#muse || clint barton

[muse-gathering]

@stitchnbanner

"I can't believe you gave away my location. You were supposed to cover for me."

Not that there were many places to steal off to on a cruise ship, but Clint had thought he would have at least another forty minutes. He loved his children, he really did, but he could and did spend ample amounts of time with them without sitting through the mind-numbing onboard entertainment every single night.

[muse-gathering]

[continued from here]

As much as he normally would have preferred coffee, Clint gathered the fixings for real hot chocolate—or, at least, European hot chocolate—when he shopped for them earlier. They'd be here a few days, after all; they needed supplies. He'd tasted it the first time in Serbia, so whenever he found himself in Belgrade, Barton remembered and found an excuse to either buy or make it. Today, he would make it. They had the time, "Might want to get comfortable."

Clint took out a knife and cutting board before unwrapping the chocolate bars as the milk started heating on the stove, "Probably take twenty minutes if I do it right."

@mindfcllofmadness

[muse-gathering]

The cruise never seemed to end. The children of the sea hadn't yet reached children of the corn levels of chaotic, but Clint couldn't help but draw parallels. It'd been six days since they left shore, yet he still couldn't relax. Usually he managed to ease into vacations after a short time, but the man kept distancing himself instead on this one: from his wife, from his kids, from the friend he himself pressured to join them. Still, he pushed himself to attend meals at least and made an honest effort to periodically act like he wanted to be here. Laura saw through him, of course, but he wouldn't expect anything different from her. They already talked about it.

Barton put his fork down despite not having eaten much. After a beat of silence, he turned his gaze to Bruce, "You're coming to ours for Thanksgiving this year, right?"

@stitchingverses

[muse-gathering]

@stitchnbanner

"You'd have a good time—" Clint reassured him. He visited Bruce planning to invite him on their upcoming family trip, thinking he would probably have more trouble saying no to his face in person than to his voice over the phone, "—and, more importantly, you'd keep me from losing my mind on that cruise ship. The second they find out we're coming, they're going to plan to put on that stupid musical."

He paused, "I'm not selling it very well, am I?"