Chapter 3
From the corner of her eye, Yelena glared at the uncontrollably bouncing leg on the other side of the park bench.
Kate remained oblivious to the look. Her index finger pushed her bottom lip inwards so she could peel at the skin with her teeth, elbow resting on the leftmost arm rest. Absent, filled with nervous, anxious energy she could do little with.
Her attempts at small talk went wholly ignored. Yelena, for some reason, didn’t seem too happy with Kate. Maybe it had something to do with the blackmail, but Kate digressed.
There wasn’t much she could do about it know. She’d tried, she really did, she tried her damndest to get Yelena to like her. For her sake and for Lucky’s. It just wasn’t working.
She had no idea why! Kate was universally regarded as charming! Maybe a little annoying sometimes, but that was part of her charm.
“So-“
“Stop doing that.” Kate followed Yelena’s narrowed gaze to her leg and she ceased its bouncing.
“Sorry.” She offered with a sheepish smile. Yelena merely sighed, leaning back against the bench and looking as if she’d rather be anywhere else.
At least the dogs were having fun, Kate mused, watching as Lucky playfully bowed to the Akita who yipped and began to give chase. The two ran circles around the park, darting between trees and bushes, like nothing else existed outside of them.
“You’re doing it again.”
Kate’s other leg stopped bouncing. “Sorry.”
She sighed through her nose, eyes darting around for something, anything to hold her attention. To distract herself from the painfully awkward silence.
Leaning back, Kate sighed again. Then she glanced at Yelena and sighed again, closing her eyes. Her hands began to tap lightly against her thighs, an absent movement until Kate realised and then started trying to play the tune to the Wii theme song.
“Are you bored, Kate Bishop?” Yelena cut in, her voice slightly strained.
“A little, why?”
“Because that means that neither of us want to be here.” Yelena asserted, her eyes met Kate’s with a firm look. “If the pictures are deleted, then we can both go home and move on with our lives.”
“Oh, I got rid of the pictures a while ago. Like last week.”
There was a twitch in Yelena’s jaw. Oh, there it was again. Look, now her eyebrow’s twitching.
“Last week?”
“Yeah,” Kate hummed, “I wasn’t even going to use them, though. I’d never do that. I just needed you to come back here.”
Abruptly, with much more force than necessary, Yelena stood. Both doggies perked up at the sudden movement, as did Kate, with a similar look of puppy dog confusion.
“Where are you going?”
“If I don’t need to be here, I’m leaving.” Yelena said simply and with one whistle, Fanny was at her side. “Have a nice life, Kate Bishop.”
“Woah, wait, you can’t just leave.” Evidently, she could. The blonde merely hooked a leash to Fanny’s collar and began to make her way out of the park.
Kate stood and let out a whistle, watching as Lucky just tilted his head at her with a vacant expression. She sighed. “Stay here, I’m coming back.”
Jogging up behind Yelena, Kate began to voice her perfectly valid and strong argument. “Come on, Yelena, this is so unfair.”
“No, what is unfair is that you tried to blackmail me and now you won’t leave me alone.” The blonde responded, disinterest colouring her words.
“Just because Lucky is a boy, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be able to see the pups, they’re half his. This- this is sexism! Reverse sexism!”
“Sexism is discrimination against any gender, not just women so it does not have to be reverse,” Yelena side-eyed Kate. “And second, maybe you should have neutered your dog before sending him to a public place filled with dogs.”
“How good are you at darts?”
Yelena paused in her tracks, blinking at the question.
“Why?” She asked, dropping with accusatory suspicion.
“Because,” Kate drawled. Now that she had Yelena’s attention piqued, she just needed to keep it. “How would you like to make a bet?”
“What kind of bet?” Kate internally whooped. A knowing grin spread across her face, one that made Yelena want to punch it off.
“The bar a few blocks down, you know it?” Yelena hummed, crossing her arms across her chest. “Three games of darts. If you win, I leave you alone.”
“And if you win?”
“Weekly visitation for Lucky to play with Fanny and when the pups are born, he gets to see them too.”
“And?”
“Two words, Belova.” Kate levelled Yelena with a serious look. “Dog. Wedding.”
“Who told you my last name?” Yelena frowned and was promptly ignored.
“It’s the ultimate show of commitment. There’s no way you can back out of play dates if Fanny and Lucky are married-“
“It’s not on my contact information.”
“-It’ll be absolutely adorable to see them all dressed up for a doggie wedding and they love each other, so it just makes sense-“
“I don’t even think Wanda knows my last name.”
“- So yeah, it’ll be great.” Kate finished. “No downsides for either of us.
Yelena still wore a skeptical look, either at the idea or the fact Kate had somehow figured out her last name but either way, she wasn’t convinced so Kate hurried to continue.
“I’ll pay for the vet bills whether you win or lose, just as an incentive.”
“I don’t need your charity.” The blonde’s scowl deepened and Kate hurried to backtrack.
“Okay then, cool, totally fine, I’ll only pay if I lose and you can have complete free rein of my wallet. For vet bills or otherwise.” Warily, Kate extended a hand. “Do we have an agreement?”
Yelena eyed the outstretch hand for a moment, tongue poking at her cheek as she thought. On the one hand, it was a complete waste of time. Yelena owed Kate nothing and now she had no blackmail over her, there was virtually no reason they would ever see each other again.
On the other hand, Yelena doubted Kate would let things go so easily. The bet gave her a chance to put the Kate Bishop issue to rest for good without having to change her schedule or avoid any dog filled places on the off chance she may see Kate.
Plus. Yelena’s gaze drifted to Kate’s annoying, cute, punchable smile. It gave her a chance to put her in her place.
“We have a bet, Kate Bishop.” Yelena’s mouth twitched into a haughty smirk, though she made no move to shake Kate’s hand. “If you lose, you open your wallet and you leave me alone.”
“When I win,” Kate emphasised, a playful smirk on her face. The phrase elicited an exaggerated laugh from the blonde, only fuelling the competitive fire brewing in Kate’s stomach. “You can’t avoid me anymore and we get to have a dog wedding. As mother of the bride, you better be ready because I’m inviting all my extended family.”
“As someone who has been rich all of her life, what colour Porsche should I buy with your trust fund? Green or blue?”
“In your dreams, Belova.”
It was like a Western stand off. Green eyes met blue as they stared each other down. Sizing up the opponent. The only difference between this time and the last was that it wasn’t as hostile.
The energy was still charged, sparking with competitive volts of electricity but it wasn’t tense. It was good-natured, spirited and lively and it felt fun.
Until Yelena caught movement from the corner of her eye.
“Fanny, off!” The blonde darted forward, pushing past Kate who frowned, turning and-
“Aww Lucky, eww! Stop humping! Bad boy! Leave her alone!”
———————————
“I still don’t get why you guys care so much.” Cassie’s voice was slightly raised to be heard over the sound of low music and chatter.
They were stationed at the bar, waiting on a purple cosmopolitan and a dry martini. Just a little confidence booster so far. Yelena had already arrived, with Natasha and Wanda in tow and the group had been mulling around the pool tables waiting for a dart board to free up.
Word of the bet had spread fast in their respective circles and it had quickly turned into a must-see event. Everyone who knew Kate wanted to see if her ego would finally be knocked down a peg and Yelena’s sister had just wanted to go on a good first date with Wanda.
But the free entertainment was a plus.
“Because, Cass, those pups are just as much Lucky’s as they are Fanny’s.” Kate said, as if explaining to a child that the sky was blue. “And you should just see them together, it’s adorable. Just because Yelena gives me a hard time, doesn’t mean Lucky should be taken away from his true love.”
“You remember Lucky’s last true love, Cupcake?” Cassie snorted, than laughed as Kate’s face contorted into a wince.
Cupcake was a very unique Bulldog-Shitzu mix. One that was fluffy in all the wrong places with a major overbite and a hatred to all humans. Kate had put up with the little demon, taking on bites and scratches galore until the owners packed up and moved away without warning. Kate would never tell Lucky, but that day was one of the happiest of her life.
“She was cute,” Kate argued. All dogs were cute, no matter what. It wasn’t Cupcake’s fault she was a little tough on the eyes. “If you squinted a little.”
“She was a freak of nature.” Cassie laughed. “Literally, too. Those breeds aren’t even supposed to exist. It’s just some backyard breeder playing god.”
The bartender slid over the two drinks but when Kate reached for her purse he shook his head.
“Already paid for, miss.” He offered her a smile before pointing off to the side. “She says ‘get ready to get your ass kicked.’”
Lo and behold, following the bartender’s finger with her eyes revealed the sight for sore eyes that was Yelena Belova in a green cami dress. The thing reached around knee-length, tight as hell, and ruffled with a small slit up her thigh. Straps held it over her shoulders and an oversized leather jacket hung around her elbows rolled off the shoulder, matching her black tights.
In short, she looked damn good in that dress but Kate wasn’t about to let that distract her.
Determined, Kate thanked the man and pushed off the stool with her drink in hand. Her resolve was unshakable. Kate didn’t play when it came to her Lucky boy.
“This should be good.” Cassie made to follow but was quickly stopped by the bartender.
“Hey, the lady only paid for hers. You still owe me twelve bucks, blondie!”
“Kate Bishop,” Yelena practically purred. Her palms lay face down on the pool table as she leaned back on it, legs folded comfortably. Her chin was tilted upwards and she wore a smirk painted blood red with lipstick. Epitome of relaxed arrogance. “It is nice of you to come join us.”
“Oh look, we’re matching.” Kate pulled at the unbuttoned collar of her satin green dress shirt. “I hope my win won’t ruin the colour for you.”
“That’s cute you still think you have a chance.” Yelena sent her a mocking pout. “But I don’t think you realise I have been trained to have pinpoint accuracy since you were in baby school.”
“Pre-school. And I guess that means it’ll be even more humiliating when I beat you, huh?”
“Okay ladies, enough with the flirting.” A red-head, Natasha, Kate had been told, butted in to stand between them. Their impromptu staring contest continued over her shoulder, with both Kate and Yelena leering arrogantly at the other.
“The rules are simple,” Natasha held a bottle of vodka in one hand and with the other, she pointed to the dartboard. “Whoever gets the most points win. If Yelena loses,”
Kate’s side, with some of her college friends, Franny and Greer, as well as others like Peter, Cassie and America all cheered and applauded in response.
“Kate gets weekly custody of their grand-puppies and we have ourselves a big stinking doggie wedding.”
That made everyone there, on Team Kate and Team Yelena, whoop and holler.
“If Kate loses,” Wanda and a few others, Sonya, Maria, Tony and Thor all cried out their support for the sentiment. “Yelena gets to live in peace, with a brand new Porsche!”
“Okay, wait, the Porsche thing wasn’t fully agreed upon-“ Kate’s protests were cut off but Natasha’s shout.
“Is everybody ready?”
Team Yelena and Team Kate made a racket like they were the only ones in the bar. Yelling and applauding, even stamping their feet to compete with the other side.
Both Kate and Yelena stepped up to the dartboard, around 5 or 6 feet away. Standard procedure.
It struck Kate abruptly, the thought that if she lost - on the off chance she did - it would be one of the most humiliating defeats of her life.
“You look nervous, Kate Bishop.” Yelena taunted, eyes flitting over to eye the other woman. “Are you worried?”
“Deflection’s not a good look on you, Belova.” Kate wouldn’t lie and say she wasn’t enjoying this. It was also a welcome change from the open hostility Yelena usually offered her.
Well, she was still being hostile. Now, it was just more playful and competitive, rather than personal and icky.
“I heard good things about your track record.” The blonde continued. “37 games, zero losses. Very impressive.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“It will be a shame to ruin such a beautiful streak but, I will try not to beat myself up about it.” Yelena shrugged, speaking as if Kate was a minor inconvenience rather than a serious threat.
“You won’t need to worry about that.” Kate laughed. Her eyes glinted much brighter than the dim bar lights, brighter than Yelena had ever seen them.
Yelena wouldn’t kid herself. She enjoyed riling people up. She enjoyed riling Kate up, much more than she should have.
She didn’t know why. Partly because it felt validating, making Kate as angry as she felt about the whole situation and some other, less important, repressed and heavily, heavily smothered part of her liked the way Kate looked when she was angry.
Though in that moment, Yelena decided this sight was far more pleasing.
“I wouldn’t be too sure.” She sing-songed back, tilting her head with a smile.
“Oh, I would be.” Kate replied and though she was still smiling, the grin becoming a fixture on her face, her tone was dead serious. “You may know a lot about me, Yelena, but you should’ve known something much, much more important before agreeing.”
“That you are a sore loser?”
“That I don’t miss.”