Work Text:
Kate sticks her head out from underneath the bed. “Lucky!” she calls. “Where are the bandanas?”
Lucky, being a dog, doesn’t give her a straight answer. Instead, he gets up and trots over to her, giving her a curious look with his one good eye.
Kate stares at him for a few seconds, then sighs. “Yeah, I don’t know, either. Come on. America will be here soon.”
Lucky follows her out to the kitchen, where the rainbow-striped bandanas are sitting out on the counter, exactly where she left them.
"Please don't tell anyone," Kate says to Lucky as she grabs one and ties it around his neck. "They'll make fun of me forever."
She folds the second bandana into a headband and wraps it around her hair, then checks her phone. There's a text from Clint: have fun oh and also pick me up some brigadeiros from sao paulo if you can!! That makes her laugh.
America shows up a minute later. She looks fantastic in stone washed denim shorts and a lesbian flag-themed T-shirt, horizontal stripes going from orange to white to purple and a big pink star on the front. She leans down to pet Lucky. "Now that's a well-dressed dog."
"It's just for the picture, sadly," Kate says. "The heat and the crowds aren't good for animals."
"You're missing out, Lucky," America tells him. "We'll bring you back some Chicago pizza."
Kate crouches down and snaps a selfie of the three of them, then gives Lucky a goodbye hug. "Be good," she tells him. Then, standing up, she turns to America. "Where to?"
America punches a star portal into Kate's living room, then gestures for Kate to go ahead of her. She winks. "Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."
--
Kate’s been to Pride before with Billy and Teddy, but party-hopping with America Chavez is something else. In the span of three hours, they’ve already checked out celebrations in five different cities throughout the continent (or is it two?). They've marched, shouted, sung, and made friends in three different timezones. Billy and Teddy catch up with them in Guadalajara, where it turns out that Teddy is totally famous. Kate, America, and Billy watch from the side as people practically line up to take selfies with him.
“He’s a legit teen heartthrob,” Kate says incredulously, pushing up her sunglasses onto her forehead to take in the scene. “It’s incredible.”
“He deserves it,” Billy points out. “They should do this everywhere. New York sleeps on him. And yes, I just realized I should have made some sort of ‘city that never sleeps’ pun, but it’s too late now.”
Finally, the selfie line dries up, and America cuts them a new portal. Austin, this time.
By the time they reach New York, Kate feels like she’s been celebrating for days. She should be exhausted, but she must have some sort of hidden well of Pride-inspired energy, because she’s never felt so alive—at least, not without a bow in her hand.
There’s a band playing pop music and there's glitter flying all over and people are dancing in the street. Teddy and Billy start a swing dance that works with the song's rhythm, and America extends her hand to Kate.
America's just as much in her element dancing as she is fighting, and Kate turns her own body over to the music, closing her eyes to feel the music running through her veins.
It feels different today. When Kate attended Pride with Billy and Teddy in previous years, it was clearly as a guest, an ally coming to support her friends. Before, she always tried to be unobtrusive, so as not to steal the show from the people the parades were actually meant for. But today, she’s filled with exuberance, an overwhelming feeling of joy and belonging that she can’t explain.
She opens her eyes catches a glimpse of America and all of a sudden it hits her.
It was always said in jest. Kate has a crush on America...Kate's bi-curious...none of the Young Avengers ads straight. Kate never thought it could be true, because she's never been especially attracted to the soft, beautiful societal ideal of femininity. She could appreciate a beautiful woman, but she's never wanted to get with one before.
But this beautiful woman with her curly hair and her solid muscles and the way that she smiles at her and teases her and always has her back...
She's got a type, Kate realizes, that's all. And America is definitely her type.
And is also her best friend. Oh God, oh God, oh God. You can't fall for your best friend. You especially can't fall for your best friend when you're an unpowered feral runt whose face is always half-covered with band-aids and your best friend is a legend, a superhero from a literal utopia who's basically invulnerable and can create freaking portals with her hands.
"Gotta go to the bathroom," Kate mumbles, barely looking America in the eyes. She rushes off in the direction of the Porta-potties.
helllllp text me back emergency, she writes to Clint, hiding behind an orange stall.
His response is near-instantaneous: you got my brigadeiros?
idiot, she writes back. What if I was fighting doc doom? In fact, she does have his brigadeiros, and she even picked up a few "special" ones that someone was selling at the parade, because she's a good friend, but he doesn't deserve to know that right now.
doom’s live on tv in latveria, Clint answers. what’s up?
i think i like america, Kate types in. She takes a deep breath, hovers her thumb over the Send button, then presses it.
A few seconds later, she adds, LIKE like.
The minute it takes for his reply to come through feels like an eternity. mazeltov!!!!!! 🏳️🌈
She huffs. fine but what do i do??????
in my experience? blow out your ears to save her life, women love that sort of thing
i hope you get eaten by a minotaur, she writes back before tucking her phone back into her pocket and heading back toward her friends. As she gets closer, Kate can see America dancing with Billy and Teddy. No one else is staring, which seems so odd to Kate, because this is clearly the most captivating view in the—
“Oops!”
She bumps into someone, and glitter goes everywhere. All over her clothing, her face, her hair, even down her shirt and into her cleavage.
“I’m so sorry!” Kate says at the same time as the man she’s bumped into. He’s shirtless, rainbow suspenders over yellow body paint that’s now covered in glitter, just like her.
“No, it’s my fault,” she quickly adds.
The guy gives her an easygoing smile. “No harm done. We both sparkle now. Like vampires.”
Kate laughs. She’s about to keep going, but then she stops. “Hey, as a complete stranger, can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
She points to America. “See that girl over there? Do you think she’d ever go for someone like me?”
The guy takes a look at America, then looks back at Kate. “She's a lot hotter than you, but I have to admit, you're kind of endearing in a 'walking disaster' kind of way. That could work for you if she likes that kind of thing. And hey, even if she turns you down, at least you still sparkle.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Kate tells him.
The dancing is over by the time Kate gets back to her friends, but it doesn’t really matter. She’s got heart-eyes on now, and she can’t stop looking with them at America. She knows it’s obvious, especially from the curious little looks that Billy keeps shooting her, but she can’t turn it off, not when she’s finally acknowledging her attraction. It’s like she turned on a switch, and now she’s flooded by the light.
“Hey, Teddy, you feel like getting ice cream?” Billy says suddenly. He doesn’t wait for a response; he grabs Teddy's hand and then they walk off, leaving Kate alone with America.
America gives her an amused look. She knows exactly what Kate’s thinking; it must be written all over Kate’s face. And still, she can’t turn it off.
“You have anything you want to tell me?” America asks, her eyes sparkling.
“Yeah,” Kate deadpans. “Turns out, I’m not that straight.”
America laughs, throwing back her head, and Kate falls a little bit more in love.
“We’ve got to get you some buttons,” America says once she’s stopped laughing. “You weren’t in that bathroom all that long, did you have time to figure out which one you want?”
Kate wants to be smooth and say something like, Yeah, I know which one I want in a sexy Marvin Gaye voice while looking into America’s eyes, but in twenty-one years, no one has ever accused Kate Bishop of being smooth.
America extends her hand and very slowly, giving Kate a chance to pull back, puts her hand on top of Kate’s. “You okay, Princess?” she asks.
Kate’s heart is pounding. “A little nervous.”
America beams at her. “We can take it slow. There’s no rush.”
That gives her the burst of courage she needs. Kate goes in for a kiss, and America meets her there, using her free hand to cradle Kate’s face as their lips meet. America’s lips are soft, and she tastes and smells faintly of the cotton candy they had in Montreal, and she’s so close, they’re kissing and she’s kissing her and she’s kissing her back and Kate cannot believe the amount of euphoria that her soul is able to contain.
America’s breath is warm against her cheek. “I think we’ve got an audience.”
Shyly, Kate turns her head to see her friends cheering and clapping.
“It’s about time!” Billy shouts.
Teddy adds, “Kiss her again!”
Kate takes America’s face in her hands and does.