Gently

20. Let the Silence In

Tuesday afternoons were boring. Villains seemed to devote the day to plotting their evil shenanigans, S.H.I.E.L.D decided to hold every kind of meeting anyone ranking Level 6 and above had to attend, and nothing decent was on television. The only saving grace to Clint's day of boredom was that he now had Bucky to call up and demand he come and make things more enjoyable – usually after Bucky had finished whatever paperwork he had leftover, because he was a good little agent who didn't make it his personal mission to keep the higher-ups on their toes. Clint's secondary personal mission was to change that.

On this particular Tuesday, though, Bucky wasn't being much help; he wanted to watch an old film from the fifties Clint had no interest in, and none of his attempts to distract Bucky were working. Eventually he gave up, slumping against him in defeat and staring up at the ceiling as Fred Astaire tapped out yet another quirky little number. When the movie continued to fail at grabbing his interest, he turned his head slightly and said, "I'm gonna tune out until Happy-Go-Lucky there has reached his grand finale."

"Okay," Bucky mumbled in response.

Rolling his eyes, Clint reached up and slipped out his aids, sighing contentedly as the sound of cheesy music practically disappeared. Settling himself more pleasantly into Bucky's side – the metal arm was far more comfortable that it should've been – he closed his eyes and let his mind wander, focusing on what he could feel rather than see or hear. It was nice to drop some of his senses like this for a while, to register only touch and not worry about anything else. That, and it gave his ears a rest; no matter how fitting Tony had made them, the aids could still be uncomfortable after prolonged periods.

Bucky's breaths came easily at his back, chest rising in a steady motion that only changed when he chuckled or sighed. In contrast, his metal arm was completely still, a hard line pressed into Clint's shoulder that curled around his side. It became uncomfortable the more he focused on it, so he shifted himself until he could lie with his head in Bucky's lap (a fast-growing favourite position). The arm moved slightly with him, settling across his waist after a quick brush to his ticklish spot, and Clint almost opened his eyes to see the smirk he knew would be brightening up Bucky's face. As it was, the two of them stilled, the most relaxed statues to ever have existed, Clint reckoned. He wondered if it should disturb him that their ability to become immobile was born out of the need to kill or wound accurately, to remain undetected in even the faintest of shadows, but he brushed it aside in favour of the thought that it meant they were now that comfortable around each other they didn't need to constantly be alert, that even after just a few weeks Bucky now meant safety, peace, and –

Kisses. Clint barely registered the shift in Bucky's position before warm lips met his, slow and easy, and most other things, such as coherent thought, briefly fell by the wayside. He distantly realised the film must have ended, and when Bucky eventually gave him some space to breathe he batted lazily at his face until he could sit up, opening his eyes to put his aids back in. To his surprise, Bucky's hand went over them before he could do that, and he looked up questioningly.

The look on the other man's face was hopeful, if not a bit hesitant, and it took Clint a minute or two to realise what he was asking. He considered it carefully – having his aids out was all well and good, but it wasn't something he was always happy doing around others. It cut him out of conversations, or meant he missed something going on in the background, like Thor eating a ridiculous peanut butter and various fruits sandwich (to Tony's horror). With Bucky, it meant he wouldn't be able to listen to him laugh, wouldn't be able to mutter silly nothings to him without wondering if he'd said what he wanted to say, wouldn't be able to hear that soft, happy sigh he let slip when he was truly at ease…

Bucky squeezed his fingers, bringing him back to the present. He was smiling, and Clint wasn't sure why, but then Bucky was leaning forward, hands curling around Clint's neck as they kissed again, and as his eyes closed automatically Clint realised he was worrying too much. For now, it didn't matter that he couldn't say nonsense things, couldn't hear Bucky laughing or coming out with odd little noises – it was all about the feel of his lips on Clint's, the hot and cool sensations either side of his neck, the hard, lightly scarred planes of his muscles when Clint snuck his fingers inside his t-shirt. For the first time he could recall, Clint didn't care that he was deaf in another's presence.

"You know," he said later, when time had flown past in a sex-veiled blur (silent sex was new and not as bad as he'd first feared) and the need to talk had arisen, "I don't normally keep the aids out that long around people unless they can sign."

Pulling his trousers back up, Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" Clint nodded. "Then… I'm honoured, I guess."

"Can I ask why you wanted me to do it?"

He thought about it for a moment, eventually shrugging and shaking his head. "Just seemed like a nice idea," he said. "Felt good to do stuff in the quiet for once. And, uh…" Ducking his head, he grinned shyly. "That was the first time you'd taken them out in front of me."

Touched by the fact that it was as important a gesture to Bucky as it was to himself, Clint got up and stretched, relishing in the gentle complaint from his back and shoulders. "Yeah, well, maybe that just means I'm getting too used to having you around," he joked.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "I take it back – I liked it because I didn't have to put up with your smart aleck shit."

Clint just smirked, stepping closer to kiss the corner of Bucky's mouth. "Same thing again next week?"

The answering smile was slow but delighted. "Yeah… sure."

AN: Prompt: "maybe the first time Bucky realized Clint was deaf or the first time Clint felt comfortable taking out his hearing aids around Bucky?"