InsaneJournal

Who: Kate Bishop (Hawkeye) and Clint Barton (Hawkguy)
When: After this voice mail and text messages
Where: Kate’s Place
What: Ordering Pizza, taking care of the drunk Kate
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete


It wasn’t like Kate was that drunk. It was her stupid phone that was making all of those typos. And there weren’t even that many, anyway. She was good. She was drinking her water. She was feeling fine.

But then Clint was coming over. The Princess Bride was a little less than half way through when Kate finally conceded that he and Lucky could come by. That made her climb up from her sofa, glance frantically around her tiny apartment, and start tidying. A bit. She just wanted to get any underwear off the backs of chairs.

Then she got distracted eating chips and salsa in the kitchen.

Clint stood outside Kate’s door and knocked loudly. His phone was in hand in case he needed to call her to wake her up. Lucky’s leash was looped loosely around his wrist. The dog didn’t especially want to be going out, but he didn’t want to be leaving him at home in case he spent the night.

Not that he was planning on it.

So, alright, Kate was a grown woman and she would probably be fine without someone to check on her. But she’d also left him a voicemail, and he wanted to know just how much of that voicemail she remembered leaving.

“Jussamihute!” Kate called out through a bite of chip. She set the jar of salsa down on the counter (she’d been eating straight from the jar. What?) and moved quickly to the front door. Of course, it didn’t occur to her that the man on the other side couldn’t hear when she called out to him.

She pulled the door open and was about to greet Clint when she saw Lucky. Before saying anything to Clint, she bent down and took hold of the dog’s ears with both hands. “Whoosapup? WhoosaPuppy?” She scratched his ears and petted him enthusiastically.

...yeah, sure, Kate wasn’t that drunk.

Clint frowned a little at her, and leaned down to unclip Lucky’s leash from his harness, so he knew that he was off the clock.

“Alright there, Katie?”

“What? I’m fine.” Kate said, turning her attention up to him. He was far too handsome for his own good. Scruffy, tall, built. God Damnit.

“I’m drinking water and everything.” Dog momentarily forgotten, she stood to let them both into her apartment.

Lucky slunk past Kate’s legs and Clint followed, shutting the door behind him before he studied her.

He’d put in the hearing aid before he’d left, since he figured if Kate was leaving him voicemails, she wasn’t going to remember he was basically deaf, and it was a good thing he did, since she wasn’t really making it easy to understand her.

“Good,” he praised, staying close to the door, not entirely sure where she wanted him. “How long since you last ate something?”

“Uhhh,” Kate scrunched up her eyebrows and started to count on her fingers. She closed the door behind him and led the way into her tiny kitchen. The place was nice--fairly big, and furnished fashionably--but the kitchen was tiny. Kate didn’t do a lot of cooking.

“Six o’clock?” She said, finally. “Except the chips. Ooh, want some?” She asked, moving back to the jar of salsa.

It was past midnight now.

At least she was eating chips.

Clint followed Kate into the kitchen, only realizing how small it was when he was already inside, and closer to Kate than he’d intended to be. “I’m good. Thanks. You sure want something more substantial? Pizza or something?” He wasn’t convinced there was anything in the house other than chips, at this point.

There was ketchup in the fridge. Maybe. Probably past its expiration date.

“Pizza? Ooh. Yeah.” Was there somewhere that delivered this late? Probably. There was no way that Kate was leaving the apartment, though. She put the top on the jar of salsa and turned around to put it in the fridge. But the turning set her off balance, and she stumbled straight into Clint’s chest. Oh, the silly drunken girl.

Clint’s reflexes had been pretty good to start with, but since he’d started dreaming, they’d gotten better, somehow. His hands came up immediately, for balance, when she’d bumped her foot against his and tripped.

He smiled a little, hands staying on her shoulders, though they probably didn’t need to. “...careful there, girly girl.”

Kate gave a little laugh, one hand coming up to press against his chest. She stood upright carefully, but didn’t back away. Her hand lingered there. “Sorry.” She grinned as she looked up at him.

“It’s fine,” he said softly, and then, finally, lowered his hands, and took a step back. “I’ll find us a pizza,” he said, and pulled out his phone. They had apps for this.

Kate exhaled deeply, then turned to put the salsa in the fridge. It was pretty bare bones. Ketchup, coffee creamer, leftover take-out Chinese boxes. She closed the door again, then wandered out of the kitchen to go looking for Lucky.

“Here, Boy?” She said, moving into the living room. “Hey, Lucky? Where’d you go?”

Lucky had found a cool spot by the AC vent, and was currently sacked out, though he lifted his head when Kate called his name.

Lazy bum.

Clint thumbed through the app, keeping an eye on Kate and Lucky, and then punched in her address, ordering a plain cheese that would be here within 30 minutes, if the app was to be believed.

“So...you had fun tonight?” he asked, keeping his tone light. “Hot date?”

“Oh, yeah. So hot.” Kate settled on the floor next to Lucky, calling out to him over her shoulder. “Her name’s Veronica.”

“Veronica,” Clint repeated, and wandered into the living room. He hadn’t known that Kate was, as they say, equal opportunity, but it didn’t surprise him either. “There going to be a second date?”

Kate turned to glance up at him. She’d been joking. Really. But the idea that he was… interested? Well, her drunken mind wanted to use that to her advantage. Or something. She couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her lips. “Maybe.”

Clint smiled a little at that, and laughed quietly. “Good for you, Katie girl.”

Kate let out a bark of laughter. Much like the kind that Lucky would have given if he had a human voice. A female human voice. “She’s not my type, Clint.” She said, bringing her eyes to his smile for a moment before flicking them back up to his. “Besides, I sort of have a crush on someone else.”

“Because she’s a woman or some other reason?” Clint was admittedly curious. Feeling awkward standing when Kate was lying on the floor, he made his way over to the couch, where he could see both her and Lucky, and put his feet up.

Kate rolled over and leaned back on her elbows, looking up at him. This caused her hands to leave Lucky’s fur, which seemed to upset the dog. His tail started thumping against her side, as if trying to get her attention again. “Hmm. Now that’s a question.” She responded, raising her eyebrows. “Are you poking around to find out if I’m gay?”

Clint blinked at her, his expression innocent, betrayed by the slight smirk at the corners of his mouth, and he crossed the distance to crouch next to her, reaching out to pet Lucky. “Not worried about that. I already know you like men, Katie,” he replied.

Kate’s hand came over to rest on his knee. Warm against the fabric of his pants. “I like some men more than others.” Her words were followed by a drunken, flirtatious eyebrow raise and small smirk.

“...ah.” Clint covered her hand with his and squinted a little as he studied her, judging her sobriety. “They like you too,” he admitted, quietly. How could he not like Kate when she was so strong, and vibrant? “...but tonight, they’re just going to make sure you’re alright.”

“I’m all right,” Kate insisted. His hand was warm on top of hers, too. Funny how those little details were so comforting. “Didn’t I say I was all right when I called? Water. I’m drinking my water. Or, I would be if I remembered where I put it.”

“And I’m just going to make sure,” Clint repeated. He patted her hand comfortingly before standing, and smiled. “C’mon, Katie-girl. Let’s get you settled. Pizza’s on its way.”

“Mmm. Pizza.” Kate could think of a few things she’d rather do than eat pizza. Especially with her present company. She watched Clint for a moment, eyes unfocused, then sighed, and climbed to her feet. “I’ll put a movie on.”

Clint nodded and watched her, prepared to offer assistance if she was unsteady, but she seemed to be fine as she crossed the small living room. Lucky looked no better as he heaved himself to his feet, padding beside her--training stronger than the urge to sleep. At least he hoped it was training, and not something innate that made Lucky choose Kate over himself.
Eh, who was he kidding? He’d pick Kate over himself too.