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Steve Rogers adored his friends. They were funny, warm and loving. They only ever wanted the best for him, tried to make sure that he was happy and cared for and didn’t lose himself in his work. He tried to remember that as he walked through the doors of the bar – feeling like a lamb to the slaughter.
There was a poster on an easel, proudly declaring that tonight was a ‘Speed Dating Event’ hosted by a company called ‘Asset’.
“They’ve got a great reputation.” Pepper told him, as they walked through the gallery, her arm looped through his. She had a few new pieces in and she’d wanted his opinion on the style. Because Pepper had been the first person to take a risk on him, when he’d been a no-one in the art world, struggling and living on ramen, he always found time for her.
The new pieces were heavily inspired industrial monuments, that Steve wasn’t sure about personally, but he knew New York would love. He could easily see them standing in the foyers of the steel and glass buildings – and he told Pepper as much.
“I like the artist.” She told him, as they walked around the base of a man made of red and gold – bursting through the floor and building himself with the metal support beams. Very edgy. “He’s a total nightmare, arrogant, self-obsessed…” She gave Steve a small smile. “You’ve spoilt me for other artists, Steve.”
“But you like him?”
“I do.” She sighed. “God only knows why though. He’s got the worst reputation.” And then, “Natasha heard about this event, I thought you might like. Peggy agrees.”
And that had confirmed it. Peggy had been Steve’s first love, a big old fashioned affair. They’d been madly in love – he’d been a small, stammering teenager and she’d been bold and decisive and their relationship had been made up of those little moments that defined romance. Picnics, movies, sharing desert – sunset walks along the pier. They’d gone ‘steady’ for almost 10 years, all through high school and most of college, until it just didn’t seem to work anymore. Steve still loved her, she still loved him, but their actual relationship had fallen apart. Now she was happily married to a great guy who treated her like the queen she was and Steve… Steve dated.
Well… he didn’t exactly date a lot. But he’d had relationships since Peggy. There had been a brief moment where he thought that Natasha might be the one, but after a couple of months of a very volatile relationship, they decided to stay friends. In fact, Steve was friends with all of his ex’s. They were now friends with each other, which could have been disastrous under different circumstances, but mostly just ended up with Steve sitting at a table once a month with a handful of New York’s most beautiful women. He had been named one of the top 50 eligible bachelors though, so he figured it might have evened out.
He’d never have thought, back in high school when he’d been picked on and beat up for being small and weedy and too mouthy for his own good, that he’d be 28 years old holding all the cards in his hands. His growth spurt in his last year of high school came too late, but he’d certainly made the most of it – spent his four years at college either in his room studying or in the gym. It had been one of the things that cause arguments with Peggy, she was worried he’d push himself too far. Then when he’d dated Natasha he’d met Pepper, who’d launched his career. He’d dated Pepper for a whole week before they realised it was a bit weird.
“Speed Dating.” He replied, feeling his stomach sink. The women in his life were determined that he needed to get back out there. He’d been set up so many times that he felt like they must have run out of friends to throw at him. Natasha had even started playing “Have you met my buddy Steve?” at parties.
“It’s not that bad.” Pepper said, tugging on his arm to get his attention. “You remember Bruce? He met Jennifer through ‘Asset’ last year. They’re so happy, Steve. We just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“No, you’re healthy, and you’re rich and you’ve got friends all around you, but we know you’re lonely.”
“So, Steve, have you thought about what Pepper said?” Peggy asked, as she sipped her water. Natasha and Pepper had their wine glasses in their hands, watching him closely. At least Sharron wasn’t there, because then he’d have no chance. “About Asset?”
“I don’t know.” He told them, focusing on his beer. The restaurant was nice, busy but not too loud, and they had a wide range of IPA brews which he liked. He really just wanted to catch up and not deal with their constant match making. “I don’t think it’s for me.”
“I went to one.” Natasha announced, taking a sip of her wine, blood red to match her nails and her dress. This was met with interest from everyone at the table, including Steve. Natasha Romanov was a highly successful business woman who surely didn’t need help dating anyone. “Last month.”
“You didn’t mention that.” Pepper said, accusingly.
“Well, I didn’t want the look.”
“What look?”
“That look.” She said, nodding her head at Peggy. “The ‘why on earth do you need to use a dating programme’ look.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Anyway, I wanted to see what it was like.”
“And?” Both Peggy and Pepper said at the same time, the same impatient tone. Steve wondered (not for the first time) if he had a type.
“And what? It was good. I wouldn’t have mentioned it if it wasn’t something I thought would work for Steve.”
“Did you meet anyone?”
“I met lots of people.” She said, tossing her hair again. “I may have met a nice guy.”
“You should have invited him here.” Steve told her, and got a laugh for his trouble.
“Yeah, I’m not going to introduce a potential…whatever… to these two sharks,” She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Peggy and Pepper, “Or America’s darling,” A pointed look at Steve. “Until I’m sure it’s actually going somewhere. You’ll scare him off.”
“We would not!”
“Yes you would. You two are the worst, and I’m sure he’d feel intimidated by Steve.”
This was met by all three women giving him rather appraising looks, as he fought back a blush. Sometimes being friends with your ex’s seemed like the worst idea in the world. “Fair point.” Pepper shrugged. “What’s he like though? We need some info at least.”
“So you can google him?”
“So we can hear you talk about him.”
“Only if Steve promises to go to the event. Friday night. I’ll know if you don’t show up.”
Three sets of eyes turned on him. “I promise.”
“His name is Clint. He owns his own property company.”
“Name?” A smartly dressed woman asked as he hovered by the door, really not wanting to go inside.
“Steve Rogers.” He said, and was handed a little packet. He sat at the bar as he looked through it. A questionnaire, a name badge, some information about the company, a few testimonials.
He filled in the information required, and read the paperwork. It seemed that ‘Asset’ had been doing this for years, matchmaking and events. They even had a dating website where they handpicked people rather than relying on some computer algorithm, and invited all guests to the event to try it out using a 25% discount code if they didn’t meet their match on the night.
The questionnaire was pretty simple, name, age, gender. Steve hovered his pen over the ‘preferred match gender’ before ticking ‘both’. He’d never actually dated another guy, but he wasn’t against the idea. Once he’d done this, he handed his forms back to the woman at the door, who told him that the event would start in an hour, and they would call him for ‘orientation’ when ready.
Steve sat at the bar and looked around. He’d expected the room to be full of desperately lonely people, but it seemed that most of them were laughing and smiling, obviously professional adults. Natasha had done this; he reminded himself, met someone she actually seemed to like. He took a swig of his beer and tried to relax.
“Hey.” Someone said from his left, and when he turned…
The man was wearing a slate grey shirt which made his eyes look almost navy in the dim lighting; dark hair parted neatly – almost a mirror of the same style Steve had his in – old fashioned and (Steve thought) classic. He had a square jaw and… and… well, damn. Steve was just suddenly very happy that he put ‘both’ on his questionnaire. “Sorry, would you mind?” The dark haired man asked, pointing past Steve. On the bar was a bottle of water and a leather document holder. The man would have had to squeeze past Steve to get to it, or ask him to pass it over. Steve did, smiling at the guy.
“Steve,” He said, holding out his hand.
“Bucky.” The other man responded, easy and confident and – yeah, Steve had a type alright. His grip was just firm enough for Steve to respect the strength in his arm but not enough to crush the bones. So many people thought a firm handshake was some kind of dominance display that Steve found himself grinning wider.
“Busy night.” Steve commented, nodding his head toward the busy room.
Bucky grinned, his full mouth parting just enough to flash his white teeth a little. “Yeah, pretty happy with that.”
“More chances to meet the one, right?”
The look Bucky threw him was a little surprised. “Not a lot of guys these days are looking for that.” He pointed out. “It’s a bit old fashioned, don’t you think?”
“I’m an old fashioned guy.” Steve told him. “Although, you know, I’m quite over the whole polio and plague parts.”
Bucky laughed, warm and rich and very, very nice. Steve had never thought of himself as anything other than perhaps bi-curious, but Bucky’s laugh had him becoming more aware that yeah, he’d be up for that. In a big way. “Oh, don’t forget the internet.”
“Very helpful.” Steve grinned back. “So useful.”
Bucky snorted. “We’re just a pair of 90 year old men in 30 year old bodies.” He told Steve, who found himself scooting a little closer on his barstool, drawn to Bucky’s warmth of personality. “Kids these days, huh?”
“No respect.”
Time flew past. Steve and Bucky had another drink, talked some more – Steve aware of so many little things, the way Bucky rocked a little on the balls of his feet when he talked animatedly about a subject he felt passionate about or the shape his mouth made when he smiled, wide and wonderful.
They laughed over their first DMV photos, Bucky not believing that Steve had once been 95lbs of skin and bone – Steve finding the mental image of Bucky with his emo long dark hair and liberal amounts of eyeliner. “Hey!” He laughed. “Don’t knock it, I still rock the eyeliner look sometimes.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” Steve snorted, waving a hand at Bucky. “You’ve got that whole Goth thing going on.”
Because both of them were wearing neatly pressed slacks and button up shirts, this comment was (at least between them) pretty hilarious, and soon both of them were doubled over with laughter.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are here for the speed dating event, please can you follow me through to the function room?” The smartly dressed woman who had greeted him at the door said, and about half of the people at the bar got to their feet, looking slightly nervous but ready to face whatever was ahead. Steve too, got to his feet, only to notice that Bucky hadn’t moved. In fact, Bucky was looking at him with something like… horror?
“I take it you’re not…?” Steve said, waving a hand at the small crowd now leaving the bar through a side door that apparently led to the room the event would be hosted in.
“No.” Bucky replied, shaking his head. “No, I’m not.”
“Oh.” Steve said, feeling his face heat up. “My friends thought it would be a good idea, you know? Um, get me out there. Here. Something.”
Bucky nodded, his expression now neutral. “That’s great. Events like this are, um, that’s what they’re for, you know, meeting people.”
“Yeah.” Steve said, wondering if Natasha would kill him if he just blew off the whole thing to spend the night talking to Bucky. He was pretty sure they’d been flirting. Surely that was what they wanted, it wouldn’t really matter that he didn’t go in, if he’d already met someone he wanted to get to know better. “I don’t have to,” He said, sitting back down – but Bucky shook his head.
“No, no, it’s… you should. You should totally go.”
The night was… well… kind of successful? He certainly met someone he wanted to get to know a whole lot better, but unfortunately, he then had to sit through 3 hours of ‘romantic interviews’ that just felt terribly impersonal. The women he met were lovely, but he felt like he wasn’t giving them a good chance while his head was full of Bucky. He compared every smile to Bucky’s smile, every laugh to the warmth of Bucky’s – knowing he wasn’t being fair to the people he was being introduced to. And although he’d marked down that he’d be interested in both, he was only paired with women.
When the night was finally over, Steve said his goodbyes quickly and headed back through to the bar as quickly as he could. Bucky wasn’t there.
“Excuse me?” He asked the bartender, “The guy that was here earlier, dark hair? Did he leave a message or anything?”
“Sorry.” The barman said, shaking his head, and Steve quite firmly put the night in the ‘bust’ category.
“How did it go?” Natasha asked him, as Steve tried to focus on the plate of food in front of him. He’d been in the restaurant for a good hour before the women around him started throwing him expectant looks, which he counted as a personal best. Normally he would have been ambushed as soon as they sat down. He figured that was Pepper’s doing – she was always more aware of social niceties than Tash.
“I don’t think it was for me.” He told her, and hoped they would let the matter drop. He really should have known better.
“Why?”
“What happened?”
“Were they all catladies?”
“No, no,” He hurried. “They were all really nice.”
“Hmm.” Natasha said. She’d already told them all she was going to tell them about the mysterious ‘Clint’ she was dating. “Well, give it a few days. The guy that runs the company’ll call you personally with your matches.” She was obviously the expert, having already gone through the whole thing already. “Bucky something. Barnes.”
“Bucky?” Steve said, head snapping to attention before realising that all three women would most definitely have noticed that.
“Bucky.” Natasha said, giving him an odd look. “Dark hair, good looking. He should have been there, I think – he apparently goes to all the events.”
Steve just nodded, and looked back down at his plate, praying that the conversation would be over soon. He’d gone to a dating event and hit on the guy that ran it. Typical.
He was standing in his studio glaring at a canvas that just wasn’t right, when his phone rang. He never bothered checking who it was because people sometimes called him via Pepper and the gallery for commissioned pieces.
“Rogers.” He said, when the line connected.
“Hi, Steve? This is Bucky Barnes calling from Asset.” A warm, familiar voice said down the line. “I was wondering if you had time to talk about your matches from Friday?”
Steve wasn’t sure what he should say. He hadn’t picked any matches – he’d thought it was a little unfair to lead people on when he already had his eye on someone else. Someone else who thought he was the kind of guy who needed help meeting people. Who probably thought he was a total loser. “I um, I didn’t pick anyone?” He said, wanting to kick himself for how confused he sounded.
Bucky’s laugh was everything Steve remembered. “Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, if you had time.”
“Sure, I guess.” Steve managed. “What time do you want to come over?”
“Uh, sorry?”
“Did you mean by phone?” Steve hurried, this time actually kicking himself. What a fucking idiot. “I… sorry, I thought you meant like… shit, never mind.”
“I can come over if you’d prefer.” Bucky said after a few seconds. “Um, a face to face chat could… yeah, if you like? I assume you’re local?”
Steve’s apartment was pretty much the ideal space for him. Large but cosy – it had been expensive, but because Peggy was a high end realtor and dropped her commission off the cost of the place, not as much as it should have been. It was clean, thank god, because he’d been putting off starting his latest piece by thinking of other things he could be doing – like sorting out his sock drawer or cleaning his apartment from top to bottom.
He, however, was a mess. He certainly wasn’t going to answer the door to Bucky in his sweatpants and greasy hair – not for all the money in the world.
He had just finished trying to style his slightly damp hair into something neat when the buzzer went. The doorman confirmed that a Mr Barnes was in the foyer and would Mr Rogers like him to be sent up?
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
Bucky was wearing a navy blue woollen jacket that had a military style cut, his hair neatly swept to the side. He looked just as handsome as he had previously and Steve felt his mouth go a little dry as he stood there. “Found it okay?” He said, and then wanted to punch himself in the face because obviously he had, otherwise he wouldn’t be standing in Steve’s doorway.
“Yeah.” Bucky grinned, “I live a few blocks down, actually, it’s a nice area.”
“Oh,” Steve said, stepping back, “Come on in.” He thought it was a little strange that it had taken Bucky so long to show up – a good half an hour, if he lived so close. It wasn’t until the other man took of his jacket and Steve noticed the damp hairs on the back of his neck that he realised Bucky must have also had a shower before coming over. He wasn’t sure why, but the idea that he’d made an effort made Steve feel a little more relaxed about his freak out over what shirt to wear.
Bucky had brought a laptop and the same leather folder that he had with him on Friday and followed Steve over to the couch and the coffee table, where he set his things. “I kinda feel like we didn’t get around to introducing ourselves very well last time.” Bucky said, looking a little sheepish. “Bucky Barnes, I’m the owner of Asset, New York’s premier dating service.”
Steve found himself grinning. “Steve Rogers, Artist.”
“Obviously not the starving, struggling kind.” Bucky smiled, nodding at the room.
“No, I did my starving,” Steve laughed. “I think now I’m supposed to refer to myself as ‘up and coming’ or something.” He realised too late he was staring and blushed. “Can I get you a drink? A beer? Wine?”
“Beer’s fine.” Bucky said, and when Steve came back from the kitchen with two bottles of his favourite indie blend, Bucky had his laptop open and the folder on his knee. “Thanks,” He said taking a swig from the bottle Steve handed him. “So,” He said, leaning back and smiling at Steve, “You forgot to pick who you’d like to get to know better on your sheet, so I’m not sure the type of person you’re looking for.”
“I don’t think any of the people I met were really for me.” Steve said, lowering himself onto the couch, probably closer to Bucky that he really needed to be. “I didn’t want to lead anyone on.”
“Well, you were pretty popular on the night.” Bucky pointed out, “You were the top pick for everyone you spoke to.” He grinned suddenly. “So you’re obviously doing something right.”
“Well, you’re probably the expert,” Steve grinned, and Bucky laughed.
“Oh god, I wish. I’m pretty good at setting other people up, but when it comes to myself? Hopeless.”
“How did you get into matchmaking?” Steve asked. “Seems... I dunno – a little unusual?”
Bucky nodded, and put the folder on the table beside his laptop. “It just kind of happened? I was dating this girl, way back in high school, and I just kept thinking... she’d be better off with my buddy?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I had absolutely no idea how to tell her that though.”
“I’m sure that would have been a great conversation.” Steve joked, dryly.
“Oh, you have no idea.” Bucky laughed. “But you know, once I did it, she was like... yeah, maybe... and that was it. People started asking me about their crushes. I didn’t think of it as anything more than a hobby until I was at college and the whole ‘internet dating’ thing really took off.”
“What were you studying?” Steve asked, settling back into the couch, aware that his knee was very nearly touching Buckys and trying too hard not to be pleased that Bucky hadn’t moved away.
“Russian lit.” He kicked out at Steve who laughed. “Hey, don’t fuck with my life choices, okay?” He said grinning. “I ended up dropping out to work on Asset. Risky, but hell, I love it. What about you, did you spend 5 years wanting to be a doctor before you picked up a paintbrush?”
Steve laughed, and didn’t move from where Bucky’s knee was now pressed against his. “I’m afraid not. I studied art. Ended up working in an office for a little bit before I got my big break.”
Steve wasn’t sure how long they talked for, only that his beer bottle had been empty for some time and he sure as hell didn’t want to move from his stop on the couch, not when Bucky was pressed in close. He didn’t remember either of them actually moving, but like gravity they’d been pulled closer together. They’d started talking about their jobs, and dates, and terrible dates and good dates, and then Bucky told him about this guy who just proposed to a girl he met at an Asset event and they’d invited Bucky along to the wedding – his proposal was on youtube, and then they’d watched that, and then some more... and now they were watching Bridesmaids on Netflix and Steve didn’t want to move ever.
Which was of course, the moment that all the women in his life decided to walk into his apartment.
“Steve, we’ve brought Chinese and... oh.” Peggy said, coming to a stop just inside of the large open plan room. Pepper and Natasha, not expecting her to stop walking, crashed into her back, and all three of them simply blinked for a moment before Natasha said, “Hello, Bucky, you in the mood for some Kung Po?” Very smoothly.
Steve wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never exactly told his friends that he was interested in guys, although he may have admitted while drunk that he thought Robert Downey Jr was pretty hot, and he was practically snuggling on the couch with a guy. Bucky must have picked up that something was wrong, and sat up, pulling away slightly.
“I was just going to be heading off.” He said, and... no. Steve wasn’t having that. The girls were awesome, and they were his friends – they would love him no matter what.
“You hate Kung Po?” Steve said, reaching out and touching Bucky’s back lightly. “Dude, no one hates Kung Po.”
“There’s other stuff too.” Pepper said, holding up the bags. “Although I think Peggy’ll knife you if you touch the dumplings.”
Bucky paused, looking back at Steve with a raised eyebrow. “You okay with that?”
“Yeah.” Steve said, “You know, I think I am.”
“Told you.” Natasha said as they left the two men mooning at each other on the couch. “You both owe me 50 bucks.”
Pepper shook her head. “You met this guy once at a dating event. How could you know Steve would be into him?”
“I have powers. Secret powers. That and Steve totally has a type.” She grinned, holding out her hand. “Pay up.”
“Remind me never to play poker with you.” Peggy grinned, looking out to where both men were just... grinning at each other. “He looks happy.”
“Yeah.” Pepper said, with a sappy smile.
“Ladies?” Natasha grinned, hand still out. “Pay up.”