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“Babe, could you bring me my toothbrush…with some toothpaste on it?” Bucky was toweling off after his shower when he heard you call him from the bedroom. Wrapping the towel around his waste he went to the door and just looked at you.
“Please?” You said, looking quite comfortable laid out on the bed with a giant black and white cat on your chest.
“Doll, you are not brushing your teeth in bed.”
“But he’s so comfy cozy! He’s purring!”
“Doll, he’s a cat, he’ll be just as comfy on the bed.”
“But he’s my weighted therapy cat remember? He soothes me!” The cat readjusted his legs and half your face was no longer visible.
Bucky chuckled and walked over, reaching out for the cat, “Come on big guy, you can sleep over here.”
You pouted all the way to the bathroom.
“Doll, I’m sorry, the mission is taking longer than we thought, we’ll be back as soon as we can.” He hated seeing you cry. It had been over two weeks since he’d been home, but they had to finish this.
“I know, I just miss you and I worry about you.” She sniffled and tried her best to smile at him. He knew her anxiety sometimes got the better of her. She cared about him, and the team, so much. It’s part of why he fell in love with her.
“I love-.”
“Mrow.” He heard Alpine the cat in the background.
“How does he-?”
“Mrow.” The meows were louder now, and he could make out a distinct purring noise through the phone.
“I keep telling you, he’s my weighted therapy cat, he knows I’m worried about you too.”
“I just wante-.”
“Mrow.”
“Come o-.”
“Mrow.”
“I think he thinks you’re making me cry baby. You’d better go, I love you.” She was laughing a little, which was better than crying he supposed.
“I love-.” “Mrow.” “-you too!”
“Doll, why do you watch this if it makes you cry?” You were snuggled into his side, sniffling quietly at the movie.
“Because it’s beautiful!” You nearly sobbed and buried your face in his chest.
“Mrow.” Alpine came trotting in at the sound of your voice, choked up with tears. The black and white furball hopped on the sofa and across her lap.
“Hi sweet boy, I’m okay.” He settled in your lap and you relaxed into Bucky more. A moment later he could hear you snoring quietly.
“Huh.”
You were away with Tony for some tech conference. He hated when you had to be away overnight, his nightmares always came back without you there.
This night was no exception. The clock read after four a.m. when he sat up panting and sweating after dreaming about his time as the Winter Soldier. It felt so real again, he had no control. Trapped in his own mind, forced to obey and hurt all those innocent people.
“Mrow.” Alpine sat up from where he’d been asleep on your side of the bed.
“Heh, you worried about me too?” Bucky reached out to pet the cat’s ears and startled when Alpine climbed into his lap, purring.
“Mrow.” The cat looked up at him and did not settle, just stared expectantly.
“What?”
“Mrow.” Alpine rubbed his face against Bucky’s chest, pushing against him with his head.
“Seriously?” But Bucky relented anyway and laid back on the bed. “Fine, I mean, you ARE really soft.”
Bucky’s hand kept petting the cat along it’s back as he moved up to settle in on Bucky’s chest. He could feel the reverberations of the animal’s purring in his ribs, his lungs, his heart.
“Okay…I kind of see why she lets you do this.” Alpine closed his eyes and kept purring.
The next morning you walked into the bedroom, home early after Tony deemed the conference too amateur for likes of him.
There on the bed, sleeping peacefully were your two favorite boys, Alpine curled up on Bucky’s chest.
“I told him, weighted therapy cat…”