The Coffee Shop Girl ~ Bucky Barnes

Chapter 19

Katia bustled around the room as Natasha curled up in an armchair and Bucky perched awkwardly on the edge of a chair, not particularly liking the way the enormous fluffy white cat sitting on the arm of his chair was looking at him. It was a judgemental stare, the sort which kind of made him want to move immediately, but that would be stupid, because it wasn't like this cat had any power over him...of course not.

He glanced up, scowling slightly as he realised that Natasha was smirking in his direction, clearly recognising his plight and feeling none too sympathetic about it. He supposed she must also have dealt with the ire of this cat more than once, though it didn't make him feel much better.

"You know, if Seraphina is bothering you, you could just move her," Natasha suggested, a mischievous glint filling her eyes which Bucky didn't entirely like.

Katia's laughter rang through the small flat, though she did not pause in what she was doing. "You could certainly try."

Bucky eyed the cat beside him, who had not moved since he had sat down, her fluffy tail swishing from side to side as though she was determining whether she should pounce or not.

"I'm good," Bucky decided, discreetly shifting away from the cat very slightly, though it was obvious that Natasha did not miss his movement.

"You can stroke her if you like, she'll come round to you," Katia suggested and Bucky watched the cat for a moment, determining if it was worth the risk of the animal attacking him.

Almost a minute passed before he hesitantly reached out his hand, moving slowly as the cat's pale eyes watched his every move, analysing what he was doing. His fingers rested lightly over the long fluff, which was even softer than it looked, and immediately began to twist through it, stroking down her back.

The cat did not move for a moment and Bucky started to wonder if she really was about to claw him, but then her eyes blinked shut and she rested her head on her paws, allowing him to scratch her softly behind the ear and continue running his hand over her fur. Bucky let out a soft sigh of relief, settling more comfortably into the chair and relaxing his hand. The cat's piercing eyes immediately flickered open once more, daring him to stop in his movements. Bucky quickly returned to stoking her, ignoring the snicker which came from Natasha as she watched his moment of silent panic.

"Here you go," Katia said, stopping beside Bucky and carefully placing a mug on the table beside him. For a moment, Bucky thought it might be coffee and wondered why she was providing him with even more caffeine when he had consumed more than a couple of mugs at the café. This theory was quickly disproved however as Katia sat down on a sofa nearby and smiled across at him.

"It's camomile tea," She told him. "It helps with nightmares."

Bucky wondered for a moment exactly how Katia had worked out that this was what had been bothering him all morning, but he reminded himself almost immediately that she worked in a café run for war vets, so there were bound to be more than a few people who displayed the same sorts of tells which he did, or perhaps it was just that she had heard from someone else in the Compound how much trouble he had been having with sleeping recently.

"Thanks," He muttered under his breath, though he knew Katia must have heard it as she nodded softly before taking a seat on the armchair across from him, curling her legs up beneath her as she took a sip from her own mug.

"So, Natalia, tell me what's going on at the Compound?" Katia prompted after a few moments, her chin resting lightly on her hand as she waited for the woman to respond.

"Not a great deal, to be honest, everything's been rather dull." Natasha told her, fingers tapping out a repetitive rhythm on her leg as she glanced over at Bucky.