What was he like? Did you get his autograph?

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It's AU time

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