Work Text:
A new semester meant a new shift for Steve Rogers at Russo College library’s Reference desk. After last semester’s ungodly 12am to 2am shift every Tuesday and Thursday, Steve was thrilled with his new 6pm to 8pm shift, even if it did mean he had to practically run across campus to make it to his evening class.
The reference desk sits directly across from the Tech Assist desk, which depending on who was working, could be a blessing or a curse. Last semester, Steve’s shift had overlapped with the one and only Tony Stark’s shift at Tech Assist. Tony was a good guy, but having the college’s biggest Natural Science building named after his father (and built on Howard Stark’s dime too) did not help out his ego. Steve and Tony’s friend groups overlapped, but even Steve could barely handle Tony’s extremely loud and constant chatter about every single tech issue that someone had. Steve has sat through Tony’s rant on the downfalls of different brands of laptops over fifty times and it’s not something he would like to hear again. Luckily, this semester Tony worked a different time block and a new, quieter man was working at tech assist when Steve arrived for his first shift.
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On top of double majoring in Computer Science and English and minoring in Russian, Bucky Barnes was required to work on campus to keep his scholarship to Russo College. When he started as a First Year, he figured that Tech Assist would give him the best experience for the future and allow him to use what he learns in his Computer Science classes. Working 5:30-8:30pm wasn’t an extraordinarily busy time, but Bucky assumed he would still have a decent amount of people ask him for assistance. Little did he know that most of his job would be helping people connect to the wifi and showing professors how to use their email. Luckily when his shift isn’t busy he can do homework, which is how he was able to miss the shift change over at Reference. So, when he glanced over his stack of Game Theory textbooks and three different copies of Hamlet, nobody could blame him for staring at the man across the room.
Bucky stuck pretty closely to his group of friends, so that fact that he didn’t know the Reference intern wasn’t shocking, but Bucky generally kept an eye out for the gorgeous men walking around campus and the skinny man with the undercut and cardigan across from him really was a sight for sore eyes. Even so, Bucky isn’t sure he’s ever seen this guy around.
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Steve had barely logged into the computer when someone came to him for help finding resources on a physics topic that he couldn’t even pronounce, let alone spell. After twenty minutes of searching through the library catalog and various databases, the student found what they were looking for and Steve was left to begin his Greek Art paper and pray that no one else needed his help for the rest of his shift.
After spending too long staring at “Laocoon and His Sons,” Steve finally looked up to see who was working so silently at Tech Assist. The man across from him appeared to be drowning in homework as he was surrounded by no less than five books, a laptop, and a very large coffee. With his long brown hair tied into a bun, toned arms, and flannel, the guy was practically taken right out of Steve’s fantasies. Steve’s appreciative look got cut short when someone came to ask him where the bathroom was for the fourth time today, but he decided that this new Tech Assist guy was infinitely better than Tony Stark and Steve would gladly listen to him rant about technology for hours if it meant he could keep looking at him.
The end of Steve’s shift came after what felt like years. He quickly gathered his things, snuck a final look at the Tech Assist guy, and ran across campus to the studio art building for his 8:15pm class.
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If Bucky checked his reflection in the computer screen when he got to his shift on Thursday no one could blame him. The hottest guy he’s seen in awhile was about to sit across from him for two whole hours, so he’s gotta look his best. He tried not to stare at the door for too long, but when the reference intern walked in he made sure to glance up and give him a smile and a mock salute when he made it to the desk. His friendly gesture got a small smile out of the man and Bucky decided right then and there that he would do anything in his power to keep the smile on his face. He had thought that the man’s scowl at his homework was attractive, but his smile was out of this world.
The first few shifts of the semester were always pretty busy because, even though winter break was only a month long, it was apparently long enough for people to forget everything about using the computers and printing at Russo. That didn’t stop Bucky from taking any and every chance to stare at the man at reference. Everytime he caught the man’s eye the man would blush and look away. Bucky hoped that he had caught the man staring at him too, but it was more likely that he was just uncomfortable with Bucky’s almost constant stare.
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Steve’s second shift of the semester was a little slower than the first because at this point most people have learned where the restrooms were and big research projects hadn’t really started yet. This gave Steve ample time to check out the man working over at Tech Assist. When he wasn’t helping a patron or pretending to do homework his eyes were on the other man. Every once in awhile the man made eye contact with Steve and Steve was quick to look away in case the man were to realize he was staring. By the fourth time they made eye contact Steve figured something must be up so he glanced at himself in his laptop screen and discovered he had charcoal smeared on his face from class earlier that day. Of course someone as attractive as Tech Assist Guy wouldn't be staring at him for his looks. He was probably just trying to find a way to tell Steve that his face was a mess. Steve took a quick break to clean off his face and by the time he made it back to the desk hot Tech Assist Guy was engulfed in homework and Steve had basically given up on ever talking to the guy.
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Sometime at the beginning of every semester one of the reference librarians would come observe all of the interns to make sure that they were doing their jobs correctly. Steve was scheduled to be observed by the strictest librarian on his third shift of the semester which meant that he would have to follow every single rule that he learned in training. For the most part he already followed the rules, but some were just completely unnecessary, specifically those that entailed walking patrons to wherever they need to go instead of just pointing out the way or showing them on the map. You would think college students could be expected to find their way to the circulation desk or Tech Assist when he points to the only desks across the room, but apparently the librarians don’t think so. Ideally no one would ask him any questions so he could spend his shift getting paid to do homework and stare at hot tech guy, but just this once Steve wished that someone would come to him when they needed Tech Assist so he can have an excuse to learn hot tech guy’s name.
His dream came true about halfway through his shift when a confused student came to the desk after having trouble figuring out how to set up their laptop to print from the college printers.
“If you come with me I can show you to Tech Assist where they can get you all set up!” Steve attempted to smooth his clothes and fix his hair in the fifteen yards between Reference and Tech Assist. Now to avoid making a fool out of himself in front of hot tech guy.
James Barnes, Tech Assist Intern, read hot tech guy’s nametag.
“Now if you just explain your issue to James here he can help you out!”
Hot tech guy-James stares at him for a second before breaking into a grin and responding, “It’s Bucky actually. Now, how may I help you this evening?” hot tech guy/James/Bucky asks, directing his attention to the student.
The rest of Steve’s shift is uneventful. He has a few more questions but spent most of his time doing homework and trying not to stare at Bucky in case the librarian catches him.
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Bucky was more enthusiastic than normal when he got to his shift on Thursday. On Tuesday, hot reference intern walked a patron over to his desk and he finally got a look at his nametag to discover that hot reference intern was actually named Steve. Hopefully with this new step in their budding relationship Bucky could interact with Steve some more.
Halfway through a chapter of Frankenstein , Bucky was surprised to hear Steve’s voice across the room.
“Sir, allow me to repeat myself, all of the restrooms in the library are gender neutral, meaning that anyone can use any restroom. If you go to the right you will find the closest restroom on this floor.”
“What kind of liberal shit is this? Gender neutral restrooms? You would think that on a college campus you would know better than to make it even easier for some pervert frat boy to spy on college girls.”
“If you’ll excuse my crass language, sir, I need to get back to my job and stop dealing with someone who’s so full of shit that they’re in this desperate of a need of a bathroom. I don’t think the college has any restrooms reserved for bigots but if you insist on using a men’s restroom there’s one in the building next door, but as I mentioned before, there is a bathroom right around the corner as well. Have a nice day!”
Steve was pissed. Bucky could tell that he was trying his best not to fight the guy in the middle of the library that he didn’t even care that he just insulted a patron. As the asshole stormed out of the library Bucky flipped him off, glancing over at Steve with a look of admiration. Steve looked mad as hell but when he saw Bucky a small smile broke out on his face.
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The next few shifts passed by quickly with Steve taking every chance he got to interact with Bucky in some way. Not a shift went by when the two didn’t share at a least a smile. They got in the habit of making faces at each other when they’ve had a particularly annoying or difficult question. Sometimes Bucky would try and distract Steve when he was working with a patron and Steve quickly became an expert in flipping Bucky off without the patron or any other workers noticing.
February was already a month where everyone was ill, and Steve, with his weak immune system and affinity for illnesses of all kinds, was well into his second week of a cold he couldn’t shake. While reading part of The Marx-Engels Reader for his intro sociology class Steve was hit with a sneezing attack. When it finally finished, Bucky looked up from his work and called “Bless you!” across the room. He was grinning widely, and Steve couldn’t help but smile as well as he called out his thanks.
Near the end of that shift, a pretty boring one for both Steve and Bucky, a patron finally came to the reference desk to ask Steve a question.
“Hi, I’m trying to print something and it isn’t working? It says there’s a jam somewhere?”
While this was a simple problem that Steve has fixed several times, it technically was Tech Assist’s job, so Steve, being the asshole that he is responded, loud enough for Bucky to hear, “You know, my good pal Bucky over at Tech Assist would LOVE to help you out with that! If you go right across the room he’s the handsome fella with the bun.”
Bucky looked annoyed to be interrupted during what appeared to be the reading of a large Russian novel, but went to help the patron print anyway. On his way back, he passed the reference desk and snuck in a “Fuck you, Rogers” before hurrying back to his work.
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For some reason, Reference Intern and Tech Assist shifts were scheduled differently, which made it impossible for Steve and Bucky to talk before or after their shifts. Steve always began his shift half an hour later and ended his shift half an hour earlier than Bucky did, and his 8:15pm studio art class didn’t allow him any time to waste leaving the library. After finally learning Bucky’s name, Steve made the decision to talk to Bucky outside of work as soon as possible, although that was easier said than done. His chance came a few weeks into the semester.
At the beginning of his shift one Thursday, Steve was procrastinating by checking his email and received the greatest gift a college student could ever a receive: a “class is cancelled” email from his art professor. Steve decided now was as good of time as any to talk to Bucky, he just needed to wait for Bucky’s shift to be over and hope that he would leave the library immediately afterwards.
The middle of February wasn’t the best time to sit outside the library for a half hour waiting for a boy, but Steve was too nervous to stay sitting in the library, instead deciding to alternate between pacing in front of the building and sitting on a nearby bench. Finally, 8:30 hit, and Bucky was out the door of the library not two minutes later.
“Hey, Bucky!”
“Oh! Hey! Steve! What’s up?”
“My, uh, class was cancelled and I’ve been wanting to talk to you so I figured I would wait for you to get off. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to grab a coffee or something sometime?”
Bucky stared at Steve with wide eyes for a second before he actually responded. “You waited for me? Steve, it’s freezing out here! Wait—that makes it sound like I don’t appreciate it, I do, I really do. I would love to get coffee sometime! I have a meeting soon, but let me get your number and I’ll text you?” Bucky asked, holding out his phone expectantly.
“Yeah totally! Sorry if I held you up,” Steve said, quickly typing in his number and handing the phone back.
“You can hold me anytime, Stevie,” Bucky replied as he jogged away to reach his meeting on time, giving Steve no time to respond to his obvious flirtation.
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After sitting through a Russian club meeting that seemed to last forever, Bucky finally got the chance to text Steve. Bucky worried that his blatant flirting during their conversation would have made Steve uncomfortable, but the guy stood outside in the cold for half an hour to wait for Bucky to get off of work, so Bucky had the feeling that the attraction was mutual.
Bucky:
hey Steve! so how about that coffee date? are u free saturday?
Steve:
Oh, so it’s a date now???
Saturday is perfect ;)
I’m free most of the day, is there a time that works best for you?
Bucky:
after lunch? 2pm?
Steve:
It’s a date :)
Bucky:
;)
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Around 1:30pm on Saturday, Bucky texted Steve a bunch of coffee emojis to which Steve responded with even more party popper emojis that Bucky decided accurately portrayed how he felt about their date. They planned to meet at the coffee shop on campus at 2pm, so after checking his clothes and hair for the millionth time, Bucky left his room to meet Steve.
Too eager for the date, Bucky got to the coffee shop early and grabbed the comfiest couch in the back corner of the shop and sent Steve a text letting him know where he was. Not a minute later the door opened and in walked Steve bundled up in an oversized sweater, scarf, and winter coat. Bucky grinned and waved him over when Steve looked his way.
“Hi Bucky.”
“Hey Steve! Wanna take your coat off and we can go order?”
“Sounds great!”
When they returned to the couch with their drinks, the two begin with the normal small talk that college students use to get to know each other.
“So, uh,” Steve started, “what’s your major? You’ve always got a shit ton of books at work so whatever it is it seems pretty intense.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m a Computer Science and English double major with a minor in Russian. It’s kind of a lot but I love it so it’s worth it. What about you?”
“Studio Art major with a History minor.”
Steve and Bucky talked far past the time they finished their coffees, talking about anything and everything from weird patrons they’ve had, their favorite classes and professors, and random childhood memories. Bucky told Steve all about his parents and his sisters and Steve gave a brief history of his many illnesses as a child. They discovered that they’re both from Brooklyn and somehow ended up in the Midwest for college and they both agreed that apple pie was the best dessert imaginable.
After spending nearly two hours getting to know one another, the date had to come to an end because Steve needed to go to a talk by a visiting History professor and Bucky had a huge Computer Programming project he hadn’t started. The two departed with promises to text and to hang out again soon.
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Bucky:
what are your plans for dinner on tuesday?
Steve:
Well seeing as it’s only Sunday I don’t have any.
Why do you ask?
Bucky:
want to come over to my apartment before our shifts and ill make you dinner?
Steve:
That sounds wonderful :)
Bucky:
u like lasagna? its my specialty
wait do u have any food allergies or anything?
Steve:
Lasagna is perfect
Surprisingly, food allergies are not a part of my many health problems, so anything is good.
I’ll bring dessert.
Bucky:
the only dessert i need is you ;)
but actually that’s perfect because i cant bake for shit
Steve:
I’m a great baker. I can teach you sometime.
But for Tuesday I’ll make you my award winning apple pie
Bucky:
you sure know the way to a guy’s heart stevie
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Steve spent most of his day ignoring his homework in order to bake a pie for his date with Bucky, but he wasn’t particularly worried about it since the pie turned out to be the prettiest (and hopefully yummiest) pie he’s ever made. Bucky lived in an apartment on the other side of campus, so Steve tried his best to keep the pie safe on his walk over.
Finally, Steve made it to Bucky’s apartment and rang the doorbell. Bucky answered the door looking flustered but with a huge grin on his face.
“Hey Steve! Welcome to my humble abode, and by that I mean my subpar apartment. I’d offer to take the pie, but my hands are currently covered in garlic.”
“Hey Buck! No problem. I’ve protected this baby across campus so I think I can make is a bit longer.”
Bucky led Steve to the kitchen and washed his hands. The small table was already set with mismatched plates and silverware typical of a college student’s apartment. It was cute though, and Steve appreciated the effort Bucky had put in to make this date special.
A few minutes after Steve’s arrival, dinner was served. Bucky’s lasagna was the best Steve had ever had, and Bucky bragged that he only had to call his mom twice for instructions. Over dinner the two talked about anything and everything, from their days to their plans for the future.
After they finished eating, Bucky cleaned up the plates while Steve put the pie in the oven to reheat. The small apartment didn’t leave much room in the kitchen, so for Bucky to put the clean plates in the cabinet he had to reach around Steve. He used this opportunity to slide his arm around Steve’s waist.
“Hi.”
“Oh. Hello,” Steve stuttered, blushing at Bucky’s arm around him but not moving to shake it off because, well, he really didn’t want to.
Steve turned to face Bucky and placed his hand on Bucky’s waist. The two looked at each other for a moment until they both leaned in for a kiss. The kiss broke off quickly, only because the timer dinged which signaled that the pie was ready to be taken out of the oven.
As much as Bucky wanted to hurry through dessert and continue kissing Steve, his pie really was incredible and Bucky was enjoying every bite of it.
“I see why this pie won an award. It’s incredible, Stevie.”
“Thanks. My ma voted it the best pie in Brooklyn and so far I haven’t had any better.”
“You ma’s a smart woman. It’s definitely the best pie I’ve ever eaten. I might be biased though because I kinda have a crush on the baker.”
“Hm, well I’m pretty sure the baker likes you too.”
The two clean up the table and put away the leftover lasagna and pie, sneaking touches and a few kisses any time they were close to each other, which was quite frequently.
Unfortunately, their time ran out and the two needed to head to the library for their shifts. In order to prolong their time together, Steve decided to go to the library early so he could walk with Bucky.
They got to the library about five minutes before Bucky’s shift started, so Steve dragged Bucky to a rarely used section of the library for what was originally going to be a kiss or two but ended up turning into a make out session. By the time Bucky had to sit at his desk, his hair was mussed from Steve’s fingers, but he didn’t make any move to fix it.
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Bucky’s shift was slow for the half hour before Steve’s shift began. Bucky should be spending his shift catching up on the work he didn’t do while cooking dinner and spending the evening with Steve, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how incredible Steve was and how great it felt to kiss him and whether or not he’d get the chance to kiss him again soon.
When Steve arrived for his shift, not much changed in their interactions. The two continued to try and get the other’s attention and distract them from their work. The only difference is that now Bucky didn’t feel embarrassed staring at Steve his whole shift, and Steve looked right back.
By the time the end of Steve’s shift came, Bucky had helped a few patrons and had gotten little homework done. As Steve went to leave the library for his class, he dropped a small piece of paper on Bucky’s desk. The paper had a note that read “You’re the apple of my pie” with a small illustration of a heart-shaped pie.
Bucky felt himself blush, and he realized right then and there that he was already in too deep for this little punk.