Title: smells like rain
Fandom: Marvel Comics (West Coast Avengers)
Characters: Gwen Poole, Quentin Quire, Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, America Chavez, Johnny Watts, Ramone Watts, Jeff the Land Shark, Lucky the Pizza Dog
Pairings: Gwen Poole/Quentin Quire, Kate Bishop/Johnny Watts, America Chavez/Ramone Watts
Rating: G
Warnings: A bird loses some feathers but is otherwise 100% okay!
Length: 950 words
Notes: Also written for genprompt_bingo  round #21 Prompt: Smell
Summary: It’s team picnic time with seagulls!




“Smells like rain,” Clint said. Lucky barked, either in agreement - or maybe just because that’s what dogs do.

Gwen paused from spreading out the picnic blanket for a moment to look up at the sky. There were some clouds but they were light and fluffy looking, not dark and forbidding, or in any way storm-like. What did rain even smell like? She sniffed the air. All she smelled was the outdoors.

“You know who says stuff like that? Old people, that’s who,” Quentin chimed in. He was helpful like that.

“Hey,” Clint said. He sounded only slightly offended.

“Next, you’re gonna complain about how you can feel a storm coming in your bones,” Quentin said.

Clint frowned, rubbed his knee, and mumbled something under his breath. Lucky whined and Clint patted the dog’s head reassuringly. “It’s okay, boy.”

Gwen finished setting up the blanket and sat down. Kate pulled the take-out containers out of the bags and placed them in the center of the blanket. There was a lot of food.

America snagged the scallion pancakes, Johnny grabbed an egg roll, and Gwen pulled her hood up, just in case old-school Hawkeye was right about that rain.

“Hey, there are only three of those,” Quentin said. He levitated the cellophane bag with the remaining egg rolls away from Johnny and plucked it from the air. He took one for himself and handed the bag to Gwen. She kissed him on the cheek then stuffed her mouth with egg roll.

“There’s no need to bogart the egg rolls, people. There are plenty more in the other bag,” Kate said, as she unpacked yet more food.

“Yay!” Gwen stood up and clapped because extra egg rolls deserved a standing ovation, always. A seagull called out overhead.

“Look, that seagull agrees with me.” Gwen grabbed a crispy shrimp, held it above her head, and waved it around. The bird swooped down and snapped it right out of her hand. “That was so cool!” Gwen clapped some more.

“What are you doing?” Kate asked tentatively. It was like she was afraid of the answer or something. Go figure.

Gwen sat back down and took a bite of Quentin’s Lo Mein. “I’m going to train this seagull, bring him - or her - or they - home, and then we’ll be friends forever.”

“No,” Clint said.

“Please, no,” Johnny pleaded.

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea, Gwen,” Kate said.

Lucky whimpered.

“Um, babe, maybe chill on the seagull plans for now,” Quentin said in-between bites of Lo Mein.

“Quentin, how about you be a supportive boyfriend and not stomp all over my awesomeness,” Gwen said.

“Sorry.” Quentin shrugged, grabbed a dumpling, and popped it in his mouth.

Johnny raised his hand. “Um, not to be that guy, but aren’t you worried that Jeff might, you know — eat the seagull?”

“No one’s bringing any seagulls home.” Clint looked around. “Where did the scallion pancakes go, I didn’t get any yet.”

“I’ve got the scallion pancakes over here, wanna share?” Ramone chimed in. Clint moved over next to her and America and dug in.

Gwen pulled Jeff onto her lap and kissed the top of his head. “Of course not, Jeff would never eat a friend.”

“You can’t bring a seagull back to headquarters,” Kate said firmly.

Gwen let go of Jeff, grabbed another crispy shrimp, and held it up into the air. “Says who?”

“Says me, your team leader,” Kate said and grabbed the last dumpling.

Quentin pouted. “Hey, I was going to eat that.”

“You already had five,” Kate pointed out.

“And?” Quentin said.

The seagull flew down and snagged the shrimp out of her hand. “Yes!” Gwen shouted in triumph.

“Give me that shrimp.” America snatched the bag with the remaining shrimp from her hand. “I didn’t chip in twenty bucks so you could feed the wildlife.”

The seagull dove and grabbed the rest of the shrimp from America. “Dammit.”

Something rumbled in the distance. Was that thunder? Gwen glanced toward the sky. Dark clouds had gathered above. Huh, looked like Barton might be right about that rain, she thought as drops of rain fell gently on her face. It was kind of refreshing.

“Told you it smelled like rain,” Clint said.

“Maybe it will just sprinkle a little,” Kate said just as the rain started to fall in earnest and a flock of seagulls headed for the food.

“Look, my seagull has friends,” Gwen shouted.

“Not your seagull,” America said.

The seagulls absconded with at least half their remaining food.

“Someone grab the fried rice,” Ramone called out.

Jeff jumped at one of the birds and ended up with a mouthful of feathers. “No, Jeff!” Gwen grabbed the land shark and a box of crab rangoon.

“Called it,” Johnny said. He stood up and brushed his hands on his jeans.

The seagull that Jeff totally didn’t mean to try and eat looked perfectly fine, even managing to fly off with the last of the scallion pancakes.

Thunder boomed overhead. “Everyone, make a run for the van,” Quentin said.

Ramone shook her head. “It’s just a little rain.”

The sky opened up and the rain became a deluge.

“I stand corrected.” Ramone grabbed a box of spicy vegetables and ran.

“My hair!” Quentin complained.

“You should have worn a hoodie, like me.” Gwen picked up Jeff. “Picnics are so fun, we should totally do this again.” She shifted the little shark to her hip and held out a hand to Quentin. Together they ran for the van.

“I’m still hungry,” Clint grumbled when they were all safely inside the vehicle.

“We could stop for pizza,” Kate suggested. Lucky barked and everyone cheered.