nested | ( open post. )

[... Don't grin, don't grin, do not grin at one of the world's most proficient assassins, don't fucking do it Banner.]

Yeah. [Nods slowly.] That's a vegetable.

[Coming a bit closer, taking a look at all the... that.]

What are you making?

[ Bruce is trying so hard and Clint is---man, what is he doing? He's literally the only person out of the two of them that can salvage this mess. ]

Good that's what I was going for. [ Beat. ] Okay, I tried.

This isn't working.

[ He gestures at the stove and the plates and the everything. ]

The nice old lady at the bodega called it a futzing bowl and said it was really easy to make on a weeknight. I guess I should've clarified how easy easy needed to be.

... A what bowl?

[Clint please.

Bruce is just going to take a look at the ingredients, trying to puzzle out what Clint was attempting to make, lightly clasping his hands together to resist the urge to poke around a bit.]

Just a veggie bowl thing.

[ Please, poke around Bruce. Save this. Save him. ]

If you can do something with whatever I've managed to mess up here, please.

[ It looks like it was supposed to be something with white beans and veggies. Maybe eggs. He tried. ]

Cooking, as I'm sure you've already noticed, is not my strongest suit.

That's okay. You have other skills.

[And then pausing, noticing that... yeah, this is all vegetarian.

... Huh.]

Wait, were you cooking for me?

Yeah but those don't exactly put dinner on a table in the strictest sense.

[ He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck a little awkwardly. ]

I was trying to.

[... Okay, there's no stopping that smile from appearing, perhaps a bit shyer than Bruce's often already self-deprecating look, and he finds himself rubbing the back of his neck.]

... Thanks.

[Clearing his throat, he shakes himself and gathers the scattered ingredients up, rolling up his sleeves. He's not entirely sure what the lady from the bodega was telling Clint about, but he's pretty sure they can get something nice going with all this. Maybe a soup...?]

[ Maybe Clint is a sucker for that look. It's a good look on Bruce. He shrugs a little. ]

Sure, yeah. No biggie.

[ Ramen is more his speed. Not the fancy stuff. Just like cheap packaged stuff. If he's feeling adventurous he might put some frozen veggies in there if he remembers to get those from the store. Or an egg. Man, maybe he should've gone with that. ]

Cooking wasn't exactly on the top of my list of things to learn way back.

[ He and Barney just stole whatever they could get their hands on until the wound up with the carnies. ]

Me neither. I picked it up while I was on the run. Some of my patients and their families wanted to give me something for treating them, so I took some cooking lessons from them.

[Which also forced him to speed up learning new languages when he didn't have time to settle in with Sesame Street.

Ah, good times.

Cutting the vegetables into more bite-sized chunks, tossing some oil in the pan to sweat off the onions in the meantime.]

I pretty much lived on pizza during college, but I told my aunt I was eating properly whenever she called.

Never as glamorous as the movies make it out to be, huh? That was nice though. Didn't want to take any money off 'em?

[ Better than Clint's start. He's done a lot of questionable things in his life. That was before he was an assassin.

He's watching what Bruce does with the food, though. He can try again on his own. Maybe it'll make more sense if he sees what the other man is doing. ]

Isn't that what most college kids do? [ A grin. ] I mean, I don't know from experience or anything.

You didn't miss much, but yeah. The ones that came from rich families or that still lived with their parents ate better than us plebs.

[He doesn't sound very annoyed by it, just quietly amused by the follies of youth. He remembers being pissed off about it, back then, but he'd been much more ready to rage at anything and everything, so...

Leaving the onion to sizzle for a bit, he gets the garlic, careful in mincing it because like hell is he ruining dinner with blood, thank you very much.]

Do we want this a bit spicy or...? Because I think there's still some chilies in the fridge we could use to add some heat.

[Pause, and then:]

Unless Lucky got in there, in which case we've got bigger problems...

Edited 2020-05-21 18:11 (UTC)

Nice to know I'd have still been scrounging around even if I made it that far in school.

[ He means that. It's oddly comforting. He's really not sure what he'd do with an abundance of cash. Like the kind he stole off the tracksuit vampires. Or the one bag he kept away from the main stash cause he knew his brother was going to screw him over. As usual. ]

Spicy's good. I think the spiciest food I ever had was way back on this thing back in Thailand. Can't even remember what it's called.

[ He goes to the fridge and rummages a second before he finds the chillies Bruce was mentioning, laughing at the mention of Lucky. ]

Nah, he's too much of a pizza fan.

[ Setting the little clear bag by the sink, he pulls a couple out to rinse before setting them where Banner can reach them easy. ]

You never know, he might try expanding his palate.

[Glancing over at the dog in question who is... just peacefully snoozing away.

What a good boy.

Who did nothing to stop Clint from attempting to wreck the kitchen.

Shaking his head in silence, Bruce takes the chilies and goes choppity chop.]

I'll try not to make this too spicy. Do we have milk, just in case...?

I think he leaves off expanding that with whatever those treats are she gets from Mrs. Devons down the hall.

[ Clint can't help but smile when he looks over at Lucky snoozing away. He and that dog have been through a lot. He never expected to keep him but he couldn't just leave him after what those asshole Russians did. ]

Yeah, we got it. And some heavy cream from that last thing you made. Do you need that?

( open post. )

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject