Clint Barton Is Eating Crow Again (purpleman) wrote in angellogs, @ 2019-06-14 22:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | clint barton (hawkeye), tony stark (iron man) |
Who: Clint Barton, Tony Stark
When: Current
Where: A school
What: Tony volunteered to show off some basic electronic engineering repair stuff to some kids, and afterwards, Clint takes him out for lunch. Clint also asks Tony about Steve's potential affection for him. Tony says he'd like to keep it slow, and they chat.
Rating/Warnings:
Status: Closed, finished
Tony's a little tired and achy, but he got the kids through some basic repair stuff. How to figure out what a problem is and how to repair it. But as a puzzle thing, it seemed to go over well. He's leaning on the wall waiting for Clint to finish up and join him.
Clint’s nearly done for the day. He just has a few more things to put away in the shed, and then, after shoving one last parachute in, he’s locking up and giving Tony a smile. “Ready? Just let me lock up the gym and we’re free to head out. I think the third grade really liked you.”
"That's good? I feel kind of - frazzled. And like I keep expecting to find someone clutching my hand. Not in a bad way? I'm glad they liked me though." Tony stretches his back. "What sounds good? I should eat something soonish. I'm kind of hungry."
“You handled them pretty well.” Clint says. “I know it got a little chaotic with the behavioral kids but you did a great job keeping their attention. Especially when Kaitlyn and Jeremy started elbowing each other. “ He gives Tony a thumbs up. “Food’s a good idea. I skipped lunch to go visit the Kindergarten and help with taking down the classroom decorations so I could use food too.”
"I'm pretty sure I should say skipping lunch is bad." Tony follows him to lock up the gym. "There's a bunch of options I can think of. What're you feeling like?"
“Well, I’d figured we could head out after. My group at ten had a field trip, so I grabbed a granola bar and fruit then and figured we’d hit something up now.” Clint glances at his watch. “It’s just after three so we’ll miss the chaos of the school dismissing. I love having my last hour as prep.” And having a job that usually doesn’t need much of it.
“Let’s see. There’s decent Chinese and pizza in the town, or if we went further out and hit the shopping center, a pretty okay gyro place and one of those I Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat places with decent salad bars.”
"I'm game for any of that." Tony stretches his back. "Kind of inclined to get something and curl up somewhere to eat, but I could handle a restaurant." He could see sitting outside for Cupid's sake.
“We could do takeout.” Clint nods. “I’m fine with that particular route. We could hit up my place if you wanted. Nothing too exciting going on there but nothing horrible either.”
"Sure. And we've got teleporters, if we need to pop elsewhere." Tony waves a hand. "Uh - so - you know Steve, right? A Steve?"
Clint gives him a long look. “I’ve met Steve, when I met you. I knew one before THAT, but it’s not like I don’t know YOU TWO. Why the questions?” He narrows his eyes a little, trying to hide a grin, “Do you have something to tell me about him?”
Tony shakes his head. "I mean - not really. I guess more - have we been clinging to you too much? It sounds like he's been pretty lonely, but - are you okay?"
“I’ve been good.” Clint says. “I mean, you two spend time with me too, and I’ve got work and stuff and my other friend. Wade’s….I don’t know what you’d make of him. I feel like Steve would be bemusedly kind to him, but he’s different. And sure, it does sound that way. Have you been making him LESS lonely?”
He winks.
Tony blinks and laughs. "I wasn't sure if - I mean, I'm trying to accept he grew up in a world I didn't know? But - I'm trying so hard to not waggle eyebrows. I mean - yeah." He waves a hand. "I feel - normal-ish. Here, I mean. At home I hated that I had all these new aches and new things on my plate and a lot of old things I should've done things with. So - that's - that's great. I'm trying to not screw up."
“So, I take it the waggling means you two are a thing? Or trying to be?” Clint grins. “That’s cute. You two seemed really well suited to each other, when we all met, somehow. And normal is good. Really good. I can’t imagine getting used to the ARC actually.” He shifts a little, so he can face Tony a little easier and read him clearer. He can mostly hear him okay with the cochlear processor turned up, but this is an important conversation.
“So if you’ve got something that helps, and helps with adjusting to being here...you go for it.”
"I mean more - he's kind of said stuff that sounds like he's into it, but I think it's all - slip of the tongue style things." Tony shrugs. "So I'm trying to not leap head first into stuff? I - Pepper was amazing, but I definitely wasn't the best boyfriend for her. At all." He taps his chest a little. "And the Arc's kind of - I guess it's like if you have a bruise on your leg? It's fine until it's not, and sometimes you don't notice what level of not fine you've got going on? Which sounds like a lot of chronic stuff."
Clint nods at that part. “I get that, with the bruise analogy. Sort of like…” he taps his ear. “It doesn’t BUG me, usually, but when it’s not working, I know it. It makes sense, taking it slower, with Steve, but I wouldn’t rule him out. I’m pretty sure he’s into guys.”
"In other words, he might mean more than just sleeping over when he's talking about sleeping over?" Tony glances at him. "You're - uh - oh - do I need to stand closer?"
“I mean, he’s old fashioned, so probably not YET, but I’d think it was a chance to get to know you in a more personal way.” Clint says. “I wouldn’t expect to end up doing anything, but there might be bonding sorts of things involved. And you’re fine. I do this when conversations are important. To make sure I’m getting it.”
Tony runs a hand through his hair sheepishly. "I - uh - thanks? I mean - that you're okay with bonding stuff. With either of us."
“I’m definitely okay with it.” Clint laughs. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like either of you is ignoring me or treating me like a problem, so I like that a lot. And I like you guys. It’s simple, that’s all. “
"I'm not used to simple." Tony grins at him. "And I'm ravenous. I could - uh - I guess I should probably talk to Steve a bit. We could do bonding stuff. If he's leaning that way, he can decide what he likes. I think we've earned taking stuff slow. All of us."
He's avoided the battles and weird, and the weird here, after all. He's had his own stuff going on, and it sounds like they've had it too. So - maybe being careful is a good idea. People would totally laugh at him if he said that out loud.
“Hey, I get that.” Clint nods. “It took me a while, with my avengers to get there. I had a fucked up childhood and it takes me a while to trust and warm up to people who aren’t Natasha. She was more...she stole me. Slowly, but after her, it was...a lot easier. Sounds like you’ll get there too, when you’re ready. If we can help with it? I”m there for that.”
And that’s a really good idea, about them having earned it.
“We’ve definitely earned a lot. All of us before we got to where we are now? We’ve definitely been through some stuff. We can manage bonding however we want. I’m glad you’re looking out for that kind of thing. We had a Tony here before, who...he wasn’t that great at emotionally processing what was happening to him and I think he accidentally kept hurting himself more. I felt bad, but...I was at a distance from him and he wanted to keep me there, probably to be safer, subconsciously, so there wasn’t a lot to be done. I hope wherever he is, he’s better now.”
“But so, bonding. We could, hmm, there’s a lot of things going on now that it’s summer. Little community festivals, Catholic church ones with a lot of Polish food...I have a thing with kielbasa and pierogi. Especially the onion and cheese kind. And carnival food in general. I ran away to join the circus when I was a kid, so it’s like eating mom’s meatloaf is to a lot of people.”
"That does sound good? Don't they do a cabbage thing? With noodles?" Tony's following him as they walk. "And I think - the other Tony survived a bunch. I hope he's doing better as well, but I think it's not fair to say all his issues were - you know - divorced from the stuff? I think. I don't know. I could just see me having issues. I've had issues."
Tony reaches to nudge Clint's arm a bit. "But - I'm glad you're happy? I probably would've - I don't know - at home thrown a bunch of stuff at you and freaked you out. So - it's good I've got this."
“He definitely did that.” Clint nods. “It’s not the guy’s fault he had them, it was just...a bad situation that he didn’t know how to help himself out of or accept help for. And hey, everyone has issues, right? It’s how you handle them that can help or hurt you. Sounds like you’re in a place where that can help right now. If you’re not, let me in? I wanna be a friend who helps not stands around awkwardly.”
And that has him raising an eyebrow. “Freaked me out? Nah. I’m pretty good at staying calm. I think.”
"So uh - you're okay with me suggesting maybe - we could cook? I'm no wonder, but Steve sounds like he's frustrated with his skills." Tony shrugs. "And - I'm trying." He's been thinking about the food options. "Gyros is really appealing to me. Is the place far? Can we get some of that?"
“We could definitely cook.” Clint nods. “Steve sounded more amused by it to me, and willing to learn. So that’s something we could manage pretty easily.” He grins. “Gyros sound good. And it’s not too far. At the mall you probably passed on the way in.” He looks at Cupid. “Ready for the mall?”
Cupid tilts his head as if considering, then barks. “Sounds like he approves. There’s a dog boutique at the mall entrance so maybe I’ll pop in and buy him something. They make these pizza flavored things he’s crazy for.”
"I'm up for that." Tony's looking thoughtful. "Let me message Steve. See if he wants us to grab him something." He's not sure how Steve's doing, but - it can't hurt to text him, right?
“Sure.” Clint grins. “He could meet us too, after, if you guys want. Or during, but he probably doesn’t want to deal with crowds if he doesn’t have to. He’s WELCOME to it, but I’d as soon meet him at mine after too.”
"Sounds good." Tony's typing things in. "Is there an online menu? I doubt he cares, but - it might be nice to offer it."
“Sadly, no.” Clint says. “BUT when we get there, we could take a picture of the board and specials. It’s not very big.”
"Sounds good to me. I should take you around to some of the neighborhood places in my area." Tony's sending off the text.
“I’m up for that.” Clint grins. “It’s always good to find cheap, good places to get food. Being a regular helps too.”
"Yup." Tony's definitely feeling the wind down from being "on" for a while with the school, but not too tired. "Oh, do you know the art department with the school? We got a pile of art books. Probably mostly too adult or too old, but there may be something useable in them? Some are a little musty, so might need to triage for that."
“Oh cool.” Clint says. “I’d say let Steve have a first look, but I can DEFINITELY talk to the people in the art program. I know Steve was going to talk to them too, about possibly doing the same sort of thing I did, going in with the expectation he’ll earn the requirements in school at the same time, so it might overlap, since Kristen’s going to be out at the start of next Fall with a baby. They could divide the workload or he could assist when she’s back, I think.”
"Sounds like a plan." Tony hesitates. "They might not work, but I thought I should offer, you know?"
“Hey, definitely worth looking at.” Clint smiles. “You never know, right? I’ll pass the message on.”
"And - it's an excuse for you to come by." Tony's leaning a little as they're waiting on a light. Food sounds lovely.
“Oh yeah.” Clint nods. “I’ll take one of those any chance I get.” He really will, too. He’s fine with this arrangement as it stands. It’s nice not to be alone.
When they reach the mall, Clint’s heading around so they can order, and parking him at a table to wait. “Why don’t you take a break for a few minutes? I’ll run to the dog store and then they should be done.”
Tony salutes. "I'll try to not eat all the cucumber bits." He'd ordered a salady plate with some dip to start.
Clint laughs and returns the salute. “If you do, I can pick up more.” He says, darting off with Cupid to grab some of the pizza dog snacks. While he’s at it, he picks up a booklet of events going on in the community. Might as well see if they can hit some up, right?
He’s back not much later and grinning as he slips into the booth.
Tony's nibbling some feta cheese bits and looking at his phone but he sets it aside as Clint shows up and grins. "Hey. Sandwiches are almost done. They were cutting the meat just a bit ago."
“Hey,” Clint grins. “Found a list of stuff we might wanna check out this month and can run by Steve too. And Cupid had fun. He’s working so he couldn’t have treats but he picked them out. Put his paws on the case to decide, even.”
"Ooh, that'll be - right. I'll be right back." Tony gets up and brings over the tray with their food before sliding in to talk some more. "Do they have more than one pizza flavored option? Or did he pick out some other ones? I have no idea what's out there for dogs."
“There’s a few. Some have pepperoni and some don’t, but he likes the little burgers too, and they make these dipped in carob ones.” Clint laughs a little. “This is one of those boutique places with things all handmade.” he grins a little. “I fall for it every time.”
Cupid looks quite happy as he settles at Clint’s feet under the booth.
"He's happy, you're happy." Tony shrugs. "I'm not going to question it." He picks up his gyro and has a bite of it. "So - list of stuff? Anything jumping out at you so far? Oh - that reminds me. Movies? Steve's been talking about watching Netflix together. I got a list of some British dramas that don't sound too grim, but ideas from you would be cool too."
He pauses, picking up an escaping bit of tomato. "Uh - he also totally called it netflix and chill."
Clint chokes at that, and the soda he’d just taken a sip of goes flying out of his nose as he sputters for a long moment, gasping for air. “He did NOT” He feels like he’s going to choke laughing then and there. “I don’t mean I…” Cough… “Think you’re lying but he…” Sputter…
“Wow. That is AMAZING. And here I was going to suggest the new Anarctica exhibit at the zoo.”
"I'm game for penguins." Tony smiles lopsidedly. "He did. Just as casual as could be. I was too flat footed to even mention it was innuendo usually."
“That is AMAZING. There’s also Polar Bears.” Clint grins. “And they’re using the profits for an actual preserve but these are the animals who couldn’t live their lives out of human care so I don’t feel bad about it, you know? Seems like a good thing to support. Uh there’s also a board games festival next month.”
"Hmm - I wouldn't mind watching and checking out stuff. Kind of pretty sure I'd start a war if I tried something like Risk." Tony's working through his sandwich.
“That’s the fun part.” Clint snickers. “I’m more of a Jenga man, myself. Thor and I used to play a lot. It got...competitive.” So did building card houses, but that’s another thing.
“There’s also one of those home and garden festivals.”
"That might be neat. Might be a lot of fairies holding LED lights, but - that could also be fun. And we can always get out of there, if it's too much." Tony leans on the table to clean his hands up and have some soda as well. "I kind of like the idea of the sculpture thing. In the parks? With the lights on in summer. My apartment gets a little hot, so that kind of thing would be fun."
Clint laughs. “I can see it now. Like those faery garden faeries or those angels and gnomes.” he grins. “We definitely could, though. There’s a lot to see and do. And those are fun. They have plant stuff...topiaries or whatever, and some of those living ones. Where people dress up and take tips based on how well they do, or if kids want to get their pictures taken...speaking of…” he points to another ad, beaming. “Renaissance Festival. If you guys don’t, I’m pretty sure Sebastian’s likely to teleport over, I can ask him next time we’re both at the range…”
Tony beams as well. "I haven't met him yet. But - I'd like to go. I don't have anything uh - retro ish. But - it could be fun. I like the idea of the concert, in the evening. Less sun, might be quieter." Since sure, a bustling fair and people waving swords shouldn't be too bad, but he could see it being a migraine trigger if he pushed himself a bit. On the other hand, he's trying to be careful.
“Would you? Awesome.” Clint grins. “Sebastian’s great, but he’s running a major city so the logistics get a bit out there.”
"I can imagine." Tony trails off. "Speaking of - uh - the weird of seeing lives on the net -" He fiddles with a bit of cucumber. "You're sure you're okay? I mean . . . it sounded like you liked the other Steve. Netflix and chill kind of liked." And also found him a bit fatherly and into another guy that wasn't Clint. "I mean, I can - uh - I'm okay with being a third wheel."
“I mean, I did but that wasn’t going to happen.” Clint shakes his head. “There was Thor, and then Tony needed him anyway, so that was a thing. It’s different now. I don’t feel like I’m in in the way of anything or anyone, you know?” He smiles.
“It’s not like...I couldn’t blame Steve for liking somebody else. And he was one of my best friends so that didn’t matter so much, anyway. I’ve always had a thing for my version of the guy and this one came close to it. But I’m not going to be a gentleman scorned and run out and hurt anyone else or make them suffer for it, and it wasn’t the sort of thing that made me want to make anyone else feel bad? And this Steve? He seems to like you, you seem to like him and I’m fine with being both of your friends. Maybe my ex will turn up someday, or someone else I like. It’s not a...I don’t think you’re taking away my soulmate, and neither was Thor with that Steve. There’s any number of people who’d be compatible with any number of people. He just felt like one of mine. But other people will too.”
He smiles.
“The me in those movies even has a WIFE and kids. I can’t say I’d ever see myself with a husband or wife, and I wouldn’t want to have kids if I was still actively in the superhero lifestyle...my parents died from natural stuff that shouldn’t have happened and it was hard enough losing my mom. I couldn’t imagine putting a kid at the risk of losing their dad on a regular basis, but something worked there for the me in THAT reality, so...no saying how or when those people walk through your doors. But there’s a good chance there’s still one for me out there. Just because it’s not Steve doesn’t mean I'm going to make it hard for you guys, and that’s not me being noble or trying to passively aggress at you. It’s me saying, you should go for it, because there’s something, and if I’m supposed to meet someone special, I will.”
He’d try going out with Wade, just to see, but that seems like a disaster waiting to happen, somehow.
Tony ducks his head a bit. "Yeah. Just - wanted to make sure I - uh - checked?" He waves a hand. "Oh, are your hands not too greasy? Has Steve said if he wants a photo of the menu?" He'd forgotten, and his hands are a bit bad. He can go get another salad and place an order for Steve.
"I really do like this place," he adds. "Reminds me of a couple of places I liked back in New York." He'd honestly kind of want to get a stack of the various dips they have, even the slightly scary one that might be tinted with beets, just to restock the fridge with stuff to have with veggies. The veggie platter while he thought about what he wanted had been working, so - probably a good idea to continue it. Besides, the co-op just had the pesto yogurt thing last time he was there, and that wasn't his favorite.
“I grabbed him one just in case and sent it along.” Clint smiles. “Waiting on a response for if he’s interested. And I’m glad. We had this Shawarma place we went to as a team a couple times, when we were just getting to know each other. Made the most sense with feeding Steve and a literal god.”
"Steve mentioned it. He sounded nostalgic." Tony hesitates. "So - near me, we've got a co-op, with good veggie bargains. Uh - there's a burger place that does good guacamole and grilled chicken. I've wanted to buy stuff and make a wrap out of the results. Haven't done it yet. There's concerts with the school, but I think most of them are in the fall. I could grab some stuff and see what's up in my neighborhood?"
“Yeah?” Clint smiles. “It was good. I always liked the team dinners more than the actual contents of them. One of my favorites was when were in….I wanna say Michigan or Ohio after a thing, dead of winter, and we found this small town Big Boy that was almost closed but not just yet and they let us pile in and stayed open so we could order whatever we wanted, even off the breakfast menu. Best strawberry pancakes EVER. And the burgers were pretty good, according to Thor. Or, we’d head back and make things if we were in the city and wanted to avoid people. Steve was worst at cooking than ours here, but he’d buy stuff and get help. It was never hard to pull Phil, uh Coulson, in to keep him company and time things.”
He nods at what Tony’s mentioning.
“You know, I saw this fantastic thing online for a...well it’s meant to be Star Trek inspired, from the show with the space station? This spicy veggie wrap. That might be fun to try making with whatever else goes with that kind of thing. And ooh guac. I do like guac. We can definitely take a look around. Steve said there’s concerts in the park a few summer weekends over by his. Mostly cover bands, but if they suck, *I* have an escape.”
He smirks.
"Hey, I have a teleporter." Tony grins. "We have an escape. Just tell us when you check out, and we'll get Cupid and all of us out of there. Cupid doesn't deserve bad cover bands."
Cupid looks up at his name and does a little headbob at Tony. Tony gets it! He’d bark but he’s not supposed to, so he doesn’t. He’s clearly thinking about it, though.
Clint sees the look and laughs. “He agrees with you.”
"He's amazing." Tony stretches his back. "I'm going to order some of the dips to take home. Do you want anything?"
“Hmm.” Clint considers and then his phone is blaring with guitars and drums: ‘Don’t wanna be an American Idiot…’ and he grins. “That’ll be Steve’s alert. Let me see what he’s texting. Hmm he says to grab something with beef and sour yogurt. I’ll head up to the line with you so we can look?”
"Sounds good." Tony gets up and cleans up his mess on the table before snagging his phone to text Steve and offer to bring it over.
Clint’s quite happily looking up ideas, and grinning as he watches Tony texting Steve there. This? Is nice. It’s good to be on the same page with all of them.
"I'm tempted to order the stewed eggplant and tomatoes as well." Tony's pretty happy as well, and as he catches Clint's grin, he grins as well, and slides the phone over so Clint can see. Even if Clint already did.
“Sounds like that’d be good.” Clint nods. “That’d heat up pretty well, I think.”
"Good plan. Knowing me, I'd just get guac from the burger place and end up smearing this on too, but - it'd be good." Tony smiles at him.