Who: Clint Barton clint & Holden Wilson holdenwilson When: April 22, early morning Where: Not of this World Cafe What: Everyone need a little pick-me-up in the morning. Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Light language possible, general morning grumpiness, things like that. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
Early mornings never bothered Clint. Some missions called for him to be an early riser, others called for him to stay up for days on end, without sleep or food. Clint had learned to deal with harsh situations, make tough decisions and endure things most people never dreamed of. Nothing, however, had prepared him for coffee deprived caffeine addicts first thing in the morning.
Clint was neither a morning, or night person. He was an anytime person, truth be told, but still some of these folks could be hostile if they didn’t get their order then.
He’d fought back the urge to put some of them into a sleeper hold more than once, but he’d managed to refrain. Barely, but he’d managed.
The morning rush was nearly over, a few stragglers, especially those that worked in the courthouse were filing in. Clint took a moment to get out from behind the counter, letting the others take his place while he drank his own first cup of coffee along with a strawberry and cream cheese filled pastry.
No one could expect him to run this place on empty could they? While he could go without eating, that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. Making his way outside, he glanced around at the tables. Everything was full up this morning, which wasn’t very surprising, but it made finding a place to relax for a few minutes difficult.
Spotting a guy that was seated by himself, Clint decided to ask the man if he could join him. All he wanted to do was rest his feet for a few minutes, though if the guy said no? Well, he’d lean up against the wall, and be happy about life in general.
Going over to the table, Clint offered the guy a small smile. “Do you mind if I join you for a few?”
~*~
"No, not at all," Holden smiled at the man with his usual cheerful countenance intact, "I'm not used to sitting alone, to be honest. This place took me by surprise. I take it you are getting used to it at the same rate I am?"
Everything sounded better in the morning. The sun was brighter, people were happier unless they hadn't figured out how to appreciate their days yet, and life felt as if all things were possible. Holden knew all about how he felt in the mornings. It had been his favorite time of day since he could remember.
When he'd been living with Sean, he had often woken up before his lover. He'd had a few moments to wrap his arms around him where Sean hadn't protested at all; Sean had moved back into his embrace to allow him to hold him as if it were something he tolerated all the time. Things had felt entirely possible between them. It had been---almost as if they were really in love.
His smile wavered as he gestured with his fork, "I'm sorry. I tend to be chatty. I'm also nosey. I like to know a little bit of everything about a little bit of everyone. Could you tell me a little about yourself? I'm willing to start with the basics. You know, like, my name is Holden Wilson, I'm a civil rights attorney, and a very proud homosexual involved in a longterm relationship with a professional football player. Yourself?"
Holden was willing to share anything about himself. Secrets weren't his style. The only quiet he kept? That was the quiet he needed to keep. All his clients had secrets, some more damaging to their personas than others. With all the quiet he kept for this clients? Who would blame Holden for being loud and proud about all his own truths? No one could hurt him with his truth.
People who hid from the truth? They weren't like Holden.
They were afraid.
Holden was not afraid of being himself. He never had been; he never would be.
~*~
“Taking it day by day.” Clint admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders before he pulled out his own chair. Taking a seat, Clint put his coffee down along with his pastry on top of a napkin. Pulling the lid off of his coffee to allow it to cool faster, he looked over at Holden with a slightly surprised look.
Most people weren’t that chatty in the mornings, nor were they that willing to share details about themselves so readily. Maybe if he’d encountered people like Holden Wilson while out in the field, he’d have had an easier time gathering information.
Of course, he wasn’t the type to go about gaining information the easy way.
“Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye, part of the Avengers and currently -- it’s complicated.” He lifted a shoulder, “We’re not really official but I’m not seeing anyone else. I think that constitutes as complicated or something.” He brought his pastry up to his lips for a bite, “And now I’m the manager of this place. I was surprised that they didn’t assign me to the police station but hell, I guess they got their reasons.” He wasn’t going to bite the hand that fed him because hell would likely come if he did that.
Clint wanted to live as peaceful of a life as he could while he was there. No one had any reason to attack him, yet, and well, he had Natasha to consider as well. They would make due with what they could, and the rest? Well, it’d work itself out.
Swallowing his bite down with a sip of coffee, Clint sat the cup back down and licked his lips. “How long have you been here, Holden?”
~*~
Time moved differently in this place. Holden tried to think on how many days it'd been. He thought at least two weeks until he looked at his device. Shaking his head, he chuckled. How had time flown so quickly? It felt as if it'd only been a few weeks, not nearly a month. Who knew a guy could feel so good after such a long time without any work to occupy his time?
"I'm sorry. I had to check. It's nearly been a month for me. I'm surprised. I don't quite know what to do with it. Before getting here? I had never been a 'vacation' guy. Now? I can't imagine not taking a little time to be with the person I love."
Work seemed a lot less important after having time off to do nothing more than enjoy being out with Sean.
He'd never met anyone who had a codename before without inferring they were a member of some kind of online community. Clint seemed perfectly serious. In fact, he had a feeling the guy would be insulted if he asked him if he was a gamer. There was nothing in his demeanor to suggest he was a computer guy and his arms alone said he spent some time in the gym for more than recreational reasons.
Sean had a body which told anyone looking he was into something physical. He was paid to look that way, of course, but he took pride in his work. He took care of himself because he wanted to be the best he could be. It'd been him who had convinced Holden to join a gym for more than the chance to scope out prospective Saturday Night Specials. Sean had laughed his ass off at him after he'd come back from his first personal training session sore in places he didn't know he could be sore in.
"You look happy enough here. I do imagine your staff might be a little concerned if you asked them to call you by a codename though so you might want to hold off on that. Settle for 'Boss' for now. Work your way up to 'Call me Hawkeye.' That's my professional advice. Usually I charge a fortune for it so consider it a freebie in good faith you aren't going to kill me on a random hit to try to stay up on your game."
~*~
He didn’t give his codename freely. Clint knew that it could spell trouble but here? It didn’t matter and he was 100% certain that whatever had brought him there knew more about him than he’d like.
Clint chuckled, “They call me Clint. Boss sounds a little too weird to me since I’m normally the employee instead of the guy running the show.” He lifted a shoulder and leaned back in his seat to sip on his coffee after finishing his pastry.
“I don’t kill people unless ordered to. So far, no one in charge is here to give any orders, so no worries.” And he also didn’t kill people randomly that didn’t deserve it during downtime. Bringing his cup up to his lips, Clint thought for a few moments. Vacation time wasn’t something they had, downtime sure, but he’d spent so much of it looking over his shoulder that he couldn’t relax.
Clint watched the people as they passed by. He’d noticed that a lot of them looked a hell of a lot more comfortable than a lot of the folks that admitted to arriving. Clint had asked around to see what they knew, none of them offered any valuable information but in his gut Clint knew they were lying. “I’m not a vacation kind of guy either.” He finally turned his attention back to Holden, “So I can get that.”
He was, admittedly, grateful for the break and considering what Natasha had told him it was probably better that he was there than back in their world. “Been here about the same amount of time, and it is strange how time here seems to fly right on by.” Who knew why that was. Clint didn’t have any answers for any of the million questions that he, or anyone else had.
Clint sipped on his coffee once again, “It’s nice here. I don’t know how long that will last, but for now? I’ll take what I can get.” It wouldn’t be quiet forever, Clint knew that just as he knew the people that weren’t from anywhere but Test City knew something was going on.
~*~
"Working in the kind of law I'm in? I don't get to see a lot of the good side of people. I mostly see them being jerks to each other. Bigots and hypocrites are my bread and butter. If I had a dollar for every time I left a mediation session feeling oily all over? I'd be making millions."
Holden sighed. He poked at his plate of food as if he'd forgotten what he'd wanted, how it had gotten there, or why he was supposed to be eating it. Nothing did wonders for eradicating an appetite like talking about his work in civil rights. The worst people could say or do to one another was pushed onto his legal plate every day; it was his job to eat it up as if it were the best tasting meal he'd ever had.
The last time he'd taken a vacation, he'd wanted to go to the beach with Sean. The man lived on the beach. It would have been walking outside together. Running along the edge of the tide at sunset. Chasing the waves together. They could have done nothing more than lay on beach towels beside each other all day even and he would have called it paradise.
Instead, he'd been told in no uncertain terms it was too big a risk for them to get caught in photos by the paparazzi and he'd went back to work.
The end.
"I just got the guy I love to say he was gay. Out loud. For people to hear him and look at him and know he was saying it. I've been out my whole life. I was so tired of lying and hiding and slinking around to be with him. I was tired of leaving what was supposed to be our home feeling more oily than when I left a nasty debriefing. Here? He holds my hand. He looks me in the eyes in public. He tells people we're together. I don't care what Test City wants to throw at us. If I get to have this? It's worth it."
~*~
Clint could understand what Holden was saying to him. He and Natasha had been in a similar situation at home. They couldn’t be found together, or else the enemy would have something on them and enemies were everywhere.
They’d had only a few stolen moments when they could manage them, and it’d been unfair. He couldn’t imagine living in a world where things were peaceful, at least that was what he was gathering from the way Holden talked, and not being able to hold his lover’s hand while walking down the beach out of fear.
Sexuality was what it was. Clint wasn’t in any position to judge anyone. He’d had his own flings, some with women, some with men so he wasn’t one to judge anyone on who they loved.
“I’m happy for you. I truly am. It’s good to not be looking over your shoulder every few seconds to make sure you’re not going to get caught by the wrong people. My -- the woman I’m in love with? We have to worry about that back home too. Here? The only people that will give us hell are those that have known us for a good while and even then? They’re not meaning any real harm by it.” Clint didn’t think they did, they were a team that depended on each other, and they had each others backs through thick and thin.
Friends, however, picked at one another and it was just par for the course.
“I don’t think you two will have to worry much about any physical threats such as any creatures this place could throw at us. There are plenty of powerful people around that would be more than happy to help defend those that couldn’t take them on.” As for everything else? Well, Clint made no promises on that but he didn’t think they’d have any issues.
~*~
"You're a reassuring guy, Clint. I'm glad you decided to sit with me."
He made things seem reasonable which weren't even rational. Talking to him was a similar to speaking with someone who'd seen it all, done it all, wrote the book on it, and retired on the royalties. Holden loved those kinds of guys. They were typically older than dirt, but he wasn't going to complain Clint Barton was a great view to go along with his pragmatism. It was nice to have someone around who made sense to him.
Holden had been dealing with unusual situations at the courthouse. Every day was some new insanity. This break in the cafe -called 'Out of this World' of all ironies- was the most sane experience he felt he'd had since his arrival. He'd have to drag Sean over to the place. They could order all the weirdly-named desserts and worry about working off the calories later. It'd be a thing they could do here which they'd never done back home.
There were so many things they hadn't gotten to do. Simple things.
It was nice to think he'd have someone to watch out for him if things became more than his experiences as an attorney could handle. Holden knew he was in shape, but a real fight? A genuine war? He wasn't ready for that. He hoped he'd never be ready for that.
"I'll have to convince Sean to come with me. He'll protest at first, but give in when I promise I'll make sure he works off all the calories I fill him up with from the dessert menu."
Holden winked as he tossed down cash to cover what he owed for the meal and then some. This place was going on his list of places to frequent in Test City.