“Oh yeah? Were there specifics? Did you leave him with plenty of caffeine?” Summer glances up from her laptop, grinning. “Or is this him doing that thing where he’s afraid he’ll screw it up if he tries to … make his friends be friends?”
“It’s the wind,” she replies. It is, and the way the towering highrises of downtown New York channel it into cutting edges doesn’t help. No coat she owns proof against that. She takes in a deep breath and holds it for a moment, then breathes it out in a puff of condensation and laughs. “Dragon’s breath.”
“The wind is quite sharp and nearly chilling. Here, let’s hope it protects you at least a little.” the hawk says and places his coat on your shoulders.
You puffing your breath brings a small smile to his face and your words cause a quiet chuckle to emerge. “Come on then my little dragon, let’s get you some hot chocolate to warm you up.”
Summer growls quietly. She doesn’t need to be protected, but she doesn’t jerk the coat off her shoulders. It would destroy the fragile bond they’re crafting here. Clint will come to see her independence soon enough. She grabs his hand, instead, and pulls him at a faster speed toward the park.
The archer thinks he hears you growling but can’t be sure of it and wonders if he did something wrong. He can’t figure it out though, as he was only being a gentleman giving his jacket to you when he thought you were cold.
You pulling his hand breaks him out of his thoughts and he hurries after you smiling, as he decides to just ask you about it later. “Are we in a hurry?”
“No, we’re having fun,” she says breathlessly over her shoulder, laughing in the cold. The wind catches at her breath and freezes in her nose, and it hurts but in a good way, in the kind of way that makes you yelp with laughter. She hardly waits for the stoplight to change before she’s darting across the street to the park proper, making a beeline for a little food stand with a few people milling around in front of it.
“The skating rinks are farther along but I think I was promised hot chocolate.”