By Design - Stony AU

Chapter 2

Steve Rogers didn't think he had a Romantic Soulmate. He'd found the best friend he could ever have in Bucky, and he didn't exactly do well when it came to dating due to his small size and medical issues, ranging from a partially deaf ear, to poor eyesight, and even asthma. Plus he was too focused on finishing his final year of college to even consider actively searching for a Romantic Soulmate.

As he did after school every day, he got out of the train at the Brooklyn Station, and the creepy dude that was always there catcalled him. And boy was that dude ugly, like his entire body was wrinkles and dead skin.

"Hey! There's my favorite snack cake! What's up today, twinkie?"

As per usual, Steve ignored him and went up to street level. He never knew what this guy's endgame was, but calling him any variation of a 'twink' was not getting him anywhere.

When he passed the tech store 4 blocks from the apartment, he saw a few people standing around the TVs in the window. There was a breaking news report from Tennessee where the X-Men were fighting a giant blob... thing. Apparently they almost had the thing neutralized, which surprised no one as the X-Men were fantastic at their job.

Steve made the quick walk to the garage Bucky owned, and went around to the back to go up to the apartment. He and Bucky shared the apartment above Barnes Bodyworks to cut down on living costs on both their ends, and Bucky didn't exactly need to leave the building for work every day. The apartment was a studio layout with bare brick walls, a semi-old flat screen on a bookshelf, a couch, a small kitchen corner with a breakfast bar, the bathroom next to that, a semi-decent wood table with chairs, and Steve's bed in a corner in front of the door, which was on the right side of the layout. Bucky agreed to let Steve have the bed because of Steve's scoliosis, so the couch fold-out bed was Bucky's.

For Steve's last birthday, Bucky had surprised him with a full on drawing desk with a pull up top, and that was in between two windows facing outward from the door. Then the wall next to the door had a small wooden end table, and multiple pictures from both Bucky and Steve's pasts. It always made him feel a bit better seeing a picture of his ma and pa after a hard day of classes.

He sat down his school portfolio, and went to the fridge to get some juice. However, he was stopped by a sticky note on the door that said,

'Got another commission. Come downstairs for details'

Well, at least there'd be a bit of extra money in his bank account. Steve made his way back downstairs and saw Bucky working on the engine of a car, and Clint was eating a sandwich next to the radio. Clint gave him an upward nod and mumbled something congenial around a mouthful of tuna on rye.

"Chew and swallow." Steve taunted as he went up to Bucky.

Clint grinned. "I'm multitasking."

Bucky looked up. He'd been trying all afternoon to decide how to present the job to Steve. It was probably the biggest offer the garage had ever gotten, and was definitely more than Steve had taken on before. It was always a struggle trying to balance his overweening protectiveness of his best friend with acknowledging Steve's maturity. He'd just known him too long, and how stressed out he was with school as it was.

"Hey pal, how was your day?"

"Nothing special. Just more over-long lectures." Steve said as he got a stool. "So what's the commission you're having me do?"

"Your day's about to get special!" Clint laughed, turning down the radio.

Bucky gave him a look, straightened, and wiped off his hand on the towel station by the workbench.

"I had a conversation with a tech company rep today. They got this fancy brand new car and want something sophisticated and futuristic to show it off."