Metal Birds?

8: Up

Clint was sat on the porch in the rocking chair with Cocoa in his lap. The thunder had started back up again and Cocoa had gotten scared and ran for the house.

Cocoa was a chicken. She was very smart and always knew how to escape the coop, no matter how many times Clint fixed it. She was by far Clint's favorite chicken because she acted like a dog. She snuggled in his lap and at his feet and liked to follow him around. Cocoa was up at the house so much that they actually had put a little dish of chicken feed next at the top of the porch steps.

Clint heard the door open and turned to look. Pietro came outside in sweatpants and a giant hoodie with the hood up. Clint chuckled and Cocoa lifted her head to look at Pietro. She made a small noise before returning to her slumber.

"Hi," Pietro greeted, taking a seat on the other chair.

"Your hair probably doesn't even look that bad, Piet," Clint insisted. "You do look funny with that hood up, though. It's way too big for you." Pietro glared at him.

"It looks weird." Clint scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I doubt it. C'mon, take off the hood." Pietro refused. "Okay, whatever. Why'd you come out here?" he questioned, changing the subject. Pietro shrugged.

"I got bored. Why do you have a chicken?"

"Her name's Cocoa." Cocoa looked up upon hearing her name and nuzzled her head into Clint's side. "She's more like a dog than a hen."

"Okay then."

"Do you want to hold her?" Pietro shifted uncomfortbaly.

"I don't think so."

"Okay. She's really sweet though," Clint added, softly petting the chicken. He was quiet for a minute and randomly blurted, "Have you ever seen Up?"

"Up? What's that?" asked Pietro, raising an eyebrow. Clint gasped dramtically.

"You've never seen Up?" Pietro shook his head. "It's only the saddest Pixar movie on the planet!"

"Why is it sad?" he questioned, head cocking to the right. Clint shook his head.

"I can't tell you anything. You have to watch it. Lucky for you, I got it for the kids earlier this year. Let's go watch it."

"Okay. Are you, uh, going to bring the chicken in?" asked Pietro, eyeing Cocoa.

"Yeah. Cocoa always comes inside. Why? If you don't want me to, that's no problem, I totally don't have to, it's just, I alway bring her in and it's raining but if you don't want her to-" Pietro cut him off, laughing.

"It's fine. I was just asking." Clint nodded and smiled.

"Alright." He lifted Cocoa off his lap and put her on the floor. "Cocoa, come on," Clint told the chicken, making a clicking noise with his mouth. Cocoa looked up at him and ruffled her feathers, following him as he and Pietro went inside.

"Francis, you need a haircut," Natasha told him once he got inside. She looked down at the hen and crouched to pet Cocoa's feathers.

"Do I have to?" Clint whined, making his way to the chair in the kitchen anyway. Natasha nodded and sat him down. "Hey Pietro, can you keep an eye on the chicken?" Pietro groaned.

"I guess."

"Great. Just follow her around and make sure she doesn't get into anything." Pietro sighed but did as he was told. Cocoa slowly made her way around the house. He followed her through living room and up the stairs. He followed her down the hall and into Laura's room where Cocoa jumped onto the bed and fell asleep. Pietro sighed and sat on the bed next to the chicken. He fell back onto the bed and the hood fell off as he did so. He ruffled his hair and looked over to the chicken, reaching over and gently petting her feathers.

Pietro stayed like that for a while. It seemed like such a long time, but it was only about ten minutes. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't know Clint was in the room until the blond jumped on the bed next to him, yelling, "HEY PIETRO YOUR HAIR LOOKS NICE! DO YOU LIKE MINE?" Pietro responded by instinctively hitting Clint right in the chest.

"Oh my god I am so sorry," he apologized, embarrassed. Clint chuckled and rubbed his chest, reaching over to pat Cocoa and calm her, as she had gotten frightened by when he barged in.

"It's fine, kid. Your hair looks fine. How's mine?" he repeated in a normal voice.

"It's nice," Pietro commented. It was shorter all over and the top of his hair was just under an inch and spiked to a point in the front. "Are we going to watch that movie?"

"Yeah. I figured we could watch it in here though, if you don't mind. I feel like relaxing for a while." Clint moved up to the pillows and lay down with his hands behind his head. One of his legs was just touching Pietro's knee and Cocoa moved so she was curled up on his chest.

"That's fine. What about the chicken?" Pietro asked, gesturing to the hen. Clint shrugged.

"I'll bring her downstairs. Nat can watch her and Lila will want to go play outside with Cooper, so they can do that. I'll go get popcorn and grab the movie, alright?" Clint lifted the chicken off his chest and Cocoa jumped off the bed and onto the ground, waiting patiently by the door.

"Okay." Pietro spread out across the bed and rested his head on his folded arms. Clint left the room and shut the door behind himself, trapping all of the heat inside the room. Pietro, in his giant sweater, started getting hot and irritated. He took off the sweater and tossed it to the side of the room, sighing happily as his bare chest cooled down.

Clint returned soon after with a bucket of popcorn and a DVD box. He went over to the television and put the disc in, set the popcorn on the nightstand, and hopped on the bed before realizing Pietro was topless.

"Are you hot? I could go turn the heat down if you want," he offered, making a move to get up. Pietro shook his head and placed a hand on Clint's chest to stop him from moving.

"It's fine. The sweater was hot, that's it," he explained, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. Clint nodded and sat the bowl of popcorn between them, getting up to turn off the light. He sat back down and hit play, an evil grin upon his face. He made sure to watch Pietro's face carefully for the first seven minutes of the film and couldn't help but sympathize when he saw the few tears snaking down the Sokovian's face at the sad story of Carl and Ellie.

By the end of the film, Clint ended up fast asleep, curled up next to Pietro with his head on the younger man's bare chest and his arms wrapped around his waist. Pietro fell asleep not long after with a smile on his face and his fingers carding through Clint's freshly cut hair.

***

CUTE CHRISTMAS CHAPTER COMING SOON. BE READY FOR CUTE MISTLETOE ACTION.

Have a nice day!

Peace out, my nuggets,

-MBAD