(no subject)

[semi_stable]

Dates seemed to come back to Bucky slower than everything else. By now, most of the important ones are in a datebook mixed in with his journals. The birthdays of his sisters pass by, and then his mother's. He can't exactly remember his father's, but that doesn't bother him much.

He doesn't remember the date he got his papers, or when he was shipped overseas. He doesn't remember the date that he fell from the train. He doesn't even really remember the exact date that he arrived in Darrow, or when he first met Loki or Sylvie, but he remembers July 27th.

It's the date Loki found him on the beach and kissed him in the sand-- the date that they stopped dancing around each other and gave into their desires. It's the date everything changed and now here Bucky is exactly one year later, sitting on the sand in front of his little house by the sea. He stares up at the moon and wonders if he should have tried to do something to commemorate the anniversary. Something held him back, and he's sure that Loki would say that it was his shyness.

Loki said that once, that he was shy, and it's stuck with Bucky all this time because it's never how he would have described himself. He was always the outgoing one, but he changed in a lot of ways and when it came to Loki, and realizing what he liked, yeah-- maybe he's a little shy. He likes being romanced, likes it when Loki is sweet to him, but he rarely has the voice to ask for it.

Another part of him worried that maybe Loki wouldn't remember, and that would hurt. He doesn't think that Loki would find him silly for making note of the date, but Loki has lived so long. What's one year to a god?

He knows it's stupid and it's probably his own anxiety talking, but Loki hadn't mentioned it so Bucky didn't either, and now the day is here and he hates that he's alone. Before he can talk himself out of it, he pulls his phone from his pocket and sends Loki a picture of the water lapping at the sand, along with a message.

Everything changed a year ago today. I'm really glad that it did.

Comments

[thewrongpath]

Already on his way to Bucky's little cottage, the message sent Loki on a slight detour towards the water, and he smiled at the sight of the other man's silhouette framed by the setting sun. It was a lonely image, a solitary man set on a quiet beach, but it wouldn't be lonely for long.

"Shall we go for a swim, then? To commemorate," Loki said as he lowered himself down to sit cross-legged at Bucky's side, his pants casually rolled up over his calves and his black button-up left mostly unbuttoned.

[semi_stable]

When Bucky hears footsteps approaching, his first reaction is annoyance. This is supposed to be a private beach, and he doesn't want to deal with chasing anyone off. He turns his head and when he sees Loki, his expression melts into one of unabashed happiness and he watches the other man approach, ducking his head a bit when Loki sits down next to him.

"That was remarkably fast, even for you," he tells Loki, brows lifting in pleased surprise at the question. It makes him so happy that he feels his cheeks heat up, and he tips to the side to nudge his shoulder against Loki's. "So you did remember."

[thewrongpath]

"I was already in the yard," Loki admitted, his arm slipping easily around Bucky's shoulders. "Hm? Remember what? The first time I lured you into bed, after months of exhaustive work? No, I don't recall that in the slightest."

[semi_stable]

The response makes Bucky smile in a boyish sort of way, wide and unshy, and there's an odd constriction in his chest when he realizes that Loki has seen him smile more than perhaps only one other person in the world. And maybe, just maybe, if he's lucky, there might come a day where Loki or Sylvie surpass him.

Loki's arm goes around him, and Bucky takes a deep breath and resolves not to think about him at all. Not for the rest of the night. Loki draws him out of the brief melancholy with a joke, makes him laugh, and he thinks that maybe it won't even be that hard to do.

"Oh, is that all it was?" Bucky drawls out, confident that he already knows the answer, and leans against Loki's side. "Just wanted to bed me, huh? I must have been damn good to make you stick around and keep doing it for a whole year."

[thewrongpath]

"I'm a creature of habit, what can I say?" Loki teased, the two of them knowing otherwise. In all his years, he'd rarely given any relationship a chance to blossom beyond that first flush, and prided himself in never settling down for anything, short of a kingdom to rule.

And yet, here he was.

"It's been quite the year."

[semi_stable]

"Yeah, and I was looking to settle down," Bucky quips dryly, because that's equally untrue. Loki took him completely by surprise, first with his friendship and then with everything that came after. Being in any sort of a relationship was one of the many things that Bucky just assumed was lost to him. But this one isn't conventional, or traditional, or any of the vague notions that Bucky had in his head.

No, this is something entirely new. Something he could never have come up with, even in his wildest dreams. And maybe that's why it worked.

"How long do you think it would have taken us, do you think?" Bucky muses with a soft smirk, tipping his head over onto Loki's shoulder as he looks out at the dark water. "If you hadn't found me on the beach that night."

[thewrongpath]

"I certainly hope we wouldn't be dancing around each other," Loki said, matching Bucky's smirk as he tipped his cheek against Bucky's hair.

"I'm not known for my patience. I would've made my intentions clearer, soon enough."

[semi_stable]

"At that point, it was more due to my thinking you were unavailable than you being insufferable," Bucky tells him, smiling as Loki's head rests against his own. "I had gotten used to that already."

Bucky lifts his head and twists a little to better face Loki, resting one hand in the sand and the other on Loki's thigh, metal fingertips brushing the inseam as he gives Loki a flirty smirk. "Yeah? How might you have done that?"

[thewrongpath]

"Something clever and extravagant, I'm sure," Loki said, playfully dismissive, even as his smile grew the higher those metal fingers brushed along his thigh.

"I wouldn't change it, given the chance. It happened just as it should've."

[semi_stable]

"I don't think I would either," Bucky admits, squeezing at the inside of Loki's thigh. "Even with all the pining I was doing while you two were tumbling into bed with one another."

He winks to show that he's only teasing, and then makes a show of removing his hand to lean back and plant it in the sand instead. "Clever and extravagant, huh? That does sound like you."

[thewrongpath]

"You're name, written in the clouds, perhaps," he said, and with a sweep of his hand, James Buchanan Barnes streaked across the blue sky, sparkling green and quickly fading.

"An epic poem, written in your honor? Set to music, of course," he said, the sound of strings briefly floating on the air.

"Or, perhaps I would've simply kissed you, without the deceit of making one of your prudish clients squirm."

[semi_stable]

It may not be obvious, but people who really know him are aware that Bucky is a romantic at heart. Loki knows that better than most and while there are times that Loki takes advantage of that to tease him, he thinks that maybe Loki is just a bit of a romantic, too.

His own name written in the stars is reflected in his wide eyes, gone before he even has the chance to wonder if anyone else can see it. Then comes the music and Bucky flushes deeply, turning his head to stare at Loki with open fondness. He leans in a little, cheeks still burning hot and heart pounding away in his chest, because loving someone and being loved in return just might be the best thing he's ever known. "You could kiss me now."

[thewrongpath]

"I could, couldn't I?" Loki said, playfully obtuse as he let Bucky suffer just a bit longer. Flashing a grin, he took Bucky's face in his hands, meeting his lips halfway. Because Loki found it amusing, and because Bucky seemed to find it charming, the music swelled as he pulled the other man close and urged him right onto his lap.

"I'd like to keep kissing you, as long as I'm able."

[semi_stable]

The music gets louder just as Loki’s arms tighten around him and yank him from the sand, scooping him into Loki’s lap like he’s the heroine in a romance novel.

“Oh, Christ,” Bucky says with a roll of his eyes, but his cheeks are flushed and there’s a smile on his face as he settles, looping his metal arm around Loki’s back and resting the other hand on his chest.

Loki’s face is very close to his, eyes bright blue even in the low light, and Bucky can’t help but to rest his forehead against Loki’s and take a deep, grounding breath.

“Always, then,” Bucky says after a moment, even though they both are well aware that always isn’t something that either of them can promise. But it still means something, Bucky thinks, that he wants this forever, even if he knows he might not get it.

[thewrongpath]

"That's quite the declaration," Loki observed softly, and the hands cradling Bucky's face gentled, fingers tucking a strand of hair behind Bucky's ear.

It wasn't a promise that either of them could make, and yet the enormity of such a statement struck him. It was frightening, providing him with too much power. Power to hurt, to destroy. And yet, it was exhilarating. Perhaps, this time, he wouldn't muck it all up.

[semi_stable]

“Oh, is it too much for you?” Bucky asks in a dry tone, squirming a brow even as he tries to fight back the smile trying to form due to Loki’s hands on his face. “I know how much you value subtlety.”

Finally he relents, smiling warmly and then tilting his head slightly so he can press their mouths together. The kiss starts out soft, but he doesn’t pull away. Instead he deepens it, coaxing Loki’s mouth open while resting his fingertips along Loki’s jaw. It goes on for awhile, until Bucky has to pull away just to breathe, and he rests his forehead against Loki’s temple with a helpless smile.

[thewrongpath]

"Not in the slightest," he said, with a smile that was nothing short of awed.

Bucky kissed him breathless, his eyes bright and shining, and when he pulled away, Loki chuckled softly, his fingers carding through Bucky's hair.

"You are a wonder, James Barnes."

[semi_stable]

"Keep sweet talking me like that and I might even let you take me to bed," Bucky demures, as if there's any doubt of where they'll end up at the end of the night. He buries his face in Loki's neck to hide the blush that rises to his cheeks, then pulls back to gaze at Loki with half-lidded eyes, utterly content in a way that he sincerely thought was lost to him forever.

"You make me happy, Loki," Bucky says simply, and it's only because Loki knows him so well that he'll know exactly what a grand declaration that is. It's possibly even bigger than 'I love you' in Bucky's book, because he knows very well that love doesn't equal happiness. Love can be a cruel, miserable thing-- but happiness? That's something so much harder to come by, and Loki makes him feel it all the time.

[thewrongpath]

The air left his lungs in a startled exhale, the words shocking him more than any prior declaration. Of all the things he'd been told in all his many years, this was not one he had much familiarity with. Now, there was Bucky, and there was Sylvie, and perhaps Loki truly was capable of more than chaos and destruction.

In a rare moment of speechlessness, Loki surged forwards and kissed him again, in no small part to hide the way his eyes were currently shiny with unshed tears.

[semi_stable]

The effect that the words have on Loki isn’t all that surprising to Bucky, who has spent over a year now trying to learn and understand all that he can about this man who has entranced him so completely, without using magic at all.

There are no quips, no attempts to deflect the raw emotion with flippancy or humor like they are both known to do. Instead, Loki kisses him and Bucky hums soothingly against his mouth, twisting until he’s straddling Loki’s lap more than sitting on it. His knees press into the sand on either side of Loki’s hips and he leans into the kiss, good hand tangled in Loki’s silky hair as he coaxes Loki’s mouth open to deepen the kiss. Their tongues touch and Bucky jerks the slightest bit, overcome by how good it feels to be kissed by someone who means it.

He pulls back after a moment to stare at Loki, thumbing at the corner of his eye before leaning in to press his lips there, tasting salt. Bucky leaves a trail of kisses down his face and then touches their foreheads together, letting out a shaky breath before kissing him again.

[thewrongpath]

With a shuddering moan, Loki worked a hand beneath Bucky's shirt, desperate in his need to feel the warmth of his skin. He arched beneath the other man's weight, feeling achingly vulnerable – which ought to have been unbearable for a god. Somehow, it was quite the opposite.

Bucky kissed his eyelids, his cheeks, and Loki groaned, saying breathlessly, "I seem to recall mention of a bed."

[semi_stable]

Loki’s hand is warm against Bucky’s back, clever fingers trailing along his spine in a way that instantly makes him want more.

He forgets that they’re in public entirely. Sure, he lives on a more secluded stretch of beach but anyone could come walking by.

“Bed sounds good,” he says against Loki’s mouth, finding that he very much wants to be pressed down against soft sheets by Loki’s strong hands. It takes a moment for Bucky to find the strength to pull away, and he gathers the front of Loki’s shirt in his fists, holding onto him as he leans in for another kiss, only to stop just short of meeting Loki’s mouth.

“Race you,” he says, and then pushes Loki back against the sand before getting to his feet and taking off toward the house, head tossed back with a boyish laugh.

[thewrongpath]

Loki's laughter followed him, the God of Mischief scrambling to his feet and taking off at a mad dash, the two of them chasing one another like children. With a smirk, Loki sent a projection of himself out ahead.

He'd never been above cheating, just a bit.

"And what do I win?" The projection asked, looking back at Bucky with a wild grin.

[semi_stable]

It’s not as if Bucky thinks he’s faster than a god, but he’s still surprised when he sees Loki up ahead of him. And then he remembers what Loki can do and he rolls his eyes expansively, slowing a bit as he looks over his shoulder.

“I thought that would have been fairly obvious,” Bucky say as he catches up to the projection, raising a brow as he pulls his shirt over his head. He walks right through the projection as he does, tossing it carelessly onto the porch as he climbs the few steps to the glass door leading to his bedroom.

“Or do you need me to spell it out for you?” He asks as he pulls the elastic from his hair, shaking it out and then running his hand through it as he gives Loki a heated look.

[thewrongpath]

"I happen to have a very vivid imagination, but I do enjoy hearing you say it," Loki said, and as the other man slowed just outside the door, Loki surged forward, hauling Bucky clear off his feet and throwing the door open with a swirl of green magic.

Hefting Bucky over his shoulder, Loki carried him over the threshold, and dumped him unceremoniously on the bed.