and to all a good night

[semi_stable]

It's been a very long time since Bucky actually celebrated Christmas. It was a big deal growing up, even if his parents didn't always have money for gifts. His mom always at least made them something, like a hand-knitted sweater for him or dresses for his sisters, and his dad always made sure to bring home a hearty meal, even in the toughest of times. It wasn't about the gifts, anyway. Bucky just loved the spirit of it all growing up, the giving and togetherness. He loved the way the lights looked twinkling against the snow, and having snowball fights with friends in the park.

And then came war, where Christmas meant extra whiskey and rations and little else. Then came everything after, where there was no Christmas at all.

Last year, his first Christmas in Darrow, his first in relative peace in almost eighty years, he didn't feel much in the spirit. He bought Bopp some new toys and got Chinese takeout for himself, but the holiday passed with little fanfare.

This year, though. This year is different. He feels himself getting into the spirit, and maybe it's because he has friends and a home. More than that, thanks to Loki and Sylvie, he has family again.

It starts on impulse, with him buying a tree when he passes a cheerful little lot in the city, and then realizing that he needs lights and ornaments for the tree. That leads him to him buying icicle lights to put up across the front of his house, Christmas collars for Bopp and Alpine, and some high quality hot cocoa mix.

He cuts himself off after that, and puts on some classic Christmas songs while decorating his little tree. It makes him happy, along with wistful and nostalgic and so homesick it makes him ache, but he enjoys himself. All he's missing now is his new found family, so he sends a text to the group chat he created with Sylvie and Loki.

Want to spend Christmas Eve at my place?

It takes some doing, but he manages to get Bopp and Alpine together and still in the same photo, sitting in front of the crackling fireplace and decked out in their sparkly collars, and sends that as well. They'll probably find it adorable and ridiculous in somewhat equal measure, and the thought makes Bucky smile.

Comments

[thewrongpath]

"Oh, did you hear that?" Loki said to Sylvie, looking playfully scandalized, "Was that a judgement of your character?"

With a smirk, he said, "Leave it to humanity to tie strings to their gift giving ceremonies."

[the_variant]

"Politest judgement of my character I've ever heard," Sylvie answers, nudging Loki's thigh with her toes. "I'm not shocked, he's such a gentleman, after all."

Her gaze shifts to Bucky and she puts her hand on top of his, the one he has on top of Loki's. The hands they have sliding up her thigh.

"Funny, considering I've been on the best behaviour of my life since I got here," she adds. "Or does the best of bad not count for the man in the red suit?"

[semi_stable]

"Well, I think you've been very good," Bucky replies as he stretches the arm holding his mug along the back of the sofa. His other hand is buried under theirs, warm against Sylvie's inner thigh, and he slides it up between her legs, over her hip and under her shirt to touch the soft skin of her stomach. Loki has to lean forward to follow the movement, putting his face near Bucky's, and he smiles as he leans in to bite playfully at his jaw. "Both of you."

He kisses the spot he bit and slides their joined hands back down until he can pluck open the button of Sylvie's jeans and slowly pull down the zipper. "And I'm almost certain that I give better gifts than Santa, anyway."

[thewrongpath]

"He talks big, doesn't he?" Loki murmured, smiling against Bucky's jaw as he leaned in to follow the path of his hand, their fingers laced together over the softness of Sylvie's stomach.

Pulling back momentarily, he took one last sip from his mug then, with a flick of his wrist, it seemed to disappear and reappear safely on the coffee table.

"But now I know he's lying. I've never been accused of being good in my life."

[the_variant]

"Nor I," she agrees. "Clearly he's full of shit."

These words, ones that could be harsh, especially coming from her, are almost fond as Sylvie tilts her head a little to watch them better. Their hands are warm on her skin and she lifts her hips a little, encouraging them both.

"Does Santa not arrival with blowjobs and orgasms for the parents?" she asks, at this point entirely giving Bucky a hard time for the sheer joy of it. "Only obnoxious toys for the children? That hardly seems like a tradition worth keeping."

[semi_stable]

"Have you considered that maybe Santa and I have wildly different definitions of good?" Bucky asks, smiling because this is a ridiculous conversation, and they're both basically making fun of him, but he's happy. "Besides, I give better head than him, for sure."

Sylvie's hips rock up a little, but Bucky is content to take his time, sliding his palm slowly along Sylvie's hip, then across her stomach just above the line of her underwear to the other side, fingertips gliding along the curve of her rib and then higher, just under her bra. Loki's hand stays on his the whole time, fingers slotted together as they travel slowly across her soft skin. Bucky takes a sip from his cocoa and then turns his head to look at Loki, holding his mug out with a coy, questioning pout.

"Can you free up my other hand?" He asks with a laugh, leaning toward him in search of a kiss as he leads their hands up under Sylvie's shirt to rest between her breasts, thumb stroking softly along the edge of one of the cups of her bra.

[thewrongpath]

"Certainly," Loki murmured, smirking as he took Bucky's mug, which reappeared on the coffee table in the same manner as his own. Their hands venturing under Sylvie's sweater, Loki curved his palm, warmed from the mug, against the back of Bucky's neck and pulled him into a kiss. A kiss for the two of them, but for her as well, knowing she was watching them both intently.

His thumb brushed over her nipple through the simple cotton of her bra just as his tongue slipped between Bucky's parted lips, one act in counterpoint to the other, as if the three of them made a flowing circuit.

[the_variant]

They're beautiful together. Even if she weren't part of this, she would think so, although some part of her would be broken, left on the outside. It occurs to her often how dangerous this is, the way she's allowed them to get inside, get under her skin, into her heart, beyond her defenses.

Truly, she'd been doomed long before Darrow, stomping around in those first weeks, furious with Loki for not being here and furious with herself for wanting him. There likely wasn't ever a point in trying to resist any of this.

It was dangerous to give in, but she's glad she did.

Her hand comes up to cover theirs beneath her shirt, her own mug disappearing and reappearing on the table as well as she arches into Loki's touch against her nipple. The fingers of her other hand sneak up toward the back of Bucky's neck as well where she meets Loki's fingers, threads her own through his.

"If this is my gift, it's very pretty," she murmurs, smirking slightly, her head tipped against the couch cushion.

[semi_stable]

This isn’t why Bucky invited them over tonight. He’s feelings for both of them go so far beyond the physical and he just wanted them here with him on this night that used to feel so special, but he can’t deny how good it feels to be touched by them, both of them at once, whether it be fervent and rough, or like this— soft and tender, for now.

He spent decades only getting touched when it was meant to hurt, incapacitate, or subdue, and now he gets to have this, them, making him feel good, wanted and warm and safe, which is something he wasn’t sure that he’d ever feel again.

They would both raze the earth to protect him, and while he’d would say that he doesn’t need protecting, it means the world to him to know that they’d do it anyway.

Loki kisses him in a way that’s sweet and full of promise, and at the same time almost lewd, because Sylvie is watching and Loki is nothing if not a good showman. Bucky likes that she’s watching, and heat sparks low in his belly even as his cheeks flush slightly. Sylvie’s hand threads with Loki’s at the back of his neck and Bucky lets out a pleased sound against Loki’s mouth, happy to be between them, happy to let them do anything at all.

Bucky only pulls away from the kiss when he needs to breathe, lips red and eyes dark as he looks at Loki and then over at Sylvie. He smiles at the comment and then leans over to kiss her on the mouth, licking between her lips as he drags her shirt up and tugs down one of the cups of her bra until her breast spills out of it. He looks at Sylvie, then kisses her chin, then her neck, working his way down until he kisses her nipple, then Loki’s fingertips, licking at the pad of his thumb before pulling Sylvie’s nipple into his mouth to suck lazily at it, bottom teeth catching on the tight bud.

With Loki’s hand framing her tit, it’s almost like he’s feeding it to Bucky, and that makes him shiver with pleasure, lashes fluttering as he sucks harder.

[thewrongpath]

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Loki murmured absently, his mouth going dry as he watched the pink of Bucky's tongue circling Sylvie's nipple, his own fingers curved around the swell of her breast. His other, he worked beneath her to flick open the clasp of her bra, then he was reaching for the hem of Bucky's sweater, rucking the soft fabric up the other man's torso.

For the moment, he was happy to sit back and watch them, a deep, startling affection nearly overwhelming his growing lust. It was absurd, feeling such things for anyone, let alone these two. A goddess, who happened to be a version of himself, and a super soldier who'd once fought alongside his enemies.

And yet, here he was.

[the_variant]

“Don’t think for a second the two of you can distract me from presents with sex,” Sylvie says, a blatant lie evident in the breathlessness of her voice as Loki unhooks her bra. As ever, her underwear is simple, practical, black cotton, but somehow when she’s with them, even the simplest things make her feel utterly beautiful.

Her back arches slightly, pressing herself into Loki’s hand, Bucky’s mouth, and she wants to be touching them both so badly. Pinned to the couch by Bucky, though, she can only open her eyes and meet Loki’s gaze as he pushes up Bucky’s sweater.

“Come here,” she says to him, one hand on Bucky, her palm warm against the back of his neck, the other reaching for Loki. “Kiss me.”

[semi_stable]

“Maybe this is your present,” Bucky says as he moves his mouth from one breast to the other to give both nipples equal attention. He’s lying, of course, because he has gifts for both of them, but he can’t fathom leaving this sofa right now.

Loki drags up his sweater and Bucky only sits up so he can pull it over his head and toss it aside. For a moment, he just sits there and watches them kiss, one hand on Loki’s back while the other toys with Sylvie’s nipples. He’s never jealous of them, but sometimes he feels a little insecure that they’ll tire of him, but that just means that he’s still human.

Right now, he just feels lucky to be here with them, and when he leans in to kiss Loki’s neck, he knows that he’s welcome here, between them. His lips make a path along Loki’s jaw while he tugs Sylvie’s bra off her arms, then lifts Loki’s sweater. When they break their kiss, Bucky pulls it over his head and then grabs Loki’s chin, kissing him deeply, licking messily into his mouth so Sylvie can watch.

They’re both on their knees, kneeling together over Sylvie’s body, and Bucky slides his metal hand down to grip at Sylvie’s cunt through her pants, rubbing his palm against it as his other hand slides up Loki’s side. He feels overwhelmed by all the possible combinations of their bodies, cock tenting his jeans as he breaks the kiss with Loki to press his mouth to Sylvie’s, licking between her lips as he grinds his hand against her.

Then, on a whim, he lays down along Sylvie’s side, tucked between her body and the back of the sofa. He props his head up on one hand and slides his metal hand down her pants and into her underwear, circling his cool fingertips almost casually around her clit.

“What should we have him to do us?” He asks Sylvie almost playfully, like they’re gossiping at a sleepover, and then looks up at Loki with a mischievous grin. “I say we put him to work.”