This is my first comic-verse fic, so I would love some feedback on characterization. Let me know what you think!
"Happy Valentine's Day!"
Kate Bishop was a hoodie-clad blur as she skidded into the kitchen, sporting a huge grin. She sat down at the kitchen table and beamed at her startled mentor.
"Gosh, is it Valentine's Day already?" Clint Barton said. He glanced at the calendar that hung on the wall. "Hey, you're right – Happy Valentine's Day!"
"I'm meeting Sean today," Kate went on excitedly, referring to her boyfriend. "He said he'd take me out on Valentine's Day. I've been waiting for this day since, like, last Valentine's Day!" She reached for the coffee mug Clint had slid her and raised it to her lips.
"Well, that's great!" Clint tried to sound more enthusiastic than he felt.
Kate noticed his tone right away and looked up. "Hey, Clint… do you have a date tonight?"
"'Course not," Clint said with affected nonchalance, getting a cup of yogurt out of the fridge. "I don't have a girlfriend."
Kate rolled her eyes. "You don't need to have a girlfriend to ask someone out on Valentine's Day. You can just ask someone out for the day."
"You can?" Clint asked doubtfully.
"Sure, I do it all the time," Kate replied, reaching for a banana.
"If you say so." Clint took a gulp of coffee straight out of the pitcher.
"Ask Natasha Romanoff out," Kate suggested casually.
Clint almost spit out his coffee. "What? No!"
"Why not?" Kate challenged, her eyes twinkling with fun.
"Well, because I – I mean, she – well – she might not want to," Clint stammered, blushing a little.
Kate shrugged. "Ask her and find out."
"I couldn't do that," Clint said quickly. He ducked his head self-consciously on the pretense of getting a spoon out of the drawer.
"Why not?" Kate stood up and stepped toward him. "You've had a crush on her forever, and this is the perfect opportunity to make the first move."
Clint managed a few unintelligible syllables.
"And I'm not around her a ton, but from what I've seen, I think she likes you, too," Kate added.
Clint froze. "What."
Kate shrugged again. "It's just a gut feeling I have. And for what it's worth, I think you guys are made for each other."
Clint blushed again.
Kate grabbed Clint's phone from the counter and held it out to him. "Now call her."
"What? I – I couldn't do that," Clint repeated with an embarrassed smile. He raised a hand to uncomfortably rub the back of his neck, elbow pointing upwards. "I mean, I wouldn't want to screw up our partnership."
Kate stared at him. "Clint. This is one date. It's not like you're asking her to marry you." She turned on Clint's phone and pulled up Natasha's number in his contacts. "Now just do it."
+)(-O-)(+
Clint nervously took the phone and stared down at Natasha's number. Then, before he could change his mind, he poked the call button and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Atta boy," Kate whispered.
The phone started ringing, and Clint swallowed, his palms feeling sweaty.
Then the ringing stopped.
"You've reached Natasha Romanoff," Natasha's voice said. A surge of adrenaline hit Clint, and he stabbed the end button.
Kate gaped at him. "What did you do that for?" she demanded.
"I – I changed my mind," Clint said, his heart pounding.
Kate huffed. "So you just hung up on her?"
"No, her machine picked up." Clint frowned at the screen. "At least, I think it was her machine."
"Wow, are you really that scared of her?" Kate said, crossing her arms.
"I'm not scared of her," Clint said honestly. He kicked at the floor. "Just a little scared of… how she's going to react."
"Come on! What's the worst that could happen?" Kate persisted.
"Um, she could say no? And it would make things really awkward next time I see her?"
"Or she could say yes, and the two of you could have a blast!" Kate pointed out. "Just imagine: you're sitting at a restaurant. Natasha's sitting across from you. The smell of burning candles fills the air, mingled with the alluring scent—"
Clint raised an eyebrow.
"What? Just trying to set the mood," Kate defended herself. "Natasha smiles at you and says, 'I'm having a great time tonight,' and you say, 'Me, too,' and then—"
Clint's phone rang.
"Oh, shut up, you," Kate growled, snatching up the phone. She stared at the screen, and a grin spread across her face.
"Clint. It's her."
Clint's eyes snapped to the phone. "Who?" he asked stupidly, his heart starting to pound again.
Kate snorted. "Natasha Romanoff, duh! Are you going to answer it, or should I?" she asked, her finger hovering over the green button.
"No!" Clint seized the phone. He had no idea what Kate would say to Natasha if she answered, and he certainly didn't want to find out.
"Well? Answer it!" Kate urged him.
Clint hesitated, staring at the screen. The he hit the accept button and raised the phone to his ear, his palms feeling sweaty again.
"Hello?" he said nervously.
"Clint." Natasha's clipped, businesslike tone came over the line, making his heart jump. "I saw you tried to call a minute ago. What's going on?"
"Um…" Clint swallowed and glanced at Kate, who was giving him the thumbs-up and nodding enthusiastically.
"I was just, uh… wondering what you have planned for the day," he said, feeling rather proud of himself for the good start.
"Oh." Natasha sounded a bit puzzled. "Um… well, Fury has me in meetings, like, all day long. So it should be a pretty full day. Why, what's up?"
"Oh," Clint said, feeling half-disappointed, half-relieved. He put his hand over the receiver and whispered, "She says she's busy all day."
"Nothing," Clint went on. "I was just—" He broke off. Kate was shaking her head wildly, motioning for him to stop. Are you free later tonight, she mouthed exaggeratedly.
Clint gulped. "Are you – are you free later tonight?"
"Mmm… depends on what you mean by tonight," Natasha said. "My last debrief ends at seven. After that, I'm free."
"Okay, cool," Clint said. "So should we say… seven-thirtyish?"
"Umm… I guess, sure?"
"Great!" Clint said, feeling relieved. "See you then!" He started to hang up.
"Wait," Natasha interrupted.
Clint put the phone to his ear. "Yes?"
"You know, you still haven't told me what we're doing."
"Oh, yeah. Um…" Clint thought for a minute. He hadn't really considered what they would be doing. "Well… what do you want to do?" he asked finally.
There was a long pause. "Clint," Natasha said with a nervous laugh. "This is so weird. You call me up asking about my work schedule, then you want to set a time with me to do who-knows-what. Once we have a time scheduled, you say you never had anything planned in the first place, and you want me to decide what we're doing. Is everything okay, Clint? Are you drunk? Are you being held at gunpoint or something?"
Debatable, Clint thought, glancing at Kate. He was starting to sweat. Typical of him, finally get a girl to go on a date with him, only to realize he forgot to mention it was a date in the first place.
"Uh, no, everything's fine," he said quickly.
"Are you sure?" Natasha asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, of course."
Another pause. "Then what—"
"A date," Clint blurted out.
Silence. "What?"
"A date," Clint repeated, squirming uncomfortably. "I'm trying to ask you out on a date… I mean, that is, if you want…" He trailed off awkwardly.
There was the longest pause yet. Then Natasha said, "Ohhhh." And burst out laughing.
Clint was blushing furiously. If she thought it was so ridiculous, then maybe he should just hang up. But then she spoke again.
"Okay. Now it makes sense," she said, a smile in her voice. "Well then in that case, yes, I would love to go on a date with you."
Giddiness exploded inside Clint at her words, and he found himself grinning from ear to ear.
"So you said seven-thirty, right?" Natasha went on.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah. I can come pick you up. I mean, if you want…"
"Sure. So where are we going?"
"A restaurant," Clint blurted out, thinking about what Kate had said. "Uh, if that's okay with you?"
"Sounds great. What restaurant, should I dress up?"
"Sure," Clint said. "Um, so… I guess that's all," he said awkwardly.
"Okay. See you tonight."
"'Bye," Clint said.
Natasha hung up.
Clint just stood there in shock, the dial tone filling his ear. "She… she said yes," he said in amazement.
Kate whooped and grabbed Clint by the arms, spinning him into an impromptu victory dance around the kitchen.
And there you have it!
I've written MCU Clint but never comic-book Clint, and I've never written Kate Bishop. Soo... were they in-character?
Leave me some concrit if you like, and I'll get the next part up soon! :)