1128

: domestic, fluff, established relationship

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art is now hosting:

A collection of anonymous letters and photographs entailing the lives of queer people through the 19th and 20th centuries. Showing now through Aug 11

Steve read over the flyer that was plastered to the metal pole just above the code walk button on a Brooklyn street corner. The light changed, signaling he could finish his 8 mile morning run.

Open noon till 6pm Wednesday to Sunday

26 Wooster St, New York, NY 10013

Steve copied down the museums name and hours, then continued on his remaining 3 miles.

He arrived back at the apartment sweating from the summer heat of the city that was only starting to pick up. The time on his watch read 7:58 which sounded about right since he had seen the run rise over New York as he ran through Brooklyn. After a quick shower he pulled out flour and eggs to make breakfast. He hummed quietly to himself as he wisked together the ingredients and began pouring the batter into the pan. The pan sizzled for a second as the pancakes took shape. A metal arm handed Steve a spatula as another wrapped around his middle. Steve smiled as Bucky pressed a soft kiss into the side of his face.

"Morning."

Steve wrinkled his nose and continued to keep his eyes on the flames in front of him.

"Your breath smells."

Bucky stuck his tongue out and made a childish face which Steve gladly kissed away. As they pulled apart Steve covered his mouth, faking a gag. Quiet laughter filled the ambient apartment.

"Fine I'll go brush, yesh."

Bucky returned with fresh breath to a plate full of pancakes and a glass of orange juice awaiting him. Steve sat eating and reading over the newspaper. A dopey smile covered Buckys face at the domesticity he and Steve had achieved. He sat down and bit into the tall stack of pancakes.

"Thank you, doll."

Steve hummed as affirmation, setting the newspaper aside.

"So I saw this flyer on my run this morning."

"Oh?" Bucky response between bites.

"It's for an art museum. They're displaying anonymous photos of queer couples throughout the century. I thought we could go, if you're not doing anything today."

"Steve, of course I'm not doing anything. When do I ever have plans that your not included in?"

Steve sighed, knowing it was true.

"Well that's a separate issue to work on, but do you want to go?"

"Sure, sounds fun, Stevie." Bucky replies while ripping into a third pancake.

They meandered through the portraits and pictures reading the short snippets of information below each, occasionally stopping at one either of them particularly liked. Steve liked the one of the two couples outside a bank in Idaho. Bucky liked the two sailor photos. One with a navy couple affectionately wrapped around each other, smiling at the camera, one kissing the check of the other, the second, a young boy smirking at the photographer while lounging in a tub wearing only a sailors hat.

Steve also liked the one of the two girls cuddling in filly underclothes on a bed. It reminded him of some girls he knew back in the USO. No one would ever admit it, but the navy couples and USO girls weren't as much of a rarity as they had been portrayed by history during the war. Steve and Bucky weren't the only pair of "best pals" in the infantry that snuck off during the summer nights in Europe.

Uncoincidentally, all of their favorite photos were taken during the era they'd grown up in. As Steve took his time learning the details of each photo, Bucky struck up conversation with one of the museum attendees.

"So which one has been your favorite so far?" She questioned politely.

"I like the ones with the navy boys. It reminds me of when I was little." Bucky smiled to himself.

"Really?" She asked with excitement. "The one of the two in front of the shipyard is my favorite, hands down."

"Oh? I don't think I've seen that one yet."

"It's right in the corner of that last room," she pointed into the doorway leading to the room they had entered from. "It gets missed a lot cus it's kinda hidden in the shadow."

"Hm, I guess I'll have to go check it out." He glanced over at Steve who was still enthralled with copies of some love letters from between some founding fathers. He'd be fine for a minute. Bucky searched in the corner of the room and found the wall he missed. Against the dimly light background was a small 4x6 image. Bucky stared at the two boys smiling in the picture front of him. He bit his lips closed in a pained smile trying to hold back the tears. God, they were so young, so innocent, so naïve to the world around them.

"Hey, Buck there you are- sweetheart what's wrong?" Steve grabbed for his hand. Bucky shook his head and rolled his eyes up, trying to force the tears away. He gestured forward with his head.

"Oh," Steve let out in a small breath. "We were so small," he laughed.

They stood there, hands clasped together with matching tears eyes smiles. They'd spent so many hours out there in the sun, Bucky working in the docks trying to make rent, Steve sketching for rich folk on the pier trying to contribute what he could. They were so viciously in love, even if they hadn't known it yet. No amount of taunts from the other docks boys or disgusted scoffs from matronly women made them ever stop to reconsider the intimacy of their friendship. They were SteveandBucky and no one was gunna take that from them. They remembered the day the photo was taken- Becca,

Bucky's only older sister, had saved up for months to buy the fancy Kodak and she, the boys, and Bucky's two younger sisters, Mary and Shirley, walked all over New York going through every part of Brooklyn and Manhattan finding different things to photograph. The younger girls wanted their pictures in Central park with some flowers, Becca took a good number of shots of the sunset off the pier. But most of the snaps were of variations of the five of them laughing and playing around New York. God how they missed their sisters- yes, they were Steve's sisters too as far as Bucky was considered. Bucky willed himself to smile despite the pain of knowing they had all grown old without him.

He took a deep breath and turned to Steve. "Come on baby, let's get home."

Steve smiled and pecked his fiancés lips.

"Okay, let's go home."