Duyên || Clint Barton

027 || healing

•••

"We're going to do something fun"
I was snapped out of my reverie by Natasha, the redhead leaning against the doorway with a large smile on her face.
"Huh?"
"We're going to do something fun" she repeated, gesturing for me to follow her. I hauled myself off of the sofa with a groan, falling behind her as she walked through the corridors, the excitement rolling off of her in waves. We eventually ended up at the gym, though all of the equipment had been pushed to the side leaving a massive open space in the centre.
"What's this?"
"The boys helped me move everything so that we could do what we always used to do when we were stressed and Clint was away"
I let out a small gasp, a smile creeping up my lips.
"No"
"Oh yes. Let's fucking dance"
A grin coloured my features as I skipped into the middle of the room, bouncing up and down happily.
"New choreography?"
"The works" Nat winked, joining me, "We've got the room for the whole day, let's make the most out of it"
The two of us goofed around for a while, flitting in between song choices as we went, the smiles never leaving our faces.

Dancing was a hobby that required a lot of free time, something that Nat and I didn't have a lot of before the snap, so finally being able to take a step back and indulge in it felt amazing. It was one of the first things Nat and I had bonded over, both of us having experience in dancing before.

"You sure this is okay?" Nat asked, gym bag slung over her shoulder as she walked into the farmhouse, "I know I've never been here without Clint before"
"Ouch Nat I thought we were friends" I teased, rolling my eyes, "of course it's fine. You've been a massive help this past month, god knows this house would still be a complete and utter mess if you weren't over as much as you are"
The redhead just snorted, silently agreeing with me as she lay the bag down by the side of the sofa, eyes drawn to a video that was up on my laptop.
"Woah whats this?"
"Shit! Nothing!" I exclaimed, leaping towards the device and slamming the lid shut, "uni stuff"
"No, I'm pretty sure that looked like you on a stage"
Natasha raised her eyebrows at me teasingly, a small smirk pulling at the corner of her lips as she watched me stutter.
"N-No. why would I be on a stage? That's ridiculous!"
"Show me the laptop"
"No"
"Why?"
"I don't want to"
"Show me it"
"I refuse!"
"I will fight you"
"I'll beat you"
"Sure hon" she chuckled, holding her hand out and gesturing towards the laptop, "gimmie"
I caved in with a sigh, passing the laptop over to her, watching as her eyes lit up with glee as she played the video.

"This is you? You had red hair! There's Dalia!"
"I went through a phase" I mumbled, cringing slightly.
"Ooh who's that?" She asked, pointing to the girl who started rapping.
"Oh that's Cynthia, we dated for a while back in first year but it didn't work out. We still talk occasionally"
"What?"
"Sorry does that make you uncomfortable?"
"No! I just didn't peg you as bi"
"Well now you know" I giggled, sending her an over exaggerated wink.
Sensing my embarrassment, Nat sent me a small smile, her hand resting on my shoulder.
"You're a good dancer, I'll give you that"
"Oh yeah? You dance?"
"Used to. More ballet though, I don't do it anymore"
"I haven't danced in a couple of years, well - since college really. I kinda miss it"
"Me too. I miss the feeling you get as you move" Natasha said sadly.
"You should try doing ballet again one day"
"Oh, no. I'm never doing ballet again. It has bad memories for me"
I shuffled in my seat, turning to face her more fully, "we could try some hip-hop type moves. That's the style I'm most comfortable with. Have some fun with it"
"I- yeah I'd love that"

We eventually settled on 'September', the uplifting song very much needed at this point in time. We choreographed as we went, reminiscing about other times we had done this, making sure to steer clear of sore topics.
(dance at the top)

•••

As the sun started to set we decided to call it a day, both of us walking back to our rooms chatting animatedly about how nice it was to dance again. The whole thing had put me in a better mood than I had been in a long while, my brain finally clear enough to think about the future.

"Hey Nat?"
"Yeah Grace?"
"Are universities still running?"
"Yeah - Wait are you serious?"
"You said I needed a routine right? I think after over 14 years of on and off learning its about time I get my doctorate"
"This is huge!" She grinned, launching herself on to me.