Phil had never really understood the human race's need for touch; it didn't make sense to him. Why were so many people begging for the touch of another? He had never really liked touching other people or other people touching him, it never felt right. He had isolated himself away from his family from the moment that he no longer needed them to survive.
He shied away from casual slaps on the back and handshakes unless he was on a mission and in a role. He was always careful to leave some space between himself and those in the vicinity. Until he met Clint Barton.
Clint was one of the most tactile people he knew, always looking for a touch of friendship or comradery and for some reason he looked for it in Phil. Clint was also someone who respected personal boundaries whilst always wearing them away bit by bit if he was sure it wouldn't get him killed in the process, even then he might try.
For years he gradually drew closer to Phil, let Phil assimilate to the fact that he was there and that he intended to get closer. For years he let Phil shy away after he got too close, always apologising for pushing too far, always reverting back to the distance they had settled on the day before. For years he let Phil know what he intended to do, let Phil know that he was there for him and that he would be getting closer eventually.
The eventually came after a few years and Phil was now comfortable with the touch of another. But only one other, only Clint Barton, because Clint had been the only one who had shown that his touches meant something.
Then Natasha came and he could see that she was like him, that she didn't understand the way people fed of energy from others. He welcomed her with small smiles and cups of tea. Clint welcomed her with the same determination to get her to have at least one person she could touch without expectations that he had shown with Phil.
She showed up in his office one day, asking him why Clint was the way he was, he had smiled and told her that he didn't really know but was glad that there had been one human being out there that had decided he meant something. After all that was what Clint had done, he had paid attention to Phil instead of simply dismissing him like so many had.
She had nodded at his statement then turned and left his office before returning a few minutes later with coffee for him and tea for her, settling herself on his couch to continue her contemplation. They had stayed like that for the rest of the night, her thinking on the couch with tea and him working silently on reports, plans and complaints with coffee. Every so often Clint would come by and provide them with fresh cups, squeezing shoulders or giving quick hugs when he did so.
At the end of the night, when SHIELD was waking up and they were going to sleep he came by again, this time with food. Natasha had stood up as he entered and hugged him tightly causing him to drop the pastries he had brought in shock before hugging her back. Phil had smiled at the two of them and gone to pick up the dropped pastries.
As soon as he had come within reach, however, Natasha had turned in Clint's arms and extended her hand to him, inviting to join the touch. Clint had quirked an eyebrow at him and he had sighed fondly as he took Natasha's offered hand and was drawn into the hug.
They had stayed like that, Phil and Natasha surrounded by Clint as he held them both and they accepted his touch. It meant something, it meant that they were something; it meant that Clint saw them as they were and deemed them worthy of affection.
Now they could be found cuddled together after rough missions, they would lean on each other happily when they needed to rest, they would bury their faces in crooks of necks when the world grew to be too much. Now they had each other and it was enough.
Clint felt privileged to have the absolute trust of two of the most dangerous people on the planet. Natasha had finally found a place where she could rest, where she could belong. Phil always knew where to go when he needed to relax and learned the true healing power of hugs from those he trusted, completely.