Chapter Text
“Barton, what the hell are you doing?”
Natasha was sat in one of the large armchairs in Clints room, legged tucked underneath her her, the file from their latest mission together open in her lap, from where she had been reading over the completion notes.This was not an uncommon arrangement for them; when they were off-task they tended to stay with the rest of their team, in the newly constructed Potts Tower, and while they had their own rooms, when there was only one person in the world who you really trusted, you tended to keep them close.
So, here they were; her doing file check, he sprawled across the bed, apparently fiddling with some string.
“Barton... are you... knitting?”
The other agent flicked his head backwards to peer at her, upside down. “Problem Tash?”
“No, I just didn’t take you for the granny sort...”
He attempted to shrug, but upside down, it came out as more of a wiggle. “One of the acrobats taught me in the circus. It kept me from doing target practice with the clowns hats.” He grinned, and looked back to the bundle of thin black yarn and needles in his hands. “You should try it some time; you might make a cute little spider web, or a vodka cosy, or whatever.”
She rolled her eyes at the back of his head. “You know perfectly well I’ve never knitted in my life Clint.”
He grinned at her again. “Like to try?”
She hesitated for a moment, automatically wanting to say no, piss off, can you make me some herbal tea. But the file was boring, and knitting could potentially be useful, she supposed. So she nodded, and couldn’t help but laugh at how cheerful it made Clint look. He flipped himself over (somehow keeping hold of the yarn in his hand) and sat on the edge of the bed, gesturing for her to sit on the floor.
She settled herself against his legs, and allowed him to wrap his arms around her shoulders, to hold the knitting in front of her. She took the needles from him, and he carefully guided her thin hands, teaching her how to wind the yarn to make fabric. As with most things, she picked it up quickly, and soon he was watching over the top of her head, as she created the tiny stitches, slightly mesmerised by her own work.
It wasn’t long before he was teaching her basic ribbing, and then casting off.
“So, enjoy that?”
“I did, actually. It was... relaxing?”
He laughed. “Come on,” He put his hands under her arms and lifted her onto her feet, like a child. “I’ve only got one pair of needles here, and not much yarn left, but I know a store a few blocks from here.”
Before leaving, Natasha picked up one of the needles from the bed, and gave it an experimental twirl between her fingers. She smiled as she shut the door behind her.
The piece Clint is working on when he teaches Tasha is a pair of long finger-less gloves, for use on cold, night time stakeouts - so he can still use his bow. Pattern here.