The Morning After
Tony’s return to awareness was horribly, horribly tainted by a sadly familiar and hangover-induced headache. He groaned weakly, opening his eyes blearily and trying to convince his muscles to move. He hoped to reach the bathroom before puking all over himself, but judging by how nauseous he felt, trying to move was a bit of a gamble.
Unfortunately, his plans to leave the bed were foiled before they even started -- mostly because the person in bed with him seemed to have no intention of loosening their hold on Tony’s midsection.
Said person huffed and buried their nose in Tony’s hair.
“Go back t’sleep,” they muttered, which… Well, shit. That was definitely Barnes’ voice. The reason for his hangover came back to Tony in a rush, and he somehow felt worse because of it.
Squinting against the darkness, Tony tried to turn around to look at Bucky’s face, but all he managed to do was make his nausea flare up. A bit more frantic, he tried to free himself from Bucky’s arms, not trusting himself to speak without throwing up. Thankfully, Barnes seemed to catch on, and his arms quickly left Tony’s middle.
Tony just barely made it to the toilet in time. Once his stomach calmed down, Tony was left gasping as he leaned against the cool wall. He didn’t move when the door opened and Barnes walked in, but he did hiss at him when he tried to turn on the lights.
“Headache,” he grunted, and Bucky quickly turned them back off.
Cracking one eye open, Tony glanced at the barely visible silhouette of his soulmate. He sighed, “C’mere.”
The speed at which Bucky crossed the room would have been hilarious in any other situation, but Tony was too wrung out to laugh. When Bucky sat down next to him, he moved just enough to let their legs touch, sighing in pleasure when that immediately dulled the pain in his head.
“Sorry about that,” he said, after a few seconds of comfortable silence. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“You drank your weight in alcohol yesterday. Throwing up was probably good for ya.”
“Not what I meant,” Tony started, but he fell silent when Bucky shrugged.
“Ain’t nothing we can do about it now, Stark.”
Tony hummed, letting his eyes fall shut as he tried not to think about the events of the previous day.
***
Rogers and Barnes walked into the common room, and Barnes was visibly uncomfortable when the Avengers turned to stare at them. Bucky’d been living in the tower for a few weeks now, but in that time, he’d never left Steve’s floor.
Clearly, him showing up for movie night was a big step.
Everyone greeted them before purposefully turning back to what they were doing, trying not to make Bucky uncomfortable.
Tony grabbed three beers from the fridge and made his way towards the duo.
“Captain. Barnes,” he greeted. Handing them their beers, he asked, “Here to join us for movie night?”
Steve accepted his drink with a smile. “I am. How ‘bout you, Buck?”
Barnes glanced at Steve before looking down at the beer Tony was offering him. “Sure,” he finally said.
He grabbed the bottle and opened it with his metal thumb, sending the cap flying in the air.
It all happened so quickly.
Tony instinctively moved to snatch the cap mid-air before it fell to the floor, but Barnes had the same idea. Their hands brushed against each other as they reached for the cap.
Immediately, Tony’s entire body seized up in pain and he fell to his knees with a shout, clutching at his left hand when it began to throb.
Bewildered, he looked towards Barnes, who had also fallen to the floor while clutching at his hand. As soon as their gaze met, Tony realized what had happened.
Bucky’s eyes were ringed with gold. Soulmate gold.
Scrambling to his feet, Tony all but fled the room, running down to his workshop and digging into the stack of whiskey he kept there for emergencies such as this one.
“Boss, Sgt. Barnes is asking to be allowed in the ‘shop.”
Tony swore. “Fuck no. I’m not drunk enough to deal with this.” Then, after taking a healthy swig of whiskey, he added, “Activate full blackout, Fri. No one gets in other than Pep and Rhodey.”
Friday didn’t reply, but Tony didn’t mind too much. Slumping into the couch, he tried his hardest to drown his panic with the booze.
***
“So, Barnes, I’m guessing you’re the one who got me into bed last night?”
Bucky snorted. “You left the workshop on your own, drunk out of your mind, and shouted at me that you were going to bed and I was coming with you. I didn’t feel like arguing.”
Tony sighed. “Great, that’s not awkward at all.”
They were silent for a while. Tony turned his head towards Bucky, ignoring the fact he couldn’t really see him in the dark. “So… soulmates, huh?”
“Apparently. I’d say something cheesy about how I’ve waited all my life to meet you, but I’m pretty sure you’d deck me for it.”
Tony snorted. “Good call. Fate’s a bit of an asshole, as far as I’m concerned, but I’m…” he trailed off, not knowing how to explain, but Bucky seemed to understand anyways.
“Fate’s a dick, but this thing-- between us . It feels… good. Right?”
Tony hesitated, but he couldn’t lie. “Yeah, I feel that too. Hence the, you know… freak-out, yesterday.”
Bucky was silent for a while, mulling it over. Finally, he cleared his throat and asked, “We’re gonna be ok, me ‘n you?”
Tony blindly reached for Bucky’s hand, trying to convey through touch what he couldn’t put into words. The pull he’d felt yesterday, drawing him in, the yearning desire to be close to Bucky... it was still burning under his skin, a simmering fire waiting to be released.
“Yeah,” he hoarsely replied, trying to swallow the knot in his throat. “We’ll be ok.”