The boys would like to maintain that “actions speak louder than words” and they can’t really remember who said what.
Because Steve knew how much Bucky loved him when he said, “I’m with you ‘till the end of the line” at that absolute worst moment in his life with his Ma dead and gone and Steve knowing he had absolutely nothing left…. except for Bucky.
Because Bucky knows how much Steve loves him when he nags at him to “eat up, you jerk – I didn’t spend all day slaving away at this kitchen trying to get my Ma’s recipe right just for you to turn your nose up.”
See: “You’re a punk.” / “You’re a jerk.”
Also the fact that chicken soup with matzoh balls is Jewish penicillin and Bucky mastered his Ma’s recipe for it so that he could pull Steve back from one more debilitating illness, one more time.
And that on one truly cold winter dawn, Bucky pressed his lips against a feverish Steve’s forehead and whispered, I love you, Steven Grant Rogers. Don’t you leave me. Don’t you go anywhere, do you hear me?
And Steve remembers opening his eyes and whispering back, No. Not without you.
Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background
“Buck is that a picture of…. my ass?!”
“Well, your ass looked delicious in those jeans. I needed to have something pretty to look at.”
“…”
“Don’t worry, baby doll. The nekkid version is my wallpaper.”
“JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES!”
(Steve tends to change his phone screensaver and background fairly frequently and of course, they’re all pictures of Bucky.)
Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror
Look, y’all would think Steven Grant Rogers would be the kind of little shit who’d leave intricate artwork in fog on the bathroom mirror and he could totally do that.
Totally.
Except he basically just leaves little love notes so that Bucky will see them first thing in the morning and most of the time, these are all the endearments Steve would normally not speak out loud.
Bucky blushes every time he sees them.
Who buys the other cheesy gifts
Look, Steve totally doesn’t still have that Cracker Jack ring toy that a six year old Bucky used to propose to him, even though they didn’t know that boys couldn’t marry each other at that point in time.
He doesn’t.
He totally doesn’t have it threaded through his dog tags, along with Bucky’s Ma’s wedding ring and it wasn’t with him when he froze in the Arctic and it’s still not around his neck to this very day.
Also, Steve has never forgotten the beatdown he delivered to Big Mike, who tore up the baseball card Bucky gave him on his birthday, when they were about nine years old. It didn’t matter that Big Mike had a foot over Steve – Steve whaled on him with a garbage can lid and kicked him in the ass for good measure. Bucky had to pull him off.
Who initiated the first kiss
Once upon a time, a little shit named Steve Rogers had an objection to make when Bucky Barnes nervously gave him a peck on the cheek after confessing that he’d loved him this entire time – prior to Bucky running off for Basic training.
“On the cheek? All this and I get a kiss on the cheek? What’s the matter with your aim, James Buchanan? My lips are right here!”
Bucky’s not an expert marksman for nothing. He got it right on the second try.
Also – Steve may have glommed on him like an octopus, in the privacy of their apartment, once Bucky presented himself in his brand new uniform. Kisses were definitely exchanged then.
Who kisses the other awake in the morning
Somebody in this relationship is a grumpy jerk in the mornings, who will burrow himself in his blankets and will not stir, not unless he gets a snuggle and a kiss. Actually, several kisses.
The person delivering kisses would be Steve.
Who starts tickle fights
Bucky knows all of Steve’s weak spots and has been known to pounce on him – bitty or big – especially if Steve’s about to come up with one of his “cockamamie plans – I swear to God, Rogers – I will make sure you hit your hundredth birthday even if it kills me.”
(Bucky no longer really makes that joke considering Certain Events, but the sentiment is still there. Also, he loves the noises he gets out of Steve when tickling is commenced.)
Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower
“Five minutes, Buck – can you keep your hands off my ass for five fucking minutes? I’m in the shower!”
“We have been separated for seventy years – let me savor the moment, punk.”
“Mmmm…. didn’t you already do a lot of savoring this morning – mmmph!”
Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch
“STEVEN GRANT ROGERS, YOU WILL PUT THOSE REPORTS AWAY, SIT DOWN AND YOU WILL EAT MY MA’S POTATO KUGEL OR SO HELP ME –”
Who was nervous and shy on the first date
Little Sophie B, Knight is the sole witness to her great-uncle being a nervous wreck on the day of his first date with Steve. Between her and favorite “cousin” Peggy Jones, they managed to wrangle “Uncle Bucky” into an outfit that would pass “Aunty Nat’s” exacting standards and make him look smart and handsome and not “just having crawled out of a dumpster.”
It was Sophie who suggested that “Uncle Bucky” take “Uncle Punk” to Coney Island on their first official 21st Century Date.
Who kills/takes out the spiders
Steve totally wasn’t the one who screamed when surprised by a “giant fucking hairy spider – don’t you laugh, Buck, what is that, some kind of escaped science experiment? GET IT OUT!”
(Bucky maintains it was just a teeny tiny little guy, minding his own business and actually trying to eat mosquitoes. “For fuck’s sake, Steve.”)
Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk
“Stevie! She’sh mah best girl. Sunshine hair and eyes like the blue blue sky. Coulda get lost in those eyes. Jus’ like an ocean. Ass you can sink your teeth in. My baby gives me the sweetest shugar in alla Brooklyn. My Stevie! That’s my baby-doll!”
“Man, Sarge has it bad for that girl of his. Wish I could have me a dame like his Stevie….”
Aw Yiss 