tiny times [ avengers age regression ]

overlooked

    (because clint barton is in every way the most overlooked avenger.)

   Out of all the littles living in the Avengers tower, Clint Barton was the most overlooked.

  Steve and Bucky took turns caring for each other, one switch the caregiver one day, the other  the next, so on and so forth. Tony regressed as a younger toddler, and while the man didn't like the idea of his headspace, he sure did spend a lot of time within it. Natasha was usually the mother of the group, and alongside Jarvis' help, she could manage the littles on even their worst days. Bruce would help out too, whenever he wasn't tinkering in a lab or working out some crazy experiments. Sam helped sometimes, but he split his time between living at the tower and living with his sister, so he wasn't there all the time. Sometimes Coulson stopped by too, having his own littles but still enjoying to visit around. Frequently, Peter would swing in clumsily after patrol with cuts and scrapes all over his body, relying on Natasha or whoever served as caregiver for that time period to help him out as well.

  Clint couldn't really blame them for overlooking him; after all, he wasn't very open. He was always uncomfortable around so many people when regressed, so he didn't drop as often as he liked. Clint's little side varied so drastically also, so he never knew whether he'd drop to the mindset of a two year old or a five year old. Sure, it was taxing to not regress very often, but he found it more stressful to ask Natasha or Steve, or Bucky or Bruce for help. He didn't want that much attention.

  Unfortunately for Clint, today seemed to be a busier day in the tower. It was a Saturday, so he woke up later and groggier than usual. The archer didn't bother to shower, as he usually preferred his at night. He was never much of a morning person.

  With a yawn and a small stretch, Clint ruffled through his dresser drawers before pulling out black jeans and a loosely fit grey shirt. Tugging both of the items on, he swooshed his hair upwards messily, checking himself briefly in the mirror. He deemed he looked well enough to start his day, quietly opening his door and entering the hallway.

  Clint walked past the many rows of doors, some opened and some closed, following the sound of voices and some faint laughter until he arrived  at the common floor living area. A pile of bagels lay stacked up on the table and his friends were scattered in various positions around the room. Steve was sat with Bucky on his lap, the latter seemingly finishing up his half of the bagel he split with his caretaker. Sam was beside him, laughing with Steve as they talked about god knows what. Tony was on the floor in front of the couch, visibly regressed with a light red pacifier bobbing in between his lips and soft, childish clothes clinging to his frame. He stacked his blocks into towers structurally unsound, and Clint winced, thinking about how loud they'd crash when the whole thing finally tipped. He shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. Natasha was sitting by Tony, crouched while she ate her own bagel and plucked the pacifier from the boy's mouth, beginning to feed him bites of his bagel. Bruce was there too, helping an also seemingly regressed Peter play with a remote control car. The physically youngest little had a bandaid sideways on his forehead, hinting to Clint that he'd had a rough night patrolling. As always, Peter was full of smiles and giggles while he accidentally ran the car right into Bruce's foot, who let out a yelp.

  Clint continued into the others' lines of sight, briskly grabbing a bagel off the table before going to sit on one of the separate reclining chairs. Before his butt could his the seat, though, someone lifted back up by the back of his shirt. Sam, who seemed to have teleported over, lifted up his keys and waved them in Clint's face. "Grocery time, Clinton!"

  Clint groaned, slowly following Sam towards the elevator. "Uhg, it's our turn?"

"Hey, don't sound so excited," Sam teased. "But yeah, it's our turn."