Clint chuckled as he entered his apartment, a dripping wet Pietro following behind with a pout pulling at his lips.
"Come on, it's not that bad." The blond teased as he made his way through the small hallway into the main area of the apartment. Lucky bounced up at the sound of her owner's voice, instantly jumping around his feet. Clint only laughed and took out some leftover meat he had taken from the cafe from his pocket. He unwrapped the cling film and poured the various types of meat pieces over the floor when the Labrador happily lapped up the gift.
"Clint, I sprayed myself in the face like... one hundred times. It's bad." The Sokovian sighed heavily as he stood in the hallway, water dripping on to the floor from his soaked sweatshirt and jeans. He had cleaned all of the dishes and cups he was given well and at a reasonable pace, but as a consequence, he had sprayed himself with the weird shower head multiple times. The sleeves of his sweater were soaked with soapy water from where they kept falling down during the cleaning process, and his shoes felt squishy with water from standing in a puddle all day. Sam hadn't even bothered to help whatsoever and only laughed at the other male mercilessly.
"Yeah, but Fury paid you upfront for hiring you on such short notice. $62 is a decent amount of money." Clint stated as he pulled his jacket from his arms and tossed it on the back of a chair at his 'dining table', which was a fold-out table that could barely fit two plates situated by his window next to the kitchenette. "Plus, you now have a proper job." He added, grabbing a clean mug from the cupboard to make himself a cup of coffee. Pietro thought Clint would be sick of coffee since he worked around it all day, but apparently not.
"It's only temporary." Pietro pointed out, tugging at the front of his sweatshirt as he stuck to his stomach. grimacing at the feeling.
"Yeah, but if you do your job well you'll get to keep it. It's only a temp because he needs to make sure you can do it properly without any previous experience." Clint shrugged his shoulders as he set his pot to boil and turned around. He leaned back against the countertop, picking at a coffee stain on his jeans, realising it wasn't going to come off unless he washed them properly. "Now get changed, you're dripping everywhere." He gestured to the brunet's soaked form with a smirk. Pietro only gave a pointed glare before turning to scuffle towards his bedroom.
By the time he came back with a fresh pair of sweats on and a dry shirt, Clint was sat in front of the TV with his coffee ordering what he assumed was food on the phone. Pietro silently walked over and sat down on the sofa beside the older male, giving Lucky a gentle fuss as she lifted her head in a silent beg for attention. He would be lying if he said the dog wasn't slowly beginning to grow on him. Just a little.
Clint put the phone down and smiled over at the Sokovian, slumping back into the sofa. "Alright, pizza is ordered, my treat as a celebration for your new job." He grinned and reached over to ruffle Pietro's dark locks as the other pulled away with a soft giggled, swatting at the offending hand. Clint only continued to smile, chuckling softly as the younger male shuffled over. With only a small amount of hesitance, Pietro leaning into the blond, letting his head fall against the other's surprisingly firm chest while his arm snaked its way around Clint's stomach in a half-hug. Clint felt his heart swell in his chest as he wrapped his arm around the brunet, his fingers tracing gentle patterns over the other's back over the material of the shirt.
"So, Pietro," The older male started, his attention now back on the TV but his focus on the boy currently curled into his side. He received a hum in response to show he had the attention of the other male. "What're you gonna do with your first bit of hard-earned money?" He asked, briefly glancing down at Pietro before looking back up at the TV to see the cartoon sponge run around with a net in his hand.
There was a moment of silence as Pietro thought over his answer. He hadn't actually thought about it yet. The Sokovian hummed softly, reaching up to tuck back some of his hair behind his ear. He paused as the idea came to him.
"I think I have an idea..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pietro felt like a mess. A mix of nerves and excitement pooled in the pit of his stomach as he fiddled with the money in his pocket. Straight after food, Pietro had asked Clint to take him to the nearest hairdressers. Luckily there was one relatively close to the apartment that was only a ten-minute walk away. After Clint had guided him to the right place the younger male had told him to go have fun for an hour or so. The blond had been a little hesitant, but Pietro had wanted his new hair to be a surprise for the other male.
It was something Pietro had thought about for a while. He had tidied up a little bit, but he still looked like a mess and every time he looked in the mirror all he could think about was all that time he had spent on the streets. He knew his weight would take a little while to sort out, but the one thing he could change now was his hair. And that was exactly what he was going to do.
Once Clint had left, the younger male wandered into the building. Looking around he could see the exposed brick walls and smooth wooden flooring. To his right was a small seating hair with a comfortable looking sofa and a single seat pressed against the window with a glass coffee table placed in front. There wasn't actually anyone sitting there but there were a couple of coasters and magazine placed on the table that looked recently used.
To his left were a row of black cushioned chairs, four in total, sat in front of large mirrors. Two were currently occupied, both by women, each being worked on, one by a man and one by another woman who had brightly coloured hair.
In front of Pietro, slightly deeper into the hairdressers was a desk with an older woman sat behind, reading glasses on and currently talking on the phone while making notes with her free hand. Behind the reception desk was what looked to be a bunch of sink type things with comfy looking reclining seats in front of them, all empty however there was a man cleaning up the area, wiping down one of the counters with a cloth.
Pietro bit his lip nervously. He had never gotten a haircut before, at least not by himself. The last time he remembered getting a haircut was some time at the age of 10, and he had gone with both his parents and his sister.
Pushing back the nerves, Pietro walks over to the little desk just in time for the woman to put the phone down. She gave an exasperated sigh before looking up at him with a genuine smile.
"Hey there, sweetie. You got an appointment booked?" She asked, a lowkey Southern accent lightly coating her words. Pietro gave a stiff shake of the head, feeling his stomach twist.
"I, uh... It was sort of a random idea thing..." He tried to explain, cringing at the shake in his own voice. The woman only smiled wider.
"It's alright! We get a lot of short notice customers here! Can I ask what you were looking to get?" Pietro hadn't even thought about what style he wanted to get. What styles where there? What would look nice on him? He didn't have a clue about hair. His father always chose his hairstyle for him.
"I... don't know... I'm sorry, this is kinda my first haircut..." He said sheepishly, pushing back the urge to run out and go and find Clint as quick as he could. He felt so stupid, a grown man never having a haircut before?
"Ah, I see..." The woman said, thinking for a moment before turning towards the back area of the building. "Stephen! I have a customer for you!" She called and Pietro felt his cheeks begin to burn as the man turned away from his cleaning to look at him. His eyes lit up and he soon abandoned his work to rush over to the Sokovian boy. He stood incredibly close to Pietro as he studied him intently, fingers picking at his hair, pulling and looking before then cupping his face to look at the mess he called his facial hair. Pietro could only stand helplessly before the man pulled away with a large grin.
"Ooh! Now this one looks interesting. I'm going to have fun with you." He winked at the brunet before grabbing him by the shoulders and guiding him over to a free chair. The women in the other chairs giggled at the sight of this petrified man being handled by this scarily enthusiastic hairdresser. Pietro was steadily growing to hate this idea with a passion.
Pietro was soon seated and the man, Stephen he remembered, was playing around with his hair, bunching it up with his fingers before brushing it back down.
"So you have no idea what you want?" Pietro shook his head silently. "Would you like me to find some styles for you to pick from or do you want me to just surprise you? Because let me tell you, my mind is absolutely buzzing with ideas for you!" He grinned, looking at Pietro through the mirror. The brunet bit his lip, staring at his reflection for a moment. Did he really trust a stranger to just go at his hair?
"You can surprise me..." He finally replied quietly, fiddling with his hands which currently rested in his lap.
"Alrighty then, if you're sure! I'm gonna make you look gorgeous, don't you worry." The hairdresser grabbed the young male by the shoulders, smiling at him in the mirror before then wandering off to grab whatever tools he needed to do Pietro's hair.
It took a while for Stephen to finish with Pietro. The man had been incredibly nice, and always discussed what he was going to do with his hair before doing it, just to make sure he didn't cross any lines. But after just under an hour of work, Pietro was finally finished.
"Okay then! And we are... Finished!" Stephen announced, brushing out the loose hairs from the final last-minute cuts he had made. He stepped back, unclipping the blanket from around the younger man's neck. With a nervous sigh, Pietro glanced up at the mirror to get a look at the new and improved version of himself.
His hair was still a little long but looked less like a rats nest and more like a 'sexy natural messy' look as Stephen had called it. The sides and the back of his hair had all been shaved short while his hair was left long on top. It had brushed so some of it was left in his face while the other half was brushed over to the side although he knew once he stepped outside it would all just blow into his eyes. The top of his hair had been bleached and then dyed with a silvery dye, although personally, Pietro thought it looked rather white. His beard had been trimmed down to something a little longer than stubble. He looked... clean. He looked human. He... loved it.
The man staring back at him no longer made him sick. It didn't make him think about harsh cement flooring, hiding in doorways at night, curling into a ball on a cold metal bench in the middle of a park. It didn't make him think of how he slowly starved, how he had to dig through bins at the back of shabby restaurants, or how he had to beg on the streets for even a little bit of money so just for one night, he didn't have to eat scraps of week-old food and then search around for a place to sleep without the threat of being killed.
For once, the man staring back at him gave him hope. It gave him hope of a new and better life, of a brighter future, of a chance at finding true love, maybe even starting a family, having kids who he would take care of and love with all his heart because no child deserves to be neglected by their parents or thrown out into the streets for something they couldn't control. It gave him hope of getting a real long-term job, of buying a house where he could sleep in a real bed, Clint by his side. It gave him hope of love, of belonging, of happiness.
Pietro didn't even register the tears streaming down his cheeks until he felt Stephen pull him into a tight hug.
"Oh no, no, no. Honey, don't cry!" He exclaimed, looking down at the young Sokovian as he held his head to his chest, hand rubbing over his boney back.
Pietro couldn't help the chuckle that escaped as he rushed to wipe his tears, his eyes never leaving his reflection.
"No, no. They're good tears, I... I love it." Pietro laughed again as he heard Stephen give his own relieved laugh.
"You scared me there for a second!" He grinned as he let go of the brunet, fluffing up his hair and fixing it up a little bit. "I'm glad I could make you happy." His grin stretched wider as he looked at Pietro in the mirror, brushing away some loose hairs on his shoulders.
Pietro soon paid for his new haircut and left a generous tip for Stephen. The pair hugged, although it was more just Stephen hugging Pietro as he stood there rather awkwardly. With friendly goodbyes exchanged, Pietro finally walked out of the small building, feeling more confident than he ever had before. He felt ready to take on the world, and he felt ecstatic.
Clint had busied himself with window shopping, which then eventually led to actual shopping. He had ended up buying a new toy for Lucky he thought she might like and had treated himself to a sneaky coffee from Starbucks. He had managed to occupy himself for the hour and was now making his way back to the hairdressers to meet Pietro. Honestly, he didn't know what to expect when he saw the younger male again. But he was excited.
When Clint did arrive back to where had left Pietro, he didn't even recognise the man. Only when he saw his face did he realise it was him. The blond couldn't stop his jaw-dropping at the sight of the man before him, eyes wide as he stared at the gorgeous Sokovian.
"Holy shit... Pietro, you look great!" The words left his mouth before he could think about them, but he definitely didn't regret them, especially not with the way Pietro blushed and looked away sheepishly, but in a way that said 'I know I look good but you don't have to say it out loud'.
"Thanks..." Pietro gave a small chuckle as he ran his hand through his hair, "I sort of just let the hair guy do whatever and this was the end result." He shrugged a little as he glanced back up. Clint gave a wide smile as he then slung his arm the younger man's shoulders, pulling him close as they began to make their way back home.
"Well whoever he was, he did a great job," Clint said as he pressed a kiss to the shorter male's head. "You look amazing. I'm digging the silver by the way." The blond complimented, ruffling up the now silver locks of the other male. "You remind me of like a cool superhero or something... Or maybe an anime character... Like that one skating one..." Clint trailed off. He never really watched anime, maybe as a kid with, what was it? Dragon Ball Z? He watched Pokemon, he knew that one. But outside of that, he didn't have a clue.
"What's anime?"
Clint stuttered in his walk at the question, confused as to how the male had never even heard of anime before. Then he remembered that Pietro had lived on the streets for most of his life, and by the sounds of things, his parents probably limited what he watched on TV to those ridiculous 'educational' shows that taught you how to count and the value of friendship and honesty and all that crap. Clint could never stand those types of shows. He always preferred the exciting shows that had fighting and explosions, like Power Rangers and all that stuff.
"It's basically a Japanese cartoon, but they're not usually for kids. It cooler than it sounds." Clint explained, not wanting to go into too much detail. "There are some kids ones though. Like Pokemon, there were a few card game ones I watched when I was a kid. It was actually really tense to watch." He chuckled as he continued to walk back to his apartment. His arm had slipped down to rest comfortably around Pietro's waist.
"Do you think you could show me some?" Clint felt his heart swell at the hopeful tone of the brunet's voice. He gave a sigh before laughing softly.
"You know what? Sure. We should be able to find you some to watch." The blond shook his head, but he was a little curious to see what shows were still running from his childhood. And since Pietro had clearly missed out on all of the cool parts of being a kid, Clint was more than happy to give him that experience.
When they got back to the apartment Clint kept to his promise. So with a tub of ice cream set between them, each with a spoon in hand and a blanket covering both of their laps, Clint began his search.
There was apparently a lot more Pokemon around since he was a kid. Netflix showed a dozen movies and at least 5 different series' of the famous kid's show, as well as recommendations for Yu-Gi-Oh and something called Digimon. Clint let Pietro pick whatever looked best to him, and so they were quickly led to Pokemon after Pietro had claimed 'the yellow thing looks really cute, so we can watch that one'. Clint was overwhelmed with choices but managed to choose the one he recognised the most, which happened to be the oldest one on there.
The couple spent the night watching Ash Ketchum on his journey with 'the yellow thing', or a Pikachu as Pietro had quickly learnt, to collect badges and become the very best as the theme song had entailed. Clint would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it. The nostalgia had kicked in quickly, settling a warm feeling in his heart at the memories of him and his brother sat together in front of the small box TV with excited grins, cheering when Ash won a battle or caught a new Pokemon after some elaborate adventure where he performed some sort of good deed or made a new friend or beat Team Rocket after whatever plan they had failed. That, coupled with the sight of Pietro staring in awe at the TV as if he had just discovered a new galaxy, blue eyes sparkling at the sight of all these new strange creatures that could only speak their names for some odd reason and his lip tugged into a soft smile that never left his face made Clint feel like he was in heaven. He never wanted this moment to end. He never wanted to move from this spot on the sofa, Pietro curled into his side with Lucky laying on the floor in front of them, head rested on Clint's feet and her new toy (which had been a squeaky fox) settled beside her. Clint had left Pietro's present in the bag, deciding to give it to him tomorrow instead.
Tonight was a good night, and the two men had never felt as happy as they did at that moment. Clint got to give back Pietro a piece of his childhood while Pietro had managed to finally move forward with his life.
Yes, today had definitely been one of the best days of both of their lives.