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Clint's hands were sweating cold – there was a tension running through his body that left him feeling strangely disarmed. Barton was not someone who was necessarily tense, but there was something new about introducing someone he loved to those who had become, whether he liked it or not, his family.
Marc seemed to notice that nervousness. Tentatively, the vigilante wrapped the archer's hands in his own, squeezing lightly. "What is troubling you, Clint?" he asked - however, the voice that reached his ears was Steven's.
His dear Steven, always worried.
The archer didn't know but, internally, each of his boyfriends was fighting for control, for the urgency to remedy their need to care for and protect Clint from whatever was bothering him. At that moment, however, it was Grant who kept (with much effort) his hands on the wheel, figuratively speaking.
"I'm... anxious, that's all," the blond replied, squeezing Steven's hand back. The brit smiled slightly, glad that Barton trusted him to confess what was going on inside his mind.
It was interesting how that relationship worked out. The moon system and their archer boyfriend. The archer and his moons. A delicate harmony that worked within its own chaos.
There was nothing to be afraid of... right? Clint didn't know why he was so tense about the idea of taking his boyfriends out for a night on the Avengers campus. It seemed like... a big but natural step.
"Are you worried about Lucky? He'll be fine, Layla is careful and loves animals," Steven said, trying to comfort him. Barton couldn't help but smile.
"I trust her. Anyone who takes care of three little moons can take care of a Lucky," he replied, and at that moment it was Steven who smiled at him. It was a good sign to see Clint making jokes.
"I'll pretend you didn't compare us to a dog, cariño," the big change in accent happened once again, gracing Clint with Jake's presence. "¿Qué te pasa?" the cab driver insisted a little more.
Barton sighed heavily, giving himself away. Maybe it really would be better if he opened up frankly with his boyfriends. Maybe... he would find some understanding.
Lockley's brown eyes watched him intently.
"I'm a little... I'm anxious about tonight. They might be a little... too much. I don't want them to scare you or make you uncomfortable."
Jake could feel something warm fill his heart - enough to make his practical instincts somewhat clouded by the feelings Lockley avoided naming. "You love him," Khonshu said, stating the obvious that Jake (unlike Steven and even Marc) sought to escape. Marc and Steven exchanged a look, with a short smile. There was no discomfort or jealousy there, but acceptance. Relief, even. They shared the same passion that showed itself equally passionate for all three of them.
"Clint, my archer... your friends can't scare us," he began. Jake, receiving a disapproving look from Grant through the reflection in the window, "We are here because we love you. Because you are important to us. I can sense, however, that we will have much in common. Don't worry, archer, it will be fun," he finished, bringing his lips to the top of Clint's head, leaving an affectionate kiss against the smooth strands.
The archer nodded, trying to hold on to Jake's words that this would be a good afternoon.
***
Any anxious idealization he had had not prepared him for that moment. Sam watched slightly intrigued as Jake and Bucky talked excitedly about their youth in Brooklyn at different times in the twentieth century - the stories, the places... similarities that, while captivating Barton, surprised him. Bucky really was making great strides in recovering his memories, and while he was proud of the sergeant, Clint recognized in Sam's careful look a certain caution.
Yelena and Kate, meanwhile, seemed too busy arguing over the last slice of pizza, which by then had been stolen by Echo and America Chavez, who soon walked away from the two with their prize, ready to divide it between themselves.
The sight of the long table full of his friends brought a certain comfort to Barton. Sure, there were people missing, but only physically. The archer could feel Natasha's presence there, in Yelena and, in a way, also in Kate. Their friendship was often reminiscent of his own with the late Black Widow.
He could feel Steve there, in the figure of Sam and Bucky. For much more than a shield of vibranium, but in the friendship the two offered not only to each other, but to everyone there.
In a way, everyone he loved was there as enamored by his moons as he was himself. At one point, while talking to Kate about her and Yelena's impasse, Marc stole his attention from across the room.
"I love you, arrow," he signaled, with the name sign that Echo had given him.
Before he could respond to his boyfriends, Clint saw her grimace. "Cheesy," she signed, drawing a giggle from both of them.
Yeah, something told him that his boyfriends would fit into that group of misfits.