Tripod

Two weeks went by and slowly Steve just stopped doing all the chores, just so that Bucky would have a reason to drop by. Steve filled the Nanny Cam with more Smithsonian pictures, much to Sam’s jaw clenching irritation. “I said, nothing changes. You agreed!”

Steve shrugs like he has no idea what Sam is talking about.

But now he has four new videos of Bucky just watching the picture slideshows. Bucky stays longer and longer sitting on the Lazyboy just watching them, chewing on his bottom lip and smiling a choked little smile. In the latest video, Bucky even takes an orange off the fruitbowl on the counter and milk from the fridge. Steve stocks up extra oranges and buys three gallons of milk on grocery day instead of their usual two.

Steve falls asleep on the couch. It isn’t entirely a plan, but his eyes are drooping and he’s putting off going to see Peggy until a little later because she’s usually better in the afternoons than she is in the mornings so he figures he might as well nap off some of the exhaustion that comes after a really intense run.

So he falls asleep on the couch, Tripod curled in front of his chest so he can gently stroke his fingers through his fur as he dozes off.

He wakes up with a blanket tucked over his shoulders that he knows wasn’t there before he laid down. Rewatching the video reveals Bucky taking the blanket from off the Lazyboy and unfolding it before laying it gently over Steve, and then leaning down to press the gentlest of kisses to Steve’s cheek.

Sam was sullen and withdrawn all evening. And perhaps it was a little selfish and shortsighted but he couldn’t help the biting comments and rude remarks.

“What the hell is your problem?” Steve finally snaps.

Sam purses his lips and shrugs.

Steve studies him for a few moments before his eyes light up and his face splits in a shit eating grin. “You’re jealous,” Steve observes.

“Oh, fuck you, Rogers,” Sam retorts flippantly.

And a serious conversation about this was definitely a long time coming, but it could wait until after an apology blowjob that Sam definitely deserved after putting up with Steve’s baggage.

“Have you seen Barnes recently?” Peggy asks next time Steve visits.

Steve chokes. “Peg,” he says gently, not entirely sure how to handle this one. Bucky had come up before in conversation, but he was sort of a fleeting topic, especially before Steve knew he was alive. But even now, Bucky’s sort of a worried spot Steve tries to avoid so he doesn’t hurt so bad when it’s over.

Peggy narrows her eyes, and then softens her face into a smile. “He dropped by with some flowers,” she says wistfully.

And Steve is so sure this is a memory replayed that the tears have already started welling in his eyes. “Peggy,” he says, still so drowning for his inability to tell her a lie but unable to handle a breakdown.

“Don’t you ‘Peggy’ me,” she handles him. “He was just here yesterday. He asked about you.”

“He what?” Steve stumbles, dumfounded.

“He asked about you,” she repeats, smiling knowingly. She talks very smoothly about Bucky’s visit. She tells Steve everything, and it feels like a cool drink of water after a long year in the desert. Bucky, ever the gentleman, made sure Peggy was doing alright and that she was happy and healthy and the staff treated her right. Then, once satisfied, he almost begged for information about Steve: is he eating enough, who is Sam, does he make Steve happy, is Steve happy. And at that she softens. “And I didn’t know how to answer him, except to say that a visit from him would make you the happiest you’ve ever been.”

Steve wipes the tears away from his cheeks and sniffles unattractively. Peggy hands him the Kleenex box from her bedside table.

Sam comes home from work and only pauses long enough to take his coat off before getting on his knees in front of Steve and sucking him off.

“Not to seem ungrateful,” Steve asks once he has caught his breath, “but what was that for?”

Sam rubs his chin where some come spilled over his lips and licks it off his hand with a most cheshire grin. “Just wanted you to be relaxed is all,” he says. “I’ll start dinner.”

The whole house smells like fried onions and garlic and spices. There’s music playing from the radio in the kitchen while Sam sings along. Steve sits on the couch, reading and petting Tripod while he waits for Sam to let him know it’s time to set the table. Then the doorbell rings.

“Can you get that?” Sam calls from the kitchen, looking at Steve through the archway with a spatula in hand.

Steve marks his book and sets Tripod from his lap to the pillow instead and petting him gently to settle. Then he pads over to the front door and unlocks the deadbolt before pulling the door open, greeting dying on his lips.

“Hi,” Bucky says.

“Steve,” Sam says from closer than Steve was expecting, “I don’t know how it was back in the 40s, but usually when a friend comes over to say hello, the proper response is to let them in.”

Steve numbly reaches for the screen door handle and pushes it open, making a grand gesture for Bucky to come in. “You catchin’ flies?” Bucky asks as he walks across the threshold. Steve picks his jaw off the floor, shutting his mouth and the door.

Tripod jumps off the couch and pigeon chirps while he runs to meet their guest, who swoops down to greet him. Bucky whispers something, and even Steve can’t be sure, but it sounds like a thank you. But why would Bucky be thanking the cat?

Four Months Later:

Bucky is a blanket hog so they put him in the middle. There are still some nights that Bucky can’t sleep in the middle and instead has to take the floor or the guest bedroom or doesn’t sleep at all. Wherever Bucky sleeps, Tripod sleeps too, usually using his ass to curl up on. But when he sleeps in their bed, he sleeps in the middle so that he can get the heat from Sam and Steve both. Sam voluntarily surrenders the blankets most nights because Bucky runs so hot. Steve tries to keep his share of the blankets through the night, but almost always wakes up with hardly a share to speak of.

This goes on until Bucky’s birthday. Sam buys Bucky a snuggie. Steve buys him a roomba.