Clint could feel the beads of sweat travelling down his forehead and he involuntarily started tapping his fingers on the table, creating a fast-paced staccato that filled the room.
The circle spun round and round, as if taunting him, and he held his breath when the page finally loaded.
36$ and 75 cents laughed in his face.
He exhaled and promptly logged out of his bank account.
Clint didn’t suppose that Tony Stark, his multibillionaire landlord, would accept 36$ as rent for a place in central Manhattan with a private gym, swimming pool and an unlimited supply of coffee, although he doesn't remember signing a lease contract with the man. Still, he gathered his meagre belongings and stuffed them haphazardly into his duffel bag.
He just had to say goodbye to his new team and he could part ways.
Clint took the elevator up to the common areas to find his teammates lounging in the living room. Bruce and Thor were sitting together at the bar with the Norse god drawing something on a napkin and the scientist nodding in quiet acknowledgement, Steve had his nose deep in some book and Natasha was sitting cross-legged on the floor cleaning a gun.
Clint walked over to the centre of the room and cleared his throat. Steve looked at him, followed by the two men at the bar.
Natasha didn’t care to look up from her work.
“Well, it was nice knowing you guys. Call me if the aliens want a rematch.” He extended a hand to Steve, who apprehensively shook it, still in shock. Natasha put down the gun and raised her eyebrows, while Bruce stuttered and Thor frowned in concern.
“You are leaving?” Steve asked, his face etched with confusion.
“Unless you want to cover my rent, I don’t have a choice.”
“Rent?” Bruce finally spat out.
It was Clint’s turn to be confused. “Yeah, rent.”
Then the elevator dinged and none other than Tony Stark emerged into the room, just to be met with dead silence and 5 pairs of eyes staring at him. “Something wrong with my hair?”
“Nah, but it’s good you showed up here 'cause I just wanted to say bye.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest, taking offence to Clint's words.
“What, is my 9000 square feet penthouse with a private gym, fully-stocked lab and a view of the New York skyline not good enough for you?”
“Dude, I have less than 40$ to my name. I can’t afford this place.”
Tony laughed out loud and gestured to their other teammates. “And you think they can?” That earned him a good scowl from the other people in the room. “Look, I have to keep those 95 floors lit either way, so I might as well have some people milling around the place. As long as you don’t burn anything down or don’t cause the tower to collapse, I don’t care if you can’t pay. I didn’t expect you to be able to pay anyway.”
“Wait, so you all knew there was no rent to pay and not one of you even told me?”
“I mean, it really wasn’t that hard to figure it out. You are the only one who didn’t get the memo.” Natasha smirked as she continued on with cleaning her gun.