kate bishop (hawkeyetwo) wrote in momadness_log, @ 2023-01-13 22:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | marvel: clint barton-dog, marvel: kate bishop |
Who: Kate and Clint
What: Kate moving in to Clint’s building
When: Mid December
Where: Clint’s Building
Warning: None
Status: Completed via Gdoc
Kate didn’t have a lot of things. Some electronics, some clothes, some books… she had a couple of favorite mugs and some of Lucky’s stuff--harnesses, leashes, toys, food. It all fit into the back of her car, and Lucky took the front seat as she traveled from the spaceship where she’d been staying with Kaylee to Clint’s apartment building. It was weird to move her life around like this, but she’d done it before.
When she arrived at the apartment building, Lucky seemed to know exactly what to do. He jumped out of the car and straight up to the front door. Kate idled a moment, considering, and then followed him. The idea that this was the new normal was… painful. Everything had been painful for the last couple of weeks.
The sound of the VW was a familiar one, even from the height Clint was at (his old apartment) and the fact that his aids were on relatively low. He heard it coming from the end of the block, which gave him enough time to shove his safety googles to the top of his head and then take the stairs two at a time—all without breaking his neck.
He threw the front door open, which was all the invitation needed for Lucky to launch himself directly into Clint's waiting arms. He rolled back under an assault of wagging tail and licking tongue, arms going around his bestest boy. "Well, hi, there! I wasn't expecting you. But I was expecting you." His gaze had shifted to Kate, and his smile faded as he gave Lucky another couple of scritches before getting back to his feet, crossing to his bestie, and pulling her into a hug. "Hi. I know this still sucks, but I'm so glad you're here."
Kate was carrying a duffel with her stuff. She gave Clint a tired smile, then reached forward to return his hug. “I’m glad I’m here, too.” She pulled back and shifted the duffel over her shoulder. “Thanks for letting me borrow him for the day. Packing up was harder than I thought it was going to be.” Twitch was still back at the ship with Kaylee. Kate figured she’d get him later.
“You got a place for me here?” She added.
"I woulda been there, too, but I figured you probably needed space and stuff. Better to just have the four-legged kind of help around." Reaching out again, he plucked the duffel from her shoulder and led the way through the front door. The hall was much the same, except there were swatches of paint on the walls and scaffolding set up around the empty-for-now elevator shaft. "Got a model apartment on the second floor, hooked up with water, heat, electrical, and wi-fi. Probably gonna kit out the place with most of that anyway. Stark's connecting us to his network, and you know it's a million times better than anything we could get publicly."
Clint was babbling, he knew. Probably sounded completely tone deaf (ha!) as he walked toward the familiar stairs and up. "You can decorate it however you want, though. It's already got some furniture, but you can switch things out as you like. I'm still using my apartment upstairs, but mostly as a staging area for other things. You can come up, if you want? Or we can get you settled in and maybe hit up the diner around the corner for some grub?"
Kate really didn’t mind the babbling. It was easier to listen to him than it was to think about the things going on in her life. The people she’d lost. The home she’d lost. She cleared her throat and wrapped her arms around herself, Lucky following closely at her side as they moved down the hallway and up the stairs. “Thanks,” she said, softly. “I’m sure I’ll be hungry eventually,” she added. Truth was, it’d been hard to eat since that PONG Alert. Still, being with Clint was bound to help--it was the familiar in the unknown, the comfort in the sadness. “You wanna watch Dog Cops in the mean time?”
There were, unfortunately, a lot of flavors of sad!Kate, but at least this one wasn't currently hitting the bottle as hard as the last time the portal was a bastard. Her lack of appetite made sense, in the way that only grief could—as varied as just about anything on this dirtball. Didn't mean Clint wasn't worried. Of course he was. She was his best friend. And he'd backed off a little when Stiles was there and they'd moved in with Stiles's dad. He also knew the flavors of relationship!Kate. Now he regretted this, and didn't doubt for a second that she had done the same—the slight distancing, the regret—after he and Dylan had finally tied the knot.
He knocked his shoulder gently into hers and let them both into the model apartment. The door was card operated, with an option for a standard key. Beyond, the loft apartment had a long couch with a coffee table already set up and a TV mounted on the wall. "Katie-Kate, if I ever say I don't wanna watch Dog Cops, please assume I have been replaced by a slime person and dispatch with me accordingly. But, uh, do you want to talk about it? Like, at all? Or would you rather I just keep my mouth shut? I'm good either way. Won't keep me from worrying, though."
Oh, there’d been quite a bit of heavy drinking. Kaylee had taken care of Kate during those nights, though. Kate was glad they were behind her. She was tired of being intoxicated, tired of crying, tired of being sad. (Although, there was no hope that the sadness was going anywhere anytime soon.) She moved into the apartment and looked around, nodding at the things there--television, couch, etc. It would do. Kate didn’t have a lot of needs.
“I’m not sure there’s much to talk about,” Kate responded honestly, matter-of-factly. “He’s gone, and I’m devastated. There’s nothing anyone can do about it all.”
He recognized that hollow tone, the resignation. Had used it a few times himself. He still wasn't sure if this was one of those times he was supposed to push, though. Been on the end of a few very bad conversations turned physical altercations to know if this was one of those times when he'd call it wrong. He set her bags next to the stairs that led up to the bedroom—also furnished in neutral IKEA chic—and then plunked himself on the couch. "There's sodas in the fridge. A few snacks."
If she wanted to talk, she would. Otherwise, there was always Dog Cops and heavy silence.
Kate paused for a moment, debating asking if there was anything stronger. But she was tired of being drunk. She was tired of burying her sorrow under piles of alcohol. Besides, hanging out with Clint was better than alcohol for making her feel comforted. Hopefully they could just take their minds off of everything for the night. That was what she wanted more than anything.
“Can we order a pizza?” Kate asked, moving from the entryway into the kitchen to dig in the cupboards. “And put on a pot of coffee?” Pizza, coffee, and Dog Cops sounded like the perfect evening.
"Yes and yes," Clint replied, already pulling his phone out. "Everything in the kitchen works, and Tony made me stock the good stuff. Can't say I'm mad about it." At that point, Lucky had also joined him on the couch where he could be properly loved on and loved right back. "I'll order enough for leftovers, even between the three of us. I'll order enough for Dyl, too." It just slipped out, the literal reminder of what Clint still had and Kate had lost twice. He cursed himself for his thoughtlessness. "Hey, uh, Katie-Kate? I love you."
Kate wasn’t really surprised that the apartment was well stocked--coffee maker, coffee, filters, some stuff in the fridge. It felt like home, really. She could see herself staying here just by what was in the fridge. The rest of the apartment seemed to be pretty comfortable, too--Ikea chic and all. “I’ll have to send him a thank-you note.” With the coffee pot brewing, Kate wandered back toward the living room. She stopped and leaned against the wall, watching him and the dog. “I love you, too.”
"You could"—the pizza was ordered, and Clint's fingers were buried in Lucky fur as he gave the best dog in the world the best scratches behind his ears (Archer was the best puppy, that's how it worked)—"but then he'd be insufferable, and where would we all be but in need of bigger doorways?" He gave her a lopsided grin and then patted the empty spot next to him. "Wanna start over from the beginning? Tony somehow managed to get it added to his in-network streaming service, probably because it doesn't really exist here and therefore there are no copyrights on it and blah-blah-blah."
Well, Twitch was also the best puppy, but Lucky was indeed the best dog. Kate moved into the room and slipped down onto the sofa beside him. “Yeah. Let’s start from the beginning.” She tucked her feet up underneath herself and settled back against the cushions. It might have been a really cheap sofa, but it was a really comfortable one. “I have a hard time believing that copyrights would stop Tony from putting stuff on his in-network streaming service,” she finally said, breaking into a little smirk.
Clint snorted and pulled the decorative throw from the back of the couch to toss over them both. Good thing he got talked into starting on this model apartment. Now he just had to do another one. Totes worth it. "How much do you wanna bet that in every universe where there's a Pepper Potts and a Tony Stark, there's also some kind of laminated memo floating around that just says, 'Tony, no'?"
Kate wasn’t sure what she would have done without Clint in her life. She wrapped the blanket around herself and then leaned in against his shoulder. There was a remote floating around somewhere, so Clint could grab hold of it and set the television on. “Oh, without a doubt. One hundred percent.” Kate responded with a gentle nod, settled against him. “Does that mean that there’s a Clint in every universe, acting as a voice of common sense for his best friend Tony?”
"God, the multiverse would be so lucky." He shook his head and laughed while he retrieved the remote and turned on the fancy entertainment set up. "I can always tell you're my bestie, 'cause we both know that I'd make a really terrible voice of common sense. I'd totally be the one egging him on. Well, until things got dangerous, and then okay, yeah. Common sense. And don't forget constantly trying to keep Steve and Tony from coming to blows. And egging them on when it's for fun. Look, I'm a man of multitudes and dichotomies." Clint grinned and nudged their shoulders together, and then turned on the Best Show Ever.