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“This is the weirdest cat in the world,” Tony says happily as they watch Alpine go splashing into another puddle of muddy water.
The lingering scent of rain hangs over the city streets, muffling everything else for a moment, and Bucky drags in another deep lungful of air as Alpine dashes off to the next puddle. Her white fur is already soaked in muddy water halfway up her tiny body, splattering all over the sidewalk and their legs as she leaps from one puddle into the next.
“I can’t decide if it’s weirder that she does this, or that she lets you give her a bath afterwards,” Tony continues, shifting the leash into his other hand as Alpine darts around them and nearly tangles them all up.
“She didn’t used to ‘let’ me bathe her,” Bucky says with a snort, “that was a whole other battle that I barely survived.”
“You were not almost defeated by a ball of fluff,” Tony says with a laugh that brings a wide smile to Bucky’s face, and he happily launches into the story as they continue wandering the post-storm streets of the city.
When Tony comes to an abrupt stop it pulls Bucky to a stop too, his arm still wound tightly around Tony's waist.
“Look look,” Tony says excitedly, leaning into Bucky’s side a little more heavily to make sure he has Bucky’s attention, and Bucky obediently turns his gaze up to the sky where Tony is looking.
There’s a large, double rainbow across the sky, stretched almost perfectly between two tall buildings, and Bucky feels his eyes widen slightly as he takes it in. He turns to Tony and instead finds himself staring at empty air for a second because Tony is in the middle of bending down to scoop Alpine into his arms, muddy puddle water and all.
“Well now you both need a bath,” Bucky says with a sign, and then something occurs to him and he demands “is that my jacket?”
“Of course it is,” Tony says dismissively, most of his attention on spinning slightly in place and trying to point Alpine’s face at the rainbows.
She’s more interested in trying to climb up onto his shoulder though, and Bucky can’t even pretend to be annoyed when he’s too busy laughing at the perfect brown paw print on Tony’s cheek.
“She deserves to see this!” Tony insists and when Alpine finally settles into his arms he tips her up a little to make sure she has a good view.
“Can cats even see color?” Bucky asks, looking up to admire the sky again himself.
“You should know that, she’s your cat!” Tony says with a laugh.
Bucky turns to look at him, a half formed accusation that she likes Tony more anyways already on his lips, but then his eyes land on Tony’s face and he loses all his words. Tony’s smile is small, but so real that it takes Bucky’s breath away, lighting up Tony’s eyes as he begins explaining light refraction to Bucky’s mud soaked cat.
For several long seconds Bucky can’t breathe. He can’t do anything but stare, his throat tight as warmth spreads through his chest, through his entire body.
There’s no telling how long they stand there before Alpine decides she’s had enough and hops down to go find the next puddle, but Bucky can’t tear his eyes away from Tony’s face until Tony gives him a warm grin and pulls him back into motion.
