Work Text:
It started at the mailboxes.
There was probably a reason for that, as Tony never checked his mailbox, and this was probably the universes way of telling him that he ought to do it more often. Truthfully, he didn't see the point, since whenever Pepper visited, she checked his mailbox (she was a freak like that), and he could pay all his bills online.
But now, oh god, he was going to check his mailbox every day.
Because this cute guy in a purple sweatshirt was checking his mail in the box a few down from Tony's, and a quick glance at the label showed that he was Clint Bar-something from apartment 4C. That was only two doors down from Tony's, how had he not noticed him yet?
Tony resolved to hurry up, get his mail, and call Rhodey asap for advice on this guy.
But while he waited for the elevator doors to close, the guy (should he call him Clint of he never introduced himself?) walked in too.
"Hey, I'm Clint," the guy said with a smirk.
"Tony," Tony replied.
"Do you live here? Well, I guess you do since you were checking your mail, but it's always some redhead at that box, so..." he trailed off, seemingly realizing he was rambling a little. Tony thought it was cute.
"Yeah, I live here, but my friend Pepper is crazy and tells me that if I won't check my mail then she'll have to," said Tony with a laugh.
"Sounds like my friend Nat."
They were grinning at each other when the elevator made an alarming noise, shook, and stopped going up.
Tony grimaced, and Clint said "Not again."
He sounded resigned, and that's when Tony knew he was in trouble.
"Has this happened before?" he asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
"Yep," said Clint, "Guess I'll have to call Nat to come get me out of this again, she's the only one who can reason with Fury."
Fury. Tony dimly remembered that he was the owner of the building. A tall man with an eyepatch and a tendency to wear black trench coats. Great.
Tony could hear Clint dialing a number (who dialed numbers on smartphones?) and examined the panel of controls. It was an old elevator, there probably was some sort of-
"Hey Nat, it's me."
Pause.
"Why do you have to be like that, maybe I don't want anything from you-"
Pause.
"Okay, fine, yes, I want to be rescued from the elevator, but only because it's life or death, c'mon Nat," and he started whispering. Tony thought he caught "hot" and "worst meeting" and felt slightly proud of himself.
Pause.
"Thank you," he said, resignedly.
Clint hung up, and walked over to where Tony was fiddling with the screws on the control panel.
"What're you doing?"
"Trying to get the screws out without any tools."
It was a futile effort. Tony's nails were too short, and so were Clint's.
They ended up sitting on the floor, Clint's purple sweatshirt tossed to the side, as it became almost unbearably hot. Of course Tony would end up getting stuck in an elevator in the middle of summer.
Somehow, they started playing never have I ever, because seriously, it was that or sweat to death while awaiting Nat to come rescue them.
"Um, never have I ever been fired," said Tony, proudly holding up his four fingers.
"Damn it, Tony," said Clint, putting down a finger, leaving him with only two. "Never have I ever stayed up for more than 48 hours straight."
Tony put another finger down.
"Dude, how do you do that?" exclaimed Clint. "I'd fall asleep on my feet!"
"Weakling," said Tony jokingly.
"I like my rest," Clint explained.
"Well, okay, never have I ever worked the night shift, officially," said Tony, causing another groan from Clint.
"Alright, I don't know if I'll get you on this, but never have I ever kissed a guy. On purpose," he added hastily.
Tony felt his face heat up as his finger went down.
To cover his embarrassment, he said "Well you ought to try it sometime, it's not as bad as you might think."
"Huh, really?"
"And I'm sure quite a few guys wouldn't mind kissing you."
Tony would later blame it on the hormones, or the heat, but he moved forward, so that his face was very close to Clint's. He was so close that he could see the tiny stubble on his face, and the ring of gray in his blue eyes.
"Like who?" Clint asked. Tony swore that he was just being coy.
"Like me," Tony said, and closed the distance between them. Sadly, the kiss lasted for only a fleeting second before the elevator started to move down. They broke apart, jolted by the sudden movement.
"Fucking Nat," they both said at the same time. She was waiting for them on the ground floor, tapping her sandaled foot, dressed only in a towel and a one piece bathing suit.
"I drove all the way from the beach to come get you, Clint, you'd better be grateful," she said, fondness nevertheless showing in her eyes.
"Yeah, thanks," Clint said. "Wanna come up to my apartment?" He asked Tony.
"Yeah," Tony agreed.
"Bye, Nat," Clint said, taking Tony's hand and leading him away.
"Yeah, thanks!" Tony called.
"You better not have used that lame never have I ever trick on this guy Clint," she called. Tony looked up at Clint, and Clint grinned.