25 Unicorn Street, Friday Evening

[so_hawkward]

After everything that had happened with the Tesseract, Clint hadn't imagined he'd be going on another mission for a good, long while. Now that he was standing at his and Natasha's new place though, he wasn't sure if this really counted.

Fury had given them a number of reasons why they were being sent away - namely, that the World Security Council was pissed, and while certain billionaire playboy philanthropists were probably untouchable staying local, he and Natasha weren't - but there were just as many things that had gone unsaid, like how the repairs to the Helicarrier would probably go a lot more smoothly without the guy who had caused them being there. Or maybe Clint was just guessing that part.

Still, the reports that SHIELD had on this island were kind of intriguing, although somehow, the quaint and idyllic part hadn't come across quite so strongly. That's what Clint got for skimming reports for the good stuff.

"Are you sure this is the right place? Really?"

[For she who is mentioned above! :D]

Comments

[imablackwidowbaby]

Yeah, Natasha was consulting her phone on this one. "Apparently." She still sounded dubious, and was jabbing at her poor phone with more force than it probably deserved. It might have something to do with the fact that the place looked like it belonged on a postcard and was dominated by a boarding school.

It could have been worse. They could have had to teach.

"Maybe we can report that there's nothing to report soon and then he'll let us go do something interesting," she suggested. And by 'interesting' she did mean 'violent.' "And the house is...cute." She sounded like she was really not sure about that word.

[so_hawkward]

"Cute is certainly one word for it." And really, anyone who thought 'cute' and Natasha went together was courting a death wish. "Maybe this place'll get interesting. But there's gotta be other places we'd be better put to use."

Clint headed up the porch and checked to see if his keys opened the door, smirking back at Natasha when the lock clicked and opened. "Well honey, it looks like we're home."

Okay, maybe he was the one courting a death wish right now.

[imablackwidowbaby]

"Not our call, sadly," Natasha sighed. "And we did disobey orders. Technically."

Then she clasped her hands together and said, "Oh, darling, I'm ever so excited!"

If Clint had been anyone else he would have been well-advised to sleep with both eyes open.

[so_hawkward]

Oh, like he wouldn't be sleeping with both eyes open in a new place anyway.

"I think disobeying orders should be overlooked when you help save the world," he said, looking around. "For all the cute, there's a lot of nice space here." 'Nice' meaning places to hide cameras and weapons, mostly.

[imablackwidowbaby]

"The Council disagreed." Natasha's opinions on the Council were many, and never to be voiced aloud. She trusted Clint to know them anyway. "The kitchen's nice," Natasha said. 'Nice' meaning the same thing as it had when Clint said it, because like either of them could cook. "And there's a fireplace. That's a major plus." She sounded like she could have been appearing on one of those home search shows, but the sarcasm was there if you knew how to look for it.

Actually, the fireplace was a major plus. They could burn evidence in it.

[so_hawkward]

Clint might have paid more attention to the fireplace if he hadn't found the stairs and made a beeline up them. "Oh hey, the room up here looks good too," he called down. He'd noticed the bedroom on the first floor - and thank god there really were two of them because this had enough potential for awkwardness no matter how much he trusted Natasha - but upstairs was clearly better.

[imablackwidowbaby]

"You can have that one," Natasha called up the stairs, because she'd checked out the downstairs bedroom and deemed it sufficient, and she knew how Clint was about finding the high point. If she didn't let him have it she'd never get him out of her room. Also, she liked being closer to the door in the event of a threat. "This one has a decent closet, so I'm good."

And if he'd failed to mention that upstairs had a jetted tub and also a pony and so ceding it sight unseen was a bad call, she'd get over it.

[so_hawkward]

Clint would never deprive Natasha of a pony, just like she'd never deprive him of having a nest place up high to perch stay. "You're so good to me," he said, with genuine fondness, before coming back down the stairs enough to see her. "It'll take some time to make the place secure, but I think this could work."

[imablackwidowbaby]

"We still have to check out this gym we're supposed to be running," Natasha reminded him. And she had to sweep this entire place for bugs before she could sleep tonight. "But it's hardly the worst place we've spent time." Even if it was so cute.

"Did you see those posters for a party on Sunday?" Of course he had. "We should go. Size up Meet the locals."

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah, sure, it'll help with the blending in," Clint agreed with only the smallest sense of foreboding. "I'll sweep up here, make sure we're good. And check the roof." That'd be such a hardship, really.

[imablackwidowbaby]

Of course it would. "I'll just assume if I don't hear from you you're communing with our roof everything's fine, then," Natasha said, because she figured the odds of anything getting enough of a jump on him he wouldn't be able to warn her were somewhere between slim and none. "At least there won't be any teenagers at the party." A boarding school. Really.

[so_hawkward]

"Ugh, boarding school kids. Boarding school kids who live on an island. I'm sure they're not stuck up at all." Clint watched Natasha for a moment, thinking about apologizing yet again - she didn't have to be here, there was no good reason she couldn't be off knocking heads together and getting real work done - but he knew she'd probably just shrug it off. "At least this place isn't too small for takeout joints," he said instead.