Contemplation and Development
“Sammy!!”
Pietro and Clint’s heads snapped up at Sage’s squeal. They saw she was on the phone, and Pietro relaxed, but Clint stayed on high alert. He watched her talk to the person on the other end of the line, hands moving animatedly, and her face lighting up with joy. He couldn’t help but be cautious. Tony had said Sage was going to be going out with this kid that she knew from one of her other foster families in a few days, and it stood to reason that said kid was the one on the phone. Clint had heard some stories about Sage’s old foster families, though. Some of them had been pretty conservative from what he’d gathered, and not all of them were exactly supportive of every aspect of Sage. Of course, that had led to a sexuality discussion, will Clint stressing that everyone in the tower was completely supportive of any sexuality or gender identity anyone had. He thought that all went without saying, but it never hurt to affirm any would-be suspicions or get rid of any doubts. He’d discovered that Sage was pansexual, and told her that he himself was bi. He hadn’t given her the complete compendium of sexualities and whatnot of everyone in the tower, because it wasn’t his place, but he had asked if she’d told Tony and Loki.
When he asked, she’d smiled at him softly and shook her head. She said that the two of them had made sure to tell her immediately right off the bat that they would never care how she identified, only that if it ever effected what pronouns they should use, that they would love to be notified. She said that she kept intending to tell them, but it had never come up in a conversation, and eventually it stopped mattering so much to her that they know the exact details of her sexuality. She’d told him that there were some people that she would tell immediately, right off the bat, just to see if it would scare them away, and some people were curious, so she would gladly tell anyone who asked. But it had become a habit of hers, she’d noticed that she never really came out to any set of parents she’d had. She either had to keep her sexuality under wraps in order to stay in the house, or she’d get caught making out with a girl in her bedroom, and she’d recieve a thumbs up. She grinned a little at that, smirking at Clint and expressing the thought that Tony would definitely be the “thumbs up type”.
He hadn’t heard much about this Sam guy, though. He supposed that if Sage was comfortable talking to him on the phone, then they must be close, but he didn’t know how close. He was mildly concerned, wondering if he should be cautious, watching to make sure that he didn’t hurt their girl. It nearly surprised him, how chummy he and Sage had gotten in the few months she’d lived in the tower. But, every time he had that thought, he’d glance over at Sage, and she’d catch his eye, either giving him a thumbs up, or throwing him a wink, or pulling some goofy face, making him grin every time and remember just why this girl was so damn endearing.
Pietro nudged him in the ribs with an elbow, smirking when Clint startled out of his thoughts. “Quit staring at her, old man. It’s creepy.”
Clint glared at Pietro. “I’m not staring at her.”
“You totally were.”
“I- Okay, I might have been staring, but it wasn’t at her. Intentionally. I was just thinking… How much have you heard about this Sam guy that she’s going to be hanging out with?”
Pietro shrugged. “Not much. They were foster siblings at one point, and Sage said that they got really close. Something about how she was pan and he was gay, but their foster parents were very ‘conservative Christian’ and ‘a real don’t ask, don’t tell type couple’.”
Clint snorted at the finger quotes Pietro helpfully supplied. “I guess that makes sense. I’ve been there. Banding together with the only other queer kid nearby because you feel like the only one sometimes.” He side eyed Pietro, who had turned his attention back to the show they were watching. Some random cop show. Law and Order, if he had to guess. “When did you two have this conversation?”
The younger man thought about it for a few moments. “I’m not sure. I just remember her telling me. It might have been when Wanda and I took her to the movies. She wanted to see Coco, so we all went.”
“Hold on. You did what?”
Sage arched an eyebrow at the two from the kitchen. “Everything alright in there?”
Clint scowled at Pietro’s raised eyebrows, but raised his voice just enough to reassure her, “Yeah, we’re good. Fine. Great. Everything’s just peachy.”
“Mhmm.” Sage rolled her eyes, but turned back to her conversation, resolving to bother Clint about that later.
“We took her to the movies. It wasn’t a big deal. We asked Tony.”
“He let you take her to the movies?”
“Colonel Rhodes went with us. You know, a week ago when he was on leave for Thanksgiving? We asked Tony, and he said that as long as we had an ‘adult’ with us-” again, with the finger quotes- “That he was fine with it. Colonel Rhodes was listening, and said that he had been looking for a reason to go with ‘young people so he wouldn’t be a creepy old man in the back’. So we took him and had fun. He took us out for frozen yogurt afterward.”
Clint nodded. Seemed like a legit thing. As long as Rhodey had been gone, there was probably no need to freak out. Of all the people in the tower, Rhodey was certainly one of the most responsible. But, “Kid, I’m glad you know how to use air quotes now, but you gotta tone it down a bit, okay? This is better than the whole Joey situation that you had going on, but four times in one conversation is excessive.”
Pietro took the advice, his eyebrows furrowed, as if concentrating hard, but he nodded slightly. “Why is that too many times?” He asked, looking up at Clint questioningly.
“Well, it’s.... I-” The archer stopped, looking genuinely baffled. “You know what, I’m not actually sure why. I just know it’s too much.”
Pietro nodded again, still looking confused, but brushing it off well. “American English is confusing.”
“Yes, my young speedy friend, yes it is.”