“You’re really gonna make me wear these again?” Bucky’s voice rumbles low, somewhere between exasperated and resigned as he stands in the doorway, holding up the infamous duck-print pajama pants by the waistband. The ducks are smiling. Bucky is not.

You’re already curled up on the couch in your matching button-up set yellow, cartoon duckies everywhere, ridiculously cute and your grin only gets wider when you see the look on his face. You pat the spot beside you.

“They’re clean,” he mutters. “I folded ‘em. That should’ve been enough.” But he’s already pulling them on with a sigh and walking over, grumbling under his breath about “bright colors” and “losing all intimidation in this house.”

He sinks into the couch beside you and immediately pulls the blanket over your legs, his arm going around your shoulders like it always does. His jaw twitches when he hears your laugh. That laugh. Damn it. He’d wear fifty pairs of ducky pants if it meant hearing that sound.

The first time you bought them“just for fun!” he swore he’d never wear them. That lasted two movie nights. Now it’s become a ritual: movie night equals ducky night. Doesn’t matter if it’s a team meeting the next morning or a mission briefing at dawn if it’s ducky night, Bucky is in those pants.

And then came Sam.

Caught him once during a FaceTime call just a glimpse of yellow in the frame and it was over.

“Barnes. Are those DUCKS?!”

Bucky didn’t even flinch. Didn’t try to hide them. Just took a slow sip of his coffee and said, “It makes them happy.” And then had to sit through ten minutes of Wilson trying not to cry from laughing.

Now Sam brings it up constantly.

Calls him “Ducky” over comms. Sends duck emojis in the group chat. Even bought him duck-themed slippers for Christmas last year.

Still, every time the popcorn’s popped and the lights are low, Bucky shows up in those ridiculous pants like clockwork. Because even if he won’t say it out loud, he knows what it means

It’s softness. It’s safety. It’s home. And you grinning like sunshine in a matching set are worth looking like a complete idiot for.