Chapter 4
$4
Bucky is proud of himself.
He stands in their dining room, just in front of the couch and chairs and table and can’t help putting his palms together in satisfaction and preparation.
It’s been a slow day, miserably slow whenever he saw Tony in the kitchen, sullenly stirring at tepid green tea and toying with a pathetic pile of sliced cucumber.
Every so often, the beautiful brunette had zoned out staring at the cupboard where Bucky knew the donuts were sometimes kept.
Bucky had bitten his cheek to stop from saying anything and instead tried to keep busy until the evening cooled, and night-time faded in.
Now it’s here.
And the food is here too.
Bucky is ready, dressed nice but in sweatpants like the date had promised, and Jarvis presently informs him that Sir is on his way up now.
The elevator slides open and in parallel the tired, but fond, smile on Tony’s face at seeing Bucky slides away upon seeing the table.
“Um…what…”
Tony trails off and stares, the longing and hunger in his gaze causing Bucky’s insides to twist like this morning, in guilt and anticipation.
“What…what the fuck, Bucky?”
His hands are stuffed in his pockets but start to fidget, anxiously pulling the material and then stopping, presumably when Tony feels the stretch of the fabric tightening over his ass and thighs and hips.
Bucky’s brain is determined to bluescreen, but he’s been ignoring that urge as best as he can for a while now and he’s not going to trip over this (hopefully) final hurdle.
“I had an idea” He announces enthusiastically, grinning at Tony.
The engineer is still staring between him and the table with wide, slightly stricken eyes, so Bucky calculates and decides to crash right into explaining and sweeping Tony in.
“Sit down Doll, you been workin’ all day?”
“Yeah…” Tony replies absently, drifting a little towards the food as he slowly obeys Bucky’s order to sit down.
He’s cleaned up for dinner and is wearing a pale purple t shirt with the sweatpants they agreed on.
His skin is golden against the pastel tone.
But the thing that has Bucky’s mouth-watering is how he knows that this is one of Tony’s largest shirts and usually it would swamp him.
But now?
Now it fits and it fits well.
Cradling the swell of his stomach and filling out at his sides and Bucky is pretty sure he’s drooling from how plump Tony looks.
He’s also pretty sure Tony is drooling, or at least exerting the same amount of will-power as Bucky is to not drool, over the food on the table.
Heat flashes persistently in his core and he sternly tells himself “soon”.
“You sittin’ down yet doll?” He laughs, “C’mon, the food ain’t gonna bite ya, you’re gonna bite it”.
The corners of Tony’s mouth turn down.
“No Bucky, No I’m not” He says glumly.
Bucky looks at him, brow furrowing imperceptibly, he really thought he might have to cluelessly barrel on a little more before Tony snapped and told him what was going on.
He’s relieved to get to the real talk but also a little concerned.
Tony must be pushing himself harder and feeling more miserable than Bucky had realised.
“What’s up sugar?” He asks softly, not wanting to scare the honesty from the room.
Tony crosses his arms defensively hugging himself, dark eyes intense as they stare at the table then at Bucky, before he waves a hand in an all-encompassing gesture
“I mean, it’s a little insensitive? Bucky?” He says it sharply but there’s no hiding the thread of vulnerability.
“Insensitive?” Bucky echoes
Tony’s grip tightens on his soft sides and he gestures again, to the table, which is decked out, invisible really, beneath all the food he’s ordered from the restaurant.
Like some sort of giant tapas, there’s ten or more plates and each one is a full meal- carbonara pasta, carbonara burgers, arriabiata pizzas- each one a delicious combination of two or more classic Italian meals.
Tony is looking at it like a poor man looking at a warm coat, his eyes flashing with tearful anger.
“Yeah- why, why would you order all this? You know I’m trying to lose the weight- you, you’ve been great so far-just-just letting me do it without commenting, or is this a comment? ‘Cause believe me I am try-
Bucky glomphs him.
There’s no other word for it really.
Tony’s words are cut off with a surprised “ngg!” as Bucky squeezes him tight.
“I don’t want you to lose the weight” he says honestly
Tony begins to make a disbelieving noise and Bucky hushes him, grasping the flesh of his hips.
“I really, really don’t want you to lose the weight sweet thing” He reiterates, trying not to growl.
“What do you-
“God, Tony doll, I didn’t know how t’ tell ya- I love your curves- I love ‘em so much ya have no idea” He exhales harshly, giving in to the urge to let his hands grope.
Any other day he’d be crowing at making Tony Stark speechless twice within one 24-hour period, but right now he just buries his face in Tony’s neck, scraping his teeth along the softness.
Tony melts a little at the sensation, and if this morning had been torture, feeling the shapes of Tony’s torso, then right now is heaven.
Because he’s getting to touch properly, massaging the give of his sides, his hips, sliding his fingers across the underneath and then the widest part of his stomach, and there’s no way Tony can’t feel the hardness pressing against his softened hip.
“Bucky?” Tony says faintly
He pulls back to survey him.
There’s a hot blush on Tony’s face warming his cheeks and filling his neck, although that might just be where Bucky was attacking him.
He feels his own face flush as he checks in.
“I-I mean if ya wanna lose the weight baby then of course I support ya all the way sweet thing, but only if ya really want to, and hell- never outta some sorta thinking that you should lose it for me”
Tony is gripping him back just as strongly like an anchor
“Yeah, no, sorry…this is just a – a total 180 for my brain um… but like a good? 180? I think? No I’m not gonna lie, I’m confused”
Bucky hums a self-deprecating laugh
“Yeah…I know it ain’t the norm to, well y’know, but goddamn baby I wish it were the norm” He hums and pulls Tony closer to him again.
“Yeah, sorry, western culture I guess…lots of problems here” The engineer says absently, still sounding dazed, but, Bucky thinks, the good kind of dazed- he’s not fretting, it more seems like he’s not sure if this is real.
“Don’t be sorry doll, in fact I think you should be sitting down and letting me look after ya and seein’ where this goes” He proposes, his thumb having the time of it’s life stroking up and down the swell before Tony’s hip.
Tony shifts but not uncomfortably
“Um- okay” He says a little breathlessly, glancing at the food on the table.
He doesn’t know how he forgot about it being there, it looks so good and the aroma is everywhere as he breathes in.
His mouth is watering immediately.
“Christ, I’m starving” He murmurs and Bucky growls
When he looks up at his face, his supersoldier boyfriend looks hungry too but he’s not paying the food any mind at all.
Instead, he ghosts his hands up and down his sides, and Tony trembles a little with the heightened sensitivity of the soft flesh.
Oh yeah, that’s how he forgot about the food.
“Well c’mon then doll, I wanna see you clear your plates” He rumbles, crowding Tony towards the sofa.