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Post by Ray on Oct 31, 2015 19:07:24 GMT -7
"Going solo, Solo?"
Barton glances up from the bowl of blood red "punch" - a Stark specialty that's somewhere between a tequila sunrise and jungle juice - to seek out the voice that appeared just at his shoulder. He'd been at the party for a good half hour already. Though, to be honest, he hadn't really left. As per usual, Tony Stark's annual All Hallow's Eve Party made a splash across local and national newspapers last night; and, as per usual, Barton discovered that his legs didn't exactly work by the time it had ended at roughly three in the morning. He'd been sleeping on the couch on Tony's "guest" level until now, head pounding and throat dry as the Sahara, until the promise of more booze dragged him to his feet.
Apparently, their little haphazardly assembled team needed a little bonding outside of the ravenous attention of the wealthy public eye. So welcome to Halloween Part Two.
His costume, a quickly thrown together Han Solo, is rumbled and wrinkled, matching his disheveled blonde hair; but Natalia looks pristine. A black wig sits upon her head, two pigtails falling over her shoulders and looking so real that for a second he thought she was someone else entirely. Her face is painted pale, her eyes shadowed and darkened, and the fitting black dress suits her far better than any previous Wednesday Addams Barton has seen both on-screen and off.
She's got the murderous stare down, too.
"Guess so. She has to work tonight. Something about...protons...I don't know." Barton replies, handing her his full cup and reaching for another. She takes it with a dark brow arching upwards and a small smile ticking at the corner of her black painted lips. "Weren't you wearing something else last night?" He asks, scanning her up and down once more.
"I do own more than one costume, Clint." Nat replies, sipping a little at the cocktail. "But I'm starting to think you don't."
"I didn't make it home last night." Barton grumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose to quell his headache for just another second.
"Not surprised." Natalia muses, tilting her head an inch to the side. Without a second thought, she hands a black clutch bag towards him. "Two aspirin. Lay off the drinking for an hour." She says, before swallowing down another gulp of red punch herself.
"You're a life saver." Barton huffs, digging through the minimal contents of the purse; which includes a Walther P .22 and a taser.
"Mm-hmm." Nat murmurs, smiling a little mischievously. She turns her head away to scan the penthouse, as Barton taps out two pills into his palm. They're stationed on the one-hundredth floor of Stark Tower, well above the ballroom and the labs and the two gourmet restaurants that bought floor space just to be a little closer to Iron Man's flocking fans. One entire wall is made up of indestructible glass, providing a view of Manhattan and the setting sun. The Statue of Liberty is right out there, if you squint. "Where is everyone?"
"Sam is in the bathroom," Barton begins, words a little muffled as he swallows down the pills dry. "Fixing his bow-tie. Tony is making a playlist-" The speakers suddenly come alive with a zap and a distant son of a bitch. "-and Steve and his date haven't shown up yet."
"Don't call him that." Natalia warns, eyeing him sideways. Barton shrugs his shoulders upwards defensively.
"What, he totally is! They have a cat!"
Nat doesn't say anything out loud, but her stare is enough. Barton rolls his eyes and slumps his shoulders down.
"Whatever." He sighs. "What about you? Where's your date?"
Nat smirks a little. "Don't have one."
"Yeah, right. You've been sneaking around for about a month now." Barton snorts. "What's his name? Hans?"
"You're hilarious." Nat deadpans.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 31, 2015 19:26:37 GMT -7
When Barton had said about her joining the party the night before Teresa had to pass, mostly because she had stuff she had to do at home. Homework was one of them, the next one was actually finding answers from her father, but that was a long story. But when she was asked to the next one Teresa had jumped at the opportunity and even had a costume and couldn't wait to show it off.
She was going as a bat. Black leather dress with wings, a head-dress that had bat ears on it, black tights and knee high boots and her long dark hair falling down her back. Teresa actually loved the outfit and couldn't wait to actually get to the party so that the others could see it.
She then made sure that Lexi had an outfit but apparently her dark haired cousin had actually plans to watch a movie that she had brought that day. Teresa told her that she only had a little bit to get ready and if she wasn't ready by the time that she got there then she was going to dress her herself.
It worked.
When Teresa had arrived at Lexi's she had come out as a Bond girl in an amazing dress and she looked pretty good. In fact Teresa was actually jealous but of course there was bound to be a Bond there somewhere, Or was that actually wishful thinking?
When they arrived at Stark tower, for some reason Teresa felt nervous mostly because she hadn't actually been there before but surprisingly knew where she had to go in order to get to the party. She was allowed in to the party and took the elevator with the others up to the floor and when they finally got there she stepped out and looked around. It was strange because she hadn't ever been here before but it actually looked like what she thought it would look like.
Like someone rich owned it. Teresa looked around and bit down on her lip. Graeme told her that she actually looked amazing and she had taken that to heart because of the fact that she did look like a sexy bat. If there was ever such a thing of course.
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Post by Ray on Oct 31, 2015 20:33:46 GMT -7
Barton hands the bag back to Nat just as Sam appears from down the stairs. He's still fiddling with the black bow tie around his neck, trying to straighten something that was never sitting straight in the first place. He's otherwise a damn good looking sight. His black tux is sleek and slim, reminding everyone that Sam probably has the best ass out of all of them - except for maybe Nat, but that's a discussion no one is brave enough to get into. Sam's nose is scrunched up as he walks towards the duo standing by the assorted finger foods and drinks (including an entire row of expensive liqueurs that Barton is way too cheap to even look at). Nat clucks her tongue and sets the clutch on the table, taking one step forward to reach Sam before he had even gotten to them.
"What would you boys do without me." She comments, retying the bow tie with easy, practiced fingers.
"Every Bond needs his Bond girl." Sam teases, lifting his chin for her and dropping his hands uselessly to his sides.
Barton snorts. "Trust me. Nat is not a Bond girl."
"I can dream." Sam retorts with a smug smile.
"Easy, double-oh-seven." Nat murmurs, smoothing out the shoulders of his suit and fixing the collar.
"We have more guests arriving, ma'am." JARVIS' voice interrupts over the speakers. There's a short clatter from across the penthouse, before a head suddenly pops into view. Barton lets out a loud groan of anguish as soon as he sets his blue eyes on Tony Stark, one hand thrown out into the air towards her.
"Are you kidding me?" He blurts out, watching as Tony walks the length of the floor towards them. "You copied me?"
Tony stops three steps away, and yanks off the green and bronze helmet from her head. Her black hair is pulled back in a loose bun, made messy by the concealing costume. From head to toe, she wears an exact replica of Boba Fett's costume, made out of real metal, with real working parts. "Hardly." She says, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.
"I did Star Wars first!" Barton complains, motioning at her vigorously.
"And I did it better. JARVIS, is it the wonder twins?"
"No, ma'am. I believe it's Barton's plus three."
"Tell Capsickle to shake a leg would ya'. And get the Party Track going." Tony instructs, before pulling her helmet back on. Almost immediately, loud pop-funk music starts playing over the stereo system, and a soft sigh of relief exhales from the mouth piece of Stark's mask. "Damn, I'm good."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 31, 2015 20:50:16 GMT -7
Teresa looked over at Lexi in her Bond girl outfit and honestly wondered how the hell she had managed to get everything in perfect form before she had even arrived at Lexi's dorm. Her hair was perfect and not a strand out of place and she had this perfect dress on that it actually made Teresa want to check that this actually wasn't Katherine. On her other side Graeme was dressed as a cop. Mostly because of the fact that she had kidnapped him, telling him that they were going to a party and he was going whether he liked it or not. They needed to have fun.
She looked around the rook and found the people that she was looking for and then bit down on her lip as she, Graeme and Lexi, walked over to the others. It was only when they got nearer that Teresa saw that Sam was dressed as James Bond and had to laugh at Lexi.
"What?" Lexi pushed her eyebrows together and then looked over at Sam and then raised her eyebrow. How the hell had she managed to end up as Sam's Bond girl? "It's not funny" she grunted at Teresa. It was bad enough that everyone thought she and Sam was dating and now to add the fact that she had gone as a Bond girl and Sam had turned up as James Bond himself. Even if he actually looked really good. "Is that..?" she said and had to look twice. "Oh my god Nat looks really good" she said and nudged Teresa's elbow.
Teresa was still finding it hilarious that Sam and Lexi had come as James Bond and one of his girls. She then looked over at Nat and was actually impressed but then again Nat could pull off anything and still look good. "Hey guys" she said when they stopped by them and then grinned to herself. "Sam, you look good as James Bond" she said and nodded her head before looking over at Lexi who was actually trying to stand behind her. "Don't you think so, Lexi?" she asked and smirked at her before looking back over at the others with a smile on her lips this time.
Lexi seriously was going to kill Teresa when the party was over. She was going to say something about Barton but with Graeme being there it was probably the worst thing she could do.
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Post by Ray on Oct 31, 2015 21:31:44 GMT -7
Barton glances to the side just as the elevator doors open wide right into the living room, revealing two people he hasn't seen in a while, and one person he's never met at all. He has to do a slight double-take. Not because of Teresa and the wings and the slinky leather dress, though that certainly warranted another look, or Lexi's very clearly Bond inspired outfit that no doubt should have made a huge, unabashed grin take over the entirety of his face, but because the last thing he expected to see tonight was a tall prince-charming in a police uniform walking into a party full of self-proclaimed superheroes with such a surprised look at his face.
With the exception of Steve, of course. But that wasn't the point.
Barton's mouth open a little on it's own, but nothing comes out.
"Aye!" Sam exclaims happily, splaying his arms out wide as soon as he lays eyes on Lexi. "Please tell me you're not a vampire cause that'll absolutely break my heart right now." He tells her, grinning widely as he places a palm on his chest. Nat smiles a little crookedly, looking between the two of them.
"Hello people I don't know." Tony says, putting herself in the conversation. "I'm- oh." She pauses to pull her helmet off once more, running her gloved fingers through her dark hair to tame it a little. "I'm Tony Stark. Name's on the side of the building." She says smoothly, holding out one hand to shake the police officer's hand first. "You're Clint's friends?"
"Graeme." The man introduces quickly, reaching out to shake her hand, and Barton's brows bounce high. "I've...actually never met Clint. I'm new to all of this." He admits with an attractive laugh, his voice laden with a noticeable Irish lilt. Barton wants to jump out of the window.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 31, 2015 21:45:30 GMT -7
Lexi raises her eyebrow and looks over at Sam when he speaks to her. She then lets a smile pull at her lips before she laughs. "I guess I'm the girl to your James Bond" she said before biting down on her lip and looking him over. He really did look very good and it was more than tempting enough to actually want to pull him into a dark corner, if there was one in this building, and giving him a kiss. But nope she wasn't going to do that. She then turned when another voice joined them and saw that it was Tony Stark herself.
Teresa smiled over at Graeme when Tony shook his hand before then clearing her throat. "No, me and Lexi are Barton's friends, well one of us anyway but this is my boyfriend Graeme" she said and then looked around the group. Her eyes moved over to Barton and she gave him a slight smile before putting her brown eyes back on Graeme. He definitely was new to all of his, even though they had Steve in their apartment last Christmas. A thought that still put a grin on Graeme's face. "I like your outfit" she said and moved her eyes to Tony once more, Boba Fett, right?" she asked before putting her hands behind her back. Teresa would know that anywhere, Stiles had been obsessed with Star Wars and even got her to watch a couple of movies.
Lexi had to admit that she loved Nat's outfit. It was actually hard to tell it was her but it definitely looked good on her. She wasn't sure if she should actually say that just in case she thought she was being sarcastic so she dropped her eyes away from Nat and looked at Sam once more. "So, when Daniel Craig leaves the movies, are you going to try for the job?" she asked with a smile. Her black and gold clutch in her hand. This had seemed like the perfect outfit to go with for the whole Bond girl part but in honesty she was actually glad that it was Sam that was dressed up like James Bond and not Barton. They didn't exactly get on.
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Post by Ray on Oct 31, 2015 22:11:06 GMT -7
Sam smiles back at Lexi, more than okay with that. He wouldn't have been able to handle Nat, anyway. She's more 007 than he'll ever be.
"So you must be Teresa." Tony clarifies, setting her dark eyes on her and tucking the helmet underneath her arm. Barton remains silent, catching Teresa's glance for just a second before he ducks his head down a little to scratch at the back of his neck. Jesus, he needs a drink. Or five. He contemplates cracking open a bottle of cognac (cognac? Really Tony?) but his head gives an undeserving spike of pain at the very thought.
Oh, hell with it. He turns on a heel and grabs the bottle, twisting open the top with a satisfying crack of the seal.
"Well welcome!" Tony continues on, flashing one of her famous smiles. "We've got food, all you can drink, music, pool, an actual pool, and even pool on the Wii."
"Ma'am." JARVIS interrupts with a soft beep. Graeme jumps a little at the sudden intrusion, and looks up subtly towards the ceiling. "Captain Rogers says they're on their way."
"Finally." Tony replies. She pulls on her helmet quickly and with ease, having plenty of practice before. "Excuse me. I have something special to whip up for everyone." She teases, and backs away from the group with a mock salute. "And thank you, by the way!" She calls over her shoulder before disappearing up a set of side stairs.
"Any of you want a drink?" Nat asks, arching a brow.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Oct 31, 2015 22:24:18 GMT -7
Teresa nods when Tony says that she must be Teresa. Unless of course there was another Teresa on this team that she didn't know about,which wouldn't actually surprise her if she was being honest, then she was the very Teresa. Although she was actually worried about what had been said about her. Her eyes move away from Tony and over to Barton and watching as he grabs a bottle. She rolled her eyes, it wasn't that bad.
Lexi watched Tony smile and wondered if it was actually a real smile or just something that she liked to put on at moments she felt needed a smile. But she wasn't going to ask because this moment seemed to have got awkward very fast by the announcement that Teresa had brought her boyfriend. She looked around when she heard the soft beep and cleared her throat. So Steve was on his way. That might make everything a bit more livelier.
Teresa watched as Tony left and she was blinking before clearing her throat. "I will" she replied to Nat not moving her eyes away from Tony Stark. "I honestly have no idea why Stiles would want to get a photo" she said after a moment and shook her head before looking around the group. Sam and Lexi was talking to each other, Nat was asking about a drink, Barton was getting a drink and Graeme looked so out of place. They should have a knife throwing competition like the year before. That definitely had been fun.
Or even a game of pool.
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Post by Ray on Nov 1, 2015 1:35:55 GMT -7
Barton pours himself a tall glass of cognac, forgetting Nat's advice and even his own splitting skull. If he learned anything from his brother, which wasn't much, it was that nothing cured a hangover like getting drunk all over again.
No wonder his brother always needed money.
Nat pulls the bottle out of his reach with a disapproving glance, to which Barton just gives a small grunt, before she pours out three squat glasses. With ease, she turns and hands each to Lexi, Teresa, then Graeme, who only politely declines.
"I don't drink." He explains, cordially. "But thank you." Barton finds himself silently mimicking him as he sips at his drink, only glad that his back is to the group.
"A man with reserve. I can respect that." Nat comments, a small smile tugging at just one corner of her mouth. "You'll figure out that that's not all too common with our little group." She teases, but looks subtly towards Barton. He recognizes a good scold when he hears one.
"I doubt that, but it's a nice compliment." Graeme replies with a soft chuckle. "I don't think we were introduced."
"I'm Natalia." She says, looking back to Graeme with a friendly smile. She holds out a hand to shake his. "You can call me Nat. Most people do."
"Nice to meet you."
"Can I get you something else? I'm sure there's something non-alcoholic to drink around here." Nat murmurs, scanning the table.
"We have water, Miss Romanova." JARVIS replies on cue. "In the kitchen."
"Water is perfect."
"I'll have someon bring it up."
"JARVIS," Barton says quickly, carrying his glass away from the table. Nat rolls her eyes as she watches him walk away. The computer beeps overhead in reply. "Change the music. Something a little less pop, a little more rock and roll. And give me a hoop."
"Of course, sir."
The music changes suddenly; from Artic Monkies to Beastie Boys. Barton downs the rest of his drink and sets the glass on the closest metal minimalist furniture. He pantomimes a ball with his hands in open air, and shoots it like basketball. Out of nowhere, a digital ball forms itself sailing across the room, and swishes right through a pixilated net. A scoreboard appears out of thin air, ticking a number 1 under the name Hawkeye.
"Oh this is how you're gonna play." Sam blurts out, stepping over quickly to join.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 1, 2015 3:58:48 GMT -7
Teresa watches as Natalia takes the bottle from Barton and raises her eyebrow. He had seemed a bit excited about the fact that she was going to the party but now of course he was drinking on his own and she shook her head before putting her attention on Graeme and Nat's conversation, letting a smile pull at her lips.
She knew that all of this has to be overwhelming for Graeme but he was handling it well. Although that was found to be no guarantees when Steve turned up. She knew that he turned into a walking talking fangirl whenever captain America was mentioned.
Barton was then saying something to JARVIS and wondering off before Sam too followed him. Lexi joined them and then shook her head. "Boys and their toys" she smiled before then turning to Graeme. "You play, Graeme? Basketball I mean" she nudged her head towards where the two guys were playing their sort of game of basketball. That sort of thing had been for her brothers and husband. They had always been playing basketball after school.
Meanwhile Teresa was talking quietly to Nat. "Is Barton okay?" Although she wasn't sure why she should be worried because this pretty much was normal behaviour especially when it came to drinking. She took a slip of her own drink and cleared her throat.
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Post by Ray on Nov 1, 2015 11:58:31 GMT -7
As soon as Sam got within five feet of Barton's playing ground, he shoots his own virtual basketball in the air with a little bounce on his toes. JARVIS, somehow comically for a computer program, displays little tiny wings flapping alongside the ball until it sinks through the blue net at the other side of the room. Falcon spins into view on the scoreboard, and a ding announces the single point.
"Ohhh!" Sam yells out proudly, hands out at his side. "See, that's how you make a shot."
"It was the same exact shot!"
"That's what you think, white boy."
Graeme watches, both perplexed and a little impressed, until Lexi speaks and draws him out of his own thoughts. He glances over at her, brows raising, before turning his attention back to the game at hand. Almost immediately, the game had escalated; cause now Barton was balancing on the arm of the long, brown-suede couch and taking aim. "I played lacrosse in high school. But I use to like to think I was good at basketball." He admits with a small laugh. Sam glances over his shoulder at them.
"Wanna play?" He asks, a little too suavely. He cocks one of his eyebrows upwards.
Graeme chuckles. "Sure." He says, stepping towards them. "How does this work, exactly."
"A lot of patience and a lot of acting." Barton replies, getting his balance and standing up straight. He holds the virtual ball up, lining it up to his sight. "JARVIS will do all the rest." He tosses the blue ball, and it hits nothing but net. Sam throws his head back in exasperation. "Think of it like Whose Line Is It Anyway, where the rules are made up and the points don't matter."
"Easy enough." Graeme comments, watching as a number 2 pings up beneath Hawkeye's floating name.
"Wait until he starts cheating." Sam says, pointing straight at Barton.
"I don't cheat." Barton retorts, holding his hands up defensively. "I improvise."
Natalia turns her head away from the mess that's in the making to look at Teresa by her side. She sips at her blood red cocktail, before shrugging a shoulder up. "He's hungover." She excuses, even though she's well aware that it's more than that. "Graeme's cute." Nat comments, changing the conversation. She smiles at Teresa, playing into typical girl-talk. "He seems nice."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 1, 2015 13:15:56 GMT -7
Lexi huffed out a laugh when Graeme said about the fact that he liked to think that the was good at basketball. She was sure that he was good at a lot of things. But of course she wasn't going to say that just in case he thought she was hitting on him. "Boys and their toys" she said again and shook her head.
Teresa watched as Graeme joined in the game before she put her attention on Natalia as she spoke. Hungover? Well she's not surprised from the fact that there had been a party the night before. She however had been busy the night before and didn't have time to even have anything alcoholic, now she wishes that she had. She couldn't help but smile when Nat said that Graeme was cute and seemed nice. "He is" she admitted and nodded before putting her eyes back on him.
In honesty she was actually wondering why she had kept him from this for so long, even though this was his first time here with the whole gang he seemed to be doing okay. She could see that maybe Graeme and Sam could be friends but she wasn't so sure about Graeme and Barton and if she was honest she wanted those two to get along because they were both important. "He's just getting used to all of this" she admitted before looking over at Nat.
Lexi came to their side before sighing. "Maybe we should have a game of pool, I'm good at that, mostly because of working at The Grill and Jake of course" she smiled and then looked over at the two other females. "Trust me, Graeme is so cute, I'm just waiting for him to purpose" she teases before smiling. Anyone could see how crazy he was for Teresa and it was definitely cute.
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Post by Ray on Nov 1, 2015 13:44:23 GMT -7
"He's doing a decent job so far." Nat admits, watching the trio of men playing their virtual game of HORSE. With little to no effort, Graeme had become another one of the guys; wrapped up in their thinly-veiled pissing contest. She knows Barton well enough to guess that that hadn't been his intention in the slightest. Or maybe, in a way, it had. He'd been put in an uncomfortable position, so he'd found every way he could to not only distract himself, but put himself at the top of the food chain. Sometimes, Barton can be just so stereotypically male that it makes her cringe. But as long as he doesn't start a fight, or get himself killed, then he can make all the mistakes he wants.
She's not his girlfriend or his mother.
Nat taps her fingers lightly on the side of her glass, grey eyes focused on the back of Barton's blonde head, but she's listening to every word spoken between Teresa and Lexi beside her. "Thinking about getting married?" She asks, arching an amused brow at Teresa. It's been a long time since she's had a conversation that didn't revolve around terrorists, monsters, and weaponry, and an even longer time since any talk of men, relationships, and marriage really ever mattered to her, but when in Rome...
She sips at her drink and glances back towards the trio, just in time to catch Barton pantomiming a bow in the open air, and shooting Sam's thrown basketball out of the match.
Sam throws his hands in the air in exasperation, and yells "How is that not cheating?"
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 1, 2015 13:55:51 GMT -7
If it involved captain America then she was sure that Graeme would be happy. So to find out that his girlfriend not only knew the cap himself but was also friends with him well that had just made her even more lovable but in honestly she was still trying to get used to all of this herself. Especially when she found herself in this group but they were all good people.
Teresa scoffed. "Trust me the only person Graeme would marry is Steve" she smirked slightly but she hasn't really given it a thought. Mostly because of the fact that she had had so much stuff happening over the last few weeks. Plus she didn't think that Scott would be too pleased about it, even if she did tease Graeme one day and say that she wouldn't ever have to change her last name, seeing as they were both Atwood's. He had laughed and then winked at her.
Her thoughts were then interrupted by Sam and she laughed soft. "Oh come on Wilson, you should know that Barton cheats by now, if not then shame on you" Teresa teases at him before shrugging up a shoulder.
It was fun watching them play but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know the outcome of the scores. That was one bit of information that she didn't want to possess because she had a feeling that it would all end in disaster
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Post by Ray on Nov 1, 2015 14:20:43 GMT -7
"Big fan?" Nat asks, finding that more than a little funny. She's lucky, she thinks. Most days, the only looks she ever has to worry about are the ones from skeevy guys who have far too much to say. No one knows who she is, what she does, where she's from. She's another face in a sea of faces. It's perfect. But Steve can barely walk five steps without being stopped, or gawked at, or screamed at, or a camera shoved in his face. He handles it a lot better than Nat ever would, but she knows it can't be easy. Most people don't really see Steve Rogers. They just see what they want to see.
"We never said no interceptions." Barton excuses from his perch atop the coffee table, the virtual bow disappearing into thin air as soon as he lowers his hands into an innocent shrug.
"Do they have longbows in the NBA?" Sam retorts back, comically angry. "I don't think so, Robin Hood."
"Well that's why I'm not playing in the NBA."
"Oh that's why."
"Wait, so you're Clint?" Graeme interrupts their almost-laughable conflict, pointing towards Barton on the coffee table. Almost immediately, both of them shut up and turn their eyes back on the cop in a cop costume. "The archer." He clarifies.
"Uh." Barton begins, feeling uncomfortable all over again. He clears his throat, gives Teresa a quick look, before fixing his blue eyes back on Graeme. "Yeah. That's...that's me." There's an awkward pause before Barton gives a half-wave. "Howdy."
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