Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel comics or characters or movies, and am making no money off of this fic.
AN: Written for the June 7th Winterhawk Mandatory Fun Day prompt found here: mandatoryfunday . tumblr .com(/)post/185337253564/happy-pride-month-winterhawklings-for-the-first. (Without the spaces and parentheses.)
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Missing Out by luvsanime02
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The sad thing is, Clint Barton doesn't even remember that it's Pride Day.
Is it only a day now? Seems like there's been a whole month of Pride celebration in recent years. Which is really cool, Clint admits. Makes it harder to remember when actual Pride Day is, though. For him, anyway. Maybe other people don't have a problem with keeping track of something like that.
He should have put the date in his phone. Instead, Clint's walking to his favorite Chinese takeout place in order to pick up some lunch when he comes across a huge crowd of people gathering around because of a parade. Parades aren't really all that uncommon, though, and so he's still pretty much planning on ignoring the crowd and the noise, and life in general.
But then Clint sees some people walking down the street proudly carrying a rainbow flag, and oh shit, he's missing Pride.
Clint's never missed Pride Day. Not since it first started - back when it was a march of protest, not a celebration - and fuck, but that makes him old, doesn't it. Well, he still likes going, and celebrating, and supporting the first-timers, and generally enjoying one day where he can strut around in a rainbow t-shirt.
Not that Clint couldn't wear a rainbow t-shirt on any other day of the year, but it somehow seems to hold more meaning when Clint's surrounded by thousands of other people also doing the same thing. It's one of the only parties, so to speak, that Clint attends every year, and now he's missing it because Clint forgot that it was Pride Day today.
Quickly, Clint pulls his phone out of his pocket and calls his boyfriend.
It only rings twice before being picked up. "Why aren't we at Pride?" Clint demands.
After rolling his eyes (Clint doesn't need to see Bucky's face to know that he's rolling his eyes.), Bucky laughs. "Who says I'm not at Pride?" he replies.
"You went to Pride without me?" Clint asks, feeling equal parts relieved and betrayed.
"We're still going to Pride together," Bucky says. "Where are you?"
Clint glances around, even though he already knows what street he's on. "Fifth, near the rainbow flag."
"Clint, it's Pride," Bucky drawls, his Brooklyn accent drawing out the words. "There's at least a couple hundred rainbow flags."
Clint refuses to admit that Bucky has a point.
"I'm going to look around for you," Clint says. "You stick out more." And Clint's taller, so he should be able to spot Bucky through the crowd easier.
"Thanks," Bucky says dryly. Then, he pauses. "I do stick out more right now, actually."
"...Why?" Clint asks, incredibly curious. He's debating on climbing the building next to him for a couple of feet, just to gain a higher vantage point to look out over the crowd from. It's old brickwork - Clint could climb that easily.
Then Bucky appears right in front of him, and Clint sees for himself why Bucky currently stands out more than Clint. Not that Bucky doesn't always stand out more than Clint, in his opinion. For both good and bad reasons. But now…
Clint hangs up the call and puts his phone away. "Is that rainbow glitter in your hair?" he asks, walking closer in order to see better. It is indeed rainbow glitter in Bucky's hair, and his prosthetic arm is on full display, also painted in rainbow colors. Bucky's even wearing a sleeveless rainbow shirt. What the hell.
"Did a rainbow throw up on you?" Clint asks, incredulous. "Or several?" He's usually the one who goes overboard with these kinds of things, not Bucky.
Bucky only shrugs, completely unconcerned. "I was going to send you some pictures if you didn't show up soon," he says in explanation.
Clint laughs. Yeah, that definitely would have clued him into the fact that he was missing something. "I feel underdressed," he says, standing there in his plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. He'll have to walk all the way back to their apartment and change before rejoining the parade.
Bucky wordlessly pulls a folded piece of fabric out of his back pocket, shakes it out, and presents Clint with his Pride shirt. The same one that Clint always wears, ever since that became a thing.
"I don't know whether it's a good thing or not that you knew I would forget," he admits, but Clint does change his shirt. Strips right there in the middle of the street. He gets at least five cheers when he slips his rainbow Pride shirt on, which is awesome.
"I don't know, either," Bucky says. "Ready to go celebrate?"
Because yeah, that's what today is - a celebration. Clint feels his mood becoming lighter already. "You bet," he says, and then the two of them join the crowd together.