“I still can’t believe you never told us,” Kamala pouted as she plopped on the couch next to America and Cassie. Pulling her leg against her chest, Kamala placed her chin up on her knee, and watched America carefully put together a pink, orange, and white beaded bracelet.
“Don’t take it personal, guys,” Kate shook her head lightly and peered closer to the large set of beads America had brought earlier today. She was sitting in her own couch chair wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and an old archery shirt from high school.
“I’m kind of taking it personal,” Peter interjected from the floor holding a roll of clear string in the air. He sat right behind Cassie on the floor, legs crossed, as he cut a piece of string for himself. The five Young Avengers found themselves crowding around a table taking advantage of their free time to participate in some ‘DIY’ activities.
“Yelena and I agreed when we talked to Sam and Maria that it would be better for both teams if we didn’t announce our relationship,” Kate shrugged as she used a pair of tweezers to pick out forest green beads.
“Then what changed?” Cassie piped up as she opened the container with letter beads and handed a bead that had the letter ‘B’ to Kate.
“Her team found out. Then when it turns out our teams were going to have to work together, we decided to just tell you guys.”
Cassie snorted at that, “More like gave us a whole show.”
“Lesbians. They have a thing for the dramatics,” America said with her tongue sticking out, concentrating on finishing up the bracelet in her hand.
“You would know Miss ‘I couldn’t make it to training because I was secretly visiting my girlfriend in another universe.’” America gasped in offense as she opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by the rest,
“She’s not your girlfriend,” They responded in unison, making America slouch back on the couch and sink further into the purple couch. (Kate had taken it upon herself to buy them a purple couch when Tommy had destroyed it during one of his ‘harmless pranks’)
“Okay, well how about you Peter?” Peter looked up at the mention of his name. He was just about to tie a knot to finish his red beaded bracelet, the spider being the fastest out of all of them.
“What..about me?” He looked up and made awkward eye contact with everyone. He glanced pleadingly at Kate but the leader was too focused on her task in hand. The archer hunched forward trying to get the stubborn purple bead through the string.
“How’s MJ?” Kamala sang as she picked up two letter beads and held them in front of her teasingly. The ‘M’ and ‘J’ bead stared back at a blushing Peter who looked down embarrassed.
“She’s not my girlfriend..,” Peter said in a low tone, staring at the finished bracelet that he definitely wasn’t planning on giving to MJ.
“Leave Peter alone,” Kate lightly scolded Kamala. The Spider-boy, which her girlfriend likes to call him by, had asked her timidly about helping him out with MJ and being the good friend she is, has been encouraging him every step of the way. Just last week, Peter pleaded with her to join him and MJ on a ‘tennis double date’ – well Peter didn’t call it that but that’s what it was – who knew Kate was so good at tennis? She could almost give MJ a run for her money, but the tennis prodigy was too good.
Anyways, let’s just say, they’re making good progress. Her and Yelena have a running bet when they’re going to finally get back together, Yelena giving it 3 months and Kate giving it a month and a half.
Kate sent a smirk in her direction, “How about you?”
“Okay while I may have written some fanfiction with wlw ships–”
“What does ‘wlw’ mean?” Peter cut off Kamala who ignored him and continued rambling
“Women loving women,” America whispered to Peter whose mouth dropped in realization and nodded in understanding.
“-with Captain Marvel and Valkyrie and maybe a couple other ships but I am unfortunately straight so therefore no girlfriend.” Kamala finished her rant and America looked ready to explode into a fit of laughter.
“Is that what you were right last night? I thought you were writing a debrief mission report since it had Kate and Yelena’s na-” Peter thought out loud but was cut off by a shrieking Kamala who dove down to place her hand over Peter’s mouth.
“Do you write fanfiction about my girlfriend and I, Kamala Khan?” Kamala visibly paled at the raised eyebrow the archer was sending and rapidly shook her head.
“No! No..n-yeah! Maybe!” Kamala shut her eyes tightly as she waited for Kate’s reaction but the leader of the Young Avengers just shook her head and fortunately for Kamala, changed the subject.
“We’ll talk about this..another time. Anyways, I was talking about your boyfriends ,” Kamala blinked at Kate who took a random penny out of her pocket and flicked it at the speaker to change the song that had been softly playing in the background.
“ Boyfriends?! I don’t have a boyfriend! Let alone more than one!” Kamala screeched when the names ‘Bruno’ and ‘Kamran’ escaped from her teammate's mouth – inevitably getting into a teasing fest with America and Cassie.
Kate turned her focus back to her task and grinned in satisfaction when she tightened the knot. The leaned back and took the time to admire her work as she felt a presence inch closer to her,
“Is that for anyone?”
“I don’t know, is that for anyone?” Kate shot back gesturing to the bracelet in Peter’s hand. He blinked back and sent a guilty smile making them both chuckle. Kate, not taking her eyes off the bracelet, closing her fist on it and tucking it into one of her sweatpants deep pockets.
Ignoring her teammates who were bickering, she stood up from her couch chair and headed towards the kitchen. Peter, who was the only one who noticed, sent her a questioning look but she just mouthed ‘drink’ to him causing him to nod and watch his other teammates amusedly.
She played with the bracelet in her pocket and entered the kitchen space, stopping abruptly when she noticed it wasn’t empty. The other person’s back was towards her as she sat on one of the stools quietly. She purposely made her steps louder (not that she needed to, her presence would’ve been known before she actually stepped anywhere close to the kitchen) as she stopped across from the island table stopping right across from the older Avenger.
“I’m just getting something to drink real quick,” Kate pointed back at the fridge making the other woman let out a raspy laugh.
“You do not have to rush out of here, Kate. It is okay. This is your space too,” The voice laced with a hint of an accent chuckled as she nursed a cup of tea.
“Of course, yeah! I just..you look so peaceful and I kind of ruined that by coming in here,” Kate quickly explained as she turned around to grab herself a water all the way behind the containers of food.
“It is anything but peaceful here,” Kate faltered at the other woman’s response, grabbing water quickly and turning to make eye contact with her.
“Do you want to talk about it, Wanda?”
Wanda sent her a small smile, “No, but thank you.”
Kate just nodded and took a deep breath, seemingly deciding something before adding, “But if you ever do or just want company, I’m here.”
Wanda stared at the younger woman with an unreadable look on her face before eventually nodding slowly. Kate just barely caught the smallest of twitches as the witch’s lips threatened to quirk up in a smile disappearing faster than Kate can demolish this water.
Satisfied, Kate left the kitchen with a smile on her face as she passed the room where the Young Avengers were and headed towards the elevator to head back to her room on the 7th floor. Waiting for the elevator, Kate chugs her water before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and crushing the plastic bottle. Throwing her crushed bottle at the trashcan a couple feet away (without looking of course) with her impeccable hawkeye aim, the elevator doors opened revealing two individuals: both looking like they’ve had a long day with their matching disheveled hair and solemn expressions. The shorter of the two didn’t drop her expression when she met Kate’s eyes but her eyes softened as she found herself wrapped in the archer’s strong arms.
“Kate Bishop.”
Kate couldn’t contain the grin that spread on her face as she accepted the public display of affection from the Russian. The way Kate’s name escaped the ex-assassin's mouth signaled just how tired the Russian must be, let alone the unexpected embrace Yelena allowed Bucky to see.
“Hey Bucky, how was the mission?”
“Kate,” Bucky nodded back, “Went well. Had to call Sonya to help us out but no casualties.”
Kate thanked him before Bucky grabbed the duffle bag Yelena had dropped and grabbed it with his metal hand as he walked past the embraced couple. Kate brought her hand up to Yelena’s short hair, but not before tracing Yelena’s Bishop chess piece tattoo, and scratched at her scrap resulting in a soft sigh to come out of the blonde.
“You okay, Lena?” The archer used her other hand to rub Yelena’s back, smiling as she felt the blonde start to sag in her embrace, clearly feeling safe enough to let Kate hold her up.
“Tired.” Yelena muffled against Kate’s neck making the archer shiver.
“Alright, let’s get you to bed then?”
“Take me out for a drink first,” Yelena mumbled as Kate chuckled in amusement.
“I already did, remember?”
Yelena just muttered a string of Russian against Kate who brought her hand that was rubbing her back and moved it down lower. Tapping Yelena’s ass, she signaled the shorter woman,
“Come on, then. Up.”
The blonde wrapped her arms around Kate's neck and jumped, wrapping her legs around the archer’s waist. Wrapping her own arms securely around her, Kate silently walked into the elevator and made her way to the seventh floor.
“Do you want to wear shorts or sweatpants?” Kate asked moments later as she faced their shared closet talking to Yelena who was face down, starfished on the bed.
“Yours,” Yelena looked up at Kate before dropping her head tiredly.
Kate looked past Yelena’s side of the closet and grabbed another pair of her own sweatpants, these ones were black, and an oversized red shirt.
After she took it upon herself to dress her girlfriend, Kate headed to her connected bathroom to begin her night routine. Half an hour later, she turned off the bathroom light before removing the beaded bracelet from her pocket and quietly placing it next to Yelena’s side of the bed.
Joining Yelena who had made it to her side of the bed–closest to the door with her front facing it. Positioning herself behind Yelena, she wrapped her arms around her waist and buried her face into the blonde’s shoulder – after nights of arguing (“Kate Bishop I am not a spoon that is little!”) Kate had won saying that it would not make sense if she was the little spoon if Yelena wanted to get a clear view of the door. (And Yelena may not have wanted to admit she likes being the spoon that is little also)
“Goodnight, Kate Bishop.”
Kate tightened her grip around her waist.
“Goodnight, Beloved.”
—
Like clockwork, Yelena’s eyes started to flutter as she focused on the firm body pressed behind her and the feeling of Kate’s arms wrapped around her waist. She turned her head and was met with a softly snoring Kate who had her mouth slightly open with drool threatening to fall on the pillow.
“You’re disgusting, Kate Bishop.” Yelena said in an affectionate tone as she wiped at her girlfriend’s drool with the end of her (Kate’s) shirt and pushed herself up, slowly unwrapping herself from Kate’s grasp.
Pressing a kiss on Kate’s forehead and watched amusedly as Kate grasped on a pillow replacing her position before waddling to the bathroom to freshen up.
A few minutes later, she stood at the side of her bed, seeing Kate who had not moved an inch, when she noticed something green and purple sitting on her side of the bed stand.
Tilting her head, she curiously picked up the item and observed it. Grinning, she glanced at a now fully snoring Kate and back at the item. Yelena allowed herself to smile before speaking to no one in particular,
“Oh, Kate Bishop.”
—
“Barnes,”
Yelena acknowledged as the man grunted back before continuing to sip on his black coffee. She ignored the way the kitchen noise had died down when her presence was noticed, preparing herself a cup of her own coffee as she pretended to not notice the numerous pair of eyes looking at her.
“Yelena! H-hey! Good morning!” Kamala squeaked, breaking the silence as Yelena watched the stream of coffee fill her mug that had a cute drawing of Fanny on it (Kate’s birthday gift to her last year). The blonde’s eyes darted towards the girl but didn’t say anything as she grabbed her mug and took a sip, humming in satisfaction. Grabbing another mug, this time this one was purple with the pun “Shooting my shot” on it, she filled it up with coffee before putting an obnoxious amount of sugar and cream.
Turning to stand next to Bucky who was eating a bagel silently, she took the time to looked at everyone who was in the kitchen: Kamala, America, Cassie, and Peter were all looking at her with wide eyes, each with their stacks of pancakes. On the other side of Bucky, was Sam who also had his own stack of pancakes, while chugging whatever juice was in his cup. In the back, Maria Hill seemed to be deep in thought, sipping out of her mug, with her back against the counter. Normally, Yelena would never be found in a full kitchen like this, especially with one’s who call themselves avengers–rather she’d be more than halfway across the country by now–but over the past few weeks, she’s learned that she actually doesn’t mind it.
Dare she says, she might actually enjoy their presence.
The Young Avengers went back to chatting amongst themselves but it seemed the staring wasn’t done as she felt Sam and Bucky’s eyes staring.
“What?” Yelena stared back at her teammate and Sam.
The latter cleared his throat and nudged Bucky who sighed,
“Your wrist,” Bucky motioned down to her right hand.
Yelena blinked and looked down, meeting the green and purple beaded bracelet she had put on her right wrist.
She frowned, “What?”
“I didn’t know you wear bracelets like that.”
Yelena just stared blankly at Bucky who was hiding his growing smirk behind his mug. She narrowed her eyes at him before snatching Bucky’s other cream cheese covered bagel and taking a big bite out of it,
“Shut it, Barnes.”
Bucky and Sam just exchange a look with each other making the blonde roll his eyes. Opening his mouth, about to eat the last bite of his current bagel, Yelena snatched it and shoved it in her mouth with an arched eyebrow.
“Mature,” Bucky deadpanned before rolling his eyes with no actual hostility in his tone.
Just as Yelena was about to retort back, she could hear footsteps coming towards the kitchen and didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.
“Good morning,” Kate yawned as she stood beside Yelena who slid the other mug of coffee towards her.
“Good morning, Kate Bishop.”
“Thanks, beloved,” Thanking Yelena, the archer kissed the top of her head before wrapping both of her hands around the mug and sipping it. Yelena silently observed her girlfriend who drank her sugar coffee like it was her lifeline.
“Please tell me you guys saved me some pancakes,” Kate eyed her teammates’ pancakes in jealousy before Peter scrambled to give Kate a stack he had been hiding, “Here you go, Kate!”
“Thanks, Pete!” Kate grinned at the sight, grabbing the syrup on the table and slathering her pancakes with it.
America stared at Peter in shock, “You told me we were out!”
“They were for Kate!”
Yelena watched in utter disgust as her girlfriend ate her pancakes that had soaked up all that syrup before washing it down with her sugared coffee. Shaking her head lightly, Yelena half-jokingly pointed at Kate with her right hand, “Kate Bishop, All that sweet and you are going to die before my daddy. I’m going to cook a healthier lunch for you. With vegetables.”
Kate Bishop looked up with wide eyes at that ready to fight back but her eyes darted at the purple and green bracelet on her girlfriend’s wrist. She grabbed Yelena’s wrist and inspected the bracelet,
“You wore it?”
Maintaining Kate’s eye contact, Yelena said, “You made it for me, da?”
“Y-yeah! I did. I didn’t think you would actually wear it but I’m glad you did!” Kate rambled before asking shyly, “Do you like it?”
Yelena huffed, shooting her girlfriend an incredulous look. She sighed when all she was met with was a hopeful look and glanced at the bracelet with the letter beads staring back at her. The green and purple beads surrounded the familiar nickname that sent fireflies in her stomach anytime Kate calls her it,
Beloved
Ignoring the anticipated stares they were receiving from the others in the room, Yelena tilted her head up and smirked,
“It is stupid,” Yelena bluntly said, making Kate visibly deflate.
“Oh,” Kate frowned, “Well I can take it back then-”
“No!” The blonde nearly shouted, “It is okay.”
“ Oh ,” Kate breathed in realization when Yelena absentmindedly fiddled with the bracelet avoiding eye contact with the archer.
“Not-” Bucky started but Yelena slapped the man’s chest before he could get another word out,
“Not another word, Barnes.”
Bucky just raised his eyebrows before turning his head to chat with Sam. Yelena finally looked up to meet Kate’s knowing gaze and reached out with her hand, but the archer stopped it with her own, interlacing their hands and pulling the short blonde closer. They were now chest to chest, Yelena watches as Kate brings their interlaced hands together and kisses the inside of her wrist right next to the Beloved bracelet.
Her breath hitched at her girlfriend’s lips making contact with her skin as the fireflies in her stomach fluttered excitedly inside her. Aware of being around company, Kate kept it short and leaned down to give Yelena a short but loving kiss. Falling easily into the familiar motion, though she never gets tired of it, she sighs in content before leaning back to rest her forehead on Kate’s briefly before pulling away and bringing her mug up to her lips.
Bucky was right, she wasn’t someone to wear these childish bracelets meant for children.
No, of course not.
She has style and wearing something as silly as beaded bracelets is so not fashionable and so not cool .
But this wasn’t just a bracelet, it was who made it – her sweet Kate Bishop – who made this silly bracelet for her and she’d be a fool to not do anything to make her Kate Bishop smile even if it meant wearing the beaded bracelet.