Christmas was indeed a family thing, Steve had said the first year of the Avengers’ creation. He was one of the few that didn’t have anyone to spend the holidays with. Peggy was with her own family and it was better for her to just… do it that way. That very first year, it had been weird and difficult to gather everyone in one place under the idea of a christmas together. Some had refused until the last moment, some had said “no” and came anyway. But at the end of it, they had been together and, surprisingly enough, it had been good. It was probably the beginning of the family dynamic between them, the first step along that line.
So, of course, this year was no different than the one before and they had spent it together. It had been as fun and crazy as it always was. The night hadn’t yet covered the sky yet everyone already had that kind of ache, deep down in the stomach, when there’s too much laughter and not enough time to recover from the last one. Gifts had been exchanged, of course, a great moment between soft thoughts wrapped in glittering paper and a few pranks and jokes hidden among them.
When it had been over, though, it was time for some of them to get away and spend time with other people. Natasha and Clint had left, not telling anyone where they were going and only answering questions by trading glances and smirks. Steve had been kidnapped by Sharon Carter the very next day, there were a few members of her family she insisted he had to meet.
Bruce had decided to go travelling, a few destinations he said needed help with all the sicknesses winter brought along with it. The phone call Bruce had made before that decision hadn’t ended well and it was his own way to have a good Christmas if he couldn’t spend it with the person he wanted. Thor and Jane had left two days later.
Just like Tony and Bucky had.
The chalet they’d chosen, up in the French Alpes, wasn’t as big as Bucky had thought it would be but it was just the right size for them. The temperature inside was just that slight bit too cold, not enough to bite but fresh enough to allow them to wear those stupid ugly christmas sweaters they had been given by their friends. It was a waste of good yarn, Tony would say, but he loved it. But as much as Tony and Bucky loved their sweaters, it wouldn’t stop them from bitching about it anytime they could.
Sitting at the table of the small dining room, near the open kitchen, they were sharing one of those special meals the french ate during winter. Or, more specifically, when they were up in the mountain.
Tony had suggested the “raclette” for the previous evening and Bucky had to agree on one point: it was a filling meal. Very much so. Between the potatoes covered in melted cheese and the various delicatessen, Bucky hadn’t know where to begin and had ended so full Tony almost had had to roll him to bed.
Tonight, though, it was Bucky’s turn to choose and he had had a good idea of what he wanted for his first choice. He had just the right cheese based dish in mind and one of those stories Tony was so fond of to go along with it. Nothing better than a good laugh as dessert.
The fondue was indeed delicious, and funny if you played along with the game of dropping a piece of bread in the melted cheese, but the funnier part of it was telling the story.
From the very first sentences, Tony had been lost to the world, laughing and clutching his belly as Bucky narrated how Steve kept using the word as an analogy for sex. The number of time Jacques Dernier had been completely confused as to why Steve was using such a word - a fucking cheese dish ! - in the middle of a small chat about girls was stupidly high. Or that time Steve put his foot in his mouth and tried to invite a pretty dame for a dance and maybe some more. Like fondue. And ended up lost when she told him she “wasn’t interested in cheese, thank you very much”.
Bucky was gesturing wildly, the number of stories that had happened because of that simple misunderstanding was astonishing. It had taken on such proportions it was stupidly insane. Everyone had had to face Steve and his use of the fondue word and the total lack of sense it had with the conversion they were having at least once.
“Until Jaquie just… couldn’t hold it anymore and casted a kitten. You should have heard him, I swear it was like hearing one of his bombs going off. He just exploded and all Steve could do was explain himself. Or at least, he valiantly tried to..”
At this point, Tony had given up on trying to breath, tears clinging to his lashes.
“Now, let me tell ya, no matter the level of awkward you’re picturing him in when he realized he had been in the wrong and the number of times he used it, you’re not even near it. It was of epic proportions.”
Bucky giggled as he dipped another piece of bread in the melted cheese. That, among many others, was one of his favorite memories. One he had been shocked to rediscover. The sheer amount of fondness and overall happiness had stunned him. At the time, he was cleaning his room, despite Tony telling him repeatedly he didn’t have to, and Bucky had just frozen where he stood, going through the pieces as they were coming together.
The details had taken full minutes to arrange themselves but Bucky went through them patiently, waiting until he could enjoy the small things. Like the corner of Jaquie’s mouth twitching upward ever so slightly as Steve stumbled over his words, face red and fidgeting helplessly with his hands.
The loud laughter of Dum-Dum, so loud it was astonishing Bucky had forgotten it. Falsworth laughing in the background and Morita with that smile that made his eyes crinkle and Bucky had just dumped everything to sit and bask in the memory and the feelings that were washing over him, soft and warm like a blanket long forgotten and found again.
Sharing this memory with Tony was just the cherry on top.
Bucky smiled softly, watching his love wipe tears of laughter from his face, cheeks flushed and a grin stretching his lips. Tony’s eyes had the most beautiful gleam to them when he was laughing or smiling as he was currently. Their warm brown became warmer and bright like whiskey swirling in the light, showing brightly Tony’s happiness. It was a rare sight, though, something Bucky had learnt to cherish and love, discovering with great pleasure that he was on the receiving end of it more often than not.
“You’re staring, you sap,” Tony said with a small smirk, looking at Bucky from under his lashes. “Like what you see?”
Bucky snorted, letting his fork rest against the edge of the cooking pot: “Very much so,” he answered with a cheeky grin.
Later, as Tony was bringing the plates and utensils back to the kitchen to drop them in the sink, Bucky came up behind him. He circled the genius’ waist with his arms and plastered his front against Tony’s back. Bucky kissed the warm flesh of Tony’s throat, nosing behind his ears before resting his cheek against the soft brown curls with a soft, contented sigh.
“What do you think about a calm evening in front of the fireplace?” he offered quietly.
“Aw, I had in mind heavy making out and wild sex for tonight,” Tony pouted.
Bucky hid his smile against Tony’s cheek. “We did that yesterday. Before, during and after the plane ride,” he added, playful.
“True that,” Tony conceded with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Ok, let’s do it your boring way,” he agreed, turning in Bucky’s embrace to peck him on the lips. “But you owe me.”
Bucky chuckled and kissed Tony’s nose, unable to help the smile that was curling his lips, “Roger that. Now go settle down on the carpet, I’ll join you in a minute.”
“Bring the blanket with you,” Tony said, nipping at Bucky’s bottom lip before slipping out of Bucky’s arms and sashaying out of the room.
“Yup, still won the lottery,” Bucky muttered, eyes glued to Tony’s backside and marveling at that perfect round ass.
Only his finer hearing allowed Bucky to hear the slight snort Tony gave at the comment and he smiled. There was nothing Bucky loved more than complimenting his boyfriend and hearing him reacting to it. Not so long ago, only silence would have answered that kind of comment. In contrast to the whirlwind of self doubt and worried thoughts it would have roused in Tony’s mind.
With a quiet huff, Bucky turned heels and went to their bedroom. Since their arrival at the chalet, they hadn’t had a calm time to just enjoy each other. While it was a good thing, Bucky also wanted to use that time away from the rest of the team to just… be. Sure, they could have as much alone time as needed back at the tower but Tony wouldn’t be as calm and relaxed as he was here. There always was something on his mind, to do, to be done or to ponder about.
Here, Tony was free of the workshop and he had done it willingly. In a few days, it would drive him mad to be left without something to think about, to create or improve, but by then they would be back at the tower and Tony could scratch that itch as much as needed. It wasn’t their first trip together and Bucky had learnt his lesson from his previous attempts.
Back in the bedroom, Bucky searched and found the warm blanket Tony loved wrapping himself in and threw it at the foot of the bed. He then looked for the book he had brought with him for the trip. It was a new acquisition, something Bucky had wanted to try for a long time now. Once he found it, he zipped it in a plastic bag and threw it on top of the blanket.
Taking off his clothes took more time than Bucky would have liked but he placed them carefully on the chair next to the bed, trying to calm down his nerves. It would only make it worse.
He pulled in a deep breath, held it a handful of seconds and let it go along with the shift. It was a sensation between itching and tickling, running down his skin like drops of fresh water. It was freeing, like a sprint in the middle of nowhere and the lands spreading as far as the eye can see. It was the kind of pleasure Bucky had had to rediscover after HYDRA. It wasn’t a necessity anymore, no orders could force him into the change. He was free and the sensations he was getting from the shift were his again.
The shifting went easily, his metal arm going along smoothly, the machinery working perfectly now that Tony had gotten his hands on it. Muscles shifted along cracking bones as his body reshaped itself. Bucky bent forward, hands reaching for the floor as his fingers shrinked on themselves and fattened, his thumbs going higher on his wrist as his shoulder blades and hips changed, the articulations cracking as it popped out and back in place.
It was mostly silent and faster than it felt. From one second to the other, Bucky was sneezing, the tingling of the shifting tickling his snout. He rubbed it with the inside of his paw and shook off the remains of the tingle. Bucky carefully took the blanket and the book wrapped in plastic in his maw and headed for the main room.
He found Tony sitting on the thick carpet laying in front of the fireplace. He had wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin on top of them, staring at the blazing fire. The flames were throwing amazing shades of lights and shadows on Tony’s face, making his eyes stand out. They were glowing bright like melted gold.
When Tony turned toward Bucky, there was a slight upturn to his lips as he took in Bucky’s shape.
“I see. Calm evening means shifting evening?” Tony said.
Bucky made a low whine and came closer, letting the genius tug the blanket out of his maw. It made the book fall but Tony wrapped himself tightly in the quilt before paying it any attention. He was shivering ever so slightly, cheeks dusted with pink from the flames.
Without jostling Tony too much, Bucky curled himself around him, plastering his right flank against Tony’s back to help warm him up. Being a coyote, Bucky shouldn’t have been able to be of much help, let alone able to wrap himself around Tony like he was. But the bastardized version of the serum Bucky had been given had the same result on him that it had had on Steve. From a regular coyote, Bucky had doubled in size and the upgrades his human form had gained, were also in this one.
Which had made him a very effective killer under HYDRA’s grasp.
“Thank you,” the genius whispered, referring to the warmth Bucky was offering him. He unzipped the book, taking in the cover. “‘The Name of the Wind, the Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One’. You want me to read it?”
Bucky whined again, nosing against the cover before laying his head down on Tony’s lap, looking up at the genius expectantly.
“Aloud?” Tony chortled, a fond smile playing on his lips. “Ok. Let’s see.” Tony settled more comfortably against Bucky’s flank and went through the first page, glancing Bucky’s way before heading straight to the first chapter. “A Silence of Three Parts,” he started, stating the chapter’s title. “It was night again. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.”
Tony’s voice was calm and precise, reading easily and with a rhythm to it Bucky could fall for without having to try.
And Tony went on, telling the tale with the ease of a storyteller and Bucky drifted to the words like dust in the wind.
***
Waking up in a tangle of limbs in the middle of the oversized bed they had crawled into had been one of those wonderful moment Bucky had learned to enjoy.
He hadn’t shifted back to his human form but it had never kept Tony from making his best impression of an octopus. Sometimes it made Bucky wonder what was Tony’s actual animal form but it was a question and a mystery for another time. One Tony would choose on his own and at his own pace.
His lips curling in a canine smile, Bucky wriggled until he could stick his cold nose under Tony’s left ear, sniffing along the tender column of his throat. The skin under his snout was warm and soft, smelling of the night and rumpled sheets. The motion and the cold quickly drew goosebump along its wake and Bucky had to keep himself from laughing as Tony started moving in his sleep.
The arm snaked around Bucky’s neck moved, tightening its hold before loosening.
“Your’n ungra’ful ass,” Tony mumbled, pushing away the cold nose and glaring at Bucky from half opened eyes.
Bucky wagged his tail and rested his head on his front paws. Tony huffed, not fooled, and yawned into his pillow, his jaw popping loudly in the silence surrounding them.
Unlike at the tower, there wasn’t much sound disturbing their days. Aside from the birds, the wind and the usual noises of the nature. It was a lot, but not as much or as annoying as the city could be sometimes.
Despite Bucky’s best hopes, Tony settled deeper into the covers and nosed his pillow, ready to go back to sleep. That won’t do, Bucky decided with a slight frown.
The coyote shifter let out a loud bark, startling Tony into a sitting position, hair ruffled and eyes wide.
Tony glowered at Bucky, squinting angrily as the coyote shifter jumped on all four, flailing his paws in the rumpled blanket, messing it further until Tony was barely covered by it anymore. Holding his tail high, Bucky bowed until almost all of his body was close to the mattress… and dove right into Tony, startling a yelp out of the genius, before spinning out of reach and down the bed, sprinting to the bedroom’s door. Bucky turned around, whining excitingly, tail high and ears straight forward.
Excitement and impatience were a warm, sizzling feeling deep in his chest.
Tony frowned at him, still sitting on the bed, and wrinkled his nose as he gathered the covers back to him. Just then, as he was about to cover himself again, understanding dawned on his face and he threw a glance toward the window.
Outside, the storm had left the land covered in a white, gleaming blanket. The trees were a vivid green sprinkled by bright white. The sky, a clear blue barely disturbed by fluffy white clouds.
Now with the right context, the genius understood and his face lit up. He smiled begrudgingly Bucky’s way, barely managing to hide and cover his own excitement behind false irritation.
“You can go first,” he said, voice rough from sleep, “I’ll suit up and join you in a minute. You can warm up the snow for me.”
Bucky pranced, claws clicking on the wooden floor, he was so impatient to get his ass outside. On the other hand, there was nothing better than sleepy Tony, all softness and warmth.
Making his decision with a whining woow, Bucky dived in, brushing his cold wet nose under Tony’s jaw and pressing his maw against the warm skin before bolting through the bedroom’s door. He skidded on the wooden floor, barely sparing a second to feel sorry for the claw marks he would leave on it, and sprang outside howling happily.
He jumped over the stairs leading to the chalet’s entry and sank shoulders deep into the snow, his snout barely reaching the surface. Tony’s laugh, as he was surely watching through the window, reached him and made Bucky growl in frustration. Tony was a jerk.
The warm sound of the genius’ laugh followed him as Bucky dug happily into the snow, fighting with it until he could reach sturdier ground, where the snow wouldn’t let him sink again.
Sprinting toward the cover of the trees, Bucky slalomed between the trunks, enjoying the way his claws dug into the snow as he changed direction abruptly, the play of his muscles as he ran faster. He slowed down when the scent of a rabbit, not so far away, hit his nose. Maybe Tony would let himself be convinced to join him in a hunt? While Tony was still very secretive over his shifter’s status, it was easy to persuade him into a small hunt or some games.
It was funny to wrestle with human Tony, as much as it would be with animal Tony, Bucky was sure of it. Tony made the best yelps and gave as much as he got, not one to back down from a fight. He wasn’t shy and would jump on Bucky without hesitation despite Bucky’s significant bulk.
Following the rabbit’s trail until the smell was warm and new, Bucky turned around and jogged back to the chalet. Surely Tony would be ready soon. The genius needed his coffee first, certainly, but Bucky had been gone long enough. Probably. It was hard, sometimes, to be conscious of the time passing by when he was in this form. The coyote couldn’t care less about time.
As he trotted near the chalet, Bucky could hear Tony struggling slightly with the door’s latch until it opened, the hinges protesting discreetly. Bucky emerged from the cover of the trees at the same time Tony stepped out of the shadowed entrance.
There were no fluffy hair, no thick, fat clothes to protect Tony from the bitter cold. No gloves, no hat, no loud boots to step easily on the snow.
In their stead was thick smoke colored fur, dotted by black marks all over the body. The eyes now staring back at Bucky were a light grey, silvery and bright. The tail swaying lazily was long, longer than Bucky would have expected. The muscles rolling under the thick fur were strong and lithe, the paws large. Enough that, where Bucky had fallen straight into the snow, Tony was standing easily on it. Beautiful and amazing.
A snow leopard. Tony was a snow leopard.
Bucky had to lie down, the shock weakening his legs. The wet cold of the snow soaked his underbelly as he panted loudly, overwhelmed. Tony was stunningly beautiful and surprising. Bucky had expected some kind of predator, with the way Tony couldn’t help but give himself away with some of his first instincts. Never had Bucky expected something like this, though.
Tony was standing there, still and waiting Bucky’s reaction, staring at him eerily. With a loud yelp, Bucky covered the distance separating them in a few leaps, disappearing momentarily under the snow and reappearing next to Tony. He bit upward, barely scratching Tony’s cheek. It was all Tony needed.
Before Bucky could retreat out of reach, the leopard sprang into action, jumping on him with widely spread paws, claws sheathed, and caught the coyote around the neck. They barreled into the snow, the feline silent and deadly while Bucky yelped and growled as they played. The white powder sprayed around their false fight, dusting their fur and getting on their tongues as they bit, pinched and rolled around.
They would make easy work of the rabbit, later. How would leopard Tony be on a hunt, Bucky wondered. While human, Tony could understand Bucky’s body language better than anyone, now Bucky had to learn Tony’s in this new form.
So much more to learn, he marveled with a quick yelp as Tony’s fangs grazed his flank and he felt the bulk of the feline slam into him, sending them tumbling back into the snow.
They would have a good day, he knew, hunting and playing together. Then, once back at home and in their human skin, they would make hot cocoa, probably after sharing a hot, warm shower. Maybe watch a movie or two, curl up together on the couch, wrapped in the thick quilt Tony loved.
They would not talk about it, there was nothing to talk about after all. Trust had been shown and Bucky would take it as it was.
A gift.