Too Darn Hot
The air-con is broken. It’s the height of summer in New York City and the air-con is broken. Even in the middle of the night it’s unbearable.
If Clint lived alone he wouldn’t even be bothering with his boxers, but, as it is, he supposes he should at least keep some semblance of respectability.
He’s coated with sweat, the air is heavy against his skin and he’s turned the pillow over so many times that both sides are now equally warm.
Lucky, at least, seems to understand that it is not snuggle weather, passed out on the floor by the window, probably hoping for some little breeze to come in and mitigate the unending heat.
It’s no good. He can’t sleep like this, with the heat just… oppressing him.
Clint pulls himself off the covers with a heavy sigh and heads for the kitchen.
Ice water. Ice water would be good right about now. Or maybe just some ice, a whole bath full of ice that he could drown in.
He grabs the ice from the freezer and shovels it into a glass, slipping one cube between his lips with a moan that he can’t hear.
He presses the glass to his chest, and it’s a blessed relief. Dear god, he’s never wanted to be cold so much in his life.
He takes another handful of ice and rubs it across the back of his neck, bracing himself against the counter and groaning – he can feel the vibrations running through him even if he can’t really hear them. The ice melt trickles down his back in tantalisingly thin lines.
“Fuck yes,” he says, the words silent to himself, before reaching to pour some water into the glass.
He turns around to rest his back against the counter and freezes.
In the doorway opposite him, frozen in place, is a man dressed all in black, a black mask over his lower face, black goggles over his eyes, and in the streetlight through the window, Clint can see the glint of metal on his left arm.
The Winter Soldier is standing in his apartment.
“What the fuck?!” He asks, then remembers that he doesn’t have his aids in because he doesn’t wear them to sleep or to give himself an ice bath in the middle of the night and puts his hand up to his ear to check, even though he knows he’ll find nothing there. He swears again.
Then the Winter Soldier seems to shake off whatever fucking thing was holding him in place and begins to sign at him.
“Sorry. Cap asked me to check on Barnes,” he says. “Hello again, Clint.”
The mask means that there’s little to no expression in the signs. So much meaning is conveyed by the face in sign language that having that avenue cut off means that Clint has no idea if the guy’s intending to make good on the offer he made months ago to shoot him.
He remembered Clint’s name, though. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Clint might have, maybe, had a little crush on the guy before the whole death threat incident.
Hell, who’s he kidding, the death threat only made his crush bigger. Clint’s survival instincts are wired wrong when it comes to people.
Clint’s hands are still full of… well, water now, mostly, the ice melt is running down his arms, so he speaks aloud instead.
“OK…” he says. “His bedroom’s the far door,” Clint points. “I sleep over… there… if you wanna say hi.”
“Good to know,” the guy signs back. Fuck that face mask, Clint really can’t tell if that was flirty or a put down. Probably a put down, he really can’t imagine him flirting.
“Right…” Clint says. “I’ll be… in my bedroom.”
“Good night,” the Winter Soldier signs, before adding “Tell no one you saw me.”
Clint nods before heading for his bedroom where his brain actually melts.
Was that a booty call? Is his roommate banging the Winter Soldier? Because on one hand, Clint’s now a little scared that if he ogles too much he’s gonna end up shot. Probably not fatally, because The Winter Soldier's a good guy. On the other hand, Clint would pay so much money to see that show.
But he’s got will power, and he’s not actually a creep. He is just gonna lie here and... not think about it, because it is way too hot to think about...
He wonders what The Winter Soldier looks like when you peel the leather off.
Fuck... it is too hot for this.
He resists the urge to put his hearing aids in just in case they get a bit noisy. That would be weird. He is not going to invade their privacy.
He’s just going to lie here and not think about it.
He’s gonna not think about it really quietly.
*