One of the realest, truest traits of the relationship he and Steve had shared for nearly a century was that neither of them was willing to give up the other. Even when the situation was dire -- Steve stuck on one end of a burning building and Bucky refusing to leave without him; "No, not without you!" -- Bucky a brainwashed killing machine beating the life out of Steve; "You know me." -- Or now, having to rework what was there into something else because things, and they, had changed. They weren't willing to just let go of each other. They had to heal, it was taking time, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel and they were getting there. They'd started that journey at their separate corners but now they had to come out of it together, side by side, like they always had with everything in life.
In an ideal world, yes, they would be able to talk about their significant others like it was no big deal. 'You'll never guess what Clint said in his sleep last night..' But they weren't quite there yet. They weren't in the ideal, but they'd manage. And they weren't going to get there by avoiding it. They needed to go get that drink. Bucky needed Steve to fill in those gaps of years where he'd been on the run and before that, to learn about Steve and Tony. He wanted those puzzle pieces. And maybe one day he'd mend things with Stark. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to. But he'd told Stark to get his shit together with Steve first and it looked like they had. So maybe it was time. Or the time was really near where he and Stark needed to have a conversation.
Baby steps.
They needed to get that drink first.
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Real soon. How 'bout this weekend?"