Peter & Bucky Are Pals

Chapter 12

                                       ~A Clint Interlude~ or... ~A Clinterlude~

Clint had thought that Pepper was joking about etiquette class. It was only when Natasha was pulling him out of the car, dragging him into a brick building, and pushing him into a room filled with kids that he realized she had been dead serious.

“What the heck.”

“Have fun!” Natasha said, and promptly left. He gave her a deeply betrayed look as she strode out the door. Clint sighed the heaviest of all sighs, stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, and made his way to sit at the very back of the room. The table had four chairs, and one was already occupied by a girl that looked about eight.

“You’re a grown-up,” she said, tilting her head in a manner that reminded Clint of Peter.

“I am.”

“What are you doing here? Don’t you already know manners?”

“Apparently not,” Clint said. The girl giggled.

“Did your moms tell you that you eat like a pig too?”

Clint shook his head. “My friend did.”

“None of my friends would send me to manners class. You friend doesn’t sound very nice,” the girl said scornfully. Clint laughed a little.

“She’s secretly nice.”

The girl looked dubious.

“I’m Clint.”

“I’m Clara,” the girl said, her face brightening. “Our names start with the same letter!”

“The second letter is the same, too,” said Clint.

“Clara and Clint,” Clara said with a wide smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, Clint noticed the room staring to fill up. A boy edged over to their table, and Clara squinted at him, assessing.

“What letter does you name start with?”

“How come?” the boy asked, looking just as suspicious.

“‘Cause ours start with C. This is the C table.”

The boy’s face lit up. “I’m Caleb!”

Clara looked pleased. “I’m Clara. You can sit next to Clint. He’s a grown-up, but he still has bad manners.”

“My papa says I have bad manners, but I don’t think so,” Caleb said. “I think he’s just being picky.”

“Do you chew with your mouth open? I do sometimes. I forget a lot.”

“I guess sometimes,” Caleb admitted. He turned to Clint. “Do you?”

“Not often, but I talk with my mouth full,” Clint said. “That’s a no-no.”

Clara nodded seriously. “My moms hate that.”