Forty-five minutes later Clint and Natasha return to find them asleep on the couch, a bowl of popcorn by Steve's hand, Lapa's head on his slowly rising chest. The (possibly) part-hound puppy opens amber eyes, tail thumping against the cushions, and stays guarding their teammate until Natasha wakes him, brushing a hand across his forehead.

"Hey," he says, blinking as he sits up. "You're back early."

"You know Clint, he makes for terrible company when he's worried," she replies with a half-smile. "You're really watching a movie called Valentine's Day?"

"Seemed appropriate." Steve pats Lapa's smooth coat, gently shifting her weight off.

"Yeah, well, it's a terrible movie. Knock-off of Love Actually but done by Americans." Clint makes a face and puts his coat on the back of the couch, bending to greet his puppy.

"You should stay," Natasha comments when Steve moves to get up. "Even if it's set around Christmas, we can watch it tonight. If Tony doesn't have the sense to own a copy, I'm sure Pepper does."

He pauses, caught awkwardly halfway to his feet. She notices his uncertainty and smiles at him over the blanket she's pulling from a basket, bright and warm and fond all at once.

"We won't be doing more than watching a movie anyway, if Lapa is feeling poorly. Valentine's Day is no different than any other day for us; Clint only owed me such a dinner tonight because he places poor bets." Her smile gains a sharper edge. "The stipulation that he cook it only wearing an apron explains why we were distracted when she wanted a snack."

Steve coughs as Clint makes a noise behind him. But they end up with two more bowls of popcorn (one more kettlecorn, one extra buttery, air popped because Clint swears he will have none of that Orville baloney in his kitchen) and Steve takes over the love-seat as Clint and Natasha curl up on the couch, everyone draped in blankets and laughter and Lapa switching between them until she settles onto Steve’s legs, content to have her family home around her.



author's note: Lapa is (theoretically) Russian for 'darling'.

Edited 2014-02-14 02:34 am (UTC)

Awww, this is so cute! And I *LOVE* the explanation for why Steve had to come over and doggy-sit. Tee hee!! I do not blame their distraction at all! Nope! Not one bit. ;D

Never a dull moment at their place, I'm sure. ;D Thank you!

Loved this interpretation of the prompt. And of course Natasha wins all the bets :)

Thank you! :) And yes, Clint really should know better by now... but it's Clint. It's not his fault the Broncos couldn't get their act together!

Too sweet! I love these kinds of slice of life fics.

And yeah, Clint in nothing but an apron would be distracting!

Stopping Dr. Doom: $3.6 million in property damage
Recovery for bruised collarbone and wrenched knee: 6 weeks
Moments when the world isn't ending: Priceless.

Thank you! :D

Puppy!!! This is so cute and I love this interpretation of babysitting :) The thought of Clint in just an apron had me swooning. And Clint and Nat more or less adopting Steve for the holiday... *sigh*

PUPPY! My brain delights in turning prompts sideways and shaking them, which inevitably results in this kind of thing. :D And yes, I really wanted them to hang onto Steve because, hey, friendships should be celebrated too. Thanks. ;)

Aww man that is ridiculously cute. :P