Chapter Text
Clint Barton was frustrated. Frustrated and cranky, but he was trying not to show it because every time he displayed any mildly negative emotions, Tony made some jackass comment about how he was a typical teenager. He was lying on the couch thinking about how much he wanted a glass of water but couldn't get one partially because he had two broken legs, and partially because when he'd been told he could return to the tower Nat had positioned him on the couch and wrapped him so tight in a blanket he could hardly breathe, let alone move. Part of him thought that she'd wrapped him so tight so that he wouldn't try to get up and walk on his broken limbs, and the other part thought maybe she'd done it so he wouldn't sign swear words at anyone who walked past him with a pitying look. The latter being what he very much wanted to do at the moment. He sighed, thinking about how in a perfect world he'd be drinking a glass of water, and maybe in a really perfect world he'd be heading off to Belize with Nat for their next mission. Right on cue, the assassin walked into the communal living room wearing her uniform, and carrying a water bottle and granola bar. He smiled at her, feeling suddenly very content as she sat the food and drink on the table in front of him and helped him into a sitting position. She unscrewed the cap from the bottle and handed it to him.
"I figured you'd be thirsty" She said, raising her eyebrows as her partner downed the drink in one go. He gulped, giving her only a nod. God he loved her sometimes. "I've got to leave soon, but is there anything else you need before I head out?"
"Can you grab my hearing aids? they're in their charging doc." She left the room, to return only moments later with Clint's now charged aids. He muttered a grateful thanks as he popped them in. She gave him a warm smile and brushed her fingers through his hair.
"Okay, now I really have to go. Good luck." Clint knew she was referencing being stuck in a house with Tony for weeks without her, he smiled weakly at the prospect of it. She departed after that with a case full of weapons.
The moment she left the room, Steve walked in. He was carrying a sketchbook and some pencils. He settled himself carefully on the couch next to Clint so not to hurt the archer, and gave the water bottle in Clint's hands a nasty look. Clint bit back a smirk remembering that the only reason Tony bought the bottles was so that every time anyone had a drink of water, he could point to the lid in their hands and say,
"Hey look Cap! It's you!" A lot of things in the Stark tower had caps nowadays for that specific reason.
"Hey, Barton. How're you feeling?" Clint shrugged,
"A little sore, but I've been through worse." The captain nodded looking thoughtful for a moment, before his eyes lit up with something akin to realization.
"I almost forgot! Bruce told me to give this to you." He flipped open his sketchbook to reveal a magazine of some sort he'd tucked inside. He tossed it to the archer who caught it with his swift reflexes. Upon further inspection it looked like one of those science journals Bruce always had in tow. He furrowed his brow at the captain, who shrugged in response, "He said there's an article about the physics of archery in there. He thought you might like it." Clint tried to hold down a blush as he set the magazine on the table. He cleared his throat in an attempt to fill the silence,
"Um, yeah. maybe I'll read it later." He flicked on the tv, trying to feign casualness, while inside his head was a flurry of thoughts. He was silently praying that Steve didn't think his reaction to the journal was weird. He flicked his eyes over the the man who was already sketching in his book and generally looking like he hadn't given Clint's uncomfortable reaction a second thought, and held in a breath of relief. The Avengers had grown closer to Clint, and had already learned more about him than he'd've liked, but they didn't get to know this.