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Disclaimer: I don’t own Marvel comics or characters or movies, and am making no money off of this fic.
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Reasons by luvsanime02
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Normally, Bucky’s not happy about Clint being in pain. Well, nonconsensual pain. It’s not like he’s exactly happy about Clint being in pain right now, either, but. Well. For one thing, Clint’s not in pain anymore because he’s high on painkillers. For another, there’s a difference between Clint’s normal levels of injuries, and this.
When Clint started complaining of a toothache, neither of them really thought much about it. Clint called a dentist, and then Natasha was over at their apartment later, which ended up being a very good thing because she caught the big pan holding their chicken that was to be roasted for dinner. Not that Bucky gave a damn about the chicken after Clint passed out while trying to help make dinner, but Clint would have felt guilty about something like that for weeks. At least Bucky could honestly tell him later that dinner wasn’t ruined.
They’d carried Clint to Natasha’s car, taken him to the nearest ER, and found out that one of Clint’s teeth had abscessed and was infected, of all things. Bucky didn’t think teeth could ever hurt that badly, but if the pain was enough to knock Clint on his ass, then Bucky just hoped that his own teeth remained in decent condition.
Point is, Clint’s injury wasn’t anything serious this time, nothing life-threatening, and once he got started on the antibiotics and painkillers, everything was fine. The tooth’s gone, and Bucky is riding in the back of Natasha’s car on their way back to the apartment, and they’ll cook the chicken when they arrive, and everything will be fine.
Everything except for the high-as-a-kite Clint Barton slumped against Bucky’s side. “I have a confession to make,” Clint says. His words are slurred, courtesy of the painkillers, eyes almost comically wide. “I- I’m super queer and hopelessly in love with you.”
“I. I know… We’re engaged, sweetheart,” Bucky mutters. He wills his cheeks not to darken, and refuses to look forward and meet Natasha’s amused look. She’s eyeing him in the rearview mirror, Bucky knows.
“‘Kay,” Clint whispers, rubbing his head along Bucky’s arm. It’s kind of cute, like a cat seeking attention. Automatically, Bucky runs his fingers through Clint’s hair in a soothing motion. Clint sighs, and Bucky can’t fight the soft smile that appears on his face.
“We’re almost back home,” he says, trying to subtly encourage Clint to take a short nap. It would probably help with Clint’s rambling. It’s a good thing that Bucky and Natasha are the only two people in the car. Who knows how Clint would react to knowing that he was talking uncontrollably in front of anyone else?
No, that’s not being fair. Actually, Bucky doubts that Clint would let himself talk at all in front of very many other people. Certainly not anyone who he didn’t trust entirely.
“We’re getting married?” Clint asks suddenly. Bucky’s not sure if he’s asking because he doesn’t remember, or if he means right this second.
“Eventually,” Bucky answers, still petting Clint’s hair. “We’re getting married in a few months.” That should cover all his bases.
Sure enough, Clint grows quiet. Of course, then he starts snoring softly a moment later, so perhaps he was just falling asleep and didn’t hear Bucky’s answer at all.
Natasha gives Bucky a blessed two minutes of total silence before she clears her throat pointedly. “So, you guys picked a date finally?” she asks.
Bucky and Clint have been engaged for about five months now, and everyone’s been asking them about their plans for the wedding. For the most part, they’ve both responded with shrugs. They’ll figure it out when they need to.
Still, Bucky nods. “March 18th,” he answers. It’s not a special date or anything, for either of them. Just a random day. They’ll make it special, though. That’s pretty much their thing.
Natasha nods. “Alright,” she says agreeably. “And the best man?”
Bucky groans, because Natasha and Steve have been arguing about that ever since the engagement was announced, and apparently, saying ‘both?’ hadn’t been an acceptable response. Bucky refuses to touch that competition with a ten-foot pole.
“Oh look, we’re home,” he says, opening the car door before Natasha’s even fully stopped and already starting to wake Clint up again.
Natasha rolls her eyes at him, but mercifully, she lets it go. For now.
Bucky’s only too happy to focus on his high fiance instead, for many reasons. When Clint blinks his eyes open and smiles unthinkingly at Bucky, well, that’s reason number one right there.