The Coffee Shop Girl ~ Bucky Barnes

Chapter 2

Almost a week had passed since Natalia had brought the stranger to meet her, and Katia had begun to think he wasn't coming back when she heard a hesitant voice break through the continuous chatter of the café.

"Hello, I don't mean to disturb you." His words were deliberate, as though he had spent a while determining what he was going to say before entering the building. She did not recognise his voice at first and so smiled kindly in his general direction and asked him to clarify.

"You might have to remind me who you are," She said, feeling slightly bad in the knowledge that he didn't seem all that comfortable talking. "I'm afraid I don't know your voice yet and I can't put a name to your face obviously."

"I'm Bucky, I was hear with Natasha last week." He told her, almost hesitant in answering in a way she was all too familiar with. A lot of the war veterans no longer knew who they could trust, so giving out information like names was often difficult for them. Knowing that the best thing she could do was continue as though she hadn't noticed his wariness, she responded with a bright smile.

"Of course you are, is Natalia here with you today?" She asked, surprised that she had not heard the redhead yet.

"Yeah, she's just trying to park the car I think." Bucky muttered, clearly beginning to feel uncomfortable out in public without the other assassin there to help.

"Well, you can take a seat and wait for her, or I can take your order now if you want." Katia offered, able to feel how tense he was, even if she couldn't see his face. "I am sure Natalia wouldn't mind."

"Can I just have what I had last week?" Bucky asked, hesitating before adding. "It was the best coffee I can remember ever having."

"Sure thing." Katia smiled once more as she got to work, picking up a cup, carefully adding the coffee granules, and listening as she filled it with boiling water.

Setting it back on the counter-top, she picked up a spoon, but dropped it once more when she heard Bucky's voice once more.

"How do you do that?" He asked, before seeming to notice Katia's startled expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." This was almost muttered, and Katia could tell how guilty he felt.

"No, you're fine." She dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand. "I just hadn't realised you were still standing there. You might need to repeat the question."

"How do you fill the cups without spilling the water? Given that you can't see them I mean." Katia smiled, being used to answering the question as it was something that made many people curious.

"I have pretty good spatial awareness, plus I've become used to the sound of the water as it fills, and I know roughly the right amount of time it takes to fill a cup. I wouldn't be able to do it if someone brought in their own mug, but I know these ones well enough to manage."

At that moment, Katia heard the familiar footsteps as her best friend crossed the room. "Natalia." She cried, knowing she was right as she heard the familiar laugh break out from the woman.

"Katia." Natalia replied, flashing the brunette woman a brilliant smile, though she couldn't see it. "How are you?"

"Pretty spiffy, thank you." Katia grinned. "Bucky and I were just talking about how I can't handle other mugs."

A mischievous look entered Natasha's expression at this statement. "Did you tell him about Stark?"

"Not yet." Katia told her, before turning to face where she was fairly sure Bucky was still standing. "It wasn't all my fault, to be fair. I told Tony that I couldn't fill other mugs but he insisted that he had to have one with an Iron Man design."