Can't Compete
"Do you like him?"
Coulson looked up from the report he was reading and blinked, confused without any context for the question. He tilted his head letting the expression on his face speak for him.
"Steve, you know, Captain American. Mr. Hero of the Century. Do you like him?" Clint's tone was light, teasing, but his eyes told another story.
"Ye~s." Coulson let the word drag out as if he was not sure he was responding to the same question Clint was asking. "It would be impossible not to. Captain Rogers is a genuinely nice person."
Clint sighed his gaze going to the ceiling as he spoke. "He is." He sighed again. "I know you like him, but do you like him?"
Coulson chuckled his attention starting to drift back to the report he had been reading. "Are we in middle school again?"
"Maybe?"
Something about the way the single word was spoken made Coulson jerk his head, his focus now fully on Clint, studying him carefully. When he spoke his tone was serious and carried the weight of sincerity with them. "I admire Captain Rogers and what he stands for. However, I have not known the man long enough to say if I could even consider him a friend. Let alone anything more. Hero worship, absolutely, but dating needs to fit a whole different set of criteria."
"Oh." Clint let his eyes drift down until he was looking at Coulson, reading the truth of his words in his eyes. "Okay then."
Shaking his head slightly, a smile of fond exasperation tugging at this lips, Coulson turned his attention back to his report.