imaginebucky:

The party was going well enough, Bucky supposed.  The decorations were on the obnoxious side, but it was pretty tame for a Tony Stark Partyä.  Only the Avengers and a dozen or so of SHIELD’s finest had been invited.  He had a feeling Steve or Sam (maybe both) had talked Tony down a bit, for which he was grateful.

An agent clapped Bucky on the shoulder.  Probably only his closest friends would have noticed the flinch or the way his smile was starting to strain.  He was getting better, a lot better, with physical contact (Sam and Steve were to thank for that), but that was maybe the tenth time someone had touched him unexpectedly.

Bucky took a deep breath.  Stay calm.  Everything is fine.

Tony grinned at him from across the room.  Bucky smiled and waved back.

Was the music louder now?  The heavy bass was starting to echo uncomfortably inside his head and he felt too hot.  Maybe he needed to sit down for a bit.

He was relieved to see that no one was sitting on the couch.  Probably everyone was mingling.  He settled on the couch with a sigh.  A heavy weight immediately settled on his lap with a complaining mrow.  Bucky looked down in suprise at the disgruntled face of Bartholomew, the large, black-striped tabby cat that he and Steve had adopted a few weeks before.  Bartholomew was an older cat from the pound, so he tended to be rather aloof, preferring to observe his humans from a dignified distance.

The surprisingly heavy cat meowed noisily and kneaded at his thighs.  Carefully, Bucky scratched the cat behind his ears.

A sudden bang echoed through the apartment and laughter rippled through the guests.  All but one.

Bucky, frozen still, was trying to remember Sam’s advice.  Stay calm.  Take deep breaths.  He was trying but it felt like his throat had swollen shut.  The music didn’t sound so loud anymore; surely everyone in the room could hear his heartbeat trying to escape from his chest.

Bartholomew meowed loudly and kneaded his legs again, this time with his claws.  Bucky gasped slightly, startled from his frozen state by the small pinpricks of pain.  His hand, still resting on the cat’s head, started to tremble violently.  The cat blinked at him slowly, then started bumping his head against Bucky’s shaking hand.  Mechanically, Bucky forced his hand to move, stroking the cat’s lovely fur.  Bartholomew purred loudly in response.

When Steve came over to check on him, his heart rate had slowed back down to normal, and only a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead gave any hint that anything had ever been wrong.