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It was late, all was silent in the kitchen.
Save for two little things...
Steve and Bucky stuck their heads out of the loose wall panel and looked around. When the way was deemed clear they ran out on the counter and towards the bowl of fruit.
"Come on Bucky! Let's hurry!" Steve said excitedly, holding his friends hand as they ran. Bucky gave a silent nod and followed.
Stark had been given a bowl of fruit from some business for giving them a grant. He had set it on the counter without much thought, and left to go to a party. Stark didn't even bother to give the basket a second glance! And the basket had plums!
If one went missing, well... Tony would never know.
Letting go of Steve's hand Bucky climbed up into the bowl, and pushed a plum over the edge. His stomach growled, and without really thinking he jumped down, and bit into it.
There was a lot of skin, but he had broken through to the fruit, and it was sweet.
Steve smiled. "Wait a minute Bucky, I'll peel the plum for you." He said pulling back the skin.
Steve moved his shield to his arm, climbed up the basket, and jumped on the plum peeling back the skin of the fruit. Juice dripped down liberally, making the counter top sticky.
They ignored the mess, saying they would clean it up later— they had plenty of time, and ate.
Within minutes their attention was completely absorbed by the plum. It was no wonder that when the light turned on and a voice yelped in surprise that they jumped.
Steve and Bucky spun around, and saw stark staring in shock at them.
"What the hell?" He mumbled.
Bucky grabbed Steve's sticky hand, and together they ran for the hole. Tony snapped out of his daze, and came running after them. Dropping a hand down he blocked their path before they could make it even half way across the counter.
Steve let out a terrified squeak, and reeled back bringing Bucky with him.
"Wait, wait wait..." Stark lifted his hand, and moved it towards Bucky and Steve only to be met with a jab from Bucky's knife.
"Ow! Shit!" Tony hissed, pulling his hand back.
"St-stay...back!" Bucky snapped glaring at the giant.
"Yeah!" Steve chimed in, taking out his shield. "Stay away!"
Stark bit his cheek to keep from smiling. This was just too much! Too cute that was. He had two tiny sticky guys on his counter, they had obviously gotten into the basket of fruit he had been sent....
His eyes flitted over to the half eaten plum. "You guys still hungry?" Stark teased. Bucky only waved his knife. Tony chuckled, and reached his hand out to take away his knife.
"This yours? Its cute. It actually stung for a second there." He slipped it in his pocket.
They glared up at him with wide untrusting eyes. Tony shrugged figuring he would have to do most of the talking.
"Wow. You guys made a bit of a mess didn't you?" He said eyeing the plum. "Well that's ok. I can clean it up easily, but maybe you two should clean yourself up as well." Tony suggested. He shuffled his feet to the side, and headed for the sink.
"You guys look incredibly sticky. You know that?" He walked down the counter, and turned on the sink.
"I won't hurt you, you can come over here,...unless your scared." He smirked.
"I AM NOT scared of you!" Steve yelled. Bucky facepalmed as Tony snickered.
"Alright then come over here." Stark said waving them forward. Steve took a visible gulp, and walked forward. Bucky held his hand, and followed.
Tony looked down, and took out a washcloth, holding it out under the sink he turned to the tinies. "So where you two from?"
"... Brooklyn." Steve muttered.
Tony nodded in acknowledgement before passing them the cloth. They took it, and began cleaning themselves up one at a time taking turns to watch him.
"So...are you guys done with your fruit? Can I throw it away?" Tony asked after a few minutes.
"Nn—" Steve was clearly about to say 'No', but Bucky slapped a hand over his mouth.
"We're done." He said.
Tony realized they probably would want to leave as soon as possible. As much as he didn't want to them to go he couldn't keep them. So maybe instead he would give them something to make them want to come back.
"Alright then. I'll clean this up. If you want," he shrugged. "You can come back, and have another one. Plums aren't really my thing so it would be good if they weren't wasted." Tony offered.
It was a struggle to keep the smile off his face when Bucky let his hand drop from Steve's mouth. "Really?" He asked skeptically, yet there was a bit of hope.
"Yeah. Well," Tony dug into his pocket, and took out the knife. "Not a huge fan of plums, and I believe this is yours." He held it out to Bucky who snatched it back after a moment.
Stark smiled, and put his hand up to his head dramatically as if forgetting something. "Oh! I forgot my car keys.... uh I need to go, but I'll leave the basket out in case you want to take something for the road." He moved to head out, but stopped. "My name's Tony by the way. Tony Stark."
Steve bit his lip. "I'm Steve." He nudged Bucky.
"James." Bucky said stiffly.
Tony shook his head chuckling, and with one last look he left the room, and allowed them to make their escape.
When he came back half an hour later, they were indeed gone, as well as a class of grapes.
Stark snickered to himself as he cleaned uo the leftover plum. Even if this was all a dream, it was a good one.
***
A few days passed; Tony still thought of the encounter. He sat in the kitchen nursing a coffee when he heard a voice.
"Hey,..."
Turning his head he saw the two small men from days past. Tony grinned, it wasn't a dream.
