Holly and the Archer

THREE

The television was playing a children's superhero cartoon loudly and the hotel door was bolted shut. The window was cracked open ever-so-slightly and the wind sucked the curtains into the outside world. Two coats were abandoned on a chair in the corner of the room and an empty packet of cool ranch Doritos lay abandoned at the end of the bed.

Holly and Clint sat against the headboard of the bed, their feet wrapped in fluffy socks provided by the hotel. Holly's legs curled into Clint as his arm hung loosely across her shoulders. Clint's skittish demeanour had prevented him from travelling across the city to his apartment, and he dared not go to Holly's shared flat with Annie. Instead, he had dragged her into the nearest hotel, the two of them looked windswept and breathless, which led to the staff giving them the couple's package- not that they were complaining.

"I used to be blind, you know." Holly leaned her head back and watched him talk as his eyes remained trained on the heroes on the television.

"... and deaf? That's rough." He glanced down at her and smiled sadly.

"Yeah... My brother, donated some of his stem cells to help bring my sight back which has worked wonders. When I asked why he did it, he said it was so that the next time we fought it would at least be a fair fight." His smile had disappeared and the sadness in Holly's hazel eyes was nearly unbearable to look at for long. His gaze fell on the tray of snacks he'd requested from room service. "Did they give us pancakes?" Holly followed his gaze, spotting the plate with three thick pancakes stacked behind a bag of marshmallows. She jumped off the bed and over to the tray.

"I knew I could smell something!" Clint wrapped his arms behind his head and watched her pick up the bag of marshmallows and help herself to them.

"Any sauce?"

"Umm, honey?"

"Yes, dear?" The blush formed once again on her cheeks as she threw a marshmallow at him. She rolled her eyes when he leaned forward and caught it in his mouth and picked up the tray to take to the bed.

Clint moved the file to the bedside table and, once she sat beside him with the tray balancing on their legs, his arm found its way back around her shoulder. He couldn't explain it other than it just felt right. Holly couldn't complain as she snacked on the marshmallows and watched the title sequence for the new episode of Thunderbirds on the television.

"So, you think your brother left his blood behind for you to find? You think he's ready for a 'fair fight'?" Clint hums, squeezing some honey onto a pancake before rolling it up and pushing all of it into his mouth.

"Possibly." He mumbles around the mouthful of food. Holly shakes her head and passes a napkin up to him from the tray and continues to watch the show. The two of them sat in silence for a while. Clint moved the tray to sit on top of the file beside him and dipped his hand into the bag of marshmallows. He brought his knees to his chest and his feet brushed Holly's. "These socks are comfortable."

"Yeah, my toes are so toasty."