Lucas
When Lucas had told Bucky to make himself available, to get himself out there, he had not meant end up in a partnership with the lamest Avenger. Or any Avenger. Certainly not one that was injured continuously and thrived on violence. Bucky still had panic attacks weekly and was trying - so fucking hard - to remove himself from the violence.
So, no, when Lucas had told Bucky to get laid, it hadn't been his intention that Bucky would involve himself with one of the most dangerous men in America.
And it wasn't as though Clint wasn't nice. He said his please and thank yous, he remembered Lucas' likes and dislikes. Whenever he knew Lucas would be around, he brought those biscuits from the bakery near his apartment that were fucking amazing and had sent him a get well card when Bucky'd let slip that Lucas had gotten sick on tour. But the problem with Clint was that Clint was bad for Bucky. He would disappear for weeks on end and on top of making Bucky stress about that, he made Bucky lie to his friends. As though any of them were stupid enough to think Clint was some sort of traveling salesman. Who went away without warning and showed up with broken bones. Who hung out with people like Tony Stark and at least one time Steve Rogers.
"So Luke," Clint looked up from his beer - because he was the sort of guy that sat next to his alcoholic boyfriend and drank beer - and smiled at Lucas, "got any plans for your little vacation?"
Bucky looked up at him and smiled, nothing but joy in his eyes. Lucas couldn't help but hate that a little bit, because he hated Clint a little bit.
"Just getting the nursery ready. Linda is due while we're on the next tour." That was more than enough to worry about without having to worry about the livelihood of his friends.
Clint nodded as he slid his free arm around Bucky's shoulders. At least he wasn't weird about Bucky's arm. That was one point in his favor, though it was probably the only one. "Let me know where you want me to send the baby shower gift. I'm sure Tony will send one too. Or well, Pepper. Put something stupid expensive on the registry, and that's what they'll send." He grinned, leaning in closer to Bucky. Lucas noticed that he did keep his beer in his free hand at least, instead of hovering it right under Bucky's nose.
It took all of his strength not to roll his eyes. The stupid Avengers hadn't been invited to the baby shower on purpose. The last thing he needed was more attention than the band already brought him. He'd been photographed buying tampons before Linda had gotten pregnant. Having Pepper Potts at one of his parties was a surefire way to get more attention than he wanted. People that cared about them because of Pepper Potts weren't going to buy his music.
"What are your plans, Clint?" He asked, forcing himself to look interested. Clint had infinite free time, and he wasted it on hanging out with 20-year-old girls and eating pizza.
"Katie-Kate is in town, so Bucky and I are taking her to see some musical."
"Hamilton," Bucky added because his partner didn't know the title of the most popular musical in the world. That tracked. "Kate is in from LA with Lucky." Clint's weird shared dog situation. Because he needed a 33-year-old boyfriend and a 20-year-old girlfriend.
"Excited to see it then?" Lucas asked. He had wanted to see Hamilton, but he and Linda had never been able to afford tickets.
Clint took another sip from his beer and shrugged his shoulders. "It's not really my thing, but Buck and Katie are excited."
Lucas narrowed his eyes and looked at Bucky, who seemed content to curl up closer to Clint. "What's not your thing."
Clint looked at him oddly, as though he didn't understand the question, "music, you know?" He tapped his ear as if to indicate they were defective in some way that made him not enjoy music.
Lucas frowned. No. He could not say that he knew. Instead, he simply marked it down as yet another reason to dislike Clint.
*****
"Why do you like Clint?" He finally asked when Clint was out of earshot. Thirty minutes with the man was enough to make himself consider homicide as a legitimate option. And Bucky'd made him suffer through a ninety-minute dinner. "He's so..."
Bucky sighed. He didn't even bother to look over his shoulder to see if Clint was close enough to hear. "I think he's great." He slid his hand into his back pocket. "He makes me happy."
"He doesn't like music." Of all of Clint's faults - such as being a fucking assassin - not liking music had to be the worst.
"Why would he?" Bucky frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. His brows furrowed as though Lucas had said something asinine at best.
Everyone liked music to some degree. It was universal. People had been making music from the dawn of time, before instruments, or language. Everybody liked music. Except for Bucky's boyfriend. "You make music for a living."
Bucky shrugged. "Yeah. So?"
Lucas felt like he was going insane. How had his friend been so utterly charmed by the disaster that was Clint Barton? To the point where it didn't matter that he didn't appreciate what Bucky did as a career. "How can you be with someone who doesn't like music?"
"Buddy." Bucky looked back at Clint and smiled. "Clint is deaf." He waved at his boyfriend, preening when Clint waved back at him before turning his attention back to the bar.
And, in that moment, Lucas was an asshole.
*****
"Hey, man." Clint's appearance at the grocery store came as a complete shock. Clint seemed like the sort of guy who didn't take care of business like groceries. But there he was, standing in the cereal aisle, staring at his different options. He was right in front of the Frosted Flakes, Bucky's favorite. Lucas wanted to point it out to him but chose not to say anything about cereal.
"Oh, hey." He noticed the other man wasn't wearing his hearing aids, so he made sure to make eye contact. Bucky said that was the appropriate thing to do. The last thing he wanted was for Clint to report back to Bucky that Lucas had been a dick. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Katie-Kate didn't like the food I had to offer." Clint rolled his eyes, and Lucas had to force himself not to frown. Why was Kate at Clint's apartment? His understanding was that it was a one bedroom. She had no business being there. "Bucky forced me to come out and grab the cereal she likes."
Lucas looked down and noticed a box of Fruity Pebbles in Clint's basket. He couldn't understand the relationship between the pair of them. Bucky was weirdly comfortable with it, though.
"Forgot to charge my futzin' aids." He motioned towards his ears, "Sorry man."
"So, um," he looked at the cereal again before remembering that he needed to look at Clint so the other man could read his lips, "is Kate your," he paused trying to decide what he wanted to ask, "is she your daughter?"
"God no." Clint choked on his own spit. He ran a bandaged hand through his hair, and Lucas couldn't help but wonder what dangerous nonsense he had been doing to earn that injury. "She's my protege."
"In selling vacuums?"
"Yeah. It's a pretty cutthroat business." He reached out and grabbed a box of Frosted Flakes to drop in his basket. "Gotta be a real sharpshooter to be successful."
Lucas sighed and made the executive decision to give in. "You know, we all figured it out three years ago."
"I figured." He ran his hand through his hair again. This time Lucas noticed a hole in the armpit of Clint's shirt. "Not like I really hide it. I'm just sorta supposed to, y'know, tell people I'm a salesman."