Deja Brew

By the time Saturday arrived, Steve was both nervous and excited. Not long after he hung up with Bucky, he called Natasha so she could help him pick out an outfit for his date. She told him to wear his black skinny jeans, because they made his ass look great, and a plain white T-shirt with a blue flannel tied around his waist. She also advised that he wore his doc martens.

He knew the outfit made him look like a hipster, but he was kind of okay with it. He was half tempted to put on fake glasses and a beanie to finish off the look, but thought better of it.

He looked at the clock and seeing that it was already noon, figured he should start making his way to the museum. It was a beautiful day, so he decided to walk opposed to taking the subway. He double checked that he had his wallet and keys before heading out the door. He also made sure to pocket the folded piece of paper that was sitting next to them on the counter.

The walk itself only took forty minutes, making him a little early. He sat down on the steps to wait for Bucky.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Steve saw a familiar figure approaching. Bucky looked amazing. He was wearing a sheer black button down T-shirt with a floral pattern, black, skinny jeans, and combat boots. His long hair was in a half bun.

“Hey, you look great,” he told Bucky. He couldn’t help but smile as the other man blushed and ducked his head.

“Thanks, you look great too.”

“Oh, this is for you,” Steve said, handing over the folded piece of paper that he had in his pocket.

Bucky gave him a confused look, but smiled when he opened the paper up. On it was a beautifully drawn bouquet of flowers.

“My ma always told me to bring flowers on a first date. I figured drawing them would be better though, so you didn’t have to carry them around the museum.”

“You drew this?” Bucky looked up in shock.

“Yeah, I used to dabble in drawing when I was younger. I even went to art school for a little while.”

“This is amazing. I’m going to hang it up when I get home,” he told him, putting the drawing in his pocket. “Now that I know you went to art school, I expect you to teach me all you know about everything we look at today.”

“It was a long time ago, but I’ll try my best for you.”

They walked into the museum and Steve paid for their tickets. They decided to start with the Greek and Roman art.

As they walked around the room, Steve told Bucky all that he could remember about the works and techniques used to make them. Bucky listened attentively with a small smile on his face.

At one point, Steve heard Bucky stifling a laugh.

“What’s so funny over there?” Steve asked.

“Come look at this one Stevie,” he said, pointing to the piece that was amusing him.

“Bronze statuette of drunken Heracles,” Steve read with a laugh. “He’s the Greek version of Hercules right?”

“Yup. But it’s not the name I’m laughing at.”

“Then What is it?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yup.”

“Fine, I think it’s funny because Hercules is a big muscly guy right? He was a Greek hero and all that. But in this little statue, it looks like his dick is the same size as his nose. Megara must have been so disappointed.”

Steve dropped his head onto Bucky’s shoulder, laughing hysterically.

“Oh my god, Buck. Why would you say that? I love that movie. Now all I can think about is the disappointment on Megara’s face when she and Hercules have sex for the first time. I don’t want to think about Disney characters having sex Bucky.”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky said, while laughing along with Steve. “Actually, I’m not. Let’s keep going and see what other Disney movies I can ruin for you.”

“You’re an asshole. Just stay away from Snow White.”

“I’ll try.”

They eventually made their way out of the Greek and Roman art wing. Bucky dragged Steve through the wing dedicated to Oceania. He told Steve that they could come back to it, but there was somewhere that he wanted to go next. Bucky dragged him to the European sculpture wing, looking around at everything there like he was on a mission.

After a few minutes of searching for something, Bucky stopped and turned to Steve with a wolfish grin.

“It looks like Lumiére also leaves something to be desired,” he said, pointing to the candelabra in front of him. “He also seems to be half goat. Interesting how they left that out in the movie.”

Steve looked over to see an ornate late 18th century candelabra with a faun making up most of the stem. While what Bucky was drawing his attention to was covered by a leaf, it wasn’t a big leaf. Steve couldn’t help but groan, making Bucky laugh.

“Why did you have to ruin Beauty and the Beast too?”

“Because it’s fun. And now that ruined another Disney movie, we can actually look around this wing.”

“And you won’t ruin anything else for me?”

“You know I can’t promise that Stevie.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but took Bucky’s hand and began to walk through the rest of the wing.

“Huh,” Bucky said after a while of walking.

“I’m scared to ask this, but what?”

“I’ve seen plates and spoons from 18th century Germany, but no frying pans. Though I guess this silvery coffee pot could be an effective weapon. It probably would have done as much damage to Flynn and the pan did when Rapunzel hit him with it.”

“Well, at least this Disney reference wasn’t sexual.”

“Oh just you wait Stevie. I’m going to find a really bad one for you.”

Steve decided not to answer him and just kept moving. Instead of going to see the medieval works, they decided to take the elevator to explore the second floor.

They made it through the 19th and 20th century paintings without a problem. Steve knew quite a bit about some of the works on display, so he kept up a steady stream of commentary on them. Bucky would smile and nod as Steve went on, occasionally stopping to ask questions.

When they had finished with that section, they made it through to the Arab Lands wing. They moved through the wing, commenting on the many fragments of cloth and pottery that filled the area.

After a while, Bucky stopped walking. He moved over to one of the cases and pointed to a stucco sculpture of a nude female figure.

“I’d bet twenty bucks that’s supposed to be Jasmine,” he whispered with a straight face.

Steve just stared at him for a second, before bursting into laughter. Bucky quickly joined in, earning some odd looks from the other people in the room.

After a few minutes they managed to calm down enough to move on. They kept walking until they got to the stairs by the Near Eastern Art wing. They took a quick walk through it before turning back to the stairs. They had already been there for over four and a half hours and they had a dinner reservation at six. They decided to head out, promising to come back another day to explore the rest of the museum together.

It was a quick walk to Grazie, the restaurant Steve had chosen for dinner. The hostess seated them not long after they checked in, and handed them their menus.

Steve and Bucky both perused the cocktail menu while they waited for their server to arrive. When he arrived, he took their drink order, an Italian cocktail for Bucky and a rum negroni for Steve.

As they waited for their drinks, they decided to split the black truffle salmon tartar as an appetizer and selected their entrees. Bucky opted for the gnocchi, while Steve went for the linguine vongole with a white wine sauce.

When their server returned with the drinks they placed their order and began to make small talk.

Steve learned that Bucky was born and raised in Brooklyn, his parents have been happily married for thirty years, and he has a younger sister named Becca who was a senior at NYU. In turn, Steve told Bucky that he was an only child, he never knew his father, and his mother passed when he was 18.

Everything was going great until Steve asked Bucky when he knew he was gay.

“My dad was a huge history buff. Like, half of the bookshelves in my parents house are filled with books about the mid 20th century. So one day, when I was about eight, he called me into the living room. He sat me down in front of the tv and told me that it was time to learn about one of the greatest heroes of World War Two. Instead of some boring documentary starting, like I was expecting, he had put on some cheesy propaganda film. You will never guess what it was about?”

“What?” Steve asked, curiosity piqued. He had seen a lot of those at the time and was wondering which amazing historical figure, other than him, had made those.

“Captain America.”

Steve choked on his drink.

“Really?” He asked when he regained the ability to breathe, trying to hide his panic.

“Yeah,” he continued once he was sure Steve was okay. “He made me sit there and watch a bunch of them. I spent about an hour with my dad watching this guy in star spangled tights fighting against nazis. It was the last one that got me. At the end, he was fighting some nazis as per usual, but after he punched the last one he turned to the camera and winked. When it ended my dad asked me what I thought and all I could say was ‘I think I want to marry Captain America.’ My dad laughed it off and continued with his lesson. As he told me more stories about him, I liked him more. A few hours later at dinner my mom asked how our day went and I told her the same thing. Unlike my dad, she didn’t laugh it off. She gave me a smile and asked if I thought boys were cute. I said yes, so she asked if I felt the same about girls and I said no. So she decided to teach me everything she knew about the lgbtq community at the time. Since then, it’s been a running joke in my family.”

“That’s so sweet. How did your dad react to that? Since he laughed it off at first.”

“He was fine with it. When I was older he told me the only reason he laughed was because he thought it was funny that my first reaction to seeing Cap punching nazis was to want to marry him. Sometimes he will send me videos of random guys punching nazis or white supremisists and ask if he should start planning our wedding.”

Steve chuckled at that, but he was internally panicking. What if Bucky realized that he was Captain America, not just the one running around right now, but the same one from seventy years ago. And what did Bucky think of the fact that there was currently a Captain America? He decided to suck it up and ask.

“So what did you think when you saw the new Cap running around a few months ago?”

“I actually have a conspiracy theory about that.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?”

“The Cap running around now is the same one from the 1940’s. I think the serum made him immortal and he didn’t actually crash his plane. I think he managed to land it in Greenland or something and Peggy Carter came to his rescue. They decided to tell the world that he was dead so that they could live their lives together in peace. Since Peggy started SHIELD, the higher ups knew Steve was still alive. So when the aliens came down, he suited back up to fight with the Avengers. I think it’s a lie that it’s some random agent. Also Becca is writing her senior thesis on Cap, so she knows more about him then I do. She says the new Cap has the same fighting style as the old Cap. Either this new agent trained for years to have that specific style of fighting, or it’s the same guy. I chose to believe the latter.”

“Let me get this straight, you think Captain America is immortal and he’s been living in hiding for seventy years?” Steve pauses, and Bucky nods. “And, he chose now to come out of hiding? Why now? Why not in 2001? Why not during Vietnam?”

“Aliens Stevie, aliens. Normal people can fight a war. Only superheroes can fight aliens.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“I will until I am given definitive proof that I am wrong.”

At that point, Steve decided to change the subject. He tries to take the conversation as far away from Cap as he can. He decided to ask Bucky about Disney movies.

They spend the rest of their dinner talking about their favorite movies. They realize that they have similar tastes, so they decide to have a movie night.

Eventually, Steve pays the bill and it’s time to head out. Steve asks if he can walk him home. Bucky enthusiastically agrees, taking Steve’s hand and leading the way to his apartment.

After a couple of subway stops and twenty minutes of walking, they finally made it to Bucky’s apartment building. Steve walked Bucky up to the front door.

“I had fun today,” Bucky told him with a smile.

“Me too. I’d like to take you out again, if you’d like.”

“I would like that very much.”

“Can, um, can I kiss you?” Steve asked shyly.

Instead of answering, Bucky puts his hand on Steve’s cheek and pulls him down for a kiss. It’s quick, just a light peck on this lips, but Steve can feel his heart beating faster. The kiss didn’t feel like fireworks or any of the other cliche ways to describe a first kiss. It felt natural and comfortable, like home. Bucky’s lips were soft against his.

When Bucky pulled back, he had a soft smile on his lips. Steve knew he had a matching one.

“Good night Stevie.”

“Good night Bucky.”

With that, Bucky unlocked the front door and headed inside. He gave Steve a little flirty wave before he shut the door behind him.

Steve decided it would be best for him to walk back to the tower. He had a lot to think about after his conversation with Bucky. He doubted he would be getting any sleep.

‘If I’m not going to sleep, I might as well get a coffee,’ he thought to himself.

He found himself walking in the direction of Deja Brew.

Of course.

When he got in, he saw that Kate was working tonight.

“Hey Kate,” he said when she looked up at him.

“Hey Steve. How’s it going?”

“Not bad, but I’m going to have a late night tonight.”

“Ew. What do you want? I’ll throw in an extra shot on the house.”

“A Count of Macchiato, please and thank you. You’re an angel.”

“I know I am.”

He paid for his coffee, putting a five in the tip jar.

“So what’s gonna keep you up so late?”

“My friend Nat. She’s having boyfriend issues,” he lied easily.

“That sucks. Hopefully everything works out for the best,” Kate said, handing him his coffee. “Enjoy, and good luck tonight.”

“Thanks, I’m gonna need it.”

He sipped his coffee as he made his way back to the tower. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t think he could figure it out on his own.

To Nat: I’ll be back to the tower in 10 minutes. Meet me on my floor.

From Nat: Was the date that bad?

To Nat: Actually, it was nearly perfect.

To Nat: It’s the one thing that prevented it from being perfect that I need to talk about.

From Nat: Was he a bad kisser? That’s always the worst.

To Nat: No, it was great. I’ll tell you when I get there.

From Nat: I’ll be on your couch and eating your food when you get here

To Nat: *middle finger emoji*