"This is stupid."
"Your face is stupid." Clint grumbled against the smooth draw of the string stressed at the side of his mouth, slitting the deep breath he always took by threes. It was a shitty string, not that he had expected it to be any better, but he still couldn't hide his disappointed frown as he let loose the barely sharpened arrow that stuck perfectly out of the center of the target. There was a polite round of applause that was really just the only man who had drank just a little too much and somehow ended up leaning against one of the shabby poles holding up the tent trying to kill a fly, and Nat punching Bucky on his chest for hitting on her-and then he was smirking over at his partner in crime with a wave of his hand. "Told you that you should have gone first." He told her and Kate shoved him back, taking the bow from him.
"You got lucky." She told him, waving off any skill as though he wasn't actually a highly trained government agent and avenger, but there was no sting to it. Kate wasn't impressed by anything or anyone. It was how she was. Nat thought it was annoying but he was pretty sure that she just said that because she didn't want the younger girl to know that she was actually growing accustomed to having her around. He watched silently, leaning at one of the corners of the pavilion with his arms crossed as she took her position, arms relaxing and knocked her arrow. She made a face at the pull but as soon as she let her arrow fly it found its place next to his.
There was a very small part of him that was petty enough to frown so he didn't really see the point of stopping it from taking over his face when she passed the bow back to him, eyes twinkling a bit. "Why are we doing this again?" He asked walking back to their decided spot where the man working the booth was waiting with his next arrow looking just about beside himself with excitement. This was probably the best part of his day, Clint pettiness all but evaporated.
"We're doing this because you said I shoot like a girl." Kate reminded him, picking at the smallest of cuticles with a little frown to show her displeasure at not being perfectly manicured at all times.
He tried his best not to make a face as he lined up his next shot. "You are a girl." He told stupidly letting his arrow top theirs in a triangle.
Kate sighed snatching the bow back. "Yes. I am a girl. I will always be and shoot like a woman. It's not an insult." She told him knocking her arrow right below to make a Dimond in the target.
"I wasn't trying to-" he started but she shoved the bow into his chest and stole hos spot in the corner.
"You never are." She admitted, "I'm proving a point."
He glanced back at Bucky for a little help but the newest Avenger just shrugged at him with a pitying grin. Sometimes he thought he liked the winter soldier better when he couldn't remember how much he liked women. Now he had to wait until Steve or Tony where around to expect any back up which was almost never. Nat just raised a delicate eye brow at him as if to dare him to say anything but he knew that wouldn't end up well. So he bit back a groan and submitted himself to the punishment of this carnival game wondering idly if it would be better for him in the end to win or loose.
Eight arrows and twenty dollars later Kate was standing right next to him, he knew that it was to put the pressure on but he wasn't even trying anymore. He wanted out if this game but he knew that if he quit he would never hear the end of it. And if he lost he would never hear the end of it. And if he won? He would never hear the end of it. "Okay, I'm done with this." Natasha told them standing directly behind him, her weight on his back probably to agitate Bucky. "Finish this so we can go home. " she told him and he rolled his eyes and let the arrow go. It flew straight and honestly he didn't mean for it to split the center but it did and Kate stood seething beside him glaring at the offered bow in a ball of fire.
"What's the point? " she huffed trying to seem not pissed but it only made it more obvious , "You win Hawkeye, but I'll get you next time." She promised turning on her heal.
"She's one firey dame." Bucky laughed patting Clint too hard on the shoulder with his bionic barbarism that was somewhat growing on him— in a painful way. "How did you meet that one again?" He asked and Nat let out a little air from her nose that was pretty much as close to laughing as she got.
"Steve thought he was dead and needed a new cohorts." She grinned wickedly, running poor Bucky through the ringger.
Clint just shook his head. "I crashed her date and she stole all of my cool stuff." He amended setting the bow down and moving to follow after her.
"Wait, sir!" He turned back to the man at the booth who was still trying to dislodge the arrows. "You forgot your prize." He told him pushing a little bag with a goldfish floating in it into his hand.
He examined it only long enough to determine that it was bad news in a baggy, "Bro, no. I don't want this." He told him but the man shook his head.
"You won, I have to give them away." He told him turning back to the target and that was the end of that.
Clint couldn't explain the growing unhappiness settling in his stomach as they made their way out to the parking lot, little fish in hand but he did know it was there and that was where it shouldn't be. "Here." He tried to give it to Kate when he climbed into the passenger seat of her Bug and she made a face at him. "Bro, no. I don't want that." She told him making him all but pout.
"What do I do with it?" He asked and she shrugged.
"Just flush it." She told him and he leaned back in the seat telling himself he would do just that. He tried to pawn it off on Natasha later that night but she outright refused. If there was one thing that an assassin should never have to put up with it was the disposal of a perfectly healthy goldfish.
