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It didn’t take long after meeting you that she was infatuated, watching you with a small smile after you took Goose into your arms with a happy laugh even after seeing his abilities.
And then there were all the other small signs after that that just made it all the more obvious.The way you ran around the halls laughing after a prank, or sang old songs in the showers after training, or the way your eyes lit up whenever both you and Clint were in your own world signing to each other on the balcony, especially when Tony or Natasha were able to join in.She just wanted to be the reason behind your smile every day.Taking a page from her flerken’s book, Carol hopped over the couch silently to sit next to Clint, laughing when he flinched at the sudden appearance of another person next to him, “Barton, I need to ask for a favor.”“Jesus Carol, way to sneak up on a guy while he’s fixing his hearing aids.” Clint groaned as he inserted them back in, wondering what he could possibly help the newest (or the oldest?) member of the team with. “What’s up with you?”Clint let out a short sigh, still clutching his chest from the surprise, and Carol couldn’t help but flash a short smile, “need to learn ASL.”She hoped that keeping her answers short would help hide her true intentions, but Clint was sharper than she expected, a wide grin growing on his face as he made the connection.“Out of the blue? You just want me to teach you ASL?” He managed to quirk an eyebrow and hold back his laughter as he watched her nod a little too eagerly at the idea, deciding to have some fun teasing their new friend, “you know, I’m not the only one with hearing aids on the team, but I guess if you really want to impress them, I could spare a few hours teaching you.”Now it was her turn to be shocked, trying to hide her growing blush, “I’m not doing this to impress anyone.”“You’re a bad liar.” Clint couldn’t help but snicker at her sudden shyness, “just admit you think they’re cute, jeez, you’re almost as bad as my daughters.”“Okay, and what’s your point? You’re a bad spy now, and not discreet at all.” Carol rolled her eyes and punched his arm, “besides, why would I admit that?”He couldn’t help but shake his head at how ridiculous she was acting, wondering how you would react to her confession, “I just came out of retirement, I can be as obvious as I want to be in the Compound. And besides, I’m pretty sure that their hearing aids blew out like mine did during the mission, and that their backup pair is broken too.”“It’s been like an hour since we’ve been back I’m pretty sure they’re fixed already, I mean - yours are working again.”“Nope. I give it another two hours before they cave in and ask Tony to fix ‘em, they’re pretty stubborn and always try to fix it themselves.” Clint shrugged again with a small smile, remembering all the times they found you wandering around the Compound by yourself muttering trying to figure out your hearing aids (even after wearing and learning how to fix them for the past two years).Carol watching him carefully, smiling at the thought of you scaring the others without your hearing aids in, “does this mean you’ll help me?”“Oh yeah, no doubt about it, I never miss the chance to see them embarrassed.” He snorted and rubbed his hands together, ready to teach her ASL, and hopefully get them to finally date instead of just giving each other longing looks across the room when they think no one can notice.By the time you managed to wander around the Compound with hearing aids that were fully functional again, Carol was semi-confident in her skills, at least to the point of telling you how she felt (kind of), jogging up to you with an uncharacteristically shy smile as Clint waved a small hello.“Oh man, I hope he didn’t mess with me and taught me the right thing,” before you could say anything, Carol mumbled to herself before beginning to sign with shaky and nervous hands, “I’m an idiot, but I think you’re so pretty and I love you so much. Please date me so Clint doesn’t regret teaching me.”You couldn’t help but laugh and hold her hands, too happy to be embarrassed by your cheeks heating up at the confession, “I think Clint was messing with you, but he did a decent enough job to get the point across.”“Wait, what? What did I sign?” She couldn’t help the small pout as she tried to figure out what Clint taught her, “was it something dirty?”“Far from it, but maybe our first date can be me seriously teaching you ASL?”You pulled her in for an embrace and laughed again, relishing in the sensation of her around you, the light touch of her fingers tracing a small heart on your back, pulling apart only when another pair of arms were wrapped around both of you, Clint’s laugh filled the room, “does this mean I get to be the first one invited to the wedding?”