A/N This is for my darling AquaaMay ( u/3722192/AquaaMay) for her birthday. She's the Barton to my Banner :') Seriously honeypuff, happy birthday x
"Three hundred fifty eight, three hundred fifty nine, three sixty!" Bruce exclaimed as he reached the top of the staircase leading up to Clint's 'nest'. As he caught his breath, he glowered at the lift across the hallway. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a lift. Tight spaces didn't seem the best places for him to be with his...'condition'.
Once he had caught his breath, he knocked lightly on Clint's door, one hand behind his back, hiding the small box held in it.
"Hang on!" came a clearly irritated Clint from the other side of the door. After a minute or two, the door opened.
"Dr. Banner? What brings you up here? And this early, sheesh it's what, five am?! God, come in, you look exhausted, what, is the lift broken or something?"
Bruce stepped in, blushing slightly and staring at his feet.
"uh, no...Director Fury doesn't like the idea of me being in tight, confined spaces and um, neither does the Other Guy." He laughed nervously.
"As to why I'm here...uh, I was kind of...locked in the cage for a while yesterday after my um, incident, so I reread everyone's files. I saw that it's your birthday today, so uh, I bought you a present. Not great, 'cos you know, I only found out yesterday, so uh, I hope it's okay...I'll buy you something proper when I see something." he smiled shyly and held out the small blue wooden box.
Clint raised an eyebrow.
/The Big Guy actually bought me a present?! He made the effort of climbing all the way up here...?/
He took the box.
"oh and uh, happy birthday," mumbled Bruce, hands now fumbling together in front of him.
Clint couldn't help but beam in surprise as he opened the box.
"Bread crumbs? Like bird feed?" he asked, laughing in delight.
Bruce smiled and nodded. "well, actually it's little pieces of marzipan, I just made it look like bird feed...I overheard you mention to Natasha the other day that marzipan was your favourite." He explained, blushing.
"You made this yourself?" clint asked, shocked, taking a pinch and tasting it. "Oh my god, Bruce, this is amazing!" Bruce grinned and blushed even more. Clint had never called him by his first name before, except when he'd shouted at him to try and 'calm down'...
"You really think so? I made a load more...it's in my apartment downstairs...you can come have some later, if you want?"
Clint nodded, pouring the rest of the marzipan 'bird feed' into his mouth.
"Thanks dude, it's really thoughtful...hey, why are you blushing?" he asked, nudging Bruce with his elbow.
Bruce looked up from where he was again staring at the floor and blinked.
"What? Ah, nothing, I'm just um, out of breath from all those stairs." he bluffed with a smile.
"Bullshit, it took me a good few minutes to open the door after you knocked, and I'll wager you hung about for another five before plucking up the courage to even knock!" Clint chuckled. "Come here, you big softy." He pulled Bruce into an embrace and kissed him on he cheek.
Bruce tried to pull away as soon as he saw Clint going in for the hug; avoiding all human contact wherever possible due to his 'condition'. However, there was that unconscious part of him that simply /longed/ for that hug, so he let Clint hug him. After Clint had kissed his cheek, Bruce's face flushed a furious scarlet. Clint pulled away and held Bruce's hand.
"I'm not blind, Bruce. And I'm not an idiot. You're a wonderful man, and I'm very flattered by the interest. You're in luck, I'm single and most perfectly homosexual. Just don't tell Cap. His head's still stuck in the dark ages. His views are a little outdated." He squeezed Bruce's hand and kissed him on the lips lightly. Bruce leaned in this time, a little more confident.
Two hours later, Bruce and Clint walked all three hundred and sixty steps down to the the communal area of SHIELD HQ. Tony and Natasha looked at each other, smiling. "Finally..." Tony whispered in her ear. Natasha laughed and patted Clint on the back as they past.
Later, when all the Avengers were watching cartoons late at night at Tony's home cinema, Steve blinked in surprise as he saw Bruce and Clint sitting /rather oddly close/ on a small sofa. He turned to Tony, who sat next to him, stuffing his face in popcorn.
"I think I owe you a couple dollars, Stark." he said quietly, slipping a hand into the pocket of his sweatpants, fishing around for dollar bills.
"wha-?" Tony asked, leaning closer, mouth half open, revealing semi-chewed popcorn. Steve sighed.
"That bet we made ages ago. About Dr Banner 'getting laid' as I think it's called nowadays. Well, from parts of what I've heard you and Agent Romanoff giggling about earlier, and what I see now, I guess you win."
Tony made a face as he remembered the bet.
"Don't worry Grandad, keep your pension money, I've got enough petty cash of my own." he tapped his hand on Steve's thigh reassuringly.
"just proving you wrong is good enough. And the fact that Bruce's life just turned a full three sixty."
A/N reviews are just wonderful, aren't they? Also any T rated requests, send 'em my way!