Five's a Crowd | Stucky / Marvel Polyamorous LGBT Romance

Chapter 22: Loki

TW: Mention of dead parents around the holidays

Thanksgiving arrived and the house was filled with jubilance and intoxicating smells. Charlie was the mastermind behind all of the food for dinner, while Loki took control of dessert. They had decided on two pies for the dinner, but Loki also had a series of muffins and breads baking throughout the day so they could snack while they cooked and drank, without getting too drunk before dinner.

Bucky spent most of the time in the kitchen with Charlie, but at one point, when Loki had pinned Nicky to the counter for a long kiss, Bucky wormed his way in between them and they all shared soft, pumpkin tinged kisses and hugs.

When Bucky returned from Nicky's site visit, he'd had a very open conversation with Loki about their relationship. Bucky had admitted that he was feeling overwhelmed and disappointed in the way he was showing up for all of his relationships in the house. He thought that some of this could be due to how new he was to polyamory, but also that he had felt the pandemic weighing on him like an elephant the past few months.

Loki had tried to assure him that it was fine, but Bucky had been insistent. He admitted that he had thought putting guard rails on their relationship, only being intimate when they were on "official dates" and scheduling those dates purposefully, would prompt him to invest deeper in their relationship. Instead it had just stressed him out to the point where he had withdrawn from the relationship completely.

Bucky had reached out to his therapist and was able to get a few appointments on the books to help him figure out how to stop self-sabotaging his relationships. He was hopeful he'd be able to work through things in a way that would let him be a good partner for Loki. He even invited Loki to join a therapy session with him.

Loki had of course agreed, admitting he had been feeling a little abandoned by Bucky, but that even just admitting it out loud had made him feel a lot better. They had cried together and it had been cathartic enough on its own. However, then Bucky had asked if they could start over, just letting their relationship develop naturally with no expectations of dates and no restrictions on intimacy, just enjoying being with each other. Loki again agreed wholeheartedly.

Their conversation had lifted some invisible barrier between them and Bucky had been incredibly affectionate with him since then. Instead of trying to carve out large chunks of time to spend together, Bucky has begun capturing small moments in the day to sit next to him while he worked, or pull his feet into his lap on the couch.

He had also been doing things like this, sliding seamlessly into Loki's relationships with Nicky and Charlie, bringing with him his own warmth and brightness that Loki had so badly missed.

Loki finished in the kitchen about two hours before dinner and retreated to the couch with Steve to watch the Macy's day parade being replayed.

Bucky and Charlie took turns video chatting with their families and Nicky was able to get ahold of his foster parents who lived in Hawaii. They were doing fine during the pandemic, Hawaii was mostly locked down and so they were just enjoying a quiet dinner at home. He came off the call a little teary eyed all the same though, and Steve and Loki took turns holding him on the couch while dinner finished cooking.

Dinner was beyond decadent and Nicky had come up with a slew of autumnal drinks. By the time dessert was served, they were all relatively drunk and incredibly high spirited.

Feeling loose and "wild" they opted to eat dessert in bed together, in various shades of undress, while they watched a ridiculous comedy movie. There were languid kisses exchanged between various parties and some of them got a little handsy, but they ended the night in a pile, full of way too much turkey and alcohol.