[fic] The Unexpected Struggles, Lack of Sleep, and Fishy Smell Joys of Parenthood

[frea_o]

Title: The Unexpected Struggles, Lack of Sleep, and Fishy Smell Joys of Parenthood
Rating: PG-13 (Clint swears! Blame him!)
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers
Pairings: Clint/Natasha
Warnings: Some swearing.
Summary: Clint does his best to cheer Natasha up after she’s restricted to the base following her polar bear plunge.
Word Count: 1158

Comments

[sugar_fey]

OMG. I can't wait to see where this leads!

Clint+penguins may be one of my new favourite things. I love this whole series! More, please?

[frea_o]

Just wait til you see what Darcy names them. Muhaahahahahahah.

Thanks!! I'm glad people are liking this series. I really should give all of the credit to crazy4orcas, though. She came up with this idea. :)

[hufflepuffsneak]

This is like an a AU assassin version of Mr. Poppers Penguins. So excited for this!

[frea_o]

Bwahahahahaha, Mr. Barton's Penguins! I adored that book as a kid.

[alphaflyer]

I love the gifts, especially the "piece of ice that Clint assures her looked just like Fury’s face before it melted into a puddle all over her chair". That bird sure knows how to woo a prospective mate ... :-)

[frea_o]

Hahahaha, YOUR ICON IS A PENGUIN. THAT IS PRICELESS.

When I was writing the scene, it started out as a joke and then I took a step back and realized, "Whoa, he's...really doing the pebble and the penguin here. Nat, you should be flattered. I guess."

And then it became a game for him (and me) to come up with the most absurd (and kind of problematic) things to give her. It turns out he can't resist.

(I'm still laughing at your icon. it's so perfect)

[alphaflyer]

Actually, I made the icon just for that reply ... :-) Feel free to snag.

[frea_o]

Hee, I'm an unpaid account, so I'm full on icons, but I'm still flattered. Hee, the actual baby penguins that Clint and Natasha will parent are decidedly uglier than that one, just FYI.

[crazy4orcas]

#OhMyGod! I may or may not have just been FLAILING!

This is so GOOD! Them sharing an office, the light banter, Tony and Steve dropping by for coffee, Clint bringing her soup, Jane and Darcy.

And Clint's gifts -- perfectly brilliant.

And they're having TWINS!

That he even manages to keep still through the movies he makes her watch must surely be a sign of his love for them. -- yeah, it's his love for the movies that does it ;)

I don't think I can take all of the credit for this fabulousness, maybe 12% ?

[frea_o]

I see what you did there with that hashtag! ;)

Even though I can write dark fic and usually do, sometimes I just want light-hearted banter, and this universe seems to provide that in spades. It makes me wonder if Clint or Natasha has a desk on the Helicarrier, you know? They set Bruce up with all of the toys, but where does Natasha work? And Clint had his nest in New Mexico, but was that all he had?

It turns out that chinstrap penguins generally lay two eggs. Some sites say the parents only feed the bigger of the penguin chicks, others seem to think both chicks get fed. If you want to see what baby chinstrap penguins look like...they're kind of ugly. Apparently Clint and Natasha's babies won't really have their mother's hair and their father's eyes. ;)

I am perfectly happy giving you 12% credit. As long as it's not going to bite me in the butt in some unsubtle way later. *grin* Does this make you the Pepper to my Iron Man?

[crazy4orcas]

Yeah, I've seen chinstrap chicks, not the cutest babies in the animal kingdom -- and their FEET!

I would think Clint and Natasha would have some kind of office space. Natasha's is frighteningly neat and efficient. And she has an impressive collection of weapons which she doesn't store in the armoury where just anybody could get to them. Clint's office, not so neat, especially with the paperclips-turned-arrows stuck in various "targets" in the room. But he can lay hands on anything he's looking for within seconds.

I would totally agree to be Pepper to your Iron Man. It'll be difficult for me to hand you things from 3 states away, but I'm sure we can work something out.

And I see you've named the Tony-Darcy-Dum Dum ficlet -- Bacon Bits -- made me giggle.

[frea_o]

The FEET are what make them kind of terrifying. I'm doing my best to make sure that the chicks aren't going to be named "BigFoot" and "Sasquatch." ;)

I think you're right about the office layouts, though I can't help but wonder if Natasha doesn't keep everybody on her toes by keeping her area deliberately messy, and Clint's got this militant expectation of keeping his office clean. Though the paperclip arrows make me laugh.

I will celebrate your Pepperness by forgetting your allergy and buying you strawberries every time we fight!

*takes a bow* I'm not that great at naming things, but Bacon Bits seemed apt.

[shenshen77]

CLINT AND PENGUINS ARE LIKE CRACK TO ME! And I mean the addictive kind, not the fanfic kind ;) I just love this so much, I can't even! I had the biggest, silliest grin when I read the scene where he left her the pebble :D Way to woe a woman, Barton! God, I would jump him right there and then ;) And him being able to sit still during the movies, oh Nat, you are so naive ;) I just adore all of these stories in this verse and I'm really glad we got some Clint and penguins today *hugs*

[frea_o]

Hee, a lot of people seem to be insinuating that Clint is only sitting still for Natasha. I could see him being all, "What? No, I like old movies!" in indignation and Darcy would be like, "Really? Cos we tried to watch Singin' in the Rain the other day and you twitched through the entire movie, Clint!"

Having Darcy around to call people on their BS is going to be a lot of fun for me, I can already tell.

Just wait until the chicks are born. Muhahhahahahahaahahahaha-I mean, I'm glad you're liking it! ;)

[shenshen77]

Yeah, I got that impression too :D And I can also see Clint going all innocent and, "I like old movies" when indeed he was doing his best not to get out his phone and play tetris ;)

And having Darcy around is almost always a source for fun, especially her calling out people on their BS, yes.

Oh god, ugly penguin chicks are the cutest :D And loud and smelly, because fish, but still, those little grey fluffballs??? What's not to like, I ask you ;) Thanks so much for continuing this and I can't wait for more on Clint and penguins and Natasha :D

[frea_o]

(Your icon is craaaacking me up)

This idea came from crazy4orcas, who keeps giving me all of the fun Darcy ideas, so I can't really take credit for Darcy, now that I think about it. The Orca Queen gave me Darcy being the social media intern (#OhMyGod!) and Darcy running the website and getting into regular trouble with Fury (posting pictures of Thor's bare ass after his polar bear plunge getting her nearly kicked out still remains my favorite). But she's so fun.

There will be much fish and many smelly days with baby penguins, who will hopefully have their own personalities. I can't wait until Natasha and Clint teach them how to walk, which is basically standing behind them and nudging with your feet. Researching this story is fun.