Tony loved a lot of things.
He knew he loved smart things, whether it be tech or human, he loved metal and he loved dark brown hair and witty snark. He loved when people didn’t bow before him, when they didn’t want him for his fame, for his money but managed to stand up against him. Like their newest newcomer, marksman extraordinaire (sorry, not sorry Clint), the one and only Winter Soldier. Bucky Barnes. James. Plum Pudding. Whatever Tony wanted to call him.
Not that he would say a word. God.
The man had enough problems, enough garbage to carry and sort through, he didn’t need Tony on top of everything else.
Tony wanted to wait, wanted to give him time.
Just that Tony was really bad at waiting.
He already waited a few months until he started to slowly creep into James life. Little things here and there. A new arm (with some hidden vibration modes James didn’t need to know of but would maybe come in handy), a motorcycle here, a new weapon there. A new armour. Yeah maybe he overdid it a bit but it wasn’t as if he would gift James a giant Bunny in the entrance hall. (JARVIS was against a giant Bucky Bear in the entrance hall and somehow he reminded Tony of Pepper’s reaction. Rude. So no giant plushie. People really didn’t know what was good these days.)
James was slowly warming up to Tony which was great and made him happy, not exactly what he wanted but making James happy was enough for now. Small smiles. A little banter over the morning coffee. James even being rude enough to steal the first cup for himself. Tony always tried to steal it back and everytime he succeeded he gained a sip of some abomination, sweet and almost blond coffee, the winning smirk of James and somehow it was nice.
He still didn’t seem to succeed.
James was nice and he managed to interact with Tony, also managed to interact with the rest of them. He was sparring with Natasha, shooting with Clint. Going to dinner with Steve, making jokes with Bruce. He came less and less to Tony and it made his heart ache. The rest of the team seemed to have caught onto his stupid crush but none of them teased him about it. Well not too much and he tried to ignore it.
Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to get to James. It wasn’t the first time he wouldn’t get what he desired and it wouldn’t be the last.
He would get over the heartbreak. Somehow.
“Pretty sure you can’t walk in heels.”
Tony laughed and threw popcorn in the vague direction of Clint, hitting Steve who just stood in the way two meters next to him. Pity. He ignored the scolding look and shook his head.
“Hey, J. Come on, show us the movie. You know which one I mean.”
Tony giggled in delight when he saw himself on the screen, younger years. Young and stupid but a hell of a view. He had been drinking with Rhodes and somehow they had bet that Tony couldn’t rock some panties and high heels. Of course he had notched it a bit up with some garters and even a nice bra. He smiled when he thought back to those years, some of them he didn’t even remember much. Tony laughed outright when Clint started whistling and Nat told him to stay the fuck away from her clothes, else he would never be able to wear the panties and sit down on the toilet. Ouch. Not nice. He still grinned because he knew it was a joke. Maybe. One couldn’t know with Tasha. He smiled and joked with the rest when he suddenly heard a strangled noise. A choked sound. Alarmed he turned only to find James standing in the doorway, staring unmoving at the screen. Tony licked his lips nervously, feeling his stomach drop.
Cap was okay with it, even encouraged him with his damn nice old man smile. But James. Maybe he detested things like that and Tony ruined every little chance to get to know him better than just friends.
“Ouh…. you okay there Barnes?”
He really didn’t want to break James and the man looked just like that. His pupils blown and his mouth slightly open. His gaze didn’t tear away from the screen. Bucky outright ignored Tony’s question, licked over his lips.
“You still have them?”
Tony blinked. That wasn’t exactly what he thought James would ask him but he didn’t need to think long. The damage was already done.
“Uh. The shoes or the dress up? Of course I still have them, they are nice and I… hey! What the hell.”
One moment he was sitting on the armrest of the couch and the other moment the world was suddenly upside down and he could get a nice view onto some ass he really liked and hadn’t looked at this closely in ever. He wasn’t beaten nor yelled at, James didn’t even talk much and if Tony was right… what he had seen before he had been thrown over a muscular shoulder wasn’t a gun in the man’s trousers.
He winked back at the rest of the team, heard them cheering for them, those traitors and smiled when his brain caught up what was happening.
“You know I have them now in red and gold if you wanna see. And I hope that’s no gun there in your pants. Well… wouldn’t mind you shooting.”
Damn his mouth but it was worth it when he felt James's grip on his ass, clearly he would leave bruises if he grabbed any harder. He yelped when there was a sharp but delicious pain in his right cheek, hearing a grin in Jame’s voice.
“One way to find out.”
Yeah, one way to find out.
If Tony had known this before, he would have worn them months ago at the breakfast table. Hell, he even had some string tangas lying around. But not for now, he felt himself be thrown onto his bed and finally felt slightly rough lips on his own.
Tony really loved his life.