Authors' Note: We sincerely apologise for disappearing for a few weeks. Things have been...quite hectic on this side of the screen. And they've promised to stay hectic for quite a while, sooo...how about this. We'll try our level best to update once a week, but no guarantees. It's the only compromise we can manage, sorry again :( But at least it's something, yeah? Anyway, the inspiration for this came from the wonderful Ktsteele! Thanks for the suppourt so far! Go ahead and leave a review for that you'd like to see us do in these shorts :)

-DeadMan'sHand702 & J3ntheninja

Bromance

It was only after the first few attempts at lasagne had failed miserably that Clint stepped in, kicking the five would-be chefs out of the expansive kitchen and hauling his wife in to help him revive the mostly burnt to death pasta dish.

"Out!" he roared, glaring in mock-fury as Ace, Alex, Loki, Tony, and Thor scrambled out of the overheated and messy room. He looked down at the pan, cringing at the sight that met his eyes. A crumpled mass of dehydrated pasta crusted the rim and inside of the glass, promising to be diamond-hard by now. Natasha's only comment was,

"Yuck."

He looked over at her and grinned impishly.

"Oh no. Heck to the no-" She was cut off as he shoved the pan into her hands and steered her towards the sink. She scowled back at him.

"You, Clint Barton, are an evil man."

He gave a bow. "But you love me."

"Don't push it."

He kissed her on the cheek and waltzed over to the other side of the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients for a proper lasagne from the shelves. The two assassins worked quietly for a while. Well, before Tony Stark sidled up to the counter and took it upon himself to oversee the proceedings. Natasha held up the pan from where it had been buried in soapy water, offering up an angry exclamation in Russian. Clint glanced over and she raised her brows at him, gesturing to the mass of pasta that was still clinging stubbournly to the glass. He shrugged angelically and turned back to the lasagne. Tony craned his neck to see what the archer was putting in the dish. Of course the billionaire wasn't satisfied with it.

"Clint! Why are you putting that much basil in the red sauce?! That'll ruin it for sure!"

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent glared at him, as if challenging Tony to criticise his recipe further. Tony raised his hands in surrender but was not about to shut up, shuffling into the kitchen and snatching an egg from the carton.

"You know, they say if you hold an egg like this no matter how hard you squeeze you can't break it..." He concentrated on the white oval in his hand and clenched his fingers together. He succeeded in breaking it, much to his delight, but also succeeded in getting it all over Clint. The archer turned towards him with murder in his eyes. Tony held up his hands innocently.

"You wouldn't..."

Clint pointed at the exit with his wooden spoon. "Out."

"All right, all right. I can see when I'm not wanted." The genius slunk off to rid his hands of eggshells. Natasha snorted a laugh and came over to her husband with a washcloth.

"Remind me again why we keep him around?" The archer muttered.

"I don't actually know why..." she replied, stifling a laugh.

#

Ten minutes later the kitchen was mostly cleared and the lasagne popped in the oven. Clint lifted a bottle of expensive claret from Tony's 'secret' stash (seriously, he should know by now that living with two trained assassins was a guarantee of getting your secrets found out) and poured two glasses. He took one and Natasha reached for the other.

"Why thank you, Clint. After all, wine between bros is the best," interjected Tony, snatching the glass before she could reach it. She crossed her arms and frowned at him. He held his hand up for a high five and Clint slapped it.

"Yeah! Don't even try, Romanoff. We share a bromance so awesome it could bake that lasagne over there with its pure amazingness."

The look of utter terror that passed over Clint's face right then looked like it belonged in a five-star horror movie. Tony rolled his eyes. Honestly, the guy was as clueless as Capsicle sometimes.

"Oh come on, Feather Boy. Bromance isn't that. It's where two bros such as ourselves have this awesome FRIENDship that is epic and can kick butt."

Clint relaxed, albeit marginally. Tony grinned innocently. Natasha fell over laughing.